Colorado Springs part 1

Hey there!

We're back in Denver after a few days in Co Springs! I lived there for 4 years during my elementary school years, and it was a FUN place to be a kid! first, we got to stay with our dear friends Joe and Anne, and we took the cog railroad up to the tippy top of Pike's Peak.

This was our drive from Breckenridge to Co. Springs. I could drive forever with views like this...

Then we arrived at Joe and Anne's, and our kids had a BLAST with their three kids.... especially with the blow up mattress... always a hit! Our kids have technically known each other their whole lives, but Joe and Anne have moved around a lot so it was great to have quality time catching up with them!

Zach did his typical, ceremonial "accidental breakage of someone else's property," and this time the victim was a fold-up chair that came crashing down while Zach was sitting there, sipping beer, mid-sentence... he cut his elbow but saved the beer.
The next morning we climbed aboard the cog RR which climbed from about 9500 ft at the base to a bit over 14,000 ft at the top of Pikes Peak! You can see the incline here:
Close to the top, past the timber line...

We made it! I think Sammy felt a little "off" but he adjusted pretty quickly. The rest of us felt fine (usually you have some high-altitude symptoms... and those would have set in if we'd stayed up there for more than about 30-40 minutes. Oxygen is not readily available up there!).

Now we can say we've climbed a 14-er! (I won't tell anyone we climbed by train :).
pictures don't do it justice, of course... spectacular!
High altitude donuts! yummmm... (check out the front of the train- that's a sharp drop-off...)
Sam was thrilled to stand beside the train :).

We had a great time in my old hometown... more blogging to come!