Road Trippin' - Day Six

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jigg.

Day six began with great service at the hotel breakfast buffet. The waitress remembered our drink order from the morning before! We were quite impressed.

After breakfast we hit the road. Although we had planned to get a hotel in Kansas City on the way home, we were feeling rested and decided we would try driving straight through to St. Louis, an almost 14 hour trip.

With the exception of stopping to find a restroom and stretch our legs, we made it all the way to Salina, KS, where I had made plans to have a late lunch with Becky, a friend from middle school. It is amazing how reunions with people from your past can make you think about how fast time flies. Although I have been married for three years, I still do not feel nearly as adult as I do when my peers get married and have kids. Becky is married to a guy who seems to be genuine, kind and a great father to their adorable baby. I am so glad that I was able to meet them both. Here is a picture of Becky and I with our friends on my 13th birthday, and a picture of Becky and I yesterday.

After lunch we forged on. Despite and unexpected detour in Kansas City, we made good time and got to Barnhart where we picked up our dogs (thanks mom) and were in bed by 1:00 am.

In total we drove an estimated 2,408 miles. Here is what that looked like:

Until next time, it's good to be home.

Road Trippin' - Day Five

It is day five, and the last day of sightseeing before we being our journey home. We got up a bit later than we planned, but this time it was a concious decision. A decision clouded by a comfortable mattress and warm blankets, but a decision nonetheless.


Today was a beautiful day in Colorado Springs. I would imagine that the temperatures were in the low-to-mid 60's, and there was not a cloud in the sky. It was the perfect day for Pikes Peak and the Royal Gorge, the two things we planned to see.


Here is the view from our hotel room this morning:



We had breakfast (complimentary) in the restaurant at our hotel. It was a hot breakfast buffet, and it was pretty good. It saved us some money, so that was great.



Then we hit the road, headed for Pikes Peak.


This is a house, up on a mountain. Where do they go when threatened by a tornado? A flood? When they really, really want a cheeseburger, or PSL (that's for you, Audra)?

After about 40 minutes, we arrived at the entry gate of Pikes Peak.

You should all note that we took A LOT of pictures. Many of them look the same, so I have tried to pull only a small, representative sample.

This is a view of the mountains as you head up Pikes Peak Highway:

There was snow! We were surprised.

Us on the windy mountain side.

These are the breathtaking views looking down as we drove up.

In addition to mile markers (the climb is 19 miles total), there were also elevation markers. We were getting close to the top here -

And then we reached the summit!

And here are the spectacular views from the top.

Part of the road was paved, but even that part had a steep drop off. It was hard to capture with the camera, but you can see it a bit here. Both Bryan and the car handled the drive well.

The top of the peak was cold, they said 14 degrees, but it seemed a little warmer than that to me. It was VERY WINDY, and difficult to breathe, so we only stayed for a few minutes. The travel down the mountain was easier than we thought it would be. And it was faster. The whole trip was about 2.5 hours, and we had a great time.

Next we went to the Royal Gorge, which is the world's highest suspension bridge.

Here we are at the entrance to the Royal Gorge

The Bridge, as photpgraphed by Bryan, positioned at Inspiration Point.

We took an incline train down the Gorge. It was at a 45 degree incline. Seriously, straight down. It was awesome. Here is a view through the gated cage we stood in.

We also saw the gorge from a tram, which traveled six miles an hour from one side to the other. This is a view of the tram from the bottom of the Gorge. It made us a bit apprehensive about getting in line for the ride.

The Arkansas River runs through the Gorge, and it was rushing over the rocks today.

I am not sure what I was doing, perhaps thinking of a nap.

This is the bridge from the other side.

The warnings here (inside the tram car) gave me pause. So did the ladded stored in the car. It was like a 12 foot ladder. What would that do in the event of an emergency? Who knows.

After the tram ride we walked back toward the bridge through the "animal area."


It seems that the animals are not domesticated, as the warning indiciates they will "charge the fence." I would think that if a buffalo charged a chain link fence the person on the other side of the fence would die, and they would close this particular part of the attraction, but it seems this laminated sign in sufficient for avoiding tragedy.

You can see the tram from the animal area, kind of a cool shot.



A deer with antlers that look very much like the branches on the surrounding trees.

Here are the buffalo. A black one and a white one. I do not discriminate.

This big horn sheep was staring at me. Seriously, just staring. It was kind of crazy.

Here is a baby...

This is called Kennedy Mountain. If you look, it does kind of resemble Kennedy's face, if he were lying on his back. My thanks to Bryan for helping me see it.

A railroad, and the Arkansas River.

Here we are on the bridge. There was no one to take our picture, so I got our shadows. It is at least proof that we were in fact there.

I am not sure why the names of the states are on the bridge, but they are. Here is Bryan, feeling at home with Missouri.

The bridge itself is wood pieces, which did not make me very comfortable. There were some large gaps.

The cable car, ready to board the next group of passengers.

Walking back to the car we were exhausted. I thought about taking a picture of us as we practically crawled to the car, but I could not find the energy to push the button.

So, we returned to our hotel to call it a night.

And for those related to me, LOOK AT THE RESTAURANT NEXT TO OUR HOTEL. We ate at Denny's instead. I had a coupon.



Well, Bryan has fallen asleep next to me, sitting up as if her is still watching the basketball game, so I better go. We have an early morning. Time to head home.

(Disclaimer: I am too tired to re-read this for spelling or typographical errors, so please just ignore them.)

Road Trippin' - Day Four

I know that I have posted about day three just moments ago, but I have a moment to post about day four, so here it goes.

Guess what? We woke up late. We went to bed late, and woke up late. In any case, we took showers, packed our stuff and headed for downtown Denver at about 10:00. Our only real agenda item was lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory, which opened at 11:30, but our goal was to be on the road to Colorado Springs by 12:30, which left only 90 minutes to see what Denver had to offer. It turns out, we did not need that long.

As you drive in, Denver is very pretty. It is a bit like Boston in that the roads curve around the buildings in certain areas.

Denver looked a lot like St. Louis. There were a fair number of retail stores, which seem to be missing from our downtown, but the large old buildings were very similar to those you would find on Laclede's Landing. The homes looked a little run down, and if you were not looking to shop, there was not much to do. The stadium looks an awful lot like the new Busch Stadium.

We did get out and walk through the "16th Street Mall," which was unique and interesting.




Ans then we were off to the Old Spaghetti Factory. It was cool to see the differences between the Denver store and the St. Louis one. The people were nice, the service was decent and the food was very good. The pesto dressing was too tangy, but otherwise it was great.

After lunch we talked about rushing to the Royal Gorge, but we were afraid to miss the last tram, which is part of what the $23 entrance fee pays for, so we decided to leave it until tomorrow, and to check out Seven Falls instead. We actually kind of stumbled upon it.

These first two pictures are on the way up to the falls, on what is called the "most scenic mile in Colorado." It was really much more impressive than I was able to capture in these pictures.

To see the falls at the best angle, you ride up an elevator that is in the mountain. To get to it, you walk though the very cold cave below. Bryan was shocked by the cold.

Thye Falls were pretty, but Colorado is experiencing a drought, which has caused the amount of water in the falls to decrease significantly. It was more like trickling water than rushing water. The pictures from the landing at the top of the elevator were still pretty cool.

And here we are, crowding together for warmth.

We met some trout. They do not seem to move at all. You can feed them if you have a quarter to buy the food. We wanted to try so that we could see if they were truly alive, but we did not have a quarter. Now we will never know.

Bryan has the wingspan of a Golden Eagle.

This stone is very cold. The water is rushing behind us. I really had to pee.

Here is a small fall.

It seems that in Colorado, Hardee's is Carls, Jr., and they have tacos.

After Seven Falls, we headed back through Colorado SPrings, which was cleaner than Denver, but certainly less populated.

I think this was a sign welcoming Bryan. Or maybe it was a construction company...

Although it was early in the day, we decided to head back to our hotel and relax for awhile. We are staying next to the Airforce Academy at the Academy Hotel.

When I tried to check in there was no one at the desk. I waited 10 minutes and when no one came I opened the door to the managers office and found him reading a book. He got someone to check us in, but when we got to our room we had twin beds! I had to call and fight with the friendly front desk kid, get transferred back to the manger who I had interrupted only minutes before, and go back to the desk to exchnage keys, but we eventually ended up in a nice room with a king sized bed.

We then went to the bar downstairs for the $2.00 happy hour, where we had beer and appetizers, and then retired to our room for some television watching. This is what that looks like:

We are all settled in for a long night of Law and Order. Here is what that looks like.

Until tomorrow, sweet dreams.