Pikes Peak

Yesterday we drove up to Pikes Peak.  Gordon, Evelyn, Mike and I.  It was a beautiful, clear day and it is really something to stand at 14,110 feet and look down at the world below!  I had a little trouble with the curvy roads and as a result did not feel my best at the high elevation, but it was worth the drive!

Pikes Peak

 Standing atop Pikes Peak, Katherine Lee Bates was inspired to write America the Beautiful.

enjoying a special Pikes Peak donut and cup of coffee

you can take a cog wheel train up to the top if you wish

 Back down in Manatou Springs, we had to stop for a wine tasting.  Enjoyed a couple of nice ones!

Fall Colors

We took a drive up into the mountains today with our friends, Gordon and Evelyn and family to see the fall colors and have a picnic.  It was another beautiful day but you can feel the nip in the air now:

Gordon and Evelyn.....

Their daughter, Holly and her children, Jackson, Arwen and Cadon

a pair of Red Tails watching us out as we drive by

Checking out a late 1800s homestead

petrified tree stumps of ancient redwoods

the children are sworn in as junior rangers

Olympic Training Facility

Colorado Springs has one of the 3 Olympic training facilities in the US.  The other 2 being Lake Placid, NY and Chula Vista, CA.  So we went to check it out today.  We joined a free tour and had a very interesting and informative visit.

10 to 15 percent of the top future Olympic hopefuls can reside at these facilities.  Some of them living there for 4 to 6 years!  Training 4 to 8 hours a day 6 days a week.

countdown to the next Olympics!

these young men are here for a week hoping a resident coach will see a future Olympian in them

Our tour guide, Jay, is a weight lifter.  She has a personal coach and does not live on campus.

shooting range

wrestling gym

dormitories