Our trip into Colorado Springs took us past a few more interesting sights today. Nathan spotted a granite Abe Lincoln sitting up on the side of the road, and we are continuing to see barricades set up to block the snow as it blows out here. The ones we saw today had shielded the last little bit of remaining snow here in WY from this winter. We found some interesting rock formations that reminded us of a face and even found a tree growing out of a rock in the middle of the interstate! Thought of you, Buff, when we saw this marker. That ought to give Byran some idea of the crowded conditions out here in the Wild West! :) We have been seeing windmills again stretch out on the horizon in UT and WY. (Last year we spotted them in SD, MN, and IA.) We actually came across a whole farm of them in KS tonight. As we were driving along on a straight dark stretch of road, we came over a little hill to a sea of red blinking lights as far as the eye could see to the north of the interstate. At first from a distance we thought perhaps it was an airport, but that was an awful lot of lights for an airport when there were no communities around. As we got closer Taylor decided they must be windmills. It was so dark that you had to catch a quick glimpse in the brief blink of the light to actually see a bit of the blades rotating.
We arrived to Garden of the gods around 11:30 and enjoyed driving through the park and looking at the interesting formations and brilliant color. We then began our ascent up Pikes Peak. We were a little disappointed that we would not be able to go up the full 14,100 feet due to snow and ice on the road but were glad that we would be able to climb 16 of the 19 miles up. It started out as a scenic little mountain drive, but somewhere along the way began to become much more dramatic. At around 13 miles, most of the pavement stopped, and we were on a wet dirt road. It was some where around this point that Nathan decided he would let the boys each drive a mile so they could say they had driven up Pikes Peak. As you may notice in the pictures as the climb got steeper there were many places that did not even have guard railing. A few brave souls who did not value their lives as much as we value ours were actually out there snowboarding down from near the top! As we climbed we began to feel the pressure in our lungs and found breathing to be more laborious. (Oxygen up that high is half of what we breath at sea level.) There was a bit of light headedness and dizziness. You could say it took our breath away! The views were amazing, and you can see in some of the pictures some of the switchbacks we were taking in the climb. We reached an elevation of somewhere between 13,500 and 14,000. Going down was fun too. We kept it in low gear most of the way and still smelled hot brakes going down. Thankfully our transmission and brakes seemed to have survived.
We have now driven across the rest of CO and well into KS, and I am sad to report that all the breathtaking mountains have come to an abrupt end. We are now in the FLAT lands and there's not much to get pictures of out here. I am thankful for the clear weather though. I have been fretting about crossing KS and OK in tornado season. We stopped in Colby, KS for a bite to eat at Montana Mike's Steakhouse and then drove til we reached the end of the road. (I135 that is.) We are now at the toll road and have decided to quit for tonight in Wichita and head HOME in the morning. Didn't think to look at the tripometer before coming to the room, but I know that we are over 5,000 on our miles now and have covered 12 of our 13 states. We only have OK left, and then we'll cross back through AR and into TN. We're almost home!! Sounds crazy to say seeing as how we still have 590 miles to go, but hey when you consider how far we've come... :D
We arrived to Garden of the gods around 11:30 and enjoyed driving through the park and looking at the interesting formations and brilliant color. We then began our ascent up Pikes Peak. We were a little disappointed that we would not be able to go up the full 14,100 feet due to snow and ice on the road but were glad that we would be able to climb 16 of the 19 miles up. It started out as a scenic little mountain drive, but somewhere along the way began to become much more dramatic. At around 13 miles, most of the pavement stopped, and we were on a wet dirt road. It was some where around this point that Nathan decided he would let the boys each drive a mile so they could say they had driven up Pikes Peak. As you may notice in the pictures as the climb got steeper there were many places that did not even have guard railing. A few brave souls who did not value their lives as much as we value ours were actually out there snowboarding down from near the top! As we climbed we began to feel the pressure in our lungs and found breathing to be more laborious. (Oxygen up that high is half of what we breath at sea level.) There was a bit of light headedness and dizziness. You could say it took our breath away! The views were amazing, and you can see in some of the pictures some of the switchbacks we were taking in the climb. We reached an elevation of somewhere between 13,500 and 14,000. Going down was fun too. We kept it in low gear most of the way and still smelled hot brakes going down. Thankfully our transmission and brakes seemed to have survived.
We have now driven across the rest of CO and well into KS, and I am sad to report that all the breathtaking mountains have come to an abrupt end. We are now in the FLAT lands and there's not much to get pictures of out here. I am thankful for the clear weather though. I have been fretting about crossing KS and OK in tornado season. We stopped in Colby, KS for a bite to eat at Montana Mike's Steakhouse and then drove til we reached the end of the road. (I135 that is.) We are now at the toll road and have decided to quit for tonight in Wichita and head HOME in the morning. Didn't think to look at the tripometer before coming to the room, but I know that we are over 5,000 on our miles now and have covered 12 of our 13 states. We only have OK left, and then we'll cross back through AR and into TN. We're almost home!! Sounds crazy to say seeing as how we still have 590 miles to go, but hey when you consider how far we've come... :D
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