I started this blog holed up in the rather large closet of this hotel room trying to be relatively quiet so as to not wake the still slumbering family.
I'm trying to catch up on missing a day or two of the trip report so let me start with Sunday.
We attended worship with the Eastside Church of Christ in Colorado Springs. The kids had a great time in a very innovative VBS style kids' program that takes place through both Bible class and worship. While there we are ran into some old (well, not really 'old') friends from college, the Schlup clan. Afterwards, we headed back to Susan's apartment so Katie (and her dad) could take a nap before the trip up Pike's Peak. I'll work very hard to resist the strong urge to make this an engineer's geek report and talk only about the train, its engines, the steep grades, and the fatigue potential of the cog railway itself given the range of environmental loads it experiences.
We bought tickets on the 4pm train and were lucky, it sounds like, to get those. It's a busy place and this is their peak season. The train is open year-round and there is some really cool video on their website where the snowblower is clearing 10-foot snowdrifts. Some of the snow at the bottom of the drifts is so wet and heavy, they have to cut it with chainsaws then break it into smaller pieces to be chewed up by the tines of the blower!
The views from the train were amazing, and no picture, at least the ones I can take, do justice to the majesty of God's creation. Every scene amazed and humbled me. The steepest incline experienced on the trip is about a 26% grade. Most steep highways usually don't exceed 7 or 8% grade! We had the privilege of seeing several animals on the trip up. The usuals are birds, deer and marmots but this time we got to see bighorn sheep and even a small herd of elk as well. The lone sheep was very close to the train but the elk were quite a distance. With the heavily overcast clouds it was tough to get a good picture at such a long zoom. Nonetheless, here are a couple of attempts. You'll have to click on each picture to get a larger view.
Passing the tree line is always a treat in my opinion. I've only ever done that on a hike one time before, and it was pretty cool. In 1992 I hiked up Mount Elbert, the second highest point in the lower 48. I'd love to do that again some day.
Pike's Peak is number 32 on the Colorado fourteener list.
The view from the top was a REAL bummer. I've been at the peak of Pike before on a perfectly clear day, and it's amazing. Unfortunately, this day was much different. Not only was it really cloudy, it started to sleet as we were boarding the train for our
trip back down. At least I can say it was our first time to see ice fall from the sky in late July! Lunch at the top was tasty and we even tried the
famous-but-not-sure-why donuts. Like I said, it was cold, sleeting, and windy as we readied to board the train.
If you make the trip, we'd suggest sitting on the '3-seat' side of the train if possible. Both sides have their relative advantages but that side of the train has the best views overall. We were on the '2-seat' side and were a little envious most of the time!
We said our goodbye's to Susan at the base of Pike's Peak and headed straight to Denver after a quick trip through McD's drive-through (only our second so far!). The trip was about 1.5 hours from the mountain to our hotel. As Dana blogged earlier, we are staying at the Adam's Mark hotel in downtown Denver. Apparently it is the largest hotel in Colorado and I believe it.
My frugal bride got our room on Priceline for an unbelievable $70 per night and the room is HUGE. Actually, they first put us in a king bed room that was much more normal and would not have been good for this long of a stay. For those that don't know, you can't request a room type on Priceline. The hotel graciously
switched us, and we never looked back. I've never had a hotel room this big, even a suite. We're estimating the total size to be around 600 sf. The only downside is that is has two double beds (kind of crowded for 2 adults), but I'd rather have the space for a 6-night stay. The closet and bathroom (& the 2nd sink/vanity area on the other side of the room) are at least twice as large as the norm. Plus, you just can't beat the price.
Our first full day in Denver was a bit of a relax day except for the THREE hours at Casa Bonita.
Seriously, except for the really bad food, it's a pretty neat, out-of-the-ordinary sort of place. The game room was fun and full of some 80's era arcade games (the only ones I really know how to play). The high-diver dude was pretty cool, and the skits, while somewhat lame, were still entertaining as a dining element.
Later in the afternoon, I stayed with Katie in the hotel while
Noah and Dana went on a walking tour of downtown Denver. I consider it my fatherly duty to supervise Katie while she is napping. Lest you think I was asleep also, she simply needed me to be very still and quiet with my eyes closed so as to not disturb her unnecessarily.
We finished the evening at Noah's favorite restaurant which is Olive Garden. In celebration of his birthday, we enjoyed the chocolate gelato. I've never seen Noah eat so much. Maybe this is what 6-yr olds
do...EAT. He had a Chicken Parmesan, two helpings of salad, a breadstick, some pasta, half the gelato and his Andes mint, then finished the night off with lots of grapes back at the hotel room.
FINALLY, this morning Noah awoke to a room full of balloons, cake, and birthday presents.
He was really surprised - which was the whole point. Dana did an amazing
job of planning Noah's bday morning. She stayed up after all of us went to bed and got the balloons and everything ready. I had to be extra careful not to step on a balloon and pop it this morning as I tried to leave in the dark! Noah still hasn't seen the car, but it has been appropriately shoe-polished for the occasion.
I think we'll all agree it just might be a dream come true for any little kid (and
some grown-ups) to get birthday cake for breakfast! And that is
exactly what they did. Mom retrieved breakfast for us a little
later so we had something to combat the major sugar OD on their
little empty stomachs.
Today we are off to
Waterworld which looks to be pretty doggone fun. If you are sticking with us on these postings, I'll be sure and
update our trip tonight or tomorrow. After that, my blogging days will likely be numbered until the next vacation! ;-)
planned to be) so we ordered pizza and just a great time hanging out in that comfy living room that is so full of love and acceptance. All you kids, grand-kids, and great-grands and so on know that feeling I'm talking about.
The kids and Dana helped grandma Mary with some kind of quilting board game (yeah, I don't have a clue) by tearing all the little game pieces apart and storing them in individual baggies. Afterwards, grandma Mary happily let Noah show off his reading skills and joined in on the fun herself. My lovely bride tried her hardest to capture the fun with my camera (I just happened to have fallen asleep by this point in the evening) and, while it's a little blurry, you can appreciate the fun that was being had by that trio.
greasy spoon cafe that is typical of that which is quite hard to find these days in the bigger cities. The cash register is about 10feet past the front door, there's barely enough room for two rows of about 7 tables each and the back wall is lined with a right-fine collection of old guns that may still see a little action occasionally during the appropriate hunting season. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the wait staff knew which one was loaded just in case someone tried to walk out of their with the cash register! Most importantly, boy does that 'chef' make a great breakfast! You gotta love a place where you get a real sausage patty and "over easy" means ALL the yolk is runny and not just most of it. This is a take-a-few-years-off-your-life kind of greasy and we LOVED it.
