Pike's Peak ...again

Having spent 14 of my first 17 years growing up living at the base of Pike's Peak, taking a journey up the mountain...whether by car or cog train...is not a novelty. It is, however, an important experience for anyone never having the experience, and so on this trip the goal was to take my husband John up to the summit on the cog train. A few years ago we tried to drive up the Peak, but it was too early in the year and the road was still closed to snow. So...the number one goal of this latest trip to Colorado was to make sure we took the Cog Railway up the mountain. The following are some pictures of our adventure. We took the noon train. It is very important to try to take a morning or early afternoon train, as a typical summer day in Colorado Springs brings a daily afternoon rain cloud that obscures the mountain. The afternoon showers usually develop around 2:30 p.m. or so....even though they rarely produce enough rain to amount to anything in the extremely arid climate of the E. Slope of the Rocky Mountains.
Here we are at the summit on June 8, 2006.



This picture of John is evidence that he did eat a famous Pike's Peak donut while at the summit.

Trip Pictures

This is a photo of my son, Try, with
his father, Duane. It had been 24+ years since they had last seen each other.


This is a photo of the cabin site where our family cabin once stood. The Haymen Creen Fire took our cabin on Father's Day, June 17, 2002. Nature has reclaimed the land.... the trees are now gone. It looks much the same (sans trees) as it did when my folks first built a 1-room cabin in the 1960's.

Here's a picture of my son, Try, and my husband, John, at the lake named after my father. This was one of my dad's favorite places to fish for trout. We took a few minutes to pause and remember dad as we walked the banks of this small pond.

Here's a picture of my extended family taken at my sister's house in Colorado Springs, June 06. The only person not pictured is my daughter, Megan. (We did "photoshop" her into another picture, however...to make the group complete!)

Home and Back Again

Last week was my first journey home to Colorado since 2004, really not that long of a time between visits. This visit, however, was one of connecting with family, more-or-less a mini family reunion. Originally we were getting together to do a memorial for my father, who passed away on Thanksgiving 2004, and maybe our gathering was just that...but we did not do an official "farewell" to dad...yet. He is still in an urn on my sister's piano...not forgotten.

Our trip coincided with what could have been my 35th wedding anniversary, if my teenage marriage had lasted. I found myself thinking back to Monday, June 7th, 1971....the wedding, the reception, the honeymoon trip, the beginnings. Interestingly, my ex husband from that era reconnected with our son, after 25 years absence, during this visit. So, there I sat across the patio at his parent's house, looking at the man who was my "young adult" mate choice. Our conversations tended to be frozen in time, with the only common memories from the early 1970's. I wondered if he was thinking about 1971.

The activities of the trip included taking my husband, John, up Pikes Peak on the Cog Railway. It was a wonderful trip, especially interesting to him since he is from the Dakota's. Later, we wandered around the mountain edge of the city, and we drove thru the Broadmoor. The day on Friday was spent taking my son around the city to places he wanted to visit, plus making a trip to the cabin property that burned in the Haymen Creek Fire in 2002. The weekend was a flurry of reunions with family.

Much of the trip is well documented with photos on my son's blog: http://ochimaru.blogspot.com/2006/06/grandpas-lake-colo-trip-continued.html

One outcome of the trip (that has my family amused) is that I lost my voice from too much talking. From that, it developed into a nasty case of bronchitis, and a bad head cold...and I've basically been in bed since returning. Regardless of feeling so sick this week, last week in Colorado was a blast!

S~