I have to warn you: I have a lot to cover in today's post, so it will be a bit abbreviated. But hopefully, I will cover all the bases by the time we're finished. Colorado Springs. What a fun place! We had a great time at our stay in the Rocky Mountains. After a LONG drive from Springfield, MO, we pulled into the Springs after dark. The next day, we took the two-hour trip to Buena Vista, CO to go whitewater rafting. It was so much fun! Jillian had never gone before; I had gone once on a fairly mild trip years ago. These rapids, however, were frequent and technical. We chose to ride on a paddle boat, as opposed to a "combo" boat, meaning we were responsible to paddle hard, following the guide's instructions, powering through the rapids.
I'm the guy in the back to the guide's right; the one with the big arms...
Alright, I guess I can't fool you. This picture is from the internet, but it looks like what
we did and we didn't have to pay $25 to purchase the one they take for you.
Upon returning to dry land after successfully navigating Seven Step, the Widowmaker, and several other sets of rapids, the names of which I forget, we dried our frozen and stiff bodies and made it back to Colorado Springs. On the way we stopped at Garden of the Gods, an incredible rock formation carved out of a rocky area by the forces of wind and water.
This is Jillian's interpretation of "Act 'god-like' for the picture!" :)
One of the mighty sculptures
Balancing Rock
Needless to say, we went to bed exhausted.
The next morning we woke bright an early to make an 8AM cog railway reservation to the top of Pikes Peak, the easternmost fourteener. The cog railway was a fun blast from the past, built in 1889 by a fellow Wisconsinite, it is the highest railway in North America. Once at the top, we bought some world-famous doughnuts; took pictures; saw the spot where on a Huberty-family vacation several years ago, Kyle leaped from rock-to-rock over 1000-foot precipices, making mom cry out of maternal terror; and got headaches, due to the low oxygen levels at such a high elevation (14,115 feet).
The Cog Railway
An incredible view from the top of Pikes Peak
After reaching the bottom, we wandered around Manitou Springs and looked at some western shops before leaving Colorado, hitting the road again. This time, we were headed south toward New Mexico.
A side note: on the way to New Mexico, we stopped at Royal Gorge to see the highest suspension bridge in the world. Unfortunately the area has been overrun by a kitschy theme park and a $25 fee is required to cross the bridge. We were highly disappointed and angry with these disgusting monopolists. We did get some pictures from a nearby overlook that they provide. We are convinced they only do this to tempt people to pay their exorbitant fees.
The highest suspension bridge in the world!
We are now in Farmington, New Mexico, about to leave. We did go to Mesa Verde--our first National Park--yesterday and toured some amazing Pueblo Indian ruins. About a thousand years ago these ingenious Native Americans built entire cities into the sides of cliffs. I will have to post pictures later however, because we are in a hurry to leave; Meghan and Taylor arrive at the airport soon. This leads me to my next comment:
For those of you who wonder or care (mom), I will post our schedule for the next few days. We will go without communication for several days as we're hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, which obviously has no wireless internet (at least yet). Like I said, Meghan and Taylor are joining us for the next week and a half. We're really excited to see them!
Our schedule:
Today: Pick up M & T and drive to the Grand Canyon (stopping at Four Corners National Monument on the way).
Tuesday: Hike to the bottom of the Canyon.
Wednesday: Hike up the Canyon (please pray for us!)
Thursday: Drive to Las Vegas, stop at the Hoover Dam
Friday (my birthday!): San Diego
Saturday - Wednesday, July 7: Los Angeles
With that, I'll be going... We love you all! Thanks for reading...
-A
If this was "Into The Wild" you and Jill would raft naked under the bridge to protest the monopolization and commercialization of such a beautiful natural wonder. But then again you'd also have to freeze to death in a bus in Alaska. I guess just being indignant about it via blog is a better approach :)
ReplyDeleteWe are going to be at the same rafting place in two weeks! The place we are going to is only 20 minutes from there.
ReplyDeleteOk, moment of honesty...
ReplyDeleteJill - I know you're a good writer. I would venture to say that you're an excellent writer. HOWEVER... you are taking a backseat to Aaron in the writing of this blog. As far as I can tell, you've only written one post. While good, it was shorter than any of Aaron's. You're not reaching your potential, here.
Aaron - You're a compelling writer. Write a book. I'd read it.
I agree with Stevie. I had no idea Aaron was such a good creative writer. These posts are legitimately bordering on masterful writing.
ReplyDeleteYou both will have a lot of writing to do after your last few days of adventure!!!!
ReplyDelete