I'm back! I haven't posted a blog lately because we just spent our time visiting Pam, Kent, and Elisabeth along with relaxing around the camper. We started our touring again so now I have something to say.

Monday May 14th Bev, Holly, Kevin, and I went to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. We checked out the visitor center and drove around the campus taking pictures.

Inside the Visitor Center is a glider hanging from the ceiling. The cadets can go up in gliders like this one to view the academy from the air.

We didn't spend much time there because we had to drop Holly and Kevin at the Airport for their flight home.

We really had a great time with Holly and Kevin while they were in Colorado for Elisabeth's graduation. The highlight was when Kevin made us all steaks at Pam and Kent's house. He used Fillet Mignon cuts and grilled them to absolute perfection. This was the best steak dinner we ever had. The proof was that everyone cleaned every morsel of food from their plates. Thanks again Kevin it was fantastic.

A couple of days later Bev and I returned to the Air Force Academy to see the chapel. Bev had seen it a few years ago but I have never seen the chapel. I'm glad we returned.

This is a court yard looking from the steps of the chapel.

Wednesday May 16th Bev and I went to the Garden of the Gods which is a Colorado Springs city park.

Bev thinks the Perkins in this plaque could be a distant relative. Yeah, sure.

The amazing Balanced Rock. Amazingly, the narrow pedestal supporting Balanced Rock has held the 700-ton weight for thousands of years.

Here is a brave sole climbing a rock. The park issues permits for people that want to rock climb. They are first checked out to see if they have the right equipment and are experienced climbers.

Around 300 million years ago, the Ancestral Rockies once stood here. Over time the magnificent peaks eroded into swift streams full of sediments. These sediments were eventually pressed and cemented into solid rock. The new rocks took the form of sands full of iron oxide creating red sandstone rock, muds forming softer, more delicate shales, and a mixture of sand and pebbles called conglomerate.

The rocks were exposed more than 60 million years ago when the existing Rocky Mountains rose. As the mountains rose the pressure forced the rocks to crack, break, and to stand on end. What we see today are the rocks that were subject to the forces of wind and water.

Thursday May 17th Bev and I decided to hike to the summit of Pikes Peak which is over 14,000 feet high. It was quite a hike but we made it to the top.

Actually we did hike up to where the viewing platform is but only a short walk from where the Cog Railway car stopped. We like to hike but 14,000 feet? I think not.

This makes the third Cog Railway we were on. The other two are the Cog Railway on Mount Washington in New Hampshire, and the Cog Railway up to the Matter Horn in Switzerland.

Here is a photo of the Cog Railway station (front and back) at the bottom of Pikes Peak.

We are still climbing.

We are getting close.

We made it to the top.

We hiked from where the Cog Railway car stopped to this viewing platform. Hey, that was enough hiking at this altitude! The air is thin up here.

I know, this is an awful lot to cover in one blog but we were always on the go and I didn't have a chance to post a blog.

Tomorrow Saturday the 19th we are back on the road again. We will be heading to Gunnison, CO and the Blue Mesa RV Resort. We have been there before and liked the area so we are returning to see the sights we missed.