Looking Down on Creation

Saturday we decided to take our slew of guests on a drive up to Pikes Peak.  Some had been there before (years earlier), some had not.  We all hopped into two cars, and headed on our way.

Pikes Peak is referred to as "America's Mountain," because Katharine Lee Bates wrote a poem titled Pikes Peak after traveling to the summit.  Titled America for publication, it was later put to music and is now the song we know and love,  America the Beautiful.

My nephew Josh missed the photo booth while he was here (shucks), but we managed to nab a few pics of him on our Saturday adventure.

Mi madre kept saying, "This would be a perfect Christmas card picture," as she photographed our family in the great outdoors.  But then we would remind her that Britt wasn't there.  She was attending the bridal shower of one of her good friends.

The drive up to the peak is winding and beautiful, although there are many places where the road runs very near the edge, and there are very few guardrails.  Our speculation on how many cars have gone over the side didn't help soothe fears.  We weren't the first to notice the lack of safety features, as once we arrived at the top, we found t-shirts in the gift shop proudly stating, "Real men don't need guardrails."

At 14, 110 feet, I was reminded of the song from my youth... "I'm on the top of the world...

"...looking down on creation..."

And it was cold.  Below freezing.  And there was some serious wind chill going on.  But it's always sunny in Taylor's world, with his beloved (and only) yellow sweatshirt (if you've noticed he's worn it in nearly every casual picture captured of him the past few weeks).

There is a cog railway (the world's highest, fyi) that runs cars up to the peak every couple of hours. We took that once when our Feil cousins were here to visit.  Back in July of 2004.

Lexee only remembers how she needed the barf bag on the way back down.  The good ol' days.  

Lucky for us, on Saturday there was no puking or fainting.  Maybe a bit of nausea and a headache, but nothing visibly humiliating (although we all looked the other way on the ride back down as we passed a passenger van that had stopped and a lady was right there, by the road, letting it all go.  We thought how, perhaps, she might have selected a more private spot behind the van).

Despite the dark clouds rolling in, we had some serious sun too.  Thus the pained look on Bill's face.  And right about here, my camera battery fizzled.  Bummer.  I'll have to patiently wait for mi madre to send me the pics of Bill falling off the side of the mountain.

On the way down, we stopped at the brightest Fall color spot we could find (we were about 3 weeks too late for the big display).

Thanks to a camera charger in the car, I eked out a few more pictures.

Then we stopped for a picnic lunch.  The weather was a little cool (not like the sub-freezing temps at the top), but it was warm enough to be pleasant.

Fresh air.  Beautiful scenery.  Thrilling vistas.  Good times.  The best company.
It was everything I had hoped.