Colorado Springs

It was a cold start. Yep, in the 30's! Don't want to know how low. Ordered to turn the heat on. Immediately! Gladly. On our way to Pikes Peak.

Good morning! Sunday, September 25, 2016. Alamosa to Colorado Springs today. 173 miles 3 hours maybe. We will be alert to the siren call of beguiling views along the way. Well, maybe not. We enjoyed the vissisitudes of elevation from 5000 + to 10,500. We drove over La Veta Pass in the Sangre de Cristo mountains and by Spanish Peaks, Burnt Mill, Apache and Bust to name a few. Here we go:

Way up there is Pikes Peak. Guess which one.

View over the side on the way up. Upon reaching the entrance we were informed we needed one half tank to make the 38 mile round trip to the peak...and back. Gulp! We had less than that but not by much. Upward to 14,114 feet we crawled. 25 mph except on the hairpin turns. Danvolunteered to drive. Bill succumbs to altitude sickness at 10,500. Gets dizzy, giggles, complains of headache, and forgets he is driving. Dan unanimously chosen to be the designated driver.

The peak is in our sights. Pretty unassuming up close, no?

One of the many views from the top (think 360). If you don't want to drive from 6000 or so to 14,000 feet you can take the cog train.

Since you are wondering, this is the cog train. Imagine yourself in this train strapped in at a 52% angle. Not that it would happen. Just imagine it.

Pikes Peak or bust! We made it. Here we are after Pikes Peak world famous donuts and a cup of coffee trying to keep our chattering teeth from escaping and making a break for warmer weather. It was 29 degrees with a generous portion of wind. Think wind chill and frost bite. We were. Brrrrr... We were singing "Do you remember Sweet Betsy from Pike" but had to give up the stage for the multitudes wanting a keepsake picture. Huffing and puffing we departed for a more oxygen saturated elevation.

Here is Dan....begging for oxygen....

There were lots of these switchbacks and hairpin turns. Visitors are advised to use low gear. Smoking brakes are to be avoided. A professional brake checker carefully puts scienceto work. If your breaks are hot you get timed out until they cool. Cool! Our breaks were fine but our transmission was shot. Continuing on..

We stopped on the way down to snap this beauty. Met two Harley bikers from Oklahoma and took a couple of pictures for them. When taking the first picture biker 1 handed Bill the phone camera and told him to watch out for the crack. Bill told them he thought he was in a Deluth Buck Naked underwear commercial. Then Dan told them to take one more step back to the edge to get a really impressive picture. Dan and Bill are known for making new friends and impressing people wherever they go. Really!

Ok, change of pace. We went to the old mining town of Victor and walked the historic streets. Lots of dates on the buildings in the 1800's. Note the gold mine up the mountain behind hotel.

This street car was actually used in town and perhaps further. It was interesting because the signage was in Spanish. This will take a little detective work. Later. Here are a few slide show pics from Victor:

Main Street

Bar and Bordello

Post Office and Store

General Store

Once a Bar Now a Church

I want one.