Today we are headed to the top of Pike's Peak! When I began planning this vacation, we were going to ride the Pike's Peak Cog Railway to the top of the mountain. Over the winter, the railway was closed for repairs and all notices said to return in the spring for the new summer schedule. Unfortunately, the result of all the repairs ended in a decision to close the railway for good after over 100 years in operation. Soooo....today we are going to drive up to the top ourselves!
One of the first road signs you see on the road is a Big Foot Crossing sign. We didn't see him, though.
We stopped at Crystal Reservoir for some shopping and looking. Soon we will be at the top of that mountain in front of us. Crystal Reservoir is beautiful and the water is very clear.
The drive up to the top was exciting. This is a view down at the winding road from near the top. Much of the drive seemed it was on the edge of a cliff. Rodney did a great job safely navigating us all the way up without incident.
We saw a few people biking to the top. Wow.
Remember that inflated bag of chips from yesterday? Well, we have a large sack of these chip bags and as we were driving up the mountain, we kept hearing them pop! The altitude was inflating them so much that they were popping right open. We counted 7 in all. It was very entertaining hearing the pops and keeping count.
We even saw some snow along the way.
Eventually, we made it to the top. We were allowed to drive our own car all the way up while some people must stop short of the top and get on a shuttle to go the rest of the way. When we entered the road, the attendant asked us if our children were in car seats or boosters. We answered that they are in boosters and the man said that we could drive all the way to the top. I thought this was really weird, but why dwell on it since we're getting what we want? I was again baffled when I saw all the people parking downhill and getting on the shuttles. Why not just drive the whole way? We eventually figured out that we must have been exempt from the shuttle because of the booster seats. Works for me!
The view at the top was amazing. Possibly the most spectacular thing I've ever seen. It was a perfect day and you could see forever.
It was a chilly 43 degrees and windy at the top, though, so we came inside to get some world famous donuts. They make these donuts with a special modified recipe due to the elevation. Add some hot chocolate and you have yourself a proper vacation lunch!
We also enjoyed the large and very crowded gift shop in the same building. Caleb chose a Pike's Peak pocket knife with his name carved in the side and Morgan found a beautiful blue rock.
We finally forced the kids back out in the cold do some more exploring and fun picture taking. These are the cog railway tracks.
I'm on top of the world! While I was out there, I could hear Caleb up on higher ground saying he was worried about me and yelling to me that I should get down. Rodney joked that it is ok because I have life insurance. A lady nearby thought that was pretty funny.
On the way back down, several fancy sports cars passed us going up. In just a few more days there will be an event here called Race to the Clouds where cars will race up the Pike's Peak Highway to the top. The record is just over 2 minutes. I can't even imagine how that is possible. They were busy today all along the highway preparing for this big event. Straw bales lines the curves and fencing and porta potties were set up all along the road. Should be quite a sight to see!
Halfway down the mountain, there is a checkpoint where everyone must stop for a ranger to check if your brakes are overheated. We were given the all clear and headed down to the bottom.
Before leaving the Pike's Peak area, we made a stop at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. What an amazing place! There is a road and walking trails all throughout this park filled with interesting rock formations. This land was once owned by Charles Elliott Perkins and was given to the city of Colorado Springs after his death with the wish that it always be kept free to the public. What a great legacy!
A view of Pike's Peak from Garden of the Gods.
From the moment we entered the park, all the kids wanted to do was climb on rocks. I thought this was amusing to see so many people climbing (including my kids) here next to this warning sign telling people to stay off the rocks.
We saw deer in the park on our way out.
We could have spent all day at Garden of the Gods, but we had places to be. Our dinner plans were to eat at Gordon Biersch 1 1/2 hours away on the other side of Denver. This is a restaurant that we used to frequent at home until it closed earlier this year. I saw that there was a location on our vacation route this year so we decided to go.
We saw a full rainbow on the drive after dinner.
Our home for the next two night is the PaDutch tiny home in the WeeCasa tiny home village in Lyons, CO. We love tiny houses! We watch all the tiny house shows and are so excited to experience tiny house living for a few days.
This tiny home is 212 square feet and has a loft and murphy bed. The kids called the loft! It's really cute inside and actually pretty functional.
The murphy bed folds up and can be turned in to a couch. We found the cushion for it later.
This tiny house village is adorable. All the tiny houses are owned by WeeCasa and rented out. It is located in the charming town of Lyons at the foothills of the Rockies. There is a rushing stream that runs alongside the property and lots of chairs, fire pits, and picnic tables for everyone to enjoy.
The kids love the loft!
There is no TV in this tiny home, but there is wifi so we let the kids watch on a movie on the iPad in their loft before bed. It was a cozy spot!
There is no railing on the loft and so the kids slept sideways on the bed since they can fit that way. I think they would have been fine the other way too, but Morgan said she would have trouble sleeping so close to the drop off. Caleb has been known to fall off the bed so he was definitely not going to sleep on the outside!
Tomorrow, we will be exploring Rocky Mountain National Park!
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