For the Beauty of the Earth

I just returned home after going to Colorado Springs for a week. That place is amazing! I haven't been there since I was about 11 or 12 and it is more beautiful than I remember. I went with my dad to watch the Pike's Peak Invitational soccer tourmament at the Air Force Academy. What a great campus. There are only about 4,000 students and it is the biggest campus I have seen for a school that size. The Cadet Chapel is breath-taking. There are 17 spires on the building. The spires don't mean a thing. The original design had more spires but was to expensive so the plans were revised and it turned out to have only 17 spires. The athletic complex is awesome. The thick, soft, green grass was absolutley refreshing to see. I haven't beena round grass like that in ages. I never played on a soccer field in college that could even compare to that. Goes to show that not alot of colleges care all that much about field upkeep. Oh, well.
Garden of the Gods is gorgeous! I would love to go there everyday and explore something new. It was a great hike with and awesome view. I took lots of pictures. While I don't know the names of the groups of rocks they are still great to look at. I was a little disappointed that I could not do any free rock climbing like I did 15 years ago. They have added sidewalks and signs telling you that you can't do any climbing. I guess too many people got hurt and were trying to sue. It is still a great place to go and lots of fun.
Pike's Peak was really cool. I was able to ride the Cog Railway to the top. It was 89 degrees at teh bottom in Manitou Springs and as we travelled higher in elevation the temps dropped dramatically. I don't know how cool it was, but I had to put on my jacket. The railway took 1hr 10 minutes to fet to the top and 1 hr 20 minutes to get to the bottom. Once at the top there is a 3500 ft drop if you fall off the edge. Pike's Peak is only 14,110 ft. It's ranked 31 out of 54 highest peaks in the Rockies. It was a great experience to go to the top. I think Dad liked it better. He gets so excited about these things. He really is a big kid. That's what makes him so fun sometimes.
It was a great vacation away from Texas and I had tons of fun. I wish I was still there in all the wonder of it all, but it's back to a normal life. Someday I will go back and do all the other things I want to do.