Westward Ho!

2800 miles in 7 days...whew! It was amazing! and yet, I'm glad to be out of the car. We left Saturday a week ago (July 8th) at 6:00 a.m. and headed towards South Dakota. We cut across Wyoming and arrived in Colorado on Sunday afternoon. What a fabulous experience! We drove through the Badlands, visited Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse monument, meander through the Rockies on down to the Garden of the Gods and upward to Pike's Peak. The summit of Pike's Peak is over 14,000 feet!! I had never heard of altitude illness, but I now feel very well acquainted. I had no idea that the height alone could have such an effect on the body, but it was worth it. The drive to the top was spectacular...I never understood the phrase "purple mountains majesty", but now I do. The words of America the Beautiful were actually inspired from the summit of Pike's Peak. We got to see amber waves of grain too! I've seen a lot of farm land, but there is something very unique about seeing wheat grow. It really does make amber waves as the winds blow across the plains. I took tons of pictures and it may take a while to sort through them, but here's a start with just a few of the things that we got to see...

Mark's meetings were very successful. It looks like (as these things do) it will take a little while to see what will come out of our efforts, but he feels really good about the networking connections that he made. He truly enjoyed the class and hopes to get a chance to work with the consulting group. Life's an adventure...guess we will have to wait and see where the next turn takes us.

Love to all!




That's Mark in the bottom right-hand corner...




These are the Goats we saw as we meandered around Mt. Rushmore...the mountain goats were seen as we were leaving Mt. Rushmore - definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip. They are wild; however you will notice a tag on the father's ear. They are protected.
The goats were awesome! The little one scampered up and down the mountain fearlessly.

On to the Garden of the Gods...gateway to Pike's Peak

This is the famous Balanced Rock...

I was admiring this bird with the long tail and his graceful flight, when he swooped down and posed on the fence post in front of me. I'm not sure what kind of bird it is??



Onward to Pike's Peak...


We rose above the clouds... (this was taken from the car window)

We made it to the top!
Note: the picture of Mark and me in front the Pike's Peak sign...it was 100 degrees at the base of the mountain and 38degrees at the peak. We are wearing our winter parkas...I was actually surprised to see myself smiling in the photo. I felt so ill...I'm surprised that I'm not gripping the bench for dear life. Hahaha!

This photo looking is down from the summit and in the bottom left corner you can see the top of the tram that runs to the peak. We chose to drive and I'm glad that we did. The drive up was really better than being at the top, but the view from the top was incredible....through the clouds, miles away, you can see lakes...

What an amazing journey!!