I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.....the Froggy Five decided to drive up Pikes Peak versus riding the cog railway! What a good decision that was! We are so glad our family convinced us to make the trek up by ourselves!
Our home base is right down the road from The Pikes Peak Highway and we were off! I drove up here when I was about 12 so it had been a very long time and everything felt new to me! Amazing views at evey turn! First point of intrigue for the kids was the Bigfoot crossing sign! That is super cool!!!!! Reminded us of the WolfBear back home! Great for the imagination! Not too much further down the road was the Bigfoot wood carving. Now. The kids have bears and Bigfoot on their minds!
When you drive your own car up Pikes Peak you have the luxury of stopping at any point along the way. J2 had his camera snapping lots of pictures around every bend. I truly think our driveway prepared us for this venture because it wasn't very scary. Also the fact that we watched the Pikes Peak Hill Climb on YouTube a few times so going 20 mph instead of 130 mph sure helped too!
After what happened to J1 at the hot springs we had the kids guzzling water like crazy and eating goldfish n apples.....we are not letting this altitude sickness attack us! Therefore we stopped at every potty on the way up!
Just below the summit at about mile 18 we saw Big Horn Sheep and Marmots! How do they live in this rocky terrain? So glad they made a visit near the side of the road so we could see them in their natural habitat!
We made it!!! The summit of Pikes Peak! Snow, glorious snow! The thunderstorm last night dropped snow on the mountain just for us Wisconsinites! What do you do with snow? Build a snowman of course!!!
In the summit house the smells of the fresh baked donuts were delicious. Unfortunately due to J1's severe peanut allergy we didn't take any chance with her having one :( instead we stuck to packaged safe foods which left her with a fruit cup and cheetos! Good combination, huh?
After taking in the views from all angles and learning that this inspired the song America the Beautiful we started our descend down the mountain! Brake check stop: Passed! We are good to go! This was a breeze! D and I had more trouble adjusting on the way down than up....it took my ears quite a while to pop! Troopers are we! We survived the climb! And we'd do it again! So fun!!!!
Time for a visit to The Trading Post our favorite shop in Garden of the Gods. Great food too!!! Found lots of treasures to bring home! J2 and J3 found their patches that they love to collect on vacation! J1 found a feather for her hair! Ah, the joy of shopping!
Our evening ended with visitors and relaxation back at our home base. So nice to kick back and relax! We made the driveway ascent in daylight and without tears!!!! Also a Happy Birthday Eve celebration so we could share our cake with others!!! A special ending for a special almost 6 year old boy! Sleep tight and recharge for tommorrow will bring another adventure!
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