However.
We went to Colorado...nearish to Colorado Springs...and had the opportunity to ride a train to the top of Pike's Peak...the highest point in the vicinity. I decided that I would put on my big girl pants and just GO!
So off we went...to the Cog Railroad Station...to have that train take us to the top...
We rode this pretty red train (this shot was taken at the top)...
There were 12 of us and we were running pretty late so we weren't all able to sit together...but each of us had someone and all the kids had at least one adult...but due to my earlier mention of height issues, I was unable to take any pictures...so Camera King had to take them all...and he was facing Bubba and the little girls so that's whatcha get...
Now I will say...I wasn't too awfully nervous the entire train ride...the cliffs and open expanses were mostly on the other side of the train...so I stared up at my side...which was hardly worth mentioning for large parts of the trip...
Lucky for you, dear reader, that Camera King is not such a chicken as I, so you can actually see the other side...
I'm glad of it too. I mean, LOOKING at pictures of heights doesn't bother me so much. It's more KNOWING that we are, say, riding on a rail on the precipice of a 3,400 ft drop RIGHT NOW! That conductor may as well have said 34 Gagillion MILES, cuz it's all gut wrenching to me...I'm not sure I've quite forgiven him for that piece of information really...
One interesting thing that we didn't get a picture of was the grade of the train...I think he said it was a 25% grade at one point and with the length of the train taken into account, the front of the train was 3 stories HIGHER than the back...which is why it was so important to keep a-hold of our stuff and our selves and our kids. Fascinating stuff, I tell ya, especially since that was about the moment that littlest Topo wanted to slide off Aunt S.P.'s lap and go for a stroll. Aunt S.P. saved me a freak out by hanging onto that kid...thankfully.
We did get to the top, completely uneventfully. And I did get to stand very still, without anyone touching me...and look...and all I can say is WOW!
We spent the 30 minutes or so in the shop...it was cold...I can't remember the exact temp, but something like 30 degrees cooler at the summit than at the base and we're from Texas...where it's warm.
But we did get the opportunity to eat doughnuts and stomp around the gift shop a bit. In hind-sight I wish I'd bought one of the "Got Oxygen" T-shirts, because we really needed it.
It was weird. It felt a little like not quite having your sea legs. I assume that's because I didn't HAVE enough oxygen...but it was weird because I felt okay...just like the ground was unsteady.
Grandma was a bit worse off...she got the altitude headache that they talk about and then we got a little worried and so had them check her oxygen levels. All she needed was to relax and take deep breaths and drink water and everything was okay...but we had a couple nervous moments.
And then it was time to go down...
I had been afraid that the train would turn around and so plunk me on the "WRONG" side of the train going down...NOPE! It was a straight up and then the driver/engineer went to the other end and drove back down...whew!
The going down was more of the same...
Some of us were not nearly as impressed on the way down...but I won't mention any names...
We did indeed reach the bottom...and while bathrooms were visited and water bottles refilled...the girls played...
And then I realized...I had stood at a spot on this planet that was 14,110 feet above sea level and looked (nearly) over the edge.
swoon.
See ya around...
1 comment:
I'm not fond of heights AT ALL. I've had so much fun at ground level, I think it's a good place to be and STAY.
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