14,110

Have I ever mentioned that I REALLY don't like heights? Now...it's not so bad if my feet are firmly planted on the ground and no one is touching me and all of my favorite people are well away from the side of any protrusion...but not really a fan.

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...

Nearly Silent Saturday...

Photos from Memorial Day 2011

This is just a collection of photos that don't really have a story...but they make me happy anyway.

















See ya around...

What the boys do...

So often you see pictures of me and the girls. There are several reasons for that...the largest is that Bubba works and so can't be with us as often as I have the camera, so I take pictures of the girls for HIM.

That is also one of the reasons that this thing we do is the "Girly" trip. The boys can't make it (or honestly don't WANT to make it) to all aspects of the trip. Pair that with the fact that both "boys" decided to have all "girls" and you end up with a lot of pictures sans Daddies.

This next set of pictures is one of the adventures the boys had. All by themselves. Apparently, I'm not allowed to call it the Boy-ly...or Boyish...or "Really-not-very-girly" trip. It was merely a MANLY activity.

When Camera King picked Bubba up from the airport on Saturday morning...he wisked him away to the Poudre River (my girls think this is a HILARIOUS name for a river) to do this...









And then they came home.

They evidently had a spectacular time. They didn't SAY it...they never do...but they looked at those pictures (and more) several times...and I hear tell, Bubba is using them for his desktop even as we speak.

For a quiet man...that is HIGH praise.

See ya around...

Well...Hello Lemur...

This year we all met in Wichita, KS. This was lovely for me because it meant a much shorter drive...not so great for the Colorado girls as it added an extra two hours...but we all got there in good time and checked into our favorite hotel-for-LARGE -groups-in-Wichita.

Now we stayed in Wichita last year too...it is the home of one of our favorite functioning old western towns...Cow Town. Last year, we got back to the hotel from Cow Town and were FAMISHED...and really in the mood for Thai Food. (If you know me at all, you know this is a weakness for me...and if I'm ever offered the opportunity to partake, I jump at the chance...however, I've not found a plate of Mee Krob, good or otherwise, since we left California, apparently these people in the middle states have no understanding of the necessity of Mee Krob.) So we either scoured the phone book or, more likely, googled and found a place called Thai Traditions...they have a Musamun Curry that I would eat out of a shoe. So this year we just PLANNED to eat there on our first night...we had the Musamun, Pad Thai and Pad Prik King...and all I can say? mmmmmmmmmmmm.

Because we rarely make this a straight through trip, we usually have an event on the day after we arrive in Kansas. AND because I was sort of out of commission for the planning of our Girly Trip this year (many circumstances collided which left me REALLY busy and REALLY struggling to WANT to plan anything) true to form, my bestest buddy, Aunt S.P. stepped right up and found the coolest attraction ever...in Wichita, of all places.

Tanganykia Wildlife Park...it's just another zoo on paper. There were many of the typical zoo-ish things...ya know, giraffes ambling around way over there...a sleeping rhino hanging out in the mud...oh and a snow tiger asleep way over there in the grass on the other side that looks like a rock and won't wake up.



But oooooohhh...there's some other stuff that is just FUN. For instance...because there were 10 of us, we signed up for a tour. This was great...there were just enough of us...someone had a question about most stuff which kept even the littlest ones interested...and if everyone had a question, there weren't so many that she couldn't answer everyone.



And as an added bonus...Bear thought our guide was HILARIOUS...



But on TOP of the informative and funny guide...we got ta feed sumpin!! I did not know what the something WAS until it was revealed...I'm not sure if Aunt S.P. did or not...but if she did, she wasn't talking.

We got to FEED lemurs.

Now here are the rules...


So...we went in...sat on the rocks...received our "treat" (it was a craisin) and when we opened out hands in our laps...magic happened...



They seemed to really like Bear...



Well...and it goes without saying that they loved the Grandma...



And this one really REALLY liked Gabby...he sat there and held her hand for quite a while...I'm fairly certain it's just that she's so loveable...but it could be that she smelled more like craisins than the rest of us...



The whole idea that we got to get THIS close to lemurs...well...it was pretty amazing...and the babies? Sooo sweet...



Now if that had been all, it would have been pretty great, but that was NOT all..there seemed to be animals to feed EVERYWHERE. Although sometimes our girls took on the aspects of a shark frenzy GETTING the food to feed the animals...



There were...lemme think...
Coy Fish

Lorikeets (of which I, sadly, didn't TAKE any pictures...BECAUSE I WAS FEEDIN THEM...and was COVERED in Lorikeets...wish I had taken some though because everyone had at least 3...and the grownups who knew not to flinch ended up with between 5-7 all over them.)

There were Kangaroos with joeys in their pouches...


There was this little bitty hedgehog that my girls wanted to take home...


We fed the one giraffe...but no pictures

and We got to let a porcupine sniff us...he wasn't hungry and as far as true "petting" goes...well...he's a porcupine...still he did sniff us quite a bit...He was the first porcupine on a leash that I've ever seen...


To our animal loving girls, it was pretty wonderful.

A great kick off to Girly Trip 2011.


See ya around...