Choo choo!

What an adventure today!  We had reservations for the Pike's Peak Cog Railway.  This is a look at our train.  See that second window from the right?  That's where we were all sitting.  What a steep ride!

Manitou Springs is somewhere around 6000 feet above sea level.  By the time we reached the top, we were over 14000 feet above sea level!  They have 3 or 4 different 25% grade climbs to get us up there.  That means that over the length of two rail cars, there is about 2 1/2 stories difference.  Eeek!  Some of the views out the window were pretty terrifying on that climb.  It took us just over an hour to reach the top.

When we left Manitou Springs, it was in the low 80s.... and the temp on the top was about 38 degrees with a windchill down to about 35 degrees.  Of course, by the time we reached the top, I think the guy said the temp had climbed to about 40 degrees.  Thankfully there wasn't much wind!

Our conductor told us that the lady who wrote America the Beautiful did so after she saw the views from the top of Pike's Peak.  I can see why.....

Well, no, it wasn't because of the World Famous Donuts (although they were very good).  :)

It was because of views like this......

Every direction we turned had stunning views.  Of course, I have loads more pics of them, but wi-fi in an rv park isn't the best for uploading photos.  

I could definitely feel the altitude as we walked around.  Between that and the uneven ground, I'm pretty sure I looked like a drunken sailor at times.  Grin.  But it was well worth it!!