End of the Road - Pike's Peak and Mt. Capulin

After leaving Denver, we headed to Pike's Peak - there is a train that makes 2 round trips to the top per day. We arrived and got settled in the train, then began our ascent which took about an hour. The scenery was beautiful, and the lady who was our "guide" was knowledgeable and told only a few cheesy jokes.




When we reached the top...it was COLD. So cold, in fact, that the boys didn't want to leave the train at first. Then Luke decided he would get out, but just to have his picture made...



Then Daddy went in the building and found out that there are donuts that can only be made at high altitudes, and they were hot, and there was hot chocolate...so we all went in.

Caden thought he might prefer fudge, so he started with that

When the donuts arrived at the table, he thought he'd try one of those too (he's a lot like his mom sometimes!)

The trip back down was a quiet one


Rested and reenergized, we ate a delicious lunch followed by dessert at this lovely sweet shop

We then headed on to Mt. Capulin - a REAL volcano! We parked and were immediately swarmed by tiny black bugs that didn't bite, but were incredibly annoying and kept swarming us as we hiked around the top of the volcano. Here we are at the top.

Here we are at the bottom by the sign.

And that's about how long we hung around. The bugs made the experience less than enjoyable, even for Caden, so that kind of stunk. They didn't even want to trek into the middle of the volcano. Oh well - heading on towards home...

It was a crazy long drive to get home, but we made it in late Wednesday night. On our last stretch, we got the boys a bottle of Gatorade and consequently had to stop 3 times in an hour to let them use the bathroom on the side of the road (such a gret perk of having boys!). On one of these stops, the sun was setting, and the boys paid attention to the sunset for the first time. It was amazing how impressed they were at the beauty of it.


Where'd it go??


When we arrived at home, we were pleasantly surprised to find Mamie there! She house-sat for us while we were away, and the house was immaculate - cleaner than it's been since we moved in! Such a wonderful treat!

The trip was great but we were very glad to get home and sleep in our own beds. The boys were glad to get back to their toys and tae kwon do. Reese was glad to get back on a schedule. All is well. We appreciate you sharing the adventure with us!