We planned on an early morning to catch the sunrise illuminating the Garden of the Gods outcroppings from the overlook above. We were a half hour early but the time passed quickly and the clouds cooperated to let the sun provide us some nice color.
David waited for the sun in some pretty chilly air. I sat in the car, popping out here and there to catch some rays.
Finally, Pikes Peak was the first to blush...
When the sun hit the red rocks they seemingly burst into flames.
Even Gray Rock (on the left) took on an orange tone.
You can see a line toward the bottom of the red formation where the hill behind us is casting its shadow still.
A little to the north, beyond the park, the landscape looks dreamy...
...in the early light. I can imagine a fairy tale spun around the...
...dragon's backbone protruding from the earth.
After the sun was up it was time for some breakfast. We headed to the Black Bear Diner for a couple of hearty three-egg omelets, biscuits and hash-browns. Not exactly a low-carb meal but we were hungry!
Today we headed a few miles to the north of Colorado Springs to the United States Air Force Academy. In the Visitor's Center, we watched a short film entitled A Year in the Blue that gave a peek into the life of a first-year cadet.
A one third mile trail led around a hill to the Air Force Chapel. It was truly a unique structure that is apparently the most visited man-made creation in the state of Colorado.
The futuristic design made for some great abstract images. Unfortunately, the aluminum panels were not a great choice in the temperature extremes the structure experiences and the entire building will need some major refurbishment. We were lucky the work had been delayed or we might have seen nothing but scaffolding.
The chapel is scheduled to close September 1, 2019, for a major overhaul and will probably remain closed for 4 years.
When we returned to the car we found our breakfast leftovers had been defiled. Sam figured out how to unzip the thermal bag, pull out and open the container and wolf down every scrap. He has been getting bolder by the day but what can we say - after all we left him there unsupervised with that temptation.
From the Interstate the Air Force Academy Football Stadium was easily seen. All cadets were encouraged to participate in team building sports and activities.
Later in the afternoon, a little shower passed overhead. While it hardly rained on us it did give us a colorful rainbow to close out our day.
Beautiful pictures of both the Air Force chapel and Garden of the Gods. We've been both places but enjoyed the return visit through your blog.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard about the chapel refurb - glad you got to see it.