Thank You

I want to say a great big THANK YOU to Tera's Uncle Rob and Aunt Denice for showing me the sights in Colorado and Canada and for the great road trip back to Indiana, my home. It is great to be home.
Thank you, Thank you!

Home for Thanksgiving Dinner

Yeah! We made it home for Tera's family Thanksgiving Dinner.  It was yummy!  Turkey, noodles and my favorite, pumpkin pie!!

Tera and I also had lots of fun playing with her cousin Maddy.

After my long trip and eating too much pumpkin pie, I had to rest!!

Road Trip - Day 2

Buckled in and ready to start the day!

Well, we started off the 2nd day at a reasonable hour - about 7am.  We were further away from Indiana than we thought, about 5 hours.  The morning was very cloudy, but good for driving.

Mississippi River

After about 90 minutes, we made it to St. Louis.  I was very excited to see the St. Louis Arch, but we took the road that went around the city and I did not get to see it.  I was sad, but we did get to see the very large Mississippi River.  There are a lot of very cool things to see in St. Louis, but we did not have time.  Also, it was Thanksgiving Day, so not much was open.  Some of the main attractions in St. Louis are:

• St. Louis Gateway Arch
• Six Flags (that would have been VERY fun!)
• St. Louis Zoo - with all kinds of great animals
• Children's museum

Illinois State Line (behind the construction sign)

It wasn't long before we crossed into Illinois. We tried to get a good shot with me in front of the sign, but were not very successful. But you can sort of make out the Illinois sign.

Rest Area!

The state of Illinois that we drove through did not offer too many sights.  We did stop at a rest area (see to the left), but it was not very exciting!

Crossing over into Indiana

After a couple more hours, we arrived back home in Indiana.  It is good to be back in my home state.  I missed Tera a lot!  We are spending a couple of days with Aunt Denice's family, then we are heading to see Tera on Saturday - yea!!

Road Trip - Day 1

Pretty flat out in Eastern Colorado isn't it?!

OK.. so we left from Colorado heading towards Indiana this morning at 5am!  Yea, a bit early :-(  But it was a pretty easy drive. 

Crossing into Kansas

It took us a good 2 hours to drive East through Colorado.  It was dark a lot of that time.  But then we saw an awesome sunrise.  About 7am this morning, we crossed over into Kansas (see me with the road sign?). 

My spot in the car

For a lot of the drive, I literally hung out in the car... LOL. 




 

Cool wind farm

While driving through the middle of Kansas, we saw a HUGE wind farm.  I had heard of farms with corn, beans, cows, pigs... but never wind!  You can see one of the turbines (like a very large windmill) over my shoulder.   Wind farms are very cool because they provide a natural form of energy - instead of gas or coal.  It is naturally replenished (there is always wind), and is very "green" to use. 


 

We ended up driving about 12 hours today.  We stopped in Columbia, MO.  We didn't get a sign crossing into Missouri as it was right in the center of Kansas City and traffic was a bit hectic being the day before a holiday at 4pm!  Tonight, we did a little food shopping for tomorrow (Wal-Mart was a bit busy!), grabbed some wings for dinner and are now relaxing before we head out again tomorrow at 8am. 

Good night everyone and Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Olympic Training Center

I am between the red and green circles!

I know.. I know.  It has been a long time since I last posted.  Sorry!  Time just gets away from me here in the mountains. 

Yesterday, we did a little more touring around Colorado Springs.  We actually visited the Olympic Training Center!  As of August 1998, there are 12 Olympic organizations that have their national headquarters on the complex  They are able to provide housing, dining, recreational facilities and other services for up to 557 coaches and athletes at one time on the complex.  Some of the sports that are hosted by this training center include:

• Fencing - pretend fighting with swords!
• Shooting
• Weightlifting
• Gymnastics
• Triathlon - 3 sports in one:  swimming, biking, and running
• Cycling
• Swimming

Rob and I at the cool statue out front

 It was a very impressive tour.  We actually got to see the pool and gyms where the athletes train!

Well, I head back to Indiana starting Wednesday.  We will be driving.  I will be sure and post along the way.  We will be going through the states of Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois before making it back to Indiana.

Montreal Canada - Day 2

Montreal has been great!  It is such a beautiful city.  Did I happen to mention that the primary language in Montreal is French?  Although most people do speak English, I found that French was the first language people used when they spoke to us. 

On Monday morning, we went out for a run.  It was fairly cold - about 40 degrees.  Now this is 40 degree Fahrenheit which is the temperature scale we use in the United State.  In Canada, they use Celsius.  So 40 degrees to us is equivalent to 4.45 degrees in Canada.  It seems so much colder when you convert temperatures to Celsius doesn't it?!

We got to experience early morning Montreal during our run.  It was amazing!  It is very different to see a new city before most people are out starting their day.  It was beautiful.  We started off at the hotel, ran up a very steep hill (remember that "mountain" I mentioned the first day?), and ran through McGill University.  By the way, the mountain is known as Mount Royal.  They do call it a mountain, but technically since it is only about 764ft above sea level, it really is only a hill.  But it was hard running none the less!

McGill University was very interesting as well.  over 34,000 students attend there every year, so it is very large.  One of the largest in Canada actually.  They offer over 300 different degrees. So you could graduate and become a doctor, lawyer, or one of 298 other occupations!

I'm working hard!

After our run, we had to shower, then get to work (the real reason we came to Montreal!).  It was a travel related conference with over 350 people attending from all over Canada.  Aunt Denice had to work at a booth, demonstrating her software.  I helped out as you can see to the left.  It was fun, but hard work. 

Her software actually gives corporations Grade Point Averages - like what I will get in school when I get older. So it was kind of like I was still in school...

The Basilica

After the first session of working the booth, we had a couple hour break so we went out and saw the sights.  There was an amazing looking cathedral as they call it right next to the conference.  It was modeled after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and was built in 1894.  It definitely looks old!

The Canadian flag is 2nd from the left

I also took a picture of the Canadian flag so you could know what that looks like.  It is the red and white flag with the maple leaf  in the center. 

After working all day and getting in a bit of sight seeing, we had dinner at the conference and then headed back to our hotel. We headed home early this morning.  I'm exhausted!

Montreal Quebec, Canada

Denver to Montreal flight path

Airport gate

Me with my new passport!

 Wow, what a busy day!  So.. Aunt Denice had a business trip scheduled for Montreal, Canada and she asked me to go.  How cool!  But... I didn't have a passport, so we had to get one quickly.  A passport is a small book that you get from the US government that lets you travel to other countries.  Although Canada is close to the US, you still need a passport to travel to and from this other country.

 
Montreal is the 2nd largest city in all of Canada.  They not only speak English there, but French as well.  I find it interesting as they kiss each other on both cheeks when they greet each other.  Very different.  I am not so much into kissing (especially girls!) so I am not sure how I feel about that part.  But I think I generally like Montreal.  They tell me there is a mountain not too far from our hotel and we may check that out in the morning.

Checking in at the airport gate

So our day started out by leaving home around 7:30 this morning.  We then drove to Denver, so that we could fly out to Montreal.  The Denver airport is large, but we navigated it pretty easily.  We arrived about 90 minutes prior to our flight.  We had to check in at the gate to show them our passport (that's me over there on the left getting ready to do just that), then we just sat and waited for our plane to arrive.

That's our plane!

Although a bit late, our plane did finally arrive.  It was smaller than I imagined, but it still amazes me that it can fly from Denver, CO to Montreal in just over 3 hours!  That is more than 1,800 miles. If we would have driven there, it would have taken us over 29 hours.. wow, planes amaze me. 

Chillin' in our hotel room

Well, I think it is time for me to go to sleep.  I have been hanging out in my hotel's bed, propped up with the remote to the TV next to me, and updating this blog with Aunt Denice's laptop.  I do like this business travel thing.. my own TV/remote control and this bed is crazy comfy :-)

Until my next update, good night!

Touring Historic Manitou Springs (cont.)

We did a lot of things in Manitou Springs, so I saved some of my story for today!

Another famous place we visited was the Pikes Peak Cog Railway.   Remember how the other day I mentioned you could get to the top of Pikes Peak either by hiking, by car, or by train?  Well the Cog Railroad it the train method!

See me on the train?  This is one of their older ones!

The cog train is different than what I have seen in Indiana or anywhere else for that matter.  It does not operate on standard rails.  It uses "gears" to climb the mountain.  So whereas normal trains can only climb very small hills (no more than 6% incline), the cog train can climb at inclines that are 4 times that steep!  This is helpful as it is a long way up to the top of Pikes Peak.   They even modified one of the train engines and added a snow plow!  I find that funny that a train plows snow up a mountain... but it works very well.
 
On the way back from the Cog Railway, we stopped at the Iron Springs Chateau.

There I am by the scary looking guy!  He hosts the show.

At the chateau, you have dinner (chicken and such), then they put on an "old time comedy show" or melodrama.  The actors tell a story while singing and dancing and then at the end, everybody joins in a sing-a-long.  Uncle Rob said he took his parents to see this a few years ago.  He said he wasn't excited about the show, but he thought his Dad liked it.



The last thing we saw on our tour of Manitou Springs was the Miramont Castle.  Miramont means "look at the mountain".  Well, since everything in this area seems based around Pikes Peak, that sure makes sense.  I didn't know that they had castles in Colorado though.

I stayed my distance from the ghosts!

It didn't look like the castles I had seen in my books, but they say that castles can look many different ways and apparently this is what one in Manitou looks like.  It was built in 1895. Again, over 100 years ago.. I am feeling very young in this town for sure.  Oh, and did I mention they tell me it is haunted with ghosts!  I am not sure I believe that, but you never know....

OK, one last thing that they showed me in Manitou Springs - "the incline".  You can see a cut-out on the side of the mountain from most locations within Colorado Springs.

That's the incline over my shoulder

The history of the incline is that in 1907 (yes, again over 100 years ago! - I told you Manitou Springs was historic) the same people that operated the Cog Railway (mentioned above) put in a tram for work purposes, but then turned it into a tourist attraction by taking people up in  box cars.  A rock slide eventually destroyed the tracks and the entire tram was taken out. But that is not the cool part.  Now, it is a local activity that people will hike, run, and climb up this incline.  It gains 2000 feet of elevation (there is that word again!) in a little over 3/4 of a mile.  At times it has a 50 degree incline.  That is 2 times steeper than the Cog Railway can climb!

This is a guy climbing up - notice I am NOT in this pic!

It is hard to picture how steep this climb is, but it did not look climbable to me!  They say that some locals climb it every day just for fun and that there is a 70 year old man that runs (yes runs) it every week!  That sure does not seem fun to me!

Touring Historic Manitou Springs

Today, I got to tour the small town in which Uncle Rob and Aunt Denice live - Manitou Springs, CO. 

Manitou is a Native American word that means "spirit".  The Ute and Cheyenne Native Americans considered this area sacred for the healing powers of the natural springs and the clean mountain air.  Manitou Springs is mostly known for its natural carbonated mineral springs located all through-out the town.  There are 11 of them in total.  We stopped by one to try the water and to take a photo!

Me getting a drink from the natural spring

Here is a sign by the spring.   They were right, it was a popular spring.  We had to wait a little while until others filled their bottles.  It sure doesn't taste like water back home!




































On our way back through town, we spotted this place:

Amazingly great candy!

I was very excited, as I LOVE candy! 

Patsy's was started in Manitou Springs in 1903.  That was over 100 years ago!  I cannot even imagine how long ago that was....  But it has ties back in my home state of Indiana.  The founder of Patsy's was an Irishman who was said to have made the best candied popcorn and taffy anyone had ever tasted.  He sold his popcorn and taffy at local fairs around Terre Haute, Indiana.  Yea, not too far from Tipton!  The story says that he sold his famous candied popcorn recipe to a company called Cracker Jack and headed west to Colorado where he started this very store in the picture above. 

Hiking on Sunday

Although I am visiting Colorado Springs, technically my Uncle and Aunt live in Manitou Springs.  It is a suburb of Colorado Springs - just a little closer to the mountains.   Actually, they live near the top of a mountain:

Right there in that circle

There are a lot of places to hike around their house.  On Sunday, we took a short hike with the dogs to some really cool rock formations.

The snow was a bit deep, so I hitched a ride

 And besides hiking, we also climbed trees:

I had to have help getting down!

Did some rock climbing:

I am much higher up than it looks

These are the rocks I was climbing in the previous picture

 AND we played a bit in the snow!

Finigan was checking to make sure I wasn't too cold

The Day I Arrived

I arrived on Saturday into Colorado Springs, CO around noon.  Some information on Colorado Springs:

Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado - about 60 miles South of the capital - Denver.  Colorado Springs is approximately 6,000 feet above sea level and is located at the base of the Rock Mountains.People in Colorado talk about "above sea level" a lot.  It also means elevation.  They explained to me that being in Colorado was like being about 1 mile higher than being in Indiana.  I tried to envision being 1 mile higher than at home, but it is hard. 

Also, being that high up can make you feel funny.  They told me I need to drink a lot more water than I do at home to avoid getting a headache or feeling light headed.  Also, whenever I walk up stairs or just around, I get out of breath a lot!  That helps put elevation into perspective for me :-)

 My journey from Tipton, Indiana to Colorado Springs, CO was a long one.  It was 1,092 miles.  Although I came via the United States Postal Service and it took me 3 days to arrive, I could have driven in a car and arrived within about 17 hours.  Either way, it is not a quick trip!

Colorado Springs is the 2nd largest city in Colorado  and the 41st largest city in the United States.  It has a population of 416,000 people.  Colorado Springs is about 83 times larger than Tipton, 9 times the size of Kokomo and 1/2 the size of Indianapolis.

Colorado Springs and the surrounding area has many tourist attractions that draws visitors from around the world.  Some of the main features include:

• Pikes Peak
• Garden of the Gods park
• Seven Falls
• Cave of the Winds
• United States Olympic Training Center
• ProRodeo Hall of Fame

On the day I arrived, we saw two of the main spots that people visit.

Garden of the Gods:

 Is a 480 acre park open free to the public that was donated by Charles Elliott Perkins (head of the Burlington Railroad) in 1907.  It is amazingly beautiful!  In the park you can hike, take photos, take tours, and climb rocks.  Here I am visiting the park:

Me by the Entrance Sign

Me in Garden of the Gods

Pikes Peak:

I learned some very cool facts about Pikes Peak such as: 

• It is the most visited mountain in North America
• It is 14,110 above sea level.  Locals would call this a 14'er (because it is above 14,000 ft).
• You can get to the top by either hiking, driving, or taking a train

In 1893 Katharine Lee Bates joined an expedition to the top of Pikes Peak via a private wagon.  Awed by the beauty she saw, she wrote a poem that later became known as "America the Beautiful".  You probably know "America the Beautiful" as a song though:    America the Beautiful Song/Video

Here I am with Pikes Peak in the background:

Cool mountain hu?

 

My Host Family

I am happy to be staying with Uncle Rob and Aunt Denice!  Here we are together:

Hanging with Uncle Rob and Aunt Denice in the Mountains

I am also VERY EXCITED because they have 2 dogs:  Addie and Finigan who I get to play with too!

Finigan let me lean on him a bit

The day I arrived, we celebrated Addie's 14th birthday!

Me with the Birthday girl

After all my travels on Saturday AND the birthday celebration, I was a bit tired. So was Finigan.  We had already become fast friends and decided to take a nap together.

We are going to be great pals!