Colorado Springs

Beautiful morning at garden of the gods

Really beautiful here. A little hike to earn our lunch calories.

A visit to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. The visitor center was closed but we got to hike around the park.

I'm calling this look Pikes Peak Chic!

#HellYesImAFashionista

We took a train up to the summit of Pike's Peak in Colorado. At the base...sunny and relatively warm. At the summit? Not so much. A snowstorm....wicked cold (I think it was around -11 with the wind chill) and we were all dizzy from the altitude. Interesting how much the landscape, weather and our physiology changed from around 7,000 feet to 14,000 feet. We were told we got there at the perfect time since the aspen leaves were gold and would all be gone within a week or two. Loved the contrast between the aspen leaves and the pines.

Air Museums are always long posts for me. I love military aircraft and having David Duckworth along made it twice as good as he's a military aircraft fan too. There were times where the tour guide lost track of time, probably because of all of our questions lol. Bonus on this trip...while we were learning about the attack on the USS Arizona the son of a survivor (Donald Stratton - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Stratton) of the attack was there to talk to us about his father. Great opportunity and honor. Anyway, this is going to be at least a 3 part post.

Part 2 of our trip to the National Museum of World War II Aviation.

Part 3 of our trip to the National Museum of World War II Aviation.

A quick stroll through Garden of the Gods to earn our Thanksgiving day meal? Sounds like a plan!

Hanging with some brothers/sisters at Garden of the Gods and Balanced Rock.

CVMA Nationals Bike Night at Pikes Peak Harley Davidson in Colorado Springs. Got to see Stoney. Miss ya brother!

CVMA National meeting with a few thousand of my favorite people. Extended family is the best. Great seeing all my brothers and sisters.

Saw some CVMA folks here as we tried to go to the Motorcycle Museum. The motorcycle museum was closed though due to lack of volunteers. So we came back to the Ghost Town Museum. It was a stop on a CVMA poker run. Tried to make it over to Pikes Peak Harley to get registered but we were too late. Oh well.

Beer Shot Brown stout for me please.

Julie and I love the air museums! Posted pics of this place before but I can't help myself but to do it again. Fond memories of watching Ba Ba Black Sheep (a.k.a. Black Sheep Squadron) with Robert Conrad as a kid come flooding back when I see the Corsairs. They're like art.