High altitudes can make a person nauseous, dizzy and headachy. I've got all that and I'm also about halfway to a panic attack, but a real nice - and also dizzy - lady sitting next to me is commiserating so that's fun. Writing this is helping, too, though you should see my shaky handwriting. Her husband assured me that if I pass out he'll carry me back onto the train, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.
Matt and I took the Pike's Peak Cog Railway up this big ass hill today to see the view. While I hate heights and the cold and feel uber weird, it is flipping gorgeous. We saw some big horn sheep ewes galavanting about and, for me, if I see a sheep (or goat, cow, horse, pig) it is a serious plus.
Matt is the photographer today because I'm a bit freaked out - can you tell? He also hasn't been a passenger yet on this entire trip so I think he's enjoying that part as well and wanted to break out his fancy camera. Even though I'm being a bit of a complainer, I am glad we did this because:
1. Matt wanted to
2. I do love a good view
3. Yay, trains
4. Matt wanted to
Nothing affects Matt (except New Orleans eggs) so he's out being Mr. Mountain Man taking pictures in the windy 28 degree weather - did I mention its only 28 up here?!?! He isn't wearing any socks because we couldn't find any. We are moving to Cali, people! Socks and jackets were sorta packed in the hard to get to parts of the truck. We did find wind breakers though, and my boots, thank goodness.
I should probably back up a bit here because we've been in Colorado now for 3 days. I wrote about the day we arrived in the last post - basically a traveling day. The morning after that we drove to Colorado Springs where we booked 3 nights in the nicest hotel we've stayed in so far. Charleston was nicer, but it was a B&B and I'm nothing if not specific about pointless stuff.
Before we made it to the hotel though, we stopped in the downtown for lunch at a place called Nosh. Very yummy. I do love when I can eat something easily. They had this random dish of miso garlic cauliflower with basil and caramelized onions. I liked it - and Matt liked his chicken sandwich.
We were glad to be out of the car and so hung out long enough to get a really fun souvenir - our first parking ticket! We've made the executive decision to be lawbreakers and not pay it because when are we gonna be back here in the same vehicle?
Then we checked in and spent a lovely evening relaxing in our suite watching the presidential debate and nibbling on room service. This is our view:
In the morning we had to dress warmish because we were planning on being outside exploring. It took a bit of looking but I found my sweaters! Our first stop, after changing the car stickers to more appropriate things, was The Garden of the Gods to see the beautiful red rock formations.
This one area has been inhabited for a very long time - dinosaurs to honey ants have all lived here and it is so beautiful I don't think our pictures can do it justice. Matt and I both tried to get a few shots anyway to remember being there.
Back on the train again now, ready to head back down to a much more civilized 7000 feet above sea level and 25% more oxygen. I'd breathe a sigh of relief, but I physically can't yet - hahaha. I'm going to stop writing now to enjoy the view on the way back down so this will be my first 'to be continued' post. I'll let you all know about what happened after The Garden of the Gods next time!
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