rocky mountain high

I was invited to teach an all-day course for the Desk and Derrick's annual conference in Denver, so with it falling between the hubs' and my birthday, we decided to go together and sightsee as our birthday gifts!  We flew into Denver on Wednesday, and I taught the class on Thursday.  Three of my students passed their tests and became certified, after six years of courses.  Yay!  

On Friday we got up and went to Denver Biscuit Co., for a ridiculously yummy breakfast.  Then we headed to Pikes Peak.  We couldn't get on the railroad because the only available tickets were for 8:00 am, so the hubs geared up to drive the entire way up to the summit.

We didn't see Big Foot, sadly enough.

We stopped at the Crystal Reservoir, where a wind storm picked up all the dirt in the parking lot and we almost lost our way back to the car!

Well, I guess technically we did find one Big Foot...

The view from Ute Pass, on the way up.  It took about an hour to drive to the summit.

We made it!  Let me tell you, upon arriving in Denver, the altitude was affecting me.  I passed out after my class, sleeping from 7:00 pm until 8:30 am the next morning!  Altitude sickness was like being hungover and out of breath, with a chronic headache.  The minute we stepped out of the car on the summit, I was afraid I'd pass out.  I felt better when we got indoors, into the highest gift shop in America!

We were level with the clouds and could see for miles.....

I refused to look over the edge for our drive up, because there are some areas where there's maybe a few feet between the road and a cliff.  Plus, there's almost no barriers stopping your car from plummeting over the edge.  The drive down was almost as bad, in that we now added my fear that Hertz wasn't too careful with their brake inspections!

But I didn't need to worry - we made it down in one piece.  I even got some great shots of the drive down to the bottom of the mountain.

We left Saturday and I was thrown back into reality by returning to work this morning.  This is the second time I've taught this "Land and Leasing" class, and honestly, I'd probably do it again if I get to travel to awesome new cities!