Made it up to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs this morning and visited their chapel. I’m not much of one for visiting churches, but I was incredibly impressed. The architecture is unique (no gargoyles or flying buttresses here) and the use of stained glass to color the light coming in instead of making designs is phenomenal. A few quick stops to take photos of some planes on display and I was back on the road again.

Next up was Garden of the Gods, just a few miles down the road. Even after stopping by the badlands (which the rock formations reminded me of quite a bit) it was quite pretty and had a unique quality to it. Unlike the Badlands, these rock formations appear to just grow out of the trees. Whereas the Badlands can be forbidding, Garden of the Gods is… almost welcoming. The rocks invite climbing instead of attempts to find a way around them.

A quick trip down the highway brought me to Pikes Peak ($10/person entrance fee) and I headed up the mountain (to the dismay of my gas mileage). Quite the pretty view from the top, probably not something I’ll ever need to go back and do again though.

When I first got into Colorado, a lady at the Welcome Center recommended I go to Cripple Creek, which she described as a rebuilt mining town with lots of cool sights to see and a couple casinos. Personally, I don’t think she’d ever been to the town. There are perhaps 10 buildings in the entire downtown area that aren’t casinos. The only historic buildings I saw were the information center (an old railway car) and their museum (the old jail). Definitely not worth the trip and I left feeling like I’d wasted a few hours. So, I hit the road, found and found a rest area to sleep in for the night.

Travel Distance: 180 miles