a crazy kind of wonderful: Pikes Peak

So far, Spencer had seen the mountains from a distance, but I was so excited to see his reaction to being on a windy road in the mountains.

Park entrance... 7,500 feet

This is where they give you tips on driving to the peak (this comes in again later).

Our first stop was about 6 miles in at Crystal Reservoir which is approximately 9,000 ft. There are 2 reasons we stopped here.

1) It was beautiful!!

2) There was a Viper just a couple cars in front of us that Spencer had just spotted. This was the first sighting...

So, he drooled over the car a bit and then we snapped a few pics and decided to hit the road again. And lucky us... So was the Viper! Unfortunately a mini-van got between us. But, at this point, it became a mission for spencer to get a good photo of this car!! The darn mini van prevented that at this point and we lost him, but he got some good scenic shots...

As we get closer and closer to the top, which I might add is at an elevation of 14,110 ft, All I kept hearing was oohs and ahhs and the click of the camera. I, on the other hand, especially the closer to the top we got, felt a little white knuckled. It's a narrow and windy road with not much room for error. I'm sure it was more than it felt... There were times when you just didn't see the road anymore!! I mean, look!

No part of me thought it was a good idea to turn my head to try to take in the view! My fear of heights was screaming at me that it would've been a terrible idea. I will add though... Spencer had a hay day with me and my fears telling me how easy it would be to just drive off the cliff and that there was almost no shoulder at points! Spencer... You are lucky I love you so much!

Ok.. So we make the top!! Yeah!

Spencer and I both felt the elevation! Probably would have been smart to acclimate for a day before coming up here, but go big or go home, right!?

After a few more photos, and chatting with a very nice couple from Minnesota, we were on our way to make the 19 mile decent! And low and behold... Who is leaving at the same time?! You guessed it! Mr. Viper!! And this time, we are directly behind him! Game on for the photo!

Then we come up on a look out and we were contemplating not stopping just to follow the Viper. After all... It was a mission! To our pleasant surprise, they stopped too! We talked to the driver for a bit. I told him my son was obsessed by his car. He response... Every boy should be by a car like that at his age!