Pikes Peak or Bust

Back when Dinah Shore, on behalf of General Motors implored Americans, to “See the USA in your Chevrolet” Steve’s parents purchased a 1956 Chevy Belair and packed up the family for a great cross country trip that included a drive to the top of Pikes Peak. Today Steve achieved the goal of revisiting the famed 14,000 foot peak named for Zebulon Pike. We didn’t have the opportunity to drive ourselves all the way to the top. With construction underway for a new Summit House limiting parking to 30 vehicles and the Cog Railway being completely rebuilt, the City of Colorado Springs is providing shuttle service from three different parking areas on the road to the summit. We parked at Mile 13 and enjoyed the fact that someone else did the driving for the final seven miles to the top. As we disembarked the driver admonished us to be sure to get some of the World Famous Pikes Peak Doughnuts so of course we got doughnuts and coffee. As we sat enjoying the treat Steve called his older brother Bill to remember together the trip they took as boys. Soon we both began to feel rather woozy and headachy, altitude sickness. Then curiously as soon as we walked outside we felt better. Could it be we were competing with perhaps 150 other people in the building for the limited oxygen? Outside we relished the views from 14K feet, marveled at the cog railway tracks, and searched for the sign where Steve’s Dad recorded the moment in 1955. It was definitely a glorious on top of the world experience.