Sixty-one miles south of Denver on I-25 perched at over 6000 feet above sea level is the second largest city in Colorado, Colorado Springs. "The Springs" is the city over 400,000 residents and some of America's most honored and recognizable places and companies call home. Located in or near Colorado Springs are : The United States Air Force Academy, Fort Carson, and NORAD. Verizon, Hewlett-Packard and Intel are just three of the high-tech companies that have a presence in The Springs. Tourism, of course, plays a major part in the local economy with The Garden of the Gods contributing mightily. However, the cherry on top of the sundae that is Colorado Springs is without question is the 14,115 foot Pikes Peak. Standing guard over the valley below for millions of years, Pikes Peak is the easternmost 14'er in the USA. And let's not forget the United States Olympic Traning Center, where Gold Medal dreams are nurtured. I'm sure the links provided in this post will give you enough information and history about the Colorado Springs area that on your next trip to Denver, that you just may end up 61 miles south of your intended destination.
I was stationed at the Academy when I came back from two years in the Philippines and the evac of Saigon.
ReplyDeleteI hated it there as a Sgt. Way too much spit and polish, far too much saluting. I was accustomed to actually having a job to go to each day, not being a poser.
Besides that, it was too dry and precious little oxygen. I had been living in an area for two years that was 100 feet below sea level and had a monsoon season. I was at the Academy for only a few days and went to the hospital thinking I was having a serious medical event. My lips looked like someone had sliced them repeatedly with razor blades, my skin was like a fine powder and I couldn't climb a flight of stairs without nearly passing out. The flight surgeon said I was fine, but that it would take a number of weeks/months for my body to produce enough blood to provide me with the oxygen I needed.
I was only there for a few months and got reassigned to a base in Austin.
The morning came for me to leave, I packed up my belongings in my Triumph Spitfire, rolled down the IH to Pueblo, and when I turned southeast towards the panhandle I saw the Rocky mountains in my rear view mirror. I rolled down the window, extended my left arm and gave the vision a gesture of digit disdain, along with some colorful adjectives and a promise to never return.
Like Lewis Grizzard said about Georgia, when I got my feet back in Texas I nailed them to the ground.
n2l
n2l...as always, it's a pleasure to read your comments. Lewis Grizzard is one of my heroes.
ReplyDeleteOl'Lewis.
ReplyDeleteIf love was oil, he was more than a quart low, but man could he tell a good tale.
As for me being stationed at the USAFA, does this guy look like he needed to be standing around lookin' purdy and saluting all day long?
n2l
The chili dogs only bark at night.
ReplyDeleteNice photo, amigo.