Day Five: Colorado Springs, Colorado

After catching up on some much needed rest, we loaded the bus at 11:00 and headed to the Olympic Training Center.  There we saw the facility where a lot of the summer athletes train for the Olympics.  We saw the pool, the gymnastics area, the shooting range, and the weight lifting area.  We were even lucky enough to run into a few future volleyball players.  It was exciting to say the least, but the day was only beginning.

After our tour of the training center, we were picked up by smaller Grey Hound buses.  These buses were our transportation for the rest of the day because our bus could not make it up the steep and winding road that leads to Pikes Peak. En Route to Pikes Peak we stopped in the Garden of the Gods.  This is no ordinary Garden!  It is a massive national park with amazing red rock formations.  Some of the formations have names, you will see the Kissing Camels in some of the pictures.

After stopping in the park to enjoy some of the formations, we started the climb up to the top of Pikes Peak.  Pikes Peak is 14,110 feet above sea level.  It is so high that trees don't grow.  When you are that high up, the views are simply breathtaking, mother nature's masterpiece.

For the rest of the evening, we relaxed a little in Colorado Springs.  It's great to have some down time so that everyone has a chance to find out more about each other.