ugh....alarm (Dad) woke us up at 4:45 a.m. for our 5:15 departure for our hot air balloon ride. We met the crew at 5:30 and then headed to our meeting point.
Greg was our pilot checked the 
direction of the wind with a helium balloon so we knew which why to go to our actual launch point. It only took about 20 minutes once we arrived at our launch site before we lifted off. We stayed fairly close to the ground for quite a while and we got above 1000 feet high for our ride. 
It was so peaceful and beautiful below with the mountains in the background. We had to land a little sooner than Greg wanted but the wind changed and we were going to end up in a 50,000 ranch with no accessibility for a pick up by the chase crew. We were prepared for the landing
after the first touch down, we bumped about 3 or 4 more times until we stopped. It was really cool seeing the balloon collaspe. The balloon was 100 feet high including the basket and 80 feet wide. After we landed, Greg told us the story of the first hot air balloon including the celebration of champagne and this celebration is still continued. A spread of chocolate, fruit, cheese, champagne, orange juice and rolls were serve to all after a toast. What a WONDERFUL life time experience this was to enjoy!!!
SEVEN FALLS
We took the elevator up to see a view of Seven Falls and then walked down 185 steps back to the base. Then, we hiked up 225 steps to almost the top of the falls, a breath taking view to say the least. A few more steps up and we were at the top. Of course, it was time to take a hike. We decided to take the one hour hike instead of the 20 minute hiken. Again, the view was amazing and unbelievable.
PIKES PEAK
We boarded the 4:00 Cog Railway line to go up to the top of Pikes Peak. The scenery was amazing and fun to see a few areas where we had hiked the day before on Barr Trail. The cog ride was about 1-1/2 hours each way. At the top, we quickly got some very hot chocolate and GREAT hot donuts as the weather was very cold at the top. The boys took of hiking out on the ridge. We checked out Barr trail to see what the end of that trail looked like for a possible trip out next year so we can hike from the bottom of Pikes Peak to the 14,000 ft top. They say it takes about 8 hours at a pretty good pace to hike the 13 miles up the mountain. An option would be to camp at the 7 mile marker and do the trip in 2 days.
M
MARILYN'S PIZZA AND GREAT ICE CREAM
We decided we wanted to eat in Manitou Springs, areally quaint area with a lot of shops and restaurants. After a short walk, we all agreed pizza would be great and boy, was it ever great. We all had our own 10" personal pizza and the boys ate every last crumb of theirs and Dad and Janie just left a little crust. Ice Cream followed and we turned in for another great day with total of 40 license plates being spotted.
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