Greetings from Colorado Springs (Jeff)

Well, our westward journey continues. We left MN a little bit ahead of schedule and arrived at Badlands National Park in time to view the spectacular topography in the daylight, as we had hoped to do. We bought a National Park pass for the year, so we are set for Bryce and Zion on Thursday and Friday. After the Badlands we continued on to Mt. Rushmore. We checked in at the Best Western and the front desk person mentioned we should try and see the monument lighting ceremony, and that we should get there early for seats. Thinking it started in about an hour we quickly dropped off our bags and headed for the monument. The joke was on us when we arrived an hour early because we did not realize that this western bit of South Dakota was in Mountain Time.

Anyway, by arriving early we did see the monument in the daylight. We then had time to see the video about the monument and how it came into being. The lighting ceremony began as it was getting dark. It was great. A park ranger gave a short talk about US freedom and democracy. Then we saw a 15 minute video about the four presidents on the monument and what they represented; freedom (Washington), expansion (Jefferson), preservation (Lincoln), and conservation (Roosevelt) of the US. Towards the end of the video, the monument began to light up, so that by the end of the video it was fully lit. Very impressive. The ranger also had a Boy Scout Jamboree troupe perform the flag lowering ceremony. We also sang the Star Spangled Banner.

But the special thing about the lighting ceremony was that the park ranger asked all military service personnel, active, non-active, retired, from all branches to come on the stage. There were 25-30 men and women. He had each one give their name and branch of service. When everyone had given their names, including the ranger, he said to the crowd, "here are the men and women who risked their lives so you could enjoy the freedoms you have." Everyone broke into a spontaneous and sustained applause. It was a very touching moment for all of us.

We had planned on returning to the monument the next morning, but when we got up it was raining lightly and the fog was very thick. The forecast was for more of the same all day. So we decided to head for Fort Collins, CO right away. We drove through 25-30 miles of dense fog before finally getting some clearing. We arrived in Fort Collins and had a nice Italian dinner. We needed to get an oil change and a recall notice done on the Murano, and there was a Nissan dealer in Fort Collins. So, Monday morning we grabbed Starbuck venti coffees and waited about two hours for the service to get done. I was thrilled they we able to fit us in. Colorado Springs is only two hours away, so after the service was done we headed off.

Well, today we are in Colorado Springs. We plan on seeing the US Air Force Academy, Garden of the Gods, and Glen Eyrie. Looking outside it is a beautiful clear day and the mountains look spectacular.