Rathbuns Go west

Here's a view from Pikes Peak looking down on Colorado Springs. We were planning on taking the railway cog up Pikes Peak, but ended up driving up the Pikes Peak Highway. I'm glad we made that decision. Some people had told us it was a nerve-wracking drive, but compared to our road to Yosemite on California route 120 and the road through the Grand Staircase of Escalante in southern Utah, the Pike's Peak climb was a piece of cake. We had two highlights from Pike's peak, our first opportunity to see Bighorn Sheep and the experience of viewing a lightning storm approach and overtake us at 14,110 feet. The darkness on the right of the picture below is not a bad camera shot, it's the storm approaching. I only wish I could have gotten a picture of the lightning.

On our second day in Colorado Springs we visited Focus on the Family. If you know our kids, you know they have a habit of listening to "Adventures in Odyssey" every night when they go to bed. "Adventures in Odyssey" is an audio series produced by Focus on the Family that teaches great spiritual principles. At their massive office in Colorado Springs, they have a huge play area built around the "Odyssey" stories. Our kids loved it! They played and played and Bryan and Brandon had an opportunity to make their own Odyssey show with their two cousins Laura and Stephanie. Here are some pictures from our time at "Whit's End", named for the ice cream shop in the Odyssey series.
For those of you who attended First Alliance with us in Harrisburg, you might like to know that we visited Jerry and Melva Dupree and their family at the end of the day. They moved to Colorado Springs in 2000. It was great to catch up with them. We also made a quick trip to the C&MA national office. That trip must have inspired Bryan. Notice he is in deep prayer in the picture:)!