Pikes Peak Photo Story (and new car!!)
Still working on the wedding photos, so hopefully I can get them posted sometime this weekend. Also have thank-you cards to write this weekend -- and once those things are done, just about all wedding business will be officially over. O.o Kind of strange, actually, since preparing for it was such a huge part of my life for the past year!!
I also have to say that I am very, very, VERY glad that we decided to hire the videographer. To be quite honest, the entire wedding day was such a blur for me -- just happy, giddy, busy, prancy fun, and so my memory of the whole thing is kind of fuzzy and glowy. I can't really recall details like I wish I could, so I'm very much looking forward to having the video when it's finished. ♥
In the meantime, I present you with a photo-story of our group adventure to the top of Pikes Peak, with vandonovan, mohanataka and her girlfriend, and layne_kou.
The six of us decided to take the Cog Railway train ride to the top of Pikes Peak, the Monday after our wedding.
Van on the train - he got the most AWESOME seat, right at the very front!
Layne was on standby for a ticket since the train was sold out when we arrived.
We were all cheering when her number was called!
This little boy at the depot was very impressed by the train.
Some of the railway workers watching the train set off for the summit.
A shot of the train tracks, with the gear-shaped "cog" rail down the middle.
Some of the views on the way up.
As we neared the top we cut through 12-foot-deep snow.
That little dot in the distance is a marmot.
Windy Point Station, which is on the route.
Doesn't look like much, does it? O.o
We paused at Windy Point so that another train could pass us.
More views on the way up.
On clear days you can see KANSAS from Pikes Peak...
Shasta, at the top!
Van and Layne at the top!
Shasta & me at the top.
I had to buy sunglasses at the gift store (for $20, yeek) as I couldn't take the snow glare anymore...
Layne, Shasta, Van, Molly & Kristina
View from the top...
We spent about 20 minutes or so at the top -- it was 25ish degrees, and windy-cold, but for Pikes Peak that's actually pretty great weather. We ate some lunch at the gift shop/restaurant and marveled at the way we all felt so out of breath (even a little dizzy) being up so high. Then we hopped back on the train to head down...
Views on the way down
Shasta and I on the train
This was also the 3-year anniversary of the day Shasta and I met.
I gave her an anniversary present on the train - a leather wrist cuff.
Leather is the traditional present for a 3rd anniversary. :)
We passed another train on the way down.
The little girl on the right serenaded us with her version of "Tomorrow" from Annie as they moved past us. So cute!!
Back at the depot we posed with the display train.
Layne, me and Van
This is what happens when you ask cosplayers to pose for photos.
And if that wasn't enough photos for you, there are even more up on Flickr, here.
Good times!!!
In other news: over the weekend, Shasta took her car to get its brakes checked. Just as she pulled into the Brakes Plus parking lot, her brakes went out completely and her steering wheel locked up, causing her to slide into a concrete pylon. Shasta herself was perfectly fine, but it took about $700 and a new tire to make her car driveable again. *sigh* After talking it over we decided it's time to sell her car, while it's still worth something. We've been talking for a long time about getting her a good family car -- something AWD with cruise control and plenty of space for a car seat, since when we do expand our family she'll likely be doing most of the hauling-baby-around and I want a car that will be safe for both of them.
So.... we went back to Masini Motors, where I bought my Yaris, and picked out a really nice 2007 Subaru Forester. It has everything we want (AWD, automatic, cruise control, plenty of space, super clean) and as is typical with Masini, is a CRAZYGOOD deal due to having a salvage title. We drove it around a bunch last night and I gave the dealer a deposit to hold it for us. I'm pulling the financing together today... and with any luck Shasta will be the proud owner of a nice SUV by this weekend.
Now to tackle the stacks of files on my desk...
I also have to say that I am very, very, VERY glad that we decided to hire the videographer. To be quite honest, the entire wedding day was such a blur for me -- just happy, giddy, busy, prancy fun, and so my memory of the whole thing is kind of fuzzy and glowy. I can't really recall details like I wish I could, so I'm very much looking forward to having the video when it's finished. ♥
In the meantime, I present you with a photo-story of our group adventure to the top of Pikes Peak, with vandonovan, mohanataka and her girlfriend, and layne_kou.
The six of us decided to take the Cog Railway train ride to the top of Pikes Peak, the Monday after our wedding.
Van on the train - he got the most AWESOME seat, right at the very front!
Layne was on standby for a ticket since the train was sold out when we arrived.
We were all cheering when her number was called!
This little boy at the depot was very impressed by the train.
Some of the railway workers watching the train set off for the summit.
A shot of the train tracks, with the gear-shaped "cog" rail down the middle.
Some of the views on the way up.
As we neared the top we cut through 12-foot-deep snow.
That little dot in the distance is a marmot.
Windy Point Station, which is on the route.
Doesn't look like much, does it? O.o
We paused at Windy Point so that another train could pass us.
More views on the way up.
On clear days you can see KANSAS from Pikes Peak...
Shasta, at the top!
Van and Layne at the top!
Shasta & me at the top.
I had to buy sunglasses at the gift store (for $20, yeek) as I couldn't take the snow glare anymore...
Layne, Shasta, Van, Molly & Kristina
View from the top...
We spent about 20 minutes or so at the top -- it was 25ish degrees, and windy-cold, but for Pikes Peak that's actually pretty great weather. We ate some lunch at the gift shop/restaurant and marveled at the way we all felt so out of breath (even a little dizzy) being up so high. Then we hopped back on the train to head down...
Views on the way down
Shasta and I on the train
This was also the 3-year anniversary of the day Shasta and I met.
I gave her an anniversary present on the train - a leather wrist cuff.
Leather is the traditional present for a 3rd anniversary. :)
We passed another train on the way down.
The little girl on the right serenaded us with her version of "Tomorrow" from Annie as they moved past us. So cute!!
Back at the depot we posed with the display train.
Layne, me and Van
This is what happens when you ask cosplayers to pose for photos.
And if that wasn't enough photos for you, there are even more up on Flickr, here.
Good times!!!
In other news: over the weekend, Shasta took her car to get its brakes checked. Just as she pulled into the Brakes Plus parking lot, her brakes went out completely and her steering wheel locked up, causing her to slide into a concrete pylon. Shasta herself was perfectly fine, but it took about $700 and a new tire to make her car driveable again. *sigh* After talking it over we decided it's time to sell her car, while it's still worth something. We've been talking for a long time about getting her a good family car -- something AWD with cruise control and plenty of space for a car seat, since when we do expand our family she'll likely be doing most of the hauling-baby-around and I want a car that will be safe for both of them.
So.... we went back to Masini Motors, where I bought my Yaris, and picked out a really nice 2007 Subaru Forester. It has everything we want (AWD, automatic, cruise control, plenty of space, super clean) and as is typical with Masini, is a CRAZYGOOD deal due to having a salvage title. We drove it around a bunch last night and I gave the dealer a deposit to hold it for us. I'm pulling the financing together today... and with any luck Shasta will be the proud owner of a nice SUV by this weekend.
Now to tackle the stacks of files on my desk...