The French Air Force decided to send a group of us to Colorado to watch the graduation ceremony. Since there is an annual semester exchange between our schools (in addition to a number of short term visits), we also used the visit as a chance to meet counterparts, set up and maintain relationships. Overall, it was an effective (and enjoyable trip). I am going to start out with posting some of the images from our trip to Pike’s Peak, Manitou Springs and Dallas (I’ll explain more later).
After spending the better part of 5 years in Colorado, I came to appreciate the landscape … and consequently miss it now. So, it was great to be back.
The clouds were fascinating as we were in between snow showers…
Colonel Maïni and Manu. We were scheduled to take the Cog Railway to the top of Pike’s Peak, but unfortunately, one of the trains derailed (no one was hurt), so our train was canceled. Instead, we hopped back in the car and took the toll road as far as we could go. Unfortunately, the very top was still snowed in, but as you can see, we were able to make it above tree line.
Yep, there was still plenty of snow on the ground.
After the mountain, we headed back into the always colorful Manitou Springs.
I introduced them to the wonderful world of Ski-Ball and the magic of Pixie Stix. It was turning out to be quite an American experience for them. Although they had both been to the US numerous times, I enjoyed finding more quintessential (at least in my opinion) things to do and try. We also sampled caramel corn and salt water taffy.
They both proved quite adept at Ski Ball.
Of course since they are French, and we all love wine, we headed to a great little wine bar, Swirl. We had a great zinfindel and the owner/sommelier Sharon and I had a long conversation about the relative merits of Provençal Rosé. Let’s just say we agree it’s very tasty. 🙂
Dallas, Texas
I’m skipping ahead on our trip a little, but after Colorado, Manu and I headed down to Texas. Since I don’t have many images from that part of the trip, I’m including them here. We also had a long layover on the way in and we used the time to go to the 6th Floor Museum. If you haven’t been, it’s the former warehouse from which Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy in 1961. It’s definitely worth seeing if you’re in the area. This is President Kennedy’s memorial (about 2 block from the site of his assassination), the Big Red Museum which has the history of Dallas and Reunion Tower in the background.
Since the Dallas Mavericks were in the midst of the NBA playoffs and Manu had never been to an arena, we decided to stop in and check it out. They were kind enough to let us in to have a peak around. Even though there was no one, it was still impressive.
Finally, this is the image of the inside of a sculpture. I liked the contrast in color. The wide angle lens (10mm) provides plenty of both sky and painted metal.
That sums up this part of the trip. Next up will be the US Air Force Academy graduation and USAFA’s grounds.
Until then…
–Jim