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A lovely autumnal moment at Quail Lake from October of 2023. That's Cheyenne Mountain in the background.

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Cheyenne Mountain on November 3, 2018. I'm not sure what my vantage point was for this shot, but I'm guessing it was the highest point in Palmer Park, the Grand View Overlook.

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Last weekend it snowed, which completely scuttled my gardening/yardwork plans, but it did make for a beautiful view of Cheyenne Mountain. I actually took a series of photos of this moment intending to put them together as a long panoramic image, but right now I don't have the time to fiddle with them in Photoshop. I will try and do it in a few days.

Cheyenne Mountain Resort (Part 1)

I shot a wedding at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort on Saturday and I actually remembered to take some pictures for the blog. Miracle! They have a nice view. You can't really see Pikes Peak as well from there, but the foothills and Cheyenne Mountain are prominently visible from practically anywhere on the property. More tomorrow.

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On January 3rd we were treated to a particularly spectacular sunset, so on the spur of the moment Pat and I raced over to Prospect Lake in time to catch the tail end of the display. For some reason all the great color was over Cheyenne Mountain rather than Pikes Peak. Regardless, it was beautiful and worth freezing for a few minutes to get the shot!

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Even though I had the day off, I was a total failure at taking a picture for the blog! I was running errands and having a good, productive day in general, and it just slipped my mind. It's a good thing I had this photo that Pat took for the blog on November 3rd, a day when he volunteered to take a few pictures since I was too sick to get out of bed. This moody view of Cheyenne Mountain was captured from the overlook at Palmer Park. Great shot, Pat! Love you!

Cheyenne Mountain view

The best view from the Cheyenne Mountain Resort (see yesterday's post) is mainly of, you guessed it, Cheyenne Mountain itself. In fact, from here you can't really see Pikes Peak at all, but Cheyenne Mountain sure looks good! I do a lot of weddings at this venue, but it's rare that I get a chance to enjoy it as a "civilian", as we did on Christmas.

You probably already know that Cheyenne Mountain is where NORAD is located. It's an entire military base inside a mountain! I've been in there one time, long ago, to take a tour. I don't think they actually offer tours to the public, but my mom was able to get us in at the time because she had friends in high places, as they say. Later, after he retired from the Air Force, my dad worked at NORAD for several years as a civil servant.

Lately I've been binge-watching the '90s era sci-fi TV series "Stargate SG1", much of which takes place inside NORAD. It's pretty fun to see them using footage over and over of the actual road that leads into the mountain. It still looks the same!

Christmas dinner at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort

Did you have a nice Christmas? We did! It was a pretty quiet day for us. We had decided weeks ago to go to the Cheyenne Mountain Resort for our Christmas dinner instead of doing it up at home. Why haven't we thought of this before? It was fantastic! The food and service were great, and of course the view was beautiful. And there was no clean up afterward! Winning! We got there a little early, so we had a few minutes to wander around before our table was ready. There were a number of gingerbread houses on display, all created by the various departments at the resort (such as the restaurant staff, the housekeeping staff, etc). They were all great, but my favorite was the Grumpy Cat one. You can see it third from the right in this picture.

I think we're going to make it a tradition to eat Christmas dinner there most years. We thoroughly enjoyed it, and everyone there was dressed up in their Christmas finery, which was nice to see. If you're interested in doing the same, my best suggestion is to make your reservation at least three weeks in advance. It's a popular spot on Christmas day!

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Another image from last Sunday evening at Prospect Lake around twilight. I love the cute little duck footprints in the snow. That's Cheyenne Mountain in the background. Have a splendid day!

Quail Lake

We stopped by Quail Lake yesterday. It was definitely a dreary day, but that only served to make the fall colors look even more saturated. Pretty! In the background, the foothills and part of Pikes Peak are obscured by clouds, but usually you get a nice view of them from this spot. I'll have to go back another time to get a shot with nicer skies.

Dreary day notwithstanding, these guys were trying their luck with a rod and reel.

Our send-off committee. Quack quack!

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We had a spectacular sunset last Friday, November 7th. I was stuck in rush hour traffic, so I just took pictures of it through my windshield. This photo was taken on North Nevada Avenue at Garden of the Gods Road, facing south. That's Cheyenne Mountain in the distance. I wish I'd been at a better vantage point, but even through the windshield you can see how beautiful it was.

The advantages of a rainy day

Two rainbows appeared to the south of town at sunset on May 30th, after yet another day of heavy rain. I shot this from the Garden of the Gods overlook on Mesa. That's Cheyenne Mountain on the right.

Twilight over Cheyenne Mountain

Yesterday was my birthday, and it's become sort of a tradition for me to blog a sunset picture every year on or around the big day. I had a job to shoot at the abbey (see yesterday's post), and on the way there I stopped at the overlook on Mesa Road to try and get a nice sunset shot. Alas, we had no real sunset to speak of, but we did have a lovely, gentle twilight. This is Cheyenne Mountain, where NORAD is located. I have actually been inside NORAD, if you can believe that. They have at times done tours, especially if you were well-connected, and my mom was well-connected. So I got to see the inside of the famous NORAD facility, and it was certainly interesting!