Atomic

Colorado Springs experienced a growth spurt in the 1950s and '60s. I think it must have had something to do with the Air Force Academy being built here in 1955-ish. There are quite a few examples of outstanding atomic architecture here, like my brother's house (built in 1960), which is very atomic indeed. There's a subdivision quite close to mine called Valli Hi, adjacent to the municipal golf course by the same name, and it's got some awesome midcentury homes! Take a look at this beauty. Don't you just love it? It would be right at home in Palm Springs, but it's a five minute drive from my own 1958 rancher. I actually took this picture on August 18, 2017 but for some reason never blogged it. I think I was trying to work up a post featuring lots of mid-mod architecture, but didn't ever finish taking pictures of all my favorites around town. This one sure deserves to be seen!

And now, for your listening pleasure...

It Flies Through the Air With the Greatest of Ease

What is this thing? It's a glider! As you know, the United States Air Force Academy is located here, and many of the cadets there aspire to become pilots. They begin their studies by flying gliders. They're a common sight in the skies above the Academy grounds during the school year. Imagine flying an aircraft with nothing but the wind to hold it aloft. It's a good thing we live in such a windy place!

And now, for your listening pleasure...

Tourists, we've got 'em!

We've got lots of 'em! For instance, this cute lady patiently posing for her husband in front of the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel. I don't mind tourists at all. After all, especially in the last couple of years with all the traveling we've been doing, I've certainly been a tourist myself many times!

A familiar sight

I was at the Air Force Academy yesterday morning, to do some engagement portraits at and around the Cadet Chapel. I got there before my clients, so I took a picture for you. One of the doors is open because some tourists wandered in (and back out) and left it ajar. That actually bothered me, so I walked up all those stairs to close the door, but my clients showed up at that moment and there was no time for me to take another picture with the door closed. So today you get a picture of the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel with its door open. Cheers!

It's wedding season!

I shot a military wedding at the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel on Saturday. Coolest looking church in town, hands down! Here's a shot of the chapel that I captured at a full trot as my assistant and I were rushing from the parking lot. Pro tip from someone who's been there many times: if you're ever invited to be a guest at a Cadet Chapel wedding, get there half an hour early. It's a LONG hike from your car to the chapel, and once you get there, be prepared to walk up a million steps to get to the front door. And bring water -- this giant metal sculpture of a building has no air conditioning!

Air Force Thunderbird crash in Colorado Springs

It's a longstanding tradition for the Air Force Thunderbirds to do a dramatic flyover at the moment the Air Force Academy graduation concludes. You can see them in the skies, practicing in the days preceding graduation. Every year, there's a Very Important Person on hand to deliver the commencement speech. And when I say Very Important, I mean VERY important. This year it was President Obama. The speech is delivered, the cadets graduate, then on cue they all fling their hats skyward as the Thunderbirds go screaming by overhead. It's spectactular, thrilling and utterly unforgettable. This year was no different, with one notable exception: after the flyover and subsequent air show, the T-Birds were heading back to Peterson Air Force Base when one of the pilots got into trouble and had to eject from his jet moments before it crashed into a field near the intersection of Powers and Fontaine. That certainly made the news! The pilot was fine. In fact, he was picked up by a helicopter forthwith and flown to Peterson, where he met the president! Coincidentally, about an hour later, a Navy Blue Angel also crashed, near Nashville, Tennessee while practicing for an air show. Sadly, its pilot was killed.

Of course, all of this has been a big topic of conversation around here. My friends have been posting blurry cell phone pictures of the jet, still lying there in the field since the crash last Thursday. Pat and I thought it might be worth a try to get a picture of it for the blog, so we headed over there yesterday around noon. What perfect timing -- the jet was in the process of being removed just as we arrived! Several TV news crews were on hand, parked on the shoulder along with a dozen or so lookie-loos (ahem). We joined the crowd and I took a few pictures from the car. Fascinating!

Mr. P

Who is this bloke, and why does he look so serious? I give you Zebulon Montgomery Pike, noted explorer and the namesake of Pikes Peak, the very large mountain that looms over our city. I cannot tell you why he looks so serious, but maybe it's because he (rather ironically) never made it to the summit of the 14,110 foot high mountain that bears his name. I don't really know very much about old Zeb, though it seems like practically everything here is named after him! (Those things that aren't are named after the Air Force Academy.) Here's something interesting: in googling him I stumbled across the fact that there is a Pikes Peak in Iowa! Who knew?!? I'm pretty sure it's not as tall as our Pikes Peak ;^)

Alas, there are no photographs of Mr. Pike, since he lived before photography was invented. By the way, Zeb died rather spectacularly, in Canada of all places -- you can find a brief account of his demise (and a nice portrait of him) HERE. And if you care to see this statue of him with your own two eyeballs, you can find it at 270 S. Tejon Street.

Old stage stop

This crumbling old building is across the water from yesterday's photo of Monument Creek. What is it? It's an old stage stop! Fascinating! For those of you who don't know what a stage stop is, it has to do with olden days transportation, when people traveled in horse-drawn stagecoaches. Every few miles along the stage roads, stage stops were placed where you could rest and water your horses, or in the case of commercial stagecoach lines, the tired horses would be swapped out for fresh ones. As you know, the migration of people to the American west, Colorado Springs included, burgeoned during the stagecoach era. Eventually locomotives made their way across the land and replaced stagecoaches (much to the relief of many a horse, I'm sure).

Most Colorado Springs residents probably don't know that the area just north of Rockrimmon and encompassing much of the Air Force Academy was actually a pioneer settlement and village called Edgerton over 140 years ago (follow the link for tons of interesting info). At its peak, Edgerton was home to about 350 residents, many of them ranchers. The land pictured here was owned by the Lydia Teachout family, some of the earliest settlers of this area, and this stage stop was apparently owned and operated by the Teachouts. By the way, there's a Teachout Road in Black Forest, a few miles east of this spot -- no doubt named after Lydia herself.

For a very interesting account taken from the diary of another early Edgerton settler, Mary Eliza Bangs, read this short article published in 1974 by her granddaughter:  http://mdmcc.tripod.com/history.htm

Here's a closer shot of the old Teachout stage stop. The next chance I get, I'm going to cross the creek and explore it.

April Theme Day: Triangles!

It's the first of the month, and that means it's Theme Day for participating City Daily Photo bloggers! This month's theme is triangles. As I explained yesterday, Pat and I went driving around looking for good triangular subjects and ended up at the Pioneers Museum, where there is a large pyramid-shaped sculpture on the Nevada Avenue side of the building. But it's still winter here, and that means the planters in front of the sculpture are filled with dirt and dead vegetation -- not exactly photogenic. I took a few pictures of it but wasn't happy with what I got. Then I had a bright idea: the US Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, of course! Talk about a giant triangle!

You may be wondering why there is a bride and groom in this picture. It's because I'm a wedding photographer, and I cover weddings at the Cadet Chapel all the time. For today's post I didn't have to go the Air Force Academy and take a picture; I simply picked out a favorite shot from one of the many weddings I've done there. (This one was from Morgan and Mark's event in 2011, and if you're curious to see more of their wedding pictures just click HERE.)

To see more theme day photos from City Daily Photo bloggers all over the world, click HERE!

April 3, 2013 edit: I had a comment on this post a couple of days ago from fellow blogger Revrunner, who mentioned that he had a photo of the Cadet Chapel while it was still under construction. Today he posted that picture on his blog! To see it, click HERE. It's a view of the south side of the building, and it would have been taken around 1961 or '62. Thanks so much for posting it, Revrunner! So cool!

Extremely high winds in El Paso County

On Friday night, we had such high winds that trees were toppled all over the city, especially downtown, where most of them are at least a century old. At the Air Force Academy they recorded wind speeds of nearly 100 miles per hour, and downtown it was in the 60-70 MPH range.  Pat saw quite a few downed trees on his mail route on Saturday, and many of my local Facebook friends were posting pictures of errant barbecue grills, damaged fences, and cars (even houses!) squashed by falling branches or tree trunks. Our own back fence is looking pretty saggy after all that, and even as I type this, I can hear the winds howling outside. Sigh. I guess a call to the fence repair service is in order. City crews were prompt to take care of the fallen trees and get them out of the roadways, but there is still plenty of damage to be seen all over the city. On Sunday, Pat and I drove around so I could see the carnage for myself. It was pretty bad. This poor old tree was in the median of Willamette just east of El Paso Street. It's probably stood in that spot for over a hundred years, but I guess Mother Nature had other plans for it.

The Air Force Academy planetarium

I was at the Air Force Academy over the weekend to shoot a wedding at the Cadet Chapel. Spitting distance from the chapel is the planetarium. I haven't been in there since I was in high school, years ago. It was one of the must-see things on your tour of Colorado Springs, of course, so whenever we had visitors my parents would shuttle us to the Academy and we'd visit the Cadet Chapel and then sit in the dark of the planetarium and watch the show.

Alas, I've just learned that the planetarium has been closed to the public since 2003. I don't know if it's even in use at all these days. Too bad! I was just thinking it'd be neat to pop in there and see the show, but I guess that won't be happening after all :^(

[P.S.  The next time I'm there I'll try and get a picture of it with a blue sky -- I promise it's much more striking that way.]

No, the Garden of the Gods did not burn down

The Waldo Canyon fire is going to have long term repercussions for Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs, and I'm not just talking about lost homes and forests. Our economy depends heavily on tourism, and unfortunately the extensive news coverage of the fire has effectively extinguished our tourist season. I think the assumption is that Pikes Peak, the Garden of the Gods and the Air Force Academy have burned down, but let me reassure you that all of our beautiful landmarks have survived the fire unscathed (the above photo was taken in the Garden of the Gods last Friday, with the fire still burning no less). In fact, the only attraction that's been destroyed is the Flying W Ranch, a much beloved local institution that is mourned by one and all. But other than that, there is no reason at all to cancel your plans to visit our beautiful city, so please come on by!

Untitled

One of the many sculptures dotting the plaza next to the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel. This one honors WWI overseas flyers.

All dressed up and somewhere to go

It's that time of year again: wedding season! I've got weddings stacked up for the summer, starting with one this weekend. Yesterday afternoon I was at the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel for a wedding rehearsal, and as I was leaving I saw dozens of cadets and their dates, dressed to the nines and posing for pictures in front of the impressive architecture. They must have been on their way to the traditional Ring Dance. I paused to snap a picture of this handsome group, (who were in turn posing for what looked like a couple of proud, camera-wielding moms), and they jokingly gave me a hard time for my paparazzi reflexes. Of course they didn't know that they'd soon become famous for being featured on my blog ;^)

The Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel ceiling

Looking at yesterday's picture, you can see why a person may forget to look up when they're visiting the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, but oh you should definitely take in the ceiling! I was there a couple of weekends ago shooting a wedding, and I remembered to look up so I could capture this image for you :o) Isn't it amazing? I stood where I reckoned was dead center and shot straight up using a 19mm lens. The Cadet Chapel has 17 spires, all of them adorned with sapphire blue stained glass. It's simply glorious -- like standing inside a jewel. And yes, it's an amazing place to get married!

The Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel interior

I captured this image of the interior of the USAFA Cadet Chapel a couple of weekends ago as I was shooting a wedding. It looks empty here, both because the wedding hadn't started yet and because the space is designed to accomodate 1,200 people, if you can believe that! I've shot many weddings here and never seen it even 25% full. It's really an amazing space, beautiful and bright, with floor to ceiling stained glass, and rich with all the great hallmarks of midcentury design. It's always a treat to cover weddings at the Cadet Chapel!

The US Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel

I was at the Air Force Academy (USAFA for short) shooting a wedding a couple of weekends ago at the famous Cadet Chapel, and captured a few images that I thought would be nice for the blog. Here's the exterior of the chapel, designed by Walter Netsch and completed in 1962. You can see why it's a big tourist attraction. It's one of the most interesting structures I've ever seen, and it's truly an icon of modernist/midcentury design. Tomorrow I'll show you the interior.

[And if you'd like to see pictures from the wedding, click HERE!]

The Thunderbird Airmanship Overlook

After I snapped yesterday's photo from the side of the road, I decided not to be so lazy about it and actually drove across to the aircraft display so I could get a better shot. It turns out there was a second plane (or jet, I suppose) in the same area, which I hadn't noticed from my bad vantage point. I'm glad I made the effort. This display is in honor of Thunderbird airmanship. By the way I think this is a T-38 Talon; those of you who know more about aircraft than I do, please correct me if I'm wrong.

If you're an Air Force brat like me, the Thunderbirds are a big deal! I'm sure you've heard of them. These guys are the aerial team that perform death defying stunts in their jets, eliciting oooohs and aaaaahs at every Air Force Academy graduation, when dignitaries or presidents visit, and at air shows all over. I think every guy I've ever known (and a few girls, for that matter) has daydreamed at one time or another of being a member of this very elite team!

It's a bird, it's a plane!

I've been spending a lot of time on the Air Force Academy lately -- I had a wedding there last weekend, and this weekend I participated in a bridal fair on base. Four visits in eight days, that's got to be some kind of personal record! Normally I rarely go to the Air Force Academy, my only reason to visit being the occasional wedding. Months or even a year or more can go by in between times. So as I was leaving yesterday, I resolved to get a picture of at least one of the aircraft that are scattered all around the Academy (for those of us who grew up on and around military bases, a sight like this is perfectly normal). I pulled over to the side of the road and grabbed a quick shot from a distance. I don't know what kind of plane this is but I'm sure my brother could tell you. It's definitely a military thing to use actual planes as decor! I love that.

The Cadet Chapel

I have to admit, the Cadet Chapel is a cool place to shoot a wedding. I was there a couple of weekends ago helping a friend cover a wedding on a perfect Colorado day. Beyond the airplane statues you can see the distinctive steeples of the Cadet Chapel.