Friday Field Trip - USAF Academy Cadet Chapel

I'm welcoming Jason Odell back to host this week's Friday Field Trip. Click to enlarge the images. I know you won't be disappointed.

The Cadet Chapel is probably the most recognized architectural work in the Colorado Springs area. Its spires are visible from the freeway as you drive past the Academy grounds. The chapel was completed in 1962, and is open to the public. Its unique design is constructed from aluminum tetrahedrons. Between each segment, the gap is filled with stained glass panels. The chapel has seventeen spires that reach 150 feet in the air. The chapel actually houses three separate worship areas: the Protestant Chapel is the main floor, and on the lower levels you'll find Catholic and Jewish chapels.

I have visited the Cadet Chapel several times since moving to Colorado Springs, but only recently had the opportunity to go inside. I went on a late Monday afternoon and was rewarded with spectacular light and the good fortune to be the only one inside. The staff did not object to my tripod and they liked looking at the photographs, too.

Heading for Home

It's our last day of vacation. It's been wonderful. Soon, we'll be on our way back to heat and humidity. And work. And going through two weeks of accumulated mail. But not too much laundry, as I managed to do most of it while we were with my son.

A brief recap of our last couple of days. After our day at Garden of the Gods, we did a mass-celebratory dinner to cover all the significant events for our kids – recent birthdays, anniversaries, new pregnancy. The choice of restaurant was left up to the kids, and we ended up at The Craftwood Inn, a very elegant spot in Manitou Springs. The menu was exotic and we did the whole shebang, from appetizers to dessert. Save your pennies (for a long time), and give it a try if you're ever in this part of the country. (I had the wild game birds.) Even my formerly non-adventurous eater daughter ordered something new.

Thursday, we met our daughter in downtown Colorado Springs for lunch. I recommend the Ritz Veggie Stonehearth Pizza. (Yes, we've been eating way too much on this trip!). Afterward, my husband and I went to the Cheyenne Mountain zoo where he tried out the lens he'd borrowed from our son.


The evening was spent at the Sky Sox game, where my daughter-in-law's company was holding its annual picnic. Food paled in comparison to the previous nights.

The morning's challenge: packing. As always, we take home more than we arrive with. We did ship the pottery home, but my other daughter who had been visiting prior to our arrival left a wonderful bottle of single-malt Irish whiskey, and my other two kids each gave me a bag of Mother's Iced Animal Cookies, something I got hooked on in college and can't get in Florida. My husband got about four pounds of coffee from the local Firedance Coffee Company. He's hooked on their Snickerdoodle.

Next post will be from Florida.