2012 Yellowstone Trip - Day 3

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September 16th 2012

Published: September 16th 2012

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NoseyRosey

Pikes Peak 1

Eagle Mountain Motel Parking Lot. Pikes Peak is the tallest mountain in the background.

NOTE: To enlarge any picture, click on the picture.

Day 3 - Monday Aug 20^th,2012

We got up early and checked out of the motel. When I started the car, the brake light was not light however there was another light lit up on the dashboard. I didn’t know what it meant so got out the owner’s manual to look it up. The light wasn’t listed. Since it wasn’t listed I didn’t think it was anything serious however I was concerned because I knew once we were in Wyoming we would not be close to any Hertz dealers.

We left the motel and went to Denny’s for breakfast. After breakfast we headed back to downtown Manitou Springs to the Pikes Peak Cog Train station. We had reservation on the 9:20 train. It has been at least 10 years since I have ridden the cog train up Pikes Peak. They now have assigned seats. We had terrible seats. We were riding facing downhill on the side with the mountain. Since we were facing downhill, we were riding backwards up to the top. Also since we were facing downhill both going up and down, we had a hard time

Pikes Peak 2

Waiting on the cog train at the station.

keeping our balance and not sliding forward out of our seats on some of the inclines. They do not let you get out of your seats to take pictures. If you want a picture of something on the other side of the train you are told to hand your camera to the people riding on that side of the train and ask if they will take a picture for you. For future reference, if I ever ride the cog train again, the best seats are odd number rows with seats A, B or C. The odd number rows face up the mountain and seats A, B or C are on the side of the train with a view most of the time. The side of the mountain is on the side of train with seats D and E for most of the trip.

The view from the top of Pikes Peak was very hazy because of smoke from all the fires.When we came down from the top of Pikes Peak and got off the cog train, it was 12:30 p.m.. Since the breaks were making a noise and I didn’t know what the light on the car’s dash meant,

Pikes Peak 3

Boarding the cog train. Our terrible seats.

I decided to find a Hertz dealer and have them check out the car before we left town. It was a good thing I did. When the Hertz employee came out and started the car, another brake warning light came on. This light was a warning the brakes were not working!! He took one look at it and said they would give us a new car. He gave us one with only 6990 miles on it. I felt a lot more comfortable once we had a different car. I had an uneasy feeling the whole time we had the other one.

By the time we did the paper work on the new rental car and moved the luggage to the new car we had lost a half day of travel time. We left the Hertz dealer, went thru McDonalds for something easy to eat while driving and headed toward Wyoming. We finally arrived in Cheyenne about 7:30. We had trouble finding a hotel with a vacancy. We finally found one on the 3^rd try. I asked if there was something special going on and was told no, they had been real busy all summer. It had been their busiest