Since we were close enough, we made a day trip to Manitou Springs, where we looked in a bunch of junk shops.  Later we rode the Cog Railway to the top of Pike’s Peak.  There were lots of dire warnings about the thin air at that altitude (14,110 ft) on the rail tickets, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.  They don’t give you much time at the top before the train leaves (they have to carefully coordinate the trains, since there is only one line with a few sidings; they point out that the difference between being a passenger and a hiker is one minute).  Because of this I rushed around a bit to try to get some pictures at the top, which left me a bit winded from going too fast. 

A view from the top:

My niece and me, along with the junk we picked up at the store at the top of the mountain: