Jake learned in the middle of March that he was appointed to the Air Force Academy. He actually received the news the morning he had his wisdom teeth taken out, so he had some bedrest time to contemplate it all.

About a week before we left for vacation, the Academy invited him to participate in one of their few Appointee Tour days in April. Wouldn’t you know it, the first tour date was the Friday we were scheduled to be in Colorado. The decision required some thought: the drive from Steamboat to Colorado Springs is 3.5 hours, plus we would have to extend our stay one extra day in order to use all our paid ski time.

But the timing was impossible to ignore, so we signed up. And it was well worth it. The weather that day was gorgeous, and Jim and I enjoyed being led on the parent tour while Jake went with fellow potential cadets on his tour.

This is the honor wall: “We will not lie, steal, or cheat; nor tolerate among us anyone who does.”

You can’t beat the setting.

On our walk along the hiking path, we saw a family of deer just a few yards away. We stared at each other for a few minutes before they ran across the path.

We learned that the Academy dining hall feeds 4,000 cadets in 20 minutes every day. Now that is an efficient operation. And I have a hard time feeding seven people??

The trip was extremely informative and helped Jake as he nears the deadline for making his college decision for next year.