O beautiful for spacious skies,

It was a beautiful day as I drove up Pikes Peak with my friends Brian and Keith. The two are brothers that I've known since my college days at the University of Minnesota. They were out visiting for the weekend and wanted to go to Colorado Springs to travel to the top of one of the most famous peaks in the world. They didn't know the history of discovery behind the mountain, but were familiar with the song by Katharine Lee Bates that made it famous.

For amber...