For those who might not have realized, my husband’s new Air Force job will be as a faculty member in the Physics Department at the Air Force Academy.
On our house hunting trip to Colorado, it took us about 48 hours to choose our house and enter a contract. That was our goal. The rest of our time in the area was spent fulfilling assorted appointments, and we had a couple hours here and there to kill between appointments. In addition, both Dave and I had meetings on the Air Force Academy campus. Dave met with his new department, and I met with someone about trying to get a Reserve job.
The weather was beautiful, so we took some time to see the Visitors Center and hike the trail to the chapel and see the cadet area.
Most Americans are familiar with the Air Force Academy Chapel. Its distinctive design can be seen from all over the cities of Monument and Colorado Springs. There is symbolism to the colors, the numbers of spires — okay, not really, that was driven by budget — and many of the features inside.
The chapel was designed by Walter Nesctch of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the architecture firm that’s known in recent years for its design of the Burj Kalifa in Dubai and the Freedom Tower in New York City.
Enjoy some of my favorite pictures from the chapel.
You have to walk on this trail from the visitors center to get to the chapel.
Frankly, I think the exterior is pretty strange looking….
But when you go inside, it’s incredibly beautiful! This is the Protestant Chapel.
Each of the spires is separated by 1 foot-wide stained glass strips. As the sun went behind the clouds…and then came back out from the clouds, the colors would change profoundly inside the sanctuary.
I had a wonderful time with our “good” camera taking close ups.
This is the organ. Over 4,000 pipes!
The sun is behind clouds in this shot.
When the sun came back out, the room turned blue again.
A math geek’s dream! The tetrahedra can be explained here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_Academy_Cadet_Chapel#Architecture_and_construction
This is the Catholic Chapel, which is down below the Protestant chapel. Read more about it here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_Academy_Cadet_Chapel#Catholic_Chapel
The 14 Stations of the Cross are carved in marble along the side walls.
Outside, you can get an idea of the size of the concrete support pillars.
From the front of the chapel, you can have this view of the cadet area. It was Finals Week, so the cadets were pretty laid back, focused on finishing their studies.
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