Personal Narrative: Niagara Falls

COLORADO
“And on your left you’ll see one of the tallest waterfalls in the world” the train conductor announced. Everyone shuffled for their camera to capture the moment. As the scene came into view the cog train was filled with the sound of a disappointed gasp, followed by glances to the vested instructor that read ‘are you kidding me’. The “waterfall” looked more like a miniscule stream than a massive landmark he told us it would be. Because we were near the top of Pike’s Peak, he wasn’t completely wrong. We were expecting something the size of Niagara Falls.
The seats on the train faced each other row by row. A side of two seats, the other of three. My mom, brother and I sat across from a group of three adults chatting amongst themselves about the last time they’d been here for
Certain areas of the ground were covered with snow while others led to huge drop-offs. We were told that if we looked as far as the eye can see in the given direction, we could see all the way out to Kansas. The rest stop was known for its specialty high-altitude cake doughnuts, which tasted similarly to how I imagine a sausage-pancake hybrid to be. My brother came down with altitude sickness at this point and he had to rest on the way back down. Overall, it was a great experience full of quirks and I’d do it again tomorrow if I could.
During the ride, it was a bit controversial to take pictures even though cameras were allowed on deck. The train had very large windows with knobs curiously placed right in the middle, which got in the way of any pictures. We were allowed to lower or raise them to be more comfortable temperature-wise, as the cog is able to stabilize the enclosed space. Sometimes we’d see jagged rocks outside our window that looked like they were close enough to either pierce through the thick metal surrounding us or like they were ready to roll onto the tracks and block our