Olympic Training Center-2014

It was August 2014; Melissa and Rachel had gotten accepted to attend a skeet and trap training class at the Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs. It was rare when two people in the same family to be accepted to one of these events. It was even rarer because they had attended a similar class the summer before. At that time, they both were considering competing in the Olympics. Eva had not been able to travel since her fall in 2013; however, Jennifer and Kaylee both said they would stay with her, and they encouraged me to go to Colorado with Tammy, Melissa, and Rachel.

Melissa and Rachel stayed in the dorm and had their meals with those attending training classes; however, during their free time, we went to see sights in the area. There had been several major wildfires in the summer of 2013 and several attractions were still closed to the public. We went to the top of Pikes Peak and the girls got to see how narrow the road is at places and how feels when looking at the steep drop-offs along the road. They got to see the views from the top and feel the air at that elevation. They both had their learner’s driver’s license, but neither of them offered to drive down the mountain.

We went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo where they were able to see camels at a face-to-face level and feed them. They were experiencing some of the same things that their mother had done when she was a child. We went through the Garden of the Gods and got pictures of them in some of the same spots as we had taken of Tammy when she was little.

As family members of those participating in the training, Tammy and I were allowed to take a tour of the facilities including the museum, and to meet some of the staff. We also went to the shotgun training facility and watch competition events. It was good to see how quickly the kids developed friendships with other kids from various places around the country.

Melissa and Rachel would go on to compete in 4-H Shooting and were selected to the Texas Team that competed at the Nationals. They would then be on the Schreiner University Shotgun Team that won 1^st place in Division II in 2018 and 1^st place in Division I in 2019. They have since won many titles as a professional at Nationals and at Worlds.