Glenwood Springs

As you can see from the photos I posted yesterday, we had a great time in GS. It was so much cooler than home, so it was pretty easy to go out and walk around the town.

While Michael was in meetings most of the day, Caela and I walked around inside the Hotel Colorado, where we were staying. This hotel was built in 1893, President's Roosevelt and Taft stayed there at one point, along with a whole slew of other famous people, including the Unsinkable Molly Brown and Doc Holliday. Here is a small bit of history that not many people know about involving the teddy bear.

"According to legend, the world's most irresistible toy, the teddy bear, received its birth at Hotel Colorado. To cheer Theodore Roosevelt after an unsuccessful day of hunting, Hotel Colorado maids presented him with a stuffed bear pieced together with scraps of fine material. Later, when he did bag a bear, his daughter Alyce admired it saying, "I will call it Teddy." The term caught on and became the name for the world's most popular toy, the Teddy Bear. We invite you to join us in Legends Trading Company to see the latest Teddy Bear collectibles."

We also went to the Hot Springs swimming pool to lounge, there are about four sections of the pool and the further east you swim, the warmer the water gets because of the hot springs. The only minor drawback is the sulphur smell, but the water feels great. I sat on the edge and dangled my chunky legs in while Caela swam around like a fish. She ended up with a sunburn and I teased her about it for the rest of the trip. She and I also played a round of mini golf. I kept whooping her butt and she was starting to get irritated with me! heh heh. We would get to a hole and have par 3 to play, well, after her third attempt, I would start saying par 10, par 15, etc. for every swing she made thereafter. Boy, was she getting frustrated, it was priceless to watch.

In the evenings when Michael was done working, we went to dinner and checked out the town. One evening we went and took a tram up the mountain to Glenwood Caverns. I LOVE caves, rocks, etc., so we had to go. It was a 70 minute walk through the upper and lower caverns, it was so cool inside, about 57 degrees. Michael was in charge of photos, Caela had the camcorder and I just had to haul my butt up and down stairs. Another night Michael was bound and determined to show me where Doc Holliday was buried. We've been to Deadwood to see Wild Bill Hickocks grave, and had to go here too. Michael is a little more interested in this stuff than I am, all I can remember about them is the movie "Tombstone" and how awesome Val Kilmer, Kurt Russel, and Sam Elliot looked in their dusters. hubba hubba!! Anyhoo, his gravesite is located on the top of a mountain, wouldn't you figure. We had to walk uphill for 1/2 a mile, I forgot to bring water, and it was kinda toasty that day; but I made it, with very little whining. ;D I took photos as proof and to scrap with my Wild Bill photos that have been sitting idley by for the last couple of years.

There were a few other things that we did, but I described the more major events. This is the first vacation where we didn't have to drive all over creation to get to places, so I liked that alot. It was definitely more laid back and relaxing, which I loved.