Tag Archives: Colorado

The One That Got Away

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When we travel, we often see things that look intriguing but that aren’t accessible to us at that time. There’s simply never enough time. When I was in Colorado Springs for a conference last year, we got to venture out for a couple of side trips including a ride on the Pike’s Peak Cog Railway. We also were supposed to take a Jeep tour of Garden of the Gods.

Neither of these things went as planned thanks to an absolutely wonderful snow we received the night we arrived. I found the snow magical in this already beautiful place but there were consequences. The top of Pike’s Peak was closed so the train didn’t make it to the top. Plus, Garden of the Gods was closed as well.

Our Jeep tour guide handled it like a champ, taking us to places that were accessible including around Manitou Springs and telling us stories about the area.

The original plan was better but this was a great plan b.

One of the places we went was to Glen Eyrie, an English tudor style castle. This historic castle was built in 1871 by General William Jackson Palmer. General Palmer was a Union General during the Civil War and was the founder of Colorado Springs.

It’s open for tours and has a nice little cafe and gift shop with clean restrooms and a delightful view – at least when blanketed by snow!

We weren’t able to take a tour because the timing simply didn’t work. We had to get back for the conference and flew out early the next morning.

We did, however, get to look around the grounds some and learn interesting things about the place. Our guide talked about how it was quite advanced for its time. Some features include fire hoses stationed around the castle in case of fire and a primitive intercom system. I thought it was fascinating that there’s a system that uses a lever to direct smoke, depending on the direction the wind was blowing, to send the smoke out of the valley.

With hundreds of acres, the property is home to much wildlife including a large herd of bighorn sheep, birds of prey, wild turkey and deer. There are also places to stay around the property including in the castle.

It is owned and operated by a worldwide Christian organization called The Navigators.

Incidentally, Eyrie means Eagles nest and the property is still know to be home to Eagles.

Maybe I’ll get to see inside someday. Meanwhile I’ll continue thinking of it as the one that got away!

Garden Of The Gods In Snow

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This week is busier than normal and this is not the day for much in the way of storytelling. So, instead, I have a few snapshots from the Garden of the Gods for your viewing pleasure.

Here’s another view of Balanced Rock.

I have hiked there but had never seen it on a snowy day so that was pretty exciting. We just drove through for a few minutes and enjoyed the view from our nice, warm vehicle.

Isn’t it beautiful?

Have a great day, friends!

Ready To Face A New Week

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I’m settled back in and ready to face a new day after being gone for a conference last week. While I learned some things that can help my day job, I was there because I’m the Vice President of the Governing Board of my local Educational Service Center. The conference was held at the Broadmoor, a legendary hotel and resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 

Our wonderful Superintendent gave a presentation at the conference and she invited me and our Board President to go along. I joined the board during Covid and haven’t had a lot of opportunities to participate in conferences or other learning events so I jumped at the invitation. 

This turned out to be a wonderful trip despite some hiccups and, in some cases, the hiccups enhanced the experience. The Broadmoor lives up to its reputation in more ways than I can count. It’s possible I will be ruined for life and am still mourning the lack of turndown service at my home. The thoughtful lighting choices, classical music and chocolate left on the nightstand made going back to the room a real treat every night. 

Plus, they got a few inches of snow while we were there that enhanced the Broadmoor’s absolutely gorgeous Christmas decorations. On our first night there, I awoke around 4 a.m. and was delighted to find myself in what appeared to be a Christmas snowglobe. 

Our Superintendent had put together an agenda that allowed us to be at the conference and get out to experience some of Colorado. As it turns out, the snow which made the world seem so magical also made the world more challenging. Our breakfast spot that first morning was closed for weather as was the Garden of the Gods where we were to take a tour. Snow also prevented us from making it to the top of PIke’s Peak. 

That’s ok because the three of us get along well and had no trouble pivoting to do other things. Better yet, we had a great time on those pivots. As I so often find to be true, what we do when things go awry can be even better than the plans. 

And I’m grateful that was the case. 

I complained the other day (once again) about the state of air travel. Yet, I want to stop a moment and encourage you to think about the miracle it is that we can get on a plane in Ohio and, in a few short hours, be halfway across the country.  Trips that once took days in a car now take a fraction of the time. 

I’m also grateful to every person who played a role in making my travel safe this trip. My two companions did all our driving and took good care of us even in weird traffic situations and on slick roads. Shuttle and car drivers, pilots, and the crews who keep all these vehicles operating are rock stars. I thanked all our drivers for a safe journey.

So, it’s back to work and back to the real world today. There are no doormen in fancy uniforms and no one to give me fresh towels so I guess I’ll go back to doing those things for myself! 

Stay tuned. I will tell you more about the Broadmoor, the PIke’s Peak Cog Railway and some things we saw sightseeing around Manitou Springs. 

Anticipation Is Half The Battle

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Anticipation is often the hardest part of things that are scary or hard. I have been thinking about this a lot lately as I reminisce about summer adventures past.

Flying alone for the first time comes to mind. I hadn’t flown at all in years when I found myself planning to meet my Wyoming friend Johnna in Salt Lake City in 2018. I didn’t worry about it but the idea made me uncomfortable right up until the moment I was settled into my United Flight window seat. That’s when I discovered that flying alone was the most liberating experience of my life. 

Another thing that comes to mind is my visit to Mesa Verde National National Park in southwest Colorado. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is known for beautifully preserved Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings. Honestly, I had never heard of it until Johnna suggested it as part of our four corners region adventure. 

She and her hubby had driven through one day, stopping at an overlook to watch a ranger led tour explore one of the cliff dwellings. She talked about the beauty of the place and the exciting prospects of exploring ancient dwellings that not everyone can touch. Access is permitted only through ranger hikes. 

We agreed this would be the centerpiece of our trip until we discovered one small detail: to access the cliff dwellings, you have to climb ladders.

“Wait… what?” I asked.

Ladders? I don’t do ladders. I don’t do heights. I don’t do things that might result in my passing out or tripping and falling to my death. I am not the most graceful of our population so it seems a likely outcome that I will trip and hurl myself off the side of a cliff.

There are tours to three dwellings. The Square Tower House descends 120 feet and has steep drop-offs. You have to climb two 16 foot ladders and be able to scramble over large boulders, unassisted while carrying a minimum half gallon of water. All this for the bargain low price of $25 per person.

Just reading that description gave me heart palpitations so I crossed that off the list. 

Balcony House is just $8 per person but requires climbing a 32-foot ladder, crawling through an 18 inch by 27 inch tall tunnel for twelve feet and climbing a 66 foot open cliff face with uneven stone steps. All that before climbing two 18 foot ladders to exit.

Nope. What else they got? 

The final tour goes to Cliff Palace. It  descends uneven stone steps and requires climbing four 8-10 foot ladders. This one is also $8. 

Honestly, I would have paid the total sum of all three tour tickets to not have to do any this. But my dear friend Johnna knew exactly what to say to get me to agree to this. It was something to the effect of “do you want to be one of those people on the overlook watching others live life or do you want to be one of those people down there having fun? It just depends on the kind of life you want.”

Sigh. 

So I spent the next couple of months experiencing self inflicted vertigo every time I thought about what was to come. I hardly slept the night before and had a knot in my stomach right up until we began descending those stone steps. 

You know something? I hustled right up the first ladder with no trouble and just kept going. Honestly, the ladders weren’t bad even though the first one looks like something Fred Flinstone might have built. But it was eight feet and on the ground, angled enough that it didn’t feel like too severe of a climb.

The way out required some uneven stone steps and a ten foot ladder that went straight up. However, it wasn’t at all scary because it was in a crevice between stone so it felt sheltered.

I drag you along on that adventure to tell you this: the fear of what is to come is nearly always worse than the thing you have to do. That’s true for sad anniversaries and for hard work you procrastinate because you simply don’t want to do it. It’s true for those irrational fears we all have as well.

Your mind will always make things worse than they seem if you allow it.

I’m grateful that I did it and (don’t tell Johnna) I’m grateful she pushed me to go. She’s a good influence because she knows I’m capable of more than I think and doesn’t hesitate to force me to at least try. 

Want to read another account of Mesa Verde? The Wandering Canadians recently wrote a nice account that sent these particular memories bubbling to the top. Click here to read all about their visit!

The One That Got Away

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The neon sign still looked good against the blue Colorado sky. November weather in Denver can be a crap shoot but we won that day. It was jacket weather but sunny and beautiful – ideal for the cowboy that looked like he might tip his hat from atop the Davie’s Chuck Wagon Diner sign.

I’m a sucker for vintage signs. And for diners.

Really, for anything that harkens to an earlier time. That’s the only reason we were there. To see an old diner with a gorgeous old sign.

I promised my friend that I would buy her lunch if our diner breakfast was bad. That’s another crapshoot. Diner breakfast is either delicious or your basic greasy grub. 

There’s little middle ground. 

Davie’s is the kind of place that sells cold cereal alongside pineapple by the slice and something called the Chuckwagon Breakfast. 

Our waitress was an older lady who called her regulars hon. It seemed like she had a lot of regulars. She neither approved nor disapproved of my veggie omelette but she brought it quickly and kept my Diet Coke topped off so I liked her. I don’t drink much pop but an early morning after a long day of traveling is one exception to the rule. 

Our corner booth was situated just inches from the table next to us where an elderly man studied a newspaper crossword puzzle. His pencil, slow and deliberate, scratched in the letters. He never erased and never looked up from his work except when a coffee refill was offered or when he took a bite of hot cereal.

I had an irrational desire to strike up a conversation with this stranger but it wasn’t as strong as his apparent desire to be left alone.

And so I did. 

Later, I stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror and admired the tile work behind me. The wall tile was a mid-century pink but a closer look at the floor revealed some tiles featured images with a western theme. 

I wondered how long that man had been coming here. Does he not have cereal at home? Does he just enjoy the atmosphere? Does he have pleasant memories of bringing his children here to admire the cowboy sign out front? What does he think of the cowboy tiles scattered around the restaurant?

That man will always be like a good fishing tale to me. He was one that got away without telling me his story. 

Memories like this are etched in my mind’s eye. Like snapshots in a photo album, they flip through my consciousness and make me appreciate the pure delight of the places I’ve been and the near encounters I’ve had. 

Who needs a resort vacation when you can find neon, a great  breakfast and an intriguing character all in one place? 

Not me.

Home From Adventure

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I have been out exploring for the last several days. It was my annual whirlwind western adventure trip with my Wyoming gal pal. While I’m sad to see it end already, I am pooped and ready for some rest in my own bed and my own time zone.

We had a nice mix of planned and unplanned adventures, time outside, time indoors and yes, even some independent bookstore shopping! In so many ways – both in lifestyle and in appearance, Colorado is like the surface of the moon compared to my Ohio home so I’m feeling inspired to make some lifestyle improvements.

I like adventures that make me want to be a better person.

There are lots of stories and pictures to come so be sure to check back tomorrow and the days to come!