Liaison Weekend

Liason weekend is where the backup families in the exchange program take their respective Aussie for a short group road trip over to Glenwood Springs. Turns out that not only are we hosting Bec, but we are also liaison to Lisa Nakkan, so for one weekend, we pretented we didn't know who Bec was, and spent some time with Lisa and the other Aussies. Glenwood's claim to fame is a giant hot springs pool fed by natural underground geothermal springs. It also serves as a gateway to the legendary Aspen ski community which is the home to many film actors and extremely wealth celebrity types. Those who can't afford Aspen live in Glenwood

Our trip started off with a brief stop on top of Loveland Pass where many of the kids got their first peek at the kind of weather conditions in store for them this winter....falling snow. Loveland is a hopping off spot for backcountry skiers who aren't skiing within a commercial ski area and can be prone to avalanches. Hence this signage. After a brief stop at Vail ski area for some lunch we continued on to Glenwood Springs.

We stayed at the historic Hotel Colorado which was founded in the 1893 and host to many important people of the day. (I wanted to stay in the Teddy Roosevelt suite but due to the current economic conditions I decided I probably better hold onto the extra cash.) The Colorado was one of the first hotels in the state to have electric lights and in this era that novelty made it big draw. Not only does the hotel boast the giant hot springs pool, it has the added notoriety of being haunted. (Why didn't we do this on Halloween?) So while most of us chose to soak in the healing waters, others couldn't help taking the tour of the spooky spots in the hotel. Can't say that I saw any specters that night, but some of the girls reported "strange" tapping on the pipes.

After breakfast the next day we rode the gondola up to Glenwood Adventure park and took a quick tour of the Glenwood Caverns. The caverns weren't terribly extensive, but they did have some pretty nice formations. As fate would have it my camera battery died at this critical moment so I can't shed too much light on the caves interior.

I think the kids had a pretty good time, but sounds like a few of them are starting to think more and more about getting back home. I think they will be surprised on how quickly the time goes from here on out.