Day Four, Wednesday, September 13, 2023
The day we have all been waiting for, Tim and myself included! The vacation starts. We started the morning ar Rossi's, a Bavarian style restaurant. Schnitzle is one of the first menu items. Next we were off to the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. The only aamusement park in th US that's on a mountain top. The only way up or down, even employees and the weekend bands, is a 2000 feet change in elevation by gondola. Yes, I did it! The gondolas run year round, are mostly glass so you get the panoramic view. I sat on the looking up side of the car. Trip was amazing! Until the top. The gondola keeps moving to head back down and I had to leap for it the last minute. Just kidding, it does keep moving but getting off is similar to an escalator only sideways.
So we are at the top, there is a sign saying there is a storm coming and the gondola may cease running at any time, We get a lay of the land and head for the Fairy Cave. The two mountain top caves were the main reason we went up the mountain. It sure wasn't for the rides, some of which took you over the edges of the park and into the ravine! Periodically there was an annoncement that one ride or another was closed due to weather. The cave was interesting and historical. It was a very typical rocky cave but did have formations. After having been in some very majestic and nature loaded caves it was a nice walk in the coolness and quiet. The second cave was a bonus the ticketing lady threw in. Very nice of her but about 300 feet in it I remembered why I didn't put in on our list of things to do. It's 15 stories down with stairs .... and 15 stories up. Husband and I waited in "the barn," the first large cavern, until the tour came back. They had a bench so we weren't the first people to not go down! As our party came back every single one except the guide was winded and one lady had to be almost prodded up the last flight. No wonder the ticket lady gave it to us free. The release we signed gave everything to her if we die in a cave. Side note: we were above the storms that were around us. We had light winds and sunshine on the mountain.
Lunch was in the "Lookout Cafe." That's as close as we got to anything over the edge up there. I took a great picture of Husband with the view in the background and he looks photo shopped in it's so beautiful! Visited the mountain top gift shop with sky high prices. The ride down was a little rougher as we rode through some mild winds from one of the storms.
Worst part of this adventure? Going in the second cave the guide tells we are surrounded by storms and could lose power at any time, It usually comes back "quick" but she will help with turning on people's CELL PHONE FLASHLIGHTS!! Ugh. We left our cell phones in a locker because rule #1 was no cell phones on in the caves! We brought our camera. Apparently "on" is not "off" if you might need a flashlight or use a phone to take pictures. She did not get a tip.
Next stop was a Western store so Husband could buy a new Stetson cowboy hat in Colorado. His hat now is older than our marriage and has a hole in it unlike our marriage. He found almost the exact same hat and with 30 years inflation it was more the we wanted to spend on a hat he may not get 30 years wear. The salesman, Wild Bill of course, helped find a a similar hat, got it steamed fitted and Husband was sooo happy! I in the meantime shopped the jewelry store and found a beautiful pair of man-made opal earrings that I may not get 30 years wear! Haha! The walk back to the hotel seemed longer than the walk there but at least it was downhill.
Before we left Glenwood Springs I really wanted to spend time in a spring. During the day I had asked random citizens of the town which springs were their favorite, The one we heard most often was Iron Mountain Springs and pay for the upgrade to try the international springs. To make them international they start with the natural springs and add elements to create international waters. Bali, Turkey. Japan, Iceland, for example. So off we went. But we drove this time, I didn't want to walk back after three hours of spring time. It was every thing we were told, hoped for and needed to end the day! Back at the hotel as our muscles and bodies came back to normal I realized just perfect we will feel in heaven compared to how much we feel now.
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