Oh, The Healing Waters!!!

Like driving through the Grand Canyon

    Leaving Moab, we drove along the Colorado River to Hwy. 70.  It was an absolutely beautiful drive and definitely the road less traveled.  The canyon that we drove through made us feel like we were driving through the Grand Canyon, rather than rafting or hiking.

    Once we reached Hwy. 70, I told the girls that I was going to take them to a special place that would help to heal their aching muscles.  They were feeling a little tired from four days of hiking and biking.  It took us about four hours, but we arrived at Glenwood Springs in the late afternoon.

Glenwood Springs Pool.  The hot end is at the far end of the pool.

    Glenwood Springs has always been one of my favorite places to go.  When I was a young ski instructor, I would go with the owner of the ski school to Colorado to ski every March for three years in a row.  Now remember earlier when I told you I couldn't afford to go to Moab, well the owner of the ski school paid for everything, if you made it through the season with him.  So, one of the stops we would make each year on our way to the ski resort was to stop at Glenwood Springs.  Now, you may be wondering to yourself what is so special about this place.  Well, Glenwood Springs has the largest naturally sulfur heated pool in the world.  Not only is the water heavenly warm, but it has therapeutic and healing qualities as well.  The pool is fed by 3.5 million gallons of water everyday.  You could call this the Old Faithful of Spas.  The pool is shaped like a trapezoid.  The end of the pool closest to the spring is narrow and then as it stretches out from the spring it gets wider.  The reason for this, is because at the short end, the water can get up to 120 degrees.  When you sit on that end of the pool, there are holes in the bottom of the pool, where the treated water seeps into the larger pool.  The wider end of the pool is about 85 degrees.  The average temperature of the pool overall is 104 degrees.

The I-70 Freeway going across the Rockies to Denver

    With that information known, I took the girls to have a little spa time.  We spent about two hours soaking our aching bodies.  Well, Cecelia and I soaked.  The girls were too busy diving off the diving board into the deep end of the pool.  So much for resting their tired and aching bodies.
    A special surprise for us, was the Strawberry Festival in Glenwood Springs.  It was nice, meandering around the booths and having an afternoon snack.
    That evening we slept really well.
    The next morning was Fathers Day, and we started the day off with another bike ride.  This one wasn't quite as intense, but it was equally beautiful and fun.  We rode up Glenwood Canyon from the camp ground and then back into town for breakfast.  The morning was awesome and it was a good start to a day that was going to find us in Colorado Springs.

No words Necessary

    After returning to the campground, we showered and packed up.  We then drove though the I-70 Canyon.  Along the way, I had a chance to share with the girls some of the ski resorts I had skiied as a young instructor years ago.  Rather than going through the Eisenhower tunnel, we drove up to Kestone and Arapahoe Basin Ski Resorts.  I have many fond memories of skiing with my friend Kent Bry at this insane place, that is located just below the Continental Divide.  At the top of the divide, we stopped to have lunch and let the girls play in the late spring snow that was still on the ground.

Claire, get ready for an ear full!!

   After some lunch and a little wine, we
 then made or way to Colorado Springs to play a little golf at an executive golf course.  The family had a great time together, but Taylor and I lost the game, so we had to do laundry at our next stop.  I didn't mind though, it was worth all of the time spent together.
   We finished just in time to see Jordan Spieth win the US Open and then headed out to have some dinner before going to sleep for the evening.  These are the kinds of days that stick with a man for a long time.  I love being a father.  Happy Fathers Day to all of you Fathers out there.