Colorado Cool

Every June, my company's trade association has its management conference in an out of state locale equipped with room enough to host our group, typically cooler weather, golf courses nearby, shopping for the ladies & activities for the whole family. This year, the choice was The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado. If you haven't been to this massive resort, it is well worth the trip...even if it's just for a quick look around as you're passing through the area. The one thing I was looking forward to during this trip was a break from the hot Texas weather and Colorado didn't disappoint!

Getting to the resort is fairly easy with several options on your arrival...airport in Colorado Springs, 1.5 hour drive from the Denver airport or 16 hour road trip from Austin. I chose to take the direct (but VERY early) flight from Austin to Denver and rent a car for the drive to Colorado Springs. Also included in this adventure, is B, who works in an industry related business. It was super fun to have one of the bitches on the trip!

With a 6 am departure and a 7 am arrival in Denver, we had plenty of time to see a few things in Denver before heading to CS. Our first stop was breakfast at The Delectable Egg in downtown Denver. I thought it would be super fun to have a Denver Omelette in Denver and kinda mad at myself for not thinking of it the last time I was in Denver. (Last fall, a group of us went to Denver to celebrate my birthday and go to a Broncos game.) B and I split the omelette because we had grander plans for a late lunch. The breakfast was tasty and if you're in Denver, the Delectable Egg is a great place for breakfast. For those of you familiar with Kerby Lane, it had a similar feel and menu.

After a nice breakfast and short stroll around downtown, B and I headed to the Denver Zoo to check out the animals. The zoo opened in 1896 with the rescue of an orphaned bear and sits in Denver's City Park. While the zoo is somewhat dated in appearance, many of the areas have been recently updated and they are currently building a new 11 acre addition, The Asian Tropics. The plans for the new space look amazing and will add an updated look to the zoo. It was busier than we anticipated but overall, we still had a good time. It's definitely worth checking out if you're in the area, like animals or have kiddos that do.

All the walking around the zoo made us hungry, which led us to our next stop...The Buckhorn Exchange, Denver's oldest restaurant, which opened for business in 1893 and holds Liquor License #1 in the state of Colorado. Thanks to Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel, we enjoyed a tasty lunch at one of the most unique restaurants I've ever experienced. It offers a wide selection of wild game and the food was amazing. B had the Elk medallions and I had the Buffalo patty melt. OMG! They were both delicious!!! The food and the atmosphere made for a great experience. If you've seen pictures of this place, it is exactly as it seems. I loved the dark wood, the checkered tablecloths and the great service. Not to mention the mass amounts of taxidermy on the walls. If you can stuff it, it's likely on the walls here...elk, moose, rabbit, deer, coyote, mountain lion, beaver, assorted fish, buffalo and my favorite, jackalope. Now you might not find this interesting, but as an avid hunter and fisher, I found it quite amazing to see all the species. Now where did all of it come from you ask? All of the pieces were taken from the family that owns the place, not at some garage sale. This is just a snippet of the history of the Buckhorn, so if you're interested in learning more check out the History section on their website. It's worth the read, especially for any history buffs.

With the tour of Denver complete, we headed on to Colorado Springs and the Broadmoor Hotel. Now if you want to know why the "a" is little in the hotel name, you'll have to do a little research or ask me. It's one of many great stories about Spencer Penrose, (nicknamed "Spec") the hotel's founder. Apparently, he was quite the character and definitely one of a kind. While the hotel is sprawling with rooms scattered all over the property, I never felt like a number and the hotel never felt too crowded. The hotel staff from the front desk to the bar staff to the cleaning folks were very friendly and accommodating. The staff each had stories and tidbits about the hotel and Spec. One things I look for in a hotel stay is the friendliness of the staff and the Broadmoor delivered.

After our meetings on one day, B & I joined Bear, my 7 year old second cousin, and his mom, MB (Momma Bear) in their trip to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, which sits on the side of the mountain and a quick shuttle ride from the hotel. It's the only zoo built in the side of a mountain and showcases a variety of animals. However, being built on the side of a hill means that the entire thing is up/down hill. So wear your good shoes and don't carry too much as traversing the zoo can be quite a workout. My favorite part of the zoo was feeding the giraffes lettuce. For a couple bucks, you can buy a bunch of lettuce to feed to the friendly giraffes. It's a great photo opp and I really enjoyed feeding them. They have SUPER long tongues and an endless pit for a stomach. Just beware that those tongues are slimy and tear up your pieces of lettuce to make the experience last longer. Be sure to give yourself several hours to make the whole park and don't miss the big Moose and the mountain lions (3:15 pm feeding was awesome!).

The hotel offers many different activities from golf to tennis to spa treatments to hiking. B and I wanted to try out fly fishing while we were in Colorado. Several of my friends, A, C, J1 & J2, love to fly fish and we really wanted to try it out. On our free day, B & I booked a half day fly fishing trip with Colorado Fishing Adventures, which has an office in the hotel complex. Bright and early we met our guide, Ben, and headed to 11 mile Canyon on the South Platte River. It took about an hour to get to our destination but it was worth the drive. What a beautiful location! As the van rolled to a stop, we hopped out, put on our waders (what an attractive piece of gear!) and headed into the river. It was a bit of a weird feeling being in the water, but not getting wet. Ben deftly showed us how to cast, the do's and don'ts, and how to land the fish. He was a patient teacher and before we knew it, we were spaced out in the river fishing! Now let me say that while Ben easily trotted through the river, I took my time and delicately walked. All I could think of was stepping into a hole, being chest deep in the water with my waders filling up! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! That thought never came to fruition, but it loomed in the back of my head the entire time. During my four hour fishing adventure, I managed to land 3 rainbow trout, 1 brown trout and 2 "sucker" fish (a.k.a. crap fish), as well as thoroughly enjoy the cool morning, the sound of the water running over the rocks and the peacefulness that comes with being in nature.

After a fun day of fishing, I headed to the Spa at the hotel for a massage. Now let me tell you, I LOVE me some spa time. If there's a spa at a hotel, I'm there. (Some are better than others and I have my favorites...which could be a blog entry in itself.) This spa was AWESOME. As I checked in, I was given a warm robe. Now I've gotten warm robes at spas before because they just came out of the dryer, but here they do it on purpose. It's the first time I've had a spa do that. As you can tell, I was very impressed. The changing and shower area is nice and spacious and the toilets are quite interesting. (Let's just say it cleans and dries.) The relaxation rooms offer a fire place in one and a beautiful view of the mountains in the other. Fair warning for anyone who might be a bit modest, the relaxation rooms are coed, so don't say I didn't warn you. My massage was lovely and I enjoyed the steam room after my treatment.

Our final meeting day gave us the afternoon off, so a big group of us took the Cog Train to the top of Pike's Peak. I've never been to the top of Pike's Peak so I was excited to see the view and see if the altitude would affect me. The train ride takes a little over an hour and if you don't have an annoying tour guide, I'm sure the tour part is lovely. However, we had a most annoying tour guide and half way through, I put in my head phones and listened to some tunes. Once we made it above tree line, the view was amazing. On a clear day, you can see 5 states from the peak and when we reached the top it was 38 degrees. If you do make this trip, check the weather at the top and take the proper clothing. The girls in shorty shorts sure looked cold at the summit! Within a few minutes of arriving at the summit, the altitude hit me and made me feel really loopy. If you've never felt the affects of 14,110 feet, let me tell ya, it was intense. The train stop lasts 30-40 minutes before heading back down the mountain and we were lucky to leave when we did because as the train descended the snow/sleet started. It's not every day you see snow in June!

After a great time in Colorado with family and friends, it was time to head back to Austin, Texas. Back to the heat. Back to the daily grind. Back to planning my next adventure.

Until then...happy travels and many laughs!