Beautiful Broadmoor

By a really funny "turn" of events, we were the winners of an all-expense (well most) paid trip for 2 to Colorado Springs to stay at the Broadmoor - 2 nights/3 days. We were told it was a fabulous resort, but what would we know of fabulous resorts. I smiled and nodded and thought we were very lucky.

By "turn" of events, I mean that Dad won the trip by turning the game wheel at an employee appreciation dinner for his company and gambled the prize he won on the wheel to win one of the bigger grand prizes. And, of course, he won. The fact that he won the Broadmoor trip was hilarious in several ways (you'll just have to wonder) and I think I laughed at that the rest of the evening. This was in May.

Ok, back to the trip. Having an amazingly busy week leading up to the trip, I did absolutely no thinking about it or packing for it until after the Halloween carnival at school the evening before we left. I got home about 9pm and we were driving to the airport at 7am the next morning. I really couldn't tell you what I had packed, if anything went together and if I even had the right clothes for the weather in Colorado Springs. Being exhauasted, I had no choice but to take a short nap (short flight) in our first class seats. Dad had cashed in some upgrades so we could fly first class on our 5 star trip. Thank goodness the flight attendant woke me up with warm cookies so I could fully enjoy our comfy seats.

Our landing was smooth, rental car pick up was quick and the drive to the resort was fairly short. Driving onto the resort grounds was a bit overwhelming. The gate guard stopped us to confirm we had reservations and from that point on, we were Mr. & Mrs. to everyone. They put a printed tag on our dashboard and every time we drove up, the valet attendants were so numerous and calling us by name we had trouble knowing which one to tip. We got there a bit early and our room wasn't ready, so we checked our luggage and did some walking.

We found a place for lunch and then decided to get the car and drive up to Seven Falls and Garden of the Gods for some sightseeing. There is so much to do in the Colorado Springs area and you don't have to drive for hours to get to it all.

This is the entry to Seven Falls. Look at that tree growing right up through the little building!

Our camera battery died (like completely) just as we drove into Garden of the Gods, so we spent the next hour exploring the Colorado Springs area looking for a Best Buy.

When we arrived back at the Broadmoor, our room was ready and they called the bell man while we went on up to our room. He arrived shortly with our luggage and I swear I thought he was moving in with us. He walked in with our luggage and pulled the luggage stands out of the closet and started setting up the suitcases. I really though he was going to start unpacking them for us. He stood there (invading my space - you know how I am with my space) and proceeded to tell us everything we needed to know about the area. If I hadn't been so exhausted and still reeling from the sudden altitude change, I might have heard more of what he said. I was at a 45 degree tilt the whole time he was increasing his tip. He was a very nice man and he got a very nice tip by the time he headed out the door 15 minutes later.

We did a lot of walking around the resort. The fall colors were amazing and the whole atmosphere was so peaceful. We stayed in the main building, but there were at least a dozen other buildings as well surrounding the lake in the middle of the resort.

We rode the cog train to the top of Pikes Peak. These trees are actually growing straight up - that's how steep the grade was up the mountain on this train! It was so cold at the top of Pikes Peak and the air was so thin, we could hardly breath outside in the wind.

Outside the resort, the colors were beautiful (the Senior Open golf tournament will be held here next year). And inside the buildings, the decor and details were amazing.

One of our many nice meals, we enjoyed dinner our last night at one of the classy spots on property: Summit. Very contemporary and VERY good. And very green. Everything was green...

And speaking of green, I'm saving up to go back to this place. It was a WONDERFUL getaway...