Day 264 - Pikes Peak

Thought of the day: We spent a lazy morning at the hotel pools.  Lila was still too young for the water slides, but she had fun hanging onto the edge of the infinity pool and looking out onto the neighboring lake.  The sight of swans, ducks, and large fish in the lake was very amusing for her.  At a blissful moment when I was sitting on the lounge chair, drinking a cold Pina Colada and watching the kids playing merrily in the water, I was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of joy as intense as the bright Colorado sun that's surrounding us.  On a day like this, in a setting like this, there's no room for any dark or murky feelings.  No matter where we are and who we are with, spending time at the pools never fails to bring about a sense of happiness and well-being for me.  Yes, pools and summer are inseparable - one wouldn't have made sense without the other.

Photo of the day:

We took a cog train up to the summit of Pikes Peak this afternoon. At the elevation of over 14,000 feet, the view  on top was pretty amazing.  Katharine Bates wrote the song "America the Beautiful" after taking in the views here. It was a cloudy afternoon so the view was not as spectacular as it could have been on a sunny day, but the rain clouds made some pretty interesting images nevertheless. On the way down, we ran into some rain and soon afterward everybody on the train was elated to see double rainbows rising above the railway. The weather in the morning and in the afternoon couldn't have been any more different, as a typical Coloradan summer day should be.

Day 263 - Broadmoor

Thought of the day: We are visiting Colorado Springs and staying at the Broadmoor Hotel.  In addition to the attractions that Colorado Springs has to offer, which include some interesting places with names as poetic as Garden of the Gods, Cave of the Winds and Manitou Springs, the historic hotel itself is worth a visit in its own right. Broadmoor is located on 3,000 acres at the foot of Cheyenne Mountain with a golf course (currently hosting US Women's Open), tennis courts, restaurants, pools, a spa, a lake and even a cinema. We have only stayed at this hotel in the winter and used it as a base for our activities in Colorado Springs.  This time we're visiting at the peak of the summer and will likely be spending more time inside the resort itself.  Anyway, it's good to be back and put all the worldly worries behind us for a while.

Photo of the day:

A path in the middle of the lake connects the main building and the west building, where we are staying in.  On the far left , three of my favorite people are walking toward the main building.  On the right, a few trainees are walking toward the west building.  Many young people came here for hospitality training from different parts of the world.  Some speak English with a strong accent but they are all very friendly and trying to be helpful, at least all of those I have interacted with.