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.

Day 255 - Puppy

Thought of the day: Today I covered the familiar grounds of Boulder Farmer's Market, Pearl St,  Zhou Mama's and Trident Cafe with Lila.  It was another hot day and a thoughtful friend equipped Lila with a spray bottle before we started out on the bike.  Lila sprayed watery mists generously on flowers, trees, dogs along the way. On Pearl St, people asked her to please spray on them to cool them down. She was quite a hit by just being herself and carrying on her favorite activity of proudly dispensing water. I was thankful to the cheerful and indulgent pedestrians on Pearl St. They helped us make this into another blissful and laid-back summer day in a tiny paradise we called Boulder.

Photo of the day:

On the way home, we took a break outside of Cafe Sole as Lila felt fast asleep on the bike. I saw this cute little puppy sitting at a table with his new owner. He was just adopted this morning. Lucky puppy - I think he is in very good hands.

Day 193 - Stairway

Thought of the day: I ran into some photos of bento box lunches prepared by a Japanese woman for her son to bring to preschool day to day.  I was thoroughly impressed.  The lunches were meticulously and thoughtfully prepared.  They were aesthetically pleasing to the eyes and, judging from the statement that her son devoured every bite of them, they must be pleasing to the taste buds as well.  She demonstrated that with enough love and intention, a daily chore can be turned into a creation of art.  That's probably true for many other things as well.  Indeed, life itself can be an art if you decide to live it as one.

Photo of the day:

There's art to be seen pretty much anywhere in the Stanley Hotel.  Old historic hotels may give you a cozy living space with very little luxury in the room, but who cares if it's interesting wherever you set your eyes on.

Day 192 - Wedding

Thought of the day: It was a perfect day in Estes Park.  In the morning, we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park and hiked on a short trail to Bear Lake, which was still completely frozen and covered by snow at this time of the year.  And then we hiked on Lumpy Ridge trail in town. The first trail was surrounded by a forest and it was covered by snow and slippery.  It was even snowing when we did the hike.  The second trail was snow-free and dry and ran through some pretty interesting rock formations.  It was nice and sunny when we did that hike.   The two hikes couldn't be more different even though they were just within a short drive from each other.  We literally drove from one climate zone to another in a matter of minutes.  Jasmine and Lila were very excited by the adventure and they both enjoyed climbing up and down the rocks along the Lumpy Ridge Trail.  In the evening, we checked out Rock Inn Restaurant which is a steak house and a popular music venue in Estes Park.  The girls danced an evening away to the merry tunes played by a local musician.

Photo of the day:

A wedding party in Stanley Hotel where we are staying at.  Today must be an auspicious day to get married as we spotted at least 3 wedding parties in the hotel.  Other than weddings, we also counted a lot of elks in RMNP and in town, including a dozen or so munching on the grass right outside of our hotel room.  However, I took a lot more photos of wedding parties  than elks, so the elks would have to wait until our next trip to get on the blog!

Day 191 - Happy Music

Thought of the day: We're staying in Estes Park for the weekend.  It's much chillier here than in Boulder but it's good to do something different.  Jasmine loved the coziness of the hotel room and declared that she would not mind staying here forever.  I think that might be a little exaggerated and a spur of the moment declaration, but she is always the happiest when she gets to spend time with us.  It's yet another proof that kids, at least the young ones, crave for the quality time with parents more than anything else.  Watching movies or playing with new toys may provide them with temporary excitements, but there's nothing like the parents' unconditional love and undivided attention to make them genuinely happy.

Photo of the day:

Students of Kutandara Center performing African music on the Pearl St.  Today was the Colorado Children's Day in Boulder where there were fun activities for the kids and all events were free (even the balloon man refused to accept tips).  Looking at this photo reminded me just how warm it was a couple of hours ago!