Glenwood Springs

Nana, Papa, and the Underwoods spent a couple days in Glenwood Springs after their Breckenridge stay. The drive from Breck to Glenwood Springs was gorgeous, Fall colors everywhere. All the photos are here. On to Vail...

Breckenridge | Glenwood Springs | Vail

Hotel Colorado. Built in 1893, we're counting this gem on our "great lodges"
list. The hotel got a new owner just last May who happened to be there this
weekend celebrating the hotel's 125th anniversary.

View to the west from the tram up to
Glenwood Caverns.

Glenwood Caverns.

Glenwood Hot Springs Resort (right next to Hotel Colorado). We didn't
go there, but it's part of the view that got Jamie interested in visiting
Glenwood Springs when passing through by train in 2005 with his Dad.

Glenwood Springs train station.

Front courtyard at Hotel Colorado.
We enjoyed a number of meals and drinks at this spot.

Restaurant in Hotel Colorado.

This spiral staircase behind the hotel gift shop
was installed by the Navy when they used the
hotel as a Navy hospital.

The 125th anniversary included tours of the hotel
and grounds by "realtime" characters.

East bound Amtrak's California Zephyr leaving Glenwood Springs station.

Iron Mountain Hot Springs.

Riviera Supper Club and Piano Bar. One of the many delights at this establishment
was Jonathan Gorst, Music Director/Principle Conductor for the National Tour
of The Phantom of the Opera 2007-2012. He entertained us all evening singing
and playing the piano. Our kind of music: musical theatre sprinkled with ol'
favorites like Mister Bojangles and Scott Joplin. Food was great, too. Among
the many requests he accepted, mine was "More I Cannot Wish You" from
Guys and Dolls. Lynn's was "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables.

Jonny comes marching home...

After about ten days at Stanford for Jonny's Chiari decompression surgery, he and Tracy landed safely at Denver International earlier today. Here are a few more pics from recovery to home (collected mainly from Tracy's texts to the fam).

Jonny had some VIP visitors, including Nathan, Janice, and Jeanette.

There were some pretty cool displays there.

Recovery required an IV in the leg.

Yeah, he's eating!

Can you believe it, trains!

Tracy baiting Nana. She found Nana's favorite lotion
at a store right by Stanford.

And French pastries!

Matt kept the home front going, often with pancakes.

Colorado here we come. Their flight home got postponed
a few days due to Jonny's difficult recovery. Have you
noticed that trademark Jonny smile coming back!

Breckenridge in September

Nana, Papa, and the Underwoods are exploring Colorado along I-70. First stop: Breckenridge. All these trip's Breckenridge photos are here. Tomorrow morning we head for Glenwood Springs.

Breckenridge | Glenwood Springs | Vail

Continental Divide Winery. Interesting concept: they're about evenly split
between Colorado and California grapes - from Paso Robles! We got some.
They ship in the juice and take it from there.

Fabulous meal at South Ridge Seafood Grille.

Breakfast at BoLD.

We spotted a few Bristlecone Pines around Breck.
This one was up on Peak 7.

Lynn skiing on Peak 7.

Fall is in the air. The vibrant greens, yellows, and oranges of the
aspens stand out from the dark green pines, firs, etc.

2,000 gallon still at Breckenridge Distillery.

Ceviche at the Breckenridge Distillery Restaurant (great gourmet food).

Amazing Grace for breakfast.

Highlight of Breck this trip: Snow Caps Sled Dogs (sadly, closed in 2019).
Their main gig is winter snow rides, but in the summer the rides are shorter
(too warm for the dogs to go far or long), so you spend much more time
in the kennel with the dogs, and right up close and personal including any pups.

Our musher, Sarah, putting the dog team on the rigging.
She's got this one "in 2-wheel drive" (only rear legs on the
ground) to make it a little easier.

They're on the gee side.

Haunted sites tour by the Breckenridge Heritage
Alliance. They offer several other tours.

Having watched a video about it, we visited the
Valley Brook Cemetery. Very eclectic. Headstones
and markers from the 1800s to last year. The
marker pictured here was about a hundred years
old and contained a wooden structure with a glass
front containing flowers from the girl's funeral.

Fabulous meal at Hearthstone Restaurant. Wow!
Best restaurant in Summit County many years running.

"Floor Status" for Jonny

That's a good thing! It means his recovery has progressed far enough to leave the PICU and be in a regular room for a few more days. Only problem is there are no regular rooms available so they have to stay in the PICU anyway. Which is AOK, great care and all, but absolutely no privacy. Walls and doors are nearly all glass - the nurses have to be able to see everyone all the time.

Dr. Grant said the surgery went very well. He encountered a couple "interesting" things but got right through or past them. Recovery, on the other hand, was rough. Took them well into the 2nd day to get the right cocktail of nausea and pain meds. Finally, though, Jonny quit throwing up and having pain, and started sleeping more than 2 hours at a time. Thankfully, that seems behind him now and recovery has become easier.

"You know you have Chiari when brain surgery sounds like a good idea."

Here are various pics from the events, not necessarily in any order.

There's his zipper.
"Excuse the hairdo, my awesome neurosurgeon did it."

Can you spot Doogy Houser? It is a teaching hospital.

Care package from new friends in the Springs.

Nana's chiari dino, complete with zipper and brain.

Matt and Tracy's anniversary cake from Madonna Inn!

Gotta get this meal down and keep it down to get "floor status."