I could live in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, death place of Doc Holliday and home of the best Greek omelette I have ever eaten. After four days of staying almost in the middle of nowhere (except for Salt Lake City, but we were so far outside the city we might as well have been in the middle of nowhere), it was so refreshing to stay in a little tourist town, especially since it was not swarming with tourists.
We arrived pretty early yesterday afternoon and checked into the lovely Hotel Denver. Once we finished unpacking (ish) and had a quick lunch, we set off on a short hike to the burial place of Doc Holliday (in case you can’t remember who he is, Val Kilmer played him in Tombstone). Although the hike to the cemetery was only a half a mile, we were exhausted by the time we got there. The trail (more of a path really) was steep and exposed to the sun, which is much stronger here. Not to mention the altitude of 5,700 (ish) feet.
Once we reached the cemetery and recovered enough to explore, we discovered that Doc Holliday’s grave isn’t clearly marked. Apparently he died a pauper and is thought to be buried in Potter’s field with a wooden cross–long since rotted–to mark his grave. So we settled for a picture of Dave at a grave in the cemetery that holds Doc Holliday’s remains:
Then somewhat disappointed and really hot we headed back to the hotel to rest. (It is a really nice picture of Dave and Ralphie, though).
The remainder of the day was uneventful–except for a trip to the grocery store, which wasn’t so much eventful as exhausting as I chose to walk the seven blocks. I almost scoffed when the nice lady at the reception suggested that I might prefer to drive, thinking to myself, “seven blocks? please! That’s nothing.” Turns out that seven blocks uphill in the sun at 5,700 feet is more daunting than I could have imagined. But I did it. And I made it back in one piece. Shortly thereafter I was asleep in a chair with my book on my lap. And I was pretty much done for the rest of the day.
But after a really good night’s sleep, I felt much better. The headache that had been bothering me all day on Wednesday was gone. Relieved that I didn’t have altitude sickness, I was ready to face the day. (I almost called this post “Altitude Sickness” because I looked up the symptoms on the Internet. It’s what I do.) Dave, Ralphie, and I took a really nice stroll by the river before heading to breakfast at a little coffee shop with outside seating. It was the first restaurant we’d been able to bring Ralphie to because of its outside seating. And that is where I had the best Greek omelette I’ve ever had.
Fortified with a solid breakfast, we were ready to pack up and head to Denver (Highlands Ranch to be more specific). The drive here included some truly spectacular scenery. But you’ll have to take my word for it because we didn’t stop to take any pictures. We didn’t stop for anything because I wanted to get here and be done with the driving for a while. I-70 took us through the mountains, which meant a lot of up and down driving; our car strained on the uphill but seemed to enjoy the downhill. I really liked passing 10,000 feet at the Vail pass. We spend most of our time at around 23 feet above sea level, so these high altitudes make a nice change.
We spent the afternoon with Dave’s family, which was really lovely. Our nephews Cory and Clark were both there. We had not seen Cory since he was 12 and he just graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder. The last time we saw Clark he was about 6 months old. Now he’s almost five. They’ve both changed a lot. After dinner we took a family walk to the park where Dave and Cory threw a frisbee around for a while. Cory has always been a really athletic guy and it shows. But Uncle Dave held his own! Clark loves to play Lego Star Wars on the Wii that his grandparents bought for him. So Dave and Clark played together. Uncle Dave also held his own with Clark.
Ralphie enjoyed wandering around Dave’s parents house sniffing things. Then he enjoyed running around in the backyard where he found and killed a plastic soccer ball that was meant for Clark. Luckily Clark didn’t seem to care (or notice). And now Ralphie is sacked out on the couch in our room. It’s almost like home, with me on one end with my computer and Dave on the other with his and Ralphie stretched between us, taking up most of the room. We’re staying in a Residence Inn, which is nice because there’s so much more space and we have a little kitchen. It’s good to know that we’ll be in the same place for the next several nights before we turn around and head home.
bethdeitchman 