The day after Christmas (Sunday) after church, Rick and I packed up and went on a road trip.
Our destination was Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
We hadn't received much snow in Grantsville and wanted to get up into the mountains for a "winter" experience. Well, for sure we got a WINTER experience! It snowed just about the whole time and it was dreamy, magical, beautiful, and fun!
It was a long drive taking us nearly seven hours to get there. (I was thinking it would be between five and six.) So we were both happy to finally get there at nine o'clock that night. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott and it was a nice room for us:) We were able to unwind and get some rest after our long drive.
We woke up to a winter wonderland, with plows taking care of the parking lot and a man shoveling the walks. As I watched the whole process of clearing roads and paths I also spied many people brushing the snow off of their cars getting ready for a day full of skiing.
Rick and I knew we wanted to get over to the hot springs so we decided on the Iron Mountain Hot Springs. On a previous summer trip we had been to the Glenwood Springs Pool but thought we would try something different. We set our appointment for 11:30 that morning. Iron Mountain did not disappoint! It was a very nice place overlooking the Colorado river. The dressing rooms were updated with heated floors and all! The hot pools were all fairly small but there were a lot to choose from, 16 in all, with differing temperatures. That made it nice. It was super cold outside and it was snowing so it was very nice to be able to soak in the differing pools. There was also a jacuzzi and a larger pool which we spent some time in, as well.
WE LOVED THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE!
The waters were fantastic and very relaxing. It was definitely cold moving from one pool to the other but that made it so much nicer to get back in the hot waters:)
After coming out of the pools and getting bundled back up in our warm gear, we drove the short distance to the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park Gondola for a ride up the mountain. It offered some beautiful views of the valley and rivers below.
Once we got up top we went right over to the Kings Row Caverns for a forty minute tour. Our tour guide, Becca was super knowledgeable and funny. She had us learning and laughing the whole time.
The caverns were very cool to see!
SNOW!!
After the Adventure Park we were super hungry so we went to Zheng Asian Bistro. We had eaten there before and really loved the food so we tried it again. The host even sat us in the same exact spot we had been in the first time we came! (We love it when those kinds of things happen:) The food was great and afterward we went back to the room to enjoy some relaxation and warmth under the covers. We enjoyed watching a couple of shows on Netflix and eating some of our christmas goodies.
The next morning we had planned on driving up to Aspen because we had never been there, but decided that we liked being in Glenwood Springs and really wanted to go back to the Hot Springs. This time we made our appointment in the afternoon at 3 PM which left us time to get a morning couples' massage. It was nice:) We then went to Rocky Mountain Pizza and had some lunch. We both got root beer and laughed because the carbonation made us burp a lot. We don't drink much carbonation so it was funny to have all those big bubbles that carbonation creates!😂 After lunch we did some window shopping. Rick tried on a lot of different hats at the cowboy store. This one made us laugh!
The streets of Glenwood....
We enjoyed another couple hours at the hot pools and then had dinner at Chili's. It was going to be an hour wait so we opted to sit at the bar. We ordered a queso, chips and salsa appetizer which was super yummy but they did not have their chicken enchilada soup (which is what I went for) so I had the potato cheese soup. Rick had the quesadilla explosion salad. It was super yummy as well!
The next morning before leaving Glenwood we stopped at Daily Bread for a nice breakfast. We both started off with some hot chocolate 'cause it was COLD! We had a nice breakfast and then left Glenwood with smiles on our faces from the wonderful time we had there!
Next, we drove to Moab. It was about a three hour drive from Glenwood. We got there a little before three o'clock and decided before going right into Moab we would drive through Arches since we had time. After buying a new annual national park pass, we drove to the very end of the road to take a short hike to Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch. Before we started on our hike we took a 30 minute nap in the truck. It was super warm and cozy and frankly I did not want to get out in the cold air! We did though!
We walked up the trail about ten minutes and there was quite the decline on the path, and it was covered with packed snow and too slippery for me, so I waited while Rick went down the rest of the path to see the arches. I'm sorry I missed them but I did not want to slip and fall. That would have been bad. One lady coming up the trail said, "yes, you made the right decision. I just saw a man fall and hit his head." Many people had special traction pieces that fit over their shoes. I did not have them. They were definitely needed.
Here are some pictures of the two arches...and Rick. Arches Park is super cool!
On our way back through the park we drove to the Delicate Arch overlook.
It is not very visible in this picture but if you look closely you can see it.
It made me want to hike to it.....next time in warmer weather.😀
After a pretty nice breakfast at the hotel, we soaked in the hotel's hot tub...outside in the cold :) for a 1/2 hour then headed down the trail back toward home. What a nice relaxing few days we had together! It's been a great way to spend the Christmas Break!
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