Well, my trip has come to an end and here I sit at my mom's house in New York. I can honestly say that I had a great time.
Sunday:
Arrived at the Crown Plaza around 11:30. We had to wait an additional two hours for our rooms to be ready. We hung out in the lobby, as all of us were dead tired. We had to be up and on the hotel shuttle in Newark by 4:00 am to catch our flight. We get into our rooms, get unpacked and head to the pool. After swimming for awhile, we go out to eat (Outback! Yay!), head back to the room and go to bed. Not a very productive first day, but that's what happens when you're dead tired.
Monday:
Wake up, have breakfast in the hotel lounge, jump in the car with part of our group and head towards Pikes Peak. It's a beautiful day, but torrential downpours are expected in the afternoon. We get to the train station, pay for our tickets and hop on board. The Cog Railroad that takes you to the summit is fun. It's 3 hours round trip, with about 40 minutes at the top. Our guide fills us in on all sorts of facts about the area and about the peak itself. Pikes Peak is the 32nd highest fourteener (mountains over 14,000 feet) in Colorado, and yet it seems so high on the way up. The guide keeps telling us that if we begin to feel the altitude, drink water and just relax. Getting worked up about the feelings you may experience will only cause it to become worse. I am the only one in my entire group that felt completely normal while up on the summit. Everyone else said they felt drunk and on the verge of being sick. I walked around, took pictures and enjoyed every minute of the experience. Yes, we have our mountains in New York, but nothing like this. The horn sounds, so we jump back on the train to head back to the bottom. The conductor of the train sits by us on the way down (we're in the row right by his seat) and we talk most of the way down. (Cute!) As soon as we get to the station, the skies open up and we get blasted by rain and hail. We get in the car and head back to the hotel. We get back basically in time to eat some dinner, and go to bed.
Tuesday:
Wake up, have free breakfast in the hotel lounge (the hotel messed up the refrigerators in the rooms, so they treated our entire group to breakfast), then get ready to go to the Garden of the Gods. We take the drive out there, and then hike a bit through the garden. The rock formations were gorgeous. I had such a good time. I actually wandered off the paved trails a bit and took a hike up the base of one of the formations. It was a lot of fun. Afterwards, we headed to one of the local ice rinks to let the girls get in a good practice. The rink was beautiful. All of the girls skated well, and after two hours we decided to head back to the hotel. We ordered pizza in and swam until the pool closed.
Wednesday:
More skating, checking in for the State Games and an early night to bed. A pretty boring day.
Thursday:
Olivia's first two events. There were so many people there to skate. Olivia skated so well in both her Compulsory and her Footwork program, as did all of the girls that competed that day. Her footwork program ended, we got her placement and headed out to dinner. Dinner was fantastic, and it was time for us to head back to the World Arena for the Opening Ceremonies. I've never seen anything like it. Gymnasts opened the show, we had the parade of states and the athletes representing them, local bands, Idol Stars, Olympic Gold Medalists and the Olympic Flame. It was a good deal of fun. We headed back to the hotel and went to bed.
Friday:
Olivia had her Showcase and her Freestyle competitions, so we went to the rinks to watch. She again skated beautifully. We headed back to the hotel, swam, had dinner, went to bed.
Saturday:
Olivia's final event. GORGEOUS! We were so proud. We then watched a few more of our girls. Headed back to the hotel. Swam, had dinner, went to bed. Boring, I'm aware.
Sunday:
Went to see Seven Falls. It's the only waterfall in the state of Colorado that is recognized by the National Geographic. It was gorgeous. We had a great time there. We took a shuttle back to the Broadmoor Hotel, which is beautiful. Did some shopping, went back to the hotel to do some more shopping, packed, and swam. Mom and I had a few drinks and I was hit on by a Dilbert look-a-like. Went to bed.
Monday:
Up at 7. Finish packing the last of our crap. Head out to the airport. Do some shopping in the airport shops before we board the plane. We are given an AMAZING snack on the plane. (Beef Jerky, Crackers and Soft Cheese from England, twix bars, dried fruit.) We land in Houston, shop some more and wait to jump on our connecting flight. I wander down to Einstein's Bagels to get a tasty turkey (ahh college memories) and yet they don't make cold turkey sandwiches, and they're out of turkey completely. (What?!) I grab a salad and wander back. In all the places in all the world, I'm in Houston, a place I've never been before. Who do I see in the airport? My ex, the pilot. (Kris.) He's sitting in the bar that I walk by, and he gives me a nod and a wave. Okay. Weird. I walk back, get on my connecting flight, and settle in for the LONGEST plane ride in history. (Okay, maybe not, but the time change makes it feel like it was.) Turkey Croissant Dogs, Salad and Twix bars later, I'm watching the in flight movie, and my tailbone is throbbing. We land at 8:00 PM (we left Colorado Springs at 11:00 AM) and have to wait an hour for a shuttle back to the hotel we left the car at. (Joy.) We get there, drive an hour and a half from Newark to Newburg, stop to eat some real semblance of dinner, then head back to Stephanie's house so we can pick up mom's car. We grab the car and head another hour back towards mom's. Finally, we arrive. (1:00 in the morning.) I upload pictures and go to bed.
All in all, a great trip that was much needed. I enjoyed myself and would really like to explore other parts of Colorado. We'll see if this happens at some point. :-)
