Monday morning October 3rd we were driven by our daughter Michelle to Union Station in Denver to catch our train to Glenwood Springs to celebrate Merritt turning 3 years old this year!
The line for Amtrak is long and of course it’s late but we wait patiently to start our adventure.
Finally we have our assigned seats and are on the train!
Merritt has lots to do on the train including coloring.
We stop for a little delay at the Winter Park Ski Train stop and get to stretch our legs while the workers ahead of us clear the tracks of some broken equipment. You need to be patient on Amtrak and manage your expectations of timeliness!! Enjoy the ride!
Speaking of enjoying we had beautiful scenery as we crossed the Rockies and ran down along the headwaters of the Colorado.
There was also time for a one hour nap to be enjoyed by all as well.
A full palate of autumn colors garnished our view as the Aspens were changing their colors before the approaching winter.
Merritt wakes up slowly in Nana’s arms after her nap as we cruise slowly through the beautiful Glenwood Canyons.
We arrive at Glenwood Springs station around 3:30 and walk to our room at the hot springs hotel.
The iconic Glenwood Hot Springs is the world largest hot springs pool. Our hotel for the next two nights is just left of the pool at the far end.
Before you know it we are enjoying the year round 94 degree warm and salty waters.
At dinner Merritt was mildly spoiled with a root beer for her dinner.
Tuesday was a another great day and we spent part of it at the park along side the Roaring Fork River that runs down from Aspen about 40 miles to the south before it joins the Colorado.
In our explorations of Grand Ave we found a blue dinosaur to hug.
One of our targets for the morning was “Sweet Coloradough” for their famous donuts but alas they are only open Wednesday through Sunday but they left out some fresh donuts for us anyway! Very nice of them and tasty!
We spent a good part of the day walking, sometimes not always on flat surfaces as Merritt demonstrates!
And we spent time riding the bus too!
After showering off after almost 2 hours at the pool we headed out for an Italian dinner where Merritt loved the spaghetti.
The pool is brightly illuminated as we walk back to our hotel from dinner.
Another restful night and some small errands in the morning before we walk over the Colorado River again to catch our train.
Waiting for the train, Papa shows Merritt he remembers rudimentary braiding skills he used to deploy on her Mommy when she was Merritt’s age.
The Amtrak clientele skews greatly towards the Boomer demographic. And with that demographic we’re not surprised to see the EMT’s waiting for our train to arrive to attend to a passenger coming in.
Merritt takes advantage of the gently rocking train to catch some afternoon Zzzz’s again.
Merritt practices her handkerchief folding with a little guidance from Papa. It’s been a busy handkerchief this afternoon with spills and clean up activities.
In the dining car Nana is sure Merritt must be starving and force feeds some microwave Mac&Cheese into her. Shortly after the forced feeding we enter the 6 mile long Moffat Tunnel under the Continental Divide at 9,200 ft. elev., constructed in the late 1800’s. Then it was all down hill to Denver!
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