Vail 2022–Day 3

Hellooooo, from the end of our third, jam-packed day of Vail-area fun. :)

I’ll start at the end with one of my favorite family pics…

And now I’ll rewind for the whole shebang.

Lured by the idea of some mineral springs, we planned an entire day in Glenwood Springs (about an hour from Vail), and, man, did we cram a lot in to our time there!

Thanks to a bit of research and some pamphlets from our hotel, we planned the first half of our day around the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, and it turned out to be a really cool and unique little theme park UP ON a mountaintop.

The only way to access it is via a gondola that takes you to the top. And after a brief, 40-minute pause in service due to some lightning in the area (unsettling to the max), it was our turn to board.

As someone who is intensely afraid of heights, I was really dreading this part, but I’ve managed my way through similar situations in the past and thought I’d be fine.

Welp.

I’m sorry to report I suffered through the worst, height-related anxiety episode I’ve ever had. And it was no bueno. Thankfully, our crew of five was alone in our own vessel, and my kiddos and hubby were all so sweet and concerned as I sobbed my way up the mountain. And I really do mean sobbed; tears were just pouring down my face. Oye.

None of these pics were taken by Yours, Truly, as it was all I could to to breathe and make it to the top.

Needless to say…there won’t be any gondola-related activity anytime in my future!

But.

We made it to the top, and I’m glad we were able to experience this really charming adventure park. 

Our very first activity within the adventure park was a cavern tour that was really fun. Hard to take pics in there, obviously, but the kiddos really seemed to dig it.











This was a random but two-thumbs-up activity for my crazies: sifting for gem stones!

You paid for a bag of dirt/sand and manually sifted for some treasure. This was the kiddos’ only souvenir on this trip, and it turned out to be a real winner.





I don’t even know how this happened, because the other two only managed small atones, but Chicklet hit the absolute jackpot with this massive stunner!





She was SO pumped. And I gotta say: my middle child-simpatico heart kind of loved that she got to shine and take such pride in the luck of her sifting. :)











One unique draw of this particular theme park is the handful of high-octane rides that slingshot a person off the side of the mountain, or on a roller coaster that goes off the edge of a cliff. NO. Thank. You. Ha. 

But…there are a handful of family-friendly rides, as well, and the kiddos loved them (and the lack of lines).

















All in all, it was a super-unique gem of a theme park. Small. Manageable. Different. If only you could get up and down some other way!

Luckily, the descent was far better on me, and I cried some more at the bottom (relief, this time), and all was stable.

Next up (already early evening by then)…the hot springs!

Obviously, poor Chica is still limited thanks to the cast (hopefully, only about one more week to go!), so we planned only a short visit, but we wanted to experience the natural fun, and it was a gorgeous day for it.



There are a handful of hot springs locations in this particular town, but the Glenwood Springs Hotel/Pool is the most notable.











Chica was such a trooper with her cling-wrapped cast, ha. She worked as our adventure photographer (she brought her underwater camera with her), and grinned her way through wishing she could really splash and play. Soooooon, sweet girl. SOON.







Love these pics of my twins/not twins in prime action:

















After an hour drive back to Vail, and an amazing Indian/Nepalese meal (I thought the hubby was going to cry, he was so happy), it was a late night to bed for our crazies.

But tomorrow is a casual return home, so all is good.

We’ll re-set our body clocks this weekend.

More final tidbits from our adventures mañana.

Happy Thursday, peeps!

Over and out.