Manitou Springs, Colorado

We are out in Colorado for the weekend. On Monday, Paul has a conference at the Broadmoor, so we came out ahead to spend some time up in the mountains with our friends Jim and Dar. We are staying at a great little hotel called "The Cliff House" where we have found good food, fine rooms and truly wonderful service.

Yesterday, we spent the day mostly walking around Manitou Springs. It's a quaint little town with lots of little shops. It tells you everything you need to know that it boasts a Dulcimer shop and a shop specializing in hemp products. Retro-hippie, with chai and mate and crepes everywhere you would look.


In the evening wandered down to Colorado Springs (15 minutes away) to listen to a concert by a group called Gaelic Storm, the specializes in celtic rock. Great fun. The fiddler and the drummer were particularly skilled.

Today we took a slightly different tack. We went for physical activity. We started with a horse back ride through "The Garden of the Gods" (a great red rock area near the Springs) and then we went up the Cog Railway to Pike's Peak. Unfortunately, it was so windy that we couldn't get all the way to the top (80+ mph) but we did go to 12,000 feet before turning around.

Tonight we are going out to dinner with the fellow who will be producing our film. Jim and Paul have participated in the start up of a 501(c)(3) company (Esprit de Corps Productions) that will be making a moving about how communities can help veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Especially on Veterans' day weekend, it is good to remember that more soldiers and sailors and airmen will be returning from these wars than we have had in American society since WWII.