Thursday, July 28, 2011

More Colorado

 There's a lot to do around Glenwood Springs. One evening we went up the tram to Glenwood Adventure Park. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, and when we got off the tram I was mildly surprised to find a fairly large amusement park. Desert Boy was my date, but he was a little too small for some of the rides.

 He was a great size for the cave tour through Glenwood Caverns, and we had the added bonus of going with a family with kids so all the kids kept each other entertained. Plus, the grandpa was one of the early cavers in the cave and told us stories about his exploration trips.

 The kids had some dancing moves for one of the platforms!

 Then it was time for some other activities, including crawling through this wooden box.

What, you say, are you doing crawling through a wooden box?

 Why, it was the Speleobox! Desert Boy went in and I had to follow. And it seemed to go on forever. Five levels high, and you go up and then come down. It was tight, and I got bruises from it. I saw about eight people in it at the same time.

Desert Boy was much faster than me going through it, and by the time I had gotten out, he had headed back in. I peeked through the cracks to watch his progress.

 Somehow he managed to pass a couple of people.

 He could go on his hands and knees, but for adults it was a belly/side/back crawl, with some interesting contortion moves. Desert Boy thought it was very easy, even with shoes on the wrong feet! We thought one person had gotten stuck and the manager came with a drill to remove some boards. But the person was able to keep going, so no board removal was necessary. Looking closely at the screws, it was obvious some speleobox rescues had been completed in the past!

 Cavers were just starting to dance to a great band. Desert Boy didn't want to slow down to dance, though.

 He headed into the maze with a new friend and they rushed to get to all the towers and back out in a fast time so they could get a prize.

 Then it was time for the fun coaster slide. I didn't get the camera out until we were heading back up! We wanted to do it again, but the line was long.

 Anther fun thing to do around Glenwood Springs is the bike trail next to the Colorado River. Most of it was closed due to flooding, but about five miles of it was open.

 Desert Boy rode about half of it. The best part for him was when the trains went by. There were a lot of freight trains!

 I'm not sure what the town of Glenwood Springs thought about 1,000+ cavers descending on the town, many of them camping next to the Roaring Fork River.

 Folks often camped with their grotto (caving club). I particularly liked the sign above.

 This wasn't just any campground, it had a sauna and a hot tub.

I didn't get many photos of the campground. I guess if you want to see more, plan on heading to the next NSS Convention, in West Virginia next summer. I'm sure it will be fun.

3 comments:

  1. Looks like you guys had a fantastic time!!

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  2. You cavers are special people. I just look at that Speleobox and I get panicky!

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  3. Are you going to come out here for the NSS convention in WVa? Not far at all from us!

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