Colorado

May 13, 2023

Margaret Brown, also known as the unsinkable Molly Brown, lived not too far from our hotel, her house is not a museum. I have always been fascinated by everything related to the Titanic and how she survived the Titanic.  I thought this could be an interesting stop.

I was also aware that after she died, the American Socialite’s life became highly fictionalized and she became known as the “Unsinkable Molly Brown”.   I thought it would be interesting to learn about about the really Molly Brown who was a wealth woman, a philanthropist and a fight for women’s rights.

I thought this would be a quick stop and it was much better than I expected.  First, the house looks like a small house from the front. Once inside, I realized there were three floors and much bigger than I expected.  It was a glimpse into life around the turn of the last century. There was a wooden stove, fireplaces in almost every room. I wondered how many kids would recognize the wooden phone on the wall.

I was really impressed with how well everything was documented.  There was printed material in every room, you could read more about it on the internet and listen to audio tours.  The offered both guided tours and self-guided tours.  I opted for the self guided tour so that I could go at my own pace.

The following morning, we headed back to Los Angeles, overall a wonderful adventure.  I would have loved to have spent some more at some of the stops but you never really know how much time you need (or want) until you get there.  I will be going back to spend some time at some of those spots.   I am going to be looking at scheduling a Rocky Mountaineer trip in Canada.

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Glenwood Springs Train station

May 12, 2023

We had time to grab breakfast before getting on the train, we found a spot called the Daily Bread.  On our way to the place, we spotted a “Mama’s Pierogi” food truck and at the restaurant they had blintzes on the menu and pierogies on the lunch menu.  Clearly, there was an eastern Europeans population in Glenwood Springs.

As we walked around, I couldn’t help but notice how picturesque Glenwood springs was.  It sits in a canyon along the Colorado river surrounded by the Rocky Mountains.  There are hot springs in the middle of town.   It has a small town vibe, an old town, something out of a western movie.   Gunslinger Doc Holiday is buried in the cemetery.

I could have spent an extra day or two exploring the area but it was back on the Train where out crew started the morning with a toast.  We then headed out through the Rockies to Denver. The scenery was just as amazing as the day before and we saw a lot of wildlife.   We went through areas that weren’t accessible by car.   The service on the train was outstanding and the crew made us all feel that this was an event – and it really was.

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May 11, 2023

We were picked up at the hotel and we boarded the Rocky Mountaineer.  The Rocky Mountaineer is a Canadian rail tour company.  It isn’t an Amtrak, and it isn’t about getting from point A to point B, it is about train ride and what you see on the ride.  We were boarding the train in Moab and heading to Glenwood Spring Colorado where we would spend the night at the Hotel Denver and then board our train in the morning and head to Denver.

We were greeted by our crew – one chef and three servers.  These four people weren’t for the entire train, they were for our car, each car had their own chef and servers.  It quickly became clear that they were aiming to make this an event.

While on board, we were served gourmet meals, and drinks. On the first day, we started out with hors d’oeuvres and then later dinner.  The Rocky Mountaineer employees kept announcing areas of interest and pointing out wildlife.   We spotted deer, eagles, eagles’ nests and bison.  We were also told that we should expect to see a full moon.  I had no idea that people rafting in the Colorado river liked to moon trains as they went by.   We saw it a few times!

There was plenty of room and we could wander back to one of the two bar cars or stand on a platform in between the trains to take pictures with unobstructed views.  Typically, I am always trying to get the best photograph, on this ride, I decided to focus in on taking it all in and not worry about the pictures.

We arrived in Glenwood springs as the sun was setting.  Our hotel, the Hotel Denver was across the street from the train stop.  We were handed the keys to our room and didn’t have to check in, our luggage had already been delivered to the room.

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