Colorado Day 5

We wanted to break up the drive home from Alamosa because it's almost 9 hours. After doing some research, we settled on Glenwood Springs. This is a little resort town in western Colorado, and though it was expensive (this day would prove to cost as much as the rest of the trip), we were looking forward to it. 

We checked out of our house in Alamosa at about 9:30. That's sleeping in for us. Then we made the long drive to Glenwood Springs. It was beautiful along the way, and we came over a pass on Hwy-24 that peaked out over 10,000 feet. We were hoping to see a moose or some elk, but we didn't really see any wildlife. At around 2:00 we rolled into Glenwood Springs. 

We went immediately to the amusement park in this small town, which is located high on the hill. A tram took us to the top of the ridge, and that ride alone was pretty fun and gave us an amazing view of the valley below. We could see the confluence of the Colorado and Roaring River right below us. Then we went straight to the rides. 

The tram ride was beautiful.

We really enjoyed the view.

There were a lot of things to do. Our first was an alpine track that was like a roller coaster down the hill. If you didn't touch the breaks, you could really scream along at a pretty good pace! Then line was long, so we waited about 30 minutes, but it was worth it. All of us loved it. 

Next, we did the Soaring Eagle Zipline. It was less fun, but we got pulled at a rapid rate up a zipline, and then shot right back down. There was a small roller coaster at the foot of the zipline that we enjoyed, too. 

Next, we hiked to the top of the hill. There is a roller coaster called the Cliff Hanger. It does hang a bit out over the cliff, but it wasn't too scary. We made sure to ride that one twice, too. The best ride up top, though, was the swings. This was a standard swing ride, but the swings went out over a thousand foot drop above the valley. It was so beautiful to see the valley stretched out below you. It was Dad's favorite ride.

Mark and Dax look thrilled!

Seth was so brave and went on all the rides!

Dad and Seth had fun together.

This ride was cool, but Mom was terrified!

Down the hill, we talked Mom into trying a mine shaft drop. She doesn't love those, but aside from a few screams, she was fine. We hustled really fast to a short cave tour. That's right, this theme park is built around two caves that were the original attraction to the area.

Mom and Seth having fun in line together!

We enjoyed a 4-D Looney Tunes movie where we played the part of Wile E. Coyote, which was really inventive. Then we hit the biggest roller coaster on site. It reminded us of wicked at Lagoon. It had a steep first hill with some barrel rolls and other twists. Since there was no line, we went right through twice. It was as fun as any roller coaster we've done, and Seth enjoyed it, too!

The caverns were quite large.

There was even an opening where you could see the river.

Glenwood Caverns!

The 4D shows were fun!

Seth went on the one little kid ride. He was the only one small enough!

Proof we survived the huge roller coaster.

We grabbed dinner at a restaurant right on the canyon rim. The food was really good, and it had been a long day as we looked out over Glenwood Springs. After dinner we road all our favorite rides again. Of course, the alpine coaster got the most rides, and mercifully, the line was much shorter. 

The dinner was delicious and the view was amazing!

Dad is all ready to go!

This is about our 10th time on the ride!

The boys seriously loved it!

Mom liked it, too!

Ran into Dax at the end!

Our hotel was only about a minute from the adventure park. After we rode the tram back down and got checked in, Dax and Seth still wanted to go to the pool. We made it about twenty minutes in the pool before we showered them and got them to bed. It was a really awesome day!

It was a great day!

Dax & Seth fought over this orca that was in the pool at the hotel, but it is pretty fun!