To begin the day, we woke up and enjoyed a "deluxe" continental breakfast from the Comfort Inn. Needless to say, it was lacking but that's ok because the roads had finally cleared enough to begin our few hour drive to Westcliffe. We left the hotel around 8:00 and headed towards Colorado Springs. In Colorado Springs we stopped at a Walmart to get more yarn for arm knitting, and even the boys got some. Then we went to Safeway where we divided and conquered our ginormous grocery list. We had at least four carts full of food which we then had to fit into our 1 van along with 12 of us and our gear. After an awkward lunch of string cheese, carrots, and hummus in the Safeway parking lot we kept on driving. The rest of the ride was a bit smooshed, but we, and the groceries, made it in one piece.
The ride can be summed up in one word, interesting. The road conditions weren't too bad but we had to be careful. Honestly, I fell asleep somewhere in the middle of our ride so there's not a lot to tell. Basically, a lot of white land and some beautifully sung, yet off key songs. The only trouble our van had was getting up the final hill to our lodge (Hermit Basin). Twice we had to reverse down hill in order to find traction and make it back up, but we did make it! And the view was completely worth it! The pictures don't do it justice.
Since it was already around 3 by the time we arrived and it would take another hour and half to make it to Mission: Wolf, we decided to hang around the lodge and play a bit. Once everyone got their things settled and ate a quick snack, we began to explore Hermit Basin. From our rooms we went to the main lodge (first two pictures) where there were spectacular views of the valley below (3rd picture), comfortable seating areas, a cozy fireplace, music, and a pool table. Behind the lodge lies a ton of hiking and skiing/tubing trails. And let me tell you...
It is torture being in Colorado and not being able to snowboard!
However, the lodge does have a few boards and lots of tubes. If we have free time later in the week, they said they were willing to open it up for us - EXCITING! While we couldn't board at the moment, we did hike up the mountain a bit further and the view only got better.
Once we were wet and cold enough we headed back to the big lodge and just hung out. Janet, our adult advisor, led us in some yoga then we played a version of twister (thank you Girl Scouts). After that Kaleigh, Collin, and I had dinner duty so we went back to the rooms to cook. We ate a lovely spaghetti dinner after which a few people went and enjoyed the hot tub while I stayed and taught everyone else how to arm knit. Who knew arm knitting could be so fascinating and popular on this trip. Now that that is all over, here I am now, trying to get out the happenings of the day into words.
It's gonna be an early morning tomorrow as we will be leaving the lodge at 7:30 to spend the full day at Mission: Wolf. I can't wait to start working with the wolves!
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