Rocky Mountain High

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Emma says: After arriving in Colorado yesterday we were placed in a lovely hotel for the night to allow us to rest up before the first real day of our GSE trip. Our first stop is in beautiful Colorado Springs, 6,000 feet above sea level and at the base of the Rocky Mountains. We were immediately warned of the dangers of altitude sickness and dehydration, and have been scared into carrying a bottle of water around at all times.
So today was our first real GSE experience. Mandy and I are staying with Debi and Steve, but today they were busy with a family celebration so the lovely Jean took up the position of tour guide.

First stop was the Garden of the Gods, a park with amazing red sandstone and granite formations, all at the base of Pike's Peak - a 14,000 foot mountain. This was our first major photo opp in Colorado and, despite how we look in the photo, there was no danger of us being blown of a cliff!

Next we took a stroll up Seven Falls, and a trek up the beautiful mountainside. Follow by a trip up Cheyenne Canyon. Then Jean took us for lunch where we dined on rattle snake and rabbit quesadillas! Yummo! This was followed by a stop for a taste of the supposedly healthy but foul tasting water from Manitou Springs.

Tonight we had a bit of a meet and greet with some local Rotarians before heading back to our hosts' houses for dinner. Within minutes of arriving at Debi & Steve's I found myself locked in their bathroom. Thankfully I was rescued after a short time and much amusement!

Tonight Mandy and I took a stroll around the streets of Debi's neighbourhood marvelling at how different it all is to Adelaide before Debi cooked us some fabulous tamales (we are eating extremely well on this trip!) and then taking us out for ice cream at an old fashioned ice cream parlour.

Tomorrow we have the first of 3 straight days of presentations and vocational visits. We are all really keen to get stuck into it and are excited by what's in store. If the rest of the trip is anything like today has been, its going to be a blast!