On the first day, we rode the gondola up to Glenwood Canverns Adventure Park, where we enjoyed a fabulous view.
The big girls were able to ride the Alpine Coaster, which is longer than the Alpine Slide at Winter Park. Wheee! Gabi especially loved riding the coaster.
Then we toured two large caves in the porous Iron Mountain.
Outside the first cave, we ended up on a ledge with this gorgeous view - and a 1300 ft drop-off.
We even crawled through the Spelobox to see what exploring caves (not on a walking tour) would be like. We did this same thing a little over a year ago when we went to Branson to catch the Polar Express, but this time we actually shoved Kataraina through the entire Spelobox. She was very eager to go in, but about a third of the way through became claustrophobic and freaked out.
Katarina's favorite part of the Caverns Park was the gondola ride, which she did several times while the rest of us took turns on the Alpine Coaster.
The restaurant at the top of the mountain was decorated with animals native to the area. We stayed all day, from the park's opening until closing, watching the short 4-D movies, playing laser tag, and exploring the sights.
Riding down the gondola at the end of the day:
The next three days of our long weekend, we skied at nearby Sunlight Mountain. The kids did great! We got fresh powder after the first day. Check back later for a video.
After skiing, it was nice to swim in the Hot Springs pool (except for the getting in and getting out part!). I noticed that the lifeguards were fully dressed - from a hat to shoes. The temperature outside was freezing, but the hot pool was 104 degrees F! The springs are powered naturally by sulfur, which we could smell (and taste, if we were unfortunate enough to get a bit of the water in our mouths).
Bella has been begging to go back to Sunlight Mountain every since. That was definitely her best skiing experience so far!
