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Spring break revelers soaking up the rays

Carrie Click
Post Independent Staff

GLENWOOD SPRINGS ” Judging from the balmy temps, it felt more like summer vacation at the Hot Springs Pool on Monday than spring break week.

Decked out in swimsuits and basking in the 75 degree sun, Glenwood Springs mom Kim McGraw was at the pool with her children, Sopris Elementary students Michael, 10 and Annie, 8, and their friend Kevin Hartmann, 10.

“They slept in this morning, and now we’re banking some sun time, and hitting that slide,” said McGraw of the sunscreen-required weather and the pool’s two giant water slides.



Beachin’ it

Debbie Brown and Heather Lanford, both 19, are from Pueblo. They, too, were taking advantage of the warm March weather, laying out on the Hot Springs Pool’s south lawn.



Lanford is on spring break from Pueblo Community College, and Brown is taking time off from work at Gingess Formal Wear in Colorado Springs to come up to Glenwood to visit friends.

“It’s so nice here,” said Brown. “I hate the cold!”

“It’s awesome here,” said Lanford. “It’s really pretty. The last time I was here I was 10 years old. We’re having a good time.”

“I’m really surprised how fast the parking lot filled up this morning,” added Brown. “We were here earlier, then came back, and the parking lot was full.”

Spring skiing

There were plenty of spaces available at Sunlight’s parking lots Monday. The ski area’s lower lot was empty, and the entrance lot was only a quarter full, with vehicles with license plates from Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and California interspersed with those from Colorado.

Janelle and Chad Cox from Dubuque, Iowa, brought daughter Stephanie, 10, and son Blake, 4, to Colorado for spring break.

“It’s their first time out West,” said Janelle.

“It’s really cool here,” said Stephanie, sitting next to her mom on the lodge deck. “I like the skiing here, and the hot springs.”

Janelle said she and Chad, an attorney, decided on Glenwood Springs as a spring break destination because Chad’s law partner had just been to Glenwood with his family to visit his brother-in-law Dennis Walters, a local attorney.

“It’s a fun city, and a cute town,” said Janelle, “and the ski conditions are great, especially in the morning.”

Sitting at a picnic table on the lodge deck, Glenwood local Sue Lagiglia-Corsentino watched as her granddaughters, Kapri, 12, and Kira, 13, put on their skis. The girls, who are on spring break from Pueblo West, were skiing with their dad, Kirk, Lagiglia-Corsentino’s son.

“They’ll be here through the week,” said Lagiglia-Corsentino with a smile. “We’ve been hiking and biking. Today is ski day.”

Lagiglia-Corsentino, vice president of marketing at Alpine Bank, said she’s heard that a lot of local families are out of town for spring break.

“I don’t know why,” she said. “It’s perfect here.”

Relaxing and shopping in town

Erin Shaffer, 24, and Devon Fliss, 26, graduate students from Washington State University in Bellingham, weren’t planning on spending their spring break in Glenwood. They were on their way to Arches with Shaffer’s brother, Jed Hinkley, 22, of Park City, Utah, when the alternator in their car went out in Glenwood Canyon.

The three were throwing a Frisbee around and having a picnic lunch in Sayre Park while waiting for their car to get fixed Monday afternoon.

“I’m usually on my way to someplace like Durango or Aspen when I come through Glenwood,” said Hinkley, a ski jumper on the U.S. Nordic/Combined Ski Team. “This place is so central to boating and skiing. I never would have realized it if we hadn’t had to stop here.”

“The geology here is incredible,” said Fliss. “I’ve never been to Colorado before, except for the airport. We were so psyched to find this park.”

“And it’s a great place to expose our white Washington skin!,” added Shaffer with a laugh.

Downtown, four seniors from Englewood High School were shopping in the King Mall. Katie Lee, Sarah Curtis, Stefanie Segura and Diane Gentry said they picked Glenwood Springs for their spring break since it’s not too far from home and “really fun.”

“We’ve been eating,” Curtis said with a laugh.

“And we’ve been doing the tourist thing,” added Seguara, “driving around, and going to the movies. We want to go up to Hanging Lake and the Caverns, and tonight we’ll go to the Hot Springs Pool.”

The Fosdick family was strolling down the sidewalk near the Grand Avenue bridge.

“This is our third spring break in Glenwood,” said Kim Fosdick of Colorado Springs of her husband Doug and their three children ” Megan, 13, Michaela, 9, and Tanner, 4.

Kim said she and Doug came to Glenwood on their honeymoon. Now they bring their kids here during spring breaks.

Contact Carrie Click: 945-8515, ext. 518

cclick@postindependent.com


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