Welcome And Series Context

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hi, I'm Alexa.

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And I'm Rory. And together we are the Roamies. We're a husband-wife duo and longtime travelers who believe travel isn't just about where you go. It's about how it shapes the way you live when you get home.

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On the Roamies podcast, we explore where to travel, how to travel, and why to travel. Through our lens of creativity, wellness, and everyday life.

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We're calling it this season Rome to home. As we travel near and far, we're sharing the ways we bring inspiration home. Daily rituals, business and design ideas, and the renovation of our historic picture uploads.

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It's all about making travel tangible, livable, and meaningful long after the trip ends.

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So whether you're planning your next adventure or reimagining the life you're building at home, you're in the right place.

E Is For Energy And Elements

Stays Near The Hot Springs Pools

SPEAKER_01 0:50

And now, let's get into today's episode. Hi everyone, welcome to part three of our episode on a recent visit to Glenwood Springs, Colorado. My friend Dr. Heidi Peteck and I went on a birthday girls getaway, which another Heidi P and Lisa Langer, a visit Glenwood, helped curate for us a super jam-packed full experience that included an amazing stay, hot spring pools, coaster rides, spa experiences, of course, it's girl trip. Hello, caverns, yummy food, shopping, history, and hikes. We couldn't fit it all into one or even two episodes. So here's part three of even more things we experience and haven't yet shared with you. Tucked into this three-part series and across our entire season this year is how we're bringing travel home. Ways that travel inspires and energizes us in mind, spirit, and body in real practical ways at home, in our lifestyle, and in our mindset. So speaking of energizing, energy starts with E. We are doing an alphabet-led theme this year as well, because it's 2026 when we're airing this. And so with 26 letters in our alphabet, it's meant to be to do an alphabet theme journey. So in our E episode, we want to emphasize energy along with some elements that made the trip. How we experienced them in Glenwood Springs and then back at home. And can we just talk about how energy in Glenwood Springs isn't just a metaphor? It's literally part of their history. The Colorado River running through town made Glenwood one of the first places in the region to generate electricity using hydropower, which is basically energy created from moving water. When water flows downhill, it spins turbines and those turbines power generators that create electricity. So the same force that fills the hot springs, carves the canyon, and rushes past the town is the force that powered it. I love that. The elements creating actual energy and still restoring ours today. I wish we could do the same thing in our home because that is where we are in our renovation process at home. The next step for us is our electricity and getting energy properly into our home, finding where we may or may not need to make some renovations on the electrical side. So once we do that, then we can dive into all the pretty stuff, the painting, the decorating, and all that. Next on our list is energy and electricity. So this is near and dear to my heart. Personally, one of my favorite ways to build energy for myself, for my body, for my work, for my efforts is by working out. Hiking, paddle boarding, paddle pilates, pilates and bar. I love all those things. And you can do all of them in Glenwood Springs. And a stay at Hotel 1888 puts a lot of those things right at your fingertips.

SPEAKER_03 3:58

One thing to make sure you understand if you end up booking something here is that you can book in the 1888, and it is poolside, which is just a gorgeous view.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Right. And by poolside, we mean the hot springs pool. There's not like a normal quote unquote swimming pool that you would go to at a hotel. All of the pools are hot spring pools with varying degrees. So that's kind of my kind of pool.

SPEAKER_03 4:24

Yeah, that's super nice. Like you can walk out of the hotel and you are right there. You can jump right in the pool. Right.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Now, the Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge is also managed by the same people. It's all the same family. And it is across the street from the pool.

SPEAKER_03 4:45

So from the pool, you just take a little staircase up across Master Street and you're right there. And it's right next to Hotel Colorado, which is owned by a different company. So there's basically three places to stay right here in this little right around the hot springs.

Classes And Athletic Club Perks

SPEAKER_01 5:03

Right. But Hotel Colorado doesn't have the access to the pools. Whereas when you're going to stay at the Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge or the Hotel 1888, you get the pools as part of your stay. And with Hotel 1888, we also got access for the athletic club. It's got it's super cool. And it's the type of facility that locals will plug into and use. And so that's really fun. I took a class today. I took a bar class and B-A-R-R-E bar. If you're not familiar with it, it's like a hybrid of Pilates, ballet, and toning type uh fitness. And it was really fun because half the class were visitors, tourists come through, and half the class were locals. And it was just really fun to have that connection and have new conversations. And there's a really fun kind of vibe in the athletic club. Heidi and I also took a Pilates reformer class. It's a hotel athletic club that has Pilates reformers. Like that, like most gyms don't even have that. You have to go to a specific Pilates studio to find that. So that's really cool that they have that. But they also have full weights, they have a racquetball court, they have a wide variety of classes. And with your stay with Hotel 1888, you get free access to the classes. That's just part of your stay. So there's a ton of benefits besides that you feel like a king or queen when you come. We felt like queens. Being pampered and staying at this beautiful place. And you know, our beautiful robes. We're sitting here in our beautiful robes.

SPEAKER_03 6:44

And and when you walk around in these blue robes here, you're like locals notice that you're the you're the one at the that the fancy you're staying at the 1888. Yes, be highly recommended.

Downtown Eats And Ice Cream Tour

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Earlier, Lisa called 7th Street Restaurant Row. And in our tour with Allie that you heard in episode 279, she mentioned how people love to grab some ice cream year-round and look over the walking bridge over the river and the hot spring pools. So Heidi and I, of course, had to check out all three ice cream places right there in the downtown area.

SPEAKER_03 7:23

We have been able to eat at so many different yummy restaurants and little ice cream shops. The other night we went to Kaleidos Scoops, which is an ice cream shop. Today we went to Sunday. They were both delicious. Sunday had a chocolate orange ice cream that was just to die for. I did the espresso and chocolate. Yummy.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Yeah. I'm always I don't drink coffee, but I love coffee ice cream. So and tonight and they had some uh vegan options as well, which was really fun. And uh they were kind of scooped out like gelato is, you know.

SPEAKER_03 7:56

So yeah, they had a Puerto Rican vegan option.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:01

That looked really interesting.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

It was very intriguing.

SPEAKER_03 8:04

We ate dinner tonight at a place that was delicious.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

The Riviera Supper Club. There's anything you want here food-wise, there's Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Poshi, Chill, barbecue, modern, burgers, and fries, pizza, you know, seafood. So anything, anything that you want as far as your food ethnicity going on, you're gonna find it here. And in our experience, everything has been like people care about it, you know. We've heard a few behind the scenes stories, and people care about the approach to their food. And so you're gonna have you're gonna have some good meals here.

SPEAKER_03 8:50

And make sure you always ask about the history because it feels like every place has a story. And if you like stories and stories from history, I just think that's so fun.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Yes, Heidi's Heidi's just been finding one thing after another that she's been so excited about. So good stories, good eats, good pools, good swimming, good bathing. It's more bathing than swimming.

SPEAKER_03 9:16

Yeah, Theodore Roosevelt's like, I have not taken a bath for the media.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:26

But a lot of these places are called soaking. It's not really swimming, it's soaking. It's soaking and it's the baths and stuff like that. So but it's a great place to relieve stress and great place to come on vacation.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

We kicked off part one of this series as Colorado, and the murals on the donut shop are painted with beautiful, colorful scenery, and we had to do a quick stop in. There's even a donut shop that now is all of these different chains.

SPEAKER_03 9:58

It was the guy who had the crazy idea of starting a donut shop here, and I guess the town leaders.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Like maybe the chamber type people who would be making decisions around the city just thought this it's not gonna work. The guy's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 10:15

And then he started bringing donuts to everybody's events and dropping them by people's shops and things, and it caught on. And now he has donut shops in a lot of surrounding towns, and she said today that there was a line out the door of the donut shop because it's so popular. He's about to open another one, another second location.

Community, Hub Town, And Seasons

SPEAKER_01 10:43

He's gonna have chicken in this location with his donuts. Isn't that funny? And apparently he offers you like whiskey or tequila or some kind of booze, apparently. With your donut. With your donut, like whatever. Good morning. So donut and a shot of whiskey to start your day or some tequila. But what's fun is it's the name of it is Sweet Colorado. But dough is spelled D-O-U-G-H. So that's super cute. That's cute. That's just one example of the creativity and inspiration that you can find in this town. Lisa herself was so inspiring, as she has been a professional actress for years and even now has been cast in the local theater. Just talking with her and meeting her was inspiring and it energized me as I continue my music and acting pursuits. The town is not only inspiring, it's also the hub as a base and go-to for surrounding towns. Lisa gives us a little more insight about this. When you're talking about your family and they're kind of involved, how do you feel like the community is here in Glenwood Springs? Do you feel like people are really close and everybody knows everybody, or is it more of a spread out kind of town?

SPEAKER_02 11:58

Well, in town there are just over 10,000 people, residents within the city limits. But I would, I don't know a lot of people here. You know, I came from the same size town, a little bit larger in South Dakota, that I lived there for you know for 20 years. But when I came here 14 years ago, it was a little different. And I think it's because of the location, because we are right between Bales and Aspen. Aspen doesn't have a lot of retail, their retail is high-end, you know, food cheap, you know, coupon, that kind of and really catering to the tourists. Catering to tourists and very wealthy residents. Okay. And so uh down here we are, and when I say down, we're north, but we're down in elevation. Okay. So that's why we say down. But we are uh the hub basically for you know, we've got Walmart and Target, Lowe's, and you know, a lot of retail where people can come. Uh you know, we have wonderful boutique shops too, but the difference is heist and availability, and you know, all your all your needs are are met here. So I think that it becomes a different kind of community when you have we have um you know more than a million visitors that yeah, you know, close to six.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

You don't know who's local and who's not.

Getting Around: Buses And $1 Rides

SPEAKER_02 13:22

Exactly. Yeah, you know, so but I do think you know we are a very good community because the community supports visitors, they support tourism, they they like that we have all these amenities, and a lot of people who have moved here moved here because of what we have. You know, we have so many wonderful things and so many outdoor adventures and so many great hiking opportunities within you know minutes of the city center. So it's really, you know, our two rivers running through the towel, you know, it's just really got a lot of options for people.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

Yeah. And then you're also close enough to Vale and Aspen, which are very popular ski resorts. So if you are an avid skier or even just a curious skier, you can stay busy facing out of here.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

And we actually have our own ski resort, Sunlight Mountain Resort. And it's it's a beautiful ski resort. We have over 600 acres of skiable terrain and great, great runs. And but it's very nice because it you don't have the same cost, right? It's about a quarter of the cost of our larger ski resorts here. All of the runs, whether they're expert or beginner, come down to the same lodge so you don't lose half of your cool. You lose anybody. Yeah. They also have wonderful uh snowmobile tours, and it goes up to the White River National Forest. So it's absolutely gorgeous. So it's really nice, and even cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, all that is available here. So, really, we're an all-season community and it's just great. Yeah, great fun.

Getting There On A Budget

Iron Mountain Hot Springs Backstory

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Okay, can we just talk about how easy it is to get around in Glenwood Springs? Like, surprisingly easy. Because I feel like when people think Colorado Mountain town, they automatically think, I'm gonna have to rent a car, I'm gonna have to do all of these windy little trails to get up the mountain. It's gonna be expensive. Parking's gonna be a thing, but nope, not here. Glenwood Springs has the ride Glenwood bus system, and it's free. Free as in zero dollars. It runs year-round every single day, about 30 minutes from early morning until evening, and it stops basically everywhere you actually want to go: downtown, tourist attractions, shopping, neighborhoods. So if you're staying in town, you can just hop on and go. No stress, no parking drama, no paying for ride shares. And speaking of, if you need something even more flexible, they have ride Glenwood on demand. It's their version of ride share. It's kind of like a local shuttle situation, and it is super convenient. So, y'all get this. You can request a point-to-point ride anywhere within Glenwood city limits for Dromoplease one dollar. One dollar during operating hours. Wheelchair accessible vehicles are available when you're booking. They have an app you can use, they have a number you can call, so you can go either route and book your point-to-point rides. So it's ride share for a dollar. Besides the fact that we were based out of the hotel 1888 and we were close and convenient to everything that we basically just walked everywhere. So you have very inexpensive, very easy options of getting around. Now let's talk about getting to Glenwood because that's where people could get confused. So you've got options. If you fly into Aspen, which has a regional airport, it's about 550 minutes away. And from the Aspen Airport, you can take the RFTA bus system straight into Glenwood Springs. Here's the wild part. It's only like four to six bucks for an hour ride through one of the most beautiful mountain corridors in the country. Like you don't have to worry about driving through the mountains. You can just look out the window and enjoy it. Love it. And that's cheaper than a coffee at the airport. You can also check flights, you can also check for flights into Eagle Vale, which is about 45 minutes away, or Grand Junction, which is about an hour and a half. All very doable. Now, if you're flying into Denver or Colorado Springs, if you're flying into Denver, you do Denver Airport to Union Station, it's about 10 bucks. And then you hop on bus stay, and from there to Glenwood Springs is around$28. So you could potentially get from Denver Airport to Glenwood for under$40. That's kind of amazing. And once you're there, between Ride Glenwood and the regional FTA buses, you're connected. It even ties into Amtrak and Greyhound if you're doing a bigger rail adventure. So you can check real-time bus locations on my RFTA.com. So you're not just standing around guessing. You can actually see where the bus is and it just removes so much friction. I love it. And then if you want to do the ride share, we're gonna put the link to that in the show notes as well. Because when travel is easy and inexpensive and fun, it makes the whole experience feel lighter. You're not nickel and dimed, you're not stressed about logistics, you're just enjoying the mountains, which is energizing. So if you've been thinking Glenwood Springs sounds amazing but complicated, it's actually E for easy and maybe E for economical. And of course, we love that. So, y'all, another way super cool thing that we've only alluded to is the Iron Mountain Hot Springs. Y'all, they are so cool. We've shared about the Glenwood Hot Springs Resort. It houses the largest and original hot springs pool in the world, but it's not the only hot springs experience in Glenwood Springs. Lisa's gonna give us a little backstory on this very creatively inspired hot springs experience.

World Springs And International Saunas

SPEAKER_02 19:38

Iron Mountain Hot Springs has both a legacy side, which is the all-natural hot springs side, and then they have the side that they um that they started a few years ago, which is World Springs. Well, the World Springs side has the individual countries with minerals from each of those hot springs that are found located in those countries. And the way they did that is the owner, Steve Beckley, got together with some chemists, and and my son at the time, my older son Landon was also working there, and then he helped source the minerals, and then they did these sample mineral kind of compositions in little kiddie pools to start with to kind of get the idea of how this would work. And then when they built that extra section, they put in up in the back all of the different ways that the I guess you would call them mixing areas on that side. They can either switch it to the natural hot springs or they can do the mix of whatever country they're doing. Wow. So it's really awesome. And that this was the initial test of that kind of thing here in Glenwood Springs, and then they opened World Springs in north of Dallas in the colony. So World Springs was born from our iron nut hot spring because they have you know an investment in that as well. So it's really incredible that they're able to do all these different mineral compositions for the different countries, and they switch them up occasionally, and it is really quite quite a thing. When they switch it up, do you mean that they're switching which country they do? Or you there's you switch sometimes to a different country, yeah. So they have done that uh now and they're really getting really good at it. And now my younger son Colin works there, and he's the the water quality guy. So it's kind of fun, it's all in the family. It's really neat.

SPEAKER_01 21:47

So we are here at the Iron Mountain Hot Springs, and there is some construction going on, and so I have my friend Haley here with me. She's gonna let me know kind of what's in the works here. What can people look forward to?

SPEAKER_04 21:58

Yeah, they're adding on some interesting. International saunas. So they're all going to be different themed saunas. Like how the whirlpools are. They're going to be like a whirlpool sauna. They're adding five, and then they're going to add a few more pools down there and another cold plunge. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

Okay. So what's really cool, I'm standing right now in the Dead Sea and Blue Lagoon. Okay. So these are hot springs and you're creating saunas up there. Saunas. Okay. Okay. So I am in the hot springs. And what's really cool is that each little pool in this one section that they have is all inspired by different countries and the mineral content that those different countries have. And so that's really cool because, like, that's how I have created my tea line. That's the way we're re renovating our home, is just things that are inspired by our travels. So now you're going to be building saunas also inspired by different countries. So will you have one from Finland?

SPEAKER_04 22:55

I do. I know one's from Turkey.

SPEAKER_01 22:57

They haven't really from Turkey. Okay. All right. Yeah. Okay. Well, there's gonna have to be one from Finland because every time we go there every year. And it they're all about their saunas. So okay. Well, thank you for the little sneak peek. And do you have an expected time?

SPEAKER_04 23:13

Do they know if it's by next month?

SPEAKER_01 23:16

Oh, just a month away. Okay, so it it's now 2026. So if y'all are listening 2026, you can head on over to the Iron Mountain Hot Springs and check out their brand new saunas. Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_03 23:30

A few things that you might want to keep in mind if you go to the Iron Mountain Hot Springs is they don't give you a bathrobe, so you should bring your own. You can rent one. You can rent one.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

You can rent one, but that's not like a free one.

What To Bring For Soaking Days

SPEAKER_03 23:43

If you want to bring your own robe, bring your own flip-flop. And they you can bring your own towel as well. They have two towels that they give you. So part of your entrance. Yeah, but you'll use those up pretty quickly if you wrap them around yourselves, going from pool to pool. And then you'll probably want a dry towel for when you're getting dried off and putting your clothes on at the end.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:07

They do have three lockers. That's cool. Um, they give you this great little wristband, and this wristband opens and locks your locker, which is cool. And it also gets you into the 21 and over gate, through that gate, so you can go into all the world pools.

SPEAKER_01 24:26

Yes. Now, Heidi, we have one more spa experience at the Yampa Spa that we haven't talked about while we're sitting here on the balcony from my room, overlooking the Glenwood Hot Springs main pool. So let's talk about that and then kind of let's give a comparison of our three main pampering experiences in Glenwood Springs.

Comparing Three Spa Experiences

SPEAKER_03 24:46

Yes. So the order of things was we did the vapor caves, we got our massages, we did the mineral bath, and then we had these what are called indulgent wraps. And with that, um, there's a um like a spa tech that paints mud on you, and then wrap and and like some kind of probably um oil that has some kind of health benefits in it. It's warm, actually, really hot. It cools off pretty quickly. But and then you're wrapped in plastic. The first little fish. Yeah, like a saran, saran wrap kind of thing type. Yeah. And then over the top of that is some kind of heating plastic blanket thing.

SPEAKER_01 25:39

So you're just wrapped your whole body, you are now getting a body mask instead of a facial mask. And at the moment of this recording, they don't currently offer facials. It might be something that they pick up down the road, but right now you can get your body like a mask for your body. I always had a gingerbread-inspired theme to yeah, you you're just sitting wrapped up.

SPEAKER_03 26:03

Laying.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

You're a little burrito for laying. Well, it was like 30 to 40 minutes that you're laying there. And kind of 20 minutes in, our tech came in and gave us some cold water because you know you're just wrapped like a burrito, so you can't move around. So she gave us water.

SPEAKER_03 26:20

I fell asleep and it was actually very lovely. I did get hot and I had to pull my arms out at some point. And I realized with my arms out that it really is a mask because it started drying on my arms. And then after that, she gives you a towel, and then you can go shower hot. Go for the shower and get it all. Scrub all the mud off.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

And then you go on to your next adventure, either another treatment at the spa or your next adventure in Glenwood Springs.

SPEAKER_03 26:48

And my skin felt amazing after that.

Kid Friendly Vs Adult Only Areas

SPEAKER_01 26:51

The whole experience was great. After each pool experience we've had, we've just felt so relaxed, so invigorated all at the same time. And there's so much to do here in Glenwood Springs. Here at the Glenwood Hot Springs Resort, we've had the largest hot springs pool in the world and it's supplemental pools. We also have experienced the Iron Mountain Hot Smm. And then we also got to go to the Yampa vapor caves at the Yampa Spa. And so we did a mineral bath as one of our treatments. And then they also have these crazy cool vapor caves. So what what one thing that we both talked about already that we love is that all of the three experiences were very different. So we really want to encourage you when you come to Glenwood Springs that you try all of them. So, Heidi, how would you describe where we are right this moment at the Glenwood Hot Hot Springs?

SPEAKER_03 27:55

I think the cool thing about this one, and I'm looking at it while I'm saying this, is that it's so big that you have a lot of opportunity to actually get exercise. You can swim all the way across it. And man, I mean, it looks like you're swimming a quarter mile or something because it's really, really long. Whereas some of the other ones, they're more soaking tools. So you're not gonna, you can stretch in them. In fact, we saw an exercise class going on this morning at one. So you can do a little bit, but this one here at Glenwood Hot Springs resort is you can do laps if you want.

SPEAKER_01 28:35

What's so funny is the pool is so vast vertically, but they have down at the end horizontal lanes set apart. So those are like the shorter lanes and they're huge. Like they're full-on, way bigger than a normal swimming pool on the vertical side.

SPEAKER_03 28:56

This one also has a diving board down at the end. So I would say if you have kids, this would be the best place. She even showed us that up here they have like a this really cool tubing slide during the summertime. Yeah. And they also have a splash park over there. So if my little boys were still little, I would totally have brought them here because the other places, it's is it's great for adults to sit and soak, but my kids would have been bored out of their minds.

SPEAKER_01 29:29

So let's talk about the kid friendliness of the iron mountain springs that we went to today. And well, let's just go ahead and dive into them and talk about those a little bit. I would say one of the things for kids is that there is a larger pool that is like the kid kid pool and it's quite large. And attached to that is a hot tub, and the parents can be, it's all warm. Oh, that's cool. I didn't see that like you know, scalding. Uh but you the parents can be in that hot tub that's connected and like overlook the kid pool. So there is a kid-friendly space, and kids are permitted in the area of the Iron Mountain hot springs that are all of the natural hot springs.

SPEAKER_03 30:19

Yeah, yeah.

Around The World Mineral Pools

SPEAKER_01 30:20

And so um kids are can be there as well, but there's like more kid-friendly sections. All right, so then in the Iron Mountain Hot Springs, there's a little entrance, you have to have a special pass, like the adult, sorry, the adult part. So they do have alcoholic beverages, which is one reason they call it the adult part. But they also have done like this these are all of the ones that they basically have created and used them for ins inspiration from around the world, and they have recreated the different mineral compositions that you might find in the different pools all around the world. And so that was really like we were so inspired by that. And like that's that that's been my approach to my tea brand is taking inspiration from places I've been, or you know, experiences that I've had in these locations, and the tea flavor comes from that. Like that's the same kind of premise that they did with these. And now one thing we learned from today, um, that our friend Lisa told us is that there's the world, the world uh pools. And so with those, we get to go to Dallas. And like that's basically a local thing that I can take home with me. I can now do these world pools, just you know, I don't know how up the street.

SPEAKER_02 31:41

Not a world pool, a world pool.

SPEAKER_01 31:44

Yes, based on all the different countries around the world.

SPEAKER_03 31:50

Yeah, no best will become an adult only.

SPEAKER_01 31:54

Okay, so she just made an announcement that there is a adult time now. Yeah. So at five o'clock, I guess a certain part is adult only here at the hot the Glenwood hot springs.

SPEAKER_03 32:06

I loved the different parts of the world and all of the pools that were represented because you weren't right, it wasn't representing like this is a a pool in a community pool in Rome. We're talking about like a cave in Turkey, or you know, like under an underground spring in Italy. They're really, really cool. So I feel like we went all around the world this morning. We just hopped from pool to pool just to try them out.

SPEAKER_01 32:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:37

And it was really, really cool.

SPEAKER_01 32:39

No, they had two. One was the Blue Lagoon in Iceland that they were copying the mineral composition of that. And when Rory and I went to the Blue Lagoon, I just remember you could do like these masks, but so the masks in the water. When Rory got out of the blue lagoon, his face looked pristine. Like he had like the most gorgeous skin ever. Wow. And so that was really so different. And then right next to the Blue Lagoon pool is the Dead Sea pool. So, Heidi, you've actually been to the for real's Dead Sea. I have been to the Dead Sea. So, like, what's the difference? Did you feel like what was different about it?

SPEAKER_03 33:17

Well, so in the actual Dead Sea, it is for real. You can't even really put your feet down. Like, even if you want to, you can't put your feet down. So there's no way to do that.

SPEAKER_01 33:30

So it's it's like an anti-gravity type pool. It is. So there's so many minerals in there.

SPEAKER_03 33:36

It's so high, so dense super, super high salt content that you yeah, you can't sink. You can't go. In fact, they tell you it's very dangerous to, I think, to like be on your stomach or swim or float on your stomach. And if anybody turns over, the lifeguards are going, turn over on your back, because you have to stay in a certain position to stay safe. Whereas the one here, I mean, we were able to swim. We were able to get to the side. Yeah, your feet could put your feet down, walk across. So even though it must have had a really high salt content, and I'm sure that it did, right? Um, it wasn't quite as dangerous as the Dead Sea.

SPEAKER_01 34:20

That's funny. Yeah, it was really well. She said there were, she told us how many Epsom salts were in the Dead Sea, and it was insane, like just a crazy amount. So you're getting a lot of benefits from, especially from those two pools at the Iron Mountain hot springs.

SPEAKER_03 34:36

I will say what this morning, I had some lower back pain when we were going to the hot springs because I had sit up really late working on my computer, sitting on my bed, which I know you're not supposed to do. But right now, I am not hurting at all. So I think being in all of these different pools and experiencing the health benefits from them, it helped my body. I feel so much better.

Bringing Energy Home: Design Ideas

Fitness, Pilates Towers, And Recovery

Little Rituals With Big Impact

Creative Sparks And Nearby World Springs

Final Reflections And Thank Yous

SPEAKER_01 35:02

So great. What's really fun is that at each of the world-inspired, you know, country-inspired pools, they would describe the list the country and then they would describe the different mineral formula and what this pool was good for. You know, this one is good for helping your nervous system and your circulation and joint pain. This one is good for skin, like the France one was all about skin. So um that's where you can kind of just float around or hop around from pool to pool. And hey, what health benefits do I want to gain today by just enjoying the scenery, enjoying the hot spring. You know, you also get a health benefit all at the same time. So I just I love that. So Glenwood Springs, first of all, gave me some restorative energy because this episode is E for energy for a reason. And it's the kind of restorative energy that you feel after soaking in mineral water, after breathing in mountain air, after laughing with a good friend and sleeping deeply. And so energy isn't random, it's built, it's protected, it's restored through rhythms. And that trip reminded me what actually fuels me. And so here's what I'm bringing home and how each one fuels energy in my daily life. So, first of all, in our rooms and in the hallways of the hotel 1888, they had these 3D frames. And uh Heidi had one in her room, and it was very cool, kind of like um shadow box type thing, and it had little elements of different that each each frame around the hotel told a different part of the Glenwood Springs history and the Hotel 1888's building history. And so one frame is gonna tell you about how maybe people dressed when they went swimming, and maybe another one might tell you some about some of the men who what they did to earn the money to buy the place and just whatever the stories are, they were kind of just with with like pictures and cute little mementos, all in this cute shadow box. And since Rory and I have a historic home, I thought that would be such a cool idea to incorporate into our home in some capacity of, you know, we we did inherit old floor plans and we inherited original photos from the original house and things like that. And so it would be really fun to kind of frame those up and hang those around the house in different aspects and tell little snippets of the history of the house as we have guests come stay. So story gives house soul, and soul gives me creative energy. Another thing I mentioned before is that, you know, working out gives me energy and being able to work out in a reformer. And basically, if you're not familiar with the what that is, Pilates exercise can be done on a mat, but there's also apparatus that you can utilize and do different movements. And there are several different machines and sets of apparatus that you can hop onto and do a lot of different exercises, and it just expands all of the movements that you can do under the Pilates heading. And one of the things that I was able to do in our class was tower Pilates. And so we, the reformer, which is the machine, our teacher reconfigured it into the tower. And I learned that I way love tower Pilates way more than just reforma Pilates. And so what that did for me is now I know to be more strategic when I'm looking for a Pilates studio where I want to go work out, maybe join. Well, now I want to join because Tower Pilates was so fun and I want to do more of it. I now know I want to find classes that really incorporate the tower portion. So that is a really fun thing that I want to bring home with me. Also, during my Pilates class, I was reminded about this neck patch that is supposed to help with stem cell recovery. Rory had actually been using them. It's possible that maybe some of these neck patches can help repair torn tissue. And so that I have a torn labrum in my shoulder and I had one in my hip. And so I could use that patch, but also when I got home, I kind of did some research. I can also use little infrared light as well. And so just finding new things that, in addition to the physical therapy that I'm currently doing, these might just be some home remedies that I can start applying to bring some healing energy to my body. When I was getting my massage, I saw these really cool plant hangers in the room. They just had such a unique, artful design. And for me, that would be a really fun way that I would want to display plants. So I was able to grab a photo so that I could remember how cute these were and I could start looking for some of my own versions of a cool plant hanger. I've only seen ones that are outside that really didn't appeal to me very much. So it was really nice to find some peaceful, artful flower pots that were hanging from the ceiling. When Allie gave us the tour of the Hotel 1888, they used some of the original floor tile and made a wall design with it. And that was super inspiring to me. So that's another idea that I want to bring into our home renovation. We have some reclaimed wood from trees that fell in our yard. We want to remake doors with that. We talked about that in the previous episode. But I think it would be cool to take that wood or some of our original pieces as we find, because we have the original wallpaper from 1916 when our house was built. Some of that is still behind some of our ship lap in our home. But there can be really cool ways to incorporate those into its own wall feature. And I just love bringing that idea and make our like historic feature wall based out of things that came out of our house and our home's history. We had really good Brussels sprouts at the Riviera Supper Club. Heidi and I ordered the Brussels sprouts and they were so good. And so that inspired me that maybe I can incorporate some of the things they did to their Brussels sprouts to improve how mine tastes. So I went home and I tried to do what they did. I didn't master it, but I still have some inspiration on how I can improve my Brussels sprouts. And this sounds really small and like non-revolutionary, but for me it was kind of like a shift. In our rooms, they had a black little washcloth that they would prefer that women remove their makeup with this black cloth so you're not getting mascara stains all over their white towels, right? And so I've seen these at hotels. There was one at our hotel in Trlingua, which you heard about in our Big Ben series, but I actually didn't use it because I had my own things with me. But here at Glenwood Springs, I went ahead and used their makeup towel. My ritual at night includes using coconut oil to remove my eye makeup, and then I'll wipe it off with some kind of tissue. So I'm like, well, I'm gonna use this cool makeup towel. And I just thought it was just black, but it actually had a different texture, and it just felt so good. And I ended up using that and it felt so good. And I was like, why wouldn't I do this every night? It's so much smoother on my skin, and it just feels better and makes taking off your makeup less painful and annoying. So I was like, this one little thing is something that I would apply every single day is to start just removing my makeup with a cloth instead of a tissue. Something super small, but but a big impact. They also had these really cool rocking chairs on the deck. I I had the King balcony suite that overlooked the Glenwood, the Hot Springs pool. And my one of the pieces of furniture was a rocking chair. And I assume that I've seen these before. And I've seen like normal rocking chairs on people's front porches, but for some reason, seeing it on the porch in this phase of my life in a very patio friendly material, I wouldn't have thought about. Getting a rocking chair as part of a patio furniture set, but it was really, really nice. So that's definitely something that I'll be keeping an eye out for when we get to the place where we're going to be purchasing our backyard furniture. I've already talked about Lisa's inspiration for theater. Allie was inspiring. She's a songwriter too. So she inspired me. When she gets a song idea, she goes and she finishes it. And I was like, oh, I have so many ideas that I start. And it's that stick-to-it-ness to go finish the song where I really need discipline. And she just has the passion, the inspiration. She's gonna just keep going till it's done. And so Allie and Lisa were both very inspiring to me with their creativity and their artistry. So that was really fun. And then, you know, we've talked about the Higher Mountain Hot Springs. And a way that I get to take that home is that they have the Dallas World Springs. And so when I can't get to Colorado, I can just drive up the road an hour and a half and go enjoy World Springs almost in my backyard. So that's really, really fun. I physically brought home a little gift for Rory. He's been wanting to read in bed at night instead of being on his phone. So at Alpin Glow Books and Gifts downtown, I brought that home for Rory. So I think that's probably most of the things off my list of all of the things that are bringing that I'm bringing home, whether it's practical, inspirational, mindset, things that I can plug into my everyday, things that are now fueling my creativity for how to decorate at home and what we can build into our renovation. And so that's really, really fun. And so a lot of times we talk about travel, like we talk about what, where we went or what we did. But it's just so fun to talk about all these things that we also bring home. So Glenwood wasn't just beautiful and fun and amazing and restorative and relaxing. It was also energizing. It recalibrated my energy. And that I feel like is one of the biggest things that I'm bringing home. A better, a better version of me into my home and my work and my marriage. And yes, I do want to nod to elements here for a second, you know, tying in the E. I do think part of that energy came from being immersed in the water, the steam, the mountain air, the heat, the stone. The water there literally powers the town, hydropower, movement creating electricity, the elements generating real, tangible energy. And that same water, the hot springs, the steam, the river carving through the canyon restored mine. And here's the part that mattered most. I don't want my energy to peak on vacation and disappear when I get home. I want to live in a way that sustains that. And that's through the things that I bring home and through movement and better food and design choices and finished songs and rest and intentional evenings and friendship and rituals that feel like care instead of chaos. And travel continues to show me what's possible. Now I get to build those elements into my daily life. So E isn't just for energy, it's also for the elements that restore it. It's for choosing every single day to live plugged into what actually fuels you. And that's what I'm bringing home. And that feels powerful. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us. Thank you again to Heidi P Tech. Thank you for inviting me to come explore Glenwood Springs with you. Thank you, Heidi, for joining me. I had a great time. Yes. I loved it. Yeah, this has been the ultimate girl trip getaway ever. We have had the spa treatments, several different hot spring soaking opportunities. We've gone shopping, we've gone hiking, eating great food. It's been super, super great. And we're staying at a luxurious hotel. So if you are looking for a girls' getaway, we can recommend Glenwood Hot Springs for sure. Definitely.

SPEAKER_03 48:17

Yeah. You make fun memories here, and you're gonna come away with really, really fun pictures too.

SPEAKER_01 48:23

Yeah. With Visit Glenwood Springs, you can visit their website at visitglenwood.com. And they are so good at setting up an itinerary because they hooked us up with an amazing itinerary for our girls' trip, all of the spa experiences. There was just like there was so much thought put into the different experiences because there's so much more you can do in Glenwood Springs than what we are talking about today with the podcast on this episode. There is so much more you can do. And it's also a year-round town. And so, like you're here in the summer, you can do all of paddling and rafting and all of these things. And so they even have ski, like Lisa shared with us earlier. There's such a variety. And when you go to visit Glenwood.com and/or have them help you plan your visit and utilize the tools and resources they provide for you, you can customize a trip that is perfect for you and your situation and whoever you're traveling with. And you can just make it your own. And that's really why we do this whole podcast is because we want to inspire you to make your own adventures, to get out there and try it. This is a wonderful place to come try brand new things, explore, enjoy, feel restored, get relaxed, and get rejuvenated for your next adventure. But again, Heidi P Tac, Dr. P, thank you so much for joining me on this trip and on this episode. You're such a good friend and a wonderful woman. And you're also a great podcast host and co-host and guest in all of that. So thank you.

SPEAKER_03 50:07

It was so fun. I loved it. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 50:10

Oh, yes, my pleasure. And again, thank you to Visit Glenwood Springs.

SPEAKER_03 50:15

And we will see y'all on the next episode. Tonight, before they close at 9, I say we should soak in our hot pool over here one more time.

SPEAKER_00 50:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:28

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SPEAKER_00 50:35

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SPEAKER_01 50:36

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SPEAKER_00 50:39

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SPEAKER_01 50:50

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SPEAKER_00 50:53

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SPEAKER_01 50:55

R O A M. We'll be there until next time.

SPEAKER_00 51:00

Yeah, thanks for listening. Bye.