Telluride

I spent my birthday this year, like many before it, in Telluride. Hiking and going to the Bluegrass Festival to hear music in the mountains....what fun! Nothing makes me feel more alive than being at 10,000 ft. and looking out at those snow capped peaks.



Part of what made my birthday weekend so much fun was that Ivonne Van Loveren, spa consultant from Global Spa Consulting came down to Telluride to help me celebrate. Ivonne lives in Vail and focuses her work on helping spas become more profitable. But for the weekend, we played and laughed, and reminded each other that the joy in life comes from spending time with friends doing the things you love.

My passion in life is being active in the outdoors and spending time in nature. This past summer I was so fortunate to have some wonderful adventures in some of the most beautiful places on Earth! When I am in nature, I am able to more easily reconnect to myself and to open up to the limitless possibilities of the universe.

In August I traveled up to Canada to train one of our favorite spa groups, Fairmont Willow Stream Spa at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Wow! Not only is the spa in the top of its class, the Banff Springs Hotel is so rich with history of the region and how it got established as a resort in the Canadian Rockies. Pam Ouelett, the energetic and always upbeat Spa Director, took me on a hike that passed a glacier lake and worked its way up to a glacial water fall. Incredible!

After I was finished with training for the spa staff, I took a few extra days to celebrate my college friend Nancy's birthday. Her birthday wish was to hike in the Canadian Rockies, so she and her sister met me up in Banff, and we ventured out each day on hikes through northerly wind, rain, and even snow flurries...to the famous tea house near the glacier above Lake Louise to some of the most spectacular wilderness areas I have ever seen. I have always loved the Rockies in Colorado, but Canadian Rockies are massive! The turquoise color of the glacial lakes in sharp contrast with the rugged snow-capped peaks is so dramatic and breath-taking. Nancy and I hiked to the "Valley of the Ten Peaks." It was a 3.5 climb with a 2,500 foot elevation through bear habitats, and then above the timberline. We arrived at a saddle where we could see views from both sides. And there the ten peaks were, massive and awe-inspiring.