Jenn's Work Trip to Colorado Springs

Even though our big Europe Trip is only a couple of weeks away, I was fortunate enough to tag along with Jenn to Colorado Springs for a Taco Bell conference. If Jenn was writing this post I know within the first few sentences she would mention that I keep getting the lucky end of these deals as this is the third work trip that I've come along for (Washington DC and Stanford before it). 

We flew out on Saturday (September 27th) morning at 10AM on Frontier Airlines. We drove over and parked at the airport and had no problem checking into our flight. We met Jenns boss at the gate and boarded the short two hour flight to Denver. When we began our descent into Denver I turned to Jenn and told her I thought we were making an emergency landing as the Denver airport is super rural. Luckily that wasn't the case. We got off our plane and met Jenn's co-worker and his wife who we drove the 90 miles from the Denver airport to The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. 

We checked in and received a great room in the oldest portion of the hotel right near the lobby. This came in handy for all the walking Jenn had to do to and from the conference center. The conference didn't start until Sunday so we had our entire Saturday to ourselves.

We walked the immaculate grounds and then enjoyed a wonderful dinner at their Italian restaurant called Ristorante Del Lago.  They were booked for the entire evening in their main dining room so we ate in the bar area which was great. We both started with a glass of wine, Jenn got a Cab and I got a Shiraz. Jenn got the lasagna and I had a ham and cheese pizza. We even indulged in some gelato to cap off the meal. After dinner we took another walk around the hotel and turned in for the night.

On Sunday the conference began. We grabbed a quick breakfast in Downtown Colorado Springs with Jenn's co-worker and then Jenn was off to work the My Taco Bell booth. That left me alone so I watched a ton of football, played my PS4 (which yes I brought with me like a 5 year old kid), and finished reading Timebound by the lake. Jenn didn't finish with her conference until 8PM. We ended up meeting many of Jenns coworkers for dinner at the Golden Bee a Irish Pub. 

Monday was more work for Jenn and more relaxation for me. She left early in the morning to go to the conference but did have a break for lunch. We went to the Natural Epicurean at the hotel which is their healthy alternative. I got a Vitamin C boost juice and their tacos. Jenn got a delicious bison burger. We had to make it a quick lunch as Jenn was back off to the conference to finish up her time at the My Taco Bell booth. I was able to stop by the booth towards the end of the day and even scored some awesome Taco Bell swag. 

Jenn got back to the room at 4:30PM and took a nap before getting ready for the big awards dinner. It was a black tie affair and one of the nicest type of events I've ever been too. Outside of giving away a few awards they also had David Blaine performing. Right when we sat down at our table we were given glasses of red wine and like Sunday Brunch it was bottomless. We started off with a nice salad and had a Filet Mignon with Red Snapper. They brought a variety platter for dessert which was a great compliment to watching David Blaine finish up his magnificent act.

On Tuesday morning I packed up my stuff while Jenn went to the last portion of the conference that she needed to attend to. While she was out I went to print out my boarding pass and saw the Stanley Cup sitting in the lobby. There was a lady with a DSLR standing there and saw me take a picture with my phone so she was nice enough to take a picture of me with the Stanley Cup. After that Jenn dropped me off at the airport to take my flight home. Unfortunately Jenn had to stay another day to wrap things off. Unfortunately her flight on Wednesday was delayed quite a bit after the plane she was supposed to take was deemed not fit to fly so Southwest had to scramble and get another plane. 

All in all it was an incredible trip to Colorado Springs. The Broadmoor is an absolutely stunning resort. It just makes both of us even more excited for our Europe Trip in a couple of weeks.