UM- WHERE'S THE A/C????

After quickly playing in Winter Park before it closed, we headed to downtown WP. Normally, I'd say it's not as exciting or kitchy as Breck. But today- there was a Jazz Festival going on dispite/through the rain. We arrived in time to grab a glass of wine and a tator twister, only to hear the last few songs of the set. I was a little puzzled that the party eneded at 6 or so, but I was so happy with my booze and fair food that I just continued polluting my body.

We walked around downtown in vain for a bit after the concert- trying to find something to do. Instead we headed to safeway to grab some wine/cheese/crackers/cookies and headed back to our room for dinner. Unfortunately, on our 2nd night in the mountains, we were in our second hotel without air conditioning.

Being from Texas, where the A/C runs almost year-round, I was shocked. During the days it was pretty warm, even if it would cool down at night. The rooms were *hot* when you would come in from a day of hiking or biking, and never cooled off as much as the outside, mountain temperature.

In Breckenridge, we stayed at a Marriott where the suggested to simply open the sliding porch door and use the fan in the closet. Again, being from the big city I wasn't too keen on the idea of sleeping with a door unlocked- much less wide open (even if the screen did keep out the bugs). The hotel was literally on the mountain, with ski lifts in sight. The view was amazing and we listened to the birds and a running stream as we fell asleep.

The hotel in Winter Park was another story. The Winter Park Mountain Lodge looks pretty nice when you pull up and the lobby hides the "old part" of the hotel. Of course that's where we got stuck- everything about the room screamed cheap, budget motel. Old, dated furniture & linens, shoddy workmanship & repairs around the room and many unusual noises from the bathroom. Again- no A/C and only a window for ventilation. Our window even had a nice view- if you can zoom in your mind past the parking lot. See our car??

We handled the window A/C until we drifted off into wine & chocolate cookie dreams, but around 3 and 4 and 5, there were an unusual number of drunk and loud people in the parking lot below. Slamming car doors, trying to start cars and generally being totally obnoxious until we could take it no more and "turned off" our window A/C. All we could do was hope and pray that our last and final hotel in Estes Park would have a real, genuine, blessing-of-God air conditioning.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: My next car WILL HAVE those fancy-schmancy seat air-conditioners to keep my booty cool.