A WEEKEND IN COLORADO SPRINGS WITH MY BETSIES (NO, THAT'S NOT A TYPO!)

Crystal Reservoir

No, that is not a typo in the heading.

I specifically mean Betsies, not Besties,

although I am referring to a group of women 

that I have a unique and special bond with.

Betsies is the plural of Betsy,

and now, lest you think I went to Colorado with a group of ladies all named Betsy,

please allow me to explain.

In my previous life, I was an executive at a popular television network.

I loved my job.

I must have.......I worked there for 32 years. 

I was extremely career-driven, and wanted to advance.

Back around 15 years ago, 
 I heard about a program for executive women in the cable TV industry 

run by The Betsy Magness Leadership Institute.

It was highly competitive to get accepted, 

and the application process was daunting. 

But........I really wanted it.

And I think that passion came through on my application,

because lo and behold, they accepted me!

Suddenly, I was one of 25 women across the country 

to be named as a Betsy Magness fellow.

These ladies and I spent several multi-day sessions together over the course of a year 

honing our leadership skills through intense introspection.

There were times when even I didn't want to understand myself that thoroughly!

The culmination of the program included powerful, 
yet gentle feedback that we gave to each other........

insights that I continue to value to this day.

It was terrifying.

It was exhilarating.

It was draining.

It was invigorating. 

It worked.

Soon after I completed the program,

I was promoted to a senior executive position

with more responsibility and a much larger staff.

It would not have happened had I not been a Betsy Magness fellow.

The 25 of us in the program became extremely close over that year,

and these woman will forever be known as my "Betsies." 
They are some of the wisest, funniest, most giving women 
I have ever had the honor to know.

In June 2018, twelve of us attended our third reunion,

this time in Colorado Springs.  
We came from New Jersey, Connecticut, Georgia, Washington, DC, and California.
One came all the way from Germany with an infant.

I was a little nervous about going, since I'd left the industry

a few years back,

but I need not have worried.

Bonds are strong, and it was as if no time had passed. 

We talked.
We laughed.
We drank.
We ate.
We explored.
We drank some more.
And we continued to offer support and advice to each other.

Crystal Reservoir

Over our three days in Colorado Springs,

 We spent an afternoon at Pike's Peak......

a morning in Garden of the Gods,

and an afternoon at the Air Force Academy.  

  PIKE'S PEAK  

We arranged an afternoon tour with Manitou Springs Adventures,
as none of us had the stomach to do the driving up Pike's Peak Highway.
They took us up to the summit in jeeps, and I do mean up.......
 

and up.......

and up........14,115 feet to be exact.

We made tons of stops along the way to admire the scenery. 

The views from the summit took our breath away........
and I mean that literally!
The air was so thin, it was hard to breathe, 
and we all felt a little woozy at times. 
No one had any serious problems, though. 

We were intoxicated by the vista stretched out in front of us.

View from Pike's Peak

In 1893, Katharine Lee Bates wrote America The Beautiful,
after her visit to the summit, inspired by the glorious views.

O beautiful for spacious skies
for amber waves of grain.
for purple mountain majesties
above the fruited plains.

View from Pike's Peak

Since then, whenever I hear that song,
I visualize those mountain majesties and spacious skies that stretched out before us.

View from Pike's Peak

View from Pike's Peak

Original Summit House built in 1873.

Original Summit House.

  GARDENS OF THE GODS  

I must be truthful.......
It was HOT,
and I did not complete the hike to Garden of The Gods.
A couple of us turned back mid-way,
and surely missed some great photo opportunities.
In the heat of the moment (literally!)
I made a choice between continuing the hike,
or passing out on the trail.
 In hindsight, I'm kind of bummed that I didn't stick it out. 
Fainting seems a small price to pay for getting some amazing snaps. 😉

   US AIR FORCE ACADEMY    

 

Integrity First, Service Before Self, Excellence in All We Do. 

That's the motto of the Air Force Academy. 

We watched a wonderful introductory video,
which brought us all to tears with the academy's mission:

"To educate, train, and inspire men and women to become leaders of character,
motivated to lead the US Air Force in service to our nation."

Integrity.
Service Before Self. 
Leaders of character.

Yes, indeedy....... 
what important traits to instill in our youth,
and those who represent our country.

There's an entire "wing" (pun intended!)
devoted to character and leadership development.

Center for Character and Leadership Development

The eye-catching centerpiece of the campus 
is Cadet Chapel, an interfaith house of worship.

Cadet Chapel.

Cadet Chapel

Cadet Chapel

It was wonderful to spend a long weekend in Colorado with my squad.......
 a girls' getaway at its finest!

 

I 💖 my Betsies!

LINKING WITH:
Best Of The Weekend

THE VESSEL AT HUDSON YARDS: NEW YORK'S NEWEST LANDMARK

**UPDATE**

The interior  of The Vessel is temporarily closed

except for the ground level base.

 

VESSEL: (ves-sel)

1. A ship or large boat, 
such as used by Stannis' army in Game of Thrones.

2. A container: a cask, bottle, bowl or cup, 
such as used to hold Tyrion's wine in Game of Thrones.

3. A tube or canal used to circulate body fluid, 
such as the ice water that flowed through Cersei's veins 
in Game Of Thrones.

4. The name of New York City's newest interactive landmark,
a sculptural staircase, located near the corporate headquarters of HBO, 
the network which brought us Game of Thrones. 

The Vessel is a giant interactive sculpture, if you will, 
smack in the middle of Hudson Yards, NYC's hottest new address.

It's a spiral staircase of epic proportions.........

154 interconnecting flights of stairs with 2500 steps and 80 landings
(much to the chagrin of Game of Thrones fans, 
not one of those landings is Kings Landing).

Climbers are rewarded with interesting views of the city, the Hudson River, and more. 

I've had The Vessel on my to-do list ever since it opened in March.
A perfect opportunity to visit presented itself when I 
made plans to have lunch with a friend I used to work with at HBO.
HBO recently moved from 42nd Street and 6th Avenue to Hudson Yards.

Lunch and The Vessel: Done and Done.

There was one more thing on my wish-list that day: 

I wanted to sit on The Throne.

And by throne, I don't mean the porcelain one that so many pray to.......

I'm talking about THE throne........ the iron one.......
the rightful heir to which is.......

Ohhhhhh no-no-no-no-no, you're not going to get any spoilers out of me, dragon breath! 

Junior Goo Shoes is a huge Game of Thrones fan, 

and he would have banished me to Castle Black 
if I didn't take him with me to the lobby of HBO's corporate offices,
where the Iron Throne sits.
With my HBO I.D. card long expired,
my friend graciously met us so that Junior GS, two of his friends, and I
could sit on the throne and take pictures

 that were sure to make our friends Insta-jealous.  

After a lovely lunch catching up with my friend, I was off to take pictures of The Vessel.

I had my good camera with me, and my plan was to take some exterior shots,

and then ride the elevator to the top, and walk down.
I'd stop on different landings for different perspectives. 

I got ready to take my first shot, and pressed on the shutter button.......

Hey, what's going on here? Why isn't my camera.......

CRAP.

 

 I left the battery in the charger at home. 😖

 As for stellar pictures, well, as Arya in Game of Thrones so memorably put it.......

Not today.

So, friends, I give you..........The Vessel: Cell Phone Edition.

I decided it wouldn't be worth going inside without my real camera, 
so that will have to wait for another time.

If you plan to climb The Vessel, be sure to acquire tickets in advance.

They are free, but in order to control congestion, tickets are required.
You can also try to get tickets the day of your visit at the site,

but your time of entry will be whenever they can accommodate you.

Hudson Yards is a cool place to visit.
In addition to The Vessel, there are restaurants, and indoor mall........

.......and The Shed, a recently-opened arts center for the 21st Century,
hosting galleries, music, dance, theater and more. 

It's also where The High Line connects to Hudson Yards,
so I strongly recommend adding this new destination to your itinerary 
when in New York City.

At the end of the day, 

Junior Goo Shoes and his friends burned up the internet
with pictures of themselves sitting on the throne.......

and me?
Well, let's just say I was burned up, too, 

but in a more angry, I-forgot-my-camera-battery kind of way.

At least I got to sit on the Iron Throne.
There's that. 

LINKING WITH:
Best Of The Weekend
Our World Tuesday