Labor Day Launch 2026
Sat 05 September 2026
Labor Day weekend, Colorado Springs hosts one of the largest balloon events in the US. Also, this is the weekend for the Colorado Springs bridge sectional tournament. I played bridge on Friday, and Grace hiked the Manitou Incline.
We got a room at the Garden of the Gods Motel. Nice place, and a very reasonable price for a holiday weekend. We played with John and Kathy in the Thursday night team. Grace and I played fairly well together, and overall we won 3 of the 4 matches to get just over a full silver point.
Saturday, Grace and I got up very early and went to Memorial Park to watch the balloon launch. A few hundred balloons, in two waves, launched from the field. The tradition is to hover over the lake and dip down to barely touch it, and then go on the chase. Ate breakfast at a food truck. The Crepe-escape or something like that. Grace had a bacon-and-egg crepe, and I had a Monte Cristo-style crepe. We had lunch with Grace's mom, and I played the afternoon session at the bridge tournament.
Sunday, we got up and had breakfast at Adam's Mountain Cafe in Manitou Springs.
Pictures: TBD
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Weekend+ getaway to Palisade and Moab