2012 April and May in Vail

After the ski season closed on April 15th, we started biking and hiking before Audre's (elective) surgery in Denver on April 20th.

We checked out the newly re-opened bike path along the I-70 in Glenwood Springs canyon. Train on the left, then the river, then the bike path, and then the I-70 above us on the right--all modes of transport.

 After Audre's surgery, we had a month of forced leisure when we couldn't even apply the Rules of Younger Next Year.

Audre in pre-op with her surgeon, Dr. Lisa Perryman, and Levi Dieruf, her anesthesiologist on the right. That hospital gown had hoses connected blowing lovely warm air, BTW. Outside her area was a live guitar player provided by Parker Adventist Hospital

We stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Parker for 4 days during Audre's surgery (Denver Hampton Inn, 19010 East Cottonwood Dr., Parker, CO, tel. 303-841-2977 Room 324). The King bed suite was large and had a sofa and coffee table in front of the TV like we like. The room had a desk and a small kitchen area with a sink, microwave, and mini-fridg. The hotel's breakfast buffet was included in the $129 per day rate and it was good--with fresh fruit. We didn't use the Jacuzzi or pool but did use the treadmill. On April 23, 2012, when we left the Hampton Inn & Suites, Audre handed the Duty Manager a comment card that she had completed. She told him that she had spent a great deal of time carefully writing our comments.  Here are our comments:
1.         We can hear street noise. Even in lesser-priced hotels, the noise has not been this loud.
2.         We can hear noise in the hallway and we hear our neighbors’ doors slamming. There is a BIG gap between the door and the door frame…no wonder there is noise from the hall.
3.         We can hear footsteps above us.
4.         We hear noise through the walls.
5.         The climate control is LOUD and BLASTS AIR
6.         We have to ASK for new sheets daily (not just leave a card on the bed or towels on the floor). We feel cheated. One of the nice things about hotel sheets are how wrinkle-free, smooth and silky they are. Hampton Inn’s are wrinkled and are not luxurious.
      We chose Hampton Inn because one of us was having surgery at Parker Adventist Hospital. Hampton Inn was NOT the comfortable experience we wanted or expected.  

On May 13, 2012, when we had not even received an acknowledgment of the comments, Audre re-wrote the comments onto the feedback form of the Hilton/Hampton website. Within 72 hours we had received an e-mail from Hilton/Hampton that we would be receiving a full refund for our stay at the Hampton. Later we got a telephone call from Micka, the general manager of the Hampton Inn & Suites in Parker, apologizing and reiterating that we would be getting a credit card credit for the amount of our stay. We were astounded--never expecting that kind of response. We were very appreciative too. So, it pays to give hotels feedback!

When Audre felt stronger during the spring, we re-connected with our friends Marnie and Dennis from Santiago, Chile. They live in Denver now and we hiked near Silverthorne. 

Re-united with our friends from Santiago, Chile, on a hike above Dillon Reservoir


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