| Epsilon Sigma Phi 2019 National Conference |
Conference Tours
Optional Conference Tours will be available on Monday of conference week. Review options and be prepared to select tours during registration. Tours will have an additional cost.
Monday, October 14, 2019
Stars & Stripes Military Tour - $45.00
Mindful Experience at Garden of the Gods - $55.00 (SOLD OUT)
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo - $40.00
Micro-brew Walking Tour - $45.00 (Cancelled)
Pikes Peak Bus Tour - $70.00 (SOLD OUT)
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Life Members Tour
Stars & Stripes Military Tour - $45.00
Tour departs the Conference Hotel at 8:45 am and returns at 1:30 pm. Business casual clothing and comfortable walking shoes encouraged. Schedule was updated 9/10/19.
Guided by Vanessa Tranel, Colorado 4-H Military Programs Extension Specialist
Colorado Springs is a military town with four installations: Fort Carson Army Base, Peterson Air Force Base, Schriever Air Force Base, and the U.S. Air Force Academy. The Colorado 4-H Military Program is active on all of them, and the Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, CO.
The Air Force Academy is both a military organization and a university. Much of the Academy is set up like most other Air Force bases, particularly the 10th Air Base Wing, but the superintendent, commandant, dean of faculty and cadet wing are set up in a manner resembling a civilian university. The military academy is one of the highest profile facilities of its kind in the United States. Despite its high profile and important purpose, the base allows visitors to look around the campus and see what life is like for these elite military employees.
Cadet Chapel - Air Force Academy
The Cadet Chapel is both the most recognizable building at the U.S. Air Force Academy and the most visited man-made tourist attraction in Colorado. This aluminum, glass and steel structure features 17 spires that shoot 150 feet into the sky. It is considered among the most beautiful examples of modern American academic architecture. CHANGE - Will not be able to tour inside due to construction.
Schedule:
0800 (8:00 a.m.) – Rise & Shine and prepare for duty!
0845 (8:45 a.m.) – Meet in hotel lobby and load up for tour
0915 (9:15 a.m.) – Stop at several of the overlooks
0945 (9:45 a.m.) – Tour Visitor Center
1115 (11:15 a.m.) – Lunch
1230 (12:30 p.m.) – Tour Arnold Hall
1300 (1:00 p.m.) – Return trip to hotel and stop at additional overlooks if desired
(Minimum of 20; Maximum of 58)
Mindful Experience at Garden of the Gods - $55.00
This Tour is SOLD OUT
Tour departs the Conference Hotel at 9:30 am and returns at 3:00 pm. Casual dress with layers is encouraged with comfortable walking shoes.
The Garden of the Gods Visitor & Nature Center is now a world-class museum! Two new exhibit halls were added in 2015 incorporating the most cutting edge museum technology found in the world. The complex geology, ecology, and cultural history of the Park come to life through new hands-on interactive exhibits.
The Gift of Presence
Join us for a 60-minute experiential mindfulness workshop where you will learn practical strategies for reconnecting with your senses, calming your nervous system and relaxing your reactivity. We will explore the concept of positive neuroplasticity – the brain’s ability to change for the good – and experiment with practices that create new neural pathways by seeding positivity and cultivating mindful presence. No experience necessary!
The workshop will be led by Sue Schneider, Larimer County Extension Agent, who is a medical anthropologist and integrative health coach with extensive experience integrating mindfulness into community and university settings.
Schedule:
- 9:15 am – Meet and load up for tour
- 10:00 am – Guided 30-minute nature walk
- 10:30 am – Explore the park, Visitor & Nature Center – featuring: Geology, Flora & Fauna, People & History, and an outstanding Wall of Changing Seasons and Photographic History of the Park
- Noon – Lunch at Bean Sprouts
- 1:15 pm – The Gift of Presence (Visitor Center – Red Rocks Room) – Sue Schneider
- 2:45 pm – Return trip to hotel
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo - $40.00
Tour departs the Conference Hotel at 9:00 am and returns at 3:00 pm. Please dress casual with walking shoes, light jacket, sun hat and sunscreen (includes transportation, admission and special presentation on Emergency Preparedness; lunch on your own).
America’s only mountain zoo and named 6th-Best Zoo in North America by USAToday! Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's 146 picturesque acres are home to over 750 animals of every variety. Mirroring their natural habitats in the wild, the Zoo will transport you to wild places around the globe with over 170 species of wild animals, engaging exhibits and irresistible attractions.
The Zoo’s elevation rises from 6,714 feet at the front admission gate to nearly 7,000 feet above sea level at the Zoo’s highest points of Asian Highlands and Rocky Mountain Wild. With elevations of this magnitude, it’s important for guests to:
- DRINK WATER – Keep hydrated by taking plenty of breaks to rehydrate with water
- Take your time and don’t overdo it, especially if you are visiting from locations much lower in altitude than Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
- Consider taking the Zoo Shuttle to get around Zoo grounds. You can find Shuttle details under the ‘Guest Service Shuttle’
You can enjoy lunch and snacks at your leisure in one of their onsite dining/food facilities. Special presentation on Emergency Preparedness – Zoo officials will discuss their planning, execution and recovery from an epic hailstorm in August 2018. The zoo has to prepare for it all, weather, crowd control, loss of electricity, building damage, dealing with insurance or the escape of a deadly animal.
Schedule:
- 8:45 am – Meet in Hotel Lobby to board vans to Zoo
- Enjoy the zoo exhibits and lunch on your own at the Grizzly Grill or Pizza with a View!
- 1:00 pm – Emergency and Contingency Planning – special 30-45 minute presentation by Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s VP of Operations. Then resume your zoo self-guided tour.
- 2:45 pm – Meet at Main Gates for return trip to hotel
Micro-brew Walking Tour - $45.00 (Cancelled 8/17/19)
We have made a decision to cancel this tour due to lower than anticipated registration. We hope that you will be able to find time to visit parts of this tour on your own.
Pikes Peak Bus Tour - $70.00
This tour is sold out
Tour meets in hotel lobby at 8:30 am and bus departs at 9:00 am for the mountain tour, 2-hour lunch/shopping break in Manitou Springs, and returns at 3 pm. Lunch on your own – many options!
As people drive into Colorado from the east, one lone mountain is visible for more than 200 miles away – Pikes Peak! Each tour is a 4-hour round trip to the summit of Pikes Peak and back. We travel up the historic Ute Pass through the village of Cascade to the Pikes Peak Highway. On the way up, we make a stop at beautiful Crystal Reservoir. As the road climbs higher, each new curve offers yet another incredible mountain vista as you make your way to the summit of the spectacular 14,115-foot peak. It was from this magnificent mountain that Katherine Lee Bates wrote “America the Beautiful”.
At the summit of Pikes Peak the views stretch for miles; you will feel like you are on top of the world. To the south, you’ll have a clear view of the Arkansas Valley, the Gold Rush town of Cripple Creek, and the often snow-capped Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range. To the west lies the Continental Divide; Eastward “amber waves of grain” roll to the horizon; while north shows the distant skyline of Denver and beyond that, the peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park.
During the 60-mile round trip, we make several stops allowing you to gradually acclimate to the altitude changes, stretch your legs and take pictures. Wonderful lunch and shopping options in the scenic Manitou Springs!
Schedule:
- 8:30 am – Meet and load up for tour – bus leaves by 9:00 am
- 9:00 am – Guided bus tour up and down Pikes Peak, with several stops along the way
- 12:45 pm – Lunch on your own and shopping at Manitou Springs
- 2:45 pm – Return to bus for trip back to hotel
Life Member Tour
Tuesday, October 15 @ 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Tour only available to Life Members and guests.
Registration is required - No Fee
Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Region is filled with culture, history, and beauty encompassing peaks and plains. The Life Member tour Tuesday afternoon starts at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, only three blocks from the Antlers Hotel. Located in the elegant former El Paso County Courthouse (1903), the exhibits emphasize the unique character of this uncommon frontier community. Author Helen Hunt Jackson’s house is reconstructed within the Museum. The Native American collection includes hundreds of items representative of the Ute, Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes. Other collections relate to the founding of the city and the area’s mining and agricultural history, its early prominence as a health resort, and its more recent significance as a center for military training and operations.
While at the Museum, Kay Esmiol, author and biographer, will relate experiences of Fannie Mae Duncan, a trailblazer, entrepreneurial businesswoman, social change maker, and philanthropist who peacefully integrated Colorado Springs in the mid 1900’s. She made her mark in local culture and history through her Cotton Club which brought the greatest jazz musicians of the 1950’s and 60’s to the City. The Club was a place where everyone was welcome.
The tour continues with a drive-by viewing of Fannie Mae’s 42 room mansion before visiting The Monument Valley Park where the Van Briggle Pottery Company building will be seen. Van Briggle pottery is matte-glazed pottery in colors and shapes handcrafted in the tradition of the Arts and Crafts movement prevalent at the turn of the 20th Century. The distinctive building served as an advertisement for the company, with thousands of Van Briggle tiles and terra cotta ornaments placed to display their architectural use in decorative panels, chimney caps and window features. It’s a building unlike any other.
Comfortable walking shoes are recommended, however, little walking is necessary as vehicles are available to take participants to all locations.