Top 5 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition must-see stops in Colorado Springs

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition moves to Fridays tonight, and makes a stop in Colorado. No, this isn't where the crew builds a house for a family enduring hardship -- that happens in Pennsylvania. Instead, while the crew is building their home, the family waits in Colorado...

By Patricia Calhoun

October 21, 2011

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Extreme Makeover: Home Edition moves to Fridays tonight, and makes a stop in Colorado. No, this isn't where the crew builds a house for a family enduring hardship -- that happens in Pennsylvania. Instead, while the crew is building their home, the family waits in Colorado.

In tonight's episode, the show's stars surprise the Keefer family in Etters, Pennsylvania, with the promise of a new home, and then surprises them again by sending them on a vacation not to Disneyland or Disneyworld or one of the big resorts that are such popular prizes, but theBroadmoor Hotel.

"The Colorado Springs Film Commission, part of the Colorado Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau, and The Broadmoor Hotel worked closely with the show's production team to ensure an unforgettable vacation for Brian and his family," the Springs boosters report.

The filming actually took place back in June, before Phil Anschutz bought the Broadmoor from the Gaylord family and brought it back into Colorado ownership. But many other Colorado Springs landmarks remain constants. We don't have the official itinerary of the family's stay in the city, but assume it includes:

5) Pikes Peak, which inspired "America the Beautiful" 4) The Air Force Academy, with its iconic chapel 3) Cheyenne Mountain, with both the zoo and that other endangered species, Norad 2) Garden of the Gods, which could have the best stock of Colorado souvenirs in the state and the landmark that might say the most about the more recent history of Colorado Springs: 1) The dedicated Focus on the Family exit off I-25.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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