Day Nine of Our Colorado Vacation

The last day of our vacation. We had such a perfect, fun packed time! It couldn't have been more perfect! God truly blessed the whole trip! We stayed dry. We went home a couple pounds lighter because of all the exercise. We saw and experienced so many sights and tastes that we don't have at home..... And we stayed safe. On the way to the airport, we had a close call. We were behind a pickup that was carrying a glass display case and other things. As we turned on the airport exit, the pickup lost it's load. that display case would have landed right on us had it happened seconds earlier.

Good-Bye Jason & Bekki. Thanks so much! We love you! We'll miss you and your state of Colorado. We'll see you at Christmas time.


If you'd like to view the pictures taken on this vacation,
go to http://albums.phanfare.com/3377861/2638181

Day Eight of Our Colorado Vacation

This morning Jason, Bekki and I bravely went to the Bump and Grind Restaurant for breakfast. It's a restaurant that has "cross dressers" for waiters. (Dave chose to stay home, ha ha) What a riot! This place was definitely not like anything back home! The guys wore wigs and skirts, and loved to embarrass the customers. Our waiter came to our table and asked if we had been there before. He said, "You do know that we are supposed to be rude, etc." I suppose they have to do that so that someone that doesn't realize that it's all an act might get up and slug the waiter. The food was fantastic! Sooo good! What an adventure!


In the afternoon the four of us shopped Boulder's Pearl Street. It reminded me of Fargo's Street Fairs....except prettier. We chose to eat at Pasta J's that had open-air walls. It started to rain, which was neat to be dry even though it was raining just feet away.



In the evening we went to a concert at Red Rocks. In 1964 the Beatles played there. Now every year they have a Beatles Tribute band play. I was one of the biggest Beatle fans back then so I enjoyed this! It was a sell-out crowd. Here are some pictures:

If you'd like to view other pictures that I took today,
check them out at:
http://albums.phanfare.com/3377861/2638181_2876450

Day Seven of Our Colorado Vacation

Dave and I hiked the Ken Caryl Valley by ourselves. Jason and Bekki had some work to do. It's an easy hike. Easy trails and what a view of red rocks!

Jason found a restaurant that serves wild game. It happens to also be the oldest restaurant in Denver. They hold liquor license #1. It's the

 Buckhorn Exchange. It's like a hidden treasure. The restaurant is located in a poor district of Denver and from the outside it appears to fit right in with the rest of the neighborhood..... run down. When opening the door, you experience a whole different environment! The place was packed with customers and wild animal mounts. What an atmosphere! And the food! We ate rattlesnake meat and alligator tail!  

We drove to Golden and toured the Coors Brewery, another must see for Colorado tourists. It was interesting. At the end of the tour they gave us three free drinks that contained alcohol and unlimited nonalcoholic beverages so that we could sample the different beers. I tried the ultra cold (29 degrees) Coors Lite, the Honey Moon (a limited edition), a nonalcoholic Coors, and a pineapple Zima (which has just become my new favorite drink).

We had supper at the Breckenridge Restaurant (that's located near the Coors Statium) before going to a Rockies Baseball game.

 

Jason, Bekki, Dave and I played a game during the game. What we did was Bekki had a cup in which she put a dollar in when the first batter came up. Then when the second batter came up, she passed the cup to Jason who also put a dollar in the cup and so on. If by 

chance the batter hit a fly ball to the left or right field (and was caught) the person currently holding the cup won all the money in the cup. It was fun. But, the problem was, one time Dave won the cup totaling $25 on a catch benefiting the opposing team. We cheered for Dave and everyone around us glared cuz it looked like were happy that the opposing team scored. Ha Ha Oh well.... BTW I was the only one not to win the cup.....so feeling sorry for me, everyone let me have the cup at the end of the game. Nice!  

I put my winnings toward dessert that we had at the Cheese Cake Factory after the game. What another unique place! Fancy, expensive and delicious! their menu was so big that it was actually a book.
I was surprised how many people were hanging out in downtown Denver that late at night. A lot of dressed up party people. Wondering through the crowd, I felt old and under dressed. I didn't take any pictures, even though I wanted to, because I didn't think there was enough light.

We have experienced so many things that we couldn't do at home. It's been fun and an eye-opener. I love it!

If you'd like to view the photos that I took today, go to
http://tinyurl.com/6mpzcr
Warning: I haven't had time to thin them out yet!

Day Six of Our Colorado Vacation

Today Jason, Dave and I went to the Botanical Gardens. Beautiful place! Dave was in heaven. He's really gotten into taking pictures of flowers and this was the place to be!

We met Bekki for lunch at the Rodizio Grill. I have never seen a restaurant like this. It's fancy...white table cloths, etc. First they bring a basket of appetizers, a plate of fried bananas and a meat indicator to the table . The meat indicator is a tri-colored six inch wood cylinder.

After visiting the Brazilian salad bar and you indicate to the server that you are ready for your meat portion of your meal, by placing the indicator with the green color turned up. The server brings a large skewer of meat to your table. He slices off a piece the size you want. He continually brings large skewers of meat to the table until the indicator is over to show the red side up.

During the meal the server brings nine different meat selections (including chicken hearts) and one roasted pineapple. After he's been at the table nine times you can request the server to return with any of the meat (or chicken) choices. When full (and with all that food, there's no reason not to be) you put the indicator on it's side. The waitress asks if you want coffee and dessert and the bill. Unique! They don't have any thing like this back home!
The Rodizio Grill is a popular place. We were there at a good time today. Last Saturday we couldn't get a reservation because it was full.

The second half of the day was spent at the Denver Zoo. The temperature was warm today so many of the animals were hiding inside or in a shaded corner. The rest of the animals were fun to see. I haven't been to a zoo this size in years. We took a lot of pictures. (surprised?)
It was another fun packed day!

If you'd like to view the pictures that we took today, go to :
http://tinyurl.com/5aezu9
Warning: I haven't had time to thin them out yet.

Day Five of Our Colorado Vacation

This morning we woke up in a condo in Breckenridge. It was called the Wedgewood. It was soooo nice!

We had breakfast in a restaurant called the Blue Moose. Then we shopped the rest of the morning. What a neat town. The shops went on and on and on...... Then we had lunch at a restaurant called Eric's.

Jason gave us a tour of many of the skiing communities. We got out of the car at Keystone and took a walking tour. Keystone is quite the place!

Dave has gotten into taking pictures of flower during this trip. He wants to frame some close-ups for our house.

We hiked to St. Mary's Glacier. Jason, Bekki and Dave fly fished while I read my book and took pictures of the clear water and the glacier. We even saw someone ski down the glacier. (In August!)

The water was so still, you could see the fish surface. In many of the pictures that I took, it's hard to tell where the water stops and the land starts because of the reflections. Soooo nice!

We're back at Jason & Bekki's place in Lakewood. We just ate left over pizza from Eric's. Time for bed. What a full day! What a full vacation! And there are still THREE days left! NICE!

You can view the pictures that I took today at
http://tinyurl.com/5e5rjg
Warning: I haven't had time to thin them out yet.

Day Four of Our Colorado Vacation

We woke up this morning in the Fairfield Inn in Steamboat. Nice place.

We hiked to Fish Creek Falls. It was a short easy hike. Beautiful scenery! We ran into a couple that we saw last night at the hot springs. It was a nice way to start the day.

This afternoon we hiked to Hanging Lake. That was hard! It was very rocky and too vertical. It takes the average hiker an hour to hike this mile+ path. It took us longer. I had to keep stopping to catch my breath. I'm not used to the high altitude and it was hard climbing.

I am scared of heights (but I am getting better). The last 5 minutes of the hike was on a two foot wide rock ledge and steep, high steps and I was more scared than any other time in my life. I started crying.... but I did it. The reward was the sight of the beautiful Hanging Lake and waterfalls. The water was so clear and an aqua marine blue color. In fact the water is so clear that you can see the fish at the bottom of the small lake We were able to go behind the waterfall. I'll upload pictures later

We ate supper in a neat little restaurant called The Italian Underground in Glenwood Springs. What a neat place. Dave was in heaven. He loves spaghetti and they had five different kinds.

Before finding our hotel we stopped for a drink at the Gold Pan Bar in Breckenridge. Jason wanted to show us this ring toss game. Little did he know, that I had played this game a zillion times growing up. I used to be an expert, but not anymore, but I was the first in our group to get a ringer. (which gave me bragging rights, ha ha)

You should see our hotel that we're staying in tonight! Wow! It's the Wedgewood Lodge in Breckenridge. Wow! It's like an apartment. It has a bedroom, kitchen, a living room (with a fireplace), underground parking and a balcony with a view. Wow!

You can view all the pictures that I took today at
http://tinyurl.com/68am44
Warning: I haven't thinned them out yet.

Day Three of Our Colorado Vacation

We woke to frost this morning! 28 degrees! We took an early drive through the Rocky Mountain National Park and saw many elk......close up. Cool!

We had breakfast at a little cafe just out side of Grand Lake. There were humming birds right outside the cafe window. I've never seen so many humming birds in one place at one time.

We hiked Rabbit Ear pass. What an achievement! I'll upload pictures later.

We soaked in the Hot Springs. Wow! Defiantly a Colorado must do. What a neat place!

You can check out the pictures that I took today at
http://tinyurl.com/5rzqrf
Warning: I haven't had a chance to thin them out yet.

Day Two of Our Colorado Vacation

We woke up at Jason & Bekki's house and then we drove up into the mountains to a little town called Kittredge for a big breakfast. The name of the restaurant is called Country Road Cafe. What a unique little place with very good food. It's obviously not a secret because we had to wait to get in.

Then we drove to Adams Falls Trail. Jason & Bekki had taken us there last year and we really enjoyed the place. This year it looked like rain might prevent a hike. We had a picnic lunch by the lake and fed the chipmunks.

The sky cleared up and we were able to hike. We stopped along the river and fly fished for trout. It was the first time that Dave had fly fished. Between Dave, Jason, and Bekki they caught a dozen fish.

While they fished, I read my book and txt my daughter. While I was sitting there, a fox carrying a dead chipmunk crossed five feet in front of me. I was holding my phone instead my camera! I blew it.

The guys were really into fishing so Bekki and I hiked to see the falls and then went back to the car. We went into Grand Lake and shopped. Later all four of us had dinner at Mr T's.

We stayed in a cute little log cabin at a place called Elk Creek Campground. Fun!

You can view all the pictures that I took today at

http://tinyurl.com/579hpn
Warning: I haven't had a chance to thin them out yet.

Day One of Colorado Vacation

Today we started our nine day Colorado Vacation. Our son, Jason, and his wife, Bekki, have the whole week planned. I will keep you updated on our adventure.

The first surprise of the trip was seeing the Fargo Airport. It's looking a little like the big city airports. I was impressed!

Today we started our eight day Colorado Vacation. Our son, Jason, and his wife, Bekki, have the whole week planned. I will keep you updated on our adventure.

The first surprise of the trip was seeing the Fargo Airport. It's looking a little like the big city airports. I was impressed!

Our flight was delayed because of weather. Not Fargo weather, which was 90 degrees and sunny, but because of Denver's stormy weather.

Check out the picture that I took of Kindred from the air:

Memories of past big airports came back as we strolled the Denver airport. I think Dave was confused with all the moving walkways, escalators and the train. Bekki and Jason were waiting for us. It was good to see them.

On the way to dinner, Jason stopped at the huge Bass Pro Shop. Wow! Here are some pictures: Check out this picture. Yes, that is a waterfall you see!

We at supper at Mr Sushi. It was so good.

It made me a sushi lover. It won a hesitant Dave over too.

What a fun day......and our trip has just begun!

If you'd like to view more pictures that I took today,

check them out at:

http://albums.phanfare.com/3377861/2638181_2876403#imageID=44823390

Jamie's 26th Birthday

We celebrated Jamie's 26th birthday two days early because Dave & I will be out of town on Saturday....her real birthday. We had dinner at Johnny Carinnos (sp?). Sierra and I bought Jamie birthday cards, which Sierra decorated. (She also picked out one of the cards.) We also gave Jamie a Yellow Gerber Daisy with a little Happy Birthday balloon in it. We had multi colored birthday cupcakes too. Attending were Jamie, Ryan, Sierra, Dave, Jen and me. Jamie's grandpa Dave and Grandma Edie were both sick and couldn't come.

Summer Hills Farm

Ladie's day today. I went shopping with Illa, Sierra and my mom. We went up to Summer Hills Farm. It's a cluster of seven little shops north of Park Rapids, MN. It's a yearly trip that I enjoy.

Good Bye, Lady

Lady died today. It's a sad day.

She was a beautiful dog and a wonderful friend of my cousin Gene.

Cowboy Action

We had some Cowboy Action at Kindred Street Days.
It was pretty exciting.

Kiddie Parade

Sierra marched in the kiddie parade with the rest of the kids
that attended Small Notes Music Camp. They played their Kazoos.
They were so cute!

I am testing out Ping. testing, testing