Denver Bound, Yet Again!

Lately most things have been falling under what I would call the Better Late Than Never Clause. In that spirit, about a month ago I boarded a plane headed to Denver to visit my college roommate Emily. Thanks to some credit card points I had a direct flight from Peoria to Denver. The only problem was that I got into Denver mid-morning and Emily was at work in Boulder.

Thankfully, Emily has always been willing to accommodate my travel plans. In this case, I was provided clues to finding her car at a metro parking garage in Westminster. It was like a mini adventure, a treasure hunt... the perfect want to start my trip.

I found the car without a hitch and then headed to lunch and quick stop at the local sporting goods store to get some frisbee golf discs. There are two odd things in the photo below. One is quite obvious, the snake skin. That's the first one I've ever found a disc golf course. The second thing is the wet ground, which wasn't located in a low spot. The worst decision I made during the trip was attempting to play disc golf a day after the Denver area had torrential downpours and flash flooding. I'm still shaking my head over that one. I suppose it was good that I had on black shoes.

After one of my most frustrating attempts at playing frisbee golf, I stopped by a local coffee shop for a refreshment (salted caramel, so good) and to read a bit. Shortly after I did a bit of shopping for some sandals, so I could let my shoes dry out. 

At some point I rescued Emily from the metro bus stop and we did some chillaxing before she had to work the next day.  And somewhere along the line we headed to Arvada for dinner and some window shopping. Doesn't Emily just look smashing?

I was entrusted yet again with Emily's car on Friday when she had to go to work. My goal was to make it to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg. Needless to say, I took a wrong turn somewhere along the way.

I was quite irritated by the time I found my way. And for the record, I was using a GPS to get me there... apparently County Road 3 isn't traveled much nowadays. Anyway, I got to see most of the animals moving about because it was such a beautiful. Below shows a portion of the mile-long walkway with one of the resident bears hanging out below.

Note: I was not able to see my adopted bobcat, Rufus, as he is housed in a smaller enclosure a fair distance from the walkway.

Once again I rescued Emily from a metro bus stop, but this one was closer to Golden, which we would pass through on our way to the Amos Lee concert at Red Rocks! I've hiked around Red Rocks a few times, but hadn't seen a concert there. Amos Lee, accompanied by the Denver Symphony Orchestra... well, I couldn't pass that up. It was wonderful!

The photo above is from our seats. I opted to have us sit at the very top, close to center. I didn't want to feel smushed further down where people were trying to get a prime spot (seating was all general admission with no true seats, just tiered seating, or the longest benches ever).

Other than not being able to get a good pic of the stage, I really liked the seats. To either side of the seating bowl is a beautifully shaped and colored rock wall. Too bad the red doesn't translate at night. Gotta love having fun with friends when passing time in between sets.

And now for the post show glowsticks. I have to credit Emily with the idea of hanging glowstick rings off my hoop earrings. Just brilliant! Windows down, music blaring, while interpretive hand dancing to songs like Katy Perry's Fireworks. I like to think I was the post-show entertainment for some of the passers-by.

Over the years, my visits to Denver never overlapped with one of Emily's chorale events. The stars finally aligned and I got to see The Arvada Chorale perform at History Colorado Center for Colorado Day. They did a wonderful job, and I learned the Star Spangled Banner has more than one verse. 

On our way out of downtown I got to see another bear behind. Whoda thunk I'd see such a sight outside of the Wild Animal Sanctuary or zoo. But then again, this one was extremely large and blue.

On this trip I had 4 copies of Kristen Johnston's book Guts on hand to spread throughout Denver. They were distributed at a Starbucks, Ziggi's Coffee, Emily owned dwelling (she hadn't read it) and a Little Free Library. I had no knowledge of the Little Free Library until we saw one in downtown Denver. Upon returning to Emily's I looked up the nearest location and we took a stroll to go drop off a copy of Guts.


On the way back we passed through a little nature reserve and met a new friend. Say hello to Mrs. Mule Deer. Her kiddos didn't stick around for a photo.

On my last day in Colorado we headed back downtown to the Denver Botanic Garden. In addition to never visiting before, they also had a Chihuly exhibit I didn't want to miss. Below are a couple of my favorite pieces.

I still can't fathom how these sculptures are shipped and what kind of "paint-by-number" instructions accompany them.

So, that sums up the goings-on of yet another trip to Denver. The only downside is that I'm left with the feeling of wanting to visit more often... if only I could.