Monday, September 17, 2012

DENVER, COLORADO

When family members move to picturesque locations, they have to know that their relatives will plan a visit. My husband and I both have family in Denver, and it has given us wonderful opportunities to explore the many things to do in the Denver area. This summer, we spent our time in the Denver area exploring coins, tubes, tea, baseball, animals, a weather station, shopping, hiking and eating! Downtown Denver is home to one of the US Mints. We were able to reserve tickets to tour the Denver Mint. We learned about the history of trade and coins in our country. We watched how coins are made today and learned about the history of the metals used to make coins. I thought it was interesting to learn that it costs 2.5 cents to produce each penny. Go figure! After our tour, we walked downtown to eat at the Hard Rock Café. Hey, we had six teenagers with us!
The restaurant is located in the beautiful pedestrian shopping area of 16th Street Mall. After lunch, we spent some time shopping and then headed out for some frozen yogurt and fun toppings! In the evening, we headed east of Denver to the Wild Animal Sanctuary. This is a must see if you love animals and want to support an organization established to rescue abused carnivores. This massive complex allows visitors to walk the mile long elevated cat-walk serving as an observatory to view the rescued animals.
We had a birds- eye view of tigers, bears, wolves, lions, and leopards. We watched the lions relax with each other as they enjoyed the cool evening breeze. The tigers were pacing and wanted to play. The bears were wondering around their playground and some were heading to their cave for the night. The wolves were howling beautifully in their packs. There are posted signs that inform guests about the animals, and why they were rescued and brought to this facility. It felt good to see these animals so healthy and better knowing that our visit would help keep them in this safe place.
We normally go white water rafting while in Colorado but the water level was low this year so we decided to float in tubes down the Boulder River. Sounds peaceful, right? Well, with a steady flow and, true to the namesake, boulders in the river, we were in survival mode as we were tossed and turned downstream avoiding contact with the boulders and our heads. My brother-in-law and I originally planned on a couple passes and quickly decided that we would count our blessings and turn in our tubes and head to downtown Boulder to shop and eat! Boulder is a short drive from Denver and sits in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It is home to the University of Colorado, Pearl Street Mall, Celestial Tea, history, arts, and outdoor activities to enjoy daily! Pearl Street mall has boutiques, delicious local eateries, and benches to sit and stare at the beautiful scenery.
The next day we were back in Boulder to tour and sample the teas at Celestial. I highly recommend this free tour. The sample room has a plethora of teas to sample before embarking on journey through the interesting tea factory.
The gift shop has a beautiful selection of products, and they have a delicious café to enjoy a nice lunch. Afterward, we headed to the Mesa Laboratory where the National Center for Atmospheric Research is located so my nephew could get up close and personal with the super computer and check out the scientists at work.
The next day we decided to drive up the mountain and do some hiking. There are many places to hike and it is hard to narrow down what peak to explore. For this hike, we drove 30 miles to Clear Creek Canyon and after driving the narrow winding roads for an hour and having my six teens start to feel a bit nauseated; we pulled out at the ranger station and started our hike. No matter where you choose to hike in the Colorado Mountains, you will not be disappointed. The views are indescribable (check out the first picture in this blog), quite possibly due to your mind being purified by the clean air! After our hike, we headed into the tiny town of Idaho Springs so we could eat at one of our favorite pizza places: Beau Jo’s Pizza with their delicious crust and local honey on the side as a dip. I felt like Pooh Bear after dinner here! The next day we headed out to ride horses. My husband has a cousin that shows horses. We took a quick lesson and bathed our horse.
It was nice to get this experience. We got cleaned up and headed out to watch the Rockies play some baseball. We lived the sweet life in a suite for the game! It is hard to go back to regular seats after being pampered!
The stadium is beautiful and located in downtown Denver. We had another wonderful time in Denver with family and we can’t wait to return! Many thanks to Jerry and Rick for taking care of us all!!  I highly recommend taking time to hike, shop, eat, visit Celestial Tea, the Wild Animal Sanctuary, The Denver Mint, and depending on the season, either skiing or rafting. Notice how I didn’t say tube down the Boulder River!