Monday, September 30, 2013

Gorgeous Colorado!

Despite the flooding and the threat of government shutdown, Paul and I headed to Colorado last Saturday.  We met my Dutch sister Jacqueline in the airport, went to rent a car, and then headed to my parents' in Golden.   Just about every day was sunny, with temperatures in the 70's.  Amazing!

The first day, Sunday, we browsed around downtown Golden and stopped at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum.  The exhibit featured challenge quilts made with RMQM fabric (lovely) as well as an art quilt exhibit (so-so).  On the second day, being more acclimated to the high altitude, we headed up Lookout Mountain to Buffalo Bill's grave and museum.  On the way down, we hoped to see some buffaloes which often hang out by the interstate.  No luck, unfortunately!

 

 We visited Red Rocks Amphitheater and had a great lunch.  Tuesday, we visited the American Mountaineering Museum in Golden, had lunch at the Capital Grill (Jacqueline's first buffalo burger!), and did a little shopping.  Wednesday found us on the road for Colorado Springs and the Garden of the Gods.  Isn't it beautiful with Pike's Peak as a background?  Jacqueline (below right) was just amazed at the view, especially the snow.  


Thursday, we met my sister Jenny and her friend Mart for lunch at the Dushanbe Tea House in Boulder.  Although Mart's apartment was a total loss and her car needs extreme cleaning, she was pretty chipper about the whole flooding experience.  Parts of  Boulder are fine; parts are devastated.  Much of the worst flooding is north of the city, so we walked down Pearl St. and enjoyed the buskers and sun.

Friday was a surprisingly rainy day, so we visited the Colorado History Museum in downtown Denver.   Many school groups cleared out at lunchtime, leaving a relatively peaceful set of exhibits to enjoy.   You could go into a simulation of a mine shaft, open a buffalo statue to see how body parts were used, learn about Native Americans in Colorado, and learn about the Japanese internment near Granada during World War II.  Having read quite a few books about the latter, that was my favorite exhibit. 
Saturday came all too soon, and it was time to say goodbye to my family.  Dad is looking more frail, but Mom is still very vital at age 91.  Jacqueline headed back to the Netherlands, and I hope a year doesn't pass before I see them all again.

1 comment:

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

glad you got to visit with your family! so much destruction in Co - one of my favorite areas too to visit we love Garden of the Gods and two years ago camped right next to it a park within walking distance of one end of it.