1200 Miles West

The Southwest “ding” notified Mike that we could get $39 one-way tickets to Vegas. Who could pass up a deal like that?

So tomorrow we’re off to Vegas for two nights. We’ll be staying at the Excalibur, which has a great centralized location that will easily allow us to navigate around the strip.

Mike is looking forward to heading down to Fremont Street to see the light show and depending on what we can find, we might even attend a show.

We’ll be back in Denver on Monday, so check and we’ll be sure to update you on how we did and whether or not we got into any trouble!

It sounds funny, but it’s true.

We actually met up with a friend of Scott’s (Mike’s youngest brother) and his girlfriend for dinner last night. At first the plan was just for Mike and Shawn to get together for a drink, but then plans changed as Shawn’s girlfriend Deb was also going to be joining them. Initially I had planned on spending my evening at the Aveda Spa enjoying a pedicure and manicure, however I decided to join them as I wasn’t sure if they were ax murders or not…

In the car on the way to the restaurant, I asked Mike every question that I could think of in regards to Shawn and Deb. Of course he didn’t know much, so I was feeling a little anxious as we pulled into the parking lot. As we walked into the restaurant, I was thankful to see two normal looking people waving to us.

We quickly sat down and started talking. After a few dozen questions back and forth, things started to click and it almost seemed like we’d had known them forever. By the time we wrapped up dinner and finished our drinks, we were already planning on meeting up next weekend.

So…if anyone else out there would like to set us up on another blind “date” let us know as we might be up for it!

Just outside of a small town 50 miles west of Denver there exists a feat of early 19th century engineering. In order to cross the 2 miles from Georgetown to Silver Plume the railroad laid 4 miles of track including looping over itself to gain 75 of the 600 foot elevation gain.

Erin yet again indulged my affliction with trains and we were able to take a trip on this short little railroad. It was a good thing that we checked on tickets first thing in the morning because they were nearly sold out. Quite the popular attraction.

To me, the steam engine is a marvelous beast that lives and breathes with each chuff and seething gasp. I am quite fortunate that Colorado has so many of these little lines remaining for me to find and ride.

We signed the final paper work and sent it back to Michigan via FedEx for our closing tomorrow, so as far as we’re concerned the house is SOLD! A special thank you goes out to DeShaun at the Blake St and 15th Street Kinko’s as we were in desperate need of a notary and typically he only works until 5pm…lucky for us he picked up a few extra hours and was there to notarize the necessary documents.

Also another special thank you goes out to my Dad for picking up our mail and cutting our grass while we’ve been in Denver. We couldn’t have made the move without his help…THANKS DAD!

Now it’s time to prepare to move into our new house. We hope to see the house this weekend as the carpets have been installed and the hardwood floors should now be stained and varnished. Our target move in date September 12th, so watch for more updates…

Last but not least did you hear that we’re going to Vegas this weekend? We couldn’t pass up the $39 one-way tickets. If by chance we hit it big I can’t promise that I’ll be able to keep the blog up-to-date, but what’s the chance that would happen???

We were fortunate enough to get two tickets from work to attend the Broncos last pre-season game against the Cleveland Browns. Having gone to two Lions games last year, we were excited to see how Invesco Field at Mile High compared to Ford Field.

The tickets were for the club level, so we were able to quickly enter the stadium and after riding up an escalator, we figured out this was like no game we had ever been to before. There were multiple bars and food options available to only those with seats on the club level. We even had servers that would bring drinks directly to your seats so that you didn’t have to miss a play.

Overall the game was fun, even if the Broncos didn’t win. Plus we had a chance to see Brady Quinn play and while I’m not convinced that he’s a direct relative, it’s still cool to see your last name on the back of a NFL jersey.
We’ll always be Lions fans…but it shouldn’t be too hard to learn to root for a team that has actually won a Super Bowl!

Trail Rating: Moderate to Strenuous
Trail Length: 2.6 Out and back
Elevation: 11,200 to 11,950 feet
Location: Arapaho National Forest

After heading South last weekend, we decided to head West to the front range of the Rockies. Our destination was 10 miles outside of Georgetown, CO.

The directions we had noted that we would need to proceed one mile on rough road until we hit the trailhead. Little did we know that without four wheel drive, probably wouldn’t have made it up (or back down) the road.

Knowing that we would be reaching an elevation of almost 12,000 feet, we made sure that we were prepared. That meant that we dressed accordingly wearing long sleeves while also ensuring that we had full camel packs and a protein bar.

After the first fifteen minutes, I could definitely feel the change in elevation. I was breathing heavier, plus my right ear started hurting. It wasn’t a bad, it felt much like your ears do just before they “pop” on an air plane after take-off. But I kept trekking forward and I’m glad that I did as this was the view from the top of one of the boulders. >>>

We continued on to the second lake on the hike which was actually Silver Dollar Lake.

It was almost 11am by the time we reached the lake and the wind had picked up considerably, dropping the temperature quite a bit. We took a break for about 15 minutes, snacking on our protein bars while also taking a couple of snap shots of each other. That’s me in the bottom picture and YES that is snow…

On our trek back to the car, we must have passed and chatted with six or seven groups of hikers, many with dogs. We’re definitely going to head back to this area again and look forward to some of the other 11 and 12k elevation hikes in the area.

On Friday night, we attended the Rockies game at Coors Field. We grabbed the Free 16th Street Mall bus and headed down to the ballpark around 6pm. Since we bought out ticket online we planned on waiting in line at Will Call to pick them up. Surprisingly they had convenient self-serve machines that quickly spit out our tickets.

After entering the park, we decided to eat. We had heard about a stand that sold burgers and garlic fries. Unfortunately we headed to the right as we entered and if we had gone left we would have found it immediately. While the food was good, I wouldn’t rush back…also Coors Light is definitely the beer of choice at the stadium. Go figure!

Next we headed up to our seats. We didn’t know what to expect when we finished climbing the three full flights of stairs, but the usher in our section was extremely excited to see us and happy to direct us to our seats. Needless to say, we had no problem getting to them.

When we first arrived the sun was beating down on us. It was another 95 degree day in Denver and even at 7pm it was toasty. We enjoyed the first five innings from our seats and then headed down to walk around. We checked out the bullpens for a little while watching a couple of the relief pitchers warm up.

Before heading back to the other side of downtown, we hit the ice cream stand and enjoyed a tasty treat while watching another inning from the left field. When we were ready to go, we walked down to Union Station and took the 16th Street bus back to Glenarm where we got off and walkd a half block “home”.

Before arriving in Denver, we decided to visit the Rocky Mountain National Park and set out on our first hike. After purchasing both a year round pass, a topographical map and a guide book, we set out on the Cub Lake trail. There were quite a few hikers out that day, many of them returning from overnight trips. Something Mike and I will tackle one day…

About two miles into the hike we took the following rapids picture. I dipped my fingers into the river and was amazed at how cold the water was.

About three and a half miles into the hike I started to wonder how we would return to the car in the next half mile when it seemed like we were still out in the middle of no where! Well, low and behold, I thought we were out on a four mile hike, but instead it was actually six! After we finished the hike, Mike informed me that he was pleasantly surprised that I made it the entire way without one complaint!

Here’s a picture of me about 3/4 of a mile from the end.

This coming weekend we plan on heading back to Rocky Mountain National Park and look forward to hitting the trails again. We’ll make sure to take our camera and let you know how it was and how we did.

We plan on trying an 11k elevation hike this time around…

Like the ageless delight of pedaling a bicycle, Fat Tire Amber Ale’s appeal is in its feat of balance: Toasty malt flavors (sorta like biscuits just pulled from the oven) coasting in equilibrium with crisp hoppiness. Delicious stability - in the world of sometimes-precarious beer flavors – is perhaps what prompted one consumer who wrote us to say, “this beer just makes you smile.”

No it wasn’t Mike that was quoted on the New Belgium website, but I can guarantee you that he feels the same way.

If you are a fan of Fat Tire beer and you plan on visiting us in Denver, you better get here soon before Mike drinks all the beer!

Here’s a snap shot from the brewery, located in Fort Collins, CO.

On the 18th we headed down to Colorado Springs - approx 70 miles South of Denver - with the intention of visiting Pike’s Peak after a hike at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, which is known for it’s petrified redwood stumps and thousands of detailed fossils of insects and plants. (The picture above shows Mike looking at one of the fossilized redwood tree trunks)

This weekend’s hike was very different from the one we took last week in the Rockies. The terrain flatter and not quite as interesting, but none the less we walked approximately 4 miles.
We started out around Noon and at 90 degrees, it was nice and toasty out there. But with our camel backs and protein bars, we mad it through just fine!

After our hike, we headed down to Cripple Creek as we heard that they had a steam engine that took you on a 45 minute ride up the mountain. Little did we know that the city was hosting the mobile Vietnam Veterans wall. I’ve never seen so many bikers in my life!

We looking for a parking spot for five or ten minutes, Mike was ready to give up and head home, but I convinced him to give it another try and low and behold…we found a spot. During our train ride we learned that hundreds of millions of dollars in gold has been (and continues to be) extracted from the surrounding mountains.

After leaving Cripple Creek we decided to head back to Colorado Springs for dinner. With no direct route back, we decided to take a back road which ended up being an old railroad route.

The road was narrow and the turns were tight, here’s a pictures of what we experienced.

After reaching Colorado Springs we used the GPS to find Phantom Canyon Brewery. We made it in time for happy hour for $2 pints. We reminisced about Grizzly Peak as we enjoyed our beverages.

On the way home we stopped at the outlet mall in Castle Rock…have I mentioned how great the shopping is here? If not, I promise to take anyone who visits to any one of the new out door malls that they have here. And if you’re looking to spend a little money, I’ll even take you to Cherry Creek and you can buy me something from the Louis Vuitton store.