Rockies Baseball

Mark's boss had a couple of extra ticket to the Rockies Baseball game on Friday night and asked us if we wanted to use them.  Of course the answer was YES!  I met him downtown and we ate at Henry's on 16th.  We had just started our meal when our friends Rich and Linda came in to eat too.  So we all had dinner together before Mark and I headed to the ball field.  On our way, we passed an Octoberfest on East Blake Street that almost distracted us from going to the game.  The enticing smells that were coming from the festival almost made us forget that we had just eaten dinner! But we quickly came to our senses and made our way to Coors Field.  We had great seats, perfect weather and the Rockies actually won the game!

Arapaho Acres Historic District

Today, Angela and I spent the afternoon at the Mid-Century Modern Home Tour in Arapahoe Acres.

This is a neighborhood that was built from 1949 to 1957 and is the first Post World War II residential subdivision listed in the National Register of Historical Places. All of the homes that we toured were gorgeous and the owners, for the most part, tried to keep as many of the original details of the home as intact as they could.  In fact, one homeowner had even gone so far as to install reproductions of all of the appliances from that era in her kitchen.

 I loved the clean lines and the gorgeous light that was coming into the homes.  Most of the owners were either the second or the third owner of the property. One man was actually raised in the house he lives in and bought it from his parents because he loved the house so much.  It was a very enjoyable afternoon to say the least!

Octoberfest in Breckenridge

Speaking of cool things to do, we went to Breckenridge this past weekend for Octoberfest.  We went with our friends Linda and Rich and we all agreed that this is going to be an annual trip for us.  The weather was outstanding, the food delicious, the crowds were manageable and the beer was cold, cold cold!  

I told Mark that he bought me beer, brats and a boob job!

Billy, Tim and Billy

I feel like I'm talking about the Bob Newhart Show when Larry says, "My name is Larry and this is my brother Daryl and this is my other brother Daryl".  :)

We have been to a few concerts this summer but they have been spread out.  However, we somehow ended up going to 2 concerts in a week.  Our neighbors asked us early in the Spring if we wanted to go see Tim McGraw at Red Rocks with several of the other couples in the neighborhood.  He's one of our favorite singers and had heard that he put on a great show so of course we said yes.  Billy Currington opened up for him and he did a great job.  Tim performed for nearly 2 hours and he gave an outstanding performance.

The Goochs, Neelys, Bergerons and Us

Tailgating before the show

The beautiful scenery at Red Rocks

Inside of the venue 

View of  Denver from our seats

So we saw Tim on Thursday night and then the following Wednesday we saw Billy Joel at the Pepsi Center.  WOW!  Talk about a concert!!!  He had Gavin DeGraw as his warm up band and he was pretty good.  I actually knew about 4 of his songs so I didn't feel like total "old geezer".  

We found out that our friends Linda and Rich Norton had tickets to see Billy Joel so we met them for dinner downtown at The Thirsty Lion before the show.  We had a great meal and fortunately the restaurant is an easy walk to the Pepsi Center so we got there in plenty of time to stand in line, go through the metal detectors and find out seats before the show started.  Billy got on stage about 9pm and he did his final song at 11:30pm.  He didn't take one break all evening.  Best of all, he played mostly his hits from the mid-70's to the early 80's.  Of course I was practically hoarse by the end of the show from singing along with all of his songs.  And as usual in these circumstances, Mark sat quietly and let me enjoy myself (wink). 

Billy Joel

Billy

Mark and me

It was two VERY late nights out, in the middle of the week, but we wouldn't have missed seeing either of them.  We had so much fun with our friends and feel very fortunate that we live in a city that has great entertainment opportunities almost every week!

Mom and Dad's Visit

Mom and Dad came for a nice long visit last week!  They may be in their 80's but believe me, they are still ready to get out and explore.  There's no grass growing under their rockers, that's for sure.

We had FABULOUS weather and we took every opportunity that we had to get out and do some touristy stuff with them.  They arrived later in the day on Tuesday so we just sat around the house and got caught up on the latest.  On Wednesday, one of my parent's friend's daughter, who is a retired Lt. Col. in the Army took me, Mom and Dad to Ft. Carson.

Entry to Fort Carson, Colorado

My dad was stationed there in 1955-58 and he was anxious to see how things had changed in those years.  Well of course he expected massive changes but he didn't expect that the only thing that still looked the same was Cheyenne Mountain! We drove through the base and also went to the museum that they had on the 4th Infantry Division that was housed at Ft. Carson over the years.  My dad had lots of stories to tell of his time there and it was fun to hear all of the shenanigans that he and his buddies did while he was there.

Dad looking at the Hambone exhibit at the museum

Thursday we did a bunch of shopping for odds and ends that Mom and Dad can't find in Lakewood.  Friday we finished up on their errands and went out to eat at a fantastic Indian food restaurant.

Saturday we got up bright and early and headed up to the mountains.  We figured if we got on the road semi-early-ish we would miss the traffic but it was AWFUL.  What normally takes us about an hour to get to Central City took us nearly 2 1/2 hours.  We planned to drive to Estes Park and drive back down through Rocky Mountain National Park.  About the time we got to Nederland, CO it was lunchtime so we stopped and had a great lunch at the Black Forest Restaurant.  Mark had elk goulash that was to die for!

Black Forest Restaurant in Nederland, CO

Dad and Mom

Estes Park, CO

By the time we got to Estes Park, we realized that we didn't have time to get back down the mountain if we went through Rocky Mountain National Park in time for our train ride we had scheduled in Georgetown at 6 pm. So we headed back down the mountain and got to Georgetown with a little less than an hour to get our train tickets and get checked in.  On our way down, we drove through Central City and Nevadaville so we got to do a little sight seeing along the way.

The one and only building in Nevadaville, CO

We took a Beer and Brats train ride that left out of Silver Plume and went to just outside of Georgetown.  They served us 5 different types of beer to sample and 3 different types of bratwurst to eat while we were traveling on the train.  The scenery along the train route was simply spectacular and we all thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Georgetown Loop Railroad

All of us boarding the train

Dad and Mom…ain't they adorable?

On Sunday we just hung out and later in the day Mom and I prepared food for our neighborhood Labor Day block party.  Almost all of the families on our block came and we enjoyed ourselves until late in the evening.

Mark shooting at the rabbits that are eating our plants

Block Party

On Monday we headed south for the day.  The first place we went to was the Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs.  Mark and I have been several times but each time we see something different.  Mom and Dad had not been there even though they have been to The Springs several times over the years.

At the Olympic Training Facility

After that we made our way to Pike's Peak and drove the 19 mile trip to the very top.  It was about 90 degrees when we started out but dropped to 35 degrees when we arrived at the tip of the mountain.  The view from the top is breathtaking and we had a 360 degree panoramic vista from there.  We all laughed and said that we had all done our first 14-er (Colorado jargon for climbing one of the 14,000 foot peaks) and decided that it would probably be our last!  The air is very thin at 14K feet and many people up on top were complaining of headaches and dizziness.  We noticed that there was an EMT  administering oxygen to a lady so we decided that between the cold and the lack of oxygen, it was time to head down the mountain.

14,110 feet!!

View from the top

On our way back we drove through The Garden of the Gods. 

Garden of the Gods

On Tuesday, my folks and I drove downtown and went on a tour of the Molly Brown House.  It was interesting and the tour guide was very informative.  Margaret Brown (she was never known as Molly until the movie came out) was quite an interesting lady and should be better known for her social activism instead of simply surviving the Titanic disaster.

Molly Brown Mansion

We picked Mark up after work and then we went out to eat for one final meal together.  Mom was craving Greek food so we went to Berkeley and ate at Axios.  Ohmygosh!  It was delicious!!  Best Greek food we have found in Denver so far!

Unfortunately, they had to leave yesterday because as we all know, they are busy and have a million things they have on their calendar.  I'm so grateful that both of them still have their health and are always up for fun and adventures while they are here.