Days 69-72 - A Visit to Denver

We have been fortunate enough to have been able to include a Denver visit in each of the last two or three summers. Always great to visit my brother, John, his wife, Nancy, and usually their two children Amy and John Michael have been there as well as Joel, Amy's husband. More on this part of our Denver stay later.

Our second night here we went to Coors Field to see the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was great to, once again, be in a baseball crowd with a winning home team. The stadium is built in the popular new retro style, and it is one of the best. It was a beautiful evening and we had great club-level seats.

The next evening was the first event in a series of three to celebrate the 30th birthday of our niece, Amy Vaccher, and the 60th birthday of my sister-in-law Nancy. We had a lovely time at an extended happy hour at their home in Westminster. I was able to snap the family photo shown here of Amy, John M., Nancy and John before the other guests arrived. Those guests included some new friends and some long-time friends of John and Nancy's, and we have gotten to know them. We were delighted to see again Mo and Karen Sanstead (I hope I am spelling their names correctly). We first met them 38 years ago at John and Nancy's wedding, and had a really good time with them at that event. We reconnected with them several years ago. I didn't get a photo of them but I am hoping to see them again before we leave. It was also great to see Dick and Ginger Seeley (J & N's long-time friends from Virginia), Dorothy Zimbrick (Nancy's sister), Cec and Louise Brandon (Nancy's parents) and Char (John and Nancy's great neighbor).

Today we drove up to the new log home built by John and Nancy on what was the old turnaround and parking area at the end of the dirt road. The old cabin was reached by hiking down the hill a ways from the turnaround. Now this new home is conveniently reached by simply parking and walking in the door!! For those of us who have hiked up and down that hill a lot, this is really wonderful. Not only that, it is a LOVELY place with views that are incredible. I will take photos of the home and views tomorrow.

For this part of the blog I will show two group photos: the first is the over-40 crowd attending the open house at the log home. From top left Dick, Cec, Gary, Dorothy, John, Nancy. Front row from left Ginger, Char, me, Louise.

The second photo is the under 40 crowd. Pictured here are John M., a family friend Molly, Amy, Joel, two other friends of Amy and Joel, and Josh, another friend of Amy and Joel and Josh's little boy.

Day 68 - Last day in Colorado Springs, CO

We drove to the Broadmoor Hotel, pictured here, to see it and to have lunch. I don't remember ever being there, but Gary was there on business several years ago. It is a 5-star hotel with beautiful grounds and public areas -- the lobby, the restaurants, etc. Our lunch was in a conservatory-like area with lots of plants and flowers, covered by glass which was good because we had thunderstorms off and on all day, a typical event in the Colorado mountains. It was a way above average lunch!

While at the restaurant we saw Lynn Redgrave, seated at another table with several other people. She is currently appearing in a play here at the Colorado Festival of World Theatre. Peter Shaffer (author of Equus and Amadeus) is being honored at this year's festival. We thought maybe we saw him at the table, too. We wish we had known about this theater series going on right now - we would certainly have gotten tickets.
But we found out about it too late because we are going to Denver tomorrow.

Day 66-67 Manitou Springs and Colorado Springs, CO

I was born and raised in Colorado, but I have never been the places we visited yesterday and today. We drove to the top of 14,000 foot Pikes Peak. It is quite a road! The summit is 19 miles from the start of the twisting, curving road with one switchback after another. The view at the top is spectacular! Tourists can also take the cog railroad up which takes about three hours round trip. We opted to drive instead which took less time, even with the lunch break at mile 16.

We also did a run and a drive in the Garden of the Gods which is a Colorado Springs City Park. I loved the beauty of the rock formations set in the green foliage in the area. Colorado has had a lot of rain, and everything is green, even Eastern Colorado which can get very brown and dry this time of year.

Day 64 - Independence/Kansas City, MO

We ran the tour route to see the historic sites of Independence, MO. The Community of Christ (Latter Day Saints) temple, pictured here, is the single-most beautiful building here. We toured this building when we were here before - it is an architectural gem in every way. The Mormons and the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) also have buildings here. This is where the prophet Joseph Smith dedicated a site for the building of a temple. So all three of these churches have a strong interest in this area.

The Harry S Truman home is open for tours. This lovely home, pictured here, has been preserved just as the Truman's left it. We toured this previously as well. The daily walk that Truman took is mapped out and our running route followed much of his walk route. There are two other things to see in Independence: the Westward Trails Museum (documents the westward expansion and the trails used by the pioneers), and the Harry Truman Presidential Museum.

It was finally a cooler day, just right for the evening baseball game at Kauffman Stadium. We really liked this stadium just as it is -- feels a little like a spring training venue -- but it is soon to undergo extensive renovation, and a look at the new stadium Web site shows it will add the amenities that ballparks are currently providing. The Royals were in fine form that night against the Angels, and won 8-3. It was a really good game, and right after the game, a spectacular fireworks display was held. Since we felt a little cheated by the fireworks in Wisconsin Dells, this was great!