Since Sue’s son and daughter-in-law moved to Denver last December, we decided to re-visit and spend some time in that area this spring. We added two more RV parks to the list of places where we have stayed more than once. Garden of the Gods RV Resort is in Manitou Springs with breathtaking views of Pike’s Peak, and Cherry Creek Park in Denver. We spent a day at Copper with Jay, Virginia and her parents, Chris and Connie, who we got to see for the first time since the wedding last August. The conditions were excellent but we struggled with the altitude. Talk about feeling old!
Manitou has an awesome fondue restaurant called Mona Lisa where we went for Jay’s birthday. Everything was amazing…
The weather was great: 60s with bright sunshine in the day and 30s at night. We got out on some of our favorite mountain bike trails again.
Sue’s daughter, Julia, came out for a long weekend and we had fun touring the area including Golden, Nederland and the Red Rocks amphitheater.
Jay cooked us some yummy breakfasts
We enjoyed seeing their cats again…
Berkeley is a cute neighborhood in Denver. It’s transitional, quiet, but close to everything.
On the main drag is a very cool “cat cafe”, where they have rescue cats you can adopt. After paying a small entry fee, you can buy coffee or just pet the kitties. There are all kinds of cozy chairs and board games available. It seems like the cats get adopted pretty quickly.
Jeff and Jay got to spend a day at Loveland and enjoyed some fresh powder!
We took a tour of downtown one day. Union Station is really impressive. There are restaurants, shops, and a fun tabletop shuffleboard game.
We had a really fun Sunday brunch at Ophelia’s: formerly a famous bordello in Denver. They have maintained the sultry atmosphere and racy artwork. Delicious food and bottomless mimosas were complimented by a live band called La Pompe Jazz who were excellent!
In between Colorado Springs and Denver is the U.S. Air Force Academy. There is a gorgeous chapel there with beautiful stained glass inlay that looks different depending on the time of day. Aside from the main chapel there are other rooms for different religious services including a buddhist meditation room.
Sue flew out of Colorado Springs airport a few times and was impressed that in addition to the human rest rooms they also had a pet relief area.
Overall the time went too fast. It was great to see their new place and spend some time with family. Now we’re off to the Phoenix area for 6 weeks or so where Sue has another long term work assignment.
Travel Notes
Its a long way across Texas from Fort Worth through Amarillo, a corner of New Mexico and over the pass on I-25 in Trinidad, CO. We made it to an interesting little town in New Mexico for the overnight. There were only two other RVs at the campground. Dinner was at a “historic” downtown hotel which was clearly overwhelmed by the 5 tables of diners.
The amount on freight moved by train continues to amaze us.. Every 10-15 minutes we passed another one. And miles of empty cars waiting on sidings. At one point, the tracks and the roadway converged near the crest of a small hill. It looked like the train was going to run right into us!