Monday, June 22, 2009

Weekend in Denver



After finishing up in Cripple Creek for the week I spent the weekend with Matthew and Ursla (Kris's youngest sister, aka Merv) at their home in Denver - we had so much fun and excitement (especially when we had to take cover from a tornado, but I'll get to that part in a minute)!

Friday night we headed to the Rockies game...that night made for a 9 game winning streak. I didn't really pay much attention to the game (baseball's not really my thing) but I did have a lot of fun talking to Merv, Matthew and their friends Becky and Jodi.

Saturday morning we got up and drove to Boulder. We sat outside and had brunch at this great little restaurant and then went to the market, bought some fresh produce and walked around the shops in Boulder. It is such a cute town, although a little overpriced! We had a great time, I did very well and only purchased one little re-usable grocery bag for my lunch at work.


Saturday night we headed to a couple house parties of friends of Matt and Merv. On the way to one of the parties we spotted Senator Bennet in the car next to us. Since I was driving and Merv was navigating we handed the camera to Matthew to snap a picture...and this is what we got...

I think it's safe to assume the Matthew wont be quitting his day job and joining the paparazzi anytime soon.
Sunday we went to a restaurant called RootDown and ate brunch. The weather was perfect and they had a great patio that faced downtown! From there, Merv and I headed to the Woodhouse spa for a pedicure. Matthew, not super excited about the idea of getting a pedicure, headed to the Rockies game. The spa was so cute, it was in an old Victorian house with a huge wrap-around porch, it was just charming.


After our pedis we headed to the grocery to pick up some food for "jazz in the park" that evening...little did we know the weather had other plans. While driving to Safeway is started to get very dark, the clouds were rolling in...while is Safeway it let loose - it was pouring! The crazy thing about rain in the summer in Denver is IT'S FREEZING! The rain water was so cold, it even started to hail a little at one point, there was no way we were running to the car in that! Then...the tornado sirens started to go off - that was pretty freaky! As soon as the rain let up, we dashed to the car and made it home to take cover. Matthew in the mean time, was still at the Rockies game! Apparently, they could see the tornado from the stands!

After about an hour the weather moved on, the sirens stopped going off, and the baseball game resumed play. We decided not to go to jazz in the park since it had been pouring and the ground would be very muddy. We headed next door to hang out with Matt and Merv's neighbors, Jeff and Paul. That evening was really pleasant so we took a walk around the neighborhood. There were some really cute houses...this one was my favorite...it's very french country...

Monday I was glad that it wasn't raining, so I had no flight delays. Overall it was a super fun weekend in Denver! Thanks Matthew and Merv for hosting!

Hail Storm

It was so cold in Cripple Creek while we were there, one day it even hailed! It was crazy, I didn't know they could have weather like that in June (meantime it was 99, humid and not raining in Houston - seriously we need some rain).

Hail storm in Cripple Creek...


Friday we headed to Denver, here were a picture of Pikes Peak that I took (while driving on a windy road) on the way down the mountain.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Garden of the Gods

Today after work we decided to drive an hour away to the Garden of the Gods...as we drove the weather became really bad. It started pouring down rain and even hailing...we were nervous the drive would be for nothing...but right as we got to our destination the clouds opened up and the sun started shining!



On the way back we stopped in this cute little mountain town Manitou and walked around.


On the way back we saw Pikes Peak...with snow on top still...

Cripple Creek Colorado


I'm traveling this week and next for work. I'm staying in a little town in the mountains called Cripple Creek. It's at 10,000 feet, so I'm not going to lie, the altitude is killer, I'm winded just climbing up the stairs! It's also been unseasonably cold here - the high today was 47 - burrrrrr...but we've still managed to have fun (I'm here with a co-worker Kathy).

Yesterday after work we walked around town to check the place out. Cripple Creek was founded in the early 1800s and boomed during the '49 Gold Rush, in fact it still has one of the largest gold mines in the US. When the gold dried up, so did the town. It's also the most haunted city in the US, however, I've yet to have a face to face with Casper.

When the '49ers left they left their donkeys behind...today the town has wild donkeys that roam the street and eat every one's flowers.

You can see the gold mine in the background.

The town of Cripple Creek

Main Street in Cripple Creek - the town is mostly casinos now...

This is my favorite house in town

This casino cracks me up...