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(These pictures, believe it or not, have been thinned down to these. The following record of the trip has been thinned down as well)
Saturday May 5th 2007, was Kenny's commencement at Regis University in Denver Colorado.
On the 3rd We borrowed a friends van (thanks Evan) and packed the 5 of us plus Kennys mom and niece in to it. It was a very tight squeeze but we survived. Kenny's Grandma and Grandpa Wells came as well, luckily they brought their own vehicle. On our way to Denver went through Oregon, Idaho and stopped for the night at a friends house in Layton, UT (Thanks Fritz's). It was good to visit but we were on a tight schedule to get to Denver. We then made our way along the southern edge of Wyoming and finally made it to Denver at around 5:30pm just in time to miss a banquet that we were attempting to make. No matter, we went for dinner with Kennys Grandparents and then split up leaving them at a Super 8 in Denver while we headed of to our Condo in Winter Park CO. It started snowing heavily on 70, just west of Denver (whiteout conditions). We found our exit to 40 North and began to make our way up the treacherous stretch of road. It wasn't long before our first hairpin corner caused us to slide a bit... we turned the car around and went back to Denver. We got a room at La Quinta for the night.
The next day was sunny and warm probably 75 degrees. We went to the graduation ceremony at Regis. Regis had a beautiful campus, the ceremony was good we all screamed when Kenny's name was called. It was a good commencement!
We attempted the summit again. This time the roads were much better and we made it to our condo! We spend Sunday vegging after a long trip. We watched TV, played games, and went swimming in a outdoor heated pool while it was snowing outside. The kids loved it!
Monday we spent the day at the Denver Aquarium. I think of all the "parks" in Denver that we went to, I had the best time at the Aquarium. It wasn't exhausting, there was a wide variety of exhibits that were interesting for both kids and adults. This kids saw a lot of aquatic life. Memorable points were the Archer Fish who spit at bugs in trees to get them to fall to the water to be eaten, feeding/petting sting rays and the tiger exhibit. The Aquarium didn't take us too long to go through so we went to Buffalo Bills grave site and museum. A fun little wild west museum. Exhibits displaying costumes, props and other performing memorabilia from Buffalo Bill's shows. A small area for kids to dress up in western wear and pretend to be cowboys. The grave site sits atop Lookout Mountain. Buffalo Bill liked this particular spot because he could see 4 different states from there.
Tuesday we rushed to the Zoo. The idea was to go to the Zoo and the Museum in the same day. But 5 hours into the Zoo we realized that wasn't going to happen. A HUGE but wonderful zoo. A tremendous amount of things to see and do. It was hot and exhausting the exhibits seemed never ending. The kids had lots of fun seeing a lot of different animals. We went straight home a crashed that night.
Wednesday we went to Colorado Springs and toured NORAD! Just kidding, they won't share SG1 information with the public. But we did go to Colorado Springs and we did go underground. We first stopped at the Cave of the Winds for our tour of the cave system there but there were several school buses and not wanting to compete with school children in a cave we decided to see other things and go back after lunch time. So we went down the mountain a little way and saw Manitou Cliff Dwellings, where Puebloian Indians built their homes in the side of mountains. It was fun and interesting. The kids had a good time and the gift shop was nice. After lunch we went back to the Caves for our tour which was quite an adventure. We went through several "room" in the cave displaying many different types of limestone formations and many different types of stalagmites and stalactites. On the way back to the condo we took a detour through Red Rocks State Park and saw some beautiful RED rock formations and the Natural Amphitheater formed in the mountains there.
Thursday we went to the Coors Brewery for a Tour. The kids complained of the stink but were interested in seeing the factory process. They love the TV show, How It's Made. It was a very interesting tour with fresh samples from the tap halfway through and free drinks at the end. Sodas of course for visitors under 21. Then we went to the Museum of Nature and Science in Denver. A great museum, we could've spent all week there but we focused our interests and highlights were Dinosaur bone exhibits, Space Exploration Exhibits and the Discovery Zone a children's museum inside the museum.
Friday we headed out, sick and tired of driving into Denver on 40 we went north and took 40 to Utah. We stopped in Dinosaur National Monument and the kids had a field expedition to look for fossils embedded in the rock. It was hot, tiring and FUN!!! I would like to go back to Dinosaur National Monument in the future for more exploring. We stayed at a Hampton Inn in Salt Lake.
Saturday Morning we got off to a slow start but we still stopped at Golden Spike to see where the last spikes were driven in the transcontinental rail line. We arrived just in time too. Right as we got there they pulled the two trains in and performed a reenactment of the important event. Nic especially loved this.
We made it back Saturday a little tired, a little sore and happy to be home. But we all had a good time and saw a lot of new things. It was a good trip.
Wild Life Sightings
Every night going to our condo we saw Big Horn Sheep Grazing on the roadside. We had a visit, right up to our window, by a Moose! We had a fox that would wander around the condo. We saw lots of Deer and Elk. Rabbits and Lizards were all over the trail at Dinosaur National Monument. Numerous Birds, Including a Bald Eagle and a Vulture.
