Colorado Day 4: Exploring Denver

I started the day by rendezvousing with my SLIM colleague. After a pancake breakfast at Perkins on Colfax Avenue, we went eastward on the avenue in search of the Natural History and Science Museum. All we knew was the museum was on Colorado Boulevard. So when we got there, we turned right......and got lost for 90 minutes. We swallowed our pride and decided to ask for directions. I went into a Denver Starbucks and she went into a gas station. We both returned to the car laughing: we both realized we had made the wrong turn off of Colfax and were driving away from the museum. We arrived at the museum about 15 minutes later.

I was interested in going because I saw through the web page that the IMAX theatre was showing a feature about the Grand Canyon and the diminishing water levels at both Lake Mead and Lake Powell. The documentary was narrated by Robert Redford and was quite interesting.

After lunch, we drove to the Brass Armadillo antique store in Wheat Ridge and explored it for the next two hours. My friend was grateful for the opportunity to go "antiquing" and was happy to see things she liked such as sewing tables and old couches. And I tried to educate her about the Royal Doulton toby mugs--which were authentic and which were knock-offs. There were a couple of mugs I wanted to buy but my trip budget kind of put the kibosh on buying anything of great expense.

We capped off Saturday by grabbing Clint Eastwood's movie "Gran Torino." We both enjoyed the movie and thought Eastwood's acting solidified him as the best tough-guy actor ever. I took her back to her home and we said our good-byes being that I had to takeoff for KC the next day. Unbeknown st to me at the time, she left her umbrella in my car. I didn't notice the umbrella until I reached Limon to fuel the car.

Oh well, looks like another trip to Denver is coming to deliver the umbrella. And my delivery service doesn't stop there. In a few days, I will actually be driving back to Colorado to pass my Grandmother's wedding china to my young cousin.

I should add that the drive back to KC was rather adventurous. Along I-70, I had to negotiate thunderstorms between Hays and Shawnee county, Kansas and then the race traffic from the NASCAR speedway. But I'm happy to report that I made it home safe and sound.

Colorado Day 3: The Cog Railway and the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

This is the second time I rode the cograil. I last rode it in 2005 just before my dad's memorial service. Unfortunately, the trip this time around was curtailed by snow storms atop Pike's Peak earlier in the week. We didn't make it to the top. Instead, we reached an elevation of about 13,000 feet where we encountered workers operating a snow blower jettisoning the snow away. The conductor said they should get the track entirely cleared by tomorrow.

In the afternoon, I went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. It's a quaint little zoo. The highlight of the zoo is the giraffe and meercats exhibits which one encounters as soon as you enter. Patrons can feed the giraffes specially made crackers which the giraffes gobble down easily with their long prehensile tongues. The meercats were also a treat. Both exhibits can be seen from the zoo's web cams.

Afterwards, I drove to my Denver hotel, contending with the rush hour traffic.

Colorado Day 2: The Royal Gorge

I discovered that I came to the Royal Gorge one week prior to the start of the tourist season. I guess the good and the bad come with this timing. The good news is I didn't have to pay tourist season prices. The bad news is some of the sideshow features, like the Royal Gorge railroad, were not available this week.

Nonethess, after taking advantage of the hotel's continental breakfast, I drove into Canon City. I saw the RG railroad depot instantly and wondered why there was no activity--no tourists, no engineers, no conductors, no ticket takers, etc. It dawn on me that the railroad was not running. And with no one around to answer my questions, I made the decision to skip waiting around until somebody showed up and drive directly to the Gorge.

When I arrived there the parking lot was practically empty. Then it occurred to me: my watch was running on Central daylight time, not Mountain time. Ooops! Somebody was there to accept my money for admission and I spent the next four hours around the bridge and its peripheral attractions.

Admittedly, I was nervous when I first stepped foot on the bridge. I have trouble dealing with heights and the view from the edge of the Gorge was exhilerating. A stream of water and two lines representing railroad tracks run west-to-east at the bottom of the canyon. And the cliffs were sheer rock going down. No wonder the Canon City government outlawed rock climbing.

At first glance, the bridge itself looked like a masterful piece of engineering. And looking out on the bridge, people were strolling back and forth, side-to-side like they didn't have a care in the world. Nothing to worry about, right? Boy, was I wrong.

I decided on my first stroll to walk the bridge in its center. That way I could acclimate myself to the structure. I made it halfway when I heard a rumbling behind me. A three-ton backho piece of machinery was about to cross the bridge. Now vehicles are allow on the bridge. Patrons who want to drive have to pay extra. I had no idea that building equipment were also permitted.

So when I saw this bulldozer, I realized I had to give up my centerline position on the bridge. I walked to the eastern rail and there, oddly, was a sign saying "Joe Schmo bungee jumped here. His feats were recorded for TV to be broadcast on 'That's Incredibe'." When the machinery got closer, I heard the planks of wood groaning and popping in protest. And when the bulldozer passed, I felt like I was experiencing an earthquake. The bulldozer made it to the other side and was used for some digging on the other side.

I composed myself and declared to myself that this wasn't so bad. I still have my wits about me. I proceeded to the other side and put my acrophobia in abeyance and crossed the bridge five more times. I came across two other people who were not as bold.

I should mention that I did take the tram down to the gorge's bottom. And when I looked up at the bridge, all I saw was once strip of constructed something dancing across the sky. Going to the river bottom really put the construction of this bridge into perspective.

Greetings from the Rocky Mountains

I just arrived in Canon City, CO after a ten and half hour drive that started in Topeka. I got a little lost when I arrived here because the hotel signs were not clearly marked but I arrived safely and grabbed dinner at Denny's next door. Thursday, I will visit the Royal Gorge and drive to The Springs during the late afternoon.

It's April 15th and I have to pay.......

....The plumber that is. The throne in the washroom is falling apart and I have to replace it. There goes part of my Mizzou state refund. And in killing the proverbial two birds with one stone, I've decided to replace the kitchen faucet as well.

Awesome Golf Hole

Although I've posted this to my Facebook, I can't get enough of this golf hole knowing full well about the mechanics of the game and the physics of how a golf ball travels. Enjoy!

Who is Sidd Finch?

On our trivia board today, Mama Bear asked the question to the effect of who was a rookie pitcher for the NY Mets back in 1985 with a 168 MPH fastball with pinpoint accuracy and wore his cap backwards. The answer is Sidd Finch.

Sidd Finch?

On April 1, 1985, Sports Illustrated magazine pulled a classic April Fool's joke by publishing this story about this man who is totally fictional. The article was written by George Plimpton. Check out this wikipedia article.


A low percentage of our patrons who read this trivia question got it right.