6 - 7 - 8: This, That and All of the Above

6: Museum Jamboree (Friday)

[From Tammy - Welcome to my first attempt at online blogging. Read at your own risk. Hehehe...]

Friday we slept in and went to breakfast at the Huckleberry in Louisville, where the menu inspired Tom to solve another clue to the group crossword puzzle (latke). We then headed to Denver to tour the Capital building and its dome (or more accurately, a dome instead of a dome). The stonework at the Capital was beautiful, stain-glass windows were pretty nice, and architecture was rather cool. Angela quizzed Tom on the US presidents, where he only missed James Polk’s first name.

Had lunch at Wolfe's Barbecue, a small restaurant operated by an older gentleman. After that, I was convinced that Colorado had better barbecue than Arkansas. We read the Onion and caught up on the Olympics. Tom’s cousin Angie dropped by. The group then split up to explore the Botanical Gardens and Art Museum. The gardens were closed, so we ended up at the History Museum. The History Museum was very well done, with detailed coverage of Colorado history, pueblos, 10^th mountain army division, and an awesome room that depicted timelines of Colorado and US key historical events. Simply, Tom was “in his element”. We were kicked off of the museum at 5pm, but all agreed that we could have spent more time there (well, if my brain wasn’t full already with random facts). To the others’ credit, I’m told that the Art Museum was awesome too.

Later we went home, grilled some brats and burgers, and played Tigirus and the Euphrates and Pepper, and checked out our backpacking pictures the rest of the evening.

7: Rafting and Crab Rangoons (Saturday)

Serena and I (Tammy) braved the rainy, cold weather and got up early to go rafting by Ft Collins. (Frankly, I question if I even slept that night.) The water was a bit tame due to low levels, but there were a few rapids that made it all worthwhile. Imagine floating down the river, watching the water flowing amidst the rocks, and mist floating down from the mountains. Let’s just say, it was another day of wonderful scenery. And, we both didn’t lose feeling in our fingers or toes (unlike my Tyrol experience), so all was good. Oh, and I was grateful Serena waited until after I climbed into the raft to inform me of her experience going down a 22-foot waterfall. Otherwise, I may have chickened out of it.

After rafting, we found a lovely Thai restaurant that had the most amazing crab rangoons on the planet. Anyone traveling to Ft Collins has to try Toy’s Thai Café. We then crashed Justin’s place (thanks by the way) to clean up, and watch the Italian job on Justin’s laptop. Knowing that the rest of the group was not due to come back from Colorado Springs until 7 or 8pm (which I accurately assumed 9 or 10pm), we ate dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (another yummy restaurant), strolled around the local shops, and bought some books at Borders.

We met up with the rest of the group later that evening for some more card games and to debate how much hiking we could cram into our final day before our flights left. (Yes, I admit, I was a stickler on arriving at the airport early…BTW, don’t expect that to change anytime soon.)

So, what did the rest of the group do that day? That’s for another post. They had grand plans to do a 14-er, but that plan was squelched due to the rain. They headed to Colorado Springs, much to Tom’s delight, to see the coin museum. I never heard what else they did that day…

8: Going Home (Sunday)

Amazingly, we all managed to get up early and headed out to Red Rocks to see the Amphitheatre and hiked another 4-5 miles. (Does that make a total of 35 miles now?) We ate lunch in Boulder at Noodles & Co and a place that I suddenly forgot the name. (Can you guess where I ate?). We said goodbye to the Colorado group and headed off to the airport. Tony got stopped by security, but managed to lay on the charm and was allowed to proceed to the gate with us. Tom, Serena, Tony, Angela and I played more Pepper before boarding the plane. All I’ll say about the plane was that Tony was obviously bored (ask Serena about the pillow incident). We arrived home around 10pm after a long wait for the hotel shuttle and one last drive-thru stop at Culvers.

Post trip comment: You wouldn't believe how many people told me that they were happy to see that I didn't fall or get pushed off of a cliff. Hmmm, what does that say? Angela, maybe our posed picture was too convincing... :)