January 13, 2016

We were Skyping with Dyce and Decker this evening when Dyce brought his Leap Pad over to his dad's phone so I could see a picture he had made for me on it...it was full of pink hearts, and he said, "I made this for you because I love you!"  My heart melted in a little puddle and it was all I could do to not cry.  Unfortunately, my emotions got the better of my reason and Dyce was on to the next bit of art before I could think to grab the camera and get a picture of the hearts.  Here he is with his next masterpiece. 

And here he is taking a picture of me taking a picture of him.  :)

January 9, 2016 - Part 4

I'm not surprised - everyone else here seems pretty happy!  :)

This concludes our tour.

January 9, 2016 - Part 3

 The history of the brewery was pretty interesting too.

This ad almost convinces me I should give beer another try -

who knew it was a health food??  :)

January 9, 2016 - Part 2

We took a tour of the Coors brewery today.

I've never liked the taste of beer, but because of our artist friend Kitten 

(kittencreates.blogspot.com and www.etsy.com/people/KittenCreates) 

I have learned to enjoy cooking with it.  

The process of brewing is pretty fascinating.

January 9, 2016 - Part 1

Still playing around with foreground and background focus.  :)

January 7, 2016 - Part 5

Beautiful glass art at the Golden station.

Our train for this adventure.

On its way back to Denver.

We drove to the top of the parking garage in Golden to get a panoramic photo of the county government complex.  They call it the Taj Mahal around here; most folks aren't too happy with what it cost but it is impressive.

The train station is to the left county government complex, with our mountains in the background.
I love coming back to Golden from Denver!

January 7, 2016 - Part 4

Interesting graffiti on the ride home.

Way more interesting was the art at the different stations along our route.

That bridge is for our train.

January 7, 2016 - Part 3

We were across the street from the historic Oxford Hotel, which had a beautiful Christmas display in its front window.

Jed enjoying the ambiance of the coffee house we stopped at for some hot cocoa.

January 7, 2016 - Part 2

The highlight of the parade, and the main reason we went, was seeing the longhorn steers being herded through a downtown Denver street.  We had staked a claim in front of the red brick building in this picture and it was about 15 minutes to start time when a trailer pulled by a team of horses and carrying the mayor and city council pulled up right in front of us on our side of the street, followed by a black vehicle which I assume was security for the dignitaries.  We thought they would lead the parade but they didn't, and unfortunately they were still there when the steer came through, blocking our view...the pictures I took only showed the tops of their horns.  :)  I borrowed this picture from https://twitter.com/FastFrameofLoDo/status/685190034853511168 because I wanted you all to see the best part of the parade, even if we didn't.  haha

 These black horses were magnificent.

January 7, 2016 - Part 1

We went to the annual National Western Stock Show parade today in downtown Denver.  It's been an annual event for over 100 years!  The fun started when we boarded the light rail train in Golden and rode to Union Station in Denver.  The ride took about 40 minutes with 7-8 stops along the way.  It was so great to not have to worry about parking!

It was fun to imagine what this station must have been like when railroading was in its heyday.