Winter Park, CO et al

Lynn and Jamie headed blindly to Winter Park, CO for a little getaway. Not entirely blindly, but all we had booked ahead was a place to stay, Hi Country Haus (through AirBnB). One story as an opener... As we were standing at the Winter Park Resort reading a map, I noticed that the west portal to the Moffat Tunnel (railroad) was right here! And lo and behold if a train didn't go through while I was standing maybe a couple hundred feet from the portal. The trip was July 28th through August 1st. All Jamie's photos (479 of them).

Here's a chronological rundown in photos of what we enjoyed on our journey. Jamie's gallery of photos is in chronological order, too.

Union American Bistro in Castle Rock (on the way).
Try their Coconut Fried Chicken with Jerk Mayo.

Moon Frog Coffee Shop in Winter Park, CO

 

It was hard to pick just one photo from this great day,
so I picked a silly one. We rode the gondola up and down
three times, enjoying hikes and drinks and people watching
at top and bottom. P.S, you can see Moffatt Tunnel
from the gondola. Winter Park Resort.

 

Moffat Tunnel

In Goody's Creperie. Strawberry Crepes with ice cream!

 

Deno's Mountain Bistro. Doesn't look at all like this
from the outside. Great meal.

 

Alpenglow Massage. Ahhhhh.

 

Moffat Road Railroad Museum in Granby, CO.
We also hit the Fabric Nook and Brickhouse 40 (restaurant).

 

Grand Lake, CO turned out to be quite the discovery.
From Grand Lake Lodge (pictured) to the Kauffman House
to Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre (we saw 2 shows!).

 

A hike around the area where we stayed in Winter Park,
Hi Country Haus.

On the way home, we had breakfast in Idaho Springs
at the Main Street Restaurant and we stopped at
Chatfield Farms Botanical Gardens just off the 470.

Tinker Crate

We unearthed a Tinker Crate that's been hidden in the house for some time. AJ and Nana got to work building a jellyfish racing box.

Fina's Glamping Party

Ever hear of this before?... Moonlit Memories will bring everything to your house to set up a glamorous camping experience in your backyard then make it all disappear when you're done. How's that for a 16th birthday party!

Lexi's artwork continues...

In AJ's future... A chinchilla (or two)

Sharing the PetCo purchases

All set for the overnight party

5 pounds of bacon, too, for the party's breakfast dinner.

Jonny gave Blokus a try. He's pretty good at it!

Inside the Glam Tent

Prepping the chocolate fondue for the "campers"

Day 500

It's been 500 days since the coronavirus lockdown started for us here in Colorado. That's pretty close to the day it started for everyone in the U.S. It's not 100% behind us yet, but I'm calling it quits, these daily postings, that is. We're feeling pretty much back to normal life-wise. Politically and societally, things are a nightmare, but we'll deal with that separately.

Nala went to a new home today, a calmer home, with just a middle-aged couple, their pure white Colorado Mountain Dog, and grandkids that visit now and then. And just a few minutes from us in Flying Horse. Their first few minutes together went very well. Kind of a tough day for AJ, but he helped make the choice and is now awaiting chinchillas. We have very high hopes for Nala's new life.

Day 499

Turned out to be quite the day for me (Jamie). I signed up for a Shakespeare Acting Workshop at Theatreworks and today was the day. Katy Walsh did a fantastic job of leading the group, a group of six with many being recognizable Theatreworks actors. I felt surrounded by the greats. My favorite thought from the day... Act at the speed of thought. Even though you've got your lines memorized, be delivering them as if they are just now coming to you based on previous lines/thoughts. Maybe another way of saying "be in the moment." It was amazing how many times the same short monologue could be done and each time be so different. Just from the delivery of the words, how you understood them. There was a blast from the past out of this as well, almost. Turns out Creston Cooper took the same workshop a couple days earlier; we missed each other by a hair. We knew Creston from SLORep in California; he and I were in Guys and Dolls together and he was in Into the Woods with Fina. We probably crossed paths with other shows, too, that I'm not remembering. It was so cool to be backstage working at the ENT Center.

That's the Duke in the flesh.

Lynn and Jamie ended the day with dinner at the Club.

Day 498

Breakfast had a couple extra boys this morning! We moved back into the garage with the new floor. Then it was off to the pool after the rest of the California Cousins Family arrived. After that, an adult trip to the new Scheels in town where we spent most of the time in the gun department. As promised, AJ got his rock experiment going while his Uncle was there to watch. We closed the day with a very nice, cool evening on the back patio, until it started raining.

Day 497

Another big day. This time we were off to meet up with the California cousins at the Mines Museum at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, CO. It's not a huge museum, but their collection is quite astounding. I could have taken pictures of every specimen there. Because Aunt Rachel works at the School of Mines, we were also able to visit a classroom, the Drilling Laboratory. Then, of course, ice cream, at Golden Sweets! And to top off the day, our return ship was heavy by two - a couple cousins were coming home with us for a spend over. All the day's photos are here.

Warming up for the day with Jamie's own collection.

The second day of landscape work out front.

Walter's Pizza for lunch before heading out to Golden.

A great little nod to the railroads' contribution

The Pala tourmalines were our favorites
when we had the jewelry store.

Benitoite is the California State Gemstone.

Maybe Jamie's favorite specimen today.
Simple, common minerals but beautiful arrangement.

AJ's favorite specimen today.

Aunt Rachel works at the School of Mines.

Everyone thought this looked exactly like cotton candy.

AJ falling asleep in the Drilling Lab.

Ice cream!

Heavy by two on the trip home.

The landscapers finished by the time we got home.
Even the run-over bush looks good!