Meow Wolf

We celebrated Craig's birthday with a trip to Meow Wolf in Denver. It's a bit like experiencing someone else's acid trip. We had a fun little late lunch at West of Surrender on the 16th St Mall. All the (crazy) photos are here.

Meanwhile, 2022 is Upon Us

Here's a mish-mash of photos from the past week or so. There's a caption for most. Don't miss the memorabilia caption...

Tracy ordered personalized Yeti cups for all of us! We
rarely get such a clear picture of just how many of us there are.

When it's too cold, bike riding with the therapist is inside.

Some significant Lego projects have been completed.

And a puzzle or two.

Patience.

More Lego projects.

We had one of those picturesque ice coverings one night.

About all that's left of Christmas...

Standoff or intense communication?

In the process of remodeling their Nipomo home, the Fosters
found and sent to us a stumbled-upon box of memorabilia.
Oh my goodness... 1992 Disneyland tickets, a rice packet
from Nana and Papa's wedding, nametags from when Papa
was president of the Pismo Chamber and on the Pismo City
Council, Lynn's nametag from when she worked at David
Beatty Stereo, picture buttons, a box of matches from
Cypress Cafe (first food place in our Cypress Landing project),
kids pilot wings from TWA and Braniff, a National
Honor Society pin, and much more. It was quite a trip
down memory lane. Lynn was most excited about a set
of small silver spoons and forks that her grandfather
had collected from overseas.

Nana's paper-piecing quilt is coming along...

Continuing New Year's at Home

We bid a fond farewell to the Brown Palace Sunday after breakfast and headed south for home. On the way, we "had to" stop at Scileppi's at the Old Stone Church in Castle Rock, a favorite Italian restaurant that really is in an old stone church. The big outing the next day (Jan 3rd) was a trip up to the top of Pikes Peak via The BROADMOOR Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway. That really is an incredible trip. On the way home from that we had lunch at Jake & Telly's Greek Cuisine in Old Colorado City. Great Greek restaurant, love the Saganaki appetizer (flambe cheese). Wrapping up the stay was a delicious dinner at La Taverne in the Broadmoor Hotel, breakfast at the Club, and completing the big move of Lynn's quilting area from way downstairs to way upstairs. More light! And Sandy and she had time to get Lynn started on the "paper piecing" quilt she's wanted to do for some time. All the photos after the Brown Palace start here.

Scileppi's at the Old Stone Church

Pikes Peak Cog Railway

Jake and Telly's Greek Restaurant in Old Colorado City

La Taverne at the Broadmoor

Between the two main buildings at the Broadmoor

New quilting area up on the top level

Tracy's new ice machine!

Lynn's learning "paper piecing"

New Year's Day in Denver

We grabbed a latte at the Brown Palace coffee shop and headed out in 9-degree weather with 3-4 inches of snow on the ground to the Denver Art Museum. The special exhibit was "Whistler to Cassatt, American Painters in France." It was pretty cool, but so was seeing a whole line-up of Monet paintings in another gallery. A delightful discovery was the restaurant in the Art Museum, The Ponti (named after the building's architect). Fabulously interesting menu and really, really good food. How about an ancho (powdered poblano pepper) peanut butter sandwich with curried apple slices and all sorts of greens and cucumber on a thinly sliced, buttery-toasted sourdough?! And, our waitress was kind enough to give us a list of other fine food places, but alas we couldn't get into any of them tonight (our last night here). But for future reference, here's the list: Bistro Vendome, Rioja, Ultreia, Guard & Grace, Stoic & Genuine, and Tamayo. We had our "last supper" at the Palace Arms in the Brown Palace followed by a cigar and a drink in the Churchill Bar. Today's photos start here.

The Ponti at the Denver Art Museum

Palace Arms at the Brown Palace

New Year's Eve in Denver

We had planned to go to the Western Art Museum this morning, but alas, it was closed. It's right across the street from the Brown Palace. Turns out the Hours/Information page I went to didn't note that it was closed all this week, but another page, that I did not look at, did. Today's photos start here.

Western Art Museum in the Navarre Building

Ship Tavern, quite the sailing ship collection

High Tea at the Brown Palace

Snow! On our way to dinner at Henry's Tavern.

Happy New Year with a Marzipan Pig

One of Griffen's favorite New Year traditions is the Marzipan Pig. Having discovered this factoid only around noon, all the German bakeries in the area were out of them earlier in the morning, So, Fina made some! Looks like a good New Year's Eve at the Compound! More info on Marzipan Pigs for New Year's.

Little pink Marzipan Pigs in the centers.

The Capitol and a Church

The Denver contingent started the day at 1700 Lincoln, a bank building with Tuscany Coffee in the lobby. Then off to visit the State Capitol Building. After that, we visited the Methodist/Episcopal Church, built in 1887, literally across an intersection from the Brown Palace. We had a lite lunch at La Loma followed by a rest time then a wonderful dinner at the Palace Arms in the Brown Palace. Today's photos start here.

17th and Lincoln

By Governor Polis' office door

1887 Methodist/Episcopalian Church

La Loma

Palace Arms - all Napoleon memorabilia