Denver Visit and starting point of a Great National Park adventure

Saturday 9/20/2025 and Sunday 9/21/2025

I am off on another adventure.  It is my 3rd big one this year, but this time it will take place in the western USA.  My starting point is Denver Colorado.  Since my niece Hannah and her husband Mike and daughter Kai live here, we thought it would be a great starting point.  Laura (my sister) and her husband Bob planned a 9 day trip through some of the beautiful national parks in this part of the country, but first…..a short visit.

Here we are watching Kai (after she finished her gymnastics class) in what she called the “spider web”, with her mother watching on.  Of course this was after we had some sushi- which Kai said was a tradition after gymnastics.  (It was only her 3rd class ever) 
These pictures are from the following day at the Denver botanical gardens.  
Kai thought I had taken PLENTY of pictures and decided to get out of the pic. 
If you are ever in Denver the botanical gardens are well worth a visit!   As you can see, grandma is very enthralled with her sweet Kai!  
I am sorry I didn’t take more pictures, but we had some fun meals out with the family.  One was at a beer garden in Aurora in an old airforce hanger.  Since it is Octoberfest time, people were even dressed up in Lederhosen and Dirndl.  I didn’t get the memo ahead of time or I would have worn my dirndl.  

Tomorrow we head out on our adventures! 
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Baking our way to Erice: the Road to Trapani - PART TWO

Image
Tuesday, March 20, 2025 (continued) As Alessandro expertly maneuvered our bus up the winding mountain road towards Erice, we looked back at an impressive view. But first, a lunch stop. We were going to experience true Sicilian hospitality at Maria's place. A simple country lunch. I tasted the almond (mandorla) wine. Definitely for dessert. After everyone ate their fill, it was time to learn the secrets of Maria's Pasticceria Grammatico. Michael was our British interpreter... ...while Maria showed us how to shape the traditional cookies. Maria's voice was incredibly quiet so we really couldn't understand her, Even if we could understand Italian, but Michael helped us out.  This book is the story of Maria's life and includes recipes. She was a nun who left the convent and started her own business making and selling cookies using the nuns' secret recipes. Sc...
Read more

Official tour time! Let’s jump right in!

Image
  On Sunday May 18, we met our Rick Steves group mid afternoon, along with our guide Andrea (pictured above).  I’m looking forward to having him as our guide because he was born and raised just outside Palermo.  I’m sure he will have a ton of knowledge.   After meeting everyone, we all took a walking tour around the neighborhood to get our bearings, learn the history and see unique things.  You can see Christine and I are fresh and ready to tour!  On the way to our first stop, we saw a fountain nicknamed “the fountain of shame”.  Legends say it got that name because in the  building in the background with the dome lived the monks, and a dome, not pictured, but in direct line of sight of the fountain and the monks dome, was the convent.  Of course, the statues are naked…thus the nickname.     We also saw a peaceful Pro Palestine parade march past us.  Our guide told us Sicily is fearful of war, since they have been occupied and ...
Read more

Taormina: Too Beautiful to Believe

Image
Monday, May 26, 2025 Taormina, Sicily  We entered lovely Taormina last evening. Andrea gave us a quick orientation to the town and then we had a free evening to stroll around or just gawk at the mountain.  The stairways do help make Taormina beautiful, but the real beauty is in the views, like this one from our room's balcony right after we checked in. Mamma Etna in her full glory! Mamma is cooking. See the steam? The town was full of lovely shops offering higher-end clothing, souvenirs, and of course - food! Here's a giant cannolo in a colorful display for us tourists. The Godfather is popular here. A very narrow stretto. Someone had a private little teatro di pupi next to their front door. Monday morning Before breakfast, we all spent some time admiring Mamma Etna from the rooftop. The rooftop views were actually beautiful in all directions. While waiti...
Read more