Rocky Mountain High

Well, I think we came back refreshed. Last week our little family adventure took us to beautiful Denver, Colorado. You know, just because. We had some vouchers to spend and some Skymiles to burn and so we closed our eyes and placed a finger on a map of the good ole US of A and voila! Denver. Ok, not really. The voucher/Skymile part is right, but we used that as an excuse to go visit the world's coolest bike being built. Yeah, you read that right. We flew roughly 1600 miles across the country to see a bicycle. Don might like bikes... a little bit.

Here's the boy with his dream bike. It's a Black Sheep. Bet you've never heard of that one. Custom made and everything. I think I measured just about every obscure dimension for this one - earlobes to knees, thumb to belly button, you name it. Boy he sure looks happy. :)


Kate was just excited that it is going to have a sheep on it. Speaking of Kate, this was her very first trip on an airplane. We weren't quite sure how air travel with a two-year-old would go, but she flies like a seasoned traveler. She never seemed a bit hesitant about the plane or any of the bumps or noises.

First good look at a plane.


Checking out the sky.


Insisted on holding onto the handrails in the subway train at the Atlanta airport.


Nice long nap on the long leg to Denver.


Know what else a nearly two-year-old likes about traveling? The hotel room closet. We spent a lot to time in this closet. And by we I mean Kate, Don, and me. And yes, all at the same time.


We kicked around Fort Collins for a bit.



After we visited the bike in Fort Collins, we drove up to Estes Park to see the snow and then down the Peak to Peak Highway on our way through Boulder. Sorry there are no snow pictures. We stayed in the car a lot because it was cold and windy. Kate was happy with her snow experience though. Turns out a clod of snow on the sidewalk is just as exciting as an inch on the ground. She thought it was cold and slippery.

Great Canyon views. Call us East Coast Kids because we were constantly amazed at the size of those mountains!


Back in Denver we had dinner with our good friends Sean and Winnie. They moved from Atlanta not long ago. One of my favorite parts about traveling is seeing friends that live in fun, faraway places. Winnie suggested the Mammoth exhibit at the Museum of Science and Nature, so we packed up on a VERY COLD Saturday and headed that way.


There was a well-preserved Mammoth found not far from Denver and they had parts of it on display the Saturday we were in town. Needless to say that there were lots of people, so we didn't get too close to the mammoth.


It didn't matter. Kate enjoyed another Mammoth just as much.
'
And there were Mammoths to color.

The museum is quite fun. Kate was a HUGE fan of the wild animal exhibits! We put her down and she ran from exhibit to exhibit saying: "I so excited!"

See... I told you there would be wild animals.


We searched and searched for a Moose.


So one more trip to look at the bike (which you can see more of here), and some shopping in Boulder, and it was time to head home. A couple of smooth flights (with free wifi) later and we were home sweet home.

Just in time for a haircut!

Before


After


Just in time for Thanksgiving!