Memorial Weekend - Denver Style

What a wonderful 3 day weekend Mike and I had. Saturday we found a new park and fell in love with it! The dogs had a great time as well. We then worked as a team and made some major progress on our yard. Which included draining, cleaning and refilling our pond. It looks so good now. Sunday we went to a Rockies game. They did not win, but it was a great game and we had good seats considering we waiting until Sunday to buy them. Will Call is the way to go when going to Coors Field. We then went to a Memorial Day festival in the Wash Park area. Monday was a mellow day. Mike worked in the yard a bit and Lisa and I went to see Sex in the City 2. It was a long movie - but worth our time!

What a weekend

What a great weekend in Denver! The only downside was the wind!

Saturday morning, we took the Iggy's to Cherry Creek Reservoir (http://parks.state.co.us/parks/cherrycreek/Pages/CherryCreekHome.aspx). We enjoy taking the dogs there. Saturday was a warm day and the dogs got into the water! That was not the best part. The best part, seems mean that I call it the best, but really it was. Rocky was running like the wind and jumped over a ditch, but instead of clearing the ditch, his front leg hit the ditch and he went sideways and slid, like he was sliding into home. The only thing we could do was laugh and then Mike quickly picked him up to make sure nothing was broken. Rocky, a typical boy, did not want to be held and fought to be put down. Once Mike put him down, Rocky went on his way after a few iggy shakes to get the dust off of him.


We then went to a picnic hosted by some of the associates in my office at Clement Park (http://www.ifoothills.org/parks_Clement_Park.asp) Saturday afternoon. This was a great park. There was a skate park, baseball field, volleyball, people flying kites, graduation parties, BBQ's and picnics. The Iggy's went with us and were on my waist leash. Considering they had been to CCR a few hours prior, they were worn out and behaved exceptionally well. Except when Dasha tried to attach another dog at the picnic, Shadow. It was like she forgot he was there and when she saw him again she went crazy. When we left, we drove through Littleton versus taking C470/E470 home. We really enjoyed Littleton. It is a very quaint area.


Before we went home to call it a night, we went to dinner. The wind had blown Mike's plate from the BBQ and all his food less his hot dog was lost. Poor guy! We had dinner at a place near our house, which is becoming one of our favorite places. Not just because they have $3 margaritas all day everyday but because the food is really good and reasonable. Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q (http://www.jimnnicks.com/) is located in Southlands Mall (http://www.shopsouthlands.com/).


After our full day, we went home and watched a new movie Mike had bought. It was a good movie. So good that I didn't fall asleep. Now that is saying something! It was called, The Edge of Darkness. It was not good enough to keep the iggy's up - they were both passed out snoring during the movie. Yes, our dogs snore!


Sunday, the Iggy's were still worn out from Saturday so Mike and I decided to leave them home and do some exploring by ourselves. A week prior when I was getting my nails done, I was speaking with the shop owners daughter. She was telling me about a field trip she took to a park in Denver called Four Mile Historic Park (http://www.fourmilehistoricpark.org/). This is where we decided we wanted to go; however, before walking through this park, we needed to eat lunch. We didn't get started until about 11:30 as I had a few things for work to do and Mike wanted to mow the lawn. Yes, he wanted to mow it. The next door neighbor asked if he could mow it every week and Mike didn't want him to. He said he likes to do it. Nonetheless, we were headed out to Four Mile Park and wanted to eat lunch. I told Mike about this place in the DTC that I like. It is called Choppers (http://www.chopperscustomsalads.com/). They make salads there. We typed in Choppers into the GPS and found one on the way to the park. When we got there, we learned it was Choppers Sports Grill (http://www.chopperssportsgrill.com/joomla.1.5/index.php). What a great discovery! We loved this place and will definitely be back.


After we left the Four Mile Park, we decided to follow the Creek Creek Bike path. What a jewel we found. The Cherry Creek joins the South Platte at Confluence Park in central Denver. This is near where the city was founded in 1858. This is what is commonly called LoDo (Lower Denver). We loved it and decided that next weekend we were going to try to ride our bikes on the path.

Furry Scurry vs. Doggie Dash -

About 40,000 legs took to the path at Washington Park (http://www.washpark.com/)
on Saturday morning for the annual Furry Scurry.


It was a bright and sunny spring morning when about 10,000 people and 5,000 dogs came out for the 2-mile walk. The fundraiser, which is sponsored in part by 9News, helps the Dumb Friends League care for more than 25,000 homeless pets every year. The goal was to raise
$1 million to celebrate the 100th anniversary of

the Dumb Friends League. As of last count they raised over $600,000!

It was a larger event than the Iggy’s were accustomed too… Last year, at the Doggie Dash, 5,000 people participated and raised over $230,000. The event in Denver was more expensive, $45 each compared to $25 each in Portland.

Exploring Colorado

Mike and I traveled to Idaho Springs this past weekend. It is a very rustic town in Clear Creek County, Colorado, founded in 1859. It was about an hour drive, 32 miles NW on I-70. While we were there, we stayed at Indian Hot Springs - http://indianhotsprings.com/ - People have been going to this hot springs for over 100 years! We went into the mineral water swimming pool, the indoor private bath, mud room and had an hour long couples massage. While we were there we ate as some amazing places, Tommyknockers Brewery & Pub, Mangia! Casual Italian and Cafe' Aimee - http://www.cafeaimee.com/ - On Sunday we went to Black Hawk. We have been there a few times since we have been in Denver. We have gone there because they allow gambling. Coming from Oregon, where you can gamble on Indian Reservations, I wanted to find out why gambling was allowed. I discovered that in 1990 there was a statewide referendum allowing casino gambling in Black Hawk as a way to promote the historic preservation. It is referred to as the Central City/Black Hawk National Historic District. At one time the area was known as the Richest Square Mile on Earth. Black Hawk was also founded in 1859 during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. I enjoy learning about the historic aspects of these areas - especially considering that Oregon become the 33rd State in 1859, when these towns were being established!

Last night we celebrated Lisa's birthday at The Buckhorn Exchange - http://www.buckhorn.com/ - Another place on the National Historic Landmark list! This restaurant has been serving meals since 1893, making it Denver's oldest restaurant. For our appetizer we had Rocky Mountain Oysters. Much like Chicken McNuggets... The birthday girl had Cornish Game Hen, Mike had Elk and Buffalo Steaks and I (Miss Piggy) had, Kobe Beef Steak, Ostrich and a Quail. We finished our excellently unusual meal with hot Dutch apple pie ala mode with cinnamon rum sauce! YUMMY!!!

Belated Valentine's Weekend

I went to Sacramento Thursday for work. Mike flied out on Friday. We went and saw his best friend John, checked out where he grew up. We then went to San Francisco, Pier 39, Chinatown, meet his Aunt and Uncle for dinner followed by a nightcap at the Starlight Room on top of Sir Drake Hotel. Sunday, we drove through Livermore (where I lived from 5th grade through 9th grade) had lunch at a Mountain Mike’s pizza and then flew home. It was a great couple of days!

Thanksgiving was wonderful!

Mike is 34 today!!!!

Mikey turns 34 years old today.

Our day started with a nice

breakfast at one of our Sunday morning favorite places, The Rock. Yes mom this is where we went when you were visiting and we got the oil changed in my Kia.

We then came home and Mike finally agreed to open his gifts. Packages from home arrived on Friday and it was driving me crazy that he still had not opened them.

He was so excited to get some chex mix from his mom. We were at the store the day before getting everything we needed for Thanksgiving dinner when he said that he loves chex this time of year and that his mom made the best. I'm going to have to get that recipe Mary ;-)

After he opened his gifts Mike and Lisa decided to go shopping so Mikey could spend some of the gift cards he had received. I however, trying to fight off a cold and being a bit tired from the day before stayed home so I could post on our blog and do some laundry...

Last night is when Mike, Lisa and I celebrated. We went to upper downtown, which I thought was Lodo, but was promptly corrected by the cab driver. We had dinner at The Avenue Grill. I did some research to learn they have award winning martini's (Mikes favorite) with blue cheese stuffed olives (another Mike favorite).

Dinner was great! Mike had steak, I had Ahi, Lisa tried oysters but settled with a burger.

Linda, if you are reading this, I finally found a place in Denver that makes good Spanish coffees!

After dinner we decided to explore a bit. We went to the uptown Tavern (another spot that we like to go to in Wash Park and DTC); however, it was really smoky in there so we thought we would go somewhere else. The next two places we found were not what we had in mind....

So we decided to hail a cab home.

I had to add the photo of Mike in an alley! Inside joke!