Dreary Denver Days Don't Diminish Delight

Just because I have a job that doesn't make me travel weekly doesn't mean I stop traveling... I just don't go as much. :)

The trip had a bigger purpose this time... well, a bigger group, anyway. Great American Beer Fest. Ironically, I never actually made it to the Beer Fest, but I was going more for the other fun to be had! You know, warm sunshine on my face on a hike up a mountain to see a spectacular view... wait, no... we couldn't do that... because we didn't see the sun for three days and it was COLD! But honestly, that didn't keep us from have a great time and still doing those fun things. :)

We left Indy early on Friday morning and got to Denver an hour later... yes, that's with the time change. We were in Denver around 9am. After running around to get our bearings straight (finding good maps), we headed up to Boulder to meet a group of friends. We ate lunch and then decided to do a hike in that area, so we headed to Hall Ranch. It was the perfect hike for a group of us, especially with kids. So we hiked as far as the little ones could take and then headed back down. It was enough for all of us, I think.

After the hike, we split up and the kids went home while the rest of us make it to a few breweries in Boulder. Personally, I was surprised at some of the brews I enjoyed, especially considering I am not a beer drinker... at all!! So after all the beer and the very long day of hiking and traveling, we were beat. So off to bed we went.

The next morning we woke up kind of early to take the kids to the Denver Botanic Garden's annual Pumpkin Fest to pick pumpkins from their huge (and I mean HUGE) pumpkin patch!! Now, I have to admit... this was my first time to an actual pumpkin patch (that I remember). If there was a good one to go to for your first time, this was it! Despite the very dreary, cold weather (even more so than Friday - we actually got drizzled on), it was a good time. It wasn't anything that a big cup of hot chocolate couldn't fix. :)

Eric and I hung out with the kids that night while Katrina and Jason went to a wedding reception. And with their kids, this was easy. They have great kids and they are both so good. So Eric and I really enjoyed hanging out with them for the evening. Eric even baked cookies with them!

So Sunday rolls around, and still no sun. But this was to be a low key, indoor day, anyway, watching football and eating food with lots of friends. It was a good weekend to visit cause I got to watch my Jaguars beat the Broncos IN Denver. Too bad I couldn't go to the game... though I probably would've been miserable in the weather they had. But none the less, the Jags won! So it was a good end to a great weekend!!

Another great trip to Denver in the books. Hopefully there's more to come soon!! In the meantime, you can check out more pictures here. :)