Colorado

For the labor day weekend Lisa and I decided that we needed to go visit Ben and Sharley. They've been in Colorado now for over a year and we hadn't been out there. Lisa found us some cheap tickets and off we went. They had a very fun weekend planned for us. My favorite activity was touring an old gold mine. I guess many of these old mines are still active but the gold has played out so much that they don't make a whole lot of money. I am quite sure this mine is making much more money giving tours than they were making actually digging. It was absolutely fascinating. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and had obviously worked in mines his entire life. He really looked the part too with only half his teeth left and those that were left didn't look too good. We hadn't gone 100 feet into the mine when I decided that this was not a career I should go after. I kept hitting my head on the ceiling (thank goodness for the hard hat) and I do have a tendency for claustrophobia. The tunnel was big enough that the claustrophobia wasn't a problem but when I looked into the vein I was not going very far into that hole.

The tunnel lead straight into the side of the mountain and was pretty level with a slight down hill slope. We walked for maybe a quarter mile and finally came to the vein. Along the way we passed a cross cut which led to another vein somewhere. They also showed us displays of how explosives and blasting caps have changed over the years. The display on mining lights was also fascinating. We also passed a vertical shaft that they used for hauling out the ore.

This was the cross cut. That led to other veins and tunnels.

Another favorite that we went to more than once was "The Little Man Ice Cream" place. It was already starting to get cool in Denver but there was still a huge line up at this place. Ben was telling me that there is a line up even in the middle of winter. I do have to admit that the ice cream was very good. I am almost always happiest with plain old vanilla but I was told that I had to get the oreo ice cream. It was good.

Another wonderful experience was the Denver Biscuit Company. I guess this place was originally two different food trucks. One specialized in breakfast biscuits and I think the other guy was a hamburger truck. While I guess these two guys didn't exactly compete because one was breakfast and the other lunch,  they realized that together they would be a great match. We went for breakfast and I'm telling you, if you're ever in Denver for breakfast you need to try them. I gained substantial weight on this trip.
The plan was to see the state capital but it was a Saturday and it was closed. It looks like a beautiful building.

I'm not sure why I don't have any pictures but we also went to the house owned by the unsinkable Molly Brown. Molly's name was actually Margaret and she didn't ever actually go by Molly. It apparently sounded better in some play and the name stuck. Her story is a very sad one but the house was beautiful.

 One the steps of the state capital they have a marker indicating which step is exactly one mile above sea level. Every few years they have to move it up a few steps because Denver's elevation changes over the years.

Ben and his momy. She loves that he still calls her mommy. You may notice the engraving in the stop that says you are a mile high. This no longer a mile high. You can't move the carving so that is probably why they went to a marker. 

We also made a trip to Boulder. The scenery on the drive up was beautiful. Boulder has blocked of a few blocks and created a beautiful shopping area. 

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The first successful blood transfusion was given in 1665 in England.

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