Vacation in Denver with the Family

Your mom and I just got back from spending a week in Denver to visit family and see some more sights of the city. It was a great trip, one which was long overdue. It'd been just over two years since we'd seen all of the family out there, so it was about time we got out there to see how everyone was doing.

The trip to Colorado seemed quick and we had fun seeing the clouds and sites from the air on the way in. 

I was determined to try some new beer while in Colorado, as it has become an absolute beer mecca in the years I've been away. We went from the airport to one local "nanobrewery" run on a small homebrew type setup. The brewer here was really friendly (and so were most I ran into during the trip). 

Oh, Joe. My mom's dachshund had gotten a bit broader since we'd seen him last. 

And my sister Shannon's chihuahua Howee was a treat to hang out with, as always. 

We wanted to walk around Denver some, and we found this great bookstore in Cherry Creek. 

Your mom found a beautiful bound collection of Shakepeare's sonnets which she has been getting into lately. 

I had lunch with my dad, Ed, and he showed me his new motorcycle. From Denver he was going to be on a month-long ride from Denver up into eastern Canada and Newfoundland and then all the way back to Mexico! 

It was a weird time to be back in my hometown. A week earlier, there had been a tragic shooting in a movie theater in Aurora, where some gunman killed twelve people and injured dozens more in a crowded late night opening showing of The Dark Knight Rises. I'd been to this theater many times with my dad during highschool, and nearby there was a memorial to those killed. Some of the Aurora police were present when I went by.  

Later, Shannon and my mom took us out for dinner and drinks at a cool little craft beer bar in the city. Denver is crawling with near places like this right now. 

After being gone for a long time, a return home always sparks some reminiscing. Shannon shared her ticket stub collection of shows which has grown to amazing proportions. The first page shows off her oldest shows back in 1999 when she went to see some of the biggest pop stars at the time. 

One day we went with my mom to take the boys for a walk at a nearby off-leash park. This type of driving is not advised! 

The park was beautiful and hot. We took the pups to a creek running through the park to cool off. 

Portly Joe with his super-short legs just could not complete the trek, so we all took turns lugging him around. 

Since my mom and dad split up, she's lived in this apartment complex not too far from the old house. It was weird seeing all the stuff from that house in the new place. 

On the way to visit Nana and Papa, we got a reminder of summer in Denver, with routine thunderstorms which come out of nowhere in the afternoon and evening. 

Papa was in good spirits despite recently hurting himself and needing some time in the hospital. He had a small stroke some months back, but he's been doing pretty well, with a lot of help from Nana, who's as sharp and cute as ever. 

My dad, Ed, manned the grill as always, making some tasty bison burgers and brats. 

Getting the family together is always an occasion for eating, a lot of great food. 

In the back, starting on the left, is my dad Ed, your mom, me, Papa, Nana, and my aunt Irene. In front is my sister Shannon and our cousin Patrick. Patrick has been spending weeks at a time in the woods for his parks management classes in college. 

Again, there was a lot of reminiscing. Here Nana was talking about her time in Washington DC after just coming to the States with Papa and trying to raise the kids in a one bedroom apartment. She wondered, "How did everyone survive?" 

My dad Ed recently completed a four-year effort writing this book, a chronicle of his dad, Papa's, life in Poland and escape to the States during World War II. He put a lot of time and effort into this book, including a trip through Poland to retrace Papa's steps out of the country. Amazing! 

Another day we drove with my mom into the foothills where they again obliged me with some local brewery sampling. This is the main street of the cute town of Idaho Springs. 

My ladies : ) 

We drove a bit further for another sampling in Dillon, at the Dam Brewery. 

The next morning we went to brunch (yes, more and more eating) where they featured this Bloody Mary "bar," where you could make unlimited Bloody Mary's with all kinds of ingredients.  

Brunch was amazing. I had chicken and waffles, and everyone else had some very interesting and delicious versions of classic breakfasts. For example, your mom's French toast featured avocado ice cream and Nutella! 

After brunch we went with Mom and Shannon to a show in downtown Denver at the Buell Theater. We saw Jersey Boys, a musical telling the story of the classic Motown group, The Four Seasons. It was awesome, and I still have some of the songs stuck in my head. 

We capped the evening with more beer sampling and some cards with Shannon and her friend Toby at another upstart brewery in my hometown. 

The next day Shannon led us on a beer tour of Denver, where we visited three different breweries all near each other downtown. 

At Great Divide Brewing, we all took a tour of the brewery. 

And at Wynkoop Brewing, Shannon and I tried to solve the world's problems. Since I moved away from home after high school, we have't had much time together as adults, sadly. I miss her a lot in the meantime. 

Then we met up with Mom who was bowling in her Monday league. Her team, made up of herself, an old employee and friend of hers named Michael, along with David and Troy, a couple guys she has met through Shannon's work at the salon. 

We made one more stop at Nana and Papa's the next day for lunch, and Nana treated us to her classic schnitzel. She had no idea how big a treat it was for us to get some of her cooking on this trip! 

I could feel the trip winding down and the pending departure started weighing on me. That always happens on trips.  

Your mom loved the break from the heat in California to see some weather in Colorado. Here she and Shannon enjoy the wet weather from Nana and Papa's deck. 

We spent that evening with my dad Archie and that side of my family. He has recently split up with his wife Laurie and moved into an apartment on his own. This classic collage of photos from his band days was sitting on the floor. 

Your mom got a glimpse of Archie's old fiddle, originally made in the 1860's and with him nearly his entire life. 

Then we went over to Laurie's to barbeque with her and the kids, Ian and Melanie. 

Archie has been working on getting some old recordings of him playing with his band, Dawson, which used to be quite the country-Western force in the Denver area. Here, he let us watch an old recording of his band rocking some stage in the area back in the day. 

We walked around a bit more with Mom and Shannon and had lunch the last day before departing for home. 

The trip back felt much, much longer due to being worn out from a busy but excellent vacation. Whew! : )