May 1, 2000, Monday- it was our pleasure to help Fran and Allan out with some "mechanical" things. It's not Allan's strong suit, so we were glad to help with hanging some 60 photos that had been sitting in boxes for the last two years, and to figure out how to tighten a loose top on their game table. It all went smoothly, and we all felt a sense of accomplishment after it was all done.
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Dinner was back into Denver with Debi, and catching up on her busy life between work and social engagements.
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May 2, 2000, Tuesday- we met Eddie and Patti for lunch at the Macaroni Grill for a great lunch, and time to catch up on everyone's activities. Eddie starts his term as the district governor of the local district's rotary club. He will be visiting up to 6 clubs per week, starting in July and will probably travel 30,000 miles within the state. Our hats are off to him for his dedication to a great humanitarian cause. They came back to see "the coach", where Patti would love to travel as we do, and Eddie just sees a vehicle too big and complicated for his world.
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In the early afternoon we headed the 20 miles to Blackhawk and Central City, for some low stakes gambling. It's been two years since we visited the area, and the number of big, new, and user friendly casinos was staggering. We wound up at the Mardi Gras casino with a large self-park garage. As soon as you were in your space, the golf cart whisked you to the casino entrance. Susan & I dined at very reasonable prices while being entertained by roving cajun musicians, men on four foot stilts, and other fun diversions. As for the gambling…at the five-cent machines, we found some very friendly machines, and after two hours, I increased my $5 investment to $20. Not bad for nickels! In fact, it was probably the best I've ever done. All, in all, it was a fun evening.
May 3, 2000- Wednesday- a day of culture. For the first time in a long time, we treated the mind by getting tickets to the Denver Art Museum. In conjunction with the Baltimore Art Museum, they had a wonderful Matisse exhibit. Susan got the honor of pushing me in a wheel chair so that I didn't exert extra effort or stand too long. The admission price included a CD-ROM headset, where you punched in the number next to the artwork, and you could get various levels of background information about each piece. Like most artists, he needed benefactors to support his lifestyle. His first bronze sculpture, about 2 feet high, took 2000 man-hours. How can you sell a work for that amount of time?
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In the evening we went to Debi's house and prepared dinner for her and three close girlfriends, Florence, Valerie, and Tamara. Amy, who just flew in from Boston, also came over to join us. It was a challenge keeping up with six ladies! Dinner, drinks and conversation were a blast…and a good time enjoyed by all.
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May 4, 2000, Thursday- after a few running around stops, Bill and Carol, jimmy's folks, came over to the coach and joined us for dinner and great conversation. During the day the landscape crew was working on getting the sprinklers into shape for the summer. One worker had been working around the coach for over an hour when he walked between the coach and the picnic table where I had Hobbes. As Jerry walked by, Hobbes walked over, nonchalant, proceeded to nip the back of his leg. Jerry wasn't phased and just said no big deal.
May 5, 2000, Friday- summer has returned to Denver with temperatures in the upper 80's and low 90's the last two days. I ran some errands in Cherry Creek, while Susan did lunch with Sally, and caught up on loose ends. Sitting for a few minutes outside with Hobbes, the park manager came over and asked to talk with me, out on the street. He didn't want to come over to the "dog". His book was open and he wanted to know the breed and details of the incident, etc. The general manager would review this permanent record over the weekend. Not good, since this is the nicest park in the Denver area, and I didn't want us to be tossed out into the wind. Ran around getting the new style plates for the Porsche, good shopping, and the annual shots for Hobbes, and came back to find an envelope taped to the door…explaining that the park has a zero tolerance policy. I kept reading to find out if we were being sent out of the park, but, I took the letter to be a warning. I explained again to Hobbes the importance of his behavior, and he signed a letter of understanding with the park and us. In the evening we watched the AV's win the western semifinals, on their way to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
May 6, 2000, Saturday- we joined Debi for lunch in Cherry Creek and shopping afterwards in Park Meadows. She and Susan were able to do some damage while I got some exercise trying to keep up with them. Afterwards we got to join Steve and Becky at Becky's for a great impromptu BBQ dinner.
May 7, 2000, Sunday- Good weather for my first real walk with Susan and Hobbes along the frontage road and side streets. It felt good to get out, and it was better then dragging through the shopping mall yesterday. In the late afternoon Debi, Steve and Becky came over for a steak dinner off the grill. We taught Becky to play Euchre, and she is a fast learner. Lots of laughs had by all! I had to be creative however, as the wind came up during our BBQ time, and necessitated moving the grill between Becky and Debi's cars.
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May 8, 2000, Monday- when we awoke the weather that started last night had arrived with a vengeance. The temperature was 40 degrees and raining. Well, it wasn't going to be a lawn chair day, so first off to the embroidery shop to approve the logos, shirts and hats before they were embroidered. It looked great. Next, having vacationed and lived in Colorado since 1974, and not having visited the Coors Brewery, seemed un-American, so today would be the day. Previously we visited the Anheiser Busch brewery in St. Louis, and a boutique brewery that was part of the Korbel Winery in California, but this was the best tour by far. The Coors operation runs five miles through the valley, and is the largest brewery facility in the world. Over 1.5 million gallons per day are shipped from this one location. Coors is also the third largest brewer in the country. That all being said, we toured each of the major components of brewing, from the fermenting kettles, to the hops heated germination rooms, to cold storage tanks, and finally to the packaging plants. We watch railroad cars being loaded, and learned that if you parked the rail car by your home, and had a six pack per day, it would take 79 years to empty the car of the 7200 cases that it held. Now that's a lot of brew. Naturally we stopped by the tasting room and Susan sampled the new citrus flavor Zima, and I did the Blue Moon unfiltered wheat beer. After a few sips of enjoyment, we finished our tasting ( it was only 11:30), but many people did the three glass limit. The tour-guide said that the next time we could request the short tour. That dispenses with the 50 minute walking tour, and goes directly to the tasting room.
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Coors disliked the tin can that was used since the thirties, and in 1959 developed the first all aluminum can, and, at the same time, started the first can recycling. Currently they still make aluminum containers for other brewers. In 1978 they introduced Coors Light, which now accounts for 70% of their beer sales. Their natural brewing process, the longest in the industry, includes 6 to 8 weeks of brewing time. As for the alcoholic content, Federal law prohibits the amount from being printed on the container, for fear that each brewer would be making stronger and stronger brews. Their beers range from 5% for the original, and 4.2% for the light, but in 5 states, the legal limit is 3.2%. During prohibition, they switched to nonalcoholic brews, plus milk based malts, and ceramics. No workers were laid off during the entire period.
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Whew, we deserved a good lunch after working so hard in the brewery, so we went to historic downtown Golden and entered Woody's Wood Fired Pizza. Although it wasn't on the low carbs diet the roasted garlic, onions and sausage were the best pie in several years.
As our remaining days in Colorado get less and less, we had to do Boulder's Pearl Street Mall. We found some wonderful gifts for Naomi and John's engagement, Deb R's birthday in June, and a present for Susan.
The temperatures were now down into the high 30's, but by tonight the rain had stopped, and we could walk Hobbes outside, much to his relief.
May 9, 2000, Tuesday- sunshine today. Temps near 70- a smile on everyone's face. Running in lots of directions today, for a change? Porsche service and embroidery and stores and restaurants and on it goes. Started at 8 and finished at 8. Just a half a day….but we are getting closer to Friday- where I hopefully will get out of the immobilizer as we start towards Decatur Saturday.
May 10, 2000, Wednesday- it was time for the Jeep service, so we dropped it off down the street at John Elway/ AutoNation for an oil change. I had also heard some vibrating on rough roads from the front end, so I asked that they check it out. The found some loose bolts on the metal plate that is on the front end that holds the car to the tow bar. Sometimes you have to trust your instincts that something isn't right. Could you imagine if I let it go, and arrived at our destination and found that the car was gone? The tow-bar and the safety chains both attach to the same plate.
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The best part of the day, however, was Steve and Becky picked us up and we had dinner with Becky's folks and brother. First we went to their house in Evergreen, that had one of those lots that sat on a mountain top, and provided views in at least 360 degrees. Then, the home was more then magnificent. Becky's Mom had gone back to school for a master's in architecture, and designed the entire home. It was sooooo tastefully done, reflecting their personal tastes, while making the most of the natural materials and the fantastic views. Dinner, at a local Mexican restaurant, finished a great evening.
May 11, 2000, Thursday- Susan got her hair done, and Hobbes and I caught a Starbucks coffee in Cherry Creek. Sitting outside at the table provided a constant stream of folks asking the usual questions, with Hobbes being the center of attention. Afterwards we picked up the embroidered goods for the Alaskan trip….all of it looked great. Dinner, with Lani and Bill, their date night, provided a fun finish for the day.
May 12, 2000, Friday…we went to the doctor, took and x-ray, and sort of got half a loaf….based on what we thought would happen. He was pleased as punch…the bone had healed properly, and we would next start on the flexibility. He wants the brace/immobilizer worn for two more weeks, but now I can start to flex the ankle while seated, and can start swimming. At the end of two weeks I can start to ride the bike and swing the golf club. So, six weeks down, and two to go before we should be fully ready to rock and roll.
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We caught Don and Myrna at Cherry Creek Shopping Center for two hours of catching up on the last few months. They are doing well and have had some magnificent travel to the Orient, and are heading shortly to Norway and some fiord sightseeing.
Dinner was with Debi at the Vespa Dipping Grill, downtown, a yuppie watering hole with some excellent food.
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