Late Friday, Sept 12, I picked up Jon & Jiji at DIA. I left Margaret & Barry at home with Dennis, after we all had dinner of Pad Thai. It would be a full house this weekend; thank goodness for our finished basement!
I was totally excited about this weekend because it was J&J’s first visit since we moved to Denver, AND because Barry, Jon, & I would be able to work out the last minute kinks for our upcoming trip to Morocco.
On Saturday, Barry & Margaret set out to explore the rock in Eldorado Canyon, while we went out for brunch at Udi’s, briefly walked around Red Rocks Ampitheater, and then had ice cream in Golden. It was a gorgeous day, and I really enjoyed walking around Golden-since prior I had only ever passed through on my way to climbing.
Back at the house, I said goodbye to Barry…he had to go back to Indy. And, then Margaret accompanied us downtown Denver. We walked around 16th Street Mall, and went out for Cuban food at some obscure Cuban Restaurant just a few blocks off the Mall. I think for the price, the food was good. My fish soup came with a very large shrimp in it, which scared me because the head was still attached. It’s beady eyes were staring at me, so I yelped and quickly shoved it across the table.
Jiji came to my rescue, and quickly cleaned the thing so I could munch on the tender meaty morsels. She is a wonder with food…culinary goddess. I have called her up when stumped in the kitchen, but in this instance, I got the live “in person” help that I really really needed! Unfortunately, I did not think about taking a picture of the food.
After Dinner, Margaret had to scoot back to Colorado Springs. We went home as well and we watched a movie in our basement.
Sunday, Dennis had his regular Ultimate League games, so we went and spectated. His team did very well both games…”The Green Machine” ended up winning the league later in November, so it was a very entertaining 2 hours of play.
After Ultimate, we went home and made burritos. After lunch, we took a leisurely drive up to Estes Park. It was a chilly afternoon, a nice clear day.
We went to the Stanley Hotel and took some pictures (and we made fun of a bride’s wedding gown which was black & white). It reminded me of a prom dress…since we were all feeling so romantic, we then decided to check out Rocky Mountain National Park.
The Elk were mating, so we pulled over (like all the other tourists) and watched in awe as Mr. Big Daddy Elk Dude was attempting to pass his gene’s on to several unsuspecting females. This guy was getting around! Jiji said she felt like she was invading on Mr. Big Daddy Elk Dude’s privacy, so after a few minutes, we decided to go back to Denver.
It was a great weekend visiting with Jon & Jiji. A little short of time, but I know we’ll be seeing them again within the year. Next time, we’ll go to Seattle and they can play host/hostess!!!
Tags: Cuban Food, Estes Park, family, Golden