My goodness, isn’t Denver a treat!  First we got to enjoy Kansas City and then Denver, each great in its own way.  But we had to get from one to the other first; a 10 hour drive.    

We drove from Kansas City straight across Kansas and part of Colorado to get to Denver.  Kansas is long, and every mile looks like the one that just passed.  It’s a big flat prairie heavily agriculture and irrigated.  In the distance you will see what looks like tall buildings, maybe a city, but as they come closer you realize it’s just another giant silo.  Totally flat and almost completely straight, this road would have been bizarre if we had not passed one state park after another.  Prairie state Park, this and that camping ground, Lake this and that; every 30 miles or so we passed another exit to a park.  I’m sorry we did not have time to get off and see a few.  It was intriguing and it was a good introduction to how the Western portion of the United States is all about the outdoors.  From here on, all the highways and byways will be littered with outdoor recreation.  Each name more fascinating than the last.  

But I digress, let’s get back to Denver.   After grubbing our way through the south, (even the hotels were grubby) we were looking forward to a BIG treat.  We had rented a corporate apartment with DayDream Corp, right in downtown Denver.  It’s a big newish building with lots of amenities and a pool.  We were going to luxuriate for a month and that’s exactly what we did.   

What an apartment.  I’m pretty sure this was not the apartment they showed online, but we weren’t going to complain.  A fifth floor corner apartment, it had floor to ceiling, wrap-around windows looking out over downtown Denver.  In front of us the windows looked out on the rightly infamous, newly renovated, Union Station with its soaring shade structure and neon lights.  Up the street to the left you could see the top tiers of Coors Field.  To the right, the mountains shot up like a backdrop to the city.  YOWZA!  The whole resembled nothing less than a ginormous broadway play set.  The whole time we lived there I kept waiting for people to start singing and dancing on the street.  It was fabulous!

Denver, the city, lived up to its dramatic scenery.  It’s chock full of lovely little neighborhoods, stupendous parks, absolutely top-notch farmers markets and adorable museums, not to mention one of the nicest botanical gardens we had ever visited.  (We went twice).  

Denver sits on the South Platte River which is not navigable nor is it a big river.  It did have gold though.  The origins of Denver actually start with the Native Americans who were settled in the area before the first white explorers came. Since it was prime site, they were pushed off and Denver was established as a gold mining town.  First there was gold and then there was not, but there was mining further in the mountains, so then there was transportation and supplies, then there was the railroad, then there was WW2 manufacturing and then oil and gas and then the federal government and then John Hickenlooper, governor of Colorado was instrumental in revitalizing downtown and now here we are with a vibrant, if slightly covid-quiet downtown, nice little shady suburbs, lots of interconnecting bike and hiking trails, tons of parks, theaters, and a museum area.  It has its problems, most notably a high number of homeless, but it is a a lovely city.  

It is also a town surrounded by other little towns, once mining towns, that are now great diversions.  Within a two hour drive you can get to Fort Collins, Boulder, Golden, Evergreen, or Colorado Springs.  Each of these towns has reinvented its identity and economic structure to good advantage.  

Out time in Denver was all about socializing.  Mary has a friend and she invited us to all kinds of parties and events, drove us all over town and took us out to eat.  Our friends Maria and Christina spent two days in Denver with us before moving on with a cousin for some high mountain cabin time.  We had a blast with them.  After spending so much time with Mary, only zoom calling people, it was nice to spend time with real live people and real live conversation. It was revitalizing.  

We had a great time.  Between the social engagements, and the dramatic apartment views and some much needed downtime, (plus I pulled my back muscles) we actually missed a few things we should have seen.  We have made a plan to return to the state of Colorado and explore for three months.  The northern part is different from the southern part and both are different from the middle part.  Plus, there are SO MANY STATE AND NATIONAL PARKS!  How can I ever get to all of them?  Denver will see us again.  

Some highlights of our trip.

The Botanical Garden

The Colorado History Museum

Union Station and the surrounding downtown

City Park, the surrounding neighborhood and its Saturday Farmers Market

32nd Ave in the Highland Neighborhood

Red Rocks Amphitheater

Evergreen

Boulder 

Fort Collins

Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Preserve