At Home on the Highways: Discovering Denver

Clouds filtering the sun on Highway 6

Beautiful sunset in Golden, Colorado on Thursday

Thursday, April 13, was a day for catching up on laundry now that the drain from the washer was repaired. We also had personal and Driving School business to catch up. It was also time to plan some exploring. We had been advised that the wind could suddenly kick up without warning and did indeed need to pull in the awning. Some clouds came in and we closed up the coach. Otherwise, the weather was perfect, along with a beautiful sunset.

Valerie's happy place

Valerie had been longing to eat at a favorite restaurant, The Black-eyed Pea, so we decided that since we needed to get out for some shopping, to stop in the Lakewood location for dinner. They have a great senior menu with lots of variety at reasonable prices. Unfortunately, they closed most of the restaurants with the exception of a very few in Colorado and Texas years ago.

Friday, April 14, we caught Denver's RTD light rail W train at the nearby Jefferson County Government Center. The day pass was $9 or $4.50 for seniors, and parking at this particular location was covered and free. We rode approximately 45 minutes, past both the Rockies and Broncos' stadiums, to the Union Station stop and walked another 5 minutes or so along a tunnel with numerous bus stops, and up to the actual refurbished 100 year old terminal.

Inside the Union Station Terminal in Denver

Crawford Hotel at Union Station, Denver

Exterior of Union Station - in orange neon letters it says 'Travel by Train'

There was a hotel, The Crawford Hotel Denver, and a number of shops. We arrived around lunch time, so we stopped at Acme Delicatessen for a quick bite. George wanted to ride the A train out to the airport, just to see more of the city, so we hopped aboard one of the trains that departs roughly every 15 minutes for another approximately 45 minute ride.

A glimpse of the Denver skyline from the window of the A Train

We spent some time around the airport, built in 1995 and covering more area than any other in the United States, and enjoying some art and sights we missed when we've been scurrying through security to catch a flight. A lot of controversy surrounds some of the dark imagery depicted in the many murals, with some even believing the airport's shape forms a swastika as seen from the air.

Approaching DIA on the A train

The really long escalator at Denver Airport

Lots of pictures were taken along the train routes, the train station, and at the airport, and we'll just put some of the better ones here. We would have done more exploring, but fearful that the trains may begin to fill up late afternoon, we decided we needed to get home to the dogs. They are always happy to see us.

Not the most welcoming art -- may be a matter of opinion?

Saturday, April 15, was a slow day. We made plans for more exploring and a visit with Valerie's daughter in Boulder on Sunday. We fought our way through an extremely busy Costco store in Littleton for some things we needed, and George picked up a few pair of reading glasses at the Dollar Tree.