Ski. Wii. See.

OMG! Denver Rocks! Actually, so does Broomfield, Red Rocks, Nederland and Golden! Neal and I just returned from an incredible trip to Colorado. Ski. Wii. See. We went to visit Troy and Jennifer McConchie and they showed us the most wonderful time.



We arrived last Thursday and after a quick change and finally meeting Maker’s Mark and Senor Beans (the McConchie pooch patrol) we headed to LoDo. This is the view from their back yard!



We walked Larimar Square, ducked into The Market (recently featured by Giada DeLaurentis on her Weekend Getaway show), perused the original snap button shirts and other western wear at Rockmount and bought a Colorado cookbook from The Tattered Cover bookstore.

That night we had dinner at the The Ninth Door – a chilled out tapas bar with and incredible menu. We had garlic and sherry mushrooms, fried avocado, flash-fried baby squid with all sorts of sauces, filet with a rioja wine reduction and baby back ribs with pineapple brandy sauce. Yum. Plus, we had warm chocolate cake with a ganache center served on an orange crème anglaise. Double yum.

We topped the evening off with a little Guitar Hero. Neal and Troy battled to Sudden Death on at least eleventy songs.

The next day, we hit the slopes! We traveled about 45 minutes west of Broomfield, through Boulder and up the mountain to Eldora Ski Resort. I only fell twice! Seriously. We had an hour-long private refresher course with Tom – our trusty instructor from Mt. Vernon, Ohio. He taught us the basics and we were on our way. We skied until about 3:30 and headed back to Broomfield.

Check out a few videos of us skiing.

Troy and Jennifer made the BEST post-ski meal – perfectly grilled flank steak, baked potatoes with the works (including fresh bacon – omg) and an incredible salad with asian dressing. We played Wii and I beat the boys at Tiger Woods Golf (the front nine at St. Andrews).

Denver Pix - Golden, CO

The next day, Neal, Troy and I headed to Golden, Colorado for a tour of the Coors Brewery. (Jen was responsible and stayed home to study for an exam) We learned all about brewing and drinking beer. Did you know that they brew 1.5 million gallons of beer each day? Did you know that Coors Light in the can are best to drink before the 119 day mark? Halfway through the tour, between the mash urns and the kiln, we sampled the freshest beer ever. It was delicious. At the end of the tour, we watched thousands of Silver Bullets being bundled up and sent out in their silver boxes. Then we drank more beer! We each tried three beers: two Blue Moons and their seasonal beer: Rising Moon.

We hit downtown Golden for lunch at the Old Capital Grill and cruised down the main street before heading to Morrison, Co – the home of the best amphitheatre in the world.

Red Rocks. The site of some of the best concerts we’ve never seen by Grateful Dead, Phish and Widespread Panic. My dream to be on stage with the band finally came true!

This is a pic of me with Rose the Buffalo.


Red Rocks is the site of some of the best concerts we’ve never seen by Grateful Dead, Phish and Widespread Panic. My dream to be on stage with the band finally came true!

This is the band we jammed with:

We hijacked Troy's Guitar Hero Guitars and hit the stage!

This one's for the fans.

This one's for the album cover.

Contemplating the trip up to the top.

the view from the top

That night the four of us went to Buca di Beppo – a fun, family-style Italian restaurant. They gave us a tour of the kitchen and sat us near the Vatican Room (with a bust of John Paul in the center of the table so that you always have an audience with the Pope!) My favorite thing was the fried mozzarella and the ½ pound meatballs!

Denver Pix - Sunday

On Sunday, we hit the slopes again. We arrived early and had the slopes to ourselves for at least an hour. We had fresh powder and a beautiful day. Jennifer was brave and hit a few of the blue trails while the rest of stuck to the greens.

After lunch at the best dive pizza/sandwich joint in Nederland (southern fried chicken tenders) we headed back to Broomfield. We took a nap and enjoyed the sunset.

Here I am with Makers Mark and Senor Beans - watching the guitar gods rock.

I can't tell you how much fun we had. Everything was WONDERFUL and if you're ever in the area I encourage you to stop at La Maison McConchie. They are the best hosts!

Denver Pix - Frozen Dead Guy Days

On Sunday - we made our last pass through Nederland, CO and did our part for the 2008 Frozen Dead Guy Days celebration. What is that you ask? In a nutshell, Grandpa Bredo is kept on dry ice in a Tuff Shed storage building somewhere in Nederland for cryogenic preservation. On the first weekend in March, residents celebrate Grandpa with coffin races, a slow-motion parade and a frozen dead guy look-alike contests.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_Dead_Guy_Days

Here we are in the town's roundabout with an ice sculpture of Grandpa.

Boy, this town sure can pick'em.

One of the best features on Troy's vehicle (a BMW X5) was his sun roof. It was HUGE! On the way down the mountain, we were able to check out the Rocky Mountains in the best way possible.

Most of the way down, we watched the blue sky and played spot the climbers/crazies:

Ski Bunny

Ace Skiing

That's Troy in the background.....with the Woooooo!

Ski Me

Greetings from Eldora Ski Resort

What a Great Trip! More to Come......

TTFN,

Bessie