After a ridiculous 2-hour delay, my mom arrived for her first Colorado visit at 7:30P on Thursday! Once we collected her luggage, we whisked her to Hamburger Mary's, to sit out on the patio for dinner & drinks (for the first time). {Chris & I had to grab dinner, just the two of us, because of the flight delay ~ we had drinks and sandwiches at Toby Keith's.} So, all three of us enjoyed drinks while my mom also had one of the famous burgers. We got awesome service from Lio, who had been our waiter on our first visit, and Jackie! They kept us entertained!!
Friday, the 4th of July, found us a bit groggy, after arriving home so late. I made us a breakfast of an oven-baked apple pancake and turkey sausage links, along with fresh red seedless grapes and blueberries. We packed up a picnic lunch and considered listening to the Longmont Symphony at Thompson Park; apparently, it's THE thing to do on the afternoon of the 4th, as the park was packed and there was no close parking to be found. We drove on by and headed toward Boulder, taking the scenic route from 66 to 36. We showed my mom the house where JonBenet Ramsey was murdered, the house used for the outside shots in Mork & Mindy, the Flatirons from Chautauqua Park, the UC-Boulder campus. To my surprise, Pearl Street Mall was hopping! I really thought, due to the holiday, practically every shop would be closed. I guess they do it up and have the Boulder Art & Jazzfest for the holiday weekend. We strolled among the tents of wares, Chris and I grabbed a coffee at Caribou and soon we were all a bit hungry. We grabbed our cooler, snackbag, water bottles and a blanket and headed over to find shade on the grass in front of the county building. We ate PB&J sandwiches, carrots & celery, grapes & blueberries while watching a man make giant bubbles for the kids with his homemade mixture (a combo of Dawn dishwashing liquid, light Karo syrup & water) and equipment (poles and rope). My mom couldn't get over being able to sit on REAL grass! The day was comfortable, tho we had to dodge some raindrops here & there, and it never hit the high of 91 predicted! Thankfully!! We gathered up our stuff, before all falling into naps, and hit up Walnut Brewery for brews & the giant pretzels!
After not sleeping well the nite before, none of us knew if we would be able to even stay awake for the 9:30 fireworks!! Chris came up with a great idea....jump in the car and just head over to the field just outside our neighborhood, where the hot air balloons take off. It was perfect! Not only did we see the Longmont fireworks display, but we saw firework to the south, the east, the southwest and the northwest!!! Then, Chris just turned the car around and we were home in less than a minute! No hassling with traffic! (Unlike the nite before, when we got stuck in the Denver traffic after Hamburger Mary's due to the fireworks at Civic Center Park!!!
On Saturday, the temps in Longmont were to be in the mid-90's, so we decided to head up to the High Country, where it was sure to be cooler. I went to kickboxing and then came home to make a breakfast of scrambled eggs (with quinoa, green onions and celery), sautéed zucchini, toast, blueberries & grapes. Then, we were Estes Park-bound! My mom's first time IN the mountains!!!
Since it was a holiday weekend, we saw more people than we have on the other three trips Chris and I have taken there (2011, 2013 and 2014). It was comfortably cooler and the river was full. The sound of that water moving down the mountains and across the rocks is so peaceful. There is a place we would like to stay, Silver Moon Inn, as the water runs past and provides such a peaceful respite. (We will stay one nite in the Stanley, too, of course!!) We even saw three guys on inner tubes, which is really the only type of "river rafting" I care to do.
We took my mom to Grubsteak, where you can get elk, yak or buffalo burgers. We discovered this little gem on our last trip. I got elk, while Mom & Chris got yak. All exceptional!
Then, it was time to make our way back down the mountain. Something my mom did not enjoy for even one second. (I don't blame her, it's not one of my favorite things in the world either.) She said this will be her one & only time in the mountains because she has no plan to EVER make a drive like that again.
After running a couple errands on the way back, we landed at home to veg the remainder of the evening. I baked a Tuscan lasagna, that I made last week and had frozen, with garlic bread and salad. The lasagna is a keeper! We all loved it! It was easy to make in advance and Chris & I can eat it for days!!! We watched some UFC prelim fights, then started on the Netflix series "Orange Is the New Black". Yes, we are behind...but my mom has an account and hadn't watched it, either. It was another "late" nite for all of us...after only watching the first two episodes of Season One!
A somewhat leisurely Sunday morning of scavenging for breakfast: rye sourdough toast for Mom, PB toast for me, eggs with the last piece of apple pancake for Chris. We decided to take Mom for a little "culture" by sharing beignets at Lucile's Creole Café. We thought we were going to be the heat of the day, but, boy, were we wrong!! Ah, well! We sat on the patio, anyway. Tho I don't think my mom was all that impressed, Chris & I sure enjoyed our beignets and chicory coffee (with equal amounts of ice water to beat the extra heat!!). To continue our leisurely Longmont-centric day, the three of us enjoyed the comedy of one Miss Melissa McCarthy inside the A/C of the Twin Peaks movie theatre. We went to see "Tammy" and, as we had hoped, the movie was hilarious! MM, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates and many others kept us laughing the entire time! I don't care what the critics have to say! It's just pure fun! We rounded out our evening with a homemade chicken potpie and salads, while watching a couple more episodes of "Orange Is the New Black".
Mom's trip was capped off with a dispensary visit....The Farm in Boulder! This was the ONE thing she said she must do! A couple items were purchased and a few pictures were taken! ;)
I hope that my mom enjoyed her time and we were able to show her much of what there is to love about Colorado....this may be her one & only visit.
Mom's trip was capped off with a dispensary visit....The Farm in Boulder! This was the ONE thing she said she must do! A couple items were purchased and a few pictures were taken! ;)
I hope that my mom enjoyed her time and we were able to show her much of what there is to love about Colorado....this may be her one & only visit.
