December 2015Having been to Denver just a month earlier for Thanksgiving, we were fortunate to spend quite some time here again at the end of the year. This trip ending up consisting of Denver for Shabbos, Hawaii for a week, and then back to Denver for another 10 days. You can read all about the flight bookings, our first Shabbos in Denver and our incredible week in Maui over
here. Now, it was time to return to Denver for 2 more Shabbosim and a week of Coloradan activities.
Christmas, Friday, 12/25 - Shabbos, 12/26After flying from Maui to LA on Thursday, we spent the night at an airport hotel before catching an early Christmas morning SW flight to Denver for a measly 4,299 SW points (divided by 2 when you consider the Companion Pass). The airport felt quiet, but it could have easily been due to how early it was and not because of Christmas. The uneventful flight got us into Denver with plenty of time till Shabbos. Our second Shabbos in Denver was as nice as the first, with Davening at EDOS and wonderful family meals.
Getting greeted by a cowboy in the airport. That's Denver for ya.Sunday, 12/27Today we went to the
Denver Aquarium, which was very nice.
An insanely old turtle.Otters!We saw these black-and-white striped fish in Maui!Cool tunnel you can walk through and have sea life swim over you, including sting rays.For some reason, they have a few endangered tigers in an Aquarium? The size of their cage brought up feelings of Blackfish...
Finding Dory #classicThose TEEEETH!!!Aren't these poisonous little guys so beautiful?They also had a cool area where you could touch sting rays.
After a fun morning, we headed to our favorite in-between-lunch-and-dinner spot...
Bonnie Brae!
After catching Mincha/Maariv at
EDOS...[/i]
...it was off to the East Side Kosher Deli for dinner.Some of their fantastic wings and ranch sauce.Their classic bourbon burger.My wife's favorite since she's been a kid - chicken nuggets. That wraps up some #SundayFunday!
Monday, 12/28We started the late morning off by going to the
Cherry Creek Mall. It's on the mid- to high-end level, and looks very nice inside. After shopping, we headed over to
Brooklyn Pizza for a late lunch. While I have been very critical of this place in the past, they really changed things around, and the pizza was very tasty. Glad for that!
Nothing too exciting at night, as we just stayed at home.
Tuesday - 12/29After a chill morning, we got in the car and drove out for a free tour of the Kosher
Hammond's Candy Factory. Their website said they don't take reservations in advance, so we just went and figured we'd go on whatever tour was next when we got there. Unfortunately, the place was packed when we got there, and the lady behind the counter rudely told us that all the tours were booked for the remainder of the day! We asked how that could be if they don't take reservations, and she just rudely said, "Sorry." Frustrated, we left, but maybe one day we'll return...
We continued on to our next stop -- more shopping.
This time, we went to the really nice, outdoor
Outlets at Castle Rock.
Turns out there was a ton of Kosher chocolate at
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.
We headed out as the sun was setting and got a gorgeous look from the parking lot.
Back in Denver, we stopped by
King Soopers, one of the main super market chains in Colorado, to pick up some stuff for dinner. (It's actually located in the same parking plaza as Brooklyn Pizza.)
In the evening, we went out to
Monaco Lanes for some bowling.
Wednesday, 12/30On Wednesday, we were ready to experience our first day of Colorado snow. We debated between going skiing or snowtubing, but when we researched the costs and considered the anticipated 0 degree weather in the mountains, we decided on snowtubing. The roads were not too kind what with snow coming down for a good portion of the journey, but my father in law handled it superbly. On the way up to the mountains, we were treated to some gorgeous views.
Finally, we pulled into the city of
Winter Park.
We had already decided on which company/hill we'd be going with, but there were several that we passed as we got to
Colorado Adventure Park. Thankfully, it was also a bit warmer - at 12 degrees - than the forecast predicted.
Our hill looked like a fluffly, white blanket.
The view of the mountains behind the parking lot was quite special.
Whoever brought their husky out for the day wins the awesome award.
Now, here's where things went bad. We went into the office and found out that they had an estimated 1.5-2 hour wait until we could get on the hill! They have a limited number of people that are allowed on the hill at once and everyone pays for either 1 or 2 hours of tubing, so we had to get on a waiting list and just sit around. You never really saw more than 5 people at the top of the hill at once, nor more than 20 people going up the lift at any time, which meant that there was plenty of time that no one was tubing down. I really wonder where they came up with their numbers, because it seemed like they could have even doubled their capacity and everyone would have still been safely enjoying their afternoon. Almost 2 hours in, they told us it would be yet another hour. It was quite frustrating, but we weren't going to just go home. We stayed warm by the campfire they had set up, and eventually got our turn to take the tubes and head up the hill.
Going down had an exhilarating feeling to it, although I'm sure the skiers here will say it's nothing compared to skiing. Yeah, yeah. Part of the hill was smooth, but part of it had 2-3 bumps set up where you could actually catch some air. Some times we went alone, others in double tubes, and sometimes all of us went together by holding onto each others' tubes. All in all we went down probably close to 10 times in our hour.
We had a blast and then headed back to Denver where we, once again, went out to the
Deli. As always, the chips and salsa on the table kept us busy while our food was being prepared.
The chicken soup was very good with a homemade taste to it.
I then went for the shnitzel sandwich, which came out as a completely fried chunk that I simply couldn't even bite into.
I courageously asked for it to be replaced, and the next version was
much better.
After dinner we called it a night, and that's it for a fun, Colorado-filled day!
New Year's Eve, Thursday, 12/31Today, we really relaxed by just sticking around the house for most of the day. Towards the evening, we went to our uncle and aunt's house for a New Year's party, where we had an amazing dinner, played games, re-watched some of the Broncos-Patriots Conference Championship game, watched a movie and had some Bonnie Brae New Year's ice cream cake. Yummmm.
New Year's Day, Friday, 1/1 - Sunday, 1/3On Friday, we went bowling again, hehe, and then spent a 3rd wonderful Shabbos in a row in Denver. On Sunday, we headed to the airport, passing by the famous Bronco.
I know, I know, these pics were in the Maui TR.We said our goodbyes and headed into the airport. At the self checkin kiosk, I realized that my boarding pass didn't say TSA Precheck on it! So, I tweeted to @SouthwestAir, and while waiting on line to check our bags, they responded that it was typed in wrong, updated it, and when we got to the front of the line, the agent re-printed me a new boarding pass. Gotta love it. We flew through security, got on the train and had enough time to pick up some
Coffee Bean before our SW flight back to NY (at an amazing 9,574 SW for 2 people).
What an amazing 2.5 weeks, from the Rockies to Maui and back, topped off with a beautiful picture from the sky.