Colorado - October 2018
After  the worst September (weather wise) we can ever remember we headed out to explore Colorado.  We stopped in Estevan to visit with our family before heading south.

We arrived in Longmont Colorado on October 21 and were fortunate to be able to stay with our friends Larry and Suz.  They have a big spot to park an rv right in their yard.  We were able to hook up to power and water, have a beautiful grass area right beside us, a guard dog and the "park" even featured a week of fun and tours.  We saw a lot of the area and are very thankful.

The weather was very good while we were there, not a drop of rain and it was warm except when we went up high in the mountains. But hey what do you expect, that's how mountains roll!  The first night we had dinner at their house and their son Scott and his girlfriend Lynzi were there too.  We also got a tour of Longmont and Niwot,  and other surrounding communities.  It is such a gorgeous area with areas of parks and just natural land set aside by the communities.

We decided that the weather for Monday and Tuesday looked good so we went up to the mountains to Vail and Breckenridge area.  We stayed overnight in Dillon.  Larry knows a lot about the area so we were very fortunate to be able to see and hear about so many things.  Although as I sit to write this blog it is a little jumbled up in my head so I may need to be corrected.

  This is the lovely restaurant we had supper at in Dillon.  A most amazing view and excellent seafood chowder.

 

this is an old building from 1890 or so in Vail

this is a huge ski area in the winter and as the season is not really in full swing so it was a down time for hotels, restaurants and the little shops.  We did have fun walking up and down the streets looking for bargains.  I managed to find myself 3 cool Colorado t shirts as well as a few other things

A few of the ski hills were open but not a lot.  It was just so beautiful to drive the area and look at the gorgeous resorts and very expensive homes.

I could not get enough of the beautiful aspen trees.  The white bark in contrast with the mountains and pine trees was breathtaking

This was a lovely area by a reservoir on our way to Breckenridge - or as the cool kids say - Breck.

The next two pictures were from walking around surrounding area.

After that we went on a lovely drive up to Central City and Black Hawk.  The city's are historic mining settlements that have been rejuvenated into hotels, restaurants and casinos.  We got some free money to try our luck and had some fun giggling, getting our picture taken in a photo booth and collecting fancy necklaces.  Oh and lunch - lets not forget lunch!!  It was a jam packed couple of days and we were all content and tired by the time we got home the next day.

On Wednesday we went on 2 tours.   The first one was the Leanin' Tree.   It is a greeting card printing factory in Boulder.  It is still managed by the man that founded the company, Ed Trumble, who is now in his 90's.  His family also manage the company that has been in operation for nearly 70 years.
The company has some very nice values and it seems they treat their employees very well.   They still use an off set printing press and most of the equipment is from the 1970's.   All of the employees are trained in all the jobs so I feel that is a huge benefit for all of them.  The tour was free and we even got to pick a free greeting card afterwards.
Then we went to Celestial Tea and as luck would have it we had time to kill before the tour.  We had lunch and shopped in the gift shop.  My tea cupboard is very full now!  They also had iced and hot tea to sample.   Not only that but we got free hats!

We walked the tour and learned how they source their ingredients from all over the world.  It smelled very nice.  They have a room just for the mint - you guessed it, called the mint room.  Cleans out your sinus real good!  It was really interesting watching the boxes get filled,  closed and wrapped.

The next day we got an amazing tour of the sheriffs office, the jail and as an added bonus the SWAT and Bomb squad .

 

 The jail was very interesting and we were told about the different pods and procedures for keeping inmates as well as staff safe.  The office and jail were all in the same complex.  I found the interrogations rooms and finger printing area as well as the rooms for special operations super interesting.  We were allowed to see the bomb suits.  The mask itself weights 17 pounds.  I have no idea how they can carry all that weight around and still walk.  These suits cost 26,000. each.  They have sort of like long underwear to use under the suit.  Sewn into it is a cording in which cold water circulates to keep them cool. The robot and others like it are very adept at getting into places and manipulating items to prevent humans from getting into dangerous situations.

Next we went to the Budweiser brewing plant in Greeley for a tour.

  The tour was fun and the grounds and surrounding area is just beautiful.  We even got to sample beer.

 

These huge stainless barrels hold 11 million gallons of beer.  Dang, that's a lotta beer.

The tour was very well laid out and they actually made the building with a tour in mind.  This is where they filled and put the caps on the cans.

Stay tuned for part 2