Denver Botanical Gardens and tidbits

Other than the zoo, the Denver Botanical Gardens was on my must see list for Denver - mainly because I spent so much time there when I lived here and I wanted to see how they had changed. Unfortunately, the zoo hasn't changed much and badly needs updating. However, the botanical gardens have been significantly expanded and are a wonderful place to visit.

The water garden is really a large area.  There were several ducks in the water garden but this one liked this lily pad. He was on it when I got to the water garden area and still there when I left the area about 30 minutes later.  He took a nap, moved around, stretched and then sat back down.

A lot of the flowers are what I see at every public gardens but still sometimes the picture is a little different as in this one.

South Platte River: On the way home, I stopped at a park on the South Platte River that I have driven by several times since I have been here.

A guy happened to be fishing just below some small falls. What is interesting about the South Platte is that it flows north and flows into another river before eventually flowing east.....

Next to this area of the South Platte are several big water reservoirs.  They were originally sand/gravel pits where millions of tons was mined to build highways, etc in the area. When the mining was done, the company was required to landscape the area and turn it into reservoirs used for recreation.

Blue skies where you can see forever: Because the skies are kinda hazy in KC and many other Midwest places, I have really noticed the brilliant, blue skies here. The skies here are like they are in Arizona. Back in the 1980's, air pollution was a problem and many times you couldn't see the downtown buildings due to smog.  However, the city has done a good job of cleaning the air up. Yesterday, I was outside here at the hotel and could clearly see the tall buildings downtown which is about 10 miles away as the crow flies.

Hard water: In KC, where the water is really soft, my hair is curly and nothing I do will keep the natural curl from taking over. Here, the water is harder and there is not a single curl anywhere on my head!  I almost miss the curls and body that my hair has in KC even though I am always fussing about having to deal with it.

Tomorrow I have some more paperwork to take care of so not sure what all I will be doing. Stay tuned.....

Misc tidbits from Denver

City Park:  Yesterday, I mentioned that I went to City Park but the picture wouldn't upload so couldn't finish the post about it. To me, one of the most iconic views in Denver is the one below.

The Denver skyline and mountains is visible in the past. The building in front is a pavilion and boat rental dock for the lake.

Bathroom doors at the zoo: This is something I have NEVER seen before!  In the women's restroom, all the stall doors have pictures of animals painted on them.

This is the view as you go into the stall and the below is the view from inside the stall.  Clever!

  

Weather: I will admit that I'm disappointed in the temperature out here.  A couple of weeks ago the weather was to be in the low 70's but it has turned out that it is in the low 80's.  Not sweater weather like I was hoping for. It was even warm up in the mountains over the weekend. 

Tourist attraction:  Imagine my surprise when I was looking at the rack of brochures for local tourist attractions and saw this one. 

Inside the brochure are Frequently Asked Questions, , explanations of the different types of marijuana, Do's and Don'ts plus a map of where it can be purchased in Colorado. 

Today I'm having lunch with Darryl and meeting his co-workers plus a couple of guy friends who are dropping by the shop while I'm there to pick him up for lunch. Should be interesting....  I have worked all morning on the computer catching up on emails.  I have a lot more "office" work to do after lunch.  Tomorrow I will get back to being a tourist. 

Updates from Denver

I couldn't believe that I haven't posted a blog updates since Sept 15th but life has been busy between Genealogy society stuff and travels. Anyway....I keep promising myself to do better and then slip up..... I'm in Denver visiting Darryl for 10 days.

Denver: I lived here 1972-1980 before heading west and eventually to Oregon. I absolutely cannot believe how much the area has grown since I left here!  The metro population in 1980 was 1,429,000 and nowit is 2,814,330. Then there was one freeway that ran east to west and one that ran north to south - bisecting near downtown. Now, in addition to the same freeways, there is a multi-lane freeway that circles 3 sides of the city. They are all packed with traffic. I couldn't believe how much traffic was on the outside freeway that I came in last Saturday morning - it was slow and go for miles with no apparent reason. I will say thought, that in spite of the population grown, the city had done a good job clearing up the polution that used to hang over the valley.

The drive out was fun!  I stopped to look at fields of sunflowers, the Monument Rocks out in the middle of nowhere in Kansas and finally the Van Gogh painting in Goodland. I have never taken black and white pictures with my cell phone but accidently did at the Rocks and really like this one.

Hotel: I'm staying at a hotel on the south edge of Littleton which is not far from where Darryl's house is. Here is the view from my hotel window.

There is nothing from miles and miles on south and west. Below is the picture I took this morning when we went for a walk.

The hotel is the little building on the left. It actually is a very large hotel...

Sunday: On Sunday I went to church with Darryl which was quite interesting and then we went to lunch with Ann and Lester - a couple from church. Everyone was very nice but curious. Many of the people in the Bible Study group made a point of coming up to use so Darryl would have to introduce me. Only 1 lady asked my last name and did a big double take when she heard it was the same as Darryl's. I'm sure there is a lot of speculation going on....  The pastor is young but very nice. He knew I was from Sarcoxie and goes through there on his way to visit his grandparents in Cassville. They probably know some of my dad's family that was from that area. After lunch, we visited the Hudson Gardens which is very much like the Overland Park Aboretum at home. Below is a picture from the gardens.

Yesterday we drove up into the mountains. When I decided on the dates to come out here, I hoped that I would get to see some fall color. However, I lucked out and am here when the aspen are in full color. The colors are beautiful!  The traffic up in the mountains was really heavy. Even parking at lots in the mountains was hard to find. At least we went on Monday instead of on Sat-Sun when traffic was at a peak. I have texted or posted a lot of fall color pictures on Facebook but here is one that didn't make it yesterday.

This was after we went over Kenosha Pass and dropped down into a valley. You can see that the mountains in the background are above timberline. I just like this with the stream, split rail fence and the background.  

Later....

Roaring River State Park, etc

I'll start with the ETC..... I have been really busy since Darryl left on Monday to return to Denver but decided to just take the time to do a blog posting. My desk was piled high with stuff to do after having been gone for most of 2 weeks. I finished the Quarterly in Springfield, IL but we had a Skill Building Class last Monday and I was up early getting stuff done for it. Then there was a committee meeting after the class and that added a few more things to my To Do List. Yesterday felt like a day at the office where I was at my desk working all day. Today will be another "work day."  But I am getting a lot done!  I leave for Denver a week from tomorrow so still have a lot to get done before I leave.

Yesterday I got an email that really made me feel good!  It was from a Historical Society west of here in De Soto, KS that asked me to come and do the presentation to them that I did here back in June on "Writing Your Family History."  Apparently someone from their group heard about it or was here when I did it in June. I am honored!  Now to work out the dates...

Roaring River State Park: The park is about 15 miles south of Cassville, MO, down in the Ozarks. I have heard about it all my life because my Granny used to tell me stories about it. Granny came from Kentucky in a covered wagon when she was 9-12 years old and they settled in the Cassville area. She said back then, they could hear the roar of the waterfall in the park from miles away. The last time I was there was in the mid-1960 when Darryl and I were there.  I set on the shore and read a book while he fished. It was neat to revisit the place but it was nothing like we remembered!  We though our memory was playing tricks until we ran across some old pictures in a display that showed it the way we remembered it. Back then, there was nothing there except the river and a few trout hatchery ponds. Now there are many more hatchery ponds and a conference center and store have been built.

The river start here - in a limestone cavern under a big bluff. Since it was dry, there was only a small amount of water coming down from the waterfall but is a major falls when there is a lot of water after rains. There is a natural spring 224 feet deep back in the cavern that supplies 20.4 million gallons of cold water a day. This spring is the source of the river that flows 4 miles into Table Rock Lake. The spring also feeds the trout hatchery ponds with the cold water that trout need. 

A closer look at the cavern and the little water coming down from above. The water is very clear. 

These trout were swimming around in the pool right below where I was standing when taking the above pictures of the cavern.  They were 12-24" long. 

When we were there last, the river just flowed flat wit some natural deep spots for the fish. Now they have built these pools with little falls all along the river. The river is restocked daily. You can literally see the fish swimming around in the water ignoring the fisherman. 

There was a really big storm there the night we were there with a huge amount of rain. The next morning there was a mist on the river that would float around in different areas on the river. We were walking along the river taking pictures and saw this person as the mist came and went. 

As we got closer, we realized it was a woman that was fishing. In some places along the river, you can't wade into the water but she was fishing in a "catch and release" area so could wade out into the river. It was absolutely a beautiful scene!

Besides the rooms in the conference center, they have remodeled this building with rooms for tourist. The lodge was originally built in 1934 to house CCC workers who built the original trout ponds, bathrooms, etc around the area. It looks right on on the river. 

All and all, it was a really fun trip. 

Tired! Exhausted! Happy!

I skipped the last class today when the hard drive in my brain said "disk full!"  I have had enough genealogy over the last 3 days. I have heard some wonderful speakers and learned more than I can apply in a year. I still have a list of stuff to do from the Missouri State conference that was in early August. I will admit to being a little star-struck here when listening to speakers that I see on TV genealogy shows, or professionals that are leaders in the genealogy world and people whose books I have. Josh Taylor and Mary Tedesco from Genealogy Roadshow are 2 of my stars. The 3rd person from that show wasn't here. It has been a great trip and worth the effort to come to the conference. There are 6 of us here from my home genealogy society so we have dinner together in the evening and rehash the day - who we liked, who we didn't like, what we learned, etc. I was very disappointed that one of the top genealogist in the country on source citations,  and is considered the top expert on the subject, read her presentation!   However, I don't anticipate doing another national conference until FGS comes to Kansas City in 2020. FGS is the organization that put on this conference.

The conference goes on tomorrow but I am heading home in the morning.  My brain has had enough so no sense spending the money for hotel, etc when I'm not going to get much out of it.  I have the syllabus for the classes so can look at them. I was going to stop in Hannibal but have decided to just head straight home so I can get caught up on some stuff before Darryl gets there on Sunday.