After a wonderful day and night in Denver, I was able to spend time with my family in Longmont and Johnstown. My dad is enjoying his retirement and has begun to confuse people on if he lives in Colorado or New York! He does live in New York, but has been able to travel whenever he wants so he came for Easter!
Of course going to Longmont means, Winchell's fritters! Rhonda, my dad's friend from high school, knew very well that I'd want some and she dropped off half a dozen for us!
Easter and the day after we spent time together and Tuesday Grandma, Dad, and myself got on the train at Union Station in Denver to travel back to Grand Junction. My dad raved about this ride and insisted that we all take it together some time. To get from Denver to Grand Junction you have to take I-70, but the train goes a different route, a route you can only see from the train. It was really quite beautiful and we saw about 10-15 elk relaxing in the sun near the mountains and big horn sheep up high on the side of a mountain!
Thankfully my next door neighbor was able to pick us up from the station. We went to a place called Spoons Bistro and Bakery for dinner. All the proceeds from the meal goes to HopeWest, a non-profit hospice, palliative care, and grief support organization. The food was great, but knowing that it was going to such a great cause made it even better. I highly recommend their warm pear salad! Dad and I went to Kannah Creek Brewing Company for a beer before settling in for the night.
The next day we took a trip I've been hearing about since I got here, going to see the Grand Mesa. The Grand Mesa is a little less than an hour from my apartment and is the largest flattop mountain in the world, standing at 10,000 feet above sea level. On this flattop during the summer, people enjoy fishing, kayaking, paddle boarding, hiking, swimming, and looking at the green trees and colorful flowers spreading across the land. Unfortunately, it is still winter, but we enjoyed the beautiful drive!
We went to a little coffee place on the Mesa, called Blink, where we got breakfast 'smothered', meaning we had green chili covering our meal. It was delicious! Not to mention they had great iced chai tea.
As Omi says, "Three generations on the Mesa!".
Later in the day we got our nails done before Dad and I cooked some turkey burgers back at my apartment. If you look in the picture below, you can see my fish Franklin in his bowl! He is still doing great and has been enjoying Colorado as well.
The next morning we went to Pufferbelly Station Restaurant. My dad and I noticed it when I dropped him off last time at the train station and decided we should check it out the next time he is here. It was really good, even though I accidentally spilled an entire cup of water on myself at the table. We went for a walk on Main Street and I had Dad get on the bike one last time before they started their journey back to Longmont.
After working 4 nights straight, I made plans with the gentleman my dad and I met down in Montrose (in a previous blog post you can read more about him). He and his wife invited me to Ted Nelson's Steakhouse. Before meeting them for dinner, I stopped at Horsefly Brewing Company. When we were there last time, Bill, the gentleman we met, told us how great the outdoor patio is in the summer. It was a sunny day so I sat on their patio and enjoyed a refreshing Scottish Ale.
Bill and Jowelene treated me to a wonderful steak dinner and even better company. I look forward to the day we get to enjoy a meal together again!
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