July 10, 2006: Centennial & Denver

Kathy cooked some fluffy pancakes and eggs for us this morning. After breakfast, the boys played in the back yard with Molly the dog, pictured here with Abby. A few games of air hockey, a load of laundry, and a blog entry later, we were ready for the Children’s Museum of Denver. Driving north on Broadway into hazy downtown Denver, I could tell by the dense traffic how much the city has grown.

The colorful museum is sandwiched between I-25, the aquarium, the South Platte River, and pretzel-shaped Invesco Field, which used to be the New Mile-High Stadium. We had lunch at the museum with our boys, who had a fine time dressing up as various small animals and climbing through caves and over mountains.

Afterwards, we walked to the banks of the river and looked across at Elitch's amusement park, where I rode my first roller coaster, an old-fashioned, clanking, clattering, wooden behemoth. (The park is a Six Flags franchise now.) The boys listened to the screams emanating from the various thrill rides and speculated about which one was most likely to cause Tommy to throw up. Next time, we promised them.

We bought gas at $2.83 a gallon and drove back to Centennial on I-25 in slow-moving rush-hour traffic. (Is that an oxymoron?) The traffic should improve soon, however, since extra lanes and a train line are about to open. The corridor is lined with dozens of high-rise business complexes.

Kathy made taco salads for dinner, and we relaxed on the patio with beer and conversation. The evening's temperature was perfect. Thanks, Mark and Kathy, for your hospitality!