Mile High Denver

Day 5 started with making our way to Denver. A bit of a last minute rush as the flight time was half and hour earlier than I had put on our itinerary (I must have missed updating that change) but we still made it it good time. We grabbed Starbucks before jumping on our flight and were stoked to see they now do Flat Whites over here!!! We were flying a really budget United flight so didn't get allocated seats until we got to the gate....which we hadn't realised so we ended up sitting one behind the other, but no so bad for a short flight. I think the guy on the aisle seat in my row was definitely suffering a true Vegas hangover, but was apparently heading home 14k richer 😜
After spending the first afternoon in Denver we realised it's not quite what we thought it would be! For starters it is a lot smaller....only 600k population and nowhere near as redneck as we expected. We were thinking there would be a lot of people wandering around in cowboys hats but we have only seen 2 the entire time we have been there. Mandy has since explained the political status of the state and it is very divided. We spent the first afternoon exploring the city, with our hotel being in the prime location we were 2 blocks from the 16th st mall which is the main attraction in the city. It runs the length of the CBD and is closed to traffic. The only vehicles using the mall is the free bus ferrying people from one end to the other for free. Other than that you can rent bikes or scooters or take a horse and carriage ride. The mall is lined with shops, bars, restaurants and street entertainers. We found the highest rooftop bar in Denver and had a drink while watching the sun setting over the Rocky Mountains, which was a very cool setting!
Day 6 we started out with a pretty nice sleeping and a cruisy morning, then Mandy came and picked us up at lunchtime. Grant had to take some stuff up to the Salvation Army Camp in the Rocky Mountains and with no set plans we decided to head up and meet him there! The landscape is not too dissimilar in places to parts of NZ but on a much bigger scale. While driving up there the landscape changes very suddenly and you feel like you are in a whole new place. We can certainly see why they were named the Rocky Mountains!!
The Salvation Army Camp is beautiful. It is nestled in the mountains and made up of log cabins and beautiful stone buildings that seamlessly blend in the the landscape.
After checking out the camp we headed to Estes Park, which is a township near the top of the mountains, to have dinner.
Logan had an Elk burger.....apparently much like beef. We wandered through the countless sweets shops and even a Christmas shop that I'd there all year round. It is exactly what you expect an American mountain town to be like with breathtaking views of the peaks every way you look. We also drove past the infamous Stanley Hotel, which is where Stephen King wrote The Shining.
After driving up via Bloulder we drove back to Denver via Big Thompson Canyon to try and see some wildlife. The Longhorns sheep were in hiding but we saw and elk casually munching on the grass in someone's front yard, a deer, and some rabbits. There were some random lightening strikes on the drive home, thunderstorms seem to be following us! It's a weird climate in Denver with the altitude (it's called Mile High Denver because the elevation is 1 mile above sea kevel) and the mountains down the side. It's a fairly dry heat, we have mainly been around 28 degrees but lots of random rainshowers.
Day 7 was another nice cruisy day where we headed our to lunch with Grant and Mandy at Dave and Buster's which is a restaurant with a massive arcade inside, so you get game tokens with you meal as part of your combo. That was a pretty fun afternoon and we even spotted a squirrel in the trees in Grant and Mandy's backyard and a groundhog on our way back from lunch.
Dinner was at the local strip mall at a grill that served Bison (super yum!) And a walk home through the neighbourhood. It is your classic suburbia you see on TV with every house having a porch with rocking chairs on them and an American flag!
Gearing up now for heading off to Dallas tomorrow!

Photos : https://1drv.ms/f/s!AsbHvsl8mGaZgd86R6nmb5P0Z8NmkA