Travel

Laura drove out early so I got to fly out on Southwest after taking a taxi up to Omaha. I got to the airport so early that I had time to have lunch at The Hanger and enjoy a fine beer before boarding. I forgot how much I dislike free-for-all seating on Southwest, even though the rest of the experience is fine. You really get what you pay for, after all. Enjoyed a vodka tonic 🍸 on the plane as well.

Airport

I've never arrived at Denver International Airport (DIA) before so I explored their underground train system to finally meet up with my wife, who had already found Kittie and Danny.

Casa Bonita

After a brief rest at our condo we headed out to none other than the great Casa Bonita! For those of you who aren't familiar with this establishment, let me just say that it is an experience and one does not go there for the food, strictly speaking. I will say that that sopapilla and honey is delicious, however. I highly recommend the liter "casaritas" (the house margarita) too.

Tattoos

The highlight of Thursday was definitely seeing everyone get tattoos! I'm not big into tattoos on my own person but I can certainly appreciate the experience for others and I definitely lived vicariously through them. We strolled into No Coast tattoo parlor and they were very happy to have us. They are a talented crew.

Laura

Laura got a tattoo design that is thousands of years old! The tattoo is a modern take that was inspired by the Siberian Ice Maiden. Also known as "Princess of Ukok," she is a mummy from the 5th century BC, or 2500 years ago. The Siberian Times has even more pictures of the mummy and her tattoos.

Kittie

Kitty got a tattoo known as Vegvísir. It is an Icelandic magical stave that is to help guide a person through rough weather.

Danny

Danny chose a color screen cap from Futurama, known as "Welcome to Jurassic Tank."It is very colorful and bright! His tattoo artist had to work for 3 hours to complete it.

Rocky Mountain National Park

On Friday we ventured north to Estes Park and onward to Rocky Mountain National Park. The elevation difference was quite noticeable even as we arrived in Estes Park. After paying the entrance fee we looked at the map and decided to try and find the beavers and elk.

The beaver stop was a bit of a bust, it appears that the beavers had moved down river away from the boardwalk.

As we drove through the park we hadn't really seen any elk but on our was back out we noticed in the far distance of a picture perfect valley field there was a harem of elk and what seemed to be one bull. After parking nearby and trekking a short distance we found a nice big rock that we could stand on top of and view the elk from a safe distance. We easily stayed there for a half hour because it was just so, so beautiful. The valley held us in place as we viewed the Elk graze and occasionally the bull would charge at one of the does while making it's tell-tale bulging call.

Even if we saw no wildlife, save for the endless amount of magpies which are a local nuisance (but have beautiful feathers!), the mountains and trees are definitely worth it. Being out there can really leave an impression on you. A+ would view elk again.

Denver Art Museum

On Saturday we visited the Denver Art Museum. I was very glad to find that the museum had quite a diverse array of exhibits. I really enjoy classical as well as more modern styles.

This picture in particular was may favorite:

More info.

They also had a quilt exhibit, where this pixel art, before there was pixel art, quilt was hanging:

I'll be posting the rest of my images soon! Check out the rest of the photos!

Table Top Games

We decided Sunday would be a lazy day for us so we stayed in at our condo. Danny and I played each other in Android: Netrunner and later we all played Machine of Death.

Back to Work Drinking Game

Kittie and I are avid Back to Work fans, so we had to set aside some time to play the Back to Work Drinking Game. We pruned down our rule so that they could fit on one screen:
I'm pretty sure Danny and Laura were unsure as to why this was so exciting for us but it was fun for all!

Closing

I was so happy to get a vacation with Laura and it was truly awesome that Kittie and Danny could join us as well! Vacations are fun, but vacations with friends are twice as nice!