Yet, we saw a lot. I wanted to focus on Denver, the biggest city by far in the American Rockies. This was our chance to visit the capital and largest city of Colorado.
We were not disappointed, and had a very fun, but full, day.
The day began in the morning, at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Preserve, which may or may not be within Denver city limits proper. But it is a surprisingly large expanse of land meant, as the name suggests, to serve as a sanctuary for local wildlife.
It took a while to see some of the animals, but we patiently waited, and ultimately were rewarded for trip our patience. For the last time on the trip, we saw bison, up close and personal. We saw many dear, and a ton of prairie dogs, as well. Of course, prairie dogs can be plainly seen throughout the greater Denver metropolitan area, but with this wide open space, you really got to see them engaging in their everyday activities, as well as seeing the numerous dug up holes that they make home.
I had seen prairie dogs once before, but it was at a zoo back east in New Jersey. Seeing them here, out in the wild, was a totally different experience. They are tiny little creatures, and they are cute. My son fell in love with them. Yet, they apparently can be dangerous because of the diseases that they potentially carry, which surprisingly may include the bubonic plague.
After visiting the wildlife sanctuary, we headed to the city limits of Denver proper. We went to Denver Museum of Nature and Science. It is a bit like the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, mixed with New York City's Museum of Natural History. Very cool and educational. It was informative in many regard, and we both benefited from our visit.
At the conclusion of the visit, we saw a movie about pandas at the Imax theater inside of the museum. It, too, was informative while also being fun.
It was a great day thus far, but we were now quite hungry. And so we headed to Denver's oldest steakhouse, the Buck Horn Exchange. This place is decorated with just a ton of stuffed animal heads and guns and old images of the Wild West, as well as plenty of other stuff.
We ate well. I had beef, while my son tried elk. He did not like it, and so I wound up finishing it myself. Elk was something that I, too, had never tried. It was not bad, and understandably reminded me of venison, which I had only previously had a couple of times before.
After that, we went to the Broncos stadium (I think it is called Invesco Field, if memory serves me correctly), and took some cool pictures there, too.
Then, we went back near the Denver Museum of Nature and Science again. It was closed by then, but there was a beautiful park behind it that I could not help but notice while we were there. It seemed almost to be like Denver's answer to Central Park. It was large and gave out on a breathtaking view of downtown Denver, and the Rocky mountains behind it. My son and I read a little bit (we are reading Jack London's White Fang), before we explored some more. It is a really nice park, and we eventually found ourselves back by the museum, facing downtown Denver. Pretty soon, the sun began to set, and the mountains became clearerthe later it got.
We got some amazing views, and some of the pictures hopefully reflect that. But it was virtually dark, and time to start heading back to get some sleep for our last full day of this trip.
Here are some pictures from our visit to Denver:
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