Colorado 4th

We spent the 4th with Dan and Karen and their family in Westminster. They have a view that is spectacular! We saw at least six different fireworks shows from their house. We met many of their friends   - I think they had nearly 50 people at their place! 

We had the pleasure of meeting their granddaughter. She is a sweety! 

The next day we did some sightseeing and had dinner with some of Mike's old co-workers at a great place ( Aji's) in Boulder. Thanks for a lovely time! 

Colorado Visits

We drove to Colorado Springs to see our Navy friends Cordy and Rod. They took us to all the local sights, including old Colorado City and historic Manitou Springs.

We had planned on driving up Pikes Peak, but the clouds got in the way. We did get to a great bakery though for some Dutch treats. 

Colorado Springs is a great spot and we had a terrific time! 

Colorado Has Breweries

We spent a day in Aurora at the Buckley Air Force Fam Camp. We woke up to a beautiful sunrise. 

We went looking for a quilt shop I wanted to visit, but it was closed. We did the next best thing. We found a highly recommended microbrewery and visited it instead. The Dry Dock had some cool beers! My favorite was their Amber. 

Tuesday morning we headed to Fort Collins, as I wanted to see where one of my favorite beers (Fat Tire) is brewed. The New Belgian Brewery is a hugely popular destination! We couldn't book a guided tour as they are filled through August. We did a self guided tour and tasted beer! And I saw the original drawing of the label! 

We bought some beer to take with us. 

Tuesday evening we went to celebrate the retirement of Mike's previous boss, Dan Gibson. It was held at another microbrewery, Fate Brewing, in Boulder. 

From what I understand, we have only touched the surface when it comes to Colorado breweries. 

We took a late evening walk on Pearl Street, which I remembered from previous visits as funky and fun. It rained on us, so we ducked into a restaurant called Riffs. It was a fortunate find - small plates of great food.  

Pearl Street itself was otherwise a disappointment. It has been gentrified too much, although some of the street performers still looked a bit as remembered. 

 

Colorado Wedding

We were at the lovely wedding of our nephew in a beautiful setting in the mountains this past week end. It rained just a little during the wedding, which is good luck. 

The bride and groom planned for every possibility. We had umbrellas, blankets, and a great tent to celebrate the occasion. The music was neat and there were games to play. 

We spent time with family and stayed in a casino in nearby Black Hawk. I am not a casino fan, but the hotel was lovely and in a beautiful mountain setting. 

Mike, his sister, her spouse and I had a great time! 

We got to spend time with the parents, brother Logan and one of the newest members of the family, Teddy. He is adorable! 

Our great nieces, Tatum and Olivia, were flower girls. They had a fun time with their cousins. 

All in all, it was a lovely family time! 

Quilt Shops to Colorado

We have been on the road for almost a week now and I haven't posted. But I don't think many would be interested in hearing about the dozen quilt shops we have stopped at while traveling. I had a couple of favorites, Appletree Quilting in Columbia, Missouri and

Uniquely Yours in Salina, Kansas. 

These two shops stood out with friendly service and lovely offerings. As I am following the Row by Row trail this year in my quilt shop visits, it is interesting to see the approaches the various shops are using in the designs of the patterns and in their kits. These two shops have great instructions. And their designs are nice too. 

We made it to Colorado  and will be spending the next week here. 

Super Quilt Seminar in Delaware

The photo is of me with Ricky Tims at the Ricky Tims Super Quilt Seminar I attended this last week end. The beautiful quilts in the background are his quilts. He is extremely talented and a great teacher! He is also a terrific musician and performed on Friday evening for all the attendees and guests. My spouse loved the concert! 

Ricky's co-presenter was Alex Anderson! Her book on starting to quilt was my first quilting book. I look at it when I need to review how to do things correctly. The photo below is one I managed to get with her. 

Mike took me to the seminar and then went off on his own to visit a car museum. On the first evening I met him in the bar after class. He and Al, a man sitting at the bar, were having a great old time. Diane, Al's wife, came over right after I got there. She is a terrific quilter with her own quilting book coming out soon. She and I sat together the next couple of days. She was not the only quilter I met. I kept telling her she looked like Alex Anderson. Here is a photo of them. Judge for yourself. 

I learned all kinds of techniques and was able to see both Ricky's and Alex's quilts up close. What a treat! The photo immediately below is Alex's quilt and the other is one of Ricky's photo quilts. Just wow! 

Here is a close up of the center of his award winning Rhapsody quilt. I think it will be a long time before I reach this level. Ricky says we can all do this. Right?!!! 

Easter Walk on the Patuxent Branch Trail

As we travel we try to find nice hikes or paths to take in the areas we visit. We forgot that we have so many nice paths in our own area of the country. Today we decided to take an Easter afternoon walk, so I looked for a place nearby. We drove over to the Patuxent Branch Trail, only a few miles from home. We took the 4 mile round trip from Guilford Road to Lake Elkhorn. 

I was admiring the ground cover that seemed to be everywhere in the floodplain forest the path generally follows. It was mostly just green, but in a few areas the blooms were starting to appear.  

When we got home I looked at the Maryland wildflower guide, but did not find the flower. I expanded my search and discovered that this plant's common name is Lesser Celandine and is considered invasive in this area, as it displaces the native wildflowers. 

It was still a nice walk on a warm day - finally! This has been a cold winter.