September 30, 2017
What a nice day for our small family. We rolled into the hospital at about 8:00 am. Josh was in the middle of breakfast. We asked him if he wanted to get out of the hospital for a few hours. He readily agreed. So we packed up, checked out, loaded Josh in the car (sans wheelchair), and took off for Red Rocks and Boulder.
It was a beautiful day here in Denver this morning -- blue skies and about 70 degrees. We rolled into Red Rocks about 20 minutes after we left Craig Hospital, parked at the top circle parking lot, and walked down the slope to the famous amphitheater. We pointed out all the large rocks to Josh and he seemed duly impressed. Here's a photo of Josh in front of Creation Rock.
After a little more walking around and a failed attempt at souvenir shopping, we headed on to Boulder. We enjoyed the drive along the front of the Rocky Mountains.
Boulder is a beautiful city, sitting at the foot of the "Flatirons." The Flatirons are striking, slanted, reddish-brown sandstone formations jutting out of the ground. They look like huge irons on the face of the mountains. Flatirons have wide bases and form triangle as it narrows upward into a point at its summit. Here's a picture that doesn't do it justice.
We drove into downtown Boulder and walked around Pearl Street Mall for a while. This is an outdoor mall area that runs for a few blocks with various shops and restaurants along the sides. Very quaint and fun.
Mary had remarked just this morning that she wanted to buy some geodes. Well we found a shop in the mall that sells geodes! And we found one we really loved. Since the price was $3,500 we didn't buy it, as the banks were closed so we couldn't get a second mortgage on our house. ;-) We did buy some Rocky Mountain chocolate next door though.
We went looking for a Thai restaurant for lunch. Relying on Mr. Google's Maps application, we ended up at a small Thai restaurant in the heart of the University of Colorado campus. It took a while to park (we were very surprised at the traffic in this relatively small college town) but we finally got some lunch. We're planning to let Mr. Google know that the Thai place is good but not great -- a little overrated on Maps.
After lunch we drove towards the mountains a few miles and enjoyed the view. We then turned around and headed back to the hospital, getting back at around 2:20 pm. We were all pretty tired at that point, so we tucked Josh into his bed and headed back to our apartment to catch the second session of General Conference (a televised semiannual LDS church broadcast). We stayed awake through most of it. So nice to receive some spiritual nourishment.
Then, back to the hospital. Josh was up and working on a puzzle and coloring with his tech. We gave him the option of eating at the hospital or going out to dinner with us. He chose the hospital. The folks at the hospital gave him a hard time about this choice, but I gotta say, that hospital food is really pretty darn good.
Mary and Paul headed out to find the best calzones in all of Denver. Again, consulting Mr. Google, we found a place about 10 minutes up the road from the hospital that got very high marks. So we went there. Paul ordered a meat lovers calzone and Mary ordered a veggie option. (Big surprises there.) Again, we feel compelled to send a note to Mr. Google to let him know that the calzones were good, not great. Mary's was really not even good.
Back to the hospital to get Josh ready for bed. Mary showered him, the nurse gave him his medications, and we tucked him in. The three of us sat for nearly an hour and watched the back half of "Up" on his TV. Nice movie. Nice to watch as a family. We left him there at about 9:45 and went back to our apartment.
Mary is a little too excited to go home. We don't leave until Friday, but as soon as she got up this morning, she began packing. Despite our busy day today, she packed four boxes and a large suitcase.
What made the day a good one wasn't the sights (although they were nice) or the food (good, not great). It was being able to spend at least part of a day away from the hospital doing things that normal families do. That was really very nice.
What a nice day for our small family. We rolled into the hospital at about 8:00 am. Josh was in the middle of breakfast. We asked him if he wanted to get out of the hospital for a few hours. He readily agreed. So we packed up, checked out, loaded Josh in the car (sans wheelchair), and took off for Red Rocks and Boulder.
It was a beautiful day here in Denver this morning -- blue skies and about 70 degrees. We rolled into Red Rocks about 20 minutes after we left Craig Hospital, parked at the top circle parking lot, and walked down the slope to the famous amphitheater. We pointed out all the large rocks to Josh and he seemed duly impressed. Here's a photo of Josh in front of Creation Rock.
After a little more walking around and a failed attempt at souvenir shopping, we headed on to Boulder. We enjoyed the drive along the front of the Rocky Mountains.
Boulder is a beautiful city, sitting at the foot of the "Flatirons." The Flatirons are striking, slanted, reddish-brown sandstone formations jutting out of the ground. They look like huge irons on the face of the mountains. Flatirons have wide bases and form triangle as it narrows upward into a point at its summit. Here's a picture that doesn't do it justice.
We drove into downtown Boulder and walked around Pearl Street Mall for a while. This is an outdoor mall area that runs for a few blocks with various shops and restaurants along the sides. Very quaint and fun.
Mary had remarked just this morning that she wanted to buy some geodes. Well we found a shop in the mall that sells geodes! And we found one we really loved. Since the price was $3,500 we didn't buy it, as the banks were closed so we couldn't get a second mortgage on our house. ;-) We did buy some Rocky Mountain chocolate next door though.
We went looking for a Thai restaurant for lunch. Relying on Mr. Google's Maps application, we ended up at a small Thai restaurant in the heart of the University of Colorado campus. It took a while to park (we were very surprised at the traffic in this relatively small college town) but we finally got some lunch. We're planning to let Mr. Google know that the Thai place is good but not great -- a little overrated on Maps.
After lunch we drove towards the mountains a few miles and enjoyed the view. We then turned around and headed back to the hospital, getting back at around 2:20 pm. We were all pretty tired at that point, so we tucked Josh into his bed and headed back to our apartment to catch the second session of General Conference (a televised semiannual LDS church broadcast). We stayed awake through most of it. So nice to receive some spiritual nourishment.
Then, back to the hospital. Josh was up and working on a puzzle and coloring with his tech. We gave him the option of eating at the hospital or going out to dinner with us. He chose the hospital. The folks at the hospital gave him a hard time about this choice, but I gotta say, that hospital food is really pretty darn good.
Mary and Paul headed out to find the best calzones in all of Denver. Again, consulting Mr. Google, we found a place about 10 minutes up the road from the hospital that got very high marks. So we went there. Paul ordered a meat lovers calzone and Mary ordered a veggie option. (Big surprises there.) Again, we feel compelled to send a note to Mr. Google to let him know that the calzones were good, not great. Mary's was really not even good.
Back to the hospital to get Josh ready for bed. Mary showered him, the nurse gave him his medications, and we tucked him in. The three of us sat for nearly an hour and watched the back half of "Up" on his TV. Nice movie. Nice to watch as a family. We left him there at about 9:45 and went back to our apartment.
Mary is a little too excited to go home. We don't leave until Friday, but as soon as she got up this morning, she began packing. Despite our busy day today, she packed four boxes and a large suitcase.
What made the day a good one wasn't the sights (although they were nice) or the food (good, not great). It was being able to spend at least part of a day away from the hospital doing things that normal families do. That was really very nice.
Great writing, Paul. Thanks for giving me a great adventure. It was fun (even though the food was a little disappointing; probably because you've become accustomed to Craig's cooking).
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