Wayfaring Day 142 - Day 1 Arvada

November 18, 2025 Tuesday

This morning we slept in but when we woke up we had water. Yea! The host had left a couple of messages and asked for us to call him when we got his message. David was dialing the number when the phone rang with an incoming call from the host. He was very apologetic and said he would refund one night of our stay which was very much appreciated. We had a friendly conversation and moved on.

It was a beautiful day in the Denver area today but we took our time getting ready. Bu about noon we decided to drive over to Red Rocks and check out the Amphitheater, visitor center and trading post. It’s only about a 20 minute drive from our Vrbo. Red Rocks is an amazing place in so many ways: the history, the engineering, the natural beauty and everything that makes the amphitheater a famous venue. We drove up to the visitor center parking and made our way into the amphitheater. Everywhere you look the views are inspiring. After a while at the amphitheater we walked back to the visitor center and enjoyed the interesting history and musical themes presented there. From the visitor center we drive over to the trading post and looked over their wares for a little while.

David wanted to hike the Trading Post Trail so Amy hung around the trading post and did some reading. The hike is only about 1.4 miles and only took him about 45 minutes to make the round trip. The hike takes you through the to rocks and along ravines and is filled with an endless supply of photo opportunities. David took several as he made the circle though the red rocks. He saw a deer and a couple of interesting birds which he was able to photograph. Not that the deer was a big deal, we had seen about a dozen on the drive from the visitor center to the trading post. He enjoyed the hike and checked out the trading post once more before climbing into the car.

It was about 3:00 when we left the trading post. We dropped a pin at the town of Kittredge for a drive up Bear Creek Road for a scenic drive. It was a nice drive on winding two lane road along Bear Creek. Most everything was closed for the winter so we stopped at the convenience store in Kittredge and got some drinks and bugles for the drive back. We did make a couple of stops along the way each way mostly to take a look at the creek which was very picturesque against leafless trees and evergreens. There was a little traffic on the way back but not too bad.

After a little break at the Vrbo we drove over to Old Towne Arvada to do a little shopping and get some dinner. It wasn’t easy to find a free parking space but we finally found one. We visited the Army Navy Surplus store and spent about $15. Then we stopped in at the candy store and spent about $8. We walked a couple of streets and decided to eat at the Pizza restaurant that we had tried to get into when we were here a couple of years ago. It was not crowded tonight and we were able to get seated immediately. There were a couple of pieces left to take home for later so we walked to the car and drove the half mile back to the house.

We talked on the phone or texted with several family members watching some tv between communications with everyone. At our stage in life it seems there are always family members who are having health issues and right now it is about as intense as it gets. We will be home in a week and be available to help out with or take care of some of our family who could use some help.

Thursday afternoon our grandson, daughter-in-law, our son and the team will be arriving in Denver. We will pick up our grandson and his mother since they are not included in the ground transportation for the team. We will have some time each day to do a few things other than basketball. They all fly out Saturday night so we will have to take our grandson and his mother to the airport that evening. We fly out Sunday afternoon. We are looking forward to some good times with them this weekend.