What to do in Denver?
After TBEX, Stephen and I ended up staying in Denver about two weeks. One week with John and Kara, Stephen’s old friends, and following week for dogsitting for them. We worked, most of the time. But we had big and small excursions with Kara everyday while John, Kara’s husband and also Stephen’s old friend, was away for his business trip. I quite liked the domesticated lifestyle for a couple of weeks, touring the place with a friend. We couldn’t go 14-ers like we planned. But the fun was not only on the top of 14-ers, it was everywhere. Here are the things we did with Kara — the wonderful world of Swedish meatball, beard-net and more.
IKEA


Have you been to IKEA? Moreover, did you know they have a cafeteria? I had a vague idea of what IKEA was, but I had no idea they serve food at their property. This day, we wanted to do something indoors since the heat was too hot to be adventurous. Denver’s dry summer is not so easy to bare outside. We went to a post office, AAA, and we decided to check out IKEA. Kara strongly recommended to go. I’ve never been one after all! The Swedish meat ball was wonderful. If you want to visit one while in Denver, there’s one in Centennial.
Celestial Seasonings tour

Yes, they were very strict: beard-net does exist.
As a long time fan of Celestial Seasonings tea, I should’ve known that their factory is in Boulder, CO. But I didn’t. I knew it’s not going to change my life or anything, but I decided to dedicate an hour of my life as a tea drinker and a fan. Their tasting program is applauseable; you can taste whatever kind you want. Remember to visit toilet before a 45 mins tour. From the company’s history to the packaging, we looked around the factory with our hairnet. The most impressive part of the tour was the mint room. It felt like accidently washing my face with toothpaste. But very refreshing, for sure. There was no photo policy in the factory. But I drank a lot of tea, so we’re good.
Brewery Tour


You have to visit at least one brewery when you are in Colorado. The very first, and the very best American beer I’ve ever had is from Colorado, and a numbers of others are also based on here. Dale’s Pale Ale of Oskar Blues, if you were wondering. There’s just something about the good quality water, must be. Starting Avery, we visited Oskar Blues, Great Divides. We conquer the samplers, every single time. Beer making is a fine art that created by passionate and talented people.
Dinosaur Ridge


Dinosaur Ridge shows the great aspects of traveling in Colorado. The road is in the valley of geological features and fossils. I thought the trace of dinosaurs are only be seen at a special museum, like Zigong Dinosaur Museum. Not in Denver. Simple walking train in Dinosaur Ridge, and you’ll see as many as dinosaur prints you want. Moreover, you’ll see the beautiful Rocky Mountains on the top of the ridge. Great place to see the amazing geological features from afar.
Looks like you hit up most of the free activities in Denver! We also went to the Celestial Seasonings factory tour. Isn’t it crazy how it is so automated? There were like 5 people working in the whole factory. Love the beard net by the way 🙂
It was good to hang out in Denver for a while. It’s a pleasant area to live! The weather was so hot though. But I liked it. The tea tour was good but shame they didn’t allow us to take pictures! Well, if we did we would have a bunch photos of the robots in the factory. 🙂