Day Five & Six (Part Four of Four)

This is the end of Peter's guest blog.

Peter Shea's Got Something to Say - Part 2

"Ross and I arrived around 11pm on Friday night. Ross and I were exhausted from the drive, but Frank… not so much. As soon as we arrived at Rina and Jason’s home near the south Denver neighborhood of Littleton, Frank ran out of the car and nearly collided with Scarlett, Rina and Jason’s three-year old Golden Retriever rescue. Of course, Ross and I were excited to see everybody, but Frank and Scarlett’s enthusiasm were difficult to match. The two pooches romped and rassled and ran around the house and into the backyard and back into the house again for nearly the entirety of the three nights and two days that we spent in Denver. The two dogs couldn’t have had a better time, and, really, neither could Ross or I. Rina and Jason and Denver were simply great.
The following morning, Rina and I took the dogs on a stroll around the block and returned to the house to find Jason in the midst of cooking scrambled eggs, sautéed veggies, and organic sausage links. A filling breakfast accented by several pots of French roast coffee, prepared us for an afternoon of hiking with our hosts, their friend, Rob, and his two Golden Retrievers. It was an intense hike through the mountains west of Denver both in exertion level and in terms of stunning natural beauty. I think Ross and I handled ourselves well and without complaint. Not surprisingly, Frank, Scarlett, and Rob’s dogs: Juno and Kona, also seemed to love the time outdoors. However, a little surprisingly, the dogs stayed active longer than us humans. Following the hike and beer and food at a nearby restaurant, I was done for and went to bed at a little after nine p.m. Ross and everyone else hit the hay shortly after that. The dogs didn’t last that long after, but still, that’s pretty good.
On Sunday, Ross and I went around Rina and Jason’s neighborhood and took on a few random chores, namely grocery shopping, picking up a new memory card, and having Frank shaved to resemble an overgrown Chihuahua with a hair-fountain springing out of his butt. Odd visual, right? Frank’s grooming was a preemptive strike against the hot air and powerful sun that we were anticipating during the remainder of our trip out west and through the south. He looks adorable, am I right? Seriously, he’s a sweetie pie.
After our chore run, we grabbed a bite in downtown Denver with Rina and Jason followed by a quick car tour of the highlights of Denver including the capital building and a few of the hipper neighborhoods where hip young Denverians do hip young things. Following the tour, Ross, Frank, and I split off to check out the college town of Boulder and the Left Hand Brewery, conveniently located near Boulder and its large population of beer-loving collegians. Both spots were a lot of fun, although the brewery gave us free stickers and coasters. So… I guess… brewery wins.
We spent one more night at Rina and Jason’s place before we pulled up stakes and headed “westward, ho!” For more on that portion of our journey, keep on readin’, all you hip young people."

And that's the end of Peter's guest blog and Denver.