Vacay 2025, Part 1 – Denver

 

My “Midwestern Adventure” came in two parts: the first, a visit to Denver and the second a solo to 5 states, friends and family, and 3 quilt shows. I wrote about my other travels here, here, and here.

My Denver trip was for a family reunion of my side. My oldest son spoke at a Conference, so he stayed on and family joined him. It was wonderful to be there with Hubby, oldest son, youngest son and fiance, and both my sisters plus one Hubby. My brother could not attend.

Denver has so much to offer! We all stayed at a VRBO in Lakewood that was actually nice. The past 2 years the VRBO has been less than wonderful with major issues that were not obvious from the write up. This one was lovely! My early morning walks did not include mountain views, but it was still pretty:

There is always some sort of beauty roadside:

We spent our first full day at the Lavender Festival at the Chatsworth Gardens location of the Botanic Gardens. What you can’t tell from the photos is the smeeeeellll! The air was filled with scent.

There was a great cover band playing that got the audience dancing:

It was HOT so it was good that there was some shade. You see the thunderstorm building in the background? It is the Plains, in the summer, so every afternoon there was some chance of rain/thunderstorms.

There was a great vendor area and I spied this unique stand with “Adaptogenic Sparkling Water”. Yeah right, what is that? It is based on……mushrooms! I know, eww. You do not taste mushrooms at all and the flavors were light and delicious. From their site: “Sēkwl is on a mission to bring the benefits of functional mushrooms and botanicals to everyday beverages without the gimmicks.” And yes, the flavors were indeed “so cool”.

The following day we visited the Denver Museum of Nature and Science which was excellent, the perfect attraction for a wide variety of interests. I spent most of my time in the nature area. The dioromas were very well done, not the stuffy, static ones I’ve seen in older museums.

Art inspiration was abundant:

I loved the special exhibit by Vasily Konovalenko, a Soviet artist who creates detailed 3D sculpture; individual stones create each color. There must have been 30 sculptures shown, each taking hundreds of hours of work. Most were on the whimsical side.

Also on display was one mummy as well as this colorful replica created after 2 years of research using the techniques of the time:

Okay, this was supposed to be a kid’s thing, these spooly type things. Yes, I did “ride” one and it was fun! Great ab workout. I need one of these for my home😊

The was for the zoo, despite the heat and humidity. The Denver Zoo is a conservation alliance and has teamed up with worldwide resources to preserve and help endangered species thrive. The Asian Elephant compound is home to 6 bachelor elephants. The habitat is huge – 10 acres with 5 different habitats, one of the largest in North America. I think this was 20 year old Bohdi:

Seeing a 10.5 foot wingspan Andrean Condor is impressive in real life:

Lots of pretty’s there too!

I also visited the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. They do not allow photos but I was able to get these photos of the opening reception for Ricky Tims‘ and Sue Sheman‘s exhibits (with permission) from Luana Rubin. I did not attend the reception.

Ricky’s work filled the main gallery. It was fascinating to see his work from his first hand quilted work, through his Caveman series, Rhapsody series, photoshop art, using bobbin drawing with thick metallic thread, intricate quilting, moving from commercial fabrics to hand dyed fabrics – what did I miss? True deep talent continues to emerge.

Sue’s work was in the Northeast Gallery. I so appreciate her work. She has a strong environmental message that she delivers with humor and a light hand. She paints her canvas with thickened dyes and then quilts. She travels extensively and uses her own photographs to create her work. Each quilt is filled with details that require a close look; her engineering background must surely contribute to that.

Part 2 or maybe 3 will cover my solo trek across Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. And I’ll post lots of Quilt National and Iowa Quilt Museum photos!

I’ll be linking up:
Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday