So this weekend was a surprise… not to me, but to my brother Michael. My brother Al and I flew out to Colorado to see him and surprise him for a birthday present (well, a little late, but not too late!). We had set the whole thing up with the help of Carrie, Michael’s wife. The look on his face when he got home that night… it was PRICELESS!
Let me start at the beginning. Our flight left Moline at 7pm, and you’ll never guess who was on it with us… Miss Iowa 2008 and her traveling companion. Al sat by Abbey and I sat by Catie. WooHoo!! Catie was a very nice and engaging young lady, talking with this old man the entire trip - she could have been doing a number of other things but she talked with me. I’ve put her blog on my blogroll at the side “Adventures of Abby and Catie” (not the same Abbey).
Anyway, back to Michael. We had our “catch up” time that night. The next morning, Grant was up as well. Let me tell you, he is one cool little three (almost four) year old. And, just like all my other nephews I have become “Unky Bill”; we thought it was funny because it was Uncle Al and his friend Unky Bill. We had breakfast a Mimi’s Cafe - let me tell you, they serve a great omelet! The muffin that comes with all breakfast entres is a meal in itself, as big as a softball and delicious. I actually ate enough there for the entire day, but it didn’t stop me from eating the rest of the day!
When we got back to Michael’s place, we ordered our tickets (later) and then just sat around and talked some more - with Grant as a major part of the conversation. Al and I both said we’d like to tour one of the microbreweries, and I think Michael and Carrie interpreted that as “let’s eat” and took us to the Walnut Brewery for a late lunch. I just had an appetizer and their Buffalo Gold ale - and was it good. Al said the same for the St. James Irish Red Ale that he had. One nice thing about this is that it is in campus town in Boulder - there was plenty of scenery IF you know what I mean!
When we returned to Michael’s place later, we watched a little TV (I think I napped, but I can’t say for sure!) and soon Nancy, Carrie’s mom, came over to take Grant over to her place for the night. It was nice to visit with her. And then, off we went to Coors Field to watch the Rockies play the Cincinnati Reds. It was an exciting game that the Rockies eventually won 7-6 due to a bases-loaded double by Matt Holliday. At the end of that double was a play that I thought I’d never see except in the movie Major League. Willy Taveras, the runner on first, was so close to Clint Barmes, the runner on second, that when he ran to score he had to slide to a different side that Barmes - he was that close and the ball was thrown home. Wow! The other Wow was where we sat. We were on the Wells Fargo Club Level. From the Rockie’s web site: “Behind the Wells Fargo Club seats are spacious, glass-enclosed, climate-controlled concourses. There are two full-service bars near sections 221 and 236; an ice cream, Java City espresso and sweet shop at section 223; and specialty stations offering a rotating menu of selections such as fresh pasta, hand tossed salad and hand-carved sandwiches near sections 221 and 236.” The big thing for us is that they were going 2 seats for the price of 1! What a deal! What a game! Another good thing about going to the ball game is that we met up with my mom’s brother Don, who lives in Littleton. It was nice to visit with him.
Sunday we were up early and off to the airport. We left Michael’s at about 7:20am; our flight left about 10:15am. The return flight was uneventful (but packed) and we got back about 1:20pm. The only bad thing about the whole weekend was that I had to do laundry when I got back!
