Denver

Today we helped the Searles pack up before we all left the condo in Veil and headed towards Denver. The Searles decided to do one more bike ride so we dropped them off at the trailhead and said good-bye. It was fun to get re-acquainted with them. They are a great family! We then made our way to Sports Authority Arena where the Denver Broncos play. I booked a tour of the facility for us. Since Jeff grew up in Colorado, he has adopted the Broncos as his team. He said that he can remember watching Monday night football with his family or listening to the games when they were on Sunday. The arena is actually a new stadium (replacing the old Mile High stadium). I actually really enjoyed the tour. It was fun to sit in an executive suite and see where the sportscasters report on the game. NBC Sports was also there setting up to broadcast the game on Sunday against the 49ers (which the Broncos won and Payton Manning threw his record 510th touchdown). We saw the visitors' locker room and even snuck a peek into the Broncos locker room. I think my favorite part of the tour though was actually being out on field level. It was cool to see what the players perspective is during the game while thousands of spectators look on.

Danny trying football gear on for size. It drowned him!

Dallin hanging out in front of John Elway's plaque in the Sports Hall of Fame at the stadium.

Danny and Dallin looking onto the field in the executive suite.

Dallin and Danny in the visitors' locker room. Check out the carpet - it was specially designed to disorient anyone who is in there for an extended period of time. Sneaky!

Me and my boys on the field.

The boys sitting in a granite kicking tee outside the stadium.

Dallin trying on the giant metal chin strap.

Danny's mouth isn't quite big enough for this mouth guard.

The boys on a giant replica of a face mask.

Dallin taking a swing at the location of the old home plate from the old Mile High Stadium.

We ended the tour at the gift shop but decided the prices were a little too high and eventually found a Walmart where the boys purchased some hats and I got a jersey. After we left the stadium, we drove around the downtown area and visited the Capitol Building. It was a beautiful building built in the early 1900s. We got to peek in the govenor's office and saw the marker outside that marks one mile above sea level (hence the nickname Mile High city).

Danny in front of the govenor's office.

The boys by the Mile High marker

We finished our self-guided tour of the Capitol then headed to the hotel where we swam (yup, the boys finally convinced me to join them) before settling in for the night. Another successfully fun day!