Lookout Mountain and The Buffalo Bill Museum

I grew up with an uncle who was into everything western. When I was in my mid-twenties, I treated my uncle to a day out at the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum. My uncle, whom I adored, had recently recovered from major heart surgery and I was sensing that my time with him was slipping away ( he lived over another decade!) and I made it a special outing. It was one of my best days with my uncle.

Flash forward to my first trip to Colorado with Dan and the discovery that we were near Buffalo Bill’s grave. William F. Cody ( Buffalo Bill) was one of the most famous western showmen, who took his Wild West extravaganza all over the world. When he died, he was buried on the top of “Look Out Mountain,” which is near Golden, Colorado.

We visited on a chilly, windy day in October and I wore an enormous gray scarf that I haven’t worn in a long time. My blood has definitely thickened since moving to Colorado, and I have even shoveled snow in a tee-shirt and jeans!

Here are some snaps from the top, including the views.

We walked up a short set of stairs to Buffalo Bill’s grave. He was buried in 1917 with much fanfare and pageantry befitting of the showman.

Next, we visited the Buffalo Bill Museum. The museum is relatively small, yet packed with informative displays about Buffalo Bill and Colorado. Admission was only five dollars. If you’re not interested in the museum, you can visit Lookout Mountain and the grave site for free.

This picture of my husband just makes me smile.

One of the more interesting items in the museum was a book that lists all of Buffalo Bill’s tour dates around the world. We discovered that he had a show in Dan’s hometown of Newbury, England, on June 10, 1904.

As expected, the museum had a lot of guns, bullets, and old west style clothes.

We spent about an hour at the museum. It’s definitely worth the stop, if you’re nearby and interested in history. Buffalo Bill was a colorful character who still looms large in American culture and learning more about him was interesting. I look forward to going back and taking more time to pour through the exhibits. If you’re looking for stunning views, Lookout Mountain is a must-visit.

The Denver Cat Company

On a blustery day in late October, Dan and I took a early-bird flight to Denver to check-out our potential new home. Dan had a job interview, which eventual turned into an offer, so the trip was both to meet with his would-be employers and for us to make sure that Colorado would be a place we could enjoy living.

My husband is brilliant. In an effort to make me fall in love with Colorado, he drove me straight from the airport to the Denver Cat Company.

The Denver Cat Company is an adorable cat cafe located in a charming suburb of the city. The main street reminded me of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls. I love cats, and this was my first cat cafe experience, so clearly I was already convinced that Colorado was the place for us.

We were among the first visitors of the day, and immediately, we were outnumbered by four-legged floof balls. They were everywhere. I could hardly contain my excitement enough to pay our ten dollar per person admission and get a hot chocolate.

The “cafe” element of the Denver Cat Company was limited at the time, and now with covid concerns, has been eliminated. I think you would be welcome to bring your own drinks, as they have suspended selling them.

The cats are very active in the morning and there are plenty of different kinds toys to play with them. The general rule is just to be respectful towards the cats. Don’t pick them up, especially if they are sleeping or hiding. They are all shelter rescues and some are skittish or shy. I found that just by sitting in one spot, cats would come to me. I had them on my lap or coming over for some pets. There were enough friendly ones, that there was an abundance of cat interactions. Some of the shyer ones even said hello, when they noticed that we were calm.

Shorty after making our move to Colorado, we went back to the Denver Cat Company and purchased a year pass. Unfortunately, Covid hit and they had to temporarily close. We let our pass lapse, but did feel good that our money went to a worthy cause. All of the cats in the cafe are adoptable. We tried to adopt one before covid, but the cats were already spoken for, which is why we ended up getting our Tom from a different rescue group.

I headed back to the Denver Cat Company this summer with my step-kids, Zoe and Felix. They have a cat back home in Sweden and our two kitties here, so they are also cat fans. Plus, we had taken them to the Orlando Cat Cafe and we knew the concept was a big hit. Here are a few pictures from our most recent visit.

The Denver Cat Company is a delightful place to visit. They are doing great work to find forever homes for cats in need and take a lot of care in making sure that the cats go to the right human. If you’re a cat lover, it’s a must-visit.

Our Anniversary at the Denver Zoo

We celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary in early November. Usually we celebrate with a small trip, but this year we needed to be both budget and covid conscious, so we decided to spend the day at The Denver Zoo. We love animals, and although we have lived in Colorado for nearly a year, this was our first time at the zoo.

Due to Covid, we had to purchase advanced tickets with a timed entry. We went at 10am ( zoo opening) on a Monday morning. When we arrived, we were among only a handful of cars in the parking lot. It was a ghost town.

We arrived about thirty minutes early, so we just enjoyed the crisp morning air and the exhibits at the zoo entrance. I really love the alligator sculpture.

Masks were mandatory and social distancing reminders were everywhere. The zoo also had one-way traffic, so we had to complete a big circle. Since it was our first visit, this worked well and we really didn’t notice a problem with other visitors bunching up at the same exhibits. It was very easy to social distance. The only problem with the one-way traffic is there were a few areas where we had to choose a path, so we know that we missed a few animals, including our favorite, the capybara. The loop took us about three hours at a leisurely pace.

During the spring, when the zoo was shut-down due to Covid, local artists came to paint and beautify the zoo.

I also learned that The Denver Zoo is historic for its use of naturalistic habitats back in 1918. Having worked with behavioral research at The Greater Los Angeles Zoo, I could really appreciate the significance and importance of “Bear Mountain.”

One of the highlights of our visit was seeing the baby rhino cuddling with its mother.

The other big surprise was seeing a herd of elephants crossing a bridge above us. We just caught them at the right moment and it was magical.

Dan got some amazing shots of the alpha male mandrill.

The most entertaining and loudest animals were the seal lions. Seal Lions are the clowns of the zoo world.

We took a break at Gidget’s Ice Cream Parlor where I was delighted to discover that they sold Dole Whip. I absolutely love Dole Whip, but I’ve never eaten it outside of a Disney park or the Dole Plantation in Oahu. It has been years since I have eaten this creamy pineapple treat and I was in heaven.

Continuing our day, we came across “Bird World” which I assume is an indoor aviary. It was closed due to Covid, but I had to snap a picture, as it looked like it was straight out of Jurassic Park.

The reptile house/aquarium building was open. It was themed to feel like a tropical forest. It also had a cool bat exhibit.

We saw so many animals, and since we visited in the morning on a quiet day, a majority of them were very active. It was the perfect zoo experience.

And of course, we saw Flamingos…

The Denver Zoo is filled with cute animal sculptures made from lego bricks. The park was also still decorated for Halloween, which had just happened a few days earlier. They were starting the transition from Halloween to Christmas decorations.

Visiting The Denver Zoo was the ideal way to spend our anniversary. I wish the zoo was closer to our house, so that we could justify getting year passes. I would also love to work at a zoo again. I miss it!