Day 6 (Jun 27): At the end of day six, we had reservations at the Denver Chop House, where we feasted on some of the cities best fare. Afterwards, Kim and I surprised our guests with a horse drawn carriage ride through downtown Denver. A perfect ending to the day.

Day 7 (Jun 28): We get to sleep in - a little. By 0800 we're on the road again, back to Boulder for another science based tour. This time it's NIST (The National Institute of Standards and Technology). The tour was very interesting. In a science classroom environment, we learned all about the scientific standards that help our nation's industries compete in the global market place. Afterwards, we learned about Atomic Clocks (they're not really clocks!).

Following that highly educational tour, we drove down to Denver for a tour of the Capitol dome. There were some really good views from up in the dome, and we took a bunch of pictures (you can see some of those pictures on an earlier page). Following that, we spent some more time shopping at the 16th street mall in downtown Denver. This time we were really focused on getting that souvenir shopping out of the way. While the girls shopped, I enjoyed a free summer music festival. We ended the day by driving back to our house, and packing for a trip out of town.

Day 8 (Jun 29): No rest for the weary. It's a good thing we got home early last night, because today was the earliest day of the vacation. We were up at 0400! After we gulped down some coffee, we packed up the Volvo, and headed out onto the highway. The trip to Castle Rock was a short one, but we had to wait a little for our next event. After a brief delay, we were on our way to a hot air balloon ride - Up, up and away! in a silent ride, high above Colorado. The views were magnificent, and the weather fantastic. Floating high above the busy city, we enjoyed the spectacular views and serene experience.

Author: Robert L. Vaessen e-mail:
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