Having checked a few Denver menu items off on day 1, we still had some highly anticipated experiences set up for day 2.  An early-morning planning session, taking into account the relative locations of each experience, plus the predicted weather, led us to a plan, but the first stop of the day was a site none of us even knew about on day 1.

Jen received a message from our landlord informing us about a pop-up bakery several blocks from our house that was worth visiting.  In fact, even though it did not advertise, it was so popular that it regularly sold out its stock.  So, we rumbled the Tacoma all the way down Steele Street to beat the crowds to the baked goods.  The croissants and pesto sourdough loaf were worth the effort.

Thus fueled, we were able to hit the town for another round of adventure.  The new schedule kept the original plan offering an optional trip the the Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater — yes, that magical place of dreams where John Denver debuted his soon-to-be hit “Rocky Mountain High,” and countless other musical acts have performed in the presence of a lot of people, and a whole bunch of red rocks.

Four of us made the trip, and three of us took the 1.4-mile Trading Post Trail loop (another recommendation from our hosts).  Nadia slept in and Lanie opted to spend her Red Rocks time appreciating the amphitheater — which was pretty deserving of appreciation.  Built in the 30’s as part of a Civilian Conservation Corps. project that took 12 years to complete, the amphitheater is nestled between two huge rock protrusions.  The gracefully curved rows of bench seats cascade from a concourse down rather steeply to a stage enclosed by structures built from brick the same color as the natural rock.  Its accoustics rival natural Greek amphitheaters (according to a writeup I read on a sign in the gift shop), and it has hosted events ranging from rock concerts, to graduations, to Easter Sunday sunrise services.

While Lanie appreciated all this, the remaing three of us wound around and through the natural rocks with one eye on the scenery and another on the local bird population.  Jen’s pre-trip preparation included printing out a checklist of Birds of Colorado.  On this hike, we were able to check off the Lazuli Bunting, Black Beaked Magpie, and several types of swallow.

From the observation deck. Unfortunately the person we asked to photograph us managed to not include the Denver skyline.

Because of our speedy hiking skills, and because Red Rocks is only 25 minutes from our place in Denver, we were able to collect Nadia and move on with the plan for the day before much of the morning has passed.   The plan had us visiting the science and nature museum first, then making our way across the large city park to the botanical gardens that were on the other side.  All this was in manageable walking distance from our home base.

That’s what our plan said.  Reality said something a little different.  The first disconnect here was that the Science and Nature Museum held our attention much longer than anyone expected.  We could have stayed here for the whole day.  The special exhibit on poisons was very densely packed with information and incredibly interesting.  (Nadia likes to keep us guessing.  Normally she’s the first one done at any museum, impatiently waiting to move on while Zoe reads every word on every sign.  This time around, the rest of us were all done with the whole museum and waiting in the atrium before she even got through the Poison exhibit.  As a neuroscience major/chemistry minor who hopes to go into research, she had a professional interest in all of it.)

We also got pulled into exhibits on space exploration and archaeology.  The natural history dioramas were extensive and brightly rendered.  We made it up to the fourth floor terrace for a great view of the park with the city’s skyscrapers in the distance. (Beyond them, we knew, were the Rocky Mountains, but the day’s cloud cover kept them from our view.)

The second hitch in the plan was geographic in nature.  The Botanical Gardens were located on the edge of a completely different park.  Thankfully, we realized this before we started searching the park to find it.  Jen and I left the girls immersed in the Science and Nature Museum while we walked back to HQ to collect the pickup.  Then we got the girls for a quick jaunt a few parks over to the Botanical Gardens.

Close followers of our travel will know that science museums and botanical gardens are mainstays of our adventures.  It’s rare that we go for both of these family favorites in one day, but Denver was obliging.  Even though they weren’t in the same park, the musem and gardens here are on the same side of town, admid grids of appealing residential neighborhoods.   We’ve even been able to find suitable parking when we need it, which doesn’t always seem likely given the girth of our pick up truck.

The botanical gardens were buzzing with activity, too.  Lots of cars in the parking lot, lots of people milling around.  Maybe 40 percent of them were on hand to witness a matrimonial ceremony.  We managed to spy two brides walking around, but there were enough tuxedos, matching dresses, high heels and sport coats in the crowd to accommodate at least a few more.  It clearly is a wonderful place to get married — there is practically no possible camera angle that would not have flowers in the background.

We saw a fancy herb garden and an elegant and extensive Japanese garden.  A specialy here seems to be water lillies.  We saw several pools filled with different examples, almost all of them in bloom.

It was all very nice, but to some minds on our tour it was all only the build-up to day 2’s most exciting feature.  We grabbed a quick dinner at a microbrewery located in the center of an eerily deserted college campus that was only blocks from the city center.  Then we ambled over to the outskirts of town for … well none of us were exactly sure what we headed for this evening.

Ever since she started research  activities for this trip, Zoe has been a strong advocate for “The Convergence Zone,” an entertainment venue that offered lots of lore, but very little definitive information about what it entailed.  From what we could gather, it was somewhat similar to the St. Louis City Museum, perhaps the best-loved experience from our whole cross-country trip.  Like that instiution, the Convergence Station seemed to be at least half-way designed as an art installation.  The other half sounded like we would be able to explore, like we had in St. Louis, and maybe solve a mystery?

It required us to reserve a time for entry — and after getting into the main concourse were were meant to take a shuttle to a world called C Street (the shuttle reminded us of an elevator), and then when we got out of the shuttle we were meant to “boop” a smart card against any swirling light logo we saw.  This we did, and Zoe particularly loved it.  She would have stayed all night, booping and bopping all around among the colorul lights, otherworldly structures, and winding passageways through four distinct worlds and three floors of access.

Zoe was about 30 minutes from solving the whole puzzle when the momentum from the rest of the group gave out, and we pulled her back down to the main concourse.  (Unfortunately Lanie tends to get headaches from too much light and sound, both of which this place had in abundance.  We knew it it was time to go when we found her curled up inside the darkness of a hollow tree.)  We had been in the Convergence Station for about three hours by then.  I’m sure if Zoe ever gets back to Denver, a return visit will be the first thing on her agenda.