Where's Willow? - Denver, CO (Day 3)

 

Do you know what the capitol of Colorado was back in 1862?  If you guessed Denver, you're incorrect.  The City of Golden (15 miles east of Denver) was the state's first capitol.  Golden was also one of the first cities in the area to discover gold.

 

Here is Willow enjoying the water at Clear Creek, where gold was first discovered in the 1850's. Now it's a popular tubing spot in the summer.  The snow melt from the Rocky Mountains makes the creek super fast in the springtime.

Willow sees snow for the first time!  Actually, it's more like ice, but Willow didn't mind at all.

 

Willow spots the Coors Brewery.  The Coors family started making beer in 1873, and the company offers free tours, which are quite interesting.  

Willow and I toured the Clear Creek History Park in Golden.  All of the buildings are from the 1860's, and were moved to this location along the creek years ago.  This pioneer house was considered quite upscale for it's time. 

Willow relaxing for a bit.  As you can see, we don't have any snow right now in the Denver area.  The weather can be quite moderate in the winter months, sunny and some high temperatures in the 60's.  It's much different in the mountains west of Denver, where the world  class ski resorts can get  3 feet of snow at a time, with bone-numbing cold temperatures.

Willow enjoyed this old schoolhouse. The schoolhouse housed students from 1876 to 1951. 

Our dog was quite glad to see Willow and I return from our visit.  Caroline stayed home to keep her company. Caroline and Willow decided to entertain the dog by putting battery operated lights on her.

As you can see, Willow was successful!  Now it's time to eat dinner and start planning for tomorrow's fun.