Once upon a time, we went to Denver

This post is way over due.  Almost 2 1/2 months to be exact.  But I still wanted to make sure that we got it up here.

Remember when Dane and I won tickets on the first commercial flight out of the Provo Airport?  Well, that day, we had no idea that we would be one of only a few "regular people" on the flight.  Regular means we weren't important dignitaries somehow related to something significant in Utah or Utah County.  The 99 seat flight was full of people like the governor, the mayor, Cecil Samuelson, reps from Frontier Airlines, editors of travel magazines in Utah County...peeps like that. 

Grandma Smith was in town and offered to watch Lynlee for us all day so we could spend the day together.

Aside from the fact that we felt a little out of place (and a little under dressed) it was a wonderful day.  We were greeted at the airport with a complementary breakfast and a press conference, boarded the plane and all applauded when the captain successfully took off out of Provo.  It was a beautiful flight over the mountains (so I hear...I fell asleep) and landed in Denver a little over an hour later. 

Our day in Denver started off with a tour guide telling us all about the city on our bus ride into town.  First stop was at the Denver Aquarium were we had a fancy lunch followed by a presentation between the Mayor of Provo and Denver...the governors of Utah and Colorado were even there.  They talked about the great future the two cities would be having together and honestly it felt a little like they were signing a "sister-cities" agreement.  Good news is though that they let us tour around the aquarium when it was all done.  Very cool. 

Next, they bussed us over to Coors Field, home of the MLB team, the Rockies.  We had a behind-the-scenes-tour of all of the facilities from the dugout to the press boxes and even got to see the amenities they have for players of visiting teams.  Pretty impressive.  Did you know that the only people allowed on the grass are players and the one, yes one, guy who takes care of it.  They mow it every day and during the season, twice a day.  How would you like that job?

After Coors Field, our bus dropped us off in the center of town where we had about an hour and a half of free time to catch dinner and see whatever else we wanted to.  We walked to the REI with Carl and Ashley (the other winners of the Mayor's contest) and then had dinner at Wahoo's Fish Tacos, via recommendation of Sara--my sister who lived in Denver while her hubby attended law school.  Yumm.

Then it was back to the bus, and the airport.  Back to Provo and home by about 10:00.

All in all, I would have to say that flying in and out of Provo was a wonderful experience!  To be home 20 min after we got off the plane was unreal.  I am pretty sure that you would never have a back up in line for security, either.  So nice.  I am not sure if I can ever go back to Salt Lake!

So, here are the pics.

Press conference

just before boarding the plane

lunch at the aquarium

right before the mermaid show!

Our friends, Ashley and Carl

This is a river running through the city that is right next to REI.  You can rent canoes and kayaks to paddle around, but we didn't have enough time.

If you are ever in Denver, we highly recommend this place.  So yummy!

Waiting to board our flight with the mayor and our friends.  Don't we look so official with our name badges?  We were all grateful to be winners of his tickets.  It was a very fun day.