Trip to Boulder

This is my "guide to travel in Boulder, CO".  It is not complete but gives you some ideas if you ever visit there.  

When driving from Utah, cut the trip in two and stop and stay in Rawlins, WY.  We recommend either the Holiday Inn or the Hampton Inn.  They both have great indoor swimming pools and the rooms are nice and clean.  There are not many restaurants in Rawlins besides fast food but if you want to shoot the lock off your wallet, "The Aspen House" is very good but pricey.  (My 11 year old had rack of lamb last time we ate there.)  I've also heard there is good Asian take-out.  

On this trip, we toured the Celestial Seasonings facility and got to wear these sweet hair nets.  You are given a free sample of herbal tea to take home and there is a big "tasting center" where you can try many of their teas.  It was a good tour but during the video portion, they talked about "the founders" and didn't mention Mo Siegel once.  Having gone to junior high school with his daughter, he is known around Boulder as the founder of Celestial Seasonings.  He sold it several years ago but it made me wonder why they excluded him in their history.  Anyway, the "mint room" is the highlight and worth going on the tour.  It is free.

You must miniature golf at Adventure Land miniature golf in Westminster, CO.  It is a short drive from Boulder but so worth it.  My husband and I had our first "outing" there 15 years ago, almost to the date this picture was taken.  (We had gone with another boy from the student ward and about a week later, he asked me out alone. )  

This place place has three very unique golf courses, all good (one with a volcano that erupts every few minutes) and they employ a full time staff of gardeners to manage the grounds.  It is just beautiful and fun there.  

Final hole:  If you get a hole in one, the totems shoot fire from their heads, if you miss, the mouths squirt water at you.  

Eat the "All you can Eat Spaghetti" at The Gondolier.  

Homemade noodles and the best marinara sauce around.  (I have tried and failed replicating it several times.)  This place has changed restaurant locations twice since I was in high school and thankfully, they are still in business.  We always go there when we are in town. 

Downtown Boulder has lots of these type of statues.  I'm not sure if you are supposed to climb on them but people do anyway.  

For and fun and quirky hotdog place, "Mustard's Last Stand" is the place to go.  It is always busy and even my ultra health conscience parents love it there.  This time, I had the added benefit of running into an old junior high school friend there.  

Dying Easter Eggs at my parent's house.  (The snow flakes were from an earlier project my mom did with my kids.)  The shirts my kids are wearing are shirts I wore in high school and found in my old dresser.  We used them as aprons to protect their clothes.  

Gathering eggs in the same front room, I gathered eggs in.  Fun to do it with my kids.  

Other good Boulder things:  Pearl Street mall (which we did but I didn't take pictures), hiking to the First Flatiron, (too cold on this trip), going to a CU football game, hiking Flagstaff, going to Chautaugua and visiting "the Hill."   (When my husband was in dental school, we lived on "the hill", less than a mile from the "flagstaff mountain entrance and few blocks from Chautaugua.  All places are are near and dear to our hearts.)