Waiting for LENA to Pump Down

-or-

Things to do in Denver when You're Not Quite Dead

While waiting for LENA to pump down, we had slightly less than twenty-four hours to take in the sites around Denver. After some debate, we decided to look for the Coor's Brewery, got directions from one of the secretaries, and took off in the minivan...

Of course we got lost (John was driving), and the weather began to turn bad, that is, it started snowing. So, we went against our better judgment and actually asked for directions. Here we are going into the visitors' center to find out where in the world we were...

Well, it turns out that we had missed the brewery by about forty miles. Too bad. But, hey, where we did end up was pretty nice, as evidenced by the pretty mountain in the picture below:

And the visitors' center was located close to a quaint little place called Georgetown. See the picture here of the quaint little place called Georgetown:

We were in luck. Our efforts to find notable and exciting places in Denver had not gone unrewarded for Georgetown was a bonafide historic landmark. To prove it I took this picture:

A local had suggested a restaurant called "The Happy Cooker." Yes, yes, I know, but really it was quite a nice restaurant. And the town was sufficiently lazy (which was nice after our hectic days in the lab) that we could stand in the middle of the street to take pictures. See:

Of course, always diligent and eternally devoted to LENA, we checked back every opportunity we had to see if the pressure was low enough for us to turn on. As proof, here is a picture of Dennis on the phone:

This town was located in a valley, I guess. This next picture is my attempt to give some appreciation of the picturesqueness of the town:

This next picture shows the town center:

And how could we not try, as best as possible, to make our loved ones part of this meaningful Georgetown experience. Here is Dennis mailing postcards to his children from the downtown Georgetown postoffice:

Always interested in an educational experience, we made sure we hit the famous Georgetown mining museum. Although we are told they never struck any gold, the did manage to acquire quite a bit of mining equipment. And as far as I can tell, it all ended up in the Georgetown mining museum. Amazingly enough, they even allowed us to take pictures inside. Behold:

Immediately at the Georgetown arch, the front gate of the town, was this nice train. Adding an artistic touch, was a wooden bridge crossing a tiny creek:

Well, as the famous philospher George Harrison (one of the Beatles) said "All things must pass, all things must pass away." And, indeed, the sorrowful moment when our too short visit to fine Georgetown ended came far too soon. We took one final parting glance behind us:

But, you know, the idea that we intended to go to a brewery and ended up in such a lovely place by accident, it seems to me that there's kind of a philosophical message in that. Maybe even a life lesson. You know you find true beauty only when you're not looking for it. Well, maybe we've just been working too hard.