Our 5th day in Denver, Colorado...

So, we woke up at our hotel near Glenwood Springs. And we got dressed and went downstairs to enjoy an amazing and filling breakfast. Crispy American bacon, scrambled eggs and a buttermilk biscuit. I also enjoyed a nice hot coffee. That was a hot sauce packet on the left that I was about to put on my eggs, yum. : )

Branden enjoyed a hot fresh cinnamon roll, tons of crispy bacon and scrambled eggs and a buttermilk biscuit. Noah had the same thing as Branden did. We 4 enjoyed our breakfast very much. We checked out of the hotel and went on our way to the first pit stop of the day. Visiting Doc Holliday's graveside. Noboru was really looking forward to seeing this. Doc Holliday, died and was buried in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. 

Glenwood Springs is such a gorgeous pretty little town. 

It was very easy to find. 

The walk was most definitely a trek up a mountain to get there. You better be in tip top shape if you want to reach here or be part billy goat. Lucky for us we're all fit as fiddles. But be warned, it is a steep walk. 

But boy was it worth it reaching the top of that mountain! We could see the hot springs from way up there in the background! : ) 

 Doc Holliday! American gunfighter, gambler and dentist! And very good friend of Wyatt Earp! He died of Tuberculosis, however he had heard of the healing properties of the mineral rich hot springs in Glenwood Springs and so that's why he went there *because* of the hot springs. And while yes the hot springs are certainly good for you and your skin. Sadly no...the hot springs won't cure your cancer or TB, wish they did but sadly no. : ( So he died and is buried in Glenwood Springs. : ( 

Kid Curry is also buried here. He was an American outlaw and he rode with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid's infamous "Wild Bunch Gang." The kids really enjoyed getting to see their resting spots. Branden has even shared a picture of these with his history teacher. She was really happy seeing these pictures, since Branden brought her some copies to class.: ) You know...American history and the Wild Wild West and all that. : )

You know how Osaka people *love* being from Osaka right? Noboru does! : ) Colorado people *love* being from Colorado. Especially if you're a native, meaning born and raised there. People will ask you straight up..."are you a Colorado native or are you a transplant?" Not that it technically matters. But yeah people are always curious. And I always say.."born and raised" So yep...this car made me smile. Well technically a Jeep Grand Cherokee, but you know what I mean. : )

And on our way back to Denver. Hello Colorado River again! Always nice to see you. 

And again the red colored rocks and mountains once again. Colorado is famous for it. Our concert place is called Red Rocks Amphitheater. And duh...Colorado itself... the name means "colored red" in Spanish. : )

Yep it certainly did snow the night before! This snow was not here the day before. : )

A definite crisp bite to the air. Chilly. No snow on the ground but definitely snow on the mountains.

In it's heyday and prime these were THE outlets to go. Everyone in the 90's went here for back to school shopping and stuff. However this place is dying it seems. Not a whole lot of customers. And many shops have closed down. It was sort of sad seeing it this way. Because I remember how amazing it was, in it's glory days. : ( The Gap here had zip zilch nada tostada! So we hit up the Levi's outlet. Branden got 2 new pair of Levi's jeans. Skinny jeans. And Noboru picked 2 pair of Levi's... not skinny jeans. It was about $160 US at that Levi's store. Did the prices go way up at Levi's or what? It's been forever since I had been in there so I was surprised. Noboru didn't mind because Bran needs jeans and so did he. I was just quietly thinking...4 pair of jeans $160US? And from an outlet? Hmm anyway... After leaving Levi's we left and headed directly back to Denver. 

Mother Cabrini Shrine. If you're Roman Catholic and live in Colorado you most likely walked the zillion steps to visit Mother Cabrini before. I'm Catholic and have been up here many many times with my family growing up. So it was nice to catch a glimpse of her from the distance. : )

It was quite a drive but we were now back in Denver! Colorado Mills Mall is the closest outlet that I know of... that is closest to Denver. See, good thing I'm from Denver...I know these types of things! So we went to the Gap outlet there and the Children's Place for Noah there. Branden got 2 Gap sweatshirts for this Fall and 1 Gap sweat shorts for next summer. Noah meanwhile got 1 pair of jeans from Gap, wish they had more in his size... but they didn't. And Noah also got a Gap sweatshirt. Wish they had a better selection but they didn't. Noah also got a pair of jeans from the Children's Place. Skinny jeans from the Children's Place for US$7.80 or $8.70. The price was *too* cheap to pass up and they only had 1 pair in his size. Figures doesn't it! @_@ 

Belmar, under that it says Downtown Lakewood. This is where the old Villa Italia shopping center used to be. This whole place has gotten a total face-lift. Totally different. I like it! : )

We were looking for Branden's backpack. Reason. His zipper broke on his backpack. Like unusable 100%. So we decided to get him a really nice Jansport one.. however the model and color he wanted was nowhere to be found (he was just looking for basic navy). Which is just freaking unbelievable, we couldn't find one. In the US they're US$40-50 which is standard and normal prices. In Japan they're 10,000 yen and up! So buying in America is obviously the hope...considering the price jump if we buy in Japan. It was getting late. 5:30pm, around there. So we decided to call it a day. Go and eat some dinner and that's what we did. 

Our dinner Wednesday night! We would be flying out Friday morning. This was my meal. A cheese and onion enchilada, a bean and cheese smothered burrito and a bean tostada. And a large cherry coke with free refills. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner. And we talked about the next day being our very last day in Denver and everything we didn't find. Such as BrannyB's backpack we had better track it down tomorrow or else forget it. So, we had 1 day left. We wanted to enjoy it yes. But also...that teeny tiny dot of pressure to wrap things up. And hopefully find Bran's Jansport backpack. And also my bras. Oh and...we were originally set to leave Denver Saturday. However Noboru reads the Japanese news online daily and spoke with a few of his coworkers via LINE while in Denver. And from what he could tell... it was best if we left Friday versus staying an extra day in Denver. And I was totally fine with that. Branden and I ordered the same combination plate. Noah had ordered the best most amazing nachos ever! And Noboru ordered the green chili plate as usual. He usually always picks that no matter which restaurant we go to. : ) 

We saw this little fluffy bunny outside the restaurant in Lakewood as we were leaving the restaurant and getting in the Jeep. He was a very friendly wild bunny. The kids thought he was adorable, I thought so too. : ) 

The kids went back to our hotel room. I was about to jump in the shower. They were about to eat their Taki's. Now I had told them at the store...these have lime in them, you will not like these, trust me...a mom knows these things. I said pick a basic flavor instead... yet Branden insisted that everyone loves this flavor on YouTube. Err...ummm okay. But I do not think you will like these at all, my final little warning/ advise while at the store days before. @_@ But kids...need to learn for themselves. So they were excited to try. They were convinced they would love these, so we bought them a few days before. They opened the bag. Noah had 1! Only 1 was enough for him to know that he hated it. He said it tastes so bad! And he also said... totally too salty! Branden being more stubborn...ate like 3-4...I could tell by his first bite he hated them. But...he tried and after the 3rd or 4th one...he admitted...I really don't like these at all. I can't eat them. No worries, I said. None at all. Even though I knew...you would not like them. I had to let you try. : ) So...we trashed them, no big deal. Noboru tried one...and he's not picky at all. He said...way too much salt! I didn't eat one. Live and learn, kids should always be allowed to try though with food. This was day 5. I'm so glad the boys tried these... at least they were curious enough to try. I want them to be their own people...with their own minds..their own ideas. And never be afraid to try. They might have hated these Taki's but hey..at least they tried. Alrighty that's the end of day 5. Also...I might not do my TBT tomorrow. Only because I really need to finish these Denver posts. But, I will surely do my TBT next week though. Sorry about that.  : )  

Our 4th day in Colorado. Mountain overnight stay and hot springs soaking in Glenwood Springs...

Tuesday morning, I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed! I quickly washed my face. Put my makeup on. Got dressed. I was ready and rarin' to go! The rest of the fam-bam woke up and quickly got dressed too. We had an exciting day planned! We went downstairs. Everyone had a very nice big filling breakfast. However, I had a tamale plan for breakfast, so I just had a hot coffee downstairs while my family ate and filled up. Before leaving Denver for 24 hours, we went to my favorite tamale place. I have been going here since I was a toddler. I ordered a half dozen green chili and cheese tamales. I would eat these little beauties along the drive to the mountains. The G is for green chili. : )

I had 4 of these! And OMG were they fantastic! The kids shared one and Noboru ate the last one while driving. We were listening to tunes on the radio. Well sirius XM satellite radio. We went between an 80's channel and a 90's one. : )

The Jetson house along the way! If you live in Colorado, then you know the Jetson house! : ) 

Driving along the highway...

There's lots of gold in these mountains. Here's a mine. 

The Colorado Rockies are scattered with natural hot springs all over! This one is pretty close to Denver. It's okay. But it's no Glenwood! : ) Onwards we go! Glenwood or bust! : )

Eisenhower tunnel.

This place (Silverthorne) will have snow in it the next day! : ) This place has an outlet mall.

Noboru and I used to ski and go ice skating all the time in Breckenridge.

So pretty.

Colorado is famous for it's red rocks. 

Hi Noah! : )

And we're almost there!

Glenwood Springs! We're here! We arrived. And hello there Colorado River!

Glenwood Springs has such a small town feel to it. But it also has this amazingly cool vibe because so many people come here to enjoy the Hot Springs. I have been coming here since I was a teeny tiny kid. : ) 

We stopped for lunch before checking in early at the hotel. And I must share this story with you. There was 2 Amish families inside Wendy's. They were together of course. Now, I was excited seeing them yes of course... because I have always been fascinated by them. And with TV shows like "Breaking Amish" I really got a chance to learn something from shows like that. However, I didn't notice them when we entered Wendy's. Noboru noticed them first. And I must say he was *so* surprised. He said something between the entrance at Wendy's but before entering the 2nd door of Wendy's. He turned to me and said...keep in mind I had no idea they were inside the restaurant so his comment was out of left field for me. So he turned to me and said..."in all my years living and being in America this is my first time ever seeing them in real life and I am so excited!!!" His voice was so excited sounding. @_@  I had zero idea who or what he was talking about. @_@ So, I was just like..."well okay. That's awesome." And we walked inside. Directly in front of us was 6 cops about to order lunch. A group of the most polite friendly cops ever! : ) And they (the cops) were also staring like this...@_@ at the Amish 2 families. The cops looked like this. @_@ Noboru was like this too @_@ I am just having a normal face and not trying to look at all...because I can see they are feeling very self conscious by all the hardcore Carebear Stares. So, I'm trying to do the right thing and not stare at all. My kids are whispering behind me... however I do hear Branden tell Noah...Branden says..."He looks like Abraham Lincoln!" @_@ I turn around and whisper..."please be cool kids. Consider how they're feeling, k." So we order and we sit down. There was not enough seats for the Amish 2 families to sit together. So they sat in 1 booth in front of us and sat in another booth behind us. We were sitting between them both. Was I excited? Honestly yes I was! I had so many questions. Especially since watching that show on Amish people. Question 1 was. I thought Amish people could not wear any English clothes. That's how they call "modern world" clothes and stuff. The ladies were all wearing Nike sneakers and the 1 woman had a logo on her eye glasses. Like Guess or something. So, I wondered are they Amish? Or like liberal modern Amish people? Or could they possibly be Mennonite? Again, I have seen quite a few shows, so I was curious and did have legitimate wonders and questions. However...I would *never* ask or invade their privacy. The entire restaurant stared at them..hardcore stares... their entire meal. And well...with me living in Japan being a very rare foreign face where I live. : ( I understood how terribly annoying that could be. So...while yes... I was excited seeing them. And I had like 100 questions to ask. I ultimately minded my own business. And tried my best not to stare or look. Noboru watched them walk out of the restaurant. He said... where did they park their horse and carriage? I said...Really? @_@ We did not see them walk away on foot and we saw no horse and carriage. However...it was the highlight of Noboru's day. He was so excited. So excited he was considering asking them to take a picture with him. I said...you would probably offend them. But anyways...Noboru was super excited seeing them. And apparently so was the rest of the restaurant. 

I was trying very hard to not capture the Amish families in this photo or make them nervous with my camera...however I was taking pics of my kids for our own memories of our vacation. The boys eating their lunch. 

Two flags on top of the hot springs.

America and Colorado. 

Did our room have the biggest balcony you ever did see or what? That's the Colorado River right there! It's so completely quiet there. Our hotel is literally not near anything. You just hear the river sounds. And birds. It's so tranquil and peaceful there. 

Our hotel room. We love this hotel! : )

This MAC and Sephora went all over with us. : ) Hahaha.

The hot springs place charges something like $2.50 a towel if you use one of theirs. We checked online beforehand. However we just asked our hotel if we could have 4 extra towels to take to the hot springs with us and they said absolutely no problem! : ) Saves us $10 by doing that! Right on! : )

Our bath room was so gorgeous! So clean. Great big slabs of marble counter tops and the shower was marble too.

Bran and I are morning face washers, so we need those wash clothes! : ) 

Bran updating his LINE for his friends again. His friends were like "be safe in the mountains, let us know when you arrive". his friends are all so nice..so he was letting them all know. Teenagers! : )

I went outside barefoot to stand on the balcony and listen to the sounds of the river for a bit.

The landscaping of this hotel is WOW! That grass looks amazing. And then just nature beyond that point. 

Nothing for miles.I did not check my email once while in Colorado. I did not open my Skype once either. When I'm on vacation. I'm seriously *on* vacation 100%.

This hotel is so gorgeous. It's rockin' And even a BBQ for us to use downstairs. Though...no I wouldn't need one...but thanks. : )

And like a 10 foot privacy wall from the other side but nobody was staying there though... while we were there.

You could even have breakfast here if you wanted. We didn't but...if we had extra days there...yeah we would have. : )

This to me is pure bliss. 

The view of the Colorado River from my actual bed and that enormous gorgeous balcony. Best view ever! 

Bath and Body Works, love it, but I didn't use, because we had our own shampoo and stuff we bought at Target...but I brought that makeup wipe back to Japan with me. : )

Yes those are... horses of courses! : ) 

Branden and Noah at the hot springs! We stayed here for about 4 hours and then we came back after dinner for a night time soak. How was the weather? It was chilly. A definite crisp bite to the air. It felt like a crisp end of October day. Not an August day. Which we loved so much... because we love soaking in a mineral rich hot spring when it's cold outside. Makes it even nicer.

We soaked for so long. That the kids hands turned to raisin fingers. Ours did too! : ) And so did our feet. : )  The water temp is 104F/40C. And it does get a tad colder the more right on the hot springs you walk or swim. Far left is super hot and goes all the way to very cool. But the pools are very long and you can pick and find the right temperature you like and soak there. : ) 

We soaked in here forever. Until the sun had set. : ) And good thing we brought in our Vitamin Waters. 

When the sky had turned dark and it was dinner time we left the hot springs. We were starving by that time! We went to Pizza Hut! Noboru's suggestion and the kids were excited. And yes we don't mind eating pizza twice in a row for supper. We love pizza. 2 orders of breadsticks just $5 for both. 

A medium pan pizza just $5 each. 

When you have soaked in a hot spring so long your fingers and toes have become wrinkly raisins. And you're hungry but super happy being on vacation and about to dig in...as soon as your mom takes this pic. : ) After we ate...we went right back to the hot springs. It was now raining a cold rain. The air was no longer crisp but the weather turned downright cold. And hard rain. Not drizzle. We were so stoked to go to the hot springs even more so...now! Just thinking of that nice hot bubbly hot spring waiting for us. Yay! We could not wait! I left my camera in the Jeep's glove box because no way was I going to dare take pics in that pouring rain. And chance ruining my camera...yikes can't you just imagine. @_@ No way. So, we went and soaked. Good thing we had hand stamps, we went right in and got changed and we soaked for about 50-60 minutes. It was meanwhile snowing up in Silverthorne. We wondered if it would snow while in the hot spring too.. but it didn't. It felt fantastic soaking that night. It was all nicely lit up. And it was awesome! After our night time soak. We went to get some Dairy Queen. Hey...we're on vacation. : ) 

Noah's face is so shiny from all the minerals in the hot springs. Hahaha. And the kids ordered bigger sizes than they ordered for themselves the last time. Good job kids! Oh and they ordered both times...Reese's Peanut Butter Cup blizzards.

What a full and fun day! You guys will sleep like logs tonight! This, I am sure! : )

Hello Peanut Buster Parfait #2. We went back to our amazing hotel. Took long hot soapy showers. I blow dried my hair. And we all zonked out. That is the end of day 4. : )