I Finally Saw a Bear!

This was my last day of vacation/first day of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading conference so the next couple of days might not be as interesting since there is less of a chance of wildlife in the hotel.

Day Eight: Dinosaurs, Red Rocks, Sleepytime Bear, #Readingby3rd

COLORADO

1. Dinosaur Steps

I went to Dinosaur Ridge and hiked around. You can see the fossils right in the side of the rock, and there is a spot where footprints were actually uncovered. Six year old Kimberly was obsessed with dinosaurs and fossils, so she had a really good time today!

Feet!

2. Red Rocks Rock My Socks Off

Wow-this place is awesome! I totally want to come back for a concert because I can't imagine how amazing it would be. I guess the acoustics are really great. The view isn't too bad either :) Also, the weather is beautiful in Denver, and I am finally able to come out from under my layers and work on my freckle count.

3. Celestial Seasonings

So, I was trying to decide between the Coors Brewery tour and the Celestial Seasonings tour and then I remembered that I've been on many brewery tours and I can't sample at the end, but I have never been to a tea factory and I CAN sample there, so Celestial Seasonings it was! It's actually a pretty cool tour and the gift shop is quite overwhelming. You get to watch a fabulous introductory video and I have added 'star in a super cheesy 'Welcome to our Tour' video for someone at some point in my life. Celestial Seasonings was founded by damn hippies in the late 1960s and the photos were pretty great.

You get to wear a super sexy hair net and walk through the actual factory, including the greatest room on the planet (if you like the smell of mint) the Mint Room. It was intoxicating.

Two thumbs up, Celestial Seasonings!

I finally saw a bear!

I think I might start wearing this daily

4. Bus Life

Margy and Jerry live about 15 minutes from a park and ride to the airport, so instead of driving, parking at the hotel and paying $30 a day to leave my car there, I bused there and spent an enjoyable 45 minutes looking at the boring scenery and reading a book. It was nice to not be in charge of my transportation for a bit too.

5. Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Conference

For the next forty-eight hours, I'm at the Westin Hotel at the airport for a conference. There are over 300 Pacesetter communities here (as we are as well) and I'm even on a panel talking about our success with community partnership in our school readiness programs. My thesis: you cannot do our work in a vacuum. Make friends, and get them involved :)