July 14, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Central City for an Opera

Zeb the Duck here and we returned to Central City, Colorado. Today mom and a friend brought me here to see the opera. Mom’s friend’s grandson is in the opera!! We arrived early to experience some of Central City. First stop was the visitor’s center. Upstairs the Gilpin County Arts Association displays work from mostly Colorado artists. I liked this pottery by Steve Briggs.

I like Steve’s pottery

To learn more about Steve visit www.thepotterystudiogallery.com About 50 artists are featured at that gallery in Littleton, Colorado.

Then we went on a tour of the Teller House.

Teller House in Central City, Colorado

Mr. Teller built this grand hotel in 1872. Today the hotel is not available for guests, but sometimes the bar and small restaurant are open. This clock came from Europe especially for the Teller House.

Sent from Europe to Central City

Another room has a wonderful mural on the ceiling.

I like ceiling murals

It is big. This is just one part of it. From the piano room you can see into another room.

Spacious rooms

This sure was a luxury hotel when it opened. The Teller House is famous for the bar

Great place for a drink

and the face painted on the bar room floor. Mom could not get a good picture of the face on the barroom floor so we bought this post card.

Face on the barroom floor post card with Zeb

After lunch at Stella’s Upstairs Café in the Bonanza Casino, we went to the opera.

Central City Opera

The grand opening of this opera house was in 1878. We saw Deadman Walking.

Other operas also this summer. Deadman Walking was ours today

We were not allowed to take pictures during the performance. This is just before the opera began. The stage is dark, with only one chair.

Opera will begin soon. See the orchestra pit.

You can see the orchestra pit under the stage. This was my first opera. Does this mean I am a cultured duck? I really liked this opera and our friend was fabulous. He can act and he can sing!

Central City is an old mining town, so we looked around one of the cemeteries.

Old towns have interesting cemeteries

This headstone is for William Quiller.

Head stone of William Quiller

He was born in England on March 31, 1816 and died January 10, 1897. That is an old headstone. It began to rain, so we left. You might remember that I was in Central City last September. To read about that visit, click on this link www.coloradotravelingducks.com/2013/09/09/zeb-visits-central-city-colorado/ We like Central City and we think you would also. Hope you visit here soon. It is so pretty!

July 12, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Giant Redwood Trees in Colorado

What a surprise. The redwood trees of California used to live just west of Colorado Springs. I, Zeb the Duck, and my mom visited the 6,000 acre Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.

Let’s see the fossils!

Thirty-four million years ago, the meadow was Lake Florissant. There are many rare fossils from here. Colorado has the fossil of a tsetse fly. The tsetse fly now can only be found in equatorial Africa. It used to live in Colorado with giant redwood trees.

Redwoods in Colorado

In the visitor’s center you can watch a short film about the fossils. The visitor’s center has great displays also. Here is one with fossils.

Great display

Fossils of insects and plants have been recovered from this area. If you hike through the 15 miles of trails, you may see wildlife. We saw this prairie dog close to the front entrance of the visitor’s center.

Official greeter?

Now, about those redwood trees in Colorado. This sign shows that these are redwoods.

Yes. Redwoods in Colorado

This one is just behind the visitor’s center. That really was a huge tree!

GIANT Redwood!

Wandering along the trails, this is a peaceful view.

Stress free area.

Hard to imagine this meadow was once a lake.

A couple miles from the visitor’s center you can visit the Hornbek Homestead. This homestead was built in 1878 for Adeline Hornbek and her four children. It was the first homestead in the Florissant Valley.

Hornbek Homestead

This homestead is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and now belongs to the National Park Service.

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument is a great place. You will like it if you visit. For more information visit www.nps.gov/flfo We really like this National Monument. Visit it when you are in the area. You will be glad you did.

You should see this place!

July 11, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

A Glimpse of Victor, Colorado with Zeb the Duck

A few days ago I told you about the Donkey Derby in Cripple Creek. After the Donkey Derby, we went the short distance to Victor. Victor is often referred to as the city of mines.

Entering Victor, Colorado

Gold was discovered there in the late 19^th century.

This is one of the old homes in town.

Very nice home

I love the design of these older homes. The Baptists were the first to organize a church in Victor, and that church is still an important part of the community today.

Baptist church in Victor, Colorado

This church has a two-story brick bell tower.

This is the fire department.

Great fire trucks!

Isn’t that a great door! Near the fire department we found an ore cart.

Wow! A ton of gold ore

This cart, when filled, contains one ton of gold ore!

Here I am riding a blue elk.

Zeb riding the blue ek

Even historic mining towns have cute things for tourists and this traveling duck.

A reminder of the gold days of the late 19^th century and early 20^th century, this gold mine looks pretty good.

Old gold mine

And, today they are still mining here in Victor. In 2012 they brought 250,000 troy ounce of gold from the mines. The Cripple Creek and Victor Gold Mine is a successful, working gold mine.

Visit this museum

Victor, the city of gold mines, is nearly 10,000 feet above sea level and is on the southwest side of Pikes Peak about 50 miles from Colorado Springs. You will enjoy a visit to this town. We did!

July 10, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

National Pina Colada Day

Zeb the Duck here with some important news for humans. Today, July 10 is Pina Colada Day. You don’t need to be on a beach to enjoy this refreshing tropical cocktail. No matter where you are in the world, a pina colada is a great way to sit back, relax and enjoy a little taste of summer.

Did you know that pina coladas originated in San Juan, Puerto Rico? The term, “pina colada” means “strained pineapple” in Spanish, which makes perfect sense. A traditional recipe calls for pineapple juice, light rum, and coconut cream poured over crushed ice. Yes, these are good even without the rum, so humans of all ages can enjoy this beverage.

If you like pina coladas, fix yourself an ice cold drink, top it with a mini umbrella, and celebrate National Pina Colada Day!

Thanks to http://www.punchbowl.com for this information

July 9, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Cherry Creek Arts Festival

Zeb the Duck here again. Last Saturday, July 5, Soapy Smith Duck and I went with our moms to the Cherry Creek Arts Festival in Denver. There was so much to see. This festival has been an annual event since 1991 and features visual, culinary and performing arts.

Dolan Geiman of Chicago, Illinois designed this official poster, “Colorado Blue Jay”.

Colorado Blue Jay is the official poster

We liked the ceramics by Linda Lewis.

Very nice Linda

Linda is from West Des Moines, Iowa.

The photographs were wonderful.

What a sky!

The photographer is David Mayhew.

Love these, David

David is from the UK, but now David lives in Colorado.

The sculpture by Harold Siefert of Houston, Texas is great.

Watch your tail Soapy

Visit www.hsartonline.com

We saw this sign for the Art Institute of Colorado.

Soapy’s mom and her money went here

The Art Institute is a sponsor of the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. Soapy’s mom graduated from the Art Institute of Colorado.

This is by Dakota Pratt of D. Redington Design of Austin, Texas. Dakota makes contemporary sculpture and furniture.

Something new for Soapy and Zeb

If you look closely, you will see this is made from bottle tops.

This one was already sold

It really looks nice.

Our moms like wood, so we all really liked these by Gary Burditt.

We love wood

Gary is from Loveland, Colorado. This is Gary with another of his creations.

We like Gary and he is so talented.

Visit www.gbfinewoodworking.com

We liked this statue. It is permanent in the Cherry Creek area of Denver. The plaque on the statue says “I Too Know the Eagle.”

In Cherry Creek

Very unusual and very nice.

The Cherry Creek Arts Festival, in Denver, Colorado featured 260 exhibitors, selected from over 2,000 applications. We hope you visited the art festival. If not, plan to come next year. Also visit other art festivals this summer. They have so much!!

July 7, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Donkey Derby Days in Cripple Creek, Colorado

This is what I, Zeb the Duck, saw as mom and I entered Cripple Creek.

Festival at Cripple Creek

This is a beautiful town 44 miles southwest of Colorado Springs, and there is a festival now. It is Donkey Derby Days in Cripple Creek.

Donkey Derby Days

Young humans can ride on donkeys.

Enjoying a donkey ride

There is a dog show and we saw these dressed up dogs.

Dressed up today

So pretty

Also, this is a really tall dog.

So tall

All the dogs looked good and were so nice.

Festivals always have venders and Donkey Derby venders had things I don’t usually see at festivals. I loved these wooden bowls.

Great bowls

And chandeliers and coat racks from antlers.

All from antlers

There were even booths with wooden pictures. I enjoyed the booth with items from Peru and the Andes. Remember JB Duck was recently there. Just look at these hummingbird feeders.

Hummingbirds are so fast

Everything is so nice here.

Of course, festivals make us hungry. There was burger, hot dogs, burritos, and my favorite funnel cakes. Today mom found the brats.

She saw this sign

Good lunch

Cripple Creek’s Donkey Derby really had donkey races. The donkeys, each with 2 humans, lined up at the top of the hill.

Donkeys are ready

The street was cleared and the donkey race began.

Here they come

The donkeys raced right passed us.

This donkey is running with the human

She is leading donkey toward the finish line

Cripple Creek is a friendly former gold mining camp. They have great festivals. There is also camping and many mountain activities available. The altitude is 9494 feet above sea level, so drink water and be careful. When you want something to do inside, Cripple Creek has legal gambling. Many historic buildings have been converted to casinos. You will be glad you visited Cripple Creek.

July 5, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Celebration of the USA in Avon, Colorado

I, Zeb the Duck, loved the 28^th annual Celebration of the USA in Avon, Colorado. This festival was held at Nottingham Park in Avon.

Nottingham Park by Nottingham Lake is great for festivals

When it is dark, fireworks will explode over this lake

Avon is a few miles west of Vail.

Of course we were hungry and such choices.

Alligator on a Stick and Shark on a Stick???

After chicken on a stick, burritos and gyros, we concentrated on desserts. Did you see that sign? Deep fried pickles, Baconade (Bacon lemonade?) Also deep fried PB&J. We decided on funnel cake and mini donuts.

We love funnel cakes and mini donuts!

Yum! Greer and Rachael liked the festival, too.

My friends, Greer and Rachael

And I like them.

We saw a man on stilts

So tall. Don’t fall.

and then we saw this artist with his paints.

He can paint.

This juggler is tall.

Don’t drop those!

He is also my friend.

We are friends now.

Do see this guy—

Juggling fire while standing on a ball???

standing on a ball while juggling fire. I really liked this man.

A human bronze statue

He is so still, he looks like a bronze statue, but he is alive. For little ones only.

This looks like fun!

Small humans have fun in this bouncy house.

After dark, we watched the fireworks. I love fireworks. I also liked the patriotic music during the fireworks. In Avon I watched 10,000 shells exploding over the lake.

Beautiful!

I am so glad we went to the Celebration of the USA in Avon, Colorado. Happy Birthday United State of America!

Celebrate the USA!

July 4, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Happy 4th of July, 2014

We, the Colorado Traveling Ducks, and our humans, wish you all a very happy 4^th of July holiday. We celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence and thank our founding fathers for creating the United States of America.

Happy 4th of July

Have a wonderful holiday!

July 2, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Cherry Blossom Festival in Denver

Last Saturday, June 28 we visited Sakura Square in Denver for Cherry Blossom Festival.

Cherry Blossom Festival in June

This was a Japanese festival and we saw this painting.

Beautiful

Such bright colors.

I, Zeb the Duck and mom saw this Bonsai tree.

We love this Bonsai

As you can see, little pink horned duck was with us. These flower arrangements were so attractive.

Several attractive flower arrangements

Denver Buddhist Temple is located in this area.

Buddhist Temple in Denver

We really liked this bell or gong.

At Buddhist Temple

On the main stage, in the street, we enjoyed a martial arts demonstration.

The young humans are good. They practice a lot

Later some members of Pi Delta Psi fraternity from University of Colorado, Boulder Campus, performed hip hop dancing.

Pi Delta Psi stepping

They called it stepping. These young men are talented.

Next the Japanese drummers performed. Taiko is Japanese drumming and this Taiko Junior group was great.

Very synchronized and very energetic performers

You will love to hear this drumming. Then the adult Taiko group performed for us. WOW!!! These people really beat the drums

Great performers

and they are so active on stage. We loved this fantastic group.

High energy performance

You will love seeing and hearing a Taiko performance. For more information on Taiko in Denver, visit www.DenverTaiko.org I, Zeb the Duck, hope you visit festivals this summer and I hope you enjoy a Taiko performance.

This cherry Blossom Festival was informative and fun!

Cherry Blossom Festival

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