December 24, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Colorado Traveling Ducks Will Help Santa

We three Colorado Traveling Ducks have been practicing and are now ready to help Santa Claus deliver presents. There will be a full moon Christmas night, so Christmas Eve will also have a bright moon, and we are confident that all packages will be delivered. J B Duck, wearing a red tie, is on the first reindeer. Soapy Smith Duck, wearing a blue tie, is in charge of the second reindeer. Zeb the Duck is riding on the sleigh, wearing his Christmas hat and Christmas scarf.

Colorado Traveling Ducks are ready to help Santa on Christmas Eve

We are ready Santa!

December 21, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Zeb and Soapy Explore 3 Denver Malls at Christmas

Our moms love to go the malls to see Christmas decorations. We try to go when they open in the morning, during the week. It is not so crowded then. I, Zeb the Duck, visited three malls this month. First I will show you want I saw at PARK MEADOWS MALL. Of course, I wanted to find Santa.

This way to Santa

Here I am on the enter sign. I really like this Santa house. We even have reindeer pulling a sleigh full of presents.

Reindeer pulling sleigh

Next we headed to Nordstrom’s. Isn’t this red horse cute?

Zeb on Nordstrom’s red horse

Especially with me, Zeb, riding him. We are pulling the cart. The snowman is cheery.

Cheery Snowman

Going through the mall, we noticed the fountain is also ready for Christmas.

Water rapids and fountain ready for Christmas

Water fall and fountain ready for Christmas

Walking down the halls, these lights make us smile.

Lights in Park Meadows Mall

I wanted to be sure you could see these decorations, also.

Christmas decorations everywhere. I love it!

I really like the pine branches and huge red ornaments. We decided to have a snack at the food court. The fireplace, decorated with the wreath, makes everything cozy.

Decorated fireplace in food court

We really liked Park Meadows. Now Soapy Smith Duck and I, Zeb the Duck, will show you what we saw at FLATIRONS MALL. First we visited Dillard’s to see Christmas decorations.

Dillard’s Christmas at Flatirons Mall. Soapy, don’t jump

We liked this. Soapy and Zeb are under the tree, sitting on presents.

Zeb and Soapy under the Christmas tree. Soapy, do not open the gifts!!

All of these decorations in Dillard’s are for sale. In the mall, we smiled at these lights.

Lights in Flatirons Mall

Flatirons Mall has Santa’s Observatory. This is the entrance to visit with Santa.

Santa’s Observatory at Flatirons

Here is Santa.

Santa sees us!

He smiled at us. Maybe we will find presents on Christmas morning. Zeb and Soapy headed to CHERRY CREEK MALL next. This Christmas display in Neiman Marcus caught our attention.

Neiman Marcus Christmas Display at Cherry Creek Mall

Then we spotted the Ice Palace.

The Ice Palace at Cherry Creek

This is the entrance to see Santa. Zeb and Soapy discovered the trees surrounding the Ice Palace.

Zeb and Soapy in Christmas tree

The moms decided to get a cookie.

We are getting this cookie!

Great idea, we will all have a piece. We like to see the Christmas decorations. We hope you visited some malls near you this season also. They are beautiful.

December 14, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Zeb the Duck Admires Christmas Decorations at the Governor’s Mansion

Yesterday, I, Zeb the Duck, visited the Governor’s Residence at the Boettcher Mansion in Denver. This was the last day for the free tours to view their Christmas decorations. This mansion was built in 1904 and became the residence of Colorado’s governors in 1960. The public is allowed on the first floor. The Governor’s family lives on the second floor. There is also a third floor. There are people waiting for the tour.

Entrance to Governor’s Residence at Boettcher Mansion

We are going there to wait also. Inside, much of the furniture is antique and everything is beautiful and great quality. This lamp was purchased in China.

Lamp from China

The tapestry is antique and the table is decorated for Christmas.

Antique tapestry

Wow! This is a great staircase.

Great staircase

And so Christmasy. The first room we view is the drawing room. The decorating theme this year is to represent colors of Colorado. This drawing room is decorated in blue.

Drawing Room

All the ornaments on the tree are shades of blue.

Drawing Room with blue theme

The packages beneath the tree are wrapped in blue, and even the bear playing the piano is blue. This chandelier once was in the White House in Washington D.C.

Beautiful chandelier

It was sold and put in this house. Isn’t it fabulous? At least two first ladies of the United States were interested in having the chandelier back in the White House, but so far Colorado has not been willing to sell it. I, Zeb the Duck, liked this mirror that reflects the staircase.

Mirror reflecting staircase

Again, beautiful Christmas decorations on the table. This perfect room was not originally included in the mansion.

A beautiful addition

It is a great addition. The huge windows looking out to the park like back yard make this perfect for relaxing or entertaining. This is how this addition looks from outside, across the street.

This beautiful room from outside. It is really big

It is huge. And speaking of huge, this mansion has 26,000 square feet of floor space. That is a lot of house to clean. Next we viewed the formal dining room. The theme for this room is majestic.

Color is purple and theme is majesty

Purple is the principal color for Christmas. Over the fireplace is a picture of mountains, representing purple mountains. There is also a picture of Queen Elizabeth, her majesty. The purple lights on the Colorado Marble fireplace are stunning. Each room had a guide, or docent to explain things to us. The dining room was explained by our friend, Connie.

Our friend Connie in the Formal Dining Room

We were so happy to see her, and she did an excellent job of telling us about the formal dining room. Thanks Connie. Our last room was the bar and gift shop.

Tree in Bar and Gift shop

Another beautiful tree. The story behind this ship is rather cute.

Ship in bar and gift shop

The second owner of this home, Mr. Boettcher, collected these ships. He had several, and his wife finally said “no more!” At that time, Mr. Boettcher was building a tavern at Denver’s Brown Palace hotel. He moved all but one of his ships to the tavern, and named his new establishment, Ship Tavern. We think that is a very nice story. He was a clever man, and his wife was also happy. As we left through the side door, we thought this looked like another great place to be in the spring.

I would be here in the spring

We enjoyed our tour of the Governor’s Resident at the Boettcher Mansion. There are various events and tours during the year. We think you would enjoy visiting here also.

December 7, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Zeb the Duck has a new Christmas Hat

Mom was planning to have dinner with a friend. Our friend specifically ask for me, Zeb the Duck, to come to dinner also. Our friend made me a Christmas hat.

Zeb the Duck with a new Christmas hat

Isn’t this great? I love it. I told mom I wanted to go to the mountains where it is colder to wear my Christmas hat. We went to Estes Park, one of our favorite places. Here I am with Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

Mr and Mrs Claus in Estes Park, Colorado

Christmas decorations and pretty and so much fun to see. I like this toy soldier.

A big toy soldier in Estes Park

I bet he likes me with my new hat. Of course, every trip to Estes Park means we get salt water taffy and fudge. I love to watch the machine pulling taffy.

Watching taffy being pulled

When we left Estes Park this time, we drove through Big Thompson Canyon. The road, US Highway 34 follows the Big Thompson River. There is some ice on the river and some moving water also.

Big Thompson River

We love this canyon.

Big Thompson River

It is so pretty. I am not in this photo, but we thought it was pretty and shows the Rocky Mountains with partial sun.

Beautiful Rocky Moutains.

This is another picture of me, with my new Christmas hat, and a beautiful Colorado canyon.

Big Thompson River

The road crosses the Big Thompson River several times, and people live in this canyon. Some bridges from the road to the houses are like this one.

Bridge to cross river in canyon

Some bridges are higher above the water like this one.

Higher bridge to cross river

Some people raft and kayak on the Big Thompson River in places with the higher bridges. Along the river there are several homes, smaller cabins, and few small lodges.

Homes, cabins and lodges on Big Thompson River in Big Thompson Canyon

Highway US 34 connects the towns of Loveland and Estes Park through Big Thompson Canyon. Many other parts of the highway are also pretty, but this is our favorite part. I am so happy I went to Estes Park and through the Big Thompson Canyon. And thank you, Verna, for my new Christmas hat. My head was nice and warm.

Big Thompson River through the canyon

November 30, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Winter Snow in the Colorado Mountains near Denver

We had snow for Thanksgiving Day and Friday this year. There was a possibility of more snow for later Sunday. In town, we had a few inches, but it is still very cold. Sunday, Zeb the Duck, Soapy Smith Duck, and JB Duck drove a short distance from Denver to see the new snow in our nearby mountains. Ten or fifteen minutes from Denver, it was very overcast, but these trees look beautiful.

Very overcast close to Denver

Soon we saw sun breaking through on this mountain.

Colorado sun is breaking through

Here is I-70 looking west.

View of Continental Divide from I-70

This is one of our favorite views heading to the mountains. The continental divide does not have much snow yet, but it will. You can see the traffic from the mountain ski areas has not begun yet. Light traffic on I-70 is rare on weekends. A little further west, the sun is out and our bright blue Colorado sky is beautiful. *

Snowy trees and bright blue Colorado sky

These trees appeared to be decorated with snowballs, to celebrate the Christmas season.

Decorated with snowballs for the Christmas season

We really like this snowy tree, but we don’t want to sit in the cold snow very long.

Snow decorated tree

Looking down the road, winter is coming to the Colorado mountains.

Continuing down the road

Although the sun is bright, the temperature was only 20 degrees, in the sun. We were no more than 20 minutes from our home in the Denver suburbs. We hope you visit Colorado this winter. Many of our ski areas are now open for winter fun.

November 23, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Denver’s Christkindl Market with Zeb and Soapy Smith Duck

On a sunny Sunday, Zeb and Soapy Smith Duck wandered through Denver’s German Christmas Market. Walking down Denver’s Sixteenth Street Pedestrian Mall, heading toward Skyline Park, we stopped to read the blue cow by Douglas Rouse.

Denver’s Blue Cow

We love the blue cow with some facts unique to Denver. Denver has the nation’s largest city park system with more than 200 parks within city limits. And we love the 300 days of sunshine each year to enjoy them. Our airport, Denver International, is the nation’s largest at 53 square miles. Did you know that the Denver Mint is the largest producer of coins in the world? And the thirteenth step of Colorado’s State Capitol Building is exactly 5,280 feet above sea level. We are the Mile High City. Let’s enter Denver’s Christkindl.

Entrance to Denver’s Christkindl Market

There are so many venders with German or European themed items and food. We, Zeb and Soapy, want Soapy’s dog, Steve, to help us decorate this Christmas tree.

Let’s decorate this tree

Remember our Soapy Smith Duck is quite the rascal, so Zeb and Steve will watch him so he does not take ornaments off the tree and give them to strangers. We love the top picture of a pier going over the water.

We like this art

This booth had great art for sale. We were so tempted and had to try the potato pancakes, with applesauce.

Wonderful potato pancakes

We really like them. Hand carved wooden decorations were a big hit.

Wood carvings at Bethlehem Nativity

Aren’t they nice? The potato pancakes were good, but we could still eat more. Then we saw the Styria Bakery.

Stryka Bakery. Can’t pass up a good bakery

This huge pretzel with cinnamon and sugar was just what we wanted.

Cinnamon Pretzel

Delicious! Here we are near the warming tent, which also happens to be the beer garden.

Entrance to warming tent and beer garden

By the entrance we saw and recognized this statue.

The Town Musicians of Bremen

The Town Musicians of Bremen.

The musicians created by the Brothers Grimm

Inside the tent, people were enjoying the German beer.

Beer available here

We spend a little more than one hour here, but it is great. The Christkindl Market will be opened every day at 11:00 a.m. It will close at 1:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving. It usually closes at 7:00 p.m., but stays open until 9:00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. The market will be in Denver through December 23. We hope you will visit here on one of our many sunny days. We might even return again. This is a great place to purchase gifts, for others and for yourself.

October 18, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Denver’s Zombie Crawl with Zeb and Soapy

I, Zeb the Duck, and Soapy Smith Duck went to Denver’s 10 Annual Zombie Crawl. Yesterday on 16th Street Mall, we saw thousands of human zombies.

So many zombies and humans

We saw Zombies fighting in the street. This guy looks fierce.

Zombie street fighter

Check the teeth on this zombie.

Zombie teeth

Anybody know a good zombie dentist? This can’t be.

Can it really be??

Mr Trump. . . Look at two sets of Ken and Barbie Zombies.

Ken and Barbie are zombies?

Why not? So many Ken and Barbies already. There was music and some were dancing.

Music and dancing

What are these pretty girls doing?

Lady zombies

So much blood. Are zombies taking over? Humans are in jail.

In jail

Guess you should Beware of Zombies.

Beware of Zombies

A really tall zombie here.

Really tall zombie

Is this a happy zombie bride and groom?

Newly wed zombies

At least this one is not scary.

Friendly, for a change. We hope!

Unlike other festivals, the Zombie Crawl does not have food booths. Denver’s 16 Street Mall is a great place with many wonderful restaurants.

Great restaurants here

Isn’t this a great pedestrian mall?

Wonderful pedestrian mall

We like 16th Street, but we never saw it with so many zombies. We hope you have some fun experiences like this for Halloween. We liked the Zombie Crawl.

October 5, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Zeb Loves the Lego Exhibit at the Denver Zoo

I, Zeb the Duck, visited the Denver Zoo. The zoo is a great place. I love all the animals, but this time we enjoyed a Lego exhibit. Look at this lion made of legos.

Lego Lion

And then, look at this real lion.

Powerful Lion

Almost like being in Africa. We headed to the snow leopard.

Lego Snow Leopard

This one is made from 63,379 legos. We love this polar bear with her cubs.

Lego Polar Bear with cubs

There are 133,263 legos in this sculpture. The live polar bear is taking a nap.

Live Polar Bear taking a nap

This red rose is great.

Lego Rose

We really liked this whooping crane.

Lego Whooping Crane

Check out this bumblebee

Lego Bumblebee

and this gorgeous butterfly.

Huge butterfly

The germinating acorn is very nice also.

Lego acorn germinating

The Koi and Lily Pads seem so tropical.

Lego Koi and Lily Pad

It takes a lot of work to keep the zoo nice for visitors. This honors a man that keeps things is great shape for our visits.

Honoring those who work to keep the zoo nice for us

Of course, a lawn mower is a necessity.

A lawn mower of Legos. Looks so real

We liked the bison and calf of legos.

Bison and calf made of Legos

We also liked these live cape buffalo.

Cape Buffalo and Baby

The baby was born July 24, 2015. We love the zoo anytime, but these legos are spectacular. They will be on display at the Denver Zoo until November 1, 2015. We recommend that you visit the zoo and see the animals and the legos. We have seen them three times and will definitely go back again. We always see something new at the zoo.

September 28, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Art and Music Festival at Sloan’s Lake with Zeb and Eider Duck

I, Zeb the Duck, enjoyed Denver’s Art and Music Festival at Sloan’s Lake.

Here we are at the Art & Music Festival

Mom and I listened to Steve Werges play the guitar and sing.

Steve is entertaining us and several others

Walking around the festival, we admired these photographs.

Fine Art Photographs

Aren’t they great? Paint The World Custom Tie Dyes had lots of stuff.

Tie Dyes

We liked these dresses,

Colorful clothes

but mom did not bring any home. We talked to Keith of Lars Metal Art and admired his pictures.

Metal art from Lars Metal Art

These are made of metal. Many are copper that he pounds from the back. This one is multiple layers of copper to show depth.

Lars Metal Art Multiple layers of copper

He also designs and mounts backsplashes and doors for your home. His art is amazing. Visit http://www.larsmetalarts.com We really like it and we like Keith. These bowls are porcelain pottery.

Porcelain pottery

These are made in Pine, Colorado (about 45 miles from Denver). The artist said the bowls are very nice filled with water and floating candles. Next we admired granite serving platters from Rough Around the Edge. Visit http://www.RoughAroundTheEdge.com The granite can be heated or cooled and will hold the temperature for hours.

Granite Serving Tray from Rough Around the Edge. Being heated with candles

These great trays are attractive and also very useful. Many also have small candle holders. The wick will never burn out and the small reservoir is fill with oil that burns. Very nice! This is Barry from Art Glass Jewelry.

Barry makes Art Glass Jewelry

His jewelry is made of layers of fused glass. Visit him at http://www.ArtGlassJewelry.etsy.com Mom just couldn’t resist. This pendant now lives at our house.

Mom bought this pendant

It really is pretty. Cliff of CSimmons Fine Art & Photography Studio takes great photographs and then makes painting from the photos. He also makes cards with some photos. We loved this squirrel.

This squirrel lives with me now

He is just like the ones in our yard. Visit Cliff on Facebook at cliff@csimmonsartstudio.com So this greeting card came home with us also. As we were leaving, we saw all these tall sculptures.

Tall sculptures

I like them! And, in case you were wondering, this festival was at Sloan’s Lake in Denver, and there really is a lake here.

It is a rather large lake

It is a rather large lake with a sidewalk trail for hiking. Water sports are here also. We like the stand up paddle boarding and the sailboat.

Water sports at Sloan’s Lake

You would like to visit Sloan’s Lake. We do.

September 24, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Zeb and Soapy Smith Duck Welcome Autumn in Colorado

Yesterday, Wednesday, according to our calendar, was the first day of autumn. Zeb and Soapy discovered autumn colors in the mountains. We went to Echo Lake, near Idaho Springs, Colorado. Driving down the road we admired the fall colors and the brilliant blue sky.

Driving we appreciate the colors and the vivid blue Colorado sky

Of course, we had to look back and see the colors from the other direction.

Looking back

Beautiful, isn’t it? Looking through the trees, we saw the golden aspen leaves and the majestic Rocky Mountains.

Through the trees we admire aspen and rocky mountains

Here we are at Echo Lake.

Echo Lake with reflection

We loved the reflections on the water. The gold aspens and the fluffy white clouds reflected on the lake made us smile. It also made us hungry. The restaurant in the Echo Lake Lodge provided us with a very tasty lunch.

Echo Lake Lodge and Restaurant

We are so happy we live in Colorado.

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