After checking out the Red Rocks Amphitheater and Park, we were ready for another adventure. We found Dinosaur Ridge on Google Maps nearby and figured we should check it out.
Zahra is a wolf!! Apparently these fake wolf heads are placed around parks to keep certain critters away.
Dinosaur Ridge was incredible! This free park is home to actual dinosaur tracks and dinosaur bones. You can get close enough to them to actually touch them! Amazingly there is not even an entrance free to the park, it’s just openly there for people to enjoy.
“Rawr!” Behind us are real dinosaur tracks!Those are actual dinosaur bones!! Insane!
All this hiking and exploring made us hungry. Now it was time to find a good dinner and nightcap. We found this at Maggiano’s walking distance from the hotel.
Time to get out of Denver! First stop was the Red Rocks Amphitheater! This is a naturally created amphitheater made of massive red rocks where many huge names have played shows. After checking out the amphitheater, we climbed and hiked around the park.
Leanne being bad to the bone!Leanne and Aliya climbing the massive red rocks.This is our new home. Welcome home honey!Can’t do Colorado without some rock climbing!
Every year, the Rawji’s and Kent’s try to do a family vacation and it’s always a blast. Normally we would go on a cruise, but with the pandemic still going on, this year it needed to be something more.. open. And what’s more open than the vast open landscapes in the mountains of Colorado!
Walking around Denver, CO.
We spent the first night walking around Denver, Colorado, going all around the city! Our hotel was close by all the action.
Larimer Square in DenverHang on tight, love! This shop had everything disoriented.
Our first stop was Larimer Square, the historic area where Denver was founded that is now filled with independent shops and restaurants. After some delicious macaroons and shopping, we settled down for a nice dinner to retire the evening.
Leanne and I went to see Rocky Horror Picture Show, a live musical based on the musical comedy horror film from 1975 which parodies science fiction and B movies from the 1930s to 1960s. Definitely not our usual pick for theater, but our friend invited us so we went.
It was hilarious and wild, definitely filled with unexpected twists and turns, and was overall a lot of fun. Many of the people there have gone multiple times over the years and there’s a whole cult following for the film/musical. It always amazes me how many subcultures there are!
Leanne has been so busy in her away rotation in San José that she hasn’t had much time to hang out or recuperate. She had this weekend off so we knew we had to make it count!
We started on Friday night by going to downtown Suisun for dinner at Cast Iron Grill. After a wonderful seafood dinner and a warming pumpkin drink, we headed for Craft n Cork for a nightcap.
It’s fair to say Miles was a huge hit with the other patrons.
The following morning, this morning, there was no time to lose! After we got up and got ourselves delicious Starbucks pumpkin cold brews and Miles a puppachino (he won’t let us go to Starbucks without getting his favorite order), we headed to San Francisco!
First stop was for Vietnamese coffee at Ilana’s. Vietnamese coffee is so delicious. Then we headed for Lands End beach.
Miles loved running around by the ocean and found so many other pups to play with. The weather was absolutely stunningly perfect and so clear you could see the top of the Golden Gate Bridge!
One of the best parts of the trip was that we happened to go right when the famous U.S. Navy Blue Angels were doing a stunt show with F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets!
Obviously not my picture but it was as cool as it looks above!
With a heat wave hitting Fairfield and temperature going up to 110, we decided to head for the cool Pacific coast and enjoy the day at the Golden Gate Park!
Mr. Miles got to meet ducks and geese, other puppies, and other dog lovers while we strolled through the whole park.
In the main area there’s a fairground location. In the morning on the grassy areas, groups of people were doing Tai Chi and other martial arts, which was very fun to see!
Hello from Golden Gate Park! 你好在金门公园!
Miles walked miles and miles and did great! We will definitely be coming back soon!
Today for 4th of July, we had company over. For lunch I made my world famous penne with fresh grape tomatoes and basil from the garden and wild caught shrimp. For dinner of course we had to grill! Burgers, corn on the cob, grilled peppers.. mmm..
When it got dark out we headed toward Vacaville to catch the fireworks show. Of course the pictures don’t capture how beautiful they were!
Today is Saturday, July 3rd. It’s getting hot so it’s the perfect time to get out of town and head toward the cooler coast. Leanne, Miles, our friend Kate, and I packed up the Subaru and headed foe the coast!
First stop was an oyster restaurant near Point Reyes Beach. The oysters were so fresh and delicious!
Because the waters are so choppy near Point Reyes, there historically have been a huge number of shipwrecks. Right near the oyster restaurant was one such shipwreck which we had to explore.
If you know my driving record, you won’t be surprised by this picture!Everybody run! Leanne’s got the wheel!
Next stop was the Cyprus Tunnel! This is a tunnel made of cyprus trees that you can walk through. It was so beautiful!
Finally, it was time to head to the beach! This was Mile’s first time he’s been to the beach and he loved it! He learned how to dig in the sand and loved stepping in the sand as well. The Pacific water was freezing! However, nothing beats the serene sound of the waves along with the salty smell of the ocean breeze.
Miles is now fully vaccinated against all the deadly puppy viruses, and as such it was finally time to take him out to explore the big city. How would he do? We know he’s only been in the suburbs. How would he react to thousands upon thousands of people, hundreds of other puppies, bustling traffic, noises from every direction, and the smells. The smells! The smell of fresh mozzarella melted on the pizza at an outdoor table while walking past Little Italy, the smell of the bay over Fisherman’s Wharf, the smell of authentic Chinese food at the dim sum restaurant, the smells at the parks, the smells on the sidewalk. So many new smells!
Turns out our puppy handled everything like a champ. Not only did he not get overwhelmed by anything, but he adjusted to city life exceptionally fast! He got so many pets and praises from passerbys and he reveled in the attention! Half a dozen girls told him immediately that they loved him. One of the girl’s boyfriend looked at her and said, “what the heck? It took you a year to say that to me and you just met him!” 😄
Some of our puppy’s favorite moments were meeting other puppies at Washington Park, learning how to step on grates, getting showered with attention everywhere he went, and a nice long nap after about 5 miles of walking when Leanne and I ate at a restaurant at Pier 39.
Puppy party at Washington ParkChinatown, SFPuppy is exhausted after walking 5 miles. He finally earned his name!Sleepy puppy! He slept through all the sounds and activity around which is very impressive! He must have been exhausted.
When we finally went to leave SF, we put him to sleep in the backseat of our SUV. As we were driving out of the city, a whole family was looking at our backseat, smiling and waving at our car. So we look around to see what they’re looking at. Turns out Miles was sitting with his head looking out the window, smiling at the family and soaking up just a last bit of attention and love from the people of SF. We will have to take our city puppy back soon!
We’ve had Miles for 1 month now, and he’s officially 3 months old. He was the largest of his litter when we got him and the trajectory of nearly straight vertical upward growth never slowed down since we got him. When we got him, he was around 12 lbs. He’s now weighing in at 28 lbs, meaning 16lb weight growth in a month!!
Miles is very smart! Through diligent hard work and the administration of many many treats, he’s learned how to sit, stay, spin, lay down, and most importantly, leave it!
