# 7 Frederick in Flight - Hot Air Balloon Festival

June 23, 2018

I thought it would be interesting to see hot air balloons and a balloon festival, but I wasn’t about to get up early enough to be there for a 6 am launch. So my dad and I instead went to the balloon glow they have at night. They event also had food trucks, music and a bunch of other things. When we arrived there were cars all over the place and we didn’t know if we would find a place to park until we found the handicap parking which still had plenty of spots left. The first thing we did was head for the food section and the Georgia boys barbecue stand and got a really good pulled pork sandwich. The whole place especially the food area was packed with people and difficult for me to get around in my wheelchair but I made it in and out. Then we found a spot to sit at the top of the hill and patiently waited. 

 

After a while they started firing up the balloons and then just as it was starting to get dark the wind started up and about that time the skydivers came down which was kind of interesting to watch. After that the wind kicked up even more and the show was canceled. This was a rather disappointing end to an adventure I was really looking forward to seeing.

#6 Denver Museum of Nature and Science

May 19, 2018. 

This adventure was supposed to be the Denver Zoo but because of a cold, windy and rainy day it became the museum. This was my first visit to the museum in ages and probably a middle school field trip was the last time. 

That morning I had to get up rather early to make it at 9 AM to meet the rest of the family and I slept most of the car ride. When we were there we got to check out the space section which I enjoyed quite a bit seeing the planets, moons and space station displays and so forth. We also saw the Colorado animal displays, the African animal displays.  I was also interested in seeing the creatures of light display. Inside of it was okay, but not as exciting as it sounded. It was still all right to see the jellyfish, fish and various other creatures. I also enjoyed the gems and minerals area and I think it was the same as it was years ago. 

 

But my favorite part I think were the dinosaurs which I’ve always been interested in. After we saw this and even though there was so much more to see we left to go have lunch at the Blue Bonnet Cafe. 

Although we missed out on the zoo we had quite the day and I had a lot of fun spending time with my family at the museum as well as lunch. The zoo will have to wait for another day.

#5 University of Northern Colorado baseball game

May 5, 2018 

 

On a Saturday and on Cinco de Mayo my dad and I headed to Greeley for my first University of Northern Colorado and Division I college baseball game. The UNC Bears were playing the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The day was in the 70s and was hot in the sun, but a bit chilly when it was cloudy and a little breezy. We arrived a little bit early for a 2 o’clock game to a basically empty parking lot and we parked. They have free admission so we went through the gate 

and we found a table that had a pile of roster/stat sheets which were under a rock.  Then we found a place for me to park with room next to me for dad and his lawn chair.  The only problem was there was a bar on the fence that was in the wrong spot but I could line it up with the catcher’s knees.  If I couldn’t see the ball or if it was under the bar it had to be a ball. We were also near the UNC dugout and it was interesting watching the coaches, all four of them send signs in and signal various things. A lot of the time it was to the catcher on just about every pitch then the catcher would read his wristband and give signs to the pitcher. I figured out I’m not very good at stealing signs apparently but enjoyed watching all that.  The game started out not so good for the Bears as they went down three to nothing quick but scored two in the bottom of the first. Then an odd thing happened when a UNC player broke his metal bat down by the handle. The umpires grabbed the bat and then got together to discuss it.  Then one of them took the bat off the field and the UNC coach pointed somewhere near the dugout and put the bat there to keep it for later. Eventually UNC tied it up and in the fifth inning took a 6 to 3 lead.  In the seventh-inning the catcher from Texas was called for catcher interference and probably broke his hand while doing it as he got hit by the bat and had to leave the game.  In the eighth the University of Texas had the bases-loaded when the UNC coach went to the mound and talked to the pitcher and then the pitcher struck out the next batter and kept the lead. In the ninth-inning UNC was still ahead 6 to 4. The first batter struck out making it five strikeouts so all the fans (all 120 of them) got a coupon for five free wings.  Then we had dinner plans.  After two more outs the UNC Bears won the game 6 to 4! Then we headed to our favorite wing place Wing Shack for our free wings.

 This was a great day as we had fun at the game and then went and got chicken wings. You can’t do much better than that for a great day.