Sunday, April 6, 2025

A Colorado Rockies Game as a Guest of the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank



 


My husband and I were invited to attend one of the Colorado Rockies' opening weekend baseball games against the Athletics this past weekend at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, through a raffle that The Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank sponsored.




It was a special T-shirt giveaway to the first 15,000 ballpark guests!


Please click on to enlarge the photo collage.

We saw placards on our way through the ballpark for many other giveaways and theme days ahead for the season.


I took these photos of our foothill neighborhood as we began our drive to Denver, and as you can see, it was a cold day with some icy snow that fell overnight. so.....




...it was nice to know we were going to a private suite within Coors Field, and be part of a group of cornea donor families and cornea recipients.

I was a cornea recipient in 2015, which granted me the miracle of good sight in an eye that had become clouded and scarred from an infection. You can read my story on this post. Every day I say a prayer to thank and honor my donor for the gift of sight.



The private suite was very warm and comfortable with a wonderful view of the baseball field. We were also able to sit outside if we wanted, or stay inside and watch from the window or on the large TV screen.



We saw a Golden Glove award ceremony that two Colorado Rockies players won--Brenton Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar.  The Rawlings Gold Glove Award is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances. It is awarded at each fielding position in both the National League (NL) and the American League (AL). The Gold Glove is widely considered one of the most prestigious defensive awards in baseball.



While the game progressed, all the guests in the suite enjoyed complimentary food and snacks that The Rocky Mountain Lion Eye Bank had the suite's catering provide.

It was exciting to see the Rockies perform a rare triple play in the second inning!  It was only the fifth triple play in their history as a team.
Sadly, the Rockies lost the game to the Athletics, but it was an exciting game nonetheless!

During the game, my husband and I were touched to hear the stories that some of the donor families told us of their loved one's donation. I also told them of my gratitude to have had my full sight restored through cornea donation. 

All in all, it was a memorable evening full of meeting and sharing with donors and recipients, during an exciting baseball game, in a warm, comfortable suite with good food.




My husband and I are signed up to be organ, eye, and tissue donors through our state driver's licenses in the Donate Life America program.

 More than 100,000 patients are estimated to be waiting for a transplant. Give hope and help save lives by registering your decision to be an organ, eye, and tissue donor at your local DMV, on RegisterMe.org.




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Monday, March 31, 2025

A Drive through Glenwood Canyon to Vail, Colorado


In last week's blog post, I showed a drive we took last September from the westernmost part of Colorado on Interstate 70 East, through Grand Junction and Palisade, Colorado--click here-- to read that post. This week, the journey continues as we drive east and pass through Glenwood Canyon to Vail.



Glenwood Canyon is a rugged, scenic 12.5-mile (20 km) canyon in western Colorado in the United States. Its walls climb as high as 1,300 feet (400 m) above the Colorado River. It is the largest such canyon on the Upper Colorado.



 

As my husband drove, I took photos of the scenery.




The canyon's geology is interesting. It was formed relatively recently in the Pleistocene era by the rapid cutting of the Colorado down through layers of sedimentary rock. The upper layers of the canyon are sandstone. Sections of the lower canyon walls are made of Cambrian rock. 





Although there was a rough road along Glenwood Canyon since pioneers days for horses and wagons, the final link of the construction of  I-70 through Glenwood Canyon has been hailed as an engineering marvel!  Construction through Glenwood Canyon began in 1980 and was completed in 1992.  As you can see in the photo above, the highway going west at a narrow portion of the canyon is elevated, while going east continues to traverse along the river. Great care taken to incorporate the interstate improvements into the fragile canyon environment while leaving as much of the flora and fauna intact as possible.



Please click on  the above photo 2x to enlarge it to read the information about Glenwood Canyon's I-70 road construction. 




A few years after we moved to Colorado, my husband and I spent our anniversary in Glenwood Springs. On the way home, I saw this sign for Hanging Lake. I asked my husband if we could stop at this trailhead, as I saw many beautiful photos of the area on social media and wanted to see if we could hike up to Hanging Lake.  




It took us--mostly me--two hours to hike up the steep trail to Hanging Lake and another two hours to go back down, but we did see this magnificent lake and the spectacular waterfall, which was another 200 feet above it!

You can read more about this experience at this link



We passed beautiful scenery...




...and ranches along the drive.


We continued driving east, gaining elevation... 


...and began to see fall foliage.

Soon, we approached Vail, which is at 8,150 feet (2,480 m) above sea level.

Vail is home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado.  The town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the numerous events the city hosts annually




The mountains surrounding Vail were ablaze with golden Aspen trees!


In October, these mountains would be full of snow, but in September, they were displaying full fall glory!




Vail Pass was named after Charles Vail, the highway engineer who routed U.S. Highway 6 through the Eagle Valley in 1940. It eventually became Interstate 70. Seibert, a New England native, served in the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division during World War II, which trained at Camp Hale, 14 miles south of Vail between Red Cliff and Leadville. 

 I blogged about the 10th Mountain Division and Camp Hale in this post.

Seibert, with other former members of the 10th Mountain Division, returned to Colorado after World War II with the intention of opening a ski resort. During training for ski troopers at Camp Hale, he bivouacked on Vail Mountain and identified it as an ideal ski mountain. By 1969, Vail had developed into the most popular ski resort in the state.



We continued driving east across the Rocky Mountains towards the Denver area, anticipating another two-hour drive to return home. 

We had a wonderful vacation and enjoyed seeing this part of Colorado again during the fall, and it was fun to take you along with us in this reminiscence! 

I can also be found on


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