Walking to END Alzheimer's Disease today

Today - Sat. Sept 21st, 2013, I joined hundreds of people at City Park in downtown Denver, CO on a walk to end Alzheimer's.  Everyone there collected donations and together all walkers together raised over $40,000.00.
Here are some photos of the day - 

My walking buddy Annie & I arrived at the walk early - 7:45am

Before the walk actually started - Annie snapped a shot of me with my poster - full of inspiration and enthusiasm.

We got a great surprise - our friends Karen & Sparky joined us to do the walk with us.. we were delighted to have a bigger team.

At 8:50am we were asked to assemble at the start line - there were hundreds in front of us and hundreds in back of us.

They gave all the walkers different colored flowers that turned  in the wind - Purple flowers were for those of us who lost someone to Alzheimer's - Yellow flowers for Caregivers, Blue flowers for those afflicted with Alzheimer's and Orange for those who support the fight to end the disease.

Along with the poster - I carried a Purple flower for all those that we have lost to Alzheimer's Disease.

Here's my flower for dad....

Just before we started the walk  - we were asked to raise our flowers -

They called it a "Promise Garden" - we promised not to give up till a cure for Alzheimer's Disease was found....yeah - cried....

And then we were 'off' for the 5k walk... with a huge cheer.

Everyone walked at their own pace - kids, adults, dogs, people pushing their parents or loved ones in wheelchairs - together we walked..

And this is our team at the Finish Line - 2 of Annie's friends became part of our team - Kathy & Ginny...we all did a high 5 and went off to enjoy the day.

All the walkers poured into City Park where the festivities happened for all.

A band played music, kids danced people sang along....

Vendor Booths gave lots of free stuff to all - from power bars, food, drinks,

sunglasses, pens, hats, chapstick, sunscreen, and more.... great fun.

Blanche & Lucy said they were proud of all the support we got on our team - we ended up raising a total of $2,260.00 from all our generous donors.  Thank you all we love you - hugs

Blanche & Lucy camp with their friends at the Million Star RV Resort

Before we went to the Million Star RV Resort - Blanche & Lucy, and our friends Kitty & Nancy visited downtown Golden, CO.  Here we stand by a Mural of Buffalo Bill that is on the side of one of the downtown buildings.

Because Coors Brewery is here in Golden we decided to sit at an outdoor pub and enjoy a brew together. 

Of course we took a ride up to Lookout mountain to show the girls our favorite location - Buffalo Bill's grave and museum.

Kitty, Nancy & Cheryl enjoyed the view of the foothills and the Rockies beyond from this spot on Lookout Mountain.

Then we headed back to Arvada and dropped into our favorite local winery - Silver Vines to do a little wine tasting.

The next day, we all headed down to Canon City to our friend Dory's Place to enjoy the hospitality of the Million Star RV Resort.

The weather was warm but the women were hot - and full of fun.

We spent many days lazing around on Dory's great deck.  Here Cheryl, Kitty, Nancy, Marie & Deidre enjoy good conversation in the cool shade.

Blanche & Lucy loved seeing all the gals and getting special hugs from Marie.

Most evenings were spent watching football or relaxing together.

On one of our days in Canon City we all decided to visit the Historical Holy Cross Abbey.

The Abby now houses the Winery at Holy Cross Abbey - which has a great tasting room and very good wine. Reasonably priced and very nicely packaged.

Many of the Abbey Wines are award winners - In the last competition, the 2010 Cab. Franc got Best of Show, the 2011 Sauvignon Blanc Reserve and the 2009 Syrah received Best of Class.  Additionally many wines received, Double Gold, Gold Medal, Silver Medal & Bronze Medals.

Of course the Tasting room also sold lots of other wonderful gifts which many of us couldn't resist.

Here is our fun group enjoying our tasting experience.

We all bought a little wine to bring home with us as well. I found a wonderful Riesling for my brother Dick & Diane to bring home to MA next summer.

After the tastings, a few of us decided to tour the Abbey. In 1924 the Abbey of the Holy Cross was a Monastery for the Benedictine Monks.  Here is a link for more info - http://holycrossabbey.org/

It later prospered as a Boarding School for Boys at first and later for girls also.

The Architecture is beautiful - built in the Gothic style.  The boarding school closed in 1985 but many of the rooms now remain as they were then.

By the early 2000s there were only about 20 elderly monks lefts and they decided to plant vineyards and pursue the idea of a winery.

The area is very good for growing grapes they found, and the Winery now flourishes - though the monks no longer live at the Abbey.  There is Retreats, Reunions of former students and Festivals now at the Abbey.

The Abbey runs a 2hr tour but since we had people waiting for us back at the ranch - we decided to do the 'self-guided' tour.  The original furniture was in many of the rooms we visited.  This conference table used to be a grand piano.

The monk's rooms were simply furnished and reminded me of the room my aunt, Sr Germaine had at the convent.  The vow of poverty was apparent here.

To save space many rooms had more than one tenant.

We also visited the chapel at the Abbey, this is the Sacristy behind the Alter.

The Chapel itself was very simple but beautiful.

The stained glass above the alter was very detailed - just gorgeous.

Throughout the Abbey there were many stained glass windows - all beautiful.

Here we are enjoying a 'Toast' to good friends with a little Abbey wine.  

And as usual our most fun time happened at meal times...  We all pitched in when we could - but Bard did alot of the cooking - especially her famous Eggs & Grits Southern Breakfast.

Marie claimed the "best Mother Shucker" when it came to shucking the corn.

Ans dishes were always a team effort. With some watching and playing, (Cheryl) and some working (Kitty & Marie).

Barb's Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Grits, Cranberry Bread & Melon was delish. 

Breakfast was a popular meal to eat all together and give thanks for good health and good friends.

I made a Shrimp Tortelini one evening for dinner.

Family style dining was a wonderful experience together.

For our final meal - Dory made a wonderful Turkey dinner with all the fixings.
We spent many days at the Million Star RV Resort enjoying the amazing food the the hostesses provided.

We celebrated Cheryl's birthday (a surprise to her) on our last evening together with new as well as old friends.

Lucy (and Blanche) enjoyed their vacation at the Million Star Resort very much and so did we.  Thank You Dory for your space and hospitality & Thank you Barb for all you did to make our stay memorable.