Last Boulder post - Chihuly

We'd saved the Denver Botanic Garden's exhibit of Dale Chihuly's fabulous art glass for our last day.     It was something we all were really looking forward to, and it was almost a mistake.....

  We left Jesse's house with blue skies overhead, but a black cloud gathering over downtown Denver had us worried.

We drove on, Jesse assured us that these storms boil up, rage for a bit, then move on over the plains.    It started to rain, very hard.   Then the hail and wind came.   Water on the road splashed up over the hood as we drove into the storm.

Luckily, people drove slowly and left plenty of room for error.   It will blow over soon, we'll be in blue sky soon he tells us.......

We wondered how the large, fragile glass pieces in the Gardens would fair in the hail.

We finally gave up, ducked into IKEA's large, dry covered parking area and went up into the store to eat some of their famous meatballs while we waited for the deluge to end.    It was lunch time after all and what better place to watch the storm rage and move away than sitting in the huge glass windows of the restaurant, high and dry, filling our faces.


Jesse was right, it did move away and we finally made it to the Gardens around 2:30, glorious blue sky overhead.       Only one bad thing, they were closing early - 3:00 to be exact  - because of a special function.     Could we see most of the exhibit in half an hour?    Not optimal, but you bet we could!

So, here are my very hurried impressions of Chihuly's spectacular pieces.   They seemed to actually grow and float in their beautiful garden setting.

To quote Ingrid, "you can never be too rich, too thin, or have too many pictures", right?

Oh Dave....now you've got Jesse doing it!

bees are easily confused.....

get a room!

So....that's what we saw in our whirlwind tour.     Not the best way to really enjoy the exhibit, but I'm so glad we were able to spend even a little time immersed in Chihuly's playful and colorful imagination.

We'll be spending most of the spring and summer in Colorado next year, so we both look forward to a more leisurely visit to the Denver Botanic Gardens.    From what little I could see as I flew through, they deserve their own time.   Here are a couple shots of some non-glass foliage that caught my eye.

And, sweet Erin whispering secrets to her red-headed girlfriend........

It was wonderful getting to spend some quality time with Jesse and Erin.   Thanks you two, for making us feel so "at home" in your new home.