After dinner we walked downtown and went by the apart she will move into next month. It is near the new Union Station and just a couple blocks from her office. 
On Friday, we spent a little time touring around Denver and having breakfast at the Denver Biscuit Company. this is another local eatery that Mariah has found and enjoys going to and bringing friends and family. In the afternoon, we headed to the Spring Banquet and Awards Ceremony. As outgoing president of the accounting fraternity, Beta-Alpha-Psi, Mariah presented a recap of the year and gave an inspiring speech to the outgoing seniors and new incoming officers. She also was awarded the Special Services Award from the Daniels College of Business, and a Student Achievement Award from the Federation of Schools of Accountancy. We are so very proud of her and her accomplishments. She is ready for the work world (including her new bag), and so excited to begin her job in September.
On Saturday, we headed up to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. While picking up Mariah, we noticed a couple of squirrels climbing up the wall of the town home next to Mariah's. It turns out they were having fun with a cat who was watching them and wanting to chase them, but the squirrels definitely had the the advantage and seemed to enjoy taunting the cat.
We stopped at a couple of lookouts and hiking areas on the way. The main road to Estes Park was damaged in flooding last year and has some single lane areas with long waits, so we took the recommended detour. Since it is still not full summer tourist season, it was not very crowded on the roads, so it was an easy drive. As we walked around Lily Lake, we noticed a couple of people had strung a tightrope between two large rock areas and were walking across the rope. They have a lot more skill and guts than any of us, that is for sure.
It was duck race day in Estes Park, so everyone was gathered around the creek that flows through town watching the ducks come in. We aren't sure how many ducks were released, but the bins they were collecting them were numbered up to at least 1500. We saw ducks coming in for at least 45 minutes, so they must have been released far enough up stream to get quite spread out. 
After wandering through the shops in town and having lunch, we stopped for ice cream. Of course, the only reason we stopped was because of the name of the ice cream shop :) After our treat, we headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park.
We stopped at the tourist center and got a couple of recommendations for some sites to see and routes to take for the time we had. One of the recommendations was to go to Bear Lake. Since it was at an elevation of about 8000, the snow had not melted and the lake was still frozen over. The snow pack was at 2' to 3' deep along the trails and the trail signs were barely visible. It was a warm weekend in Colorado, so even at this elevation it was in the 60's, so we weren't in our normal snow gear.
After our stop at Bear Lake, we dropped down to Sprague Lake and hiked around the lake. Most of the snow was gone from this area and the ice was off the lake. The scenery is beautiful in the park with all the snow capped mountains in the background.
As we headed back down out of the park, we stopped and looked at all the elk who were feeding in the meadows. We then headed back to Denver to drop off Mariah and head back to the hotel. We got up on Sunday morning and headed to the airport to catch our flight back to Minnesota. It was a great weekend to share with Mariah and celebrate her accomplishments in school and anticipate the next step for her. Congratulations Mariah!
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