Last weekend, my wife and I traveled to Denver, Colorado with our friends Jordan and Aubrey. The purpose of the trip was to see Real Salt Lake play the Colorado Rapids. The two teams compete annually for the Rocky Mountain Cup. You can find out more information about the heated rivalry HERE.

We left early Saturday morning. Our flight left at 8:50 but I thought it left at 8:03 so we got the airport around 6:45. To our surprise, Jordan and Aubrey were already at the airport. We sat next to them and related how excited we were to go. About 40 minutes later, the airport was starting to fill up with travelers and I saw a man and his wife walking towards me. I thought to myself, “That guy sure looks familiar.” Sure enough he was familiar. It was Andrew Winterton, one of my best mission buddies. We happen to be distant cousins too. We both came from one of Heber C. Kimballs wives. He and his wife were on their way to Hawaii. It was good to see him again and to catch up.

The flight to Denver was short, but nice. The Denver airport is way nice. It is very clean and they have a cool subway thing that takes you to different terminals and it is computer operated. Later I found out the Denver airport is the largest in the country, occupying 53 square miles of land. We picked up the free shuttle to our hotel left the airport.

We stayed at the Double Tree hotel in Denver. We weren’t in downtown Denver. It would be similar to staying in Murray from downtown Salt Lake. It was a nice hotel. When you check in, they give you a warm chocolate chip cookie. It was awesome. We were way hungry when we got there so we went to a mall across the street and went to Anthony’s pizza. I ordered a slice of pizza and Nikki said, “Do you want that thin or thick.” I said thick. When my slice came out, it looked more like a loaf of bread. After lunch we went back to the hotel and took a nap.

After our naps, we went to the Northfield shopping mall. It wasn’t that great, but it was close to the stadium. We took a short cab ride to the stadium. I had to tell the cab driver where to go because he had no idea where he was going. We arrived at Dicks Sporting Goods Park at 5:30. The game started at 7:30 and the gates opened at 6:30. We went into the team store where they had tons of gear for the Rapids, but also tons of gear for all the MLS teams and even a few European teams. Then we walked around the stadium. It is a pretty nice facility and has tons of fields around it.

We finally got into the stadium and we walked around a bit and then stood over where the players came out and yelled when all the Real players came out to warm up. They would all look up at us and wave. Then the game started, we lost 2-0. You can read recaps on mlsnet.com if you want. We played terrible but it was fun to chant and sing with the rest of the fans that were there. During halftime we got to take pictures with the Rocky Mountain Cup (see below). After we took the pictures, my mother-in-law called me on the phone and said, “what are you doing with that trophy?” They were watching the game in Salt Lake and had seen Nikki and I on tv with the cup. It was cool.

After the game we went back to our hotel and order Papa Johns pizza. It tasted so good because we were all so very hungry. Then we went to sleep.

The next day we woke up and went to downtown Denver. We wanted to go to a shop called Metro Boom, but it was closed. Then we went to REI. It was so much nicer than any in Utah and it was in an old building. It was amazing. Then we walked to the Pepsi Center where the Nuggets and Avalanche play. We didn’t go inside but just got pictures in front. Then we went and walked along the 16th Street Mall. It is a mile long shopping district with tons of shops. We ate at the ESPN Zone for lunch. It was so good. I love that place.

After lunch we continued to shop. I got a USA National Team jersey from Nike Town and Nikki got a Denver sweatshirt. We then walked to Coors Field where the Rockies play. It is a nice stadium. Then we took a taxi back to our hotel and caught the free shuttle to the airport and came home. It was an amazing trip. I would go back to Denver in a heartbeat.

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