Sunday, October 18, 2026

Denver Broncos Football at Empower Field at Mile High

 


My husband and I were invited by the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank (RMLEB) to attend the Denver Broncos against the Seattle Seahawks football game at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado, last Thursday. We were given tickets that gave access to the indoor lounge, Bud Light Champions Club, and outside stadium seating. Food and drink were included, and we enjoyed a delicious buffet selection of food before the game.

In 2015, I became a cornea transplant recipient through this eye bank, and I am forever grateful for the gift of sight that my cornea donor gave to me. The eye bank representative told me a cornea donor family was also going to be at this game and that it would be nice to meet them to tell them about my experience receiving a transplant.

After dinner, we went outside to our assigned seats and enjoyed a wonderful end-zone view of the field. It was exciting to see the new live Andalusian breed horse mascot, Thunder. This is the fifth horse to be the mascot, a Bronco tradition since 1993. He gallops across the field after every Broncos touchdown.


There's plenty of fun opening-moment hoopla and fan-cheering fever before the game begins! 


One exciting display is by members of Thunderstorm--the official Denver Broncos Skydiving Team--the only professional skydiving team in the National Football League.

You can watch a video at this link, taken by one of the skydivers as they fly into the stadium. It's amazing!




The US National Anthem begins the game. Both the American Flag and the Colorado State Flag are unfurled as the crowd sings along.



As we watched the game, we also saw a beautiful sunset over the distant Colorado Rocky Mountains.



There were some exciting plays and ...




...a spectacular halftime show called "Rock and Glow"!

We were given wristbands to wear that had lights on them that were synced to flash with the music to glow orange and blue--the Broncos' colors. Dancers in glowing light costumes danced on the field, and fireworks exploded all around the stadium rim. 

My video of the show is very long, but I found a short YouTube video you can see at this link. 




The best part of being at the game was speaking with Danette and her husband--the cornea donor family who were also Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank guests. It was wonderful to tell her how much my donor's gift of sight meant to me. 

Click here if you are from Colorado or Wyoming and would like to know more from the eye bank about being a donor.



The game was a cliffhanger that went into overtime, but the Broncos won, 17 to the Seahawks 14.

If you are interested in watching an official video of all the game highlights. click this link. 

It was so much fun to cheer along with the 76,000 + fans for the Denver Broncos in person at Empower Field at Mile High, and I am so grateful to the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank for sponsoring these wonderful events to encourage more of the public to consider organ donation in your area. 

If you would like to make a donation to the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank, click this link. 

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Sunday, October 11, 2026

Snow Mountain Ranch Part 2


 As I wrote in my last blog post, at the end of September, my husband and I stayed for the first time in a lodge at the YMCA of the Rockies Snow Mountain Ranch, in Granby, Colorado.



We had a glorious view from our room's back porch, with golden fall colored aspens all around and the mighty Rocky Mountains in the distance.


Since we arrived in the early afternoon, we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park to enter through the West entrance. The park has timed entry during the busiest times of the year, but everyone with a pass can enter after 2 PM, and my husband and I have lifetime senior passes that allow us to visit any US National Park for free!



We passed ranches along the half-hour drive to the park...



...with many cattle grazing alongside the road.



As we passed Lake Granby, which is usually the third-largest body of water in Colorado.  We could see how low it was due to the prolonged drought Colorado has been experiencing this year.


We saw lots of fall color along the drive, but also began seeing burned trees from the terrible 2020 wildfires--the East Troublesome Fire, and the Cameron Peak Fire,  which burned a total of 370,000 acres in Colorado.


Both wildfires entered the western part of  Rocky Mountain National Park and burned 30,000 acres there.


As we drove further into the park, the forest returned to normal and the views were beautiful!


The weather was changing--we could see rain in the distance--but we stopped to walk a trail that led to the Colorado River. This 1,450-mile-long (2,330 km) river, the Fifth-longest in the United States, drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states. You can see a short video I took of the river at this link on YouTube.


We drove up Trail Ridge Road toward the Never Summer Mountains viewpoint. They are a small volcanic range along the western edge of Rocky Mountain National Park, and we enjoyed the views. The elevation at the Never Summer Mountain viewpoint is approximately 12,520 feet (6858 meters). This viewpoint offers stunning panoramic views of the surrounding landscapes, including the diverse terrains of the Never Summer Wilderness.

As the hour was getting late, we decided to drive back toward Snow Mountain Ranch.




Some beautiful mountain views...


...as we drove back down to the Kawuneeche Valley.

The Holzwarth Historic Site is located here, but we have visited in the past, so we did not stop again this time.



We did stop to visit the Kawuneeche Visitor Center, one of many visitor centers within the park. It has information and maps,  backcountry camping permits, exhibits, a Rocky Mountain Conservancy bookstore, park films, and ranger-led activities.


Please click on this photo x 2 to enlarge it to read the information.

I found this placard with information about the difference between the east and west sides of the portion of the Continental Divide located in the park. 


We drove back to the lodge at Snow Mountain Ranch, where we had dinner in the cafeteria for a small fee. The food was good and plentiful, and it was "all-you-can-eat" "home-cooking" style cuisine. We really enjoyed the assortment of salad fixings and the main entree. We looked forward to the next day, when we would explore the area--my next post.

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