May 23

pics coming......

The weather here in Littleton, CO is overcast and dark today.  Rain threatens to fall at any moment.  Barb has a busy morning with the kids last day of school so we will be connecting with her later this afternoon at the Hammond Candy Factory in Denver for a tour.  We drove over Golden, CO to see the town of the gold rush here in CO.  We stopped by the Coors Beer Factory to see if we could take a tour and it wasn't open for tours today.  Golden is a very cute little town and we saw the Mining School (a college for miners??).  The tomb of Buffalo Bill Cody is here but we couldn't find it.... Since entering CO, we have noticed many bike and walking paths along our driving routes.  Here in Golden, it is the same.  Today we passed numerous bikers.  It is evident that CO is a very outdoor community. 

We saw another Golden Retirever but we weren't close enough to get a pic. He and his owner were taking a walk inthe neighborhood that we drove through. I tell you, Goldens are the MOST popular dog in the country.....


Upon arriving at the Hammond Candy Factory, we were given hats and tickets for the tour.  Since, we were a little early....I know, that doesn't happen often.....we shopped a little in the OOPS room and the store.  The candy looks yummy!!  On the tour, we learned that all of the candy made here is made by hand.  The company began in 1920 and the candy is still made the same way with a few modern updates to the machinery that they do use.  The factory makes 2 million candy canes and 2 million lollipops per year, all by hand.  The candy is mixed, stretched, folded together and cut with huge scissors.  The Candy Canes are then fed into a machine that stretches them out very long.  Hammonds is one of only 2 companies in the USA that makes ribbon candy.  We saw the ribbon crimper machine....reminds me of my scrapbooking tools.  There are about 200 different kinds of candy made her at this facility.  Hammonds make specialty candies,lollipops and candy canes for large companies such as Disney, Williams and Sonoma, Cracker Barrel, Macy's, Whole Foods, and Cold Water Creek.  At the end of the tour, we were given a free sample Candy Cane and the kids were happy to be able to pick the flavor that they wanted.  I chose cranberry....mmmmm.

We entered the shop again and continued to shop....we found some yummy things to bring home!!

Pam and I stopped at Costco to stock up for the final leg of the journey home and Barb brought all of the kids back home to feed and let loose on her house.  What a blessing to get to see and play with friends that you haven't seen in a while.  We had delicious homemade bbq chicken pizza for dinner....thanks Barb!!!We tried to go to the Hobby Lobby...seriously that is the name....which is the local craft store but it was closed when we got there.