Make your kids wish they were going along when you take their kids for a day
short title - Make your kids really envious!

Attend the 60th Annual (Denver) Colorado RV, Sports, Boat & Travel Show,

Feb 25 - 28, 2016

~By Bernie Jwaszewski ~

In my last article I shared how to “Make RV play Pay”, now that we’re having fun let’s go play with some special folks in our life, the grand kids.

There are some neat places I’ve been, and for you and the fresh eyes of youth to see. You don’t necessarily need an RV to get where you're traveling but it's way more fun. At the RV show I’ll be talking about Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Glacier and Rocky Mountain National Parks so here let me share some local venues that I’ve found to be fun.

In no particular order is the Denver Museum of Nature & Science at 2001 Colorado Blvd. The Museum is known for 8 great permanent exhibits.

An example of hands on exhibits is the Expedition Health that has an interactive junior scientist area where the kids don lab coats, safety glasses and rubber gloves…and so do you. Everyone then follows videos to perform lab experiments and we all got into it; I think it’s because of the coats.

The Wildlife Exhibits have traditional animal dioramas showing scenes of daily life of many different animals but video technology has really punched up the bears exhibit. Let me explain; most of us have seen nature movies where bears are swatting salmon from a rushing stream. Well…the Museum has a video system in the ceiling of the bear exhibit that projects a moving stream onto the floor. Digital salmon swim in the stream, but wait there’s more. The visitor acts as a hungry bear, if you try to grab at the salmon and miss they escape and swim on, but if you grab or stomp you feet just right you’ve caught lunch. They float the surface then disappear, and then you get to chase your next bite. Great fun for all!

A great bonus at the Museum is that it's part of the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District that levies a sales / use tax in seven counties around Denver. So what? There are twelve FREE admission days for 2016, with the next one being on March 7^th.

The Space Foundation Discovery Center (SFDC) at 4425 Arrowswest Drive

Colorado Springs is the Pikes Peak region's first and only space, science and technology attraction. There are interactive junior astronaut training areas. When I was there with the kids we built a volcano that erupted all over the place!

The show stopper for me was the Science On a Sphere^® (SOS); it's the centerpiece of the Science Center, a six foot diameter sphere projection system developed right here in Colorado, specifically Boulder. You sit (close-up) around the SOS while it shows images on its global surface to provide full-motion views of the Earth, Sun, moons and planets in space. It had my undivided attention.

I didn’t find any Free days but their numbers aren’t to bad; $10.00 down to $4.50 depending on age. Good rates are available for those with military IDs and its Free to them through April 30^th, 2016.

One last comment about the SFDC - the volunteers. Colorado Springs is a hot bed of space research, the volunteers have hand-on experience with space and decades of experience to share.

Third stop but certainly not last is Bishops castle in Rye, Colorado. For my radio show “Bernie’s Colorado Journeys” I visited the Bishop castle and then interviewed Jim Bishop, what a guy!

The fortress is about 2-hours south/east of Colorado Springs and not your average attraction. Closed toe shoes are highly recommended and a hard hat wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Jim has been on the project for about 50-years and it's still not done. It does resemble a castle and probably Colorado’s biggest jungle gym with a tower 160 feet tall.

Listen to the interview with Jim Bishop and then head to Bishops castle and let the kids climb till they’re exhausted. Admission is FREE to climb, but be advised that your on your own.