October 19-24, 2016 Denver, CO trip

To keep my South Dakota Dental license, I have to have 100 hours of continuing education every 5 years.  The National Dental convention was in Denver, CO this year.  So it was a great opportunity for me to get my CE and also see friends and family.

only at a dental convention!

I flew into Denver on Wednesday.  Dave was able to use the boatyard’s courtesy car to take me to the airport in Jacksonville, FL.  Denver has an awesome train that runs downtown for $9 each way.  That took me to the Union Station right off of 16th street.  My sister’s nephew, Darren Harrell, lives in Denver and offered to let me stay with him at his condo 4 blocks from the convention center.  Darren met me at Union Station.   From there, we took the 16th St free trolly to Henry’s Bar and Grill for dinner and refreshments.  It was one of his aunt Toni’s favorite places because they have a cold plate at the bar to keep your beers cold.  We had dinner and tried a couple different local brews.  My dessert beer was a graham porter with a roasted marshmallow on top.  Fun!

Thursday, I had meetings from 8-4:00.  Then from 4:30-6:00, the convention provided a mixer in the exhibit hall.  They had finger foods and entertainment.  They had demonstrations of different CO activities, like BMX bicycles and rock climbing.  They also had 3 different music venues.  My favorite was a string group of 4 females with 2 violins, 1 viola and 1 cello.  They were called Spinphony Strings.  They will have a CD in December.  I recommend checking them out.  They kind of reminded me of the Mannheim Steamrollers.  

Friday, classes from 8-4:00, then the distinguished speaker from 5-6:30.  I had the privilege of hearing Malala Yousafzai speak.  She is the youngest Nobel Peace Prize recipient.  At the age of 13, she was shot by the Taliban in Pakistan for speaking out about the importance of education for girls.  She survived after several weeks of treatment and surgeries.  She and her family have lived in the United Kingdom since the event.  She had written a book and is working internationally to support education for girls. 

She spent some time relating her experience.  Then she answered many questions from the audience.  She was very poised, intelligent and had a sense of humor.  The majority of her answers involved the importance of education.  When asked what her favorite book was she answered “I guess I shouldn’t say I Am Malala”, her book.  Her favorite was the Alchemist.  That was also one of our son’s favorite books.  She is now 19, and I believe she will be a prominent figure globally for years to come. 

After she spoke, I met up with Harold and Juli Doerr from Rapid City.  They invited me to join them for dinner with some of Harold’s dental school classmates.   It was a fun evening. 

Saturday, classes from 8-5:00.  This evening we had 3 join us for dinner: Darren’s mother, Margaret Moore Harrell, her daughter in law, Sherry Harrell, and my sister, Janice Moore.  There was a Zombie Walk in downtown Denver.  We decided to have a progressive dinner at restaurants along 16th street.  We had appetizers and drinks at one place, dinner at a second place and dessert at a third.  We were able to sit outside at all 3. We had fun “people/zombie watching”.  Janice was in CO helping Margaret’s other son, Dylan, finish his basement.  So it was great to be able to get together. 

 
Sunday, classes 8-11:00.  Then my niece, Katie Zeller Murphy, picked me up to spend the day with her family.  Katie has been living in Denver for many years.  She and Brad now have an 8 month old daughter, Memphis.  Katie, Memphis and I walked from their home to a neighborhood restaurant for brunch.  Then we hung out at their house for the afternoon.  Brad cooked us a spaghetti dinner before I returned to Darren’s.  It was so fun spending time with them and playing with Memphis. 

 
Monday, I back tracked to the airport.  I took the trolley to Union Station and had an awesome breakfast.  I had the Late Harvest Benny and the Bella Bella Benny.  They let you pick 2 differnt halves.  Then I took the train back to the airport.  Then flew back to Jacksonville, Fl.  Dave picked me up in a rental car.  Fun, quick trip, but it was SO dry in Denver.  Nice to be back in the humidity. 

 
We also made two trips to Gainesville, FL this fall for me to complete my continuing education at the University of Florida.  Now I have another 5 years to get my 100 hours.