As greedy gardeners, bloggers can never get enough of the annual Garden Bloggers Fling.  So, even before the official start of this year’s Fling, my garden pals Pam of  Digging, Laura of Wills Family Acres and Cat of The Whimsical Gardener, set out two days early to see the sights.

Our first touring stop was the nearby town of Golden, home of the Coors Brewery.  A quaint town in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, we strolled along main street, perusing shops.

Then we moved on and drove through Genesee Park, home to two to three dozen buffalo (or American bison, technically speaking) roaming the grasslands  through the hilly park.

Populated with bison in 1914 as part of a conservation plan, they are the last few remaining wild bison in the world.

According to this Denver guide, “DNA testing indicates that the herd is indeed a rare vestige of the original American bison. Their behavior shows few cattle traits (rare for bison), and they engage in what is regarded as ancient bison behavior: They’ll form a circle with bulls on the outside if a coyote approaches, and if one member of the herd is cut, the other members will roll in the blood, presumably so predators don’t know which among them is weakened.”

We only saw a few bison from a great distance, and then ventured to the grave and museum of “Buffalo Bill.”

It was a delightful adventure, and a wonderful start to the three days of garden touring at the Denver Garden Bloggers Fling.

We headed back to Denver where we checked out the city’s iconic 16th Street Mall, filled with open-air restaurants and filled with locals and other tourists seeing the sights.

We ate outside at a local pub — the temperatures during our Denver-area visit only reached the 80s for highs — a welcome relief from Austin’s 90-degree days.

Stay tuned for posts about more Fling adventures.