Work Hard, Play Hard

 

We often hear people say, “work hard, play hard” when they describe their efforts to blend work and play in their daily lives.

This past week, Ashley and I tried to live the “work hard, play hard” mantra. Ashley had to be in Denver for three days as she and co-workers planned for an event next April that will be held in Colorado. They will be hosting over 5,000 people from around the world and have 28 hotels reserved.

As you can imagine from reading the above paragraph, Ashley fulfilled the “work hard” part. While she worked on her conference, I was able to get some work done too.

I visited the office of Janus Capital, which is now called “Janus Henderson Investors” following their recent merger.

It was roughly four years ago when I was last in Denver to meet with portfolio managers and executives at Janus. I continue to be impressed with the level of research they perform on the stocks and bonds they own in their portfolios.

I met with four different investment professionals at Janus, but the meeting that stuck out the most was the time I spent with Fund Managers, Seth Meyer and John Lloyd. Their insight into the credit markets was very impressive. We were able to go deep into the numbers on several of their core holdings and also discuss the impact of inflation and interest rates on their holdings.

Okay, enough about the work aspect of the trip. Here’s the fun stuff.

Ashley and I are very thankful that both sets of grandparents were able to take care of our kids so we could make the trip.

We arrived in Denver on Saturday around noon. We rented a car and traveled to the Colorado Springs area for the weekend. We visited Seven Falls, Garden of the Gods, Canyon City, Manitou Springs, Royale Gorge (Colorado’s version of the Grand Canyon), and Cripple Creek. We even drove along the “Gold Belt” scenic byway where we saw the remnants of goldmines through the mountains and went above 10,000 feet in elevation.

It was a great adventure to a part of the country we had not seen before.

Here are a few photos that highlight our trip:

Seven Falls

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Garden of the Gods

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Royale Gorge

Canyon City, Colorado

We flew back Wednesday of last week and quickly got back into the swing of things here in NC. We loved Colorado and the lack of humidity, but North Carolina is home, and we were both glad to get hugs from our kids and sleep in our own bed again.

That is all for this week my friends. Have a great week.

Thanks,
Kern