Rocky Mountain High

Work is just killing me, man (yes, I am the last person on earth who still speaks, and writes, like Sammy Davis, Jr., man). It explains why I haven't written much here lately. Well, that and the fact that its not 2005 anymore and blogs are kind of, what...totes pre-Twitter? Think of this as just an extremely long tweet.

But tonight (actually, about a week ago now), I find myself between insane deadlines and thought during this eye of the storm, I'd try to get in a quick post. And watch Baylor play some team called "Buffalo," and not the Bills. What the hell, Baylor? You're a top 10 team and you're playing the second most popular football team in Buffalo? Actually, I'm sure its the third most popular, as I can't imagine they outdraw Syracuse. Why do people live in Buffalo in the first place? Every time I've ever seen a Bills game it looks like there's 20 foot snow drifts in every direction. It must be like living Antarctica. But with more classic rock radio stations (Jethro Tull!!! yeah!!!), cigarette smoke, and cellulite. So what are you doing, playing a game up there Baylor? Who do you think you are anyway? Alabama, playing Western Carolina? I guess the Baptist alums wanted a wholesome road trip, and there's no college in Branson. Yes, this is a really competitive game. 35-0 in the second quarter. What, Waco Richfield couldn't play this weekend?

Where was I? Oh, yeah. But I did manage to sneak in a little weekend trip recently, in between some client meetings I scheduled in Denver. Thought I'd write about it.

I stayed in Denver, at the Warwick Hotel. I imagine 25 years ago, when Ralph Lauren and British fashion were still kind of a thing, this place must have been totally hot. But it looks in serious need of some refurnishing, at least. Imagine Houston's Lancaster Hotel, only I think they've actually done some remodeling. When your main claim to fame is you have a pool on the roof, it might be time to hire the old hotel consultant.

But its close to my firm's Denver office, and the firm was paying for it, so its like the old saying. "Its not good but there's a lot of it." Actually, that's more of a me saying than an old saying. So the Warwick became my base camp.

Friday, for the client lunch, we went to the Elway's steakhouse (yes, THAT Elway) at the downtown Ritz-Carlton. It has a kind of contemporary feel, not your usual steakhouse dark wood/no lights kind of affair. The Ritz-Carlton was pretty impressive too. We saw a Maserati parked in front, which natch was #baller. I think I had a salad, but a really good one with chicken, apples, and tomatoes. The other two guys had cheeseburgers. So of course, I felt morally superior. As is the regs.

That night, after a pretty hectic day, I just found a halfway decent gym and worked out. Dinner was nothing special. I walked downtown to the 16th Avenue Pedestrian Mall, where the street was lined with restaurants, bars, and stores. The place was hopping, with lots of people of all types out rolling around for the evening. But it was awesome getting out of the heat, and just walking 15-20 minutes outside without risking heat stroke. I can't for the life of me remember what or where I ate, only that I was at the bar, and some old coot (you know, someone even the slightest bit older than me) wandered in after me and relentlessly was flirting (uh, if you could call it that, "bothering" may accurately captures what was happening) with the bartender. That's kind of an awkward job. On the one hand, she wants tips and wants to keep customers there, so she has to kind of pretend to be following this guy's fantasy football talk or whatever it was. On the other, at some point you want to kill yourself. I did notice that her talking about her boyfriend non-stop didn't seem to slow this guy's roll one bit. Again, what the hell? That's like drilling a dry hole...and then spending more time and money continuing drilling. Move on to the next field. Please. So I can eat.

Saturday morning, I passed up the hotel buffet in search of a local alternative breakfast. Which I found at the aptly named "Syrup."  I took a 10 minute walk from the hotel through the cool morning air to reach the restaurant, located in the ground floor of a downtown office building. The place was rapidly becoming packed, but I made it just in time. I had a really great bowl of oatmeal and some eggs, as per uzh.  Then I waddled back to the hotel.

Elk Falls Overlook

But, I'd need the calories because little did I know that I'd be embarking on the never-ending hike. Don't get me wrong-Staunton State Park, and the trail to the Elk Falls overlook was a boss, hike wise. You hike up slowly rising hills through aspen and birch forest, then after passing mirror-still Elk Falls Pond, you reach the 9,150 foot overlook after going through some fairly rocky terrain. Staunton is the newest Colorado state park, created within the past couple of years about an hour west of Denver, close to the town of Conifer. As with most other drives out that way, the terrain changes sharply. Denver sits on flat land just the other side of the mountains, but not long after leaving town the elevation really begins to pick up. Within half an hour, you're in the Rockies. The dramatic contrast never fails to impress. I really enjoyed the hike itself, though I wouldn't regard it as an all-time great. Not long after getting out on the trail the rain and wind started moving in. Naturally I assumed that the Colorado mountains would have exactly the same weather as Austin, and packed, and therefore dressed, accordingly. Good choice. By which I mean, bad choice. Because once the rains had me soaked, the winds made it pretty cold even though it was only 72 out. Which, of course, I wasn't acclimatized to. But no matter, as the scenery was lovely. I took a different route coming back than going out. The ranger said they'd be about the same length. That was true in some sense, but the way back cut through hillier terrain and involved more switchbacks, so it added about an hour to come back. And as I had stupidly not taken any water on the hike (I knew better, trust me, I was just super-human and thought the rule wouldn't apply to me), I was really dogging it at the end. So I didn't make it back to town until about 6.

Mile High

Which was a scheduling problem. Shortly before I left for Denver, I learned that the Houston Texans would be playing a pre-season game against the Broncos, in Denver that Saturday night. So, arriving at the Denver office that Friday, I e-mailed around and sure enough one of the lawyers there had a couple of extra tickets for the game. I say a couple, because it just so happened that my good friend Jude was staying in Boulder, about 45 minutes up the road. We connected with one another and he agreed to come down and join me for the game. We were supposed to meet at 5 at my hotel, so my little hiking drama had him sitting in the hotel lobby for an hour waiting for me. Jude, ever the "no big deal" guy, had no problem with it but I was kind of freaking out. Anyway, I quickly changed, and we took a cab over to the new Sports Authority Field at Mile High, the "new" Denver football stadium.  The game wasn't a sellout, or if it was, a lot of people didn't use their tickets. Nonetheless, a huge crowd did attend, and I even saw some Texans fans. I wore my Texans polo shirt, of course. The game was fairly good, for a pre-season game. The Texans starters played most of the first half. The defense largely controlled Peyton Manning's Bronco offense until just before the half, while the offense managed to move the ball. This was the game where Manning ran up to D. J. Swearinger in the end zone after throwing a touchdown pass, and yelled at him. Manning drew a penalty. It received considerable publicity. We really liked the stadium. Architecturally imaginative, it seemed to resemble the Beijing Olympic Stadium design, on the exterior. The grounds are attractive, and its relatively close to downtown. Inside, the seats are comfortable, and we had great views even from our 40 yard line upper deck seats. The fans seemed relatively polite and still energetic. No one hassled me about my Texans shirt, for example, something that would likely occur in many other NFL venues. We both really enjoyed the game and it was great seeing Jude again.

Crawford Hotel

That night after the game, I walked downtown again and this time made it to the historic district. Filled with old, restored brick buildings, this area now houses bars, restaurants and shops near Coors Field, where the Colorado Rockies play. One highlight was the converted Union Station train depot, which now is the Crawford Hotel. It kept most of the train station's architectural layout, including some authentic spaces for a barber shop, ice cream shop, and a couple restaurants. A real gem of urban reclamation, and its still a metro train stop (and therefore technically still also a train station).

Boulder Creek

The next day I dedicated to exploring Boulder, located about 45 minutes northwest of Denver. 42 minutes' worth of the drive runs through highly attractive road construction, so it takes longer than it should. What a fantastic idea, as Boulder really lives up to the hype. Driving in, and finding the local radio stations, I happened upon KBFR 95.3 "pirate radio" (ok, eye roll, whatevs), playing a Grateful Dead concert. So I knew I'd found the place. The drive once you turn off the interstate winds through really idyllic mountain footholds. You pass the University of Colorado campus, and enjoy a short stretch into the town center. Or, you normally do when there's not some huge enormous organized bicycle race taking up most of the city streets. I had to detour around all number of barricades and traffic cones, finally winding up parking in the Boulder High School parking lot. But its located just a 10 minute walk along the magnificent Boulder Creek Path bike trail. This runs right through the middle of town and acts as a kind of pedestrian thoroughfare running past all the central town locations. It runs along the creek, which itself runs through town. The community obviously protects the creek fiercely; going down to its banks is like escaping from town altogether. And, again, it runs all along the town center, happily ignoring the human development located within feet of its secluded path.


Boulder pedestrian mall

The town center resembles a ski town to some extent. Lots of local shops, restaurants, and bars. On this day, the bicycle race had taken over the town, and throngs had piled into the downtown with bikes or to watch the race. I had a late breakfast at the fantastic Snooze restaurant. Which was packed even at 2 p.m. except at the bar where I ate. I had a great omelet and some hash browns (carbs!). But it was ok as I'd spend much of this day hiking, despite having blown it out hiking the day before. After the meal I continued exploring town on foot. Central Boulder resembles a nicer version of Hyde Park. No shabby apartments, dumpsters, or dingy yards. The median income level is obviously quite high, though the local homes aren't McMansions like you see in some other wealthy places (cough...Dallas...cough!).

Flatirons at dusk

After walking at length, I climbed into the car and drove on over to the gorgeous Boulder Mountain Park, a local park located just out of town. The terrain climbs quickly, and within a short drive you see some fantastic views of the town and the University campus, as well as the reservoirs that supply the town's water and other Rocky Mountain peaks further north. After heading back down to town, I explored the adjacent Chautauqua Park, a fascinating late 19th century educational retreat founded by a number of Texas teachers and educators. The park contains the preserved remnants of this retreat, where teachers would gather during summers, in cooler climates, exchange ideas and teaching methods, enjoy a healthy atmosphere, and recharge and relax before school resumed. The Chautauqua was actually a cultural movement, and several such chapters existed in the United States. Can you imagine such a thing now? How much would it clash with the unimaginative, standardized, bureaucratic monolith that is today's public education? The Park still holds concerts and offers various educational courses, and guests can stay in the restored cottages. Adjacent to the Park, Chautauqua Meadow contains numerous wildflowers and wide open spaces just to the east of the famous Flatirons, a really beautiful rock formation at the base of the mountain range. I didn't try to go climbing them, as I was beat from the Staunton hike, but did get far enough along the trail to get a close view. They face east, so morning would have provided a better view. As it was, I was seeing them close to dusk, and caught a lot of shadow so my photos didn't turn out that well.

After cleaning up a bit I walked around the campus for a bit. Like a Monet painting or Glenn Close, the University of Colorado campus looks much more attractive from a long distance than when you're there. Imagine a nicer looking Texas Tech (without the dust, the 1970s cultural norms, or the wafting feedlot stench). All the buildings look exactly the same, homogenous brownish brick affairs with Spanish tile roofs. All jammed up against one another, with some winding paths in between. The football stadium hails from 1955, seemingly, and while its thankfully located on campus, it can't hold a candle to modern "power conference" stadiums. Which is just as well, because no one goes to Colorado Buffaloes games. And why should they? The team perennially sucks, and there's easily about 20 things more interesting to do in Boulder than endure the dumpster fire that is Colorado football. Oh, and they have rabbits on campus. True story.

The rest of the trip was anti-climatic. I got changed and had dinner downtown. As I walked up to the restaurant, I passed a young couple arguing, and managed to overhear the woman say, excitedly, "...and THAT is why it's time for you to see a therapist!!" Yeah, there's one guy who's night was NOT going to improve. True story.

So, that's my big Denver Weekend. On the whole, Denver is an okay town, but there's no real reason to spend more than a couple of days there, on your way to the mountains. I gather that's what most residents do-hang out in the city during the work week, then spend weekends up in the mountains or one of the smaller towns like Boulder or Golden. Absolutely magnificent scenery in the Rockies. Check it out!

NEXT-if they got rid of all the criminals in the NFL, they couldn't field a team.