Denver

We flew in 6/30 and stayed at the Hotel Monaco.  We decided to park a couple blocks away to avoid the daily $40 valet parking fee.  The walk from the lot to the hotel with our roller bags became known as the Tightwad Trek.

In addition to the sign telling us to not fire up any spliffs, there was a life size steer near the elevators, so we realized we were not in the Bay Area anymore.

We had a nice room and enjoyed the hotel restaurant Panzano that first night.  I think I had the malfadine.  When confronted with choosing from among 1000 different pasta varieties, I usually go with the malfadine, tagliatelle or pappardelle. We had a bottle of Primitivo as well, which my bud 4M tells me is the Italian Zin.  We also had breakfast there the next morning, which was interrupted by a fire alarm and evacuation. I think the pig they were spit roasting on the sidewalk might have tripped the alarm. We came back 5-10 minutes later and they were willing to give us a brand new breakfast, even though the existing one was half eaten and still quite edible.  I would have taken them up on the offer in my earlier days, but I am less of a glutton now, although you could not tell by my mid-section.

That first morning was when Trump was speaking at the Western Conservative Summit, about half a mile from our hotel. Right next to the convention center, the GALA chorus was having a meeting and performance.  We decided to clear out and head to Boulder. That town has a lot of great old houses from around the turn of the 20^th century, with 21^st century SF price tags.  We had a good lunch, which I believe met sustainability standards.  I was sitting on a bench, while my wife window shopped, when some kid with a bible came up to me.  He asked me what I believed in.  I told him I believed in sitting on this bench minding my own business.  He got the point.

When we got back to a rainy Denver we went on a guided brew pub tour.  There is a boatload of them in Denver, and we hit four.  We were planning on having dinner at a Spanish restaurant that night, but after the beer tour, we decided to stick at the last joint for a burger.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at a place called Syrup.  We got there before the crowds poured in.  Breakfast was OK but I was put off by the tater tots.  For some reason I was under the impression that they made their own when reading the menu.  I should have asked. It had been decades since I had those little potato based turds on my plate.

We then Ubered over to the Forney Transportation Museum to check out some cool old cars.  I texted one to The Wolv, as he is an aficionado, but I think he checks his cell about twice a year, so I’m not sure he got it.  He does read the blog however, so maybe I’ll hear from him.

Dinner that night was in the Cherry Creek section of Denver, which was having an arts festival.  There was some pretty cool stuff that you would not see at the Foster City Arts and Wine Festival, not that I was going to actually purchase any of it.  We had dinner out on the restaurant’s patio so we could take in the happenings.

We checked out Sunday morning and headed back to our favorite parking lot. On the way we planned to pick up some weak mud at Starbucks, but they were not open.  We were miffed but stopped at Illy on the way out.  I had never been in one.  My “small” coffee was about two thimbles full so I will not become a regular.

Next we were off to Rocky Mountain National Park, on their busiest weekend of the year.  We drove through in about an hour and a half, reaching over 12,000 feet at one point.  We got out a couple times.  I was a little chilly in my shorts and thin shirt.  The views were gorgeous and we saw a bunch of animals.  I think some of them were mule deer, but I’m not a zoologist.

The last stop was an overnight stay at my wife’s brothers house in Parker.  He and his wife were gracious hosts.  They prepared an excellent breakfast Monday morning before sending us on our way.  We were a little concerned about the TSA lines at the airport, but we sped through in record time.  Back at SFO I tried Uber for the first time from the airport, which ended up being about one third of the cost of a taxi.

That’s my Denver story.  See you in a few weeks, unless I get inspired.