So... Here I am in Denver

[Ohio Joe]

I got here about two months ago... Came looking for work and no luck yet.

I'm really a Jersey boy, born and raised in NE NJ. I've lived most of my life in the NE, love it up there. I did spend 10 years in Ohio... not so much love there :D I did meet some great DU'ers there but far too many fundy types for my tastes.

True story... Out at a little dive bar in Dublin Ohio (just outside of Columbus, very red town) with this girl... drinking and smoking and playing pool. We meet this other couple and start drinking and smoking and playing pool with them. We all retire to the patio to relax and chat when the woman asks my girl what church she goes to... We are both atheists... So she tells her that... The two look at each other as though she had replied that she eats children for breakfast and without a word they both get up and walk away... I shit you not... drinking and smoking is ok but fucking atheists... fuget about it :D

Anyway... My trip out here started in Natick MA with a drive down to my mom's in NJ, leaving all my stuff in MA. I stayed with my mom for a few weeks while I planned my migration. I shipped my car and rented a U-Haul, drove from NJ back to MA and got my stuff, then out 90 to-wards Buffalo, then down to rt 80 in Ohio. This first part of the trip was not too bad, my plan was to make it to Buffalo on day one but when I got to MA to load my stuff, my friend Peg said that since they (My buddy bill and her) would not be seeing me for a while, she would make seafood pasta for dinner and have me stay the night.

You take bacon and fry it up wicked crispy... then fry shrimp and scallops in the bacon grease... cook some fresh pasta and add the above with tons of garlic and butter.... mmmmmm... heaven.

The next day, I set out from MA and made it just short of Toledo... There is a joke there but I can't think of it.

Day three brought me as far as Iowa... Fucking-A, rt 80 through Iowa rocked and I was very much missing my T-bird and be-moaning the fact that I was in a U-haul. Iowa... I will be back to scream through in my T-Bird.

Then came Nebraska... uhhhh... A long straight road that all looked the same... Holy shit what an effort to not go into a coma. No offense Nebraska people but... get some variation.

I had no idea how much of Nebraska was left at the end of day four but I stopped anyway because I just could not take it anymore.

Day five found me just about 30 miles short of Colorado and the trek went on. Crossing the border from Nebraska to Colorado was a shock... Just a few miles over the border and the landscape changed completely... mercifully.

Colorado is beautiful. The rolling hills, the mountains in the distance, the colors... just wow.

This last step going to Denver was tough though, as I was entering Colorado, there was a wind advisory... Ever try driving a U-Haul in 50mph winds... It sucks, you have to have a death grip on the wheel and pray a gust does not hit you while anyone is next to you. I made it.

So... Here I am in Denver.

The first thing I found out was that Denver has pizza... Not just pizza but good pizza... fucking-A, after ten years in Ohio this is great pizza! I can get slices! It is very close to pizza you would get in NJ or NY... You know, the best pizza in the world :D

The next thing was the marijuana dispensaries. Holy crap, they are all over the place. And the head shop commercials on late night TV... Never seen this before... But I like it... I have to figure out the laws and see if I can get in on this :hippie:

So... Here I am in Denver... Anyone else here?

[TZ]

1. Not me but ooodles of people related to me live there.

Some advice if you want to hang out in a liberal stronghold...Boulder (Colorado University) is considered an eastern version of Berkeley. Avoid Colorado Springs...a beautiful town where Pikes Peak is but its fundie central (Air Force Academy, James Dobson's Focus on the Family)
But its one of the most beautiful places in the US, in my opinion. And in general, the people are very polite and friendly.
They also had one of the best bookstores EVER there in The Tattered Cover. Definitely worth a visit.
http://www.tatteredcover.com/
I think you'll like it there. I miss it. I need to go back for a visit.

[Ohio Joe]

2. Good info, thanks!

I like it so far, I can't wait till spring to take the top off my car and go cruising around. I'm thinking going through the mountains with the top down will be awesome!

[JTG of the PRB]

3. I've lived in Colorado all my life, and I'm a bit northwest of Denver at the moment.

In terms of dispensaries, it's really not that hard to get a "green card" here in Colorado, particularly if you have an even semi-legitimate issue (lingering pain, headaches, other non-life-threatening things).

Go see the 16th Street Mall when you get a chance. It's pretty sweet - a pedestrian mall in the heart of downtown.

I grew up in Boulder, lived there most of my life (until I discovered that living there is too damn expensive), and it's certainly a liberal stronghold... But it takes some getting used to. Boulder is different, very very different. Gorgeous scenery, but endless yuppies and hippies. Tons of cool people though. I graduated from CU, and the campus is gorgeous. There's another pedestrian mall there, the Pearl Street Mall, and it's even more awesome than the 16th Street Mall. AWESOME food all over the place.

Estes Park is great too, so get up there when you can, particularly in the spring/summer/fall. Rocky Mountain National Park has amazing scenery and great hiking trails (and you'll want to go hiking in the mountains; it's incredible. Just make sure you're adjusted to the altitude before you try anything too strenuous! ;) )

Denver is a great city, and I'm sure you'll love it here. This state is a little bluer these days than it used to be, though there are still a lot of large pockets of red. Welcome to Colorado! :hi:

[Ohio Joe]

4. Yeah... I smoke...

So hiking will not be my thing here :D I cough about three times as much as I ever have since coming here, the altitude does a number on you.

I will check out the 16th street mall, thats a bit north of me, I'm near rt 25 and Alameda.

[Hotler]

11. How about a Denver Du meet-up??

I think it's been awhile since we had one.

[Common Sense Party]

5. Try Buenos Aires pizzeria downtown. Yumm!

Their empanadas are to die for.

[Ohio Joe]

6. Speaking of empanadas...

The first weekend I was here, my brother took me to this little Mexican place around the corner. I tell my brother that this is some of the best Mexican I've ever had and he tells me the place is not bad but there is much better around Denver. So, on the way home we pass by a Taco Bell... I'm thinking, WTF? Who the hell goes to a Taco Bell when there are crap loads of really good places to go to? I mean... it can't be for speed because the place we ate at brought our food at least as fast as a Taco Bell... So WTF is up with that?

oh... and I will look up the place you suggested and stop by :D

[Supply Side Jesus]

13. Hacienda Colorado...

great Mexican resturant

if you get to Colorado Springs or Pueblo, Jorge's....good stuff

[struggle4progress]

7. What's wrong with chicken for breakfast?

I gave up on breakfast cereal and eggs and such in the AM years and years ago

[Ohio Joe]

8. Children, not chicken

:evilgrin:

[struggle4progress]

9. .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3FnpaWQJO0

[Hotler]

10. Yo! Born and raised here.

I'm down here in Englewood. We should meet for a beverage. I'll tell you all you need to know about this cow town. PM me. For food mexican food try El Tepehuan 3457 South Broadway, Englewood. For chicken fried steak there is no better than Breakfast King down on Santa Fe and Missippi Ave. Denver. Open 24/7

[madmom]

12. Not in Denver or even Colorado for that matter, but I can totally commiserate with

you about Ohio. I was born and raised mostly back east moved to Ohio in my early teens, been trying to get out ever since, but obligations keep me here.