Colorado Advice

[Tater]

I'm just being obnoxiously myopic lol.

I legit was stuck in a regular Mariott hotel room for a full month (January).

I was not allowed a car except on some weekends, because the office was within walking distance of the hotel.

And my boss would ask me each week if I'd "done anything cool"?

I was sent there to babysit a server closet that was the only copy of the Production environment for the software product.

It was an old office of a whole company which built a product, got bought, and then the staff whittled down until there was just 1 guy by himself keeping watch over this office/server-closet.

So they needed at least 1 person there, or nearby so they could be physically inspected/rebooted if needed.

Another guy on my team asked if he could go on the trip with me so I wasn't alone the entire month and he could train me, and my boss said no.

Like 6 weeks into this job, fresh out of college, I end up sitting in this weird empty office, in a town where I knew no one, in the middle of Winter.

Literally nothing interesting happened on that trip.

Every single day was breakfast in the hotel lobby, walk to the office, walk somewhere to get dinner, walk back to the hotel, drink at bar and/or watch TV/movies in my room until bed time.

I became that guy at the bar because I was getting so desperate to not be sitting alone in an empty fucking room lol.

This reads like a travel brochure.

 

[Discus fish salesman]

@DC - Would Steamboat be a good place to stay for a few days? Close to Steamboat SP, and it looks pretty close to Rocky Mountains NP?

Steamboat is pretty awesome. We've done a few family trips out there.

We actually just got back from telluride/mountain village which was equally amazing to anywhere ive been in Colorado, but that's a long trip from the area you are looking to stay.

 

[AuCN]

Steamboat is pretty awesome. We've done a few family trips out there.

We actually just got back from telluride/mountain village which was equally amazing to anywhere ive been in Colorado, but that's a long trip from the area you are looking to stay.

Awesome! Good for you. Telluride/Silverton/Ouray/Ridgway area is awesome. I archery elk hunt either there or Steamboat every year. Both places are good choices for avoiding the I70 weekend warrior corridor.

Ridgway's Orvis Hot Springs after Tacos Del Gnar. Highly recommend

 

[Discus fish salesman]

Awesome! Good for you. Telluride/Silverton/Ouray/Ridgway area is awesome. I archery elk hunt either there or Steamboat every year. Both places are good choices for avoiding the I70 weekend warrior corridor.

Ridgway's Orvis Hot Springs after Tacos Del Gnar. Highly recommend

We didn't try orvis hot springs and did the other because we had small children and I didn't need them to be scarred by naked old people haha. But I did hear orvis is actually much better.

I'll have to check in with you before I head that way next time for pointers. We checked out the brewery in Ouray which was pretty good. Tried smugglers run in telluride which was okay but I thought pretty expensive for what it was. Although everything in telluride is probably a bit pricey

 

[AuCN]

We didn't try orvis hot springs and did the other because we had small children and I didn't need them to be scarred by naked old people haha. But I did hear orvis is actually much better.

I'll have to check in with you before I head that way next time for pointers. We checked out the brewery in Ouray which was pretty good. Tried smugglers run in telluride which was okay but I thought pretty expensive for what it was. Although everything in telluride is probably a bit pricey

Yeah, Telluride is just $$$. So you couldn't have avoided that.
Also, good call on the Ouray hot springs if you have kids. During the day there aren't too many naked people running around (but some). Its more at night. It's a way more "natural" hot springs. Of course the water is pumped in but they layout is less like a public pool, and more like a mountain hot springs (rocks, waterfalls, etc). They have a bigger pool and then many smaller pools that are more private. First come, first serve, or someone might just jump in with you anyway. All different temps.
Hit me up any time. I don't have all the best suggestions. But some. Also I can be a bit biased. After a week of hunting and eating Mountain House meals, any restaurant is amazing. Except Tacos Del Gnar. That is for sure 100% awesome.

 

[RacerX]

Steamboat is pretty awesome. We've done a few family trips out there.

We actually just got back from telluride/mountain village which was equally amazing to anywhere ive been in Colorado, but that's a long trip from the area you are looking to stay.

Nice! I boarded and snowmobiled in Steamboat in March, was sweet, and I stay in Mountain Village in Telluride twice each year, getting set for the film festival there in 2 weeks. Love me some Telluride!

 

[DC]

90 degrees today and snow tomorrow. Gotta love it.

 

[RacerX]

Yeah, Telluride is just $$$. So you couldn't have avoided that.
Also, good call on the Ouray hot springs if you have kids. During the day there aren't too many naked people running around (but some). Its more at night. It's a way more "natural" hot springs. Of course the water is pumped in but they layout is less like a public pool, and more like a mountain hot springs (rocks, waterfalls, etc). They have a bigger pool and then many smaller pools that are more private. First come, first serve, or someone might just jump in with you anyway. All different temps.
Hit me up any time. I don't have all the best suggestions. But some. Also I can be a bit biased. After a week of hunting and eating Mountain House meals, any restaurant is amazing. Except Tacos Del Gnar. That is for sure 100% awesome.

Have you found any Mtn House flavors that stand out? I prefer the Good To-Go brand of MRE but those can also be hit & miss.

 

[AuCN]

Have you found any Mtn House flavors that stand out? I prefer the Good To-Go brand of MRE but those can also be hit & miss.

Fortunately, there are many new brands of freeze dried foods coming out in the past few years that help mix things up. But as far as Mountain House brand, my wife's favorite is beef stroganoff. My favorite is probably the lasagna, but I don't eat it often because the cheese sticks so bad to your spoon and it sucks to clean in a hunt camp setting. So I will say chili mac. But I have about 4 different brands of chili mac in my basement that I am waiting to side by side compare.

I wouldn't say that any of them that I have had are AMAZING. But when you are backpack camping, a hot meal tastes better than it would be if you ate it at home. (Although my wife makes the beef stroganoff at home sometimes and she is a chef, so I guess that is saying something).

 

[RacerX]

Fortunately, there are many new brands of freeze dried foods coming out in the past few years that help mix things up. But as far as Mountain House brand, my wife's favorite is beef stroganoff. My favorite is probably the lasagna, but I don't eat it often because the cheese sticks so bad to your spoon and it sucks to clean in a hunt camp setting. So I will say chili mac. But I have about 4 different brands of chili mac in my basement that I am waiting to side by side compare.

I wouldn't say that any of them that I have had are AMAZING. But when you are backpack camping, a hot meal tastes better than it would be if you ate it at home. (Although my wife makes the beef stroganoff at home sometimes and she is a chef, so I guess that is saying something).

Lol, thanks. As an alternative to the traditional MREs, last outing we heated a couple of these Trader Joe's packets in our Jetboil and served it on top of some TJ's naan. Paired with tequila and weed, it was not "great" but def hit the spot.

 

[Penny Traitor]

Lol, thanks. As an alternative to the traditional MREs, last outing we heated a couple of these Trader Joe's packets in our Jetboil and served it on top of some TJ's naan. Paired with tequila and weed, it was not "great" but def hit the spot.

When various brands of those started popping up in supermarkets this past decade, the first thing I thought of is, where were these when I was doing serious hiking in the 90s? I can carry a ton of them and even the vegetarian options are still protien rich. They pack rice the same way too, so it's a week of fine dining while carrying an extra 1.4 pounds.

Plus if you are going to have smelly Indian food farts, may as well do it when you are out of doors!

 

[AuCN]

My buddy was hiking in the Himalayas and came across some foil packet food (still wet, not dehydrated) that you just boil the foil packet for a bit and add to rice. He was visiting the US from Australia and found some, but I haven't been able to. They truly were awesome. I will have to ask him the name again.

If you can't tell, I am a fan of not having much to clean afterwards...