Points Guy Visits The Curtis Hotel in Denver

We have stayed here twice, and it is definitely the most fun either of us have had at a DoubleTree.  I just hope the Jimmy Buffet themed suite survived the renovation.  

Get the steak and eggs for breakfast; get the French dip for lunch; get a martini at happy hour.

Ok, now go read what TPG has to say:

View on Threads

Annual Heat Related Safety Post

 

I posted the above chart back in summer of 2020 and then in subsequent years.  Since we are now in July it does seem like a good time to remind people about the symptoms of and remediation for various heat-related illnesses. Said 2020 post also has a few tips for dealing with the heat.  

On a good note: June 2025 was the first in six years wherein we did not hit 100º.  

Below is a photo of me beating the heat over Memorial Day.  We're hoping to get back to Colorado and New Mexico before the summer is over.

Cinnamon Pass in Colorado

Travel: Notes on Denver

Steak Frites, Crowned with Arugula 

 

My wife and I recently took a (too) short trip to Colorado.  By "too short", I mean we didn't ride out the rest of August thus avoiding the exceptionally unpleasant heat wave here in Austin.  

We wanted to stay in Denver for a couple of reasons.  First, we had tickets to see a game at Coors Field. Second, while I have been through Denver many times in the past few years (on the way to various Colorado locales) I hadn't actually stayed in Denver in quite a while.  

Here are a few notes on Denver:

• We stayed at The Magnolia on 17th Street in downtown Denver.  It's an older hotel with small rooms, but it's in the middle of downtown.  It's also one of Marriott's Tribute Portfolio hotels, so Bonvoy points can be used/earned.  
• Generally I liked the hotel.  Staff was friendly and the service was good.  I enjoy some of the decor and quirks of older hotels, and this one was no exception.  
• We thought proximity to the 16th Street pedestrian mall would be good; we did not realize it is currently under construction.
• You can walk to LoDo and Coors Field from the hotel, but hotel staff suggested taking a car after dark.
• This hotel is valet only, so bring some cash for tipping.  
• The steak frites at the hotel restaurant is tasty (see photo above).
• Coors Field is a great venue for watching baseball.   We're a Cubs household (with the Astros in second), but watching the Rockies play in their home field is a lot of fun.  We saw them beat the Dodgers.  
• Coors Light tastes inexplicably good at the stadium.  I'm not making this up.  I'm convinced they have a secret reserve of special Coors Light set aside for the stadium, but of course this is a crackpot theory of which I have no proof.
• If you have Clear, you can go into the stadium using a special line on the first base side.  
• We visited a friend staying at The Rally.  This hotel is awesome.  I can't tell you about the regular rooms, but the penthouse he rented was nicer than most condos I've showed.  Our room from The Magnolia would have fit in the one of the bedrooms.  I definitely had room envy. 
• You can't beat this location if you want to go to a Rockies game.  It is across the street from the stadium.  
• I try to stay in the Hilton Honors or Bonvoy systems, and this hotel isn't part of either.  
• There is a Star Bar in the LoDo area of Denver.   It is very different from the Star Bar in Austin. Also, they refuse to serve Fireball (which, in my opinion is a plus).
• The Denver Beer Company brews up some delicious products.   We visited some friends in at the Arvada location and had a delightful time.  
• Bars in Denver appear to close earlier than those in Austin.  
• We didn't make it to Meow Wolf's Convergence Station, but our friends who went loved it.  
• I went to Meow Wolf's Omega Mart in Las Vegas on a trip in May 2021.  I recommend going to it and enjoying the Area 15 facilities as well.  
• If you are flying through Denver International Airport, I highly recommend having at least TSA Pre-Check if not Clear.   The general security lines can be quite long.  

Giant Can of Unusually Good Coors Light

Colorado Road Trip Ideas

 The Wall Street Journal has written up a nice guide for a summer road trip in Colorado.   I've been to Denver many times, as well as Salida (it's where I've stayed while skiing at Monarch).   The road in between makes for a nice drive.  Telluride and the surrounding areas also make for a good drive.   One I'd suggest adding on to the list from the article is the "Million Dollar Highway" (aka US 550) from Silverton to Ouray.  That one packs in some amazing views and goes by a few trailheads worth checking out (with the caveat that it should not be done towing a large trailer or in an RV).    

Fly Fishing

Yesterday I posted a link to a post on An Austin Angler's Journal written by my friend Andy about our 2010 fly fishing trip on the Big Thompson River in Rocky Mountain National Park.   This reminded me that a while back I had written a post about this fly fishing trip and the guide we hired.   Check out each post if you're interested in fly fishing in Colorado and/or on the Big Thompson River.  

Andy's post is pretty good... and now I'd rather be fishing in Colorado as opposed to sitting in my office.  I'd also like to note that in 2011 we went back to the Big Thompson but didn't hire a guide.  Andy caught some trout; however, after my less successful attempts I decided that hiring a guide in the future would be money well spent.  

An Austin Angler's Journal: The Big Thompson

An Austin Angler's Journal: The Big Thompson: A buddy of mine and long time local angler, Andy Barclay, was kind enough to write up a piece on a past trip he had to Colorado. Andy is...

Travel: Colorado

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs

[Photos by Dave Floyd]


It's good to be back in Austin after an excellent trip to Colorado.

For the past three years, I've gone up to Colorado for vacation.  In 2009, I hiked to the top of Mt. Elbert with my mountain climbing buddy.  In 2010 and 2011, I went to Denver, Boulder, and Estes Park with friends.  Both of these trips included a lot of fly fishing, hiking, and road tripping around the mountains.

This year, my trip to Colorado was more business oriented as it was center around the 2012 Association of Government Risk Pools ("AGRIP") Institute for Management and Leadership conference.  The conference was held at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs.  I hadn't been to that part of Colorado in a long time, but it turned out to be a lot of fun.   Furthermore, the conference was full of very informative seminars.   I have been a regular at AGRIP's Fall and Spring conferences since 2007, but this was the first summer Management & Leadership session I'd attended.  I walked away with some very valuable information, as well as quite a few ideas for tweaking things at Prism Risk Management.  I also left with ideas for the Texas Schools Property & Casualty Cooperative and Oklahoma Schools Property & Casualty Cooperative programs.  I'll get into some of these concepts in detail on the Prism Risk Management blog over the next few weeks.

Mt. Elbet and Mt. Massive in Colorado

Owing to the business nature of my Colorado trip, I had compressed time to travel around the mountains for fun.  I did take a day to drive the following route:

• Glenwood Springs to Aspen
• Aspen to Twin Lakes (via Independence Pass)
• Twin Lakes to Leadville (in the shadow of Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massive)
• Leadville to Frisco
• Frisco to Grand Lakes
• Grand Lakes to Estes Park (via the Trial Ridge Road in Rocky Mtn. Nat'l Park)
• Estes Park to Ft. Collins

This route took me about 9 hours, but there were significant breaks in driving for photography.  The Twin Lakes to Estes Park portion of the contained several portions of a by-way called "Top of the Rockies."  If you have a short time frame and want to see some spectacular mountain scenery in the vicinity of Denver, I highly recommend the route listed in the bullet points above.  

Outdoor: Fly Fishing

WDF Fly Fishing in the Big Thomson River

Recently, while going through my desk at Prism Risk Management, I found the business card of Mike Oatley, a fishing guide I recommended for fly fishing in Rocky Mountain National Park.  In August 2010, I went to Estes Park with a couple of friends and we hired Mr. Oatley as a guide (both for general fly fishing instruction as well as fish finding services).  I subsequently caught a couple of brook trout in the Big Thompson River.  In August 2011, we returned to the Big Thompson but this time decided to skip hiring a guide (not because we didn't like Mike, but probably because we were allocating the dinero for microbrew trips).  While my casting and fly equipment handling skills are much better than in 2010, I had no luck finding any fish.  Not even a flash or a rise.  I did, however, come across some guide trips while working the river.  They appeared to be having more success than me.  Next time I'm in Colorado, as a still novice fly fisherman, I'll be hiring a guide in order to work the local rivers and for advice on flies.

Outdoor: Fly Fishing in Colorado

[photo: an awesome brook trout caught by my friend Andy (photo from Andy's iPhone)]

I've been fishing since age five. It wasn't until August, though, that I had experienced a successful fly fishing trip. Now I'm hooked.

At the beginning of August, I went to Estes Park, CO. My friend Andy booked a fly fishing guide through The Estes Angler. The fishing trip was one component of a multi-part mountain man vacation, which otherwise included but was not limited to hiking, whitewater rafting, eating elk meat, and driving a rented Hummer through the forest.

The morning of the fishing trip, we showed up bright and early at the The Estes Angler wherein we met our guide, Mike Oatley. Mike outfitted us with R.L. Winston gear and gave a thirty minute casting class outside of the store. Then we set off for Rocky Mountain National Park for several hours of fly fishing action.

The first thing I can tell you about fly fishing in Colorado is that even if you suck at fly casting and/or have no luck catching fish, you are still in the mountains of Colorado and that beats just about any day at the office. Our trip involved hiking through a wooded area, and then following a narrow, snowmelt fed river until likely fish occupied water was found. By river, I mean a fifteen foot wide channel which would easily fit inside of Barton Creek. But, this river was surrounded by high cliffs, forests, and mountain peak vistas.

The second thing about fly fishing in Colorado is that the process of fly fishing is fun, active, and quite engaging. You are constantly casting, mending your line, and letting your fly float down as you work the water for signs of fish. If you see a flash of light reflecting off a trout's scales, then you work that area as you present your fly to the fish until it finally gives into to its need for a tasty snack. While fishing, I didn't think about business or law at all; just working the line and catching a trout. It was pretty awesome.

And, finally, catching a brook trout is cool. They put up a good fight for a relatively small fish. I caught two, and as mentioned above, became hooked on fly fishing.

If you are going to be in Boulder, Fort Collins, or Estes Park and you're interested in some good fly fishing, then I recommend Mike Oatley. You can reach him through The Estes Angler. Mike's initial casting instructions were very good, and he worked with all of us throughout the trip, giving more instruction and advice to improve casting, line handling, water reading, fly presentation, and so forth. Thanks to Mike, I quickly went from having a crappy fly cast to being pretty decent. Mike also gave a lot of good general fishing advice, which I've employed on subsequent trips.