Seafood

I grew up in New Jersey, but lived in Silicon Valley before coming to Denver. One thing I missed about both places was the easy access to great seafood. Denver's supermarkets all have a seafood section, if you like expensive fish that's been sitting out all day and don't have the tags on them. Don't fret! There is good fish, if you don't mind driving a little for it.

The Pacific Ocean Market in Denver, along Alameda near Zuni, is the best fish market I've found. What's the smell? Oh, it's bleach! That happens to be my favorite smell in a fish market. You can also find 50 pound sacks of rice, great hot peppers and a variety of weird delectables.

Down next to the fish section is the meat section. They do better pork than beef, so you can expect really good ribs, belly and loin. They have an offal section that smells pretty rank, but you can see it's the fresh meat which smells and not the place itself.

Clean, cheap, relatively convenient.

Camping

It took me forever to figure out the camping scene around Denver. Here are some notes.

Where to Camp
There are 3 main sources of camp sites;
State-run
Federally-run
Private

In general, state is better than federal, federal is better than private. You can find reservations at http://www.recreation.gov/.


Golden Gate Campgrounds is very close. It's right past Golden, about 45 minutes from Washington Park, door to door. It's the closest campground that's in the mountains. Bear Creek also has a campground, but it's in the city and not as nice as getting up to the mountains. The next site I really love is a bit further away, outside Nederland. Check out Kelly Dahl for a great site!


Making Reservations
Basically, if you don't reserve your site good and early, you're not going to get a reservation. By the end of May, all the weekends for the whole summer are booked. However, many people overbook their sites, planning for trips that never happen, so walk-ups are not uncommon. I've had good luck with first stopping at Golden Gate, then if it's full driving around the back of GG up along the 119 to Kelly Dahl. Check out my map.

Weather
Colorado mountain weather can be rough. Even in the hottest part of the summer, expect nights to be uncomfortably cold. Bring warm clothes, good sleeping bags, and a warm tent. There's often afternoon rain, so try to get a tent set up as early as possible, and put all your food under a tarp.

Equipment
Bring warm clothes and a tent, as mentioned above. Most camp sites have electric and water, so you can bring music. The water is decent to drink, but it's not a bad idea to bring a large container for filtered water. I get the large square ones with the spigot. Bring an axe and a saw so you can scavenge for firewood, or bring pre-cut. Most campsites have somewhere you can buy extra wood, but it's expensive.

Fishing
The fishing around the campsites is pretty poor. Lots of people in Colorado fish, which means that there are not many fish left for you. But, it's still fun, as long as you're not expecting to feed yourself. Typically, you see bass, trout (brown and rainbow), walleye and the occasional carp. The carp is catch-and-release only.

Nederland
Nederland is the land of the hippies. If you want organically grown candied ginger, a great little skate park (supposedly donated by Tony Hawk), or to find a good weed connection, check it out. Ned is off 119, only about 20 minutes from Golden Gate and 5 from Kelly Dahl.

Welcome

Hello! 6 years ago, my family and I showed up in Littleton full of hopes and dreams. We had some trials and tribulations, mostly because we just didn't know the area. In the process of finding our space here, we've found out a lot about the area.

I created blog is so I can document some of the things we've found out, in the hopes that it will help other new transplants.