Blog: Denver Trip
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Denver Trip - Thursday, May 8, 2025
The qualities that Priscilla considers when determining what place we should travel to next, in order of most important to less important:
1. Cost of airfare
2. What airport lounges we'll be able to visit
3. What free hotel nights we can use
4. The activities that will be available
Because she feels like we don't travel enough, and because Frontier Airlines was having a sale on flights to Denver, Priscilla was all too happy to book another trip for us. Flights from Burbank to Denver were $26, a steal by any measure. Of course, Frontier has its downsides and we had to rebook after they canceled our original flight, but at last we made it to the Mile High City last week.
The rest of the day was spent getting settled: picking up the rental car, getting a few grocery items from Costco, and driving to our hotel in Golden. We wanted to be in Golden due to its proximity to hiking, though that can probably be said about most places in the Denver area.
I had originally wanted to do an all-day hike in a more remote area, but those places tend to be at a higher elevation and, as I would later find out, are still getting snow at this time of the year. So we were consigned to doing two shorter (well, my definition of "short") hikes over two days.
So on Day 2, we hiked at Red Rocks Park, Priscilla doing 5 miles and me doing another 2.5 miles on top of that. The rock formations there were pretty unique and made for a scenic hike, and it was cool to see the famous outdoor amphitheatre. We hit up the gift shop and Priscilla bought a keychain that will be this year's Christmas ornament.
After hiking, we drove over to Downtown Golden to get lunch and walk around some more. The downtown area looks really nice, and they have a creek that's full of water and a walkway on both sides. It was similar to the San Antonio Riverwalk but less commercial. We even saw someone paddling around in a kayak.
We hiked at Green Mountain on Day 3. Priscilla was not fond of the elevation, but we finally made it to the summit. The scenery was beautiful and the panoramic views were lovely. The whole area was filled with green grassy hills, and to the west in the distance, we could see the amphitheatre at Red Rocks Park. There were small mountains as far as the eye could see, and behind those rose the snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains.
In the afternoon, we headed over to Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge (which is not in the actual Rocky Mountains) to do the wildlife drive. It was a warm day, and perhaps as a result, we didn't see a lot of animals out. Priscilla had downloaded a podcast that narrated the 11-mile self-guided drive. We saw what appeared to be buffalo off in the distance, a field of prairie dogs, and a couple deer resting beneath a tree. The visit was a bit of a letdown, but I know that timing matters for these kinds of places.
Day 4 was Meow Wolf's Convergence Station. It's hard to completely describe what Meow Wolf is, but perhaps I'll call it an eclectic collection of immersive art, a thematic universe with an unfolding story.
We bought the QPass (RFID) card so that we could interact with consoles and unlock the story. But because it was a Sunday, the place was crowded and we weren't able to get our hands on everything. I appreciated the huge amount of work that went into creating this place, but I felt like it was a one and done kind of experience. The abstract, artistic style at teamLab Borderless in Tokyo was much more our cup of tea.
After Meow Wolf, we walked over to Downtown Denver but didn't do too much. Downtown Golden was a lot nicer; for instance, the river trail in Downtown Denver didn't have as much water and was a little run down.
Monday was our last day and was essentially just travel. We hit up the Capital One Lounge (courtesy of Priscilla's Venture X card) at Denver International Airport before flying Southwest back to Burbank. The lounge was fine, but I couldn't eat most of the food and I felt like the counterpart lounge at DFW had more food options and amenities. Priscilla, of course, is happy with anything she can get for free.
Overall, Denver was fun enough and I'm glad that we got to do a couple popular hikes. But what would really be up my alley is an all-day hike/run where I can explore and feel like I'm challenging myself. Priscilla and I agree that I can do that on my own while she hits up a coffee shop and explores the town for the day. Whether one of those days is really in the cards is going to be up to me.
1. Cost of airfare
2. What airport lounges we'll be able to visit
3. What free hotel nights we can use
4. The activities that will be available
Because she feels like we don't travel enough, and because Frontier Airlines was having a sale on flights to Denver, Priscilla was all too happy to book another trip for us. Flights from Burbank to Denver were $26, a steal by any measure. Of course, Frontier has its downsides and we had to rebook after they canceled our original flight, but at last we made it to the Mile High City last week.
The rest of the day was spent getting settled: picking up the rental car, getting a few grocery items from Costco, and driving to our hotel in Golden. We wanted to be in Golden due to its proximity to hiking, though that can probably be said about most places in the Denver area.
I had originally wanted to do an all-day hike in a more remote area, but those places tend to be at a higher elevation and, as I would later find out, are still getting snow at this time of the year. So we were consigned to doing two shorter (well, my definition of "short") hikes over two days.
So on Day 2, we hiked at Red Rocks Park, Priscilla doing 5 miles and me doing another 2.5 miles on top of that. The rock formations there were pretty unique and made for a scenic hike, and it was cool to see the famous outdoor amphitheatre. We hit up the gift shop and Priscilla bought a keychain that will be this year's Christmas ornament.
After hiking, we drove over to Downtown Golden to get lunch and walk around some more. The downtown area looks really nice, and they have a creek that's full of water and a walkway on both sides. It was similar to the San Antonio Riverwalk but less commercial. We even saw someone paddling around in a kayak.
We hiked at Green Mountain on Day 3. Priscilla was not fond of the elevation, but we finally made it to the summit. The scenery was beautiful and the panoramic views were lovely. The whole area was filled with green grassy hills, and to the west in the distance, we could see the amphitheatre at Red Rocks Park. There were small mountains as far as the eye could see, and behind those rose the snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains.
In the afternoon, we headed over to Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge (which is not in the actual Rocky Mountains) to do the wildlife drive. It was a warm day, and perhaps as a result, we didn't see a lot of animals out. Priscilla had downloaded a podcast that narrated the 11-mile self-guided drive. We saw what appeared to be buffalo off in the distance, a field of prairie dogs, and a couple deer resting beneath a tree. The visit was a bit of a letdown, but I know that timing matters for these kinds of places.
Day 4 was Meow Wolf's Convergence Station. It's hard to completely describe what Meow Wolf is, but perhaps I'll call it an eclectic collection of immersive art, a thematic universe with an unfolding story.
We bought the QPass (RFID) card so that we could interact with consoles and unlock the story. But because it was a Sunday, the place was crowded and we weren't able to get our hands on everything. I appreciated the huge amount of work that went into creating this place, but I felt like it was a one and done kind of experience. The abstract, artistic style at teamLab Borderless in Tokyo was much more our cup of tea.
After Meow Wolf, we walked over to Downtown Denver but didn't do too much. Downtown Golden was a lot nicer; for instance, the river trail in Downtown Denver didn't have as much water and was a little run down.
Monday was our last day and was essentially just travel. We hit up the Capital One Lounge (courtesy of Priscilla's Venture X card) at Denver International Airport before flying Southwest back to Burbank. The lounge was fine, but I couldn't eat most of the food and I felt like the counterpart lounge at DFW had more food options and amenities. Priscilla, of course, is happy with anything she can get for free.
Overall, Denver was fun enough and I'm glad that we got to do a couple popular hikes. But what would really be up my alley is an all-day hike/run where I can explore and feel like I'm challenging myself. Priscilla and I agree that I can do that on my own while she hits up a coffee shop and explores the town for the day. Whether one of those days is really in the cards is going to be up to me.