STATE MOTTO:"IF I SHOVEL ONE MORE LOAD OF SNOW I'LL GO NUTS".
OR:
"HEY GOD, NOT TO BE A WHINER, BUT 'april' is supposed to be a *SPRING* month".

ACTUALLY THE TWO EASIEST STATES TO GET RIDES IN ARE *COLORADO* AND TENNESSEE.

COLORADO is also wonderfully cheap on groceries. Look for POORE BROS potato chips; found in AZ, BERKELEY CA, BELLINGHAM, TN and parts of Colorado. My fave flavor is steak and onion, yum!

Something you should know dept:
If you take pot or shrooms to Boulder it's like taking coals to New Castle - you'll never sell 'em off - not that I would *ever* have anything to do w/that business, I just observe...
Another unusual thing, CO has a million restaurants and brewpubs but they all seem pretty mediocre...not good not bad y'know what I mean?

But the cheapest laundromat on the *PLANET*, also the *LARGEST* Guiness book is *SMILEYs* on Colfax Ave. Easy to find, look for a lot of meth heads...
50 cents to wash, 25 to dry and they have extracters too.
The bus across Denver is only 50 cents during non - peak times and transfers go all over the place.

Important places:
Sapp Bros truck stop (I-70 to KS).
Wheatridge truckstop (Applewood bus) I-70 to Utah.
THE #7 bus to the Wagon Road Park and ride (I-25 north).
Arapahoe Rd and I-25 (accessible on bus).

BIG PLACES IN DENVER AREA:
Coors Field: 5 blocks from 16th St downtown pedestrian mall.
Paramount Theatre - on mall side street.
Ogden Theater - on Colfax Ave.
Denver Public Library - Broadway & Colfax - web access w/printers.
Mcnichols Arena / Mile High Stadium - Colfax bus.
FIDDLERS GREEN AMPITHEATRE the only shed I know of that has dr.pepper and free cellular calls for concertgoers...(really).

Also most 7-11s in CO practically have a salad bar of toppings for the nachos, and the sunday paper's, both of them, are only 50 cents, and neither one of them sucks.
Tho the Rocky Mountain News is unavailable outside Denver, and the Denver one is.
got that?

Best cheap hotel in Denver: Knights Inn on Evans Rd. 29-34 per nite.
There are also some cheap ones out by Wheat Ridge but they're not close enough to places I find worth going to...
There's a reALLY NICE LIL DOLLAR THEATRE NEAR A SHOPPING MALL ON ARAPAHOE RD, THEY GET 2ND RUNS EARLY AND THEY SERVE DR.PEPPER.

I WAS GONNA WRITE THE DENVER RTDS HYPERTEXT ADDRESS BUT THEY DON'T HAVE A MAP ON THE SITE SO IT'S USELESS...

COPS ARE really NASTY IN ADAMS COUNTY (AURORA). ESP. SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES.
CSP TENDS TO BE VERY UNDERSTANDING IF YOU'RE ON THE HIWAY IN A SOMEWHAT SAFE RURAL AREA.
(MOST COLORADO TROOPERS ARE AMERINDIAN AND HAVE HAD TO HITCHIKE IN THEIR LIFE.
SO...basically, if bikes are permitted you won't be bothered.

If you gotta fly, book it out of the Colorado Sprgs airport, you will save at least 150 bux on any flight.
*WESTERN PACIFIC AIRLINES* IS THE MAGIC WORD FOR FLYING INTO CO, and it's remarkably easy to hitch into Denver from the Springs.
One warning tho, it's terribly republican there. Air Force Academy and all that entails...

If you get a chance, take US 40 across the state - it takes awhile but Rocky Mountian Nat'l Park: wow, the only tundra in the "outside" states.
Watch out for rutting elk - they do not like to be disturbed, and 10,000 feet up it's hard to breathe.

Reasons I like CO:
Towns w/names like *RIFLE*,
and *PARACHUTE*,
and *dinosaur*.

Supposedly there is a sign outside Durango that has a big carved thumb and a bus style shelter - I don't know if it's true but it's a good story.

Warning: Blue Moon microbeer is really Coors in disguise.
Rockies Rockpile tickets are only $4.50, and Coors put a brewpub in the park...

Rtd bus to Boulder is only $2.50 every 30 minutes greyhound charges $10 for same trip.
Yes, you can go to Boulder on Rtd for 1/3rd of the cost of going to the airport - even tho the airport is in the city limits - go figure.
Denver monthly passes are only $29.50 and they have *really* good service for a western city!

Both Denver newspapers hire adults for street corner sales. You keep all receipts: there is so much advertising in Denver papers that they can keep prices low and do promotions like this. They give you a safety vest and a sign, and a hat, and assign you a corner. If you miss your assigned corner you get bumped to back of the list.

The Rocky Mtn News does mostly daily's - hey, 100 papers @ 35 cents = $35.00.
The Post does mostly sundays 50 cents times 100, you get the picture...
They also sell off traffic islands. Some are safer than others - use your judgement. The best *safe* corners seem to be out by Sapp Bros, and Colorado Rd and I-25. The newspapers won an injunction calling that particular method of sales "free speech".
And its a good way to make 25 bucks legally...
PS - over the hedge is in the 'Rocky' and yes, you get to keep a copy for yourself (they send a truck by for the leftovers at the end of the day...)
Call Rocky Mtn News or Denver Post and ask about single copy streetside sales.

Average crossing time: 16 hrs. in any direction.

Xtra CO note: locally owned cheap burger joint (w/d.p. of course) "Good Times" drive thru + patio only no seats but ok for that sort o' thing.
I do wish Jack in the Box (foodmaker / purina) hadn't bailed on Colorado tho...

COLORADO UPDATE:
Colorado ez temp work in Pueblo area (distributing flyers):
Common Point Mortgage - contact N. Clarke.
719-330-6880
303-740-8118
888-873-1213
Also new recommended way across Colo Spgs from Academy Rd (exit too busy to htich on):
Take city bus from 'Chapel Hills Mall' to 'Founatin' (near TOMAHAWK TRUCK STOP ON SANTA FE DRIVE & I-25)
(ABOVE ADVICE FOR SOUTHBOUND TRIPS)
DOWNSIDE - TRIP IS ONLY 2O MILES LONG (AND TAKES 3 HRS, ALSO IS DOUBLE FARE DUE TO TWO BUS CHANGES INVOLVED...)

Write to Legendary Rob.