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Damor

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  1. I'll follow you back over here from the Colorado Vacation thread, at least until we get our own "My Kid is a Colorado Expat for College" forum. I'd like to get my son to look at Trinity as well if he thinks he wants to stay in Texas at all. They have an online estimator of what financial aid you could expect. Still not cheap (and probably close to Colorado OOS), but I've heard a lot of great things. You could look at Fort Lewis in Durango as a smaller liberal arts school. If you have any documented Native American ancestry, that can help financially as they were founded as a Native American school. As I said in the other thread, my nephew is starting there in the fall. If you haven't been, it's a really cool town and area, though far removed from the Front Range. Has she thought about Wyoming? My older one visited there and I was pretty impressed for the size of the school, but the weather is not for the faint-hearted, and like CSU, it's not right in the mountains. I don't remember what financials looked like OOS, but it's not a 'premium' like CU these days. If she wants to be a therapist, seems she should be thinking about a master's anyway, and I'd say that a solid and healthy well-rounded college experience will mean a lot more to her and her future clients than any big names for undergrad, although if we could get any resident therapists like @TenaciousTgarden to chime in, that would be much more valuable info that any I would have. And while mine might apply to Texas but is just outside the auto-admit range, my understanding is that admission to the delightful College of Liberal Arts (which I'd think psych is) is an easier get than CS or McCombs or Engineering or those other automaton-robot majors (Plan II bias showing here).
  2. Regardless, some poor ultrasound tech had to get all up in those baggy inguinal regions. Probably a lot of crusty ketchup in those folds, if not a half-eaten Big Mac and a few thousand rubles of folding money.
  3. At least a timeshare condo. I'm not cleaning up the hot tub if anyone brings South Austin's mom, though.
  4. Well, this thread is now completely off the rails. @hookem2010, my grandparents had what we'd now call an "off grid" cabin at about 10,800ft outside of Pitkin where I spent my summers growing up. Hold to that place if y'all can, wish we still had ours. If you get a chance to head a little north, the Quartz Creek valley is beautiful. If you don't get objections to driving over Cumberland Pass to Tin Cup, the aforementioned Frenchy's has a stocked pond where your 3yo would probably enjoy feeding the fish, and Mirror Lake is gorgeous. Or you can do a quick informal tour of the hatchery in Pitkin, good for a kid of that age. Don't do the Alpine Tunnel unless you like a terrifying drive which leads to nothing worth seeing.
  5. Talked to a guy in Salida a few years back who said he regretted talking shit about Texans once the Californians came in. Said at least when we bought stuff up we'd at least come up and make use of it. That said, just don't be a dick wherever you go, respect/appreciate the locals, and leave things as good or better than you found them.
  6. I'm embarrassed to say we've never eaten at Garlic Mikes although we usually stay right near there. Nothing against it and I understand it's still great, but we are usually grubby and while it's not fine dining, we're usually in the mood for something other than sit-down Italian. We make the rounds at: High Alpine: gotten super expensive but great pizza and outstanding brews, the Kolsch is probably the best I've had outside of Koln. The Dive: Next to and owned by the Marios folks. Super cool open air seating in the summer, the duck poutine is whaaarrrrgarrbl. Power Stop: greasy ass burgers and breakfast burritos in a kick ass gas station Backcountry Cafe: great breakfast, San Juan Benedict with chorizo and green chile FTW W Cafe: another great breakfast spot Sherpa Cafe: Also in Salida and CB, Nepalese immigrants who make great stuff Secret Stash: Legendary pizza in CB "Himalayan Food": Hidden at the back of the Eldo in CB, amazing stuff, also immigrants who barely speak English. Dammit, why am I sitting here in the heat and humidity? So many poor life choices...
  7. He loves it, though it has its trade-offs of outdoor experiences vs usual college stuff. He'd spent so much time there growing up that it already felt like home. Doing their 5 year outdoor industry MBA. I think my younger son would love to go there as well, but "Wasted State" probably isn't the choice over the front range schools for pre-med. And it's a great excuse to go visit up there. I'm more of a summer mountains guy than winter sports, and yeah, the fishing and river stuff is fantastic. In the spirit of the thread, if anyone wants suggestions on some good places to stay in Gunni or Salida, feel free to PM. I'd rather not put them on blast, since I'd still like to be able to book them...
  8. @Chewbacca that's awesome, my nephew is starting there this fall as well. Good point about the rafting trip for @mdleast or anyone else wanting to start their kid off right -- my older one's "orientation" was a 3-day float trip on the Green. Don't miss out on those opportunities to jump-start things. And yeah, my younger one learned pretty quickly to say he was from "around Austin" (OK, it's within an hour) on his tours. College talk not going away.
  9. Found this link on a Reddit thread, complain away: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/articles/115000914506-Emergency-Complaints I filed one so that they have all of my personal info. I'd rather be purged in the early days than sit around to watch the dismal tide crest.
  10. Maybe we need a thread about sending your kid to college in Colorado. Seems like all of the schools up there (my older son goes to Western in Gunnison) are great about trying to get kids involved in getting outside, with organized trips and cheap equipment rental for camping, winter sports, hiking and climbing, etc. Some important advice we got for our older one is that it's vital they get out in the winter and do something -- those who hunker down in their dorms and play video games are the most prone to noping out and leaving. Probably true of students in general these days, but those not used to winter cold need to be actively aware of it. Speaking of Eldora, looks like in a more positive development that it's going to be bought by the nearby town Nederland in an effort to keep it under more local control. We drove up there on a whim while there and it's beautiful, just kept going until the pavement turned to dirt and the dirt ran out, went for a hike, and then wandered our way back through the mountain roads. Methinks these kids are way smarter than we were.
  11. Correct, but I think it's got a few years left before Vail buys it. I will measure its eventual decline from the closure of the Patio Pancake Place, though.
  12. @LCHorn are you staying in town? One of my favorite things is that it's so walkable, especially when they turn F street into a pedestrian zone in the summer. We'll go for days without getting in the car, just hanging around, walking to restaurants, shops, etc. Your kids are a great age to enjoy it. Nice park right on the river. They will wear themselves out for days at the whitewater park. Rent them boards/tubes and PFDs and let them go wild. Take chairs to sit by the river and chill, and get a spot on the deck at Boathouse for lunch and beers while they go bonkers. Takeout Mo Burrito and Sweeties for good lunches by the river. Moonlight Pizza is great for kids and has good brews. There's an arcade right across the street with a decent selection of old school games and pinball. Tons of other great restaurants: Sherpa, Amicas, Benson's Tavern. If it's open, the noodle joint on F street across from Benson's is glorious. Several good ice cream shops, we like Chill the best and it's down by the river. Get the Moose on the Loose. Don't miss Joshua Been's studio and gallery. He's a super chill guy and paints in a really cool style -- we've bought way too many of his paintings. Agree on a rafting trip. We've used RMOC a bunch, from basic rafting to kayak instruction and always been happy. If they like it, see about doing the "Town Run" in duckies. They should be old enough to paddle their own. If you want to go fly fishing or learn how, look at ArkAnglers. That's where my family learned. Stuart in particular is a very patient teacher and great with younger kids. Buena Vista is another great town nearby worth a visit. Spend the day at Mt. Princeton and head back through BV, stop for dinner and brews at Eddyline (both locations are great, I like the brewery). Drive up to the Continental Divide at Monarch Pass and take the tram up to the top for great views. OK, I should shut up now, especially since Salida sucks and nobody should ever go there.
  13. @Wiler77 please feel free to share some hiking highlights. I grew up spending summers closer to Gunnison/Pitkin but we weren't big into hiking when I was a kid. Did make it to the top of Fairview Peak a couple times, where my grandfather affixed a "Beat the Hell Outta OU" bumper sticker to the Forest Service firewatch station. If anyone hangs out in that area in the summer, be sure to go get burgers and a slice of Fruit of the Forest pie at Frenchy's in Tin Cup. I'm also a big fan of Salida, but don't tell anyone else. @mdmost I think I said it in the college thread, but did the same with Mines/CU/CSU with my younger one. Headed back to revisit in October. Hard to argue against spending your college years up there. Or to argue with following your kids up there... Speaking of which, @MrX, you're not the boss of me!
  14. I hear y'all. The other flood threads weren't the place to put this, but my son and his buddies went on their first "independent" camping trip together a little over a week ago at this gravel bar on the Llano: I did have him check the forecast before they went, but needless to say since then we've had a much more in depth discussion about vigilance and leaving the camping equipment, leaving the fly rods, leaving the car if need be... just get out. And a NOAA emergency radio is now on the way from Amazon. It's a hell of a lot easier for me to face the fact that tomorrow is not promised to me than to accept that it's not promised to them either.
  15. @Chewbacca what did you end up going with? Rod/reel porn pics aren't loading for some reason...
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