A day in Denver

I flew to Denver yesterday, arriving late enough that the record-setting heat had moderated. Everything went very smoothly getting here. My hotel is The Curtis, which I highly recommend if you're looking for a good quality, fun place to stay in downtown Denver.

Today I had fun while getting acclimated to the elevation. After a brief trip to the wonderful REI here along the Platte River, I visited the Kirkland Museum of Modernist Fine and Decorative Arts. Kirkland was a prominent Denver artist from the 1930s to 1970s who also worked to promote modern art in Colorado. He also believed that art should permeate every home, so he collected decorative art. His home and collections have been expanded since his death.The fine art was interesting enough, but what sets the museum apart was the decorative art. There were great examples of ceramics, furniture, and other materials from all the major 20th century American and European decorative art schools, well displayed in a salon-like setting. It's well worth a visit if you have time in Denver.

I then walked to the Denver Botanic Garden, one of my favorite gardens. It was an especially great visit because they are showing a major collection of Henry Moore's sculptures. Seeing 17 Moore sculptures was great in itself, but seeing them here was even better. Moore wanted his works displayed in natural outdoor settings, and the Garden did that wonderfully. My favorites were a giant reclining figure of white material (unlike Moore's typical bronzes) on a small grassy hill and the striking "Totem Head" rising unexpectedly out of a lovely prairie.

This evening, after a truly fabulous dinner at Tamayo, a "modern Mexican" restaurant, I finished packing for an early start tomorrow. I'm excited about hitting the trail and getting into the mountains. At the same time, I'm still feeling a bit anxious about how I'll do. This trip is longer than anything I've ever done before. Earlier this week I came across a this quotation from Goethe, "Do not hurry; do not rest." This captures perfectly how I want to approach this trip.