Chocolate Crisis Center

3370 Walnut St.
Denver, CO 80205
866-329-6950 

On an Urban Trek with a girlfriend 

in the warehouse district 

of 5 Points (Downtown Denver).

We see a sign in the distance...

She makes out the word Chocolate...

We're intrigued... 

We get closer...

Chocolate Crisis Center

What?!?!

This calls for further exploration... 

I open the door and step into what feels like a doctor’s office.  

What is this place? 

I peer around the corner and see a pharmacy. 

I step in. 

There's a women behind the counter in a white lab coat. "What is this place" I ask...

“It’s the Chocolate Crisis Center” 

...no wiser....I step deeper in....

Pharmacy shelves are lined with bottles filled with what appears to be chocolate. 
We're handed spoons and lead to a gurney in the middle of the room
Where we are encouraged to sample MANY different kinds of chocolate...
"What just happened here?" 
Feeling like children in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory by way of Alice in Wonderland
We Dive In....

I had about 6 pieces (ok...maybe 10). 
Cleansing my palette at the water station I notice a warehouse space at the back of the building..
I go to investigate. 
I stick my head in...."What you doing back here?" 
A man invites me in. He's a photographer...a professional one...
I'm excited....
The journey deepens...

He has numerous machines...big ones...designed for action shots of products.

Machines that drop products from high distances and shots them as they fall.

Machines that rotate 360 degrees around products. 

My mind was blown....

I'm a hand held kind of photographer, that crawls around in the mud 

shooting bugs and landscapes in the wild. 

It was cool to see another side of the industry. 

The woman in the front (Lisa) and the man in the back (JC) are partners in life and business.

It was a treat to see a couple co-creating and offering something to the world in their own unique way. They have a fun space. 
On First Fridays they have a photo shoot experience open to the public with Dr. Angst. 
I may have to try that out. 

Finding this Place Was a Treat...

A Real Twilight Zone Experience...

I recommend checking it out. 

Get your Daily Dose of chocolate at this fun candy store. 

Excited, with spoons and lots of Chocolate
This place was SO MUCH FUN!!!! 

Chatfield Lake State Park

I've come to know the ecology of Chatfield Lake State Park on a Soul level. I enjoy witnessing the spirit of this place evolve through the seasons, and have special spots I frequent throughout the year.   

It is a State Park, so there is an entrance fee. I buy an annual state park pass every year, which comes in handy since there are six state parks within an hour drive from Denver. There are lots of activities to explore, like boating, kayaking and horse back riding (...none-of-which I've done). 

In Spring, a wetland trail in the east section of the park encourages muddy explorations along the river. I’ve had wonderful interactions with Frog and Beaver on this trail. Summer hikes through wildflowers and waist high grasses is a fun treat. The park sits at the base of the foot hills and is a fabulous location for bird watching. This is where I come to  listen to one of my favorite bird songs, the Western Meadowlark. 

This park is easy to access in Winter, which makes it one of my "go-to-places" when I don’t feel like driving far in snow. It's easy to the get to the lake with my camera gear to shoot ice images and meditate on the season.  

Chatfield Lake is a great place for sunset shots and capturing reflections of the colorful Colorado sky. There is a camp ground at the lake, however if I'm going to camp, there are places further out of town and more remote that appeal to my camping preferences. 

I enjoy watching this land evolve over the seasons. I recommend everyone find a place, a piece of wild land you can visit often and engage with on a deep level. Explore this place through the seasons, watching its evolution, and seeing changes in your own self mirrored through your observations. 

Indian Hot Springs

I’ve been craving a trip to a Hot Springs... pulling this Oracle Card in my morning meditation nudged me forward. 

I have visited several Hot Springs in Colorado, however I've not been to the one closest to me.  I decided to make a personal retreat weekend out of it and booked a package deal at Indian Hot Springs in Idaho Springs. a small mountain community 45 minutes west of Denver. 

The check in staff was nice. I had a few connections with them; they did not give me an arm band when I checked in, then my locker didn't work. It took me 3 trips to the front desk to get settled in. I used to get annoyed at these types of experiences. Now I see them as the chaotic movements of passing through a portal. Engaging with the experience with this mind set brings me more fully into the adventure of the moment, I am less frustrated, and I am better able to adjust to the changing energetics.  

The name “Indian Hot Springs” inspired me to connect to my ancestors before entering the pools. I mediated on tribal blood pulsing through my body and expressed gratitude for being able to immerse myself in the sacred waters of Mama Gaia. I prepared myself for deep ceremony and proceeded to the first pool. 

The main hot springs is a pool in an atrium lined with plants and palm trees. The water is warm, but not so much. There are no seats or ledges along the edge to support peaceful  “soaking”. It feels very much like a community rec center, with lots of kids splashing, playing and making noise. I tried to find the peace in the experience... I lasted 10 minutes.  People with kids may like this place for family gatherings. I, on the other hand found it unfullfilling. 

I went downstairs into the caves, which is why I came here in the first place. There are 2 cave hot springs on site, one for men and one for women, clothing optional. The women's cave had 5 pools of varying HOT water bubbling up from the earth.  Because you are in a cave, the air is hot too. It's a Hot Springs in a Sauna....you warm up quickly. 

The pools were small, and had steps and ledges so you can sit at varying depths. Although the caves are clothing optional, I was the only person naked. I have been the only person in clothes when everyone else was naked. It has never been the other way around. To honor the newness of this experience, I meditated by the entry door, offering my practice as a blessing to the women coming in and out of the cave. 

After an hour in the caves I was done. I felt complete. Although the cave experience is unique and I enjoyed the steam and realizations that emerged in the process, my preference is Hot Springs outside, underneath the sky, stars and moon. Indian Hot Springs has 4 private Jacuzzi's outside, however you need to make reservations for them. It is not as convenient or fun as other Hot Springs where you can easily wander from pool to pool with the cosmos as witness. 

Indian Hot Springs may work well for families due to the kid nature of the main Hot Springs pool. Those looking for a quick day trip for a steam in the caves may enjoy this location as well. However, if you have a weekend and want to stay overnight at a Hot Springs, I recommend driving a bit further and going to other locations such as Cottonwood or Hot Sulfur Springs. 

San Diego to Denver? Why?

Many people ask me why I moved from San Diego to Denver. For many, this does not seem like a logical move. To me it was a no-brainer. There were many feelings, desires, and events that lead to my decision to move, here are a few:  

Space

In San Diego I lived in an 850 sq ft apartment for $1300/month. Although this space served me well for many years, I had outgrown it and wanted to move into a house with a yard. Living in San Diego on a single income would make this dream difficult to manifest, so I explored other options. As I did, old dreams of wanting to live in Colorado surfaced. 
Life is short, and you only get one shot....so I decided to go for it. 

Photography

Living in San Diego, I found myself taking vacations to places where I could immense myself in big nature and the wild soul of forests and mountains. As I considered moving, I knew I wanted to live someplace that would move me into closer relationship with nature. Denver meet this need. I can be in the Rocky Mountains in less then an hour, with access to a new ecology of bugs, birds, mammals, plants and trees. Another great feature of living in this area is a one’s day drive will put me in New Mexico, Utah or Wyoming. 

Adventure 

I lived in San Diego most of my life (excluding a couple years in Oklahoma as a teenager) and after 35+ years there, I was bored. The patterns and routines I had created in my life were keeping me in a holding pattern and I was ready for a change. I had wanted to leave San Diego for years, but there never seemed to be an opening in my life to make it happen. Then the Universe gave me a huge wake up call and broke my foot. So many things in my life stopped while I healed. This timeframe gave me a lot of time and space to be still and listen. As I started to heal, the question was: do I move back into my old life or leap forward into something totally new?  

I leapt. 

...and these are some of the reasons I moved from San Diego to Colorado.