The Good, The Bad & The WOW About Living in Denver

John Wilkinson (00:03)
Hey everyone, welcome to Living Colorado's Getting Real Estate podcast. I'm John Wilkinson, joined here by my co-host, Kenda Ruck.

Kenda Ruck (00:10)
It's good to have you today. Today on our podcast, we have a local Denver rock star. We're so excited to have Melissa Moore. She's the morning host with Melissa Moore in the morning for Cool 105's radio station here in Denver. She is the winner of many, many broadcasting awards as well as a national Gracie Award, which highlights

special accomplishments by women in the media. So we are so honored to have her. She also hosts show about cooking in Colorado, which we'll talk to her about that later. So Melissa, thank you so much for joining us today.

Melissa Moore (00:51)
You're so welcome. Thanks for having me on.

John Wilkinson (00:53)
Yeah, it's super great to meet you, Melissa. I yeah I've been a fan of radio, especially morning shows for so long. Kenda and I were talking earlier about radio and just how much has changed, you know, over really and even in the last five years. So how do you how do you feel like radio is staying current in the environment when there's so much content out there, kind of distracting everyone, you know, pulling them into different different areas.

Yeah.

Melissa Moore (01:22)
Yeah,

I mean if you look at the competition that's out there for your time, you know, whether it's audiobooks or creating your own playlist or even even listening to satellite radio, there's a lot of different things that are out there and they're competing for you. So radio has to be local. And that is where radio is gonna win. I mean, why do you want to listen to a morning show that isn't about your town?

has nothing to do with you and all it is is celebrity interviews and talking about themselves. And I think people are kind of going back to that saying, I don't want that. I want to know what my weather is. I want to know what my traffic is. I want to hear people talk about what I think about. You know, in Colorado we've had awful wildfires going on.

and the smoke and somebody who doesn't live here has no idea how our drought is impacting things. And so for me, as I'm putting together my show every day, it's always about, all right, who's my target demo?

You know, and then everything goes through the filter of is this interesting to my audience and the audience that comes to KOOL 105 and listens, is this local? Is this relevant? Is it personal? And once you go through all of that, that's where you find people making the connection because they're like, that's what I care about, versus, you know, turning it on and not caring.

Kenda Ruck (02:42)
I love that you say that because I just got back from a vacation from a cruise and I was gone. And this morning when I was getting ready, I turned on your morning show to listen to you and I had this feeling of okay, now I'm

I'm back home. I'm connected. I know what's going on. I know about the wildfires. I know that your producer, Dixon, has has family property in an area where one of the wildfires is. And I love

how you made that so personal and it brought it home like this is how local people are

affected by the the wildfires. And I think it really it does bring home that that local feeling.

Melissa Moore (03:26)
Mm.

Kenda Ruck (03:28)
you've been in the media for 30 years, television, radio, a long, long time.

Melissa Moore (03:34)
Long time.

Kenda Ruck (03:36)
What is the biggest change that you have seen specifically in the personality of Denver over the years? How long have you actually been in Denver and what do you

see as a big change in the personality of Denver?

Melissa Moore (03:51)
changed

huge. So if you think about it, this is my third time living in Denver. So I moved out here as a kid, moved out here the first year that Elway was drafted. All right. So I'm a longtime Bronco

John Wilkinson (04:01)
Mm-hmm.

Kenda Ruck (04:01)
Wow. Okay. That's the benchmark.

Melissa Moore (04:03)
fan, but if you think back to when Elway first came to town, that's when I lived here as a kid. and then we moved out to New York and I was out there for a while in Boston. Came back here after college, so that would have been in the nineties.

And going into 2000s and then came back again 15 years ago. And it has been like a new city every time. And what I think what everybody will say is just how big it's gotten. Denver is a big city with big traffic. But yet at the same time, if you get plugged into your local communities, it can still feel like a small town. I live in Littleton, and you know, we go to dinner downtown Littleton.

So it it's very different. I try not to leave my Littleton Highlands Ranch bubble because I'm like, I really don't want to, you know, I I don't want to deal with traffic and everything. But at the same time, I like shopping local. I like being local. And I think that's what keeps that connection. But I mean, you jump on I-25 any time of the day and there's traffic. You get close to Sixth Avenue and just be ready to sit on your brakes because you're not gonna go anywhere. And I think that's the biggest thing that has changed.

is the fact that we're a big city now and we have some big city problems that, you know, I mean there's good that good and bad, but we definitely have the different issues than we ever used to have.

John Wilkinson (05:26)
Yeah, what are what are some of the issues that you think have, I guess, magnified because of the growth?

Melissa Moore (05:33)
You know, I think there it it is easy sometimes just to get lost in how big a city can be. You know, you go out to LA and you drive and and that feels like a big city. And Denver felt like a small city. And I think sometimes it is easy to kind of just kinda get lost and and feel like you don't belong if you don't get involved locally, if you don't connect with people and get friendshipships going.

And so it's yeah, it's just it's it's a very different feel out here, but it's not bad. You know, I think you talk to people who are who are locals, Colorado natives as they call themselves, and they hate it. They hate what's happened to Colorado. And they will be very honest and tell you that. probably the affordability part has been really hard. I think a lot of times I know I've got adult kids and they can't afford to start up in Denver.

Like I did. You know, I bought a house in the Highlands when I was single.

John Wilkinson (06:33)
Wow.

Melissa Moore (06:34)
they can't even imagine being able to do that because the price point's so different.

John Wilkinson (06:39)
Yeah, you know, a lot of our audience are people that are either relocating to Denver or to Colorado, they have questions about it. And I think that you made a great point when you were talking about you know, like what's happening locally with either weather, traffic, you know, d whatever's happening. And the thing that struck me the most, we had an episode earlier this year that we talked about is like that this is a desert climate. You're right. People think about Colorado and they think about the trees and this

rivers and lakes and that's this abundance of all this natural beauty and

Melissa Moore (07:11)
Yes.

John Wilkinson (07:11)
which is true, but I didn't realize how until living here how important water is and how

Melissa Moore (07:18)
Yes.

John Wilkinson (07:19)
scary it is that there's very little water, especially this year.

Melissa Moore (07:23)
Yeah, this year this year's really bad. And

John Wilkinson (07:26)
Yeah.

Melissa Moore (07:26)
you can see it with the wildfires. And we knew it was going to be bad. We didn't get a lot of snow over the winter. You know, the ski resorts didn't get the snow, so it hurt that business. And now hospitality in the mountains is hurting right now because people are afraid to go up there because of the smoke and the wildfires and all of that. But I think one of the things that people, despite the cost of living here, despite everything, people love Colorado. And it is a place where everybody is welcome.

And not a judgmental place, you do you, you know, and and people come here and they can find their place. And there is and people say the same thing about California. We've just got a better budget here and we've got a better infrastructure than California, in my opinion. And that's why we've had so many Californians move here. And it is it is still a great place to live, despite everything that people will say. I mean, I live here for a reason. We all have a choice and I love living here.

Kenda Ruck (08:22)
What has

been some of your favorite stories about Denver to cover over the years?

Melissa Moore (08:27)
gosh. You know what's hard is probably there there are so many great stories. Always you remember the ones that were tough and were tragic. and those are always the ones that probably are gonna stick in my mind because they were they were things like Columbine that changed the face of everything. And I think when you talk Yeah. Yeah,

Kenda Ruck (08:46)
Were you on air when that when that happened? Okay.

Melissa Moore (08:49)
I was on air and so we talked about it in real time.

And talk to families in real time. And that was something that changed Denver. but it changed the world. And it happened here in Denver. And there's so many of those stories. But when you think about the ones that were exciting, like when we won our first Super Bowl with Elway all right,

John Wilkinson (09:09)
Yeah.

Melissa Moore (09:10)
I was downtown and I remember I, you know, I had a press pass, so I was able to get parking really close. And the players were were getting into buses. And I had this thing at the time for Bill Romanowski. Okay.

John Wilkinson (09:24)
Yeah.

Melissa Moore (09:24)
I just thought he was so cute. And so he was like leaning out of the bus, high fiving, and I was right there. So I jumped up to high five him and he turned around and I smacked his butt. Lucky You. And I was like,

John Wilkinson (09:35)
Yeah. Lucky you.

Kenda Ruck (09:35)
Ha ha

Melissa Moore (09:38)
and and I mean, I I thought I was gonna die. And and you know, he took it in stride, like, whatever. But I was like, my gosh. You know, but

Kenda Ruck (09:48)
You need to have

a bumper sticker made, like, you know, I smacked yeah someone else. Yeah.

John Wilkinson (09:51)
Yeah. Yeah.

Melissa Moore (09:52)
I smacked Romo's butt.

Yeah, yeah.

But you know, and then one of my favorites is I was out with some girlfriends for happy hour and I look out and who's outside? John Elway.

John Wilkinson (10:03)
Wow.

Melissa Moore (10:03)
And I love it, you know. So once again, I'm a Denver girl. I love Elway. So I'm like, running over there. I'm like, can I have a picture? He's like, sure. And

John Wilkinson (10:11)
Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (10:11)
my gosh.

Melissa Moore (10:12)
just had a blast. And but that's what makes Denver different too, is you run into those people.

So once again

Kenda Ruck (10:17)
Mm-hmm.

Melissa Moore (10:18)
we talk about it being this big town, but it's still small enough that I run out to John into John Elway at happy hour. You know, I know these people and it's it's the best feeling.

John Wilkinson (10:29)
Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (10:29)
John John a couple of weeks ago was having dinner and Bo Nix was there. Same thing. So that hasn't changed. And people were talking to Bo Nix and Yeah.

John Wilkinson (10:35)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Melissa Moore (10:40)
Peyton,

you know, you'll see Peyton out there with his kids for sporting events. And that's what makes this town, I think, so special is it's not the paparazzi of LA and all of that, that people come out here and Peyton Manning chose to live here for a reason and raises kids here and Elway stayed here because you can have a great quality of life here and you can connect in the community and they can go out to eat and people will will gawk over them, but they can still be normal.

John Wilkinson (11:07)
Right.

And that's I think know something Kenda with with Bo Nix people obviously went up and wanted pictures, but largely just left them alone, right? There was

Melissa Moore (11:15)
Yes.

John Wilkinson (11:16)
people you could tell they were looking and whispering and oh my god,

Melissa Moore (11:18)
Yeah, yeah.

John Wilkinson (11:19)
you know, he's here. but they and I I do love that about Denver. I I still feel

Melissa Moore (11:24)
Yes.

John Wilkinson (11:24)
and like you mentioned earlier about being local and and getting involved, right? It it's when we moved here, we knew a few people, but not a ton of folks. And we luckily moved into an area that

ha our neighbors are great and so we kind of in indoctrinated ourselves in that group and then getting involved with my son's school and you know it just it does feel much more friendly, much more approachable when you try you make that effort, right? To to

Melissa Moore (11:53)
Yes.

John Wilkinson (11:54)
to do it. When you when you're on the radio and people call in and if they are are thinking about things to do, what are what are some of the things they talk about, either like things they've loved doing or

The maybe things they struggle with. y what are some

Melissa Moore (12:09)
Right.

John Wilkinson (12:09)
some some things that c that normal callers talk about?

Melissa Moore (12:13)
Yeah, I mean it's everything that you would think. It's everything from struggling with the price of groceries and the price of gas. I mean, that's not unique to Colorado, but that's that's what our that's what's on folks' minds. in the summertime it's having kids out of school. And what do we do with the kids?

And it sounds great and the kids are loving it, but you you know, there's summer camps, and where do you go? And what are you gonna do with that? And should we go to Elitch Gardens? And should I get them a season pass? And how old are they? And so it's all of that. And then it's about taking trips to the mountains. And it's you know, we're a very active state. So you've got the camp that loves camping in tents and fishing and doing all that.

Kenda Ruck (12:54)
Not me.

Melissa Moore (12:56)
Yeah, not me. And I've always said that, like I love the idea.

Of camping, but the reality is I'm not I'm not your girl. I I would never be on Survivor and I I'm not gonna go camping. But but yet the nice thing is I can go up to the mountains too and stay in a cabin or stay somewhere else. And so I think all the time I think about politically just how open minded we are here in the state. But we're open to a lot of things. Everybody you can find your place here in Colorado. And that's what I love. And that's what people call and talk about is I'll have one caller talking about how, you know, he was

picking up, you know, a a a cow that he had you know, or whatever, and then I've got somebody else talking about going up to the Ritz. I mean it just it's all over.

John Wilkinson (13:37)
Yeah, the it it spans again.

Kenda Ruck (13:38)
It's the entire range.

Yeah.

Melissa Moore (13:40)
Yeah, it really is. It really

is. And that's you know, but as far as as concerns, you know, when it's Broncos season, it's all about the Broncos. When the Aves are making it to the playoffs, it's all about the Aves. We are a very strong sports city. And it's not just men, it's men and women are very much invested in sports here in town. And that's one thing that people have to know. You know, we've got a new female soccer club, you know, the Summit. And that's huge. They're selling out every game. And that's what people, when they come to Colorado

I've heard people say I've never seen a city that has so much pride in their state. Like we love our Colorado state flag and we're gonna put it everywhere. And if you have a problem with it, yeah, we'll put it on everything.

Kenda Ruck (14:17)
Mm-hmm. It is on everything. Yeah.

Melissa Moore (14:22)
And God forbid you have a problem with it because now we're like, What's wrong with you? You know,

Kenda Ruck (14:26)
Yeah.

Melissa Moore (14:27)
we have a lot of pride in living here. So why are you not as excited?

John Wilkinson (14:28)
Get out.

Kenda Ruck (14:30)
That's

John Wilkinson (14:30)
Right.

Kenda Ruck (14:31)
right. Melissa, you mentioned earlier in the call that you were here when you were a child and then you went somewhere else and then you came back as a teen. And

Melissa Moore (14:38)
Mm.

Kenda Ruck (14:39)
then so obviously you've moved around a lot. I know your dad was also in radio, so you've moved around a lot. And

Melissa Moore (14:43)
A lot. Yeah, yeah. Yep.

Kenda Ruck (14:48)
with those moves come like the need to kind of reinvent yourself or the opportunity to reinvent yourself.

Melissa Moore (14:54)
Sure. Sure.

Kenda Ruck (14:56)
I like you have moved around a lot. I I like

moving around and I like starting over.

Melissa Moore (15:03)
Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (15:04)
I went from Atlanta to Cabo, Cabo here, and and I also lived in Oklahoma. So I I like starting fresh. I think that's a fun, a fun feeling. What are some of the main lessons that you've learned from reinventing yourself over the years? And how do you stay current but still stay true to who you are?

Melissa Moore (15:29)
I th I think one of the things that I do love about living here is it is a place where you can just be authentically yours. You know, and that requires some work on your part. You gotta figure out who you are. You gotta figure

Kenda Ruck (15:41)
Mm-hmm.

Melissa Moore (15:41)
out what you're into, what you like. Like for a long time I think when I came here, I was like, God, I've got to say I like all the outdoor stuff. And I'm like,

John Wilkinson (15:48)
Ha ha

Melissa Moore (15:49)
I really I you know, I love hiking, but I don't want to sleep in a tent.

You know, I would love to see a bear, but I don't want to see a snake. You know, I have all that stuff. And I think it's it's so as far as reinventing, I think it's just becoming it's more about getting comfortable in who you are. And that's for me what it is just about in life. The older I get, the more I don't care. You know, I'm like, okay, I would love for you to like me, but I don't care enough to lose sleep over it, where I might have in my twenties and my thirties.

Kenda Ruck (16:16)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Melissa Moore (16:19)
And so I think that's it. I mean, anytime you move to a new city, it's a chance.

just to get to know yourself and really figure out what you want. And I think if any time you can do that, I mean you're you're serving yourself better by being more authentic and honest with yourself.

John Wilkinson (16:37)
I totally agree. My dad was in the military, so we moved often every four years from when I was

Melissa Moore (16:42)
Yeah.

John Wilkinson (16:43)
from when I was born. and it was it was I remember when we moved from San Antonio and we were moving to Germany and it was before my sophomore year in high school, and my sister and I were just like outside our minds that we were leaving, you know,

Melissa Moore (16:57)
Yeah. Yeah.

John Wilkinson (16:58)
our friends and the mall and all the things that, you know, you have in the United States to of this this country that has none of that.

But it ended up being the best place until now, like that we'd ever lived, because there's different just a different experience, right? And I

Melissa Moore (17:14)
Right.

John Wilkinson (17:14)
you you you struck something with with me is when we moved here, my husband and my son and I, Billy had never lived outside of Texas his whole life.

Ever. And so when we moved to Colorado, it was just kind of like, hey, we we don't like X, Y, or Z about Texas. Hayden loves to ski. I like to ski. He wants to go to school here in Colorado. Now's an opportunity for us to do it. It's before his sophomore year. And

Hayden was excited and Billy was really excited because he never lived anywhere. But you're right. I think as long as you are you stay true to who you are and you you look for what you want in a new place,

Melissa Moore (17:50)
Yes.

John Wilkinson (17:51)
it can really become something magical.

Melissa Moore (17:55)
Yeah. Yeah. You just have to put in the effort. And you have to

John Wilkinson (17:58)
That's right.

Melissa Moore (17:59)
like I'm taking pottery classes right now. And this is my favorite thing in the whole entire world. And I go to pottery. I'm in the studio probably eight, nine, ten hours a week throwing pottery and making pottery. And it's something I just like, you know, I've always been interested, so let's do it. Well, by doing it, I've met this whole new community of people

John Wilkinson (18:18)
Yep.

Melissa Moore (18:18)
and all different walks of life.

But we have this thing in common and so when we show up together, it's just it's it's a great sense of community. You know, but I had to take that first step of saying, All right, I wanted to do pottery, where can I find classes and what studio fits my vibe and all of that stuff.

Kenda Ruck (18:37)
I think that's so great that you can find whatever it is

Melissa Moore (18:41)
Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (18:41)
that you have an interest in and you can find

Melissa Moore (18:44)
Right.

Kenda Ruck (18:45)
a way to do it. You also have a big interest in dietary how should I say dietary options, I guess. I don't know what the what the proper word

Melissa Moore (18:57)
Restrictions is really more what it is.

Kenda Ruck (19:00)
I know, but I didn't want to be negative, but dietary restrictive.

Melissa Moore (19:02)
I know. I don't know what else to call it.

John Wilkinson (19:02)
Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (19:04)
diets, right? So

Melissa Moore (19:05)
Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (19:06)
both you and your daughter cannot have any gluten or dairy, correct? So but she cannot. Okay. So

Melissa Moore (19:12)
Right. Well I can have dairy, she can't. Right. So we've

yeah, it's that's been a challenge. Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (19:19)
That's a challenge, right?

And it's getting easier, I think, now because some places do have gluten free options. But what you had to do was you had to figure out how to prepare day to day meals gluten free. And you also love to bake. So that's even more of a challenge. Like how do you

Melissa Moore (19:34)
Right. Yeah. Right.

Kenda Ruck (19:40)
make you know? So you

You started a cooking show, which I love. It's fascinating to me. And I th I think so many people will benefit from it. So talk a little bit about the Mile High Kitchen that you have started and and what the goal is and what kind of some of the things that you've already taught people how to make.

Melissa Moore (20:01)
So the big thing is that, you know, number one, cooking in Colorado, this is the thing, it's it's a mile high, 5280. That is that is our altitude here. So everything you thought you knew about baking changes in Colorado. So now you add in the fact that I have celiac disease, my daughter does, and so we have to go gluten-free. Well, that's now another host of problems because you can't just swap out one flour for wheat flour.

It usually

John Wilkinson (20:29)
Mm.

Melissa Moore (20:30)
takes you have to have a a certain mixture of flours and then you have to add in this guar gum, xanthan gum, something to have a binding agent. So anyway, to get the flour that's equal to a wheat flour is tough. it's

John Wilkinson (20:44)
Mm.

Melissa Moore (20:45)
gotten easier now with some of the prepackaged flours out there. But when I started, there wasn't that. I used to have back in the day, Bob's Red Mill, you couldn't find it in stores. But I

would have Bob's drop off a hundred and fifty pounds of.

flours at my house

Kenda Ruck (21:00)
Wow.

Melissa Moore (21:01)
and I would do my own mixtures and make them together. And I spent hours in the kitchen coming up with recipes because my daughter was little then and there were no cupcakes at the store. There I mean there just it wasn't. It was like here's a cracker that tastes like sawdust. And that's all that was her option. And so I started doing a lot of baking. And so when I came back to Colorado, I thought, you know what, now more and more people are doing gluten-free.

Whether it's diet, you know, whether it's a celiac disease or it's a dietary preference, you know, because they don't want the inflammation of gluten or whatever it may be. And so I started

Melissa's Mile High Kitchen.

John Wilkinson (21:35)
Yeah.

Melissa Moore (21:36)
And I teamed up with my friends over at Mountain High Appliance. I shoot it there in their showroom in Littleton. And the goal has been simply to help people figure out how to bake gluten-free.

a lot of times dairy free in their own kitchen so that they have a little bit more control over their food. So that, you know, because the cost of gluten-free, dairy-free is outrageous.

Kenda Ruck (21:58)
Mm-hmm.

Melissa Moore (21:58)
And it's also not always fresh. Like sometimes you'll get bread and you're like, well, this is great. And sometimes you're like, this is awful. So what

Kenda Ruck (22:04)
This is gross.

Melissa Moore (22:05)
yeah, this is gross. Like who wants to eat this? And so

Kenda Ruck (22:08)
Yeah.

Melissa Moore (22:08)
what about if you could do it on your own and you could make it for your family and not have to feel like, you know, if if you have kids,

Then my gosh, it's a birthday party coming up and everybody else has cupcakes, but your kid doesn't. And, you know, so I'm di I all of that is kind of what I wanted to pass along people. And it really is just about empowering somebody to be able to walk in the kitchen and cook for themselves and bake for themselves and know that it's gonna be okay. And then when you add the altitude thing in here, it's it's a tricky thing.

John Wilkinson (22:40)
The altitude thing is tricky for sure. So what I have a friend w a neighbor who also has celiac disease and when like we'll have people over and it'll be pizzas, he'll bring his own, frozen pizza or whatever that he has to make. But also when you go to the Rockies game, like how when you're out, you know, in the city, are there places or stores that you find are the best or most

trusting that it's gonna truly be gluten free. It hasn't touched anything else with gluten.

Melissa Moore (23:12)
Right.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, there are different bakeries in town that are gluten free and and you kind of figure out which ones work for you. And that's one of the things about living in a big city is unlike family I have that lives in small towns in the Midwest where they don't have a lot of options. living in a big city, we've got bakeries, we've got restaurants that

that mark gluten free food and and the servers are knowledgeable and they'll say, hey, it's cross-contaminated and the oil, is that okay? Is that not okay? So the so there are definitely a lot of stores too as far as groceries. I mean you look at your Walmart now carries so many gluten free products and then your your major grocery stores here in town.

You can find the basics. I mean, you can get by and that is a benefit I think of living here, but also just where we are versus where we were when I had to go gluten free like fifteen years ago. That was a big difference.

John Wilkinson (24:09)
Yeah. Before we get to the lightning round, I I had a question. So on Melissa's Mile High Kitchen, how can our audience watch you or or or view it?

Melissa Moore (24:21)
So the easiest thing to do is to go to YouTube and search for Melissa's Mile High Kitchen, I've got the recipes on Substack as well, so you can find them there. And I put the links on the YouTube channel. And the great thing is just subscribe. That way every time I put a new video up there, you'll get alerted that it's up there. I've also got Melissimoremedia.com and I've got links there as well to some of the older recipes, but I'm trying to streamline it a little bit.

And I'm doing a whole new five-minute series now. So the Melissa's Mile High Kitchen has been in talks to go on TV here in town. So you'll see

John Wilkinson (24:57)
Nice.

Melissa Moore (24:58)
some longer segments there. But if you're watching at home and you want basically you want just the facts, ma'am, I've got your five minute series and you can watch it, you can see the tips and tricks, and I try and teach you along the way as well. Because the whole thing is I want to empower you to do it. You know, I want you to feel like, okay, this is what happened with mine.

shoot me an e you know, shoot me a note and let me know. But yeah, just subscribe on YouTube. That's the easiest place to find it.

John Wilkinson (25:22)
Great, thank you.

Kenda Ruck (25:23)
Right.

One other thing that we all have in common is Cabo. So I just wanted to

John Wilkinson (25:27)
yeah.

Melissa Moore (25:27)
Yes, yes.

Kenda Ruck (25:29)
say real quickly, I know Cabo is your happy place and

Melissa Moore (25:31)
It is.

Kenda Ruck (25:32)
John and I also have a lot of experience with Cabo.

Melissa Moore (25:36)
Mm-hmm.

Kenda Ruck (25:37)
As a Colorado resident, what do you think draws people back and forth to Cabo? Because

I've mentioned this several times on our show that there's so many people in Cabo from Colorado. And that's actually

Melissa Moore (25:52)
Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (25:53)
one of the reasons I moved to Colorado because of all of the great people like you who were in Cabo. And

Melissa Moore (25:57)
Right.

Kenda Ruck (25:58)
everybody that I thought was super cool, not everybody, I don't want to make anybody mad, but most of the people I thought were all the super cool people. Okay, yeah. They were all from Colorado. And I'm like, I gotta go check this place out because there's so many cool people that just

Melissa Moore (26:03)
No, all the super cool people do live here. I mean, come on now. Yeah. Yeah. Yep.

John Wilkinson (26:06)
Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (26:13)
really vibe with me and vibe with Cabo. So do what do you see as that connection that we've been trying to put our fingers on?

Melissa Moore (26:22)
Yeah, there's a magic to Cabo, and I always say that. I and I feel that same magic here in Colorado. It is an easy place to go, it is very accepting.

It is, I think, for us here in Colorado, like we're used to not having a lot of humidity. So it's nice to go somewhere that has similar climate to Colorado, but yet has the ocean and has palm trees. And

Kenda Ruck (26:47)
Mm-hmm.

Melissa Moore (26:48)
the fact that you can do a direct flight from DIA and get down to Cabo in less than three hours, that's incredible. And

John Wilkinson (26:57)
Yeah.

Melissa Moore (26:58)
you know, Cabo, you know, I go to San Jose del Cabo.

So there's Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo, and we go to San Jose or we go to San Jose del Cabo because we want it's kind of like a Santa Fe. People here in Colorado love Santa Fe. And

John Wilkinson (27:12)
Yeah.

Melissa Moore (27:12)
Cabo's like, you know, San Jose del Cabo is kind of like the Santa Fe. It's got arm to table restaurants, great food, art galleries. It's got all of that. And if you want to go party, Cabo San Lucas, just down the road, you know?

Kenda Ruck (27:25)
Mm-hmm.

Melissa Moore (27:26)
It's got a little bit more of a nightlife. So it's got something for everybody. But I think people here just vibe with that area because of climate, because of distance, and because there is this acceptance there. Very much like we have here.

Kenda Ruck (27:41)
Mm-hmm.

John Wilkinson (27:42)
I totally agree with you. I love Cabo. It is such a good place.

Melissa Moore (27:44)
Yeah. It is. And the people are good. The

local people are so lovely that

Kenda Ruck (27:50)
Mm-hmm.

Melissa Moore (27:50)
I don't I don't know how you couldn't just fall in love with it.

John Wilkinson (27:53)
Yeah. Yeah, I totally agree.

Kenda Ruck (28:01)
We're gonna like fire questions at you and just whatever pops into your head. So

Melissa Moore (28:05)
Lordy. Okay.

Kenda Ruck (28:06)
I'll go first. Mountains or beach.

Melissa Moore (28:10)
Ooh,

I'm a Gemini. So I like both. I like I like the mountains in the summer and I like the beach in the winter.

Kenda Ruck (28:22)
There you go.

Melissa Moore (28:22)
I'm not a skier. I don't want to get hurt. I I you know, that's that's not my thing. That's not my jam, but I love the mountains in the summer and supping up there.

John Wilkinson (28:31)
Okay, cool. favorite Colorado restaurant?

Melissa Moore (28:35)
man, it really see here's what I love about Colorado. It really depends what you want. Like I've got my new favorite for tacos. Okay.

John Wilkinson (28:41)
tell us that.

Melissa Moore (28:43)
it is the best tacos outside of Mexico. And I will tell you right now, it's tacos de humos. And it's tacos de H-U-M-O-S. Okay. And it means smoked tacos. And so they smoke, they have a smoked brisket taco. And then they have a barbacoa taco.

And then they have all the homemade salsas. Like you would find down in Mexico how they would have

John Wilkinson (29:05)
Mm-hmm.

Melissa Moore (29:06)
a dozen salsas. They have all of that. And you go through, and I think it's like four bucks for a taco. And your taco is loaded. And it's I

Kenda Ruck (29:15)
We're going there.

Melissa Moore (29:16)
my gosh.

John Wilkinson (29:16)
Totally.

Melissa Moore (29:17)
Just it's it's on Wadsworth in Lakewood. It is brand new. It is started by two cousins, I think I was talking to them. So it's not a chain, it's just local

John Wilkinson (29:28)
Okay.

Melissa Moore (29:29)
and it they're the best tacos out there.

So for tacos, there we go. I mean, yeah, you can't go wrong. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, because otherwise

Kenda Ruck (29:32)
right. We need to make a date to go there for sure because that sounds really good. What about

John Wilkinson (29:36)
Tacos de humo

Melissa Moore (29:39)
there's steakhouses and there's all of that that are you

know, I could give you all the high end named ones and we all know those are great. But this little spot is that's like the hidden gem.

Kenda Ruck (29:48)
What about a

hidden gem little town?

Melissa Moore (29:52)
boy, I don't know if it's really little enough. I love Grand Lake, Colorado. So when you go up to the mountains, you know, you go to Breck and that's a ski town. So it's a different vibe. It's for people who, you know, want to ski and even in the summertime you see the ski lifts and everything. And Breck is awesome and I love it. But Grand Lake, Colorado, what they have going for it is Grand Lake.

And so you can you go up there and the lake is the focus, and it's a small little town with a boardwalk that you walk up and down. You can

John Wilkinson (30:23)
Cute.

Melissa Moore (30:24)
go horseback riding. That's the only place I've ever seen moose. You know, you go horseback riding there, you can go supping there, and it's got this great small town feeling. And even in the winter, you don't have the ski traffic. So it's just

John Wilkinson (30:38)
Nice.

Melissa Moore (30:38)
kind of it's it's it's well known, but yet it's one of my favorites. And then I also

Kenda Ruck (30:43)
How far is that

from Denver, Melissa?

Melissa Moore (30:46)
j two, two and a half maybe at the most.

Kenda Ruck (30:49)
Okay, not bad.

Melissa Moore (30:51)
You gotta go off Berthood Pass. So Berthood

Kenda Ruck (30:53)
Okay.

Melissa Moore (30:53)
Pass is much easier today than it used to be. Like there's

Kenda Ruck (30:55)
Okay.

Melissa Moore (30:56)
numerous lanes. It used to be this hair turn, you hairpin turn,

Kenda Ruck (30:59)
Mm-hmm.

John Wilkinson (30:59)
Yeah.

Melissa Moore (31:00)
and no no side guardrails or anything.

Kenda Ruck (31:02)
Yeah.

Melissa Moore (31:04)
and then I think if you just want like a quick daytime trip, go to Georgetown, Colorado. Right off I-70. Great shopping, some great breweries.

You can go up Guanella Pass in the fall and see the trees and it it's it's a great little s just like daytime trip.

John Wilkinson (31:19)
Georgetown is super cute. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Super cute. okay, one myth that you either love or hate about Colorado.

Melissa Moore (31:29)
my gosh. the one that makes me laugh, everybody's high. We're just all smoking

Kenda Ruck (31:33)
Yeah.

Melissa Moore (31:33)
dope. We're high all the time. Like our favorite color is green, and that's all we're known for. Because anytime

Kenda Ruck (31:40)
Yeah.

John Wilkinson (31:40)
Yeah.

Melissa Moore (31:41)
you talk to somebody outside of Colorado, they truly think Rocky Mountain High, they're Well, you guys all smoke. And I'm like,

John Wilkinson (31:46)
Yeah.

Melissa Moore (31:46)
Well, not everybody. And and then you say that and you find out more and more people do like a lot of people do smoke. You're Well, a lot of people do. You know, and that's all

Kenda Ruck (31:52)
Yeah.

John Wilkinson (31:53)
Yeah.

Melissa Moore (31:53)
I can say. Like, if you do, you do. If you don't, you don't, you know, we're pretty

John Wilkinson (31:56)
Yeah.

Melissa Moore (31:57)
accepting.

But yeah, that's the funny thing outside is that they're like, You guys are like crazy liberal and you all smoke dope. And I'm like, not everyone.

John Wilkinson (32:07)
Yeah, we

Kenda Ruck (32:07)
Yeah.

John Wilkinson (32:08)
we had a interview with Chris Bianchi and he said one of his was the three hundred days of sunshine. He's like, I guess if you count a break in the clouds and the sun comes through for like fifteen minutes, you count that as a day of sunshine, then yeah, maybe we have three hundred days of sunshine. But like that's a myth. He's like, I don't know.

Melissa Moore (32:25)
Yeah. I don't

Kenda Ruck (32:28)
I don't

Melissa Moore (32:28)
know. We have a ton here.

Kenda Ruck (32:28)
know if that one's so true.

Melissa Moore (32:29)
You compare here to the Midwest

John Wilkinson (32:31)
Totally.

Melissa Moore (32:32)
where it's just gray or hazy all summer. And yeah, I mean our sunshine, that's our positive that everybody gets. That's our positive. But yeah, you have to fight

Kenda Ruck (32:39)
Right. Yeah, we love that.

John Wilkinson (32:40)
I agree.

Melissa Moore (32:41)
that image of everybody being, you know, high as a kite. All the time. That's all we do. We go to work, we get stoned. That's it.

Kenda Ruck (32:44)
Walking around stoned all the time. And I did think that too. Yeah, I thought so. I I did think that. That's

John Wilkinson (32:45)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (32:50)
right. That's it.

John Wilkinson (32:51)
Yeah. Well listen,

I was in the Home Depot parking lot earlier today and I did smell some that something going on. So Yeah. Yeah.

Melissa Moore (32:57)
All the time. And see, that's

Kenda Ruck (32:58)
See? Yeah.

Melissa Moore (32:59)
the funny thing is I say that, and yet I can't even tell you how many times I smell it. And if you go to a Red Rocks concert, you were just there, weren't you?

Kenda Ruck (33:07)
forget about it.

Melissa Moore (33:08)
Yeah, you were at the Blues Traveler, which is like this big concert, Fourth of July here in Colorado. But it's it's potfest. Like, yeah, yeah.

Kenda Ruck (33:15)
Everybody was was wasted, yeah, for sure.

Melissa Moore (33:17)
I mean, it's just a cloud over. So we joke that

John Wilkinson (33:18)
And it's fun to watch them. Yeah.

Melissa Moore (33:21)
not everybody does, and yet.

Things like that keep happening. It's like I swear I smell it. I'm like, yeah, I'm just used to that now. Like that yeah, yeah, whatever.

Kenda Ruck (33:27)
I'm used to it. I I see

John Wilkinson (33:28)
Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (33:29)
a news episode, a new segment for Melissa's Mile High Kitchen coming up. There are some other options. That's right. Get to work, Melissa. Wouldn't that be fun? Blue.

John Wilkinson (33:34)
Yeah, I know. Yeah. Gluten free pot brownies Yeah.

Melissa Moore (33:38)
my gosh. my gosh You know, if I could get Snoop Dogg to come on with me, we would have there we go, 'cause he's got his own guy, you know, br and I'll be like, Hey, so

John Wilkinson (33:43)
yes, that would be great. That that's right. That

Melissa Moore (33:48)
what are your magic brownies? Let's make for everybody in Colorado. Yeah, I'll make them gluten free. There we go.

Kenda Ruck (33:51)
make them gluten free. That's right.

John Wilkinson (33:55)
Ha ha

Kenda Ruck (33:55)
And the last question, what's your favorite season in Colorado? I think I know.

Melissa Moore (34:00)
Yeah, I I mean I love summer, don't get me wrong, but fall is my favorite. It is. And I think falls in Colorado are special. You know, a a lot of people will come out here when they move and they're like, you d you know, where are all the red trees and the orange trees? And I'll be like, We have a few. But you go up to the mountains and you see the aspens changing and the aspens almost dance in the sun. They have this magic twinkle to them as they're changing. And that's why a lot of people go up Guanella Pass and

To see all the aspens. And it's not super cold. It's like still this great weather in Colorado. And we all love our vest in Colorado. Like if you don't have

John Wilkinson (34:38)
Yeah.

Melissa Moore (34:38)
a vest, then yeah.

Kenda Ruck (34:39)
I've noticed that. Yeah.

Melissa Moore (34:41)
And I've got one with fur collars. I've got tons of different vests because in the fall, you go out with a long sleeve shirt on and you throw a vest on, you're good.

Kenda Ruck (34:49)
Had to go.

Melissa Moore (34:49)
Good to go. So yeah, I love it. And it but it's hard because I do love summer too. It's just, you know, John, you talked in the beginning about how it's a desert climate.

And it is. And summers in Colorado have been getting hotter and hotter and drier and drier. So that makes it a little tough sometimes to get out.

John Wilkinson (35:07)
Yeah, I agree. But it's o but at night it drops significantly the temperature and so pleasant to sit outside. Whereas in Texas or Georgia or any place, you can't do that really. It's it's still real muggy and sticky and hot. Yeah.

Melissa Moore (35:20)
Yeah. We don't have that.

And the nice thing is we also don't have the bug problem. You know, when people move here, they're like, Well, where's your screened in porch? And like, well, we don't need a screened in porch and and it's hard to comprehend.

Kenda Ruck (35:32)
It is. Yeah, it is.

John Wilkinson (35:32)
Yeah. I love it so

much.

Melissa Moore (35:35)
No, I do

too. Having a glass of wine out on the patio at night, nothing better.

John Wilkinson (35:38)
Heck

yeah.

Kenda Ruck (35:39)
That's the best. Melissa, thank you so much for taking the time to just chat with us today. I feel like we were all just sitting around a table having a really fun

Melissa Moore (35:48)
Aww. Good.

Kenda Ruck (35:49)
conversation. And we love being able to learn from your expertise. Our podcast really focuses on people who are thinking about moving to Colorado or people who are new to Colorado, how to get really established and how to feel like you belong here. And I think you did.

Melissa Moore (36:05)
Yeah.

Kenda Ruck (36:06)
such a great job in helping

Melissa Moore (36:08)
good.

Kenda Ruck (36:08)
us explain that and helping people understand how they can feel like they are a real Colorado and how they belong here in Denver when they're new here.

Melissa Moore (36:18)
Yeah, you know what? You move

John Wilkinson (36:19)
That's right. Yep.

Melissa Moore (36:20)
you move here and you belong here. And that is the thing. Plug yourself in and just know that you're accepted here. You know, you may not have people making you cookies, bringing them to the house like you might in the south, but people are happy you're here. And there's always room. There's always room for you.

Kenda Ruck (36:39)
That's great.

John Wilkinson (36:40)
That's right. As Melissa said, remember, get local, meet new friends. So everybody, thanks for spending time with us. Remember to subscribe to the podcast,

Melissa Moore (36:49)
And listen to me in the morning too.

Kenda Ruck (36:51)
Yes, listen to Melissa Moore

John Wilkinson (36:51)
That's right, that's right.

Kenda Ruck (36:52)
in the mornings. KOOL 105. Call in, talk to her. She loves that.

Melissa Moore (36:53)
Yes. KOOL 105 starts at six.

John Wilkinson (37:00)
Thanks everybody.