Sandy & Genevieve

We interrupt this broadcast…

2011-03-06T16:07:00.000-07:00

Life changing events are upon us and as we work to determine how we will move forward, both as individuals and a couple, this blog is taking a break too. We each have our own blogs, so if you are still interested in the mental landscape of either of us check out the following:

Genevieve: http://g-life-blah.blogspot.com/
Sandy: http://culinaryhack.blogspot.com/

Humility and Denver Living

2011-02-08T21:55:00.002-07:00

Winter has recently set in, featuring numerous days of single digits, including a few where the mercury has not headed north of zero (0*). Admittedly, this is abnormally cold, but freakish weather or not, the sudden onset of cold temperatures and snow has not found an appreciative audience with me.
In an effort not to be deterred from my plans of a long run this past Sunday I headed off to Washington Park, with several inches of fresh snow on the ground bracketed by leaden skies.

The accompanying hush that is present with fresh snow made for a quiet run. The park was far from crowded, but I was still surprised by the amount of activity. A lot of people on cross country skis, including multiple couples with kids in backpacks, kicking and gliding their way amongst the stately trees.

Also, people in snowshoes, which was overkill for the amount of snow, but they are fun to strap on and then later profess to an urban snowshoe adventure.

There were not many people out running, which of course went straight to my head. I had visions of running glory, thoughts of how easy the peaks would be this summer, and really just how committed (or deluded) I am. That is until I rounded the southeast corner of the park right as an organized race began. As ~150 runners charged by I realized that I was now likely the slowest runner in the park!

I got a laugh out of the entire situation, but it once again made me appreciate the city I call home. Having moved here 12 years ago I have been lured into the outdoor and active lifestyle that Colorado so graciously enables. Hiking has moved from a hobby to a passion, bike commuting is now the norm, running, while not necessarily fun has morphed into something other than 25 minutes of torture, and the sirens’ call of the mountains is always in earshot.
Luckily, a portion of the City's populace feels the same way. While I would be in the back of the field had I joined the race on Sunday, I would have been surrounded by like minded folks who were just glad to have the opportunity and the health to get out.

Trail Run

2011-02-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

In what could be best described as a moment of “beer goggled physicality,” meaning I was thinking I am in better shape than I am, I agreed to a trail run with a hike right at its midpoint. Thus, Alan and I ran (I use the term loosely) from Matthew Winters Park, to Red Rocks, climbed Mt Morrison, and then ran back.

I often whine my way up mountains. There is rarely anywhere I would rather be, but sometimes the effort seems a bit ridiculous, so making fun of it and myself is my way of coping. The thing with trail running is that I am breathing too hard to say a word. Alan was likely surprised by how quiet the entire experience was.

Approximately 9.1 miles later we determined we had hiked 2.25 miles and ran the difference, along with 1,800 feet of elevation gain. A solid effort that was followed by a prompt visit to the delicatessen.

Buoyed by success, there is already a more ambition plan in place for Super Bowl Sunday, justifying the typical Super Bowl meal of wings and chips. Now if only I watched the game…

Mac–n-Cheese

2011-02-01T22:22:00.001-07:00

For those of you who are not weather junkies, Denver is in the midst of a cold snap. The temperature when I walked to work was –10* F and a not-so-balmy –6*F on the walk home. There is talk of breaking records tomorrow as the temperature continues to drop.

This sort of weather demands comfort food. The idea of pot stickers and a salad was immediately abandoned with the first step outside the gym, as subzero temperatures called for impromptu macaroni and cheese. We had fortunately loaded up on a variety of cheeses lately, so throwing together a mac-n-cheese with smoked gouda and gruyere and spiking it with garlic, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes (wish I had pancetta!) was surprisingly simple.

Heating up in the new toaster oven, perfectly sized for four ramekins of bubbling comfort.

The finished product.

Hard core, hard cure, or hard headed…

2011-01-27T21:45:00.001-07:00

I ran a 10K (6.2 miles) this past weekend, the so called Yeti Chase. This in itself is unremarkable, but I felt pretty horrible, with a burning and hacking cough that stayed with me throughout the race, so I was glad to finish. Pictured below are me and my race-mates, Becky and Alan, and the namesake Yeti!

I followed this effort two days later with a 5K on my own, in which I averaged 9:44 min/mile. This is not a fast pace and once again was accompanied by a hack and wheeze throughout. Thus, I wised up and was at the doctor the following day. Hello bronchial infection, meet a treatment of steroids and antibiotics.

I am now medicated to a point that if you are feeling ill just call me, my voice alone should provide enough microbe killing power to improve your health. The doctor did say that I should lay off the exercise until I felt better. Fortunately, three doses of prednisone and two doses of antibiotics and I felt much better…so why not run to my monthly burger night?

It may not be the best for long-term health but a burger and a few beers have done wonders for spirits that have been a bit trampled by a few days of being under the weather. Cheers to a prompt recovery!

Moron!

2011-01-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

From 9News .com, local news outlet, it began with:

Police search for Moron

and then there is today's follow up:

Police say Moron is still 'in the wind'

This is the ongoing saga of a criminal on the run named Joseph Moron. Local journalists and news reporters are having a field day with headlines. My personal favorite is the request "If anyone has seen Moron, they're asked to call Aurora Police at 303-627-3152."

Be on the lookout!

Half-marathon

2011-01-16T20:12:00.000-07:00

I just signed up for the Platte River Half Marathon. This was done in a caffeinated moment, a time when my motivation is always surging. Now it is 8:02 PM and I am wondering what I got myself into. On the bright side a google search of "half marathon apprehension" yielded few applicable results, so evidently my feelings are misplaced. A subsequent search of "marathon and poop" brought the apprehension right back.

December 2010

2011-01-01T22:00:00.001-07:00

There haven’t been many blog posts this month, so here’s some of what we’ve been up to.

December 1st:

WTS Transportation Reception at Kevin Taylor’s at the Opera House (really fun event!) followed by Paris on the Platte. Went to watch one of Sandy’s co-workers take part in The Narrators (storytelling series). Denverites should think about checking it out but should show up early. While we watched the storytellers we also observed the art but did not write down the artist. Here is an example work that is fairly intriguing (note: we’re not Chihuahua fans but enjoyed the whimsical nature of the work) :

December 3rd:

Attended the Fancy Tiger Holiday Handmade Craft Fair! This wasn’t your garden variety scrapbooking and potpourri craft fair. This was a craft fair of handmade soaps, clothes, jewelry, paper goods, things you really can’t get just anywhere.

December 10th:

Annual holiday dinner with Lisa and Tony followed by darts at the Candle Light Tavern. Denver bars are proud of the Broncos…

We met Alan for darts – he’s into darts.

December 15th:

Waited to meet a friend at City o City. There were many restaurant visits and get-togethers in December. That’s just how the month is.

I looked at the art at City o City a lot and thought you should see it:

December 18th:

Attended a work holiday party. Sandy and Andy pictured below.

December___:

The month was filled with brunches. Something we don’t normally do but that occurred with unnatural frequency this month.

December 23rd:

Lots of outings in general throughout the month with gifts given at some! For example, see the duck below.

December 26th:

Another outing! Cru wine bar.

December 29th:

And still we went out more – Sandy at Mezcal.

December 30th:

It snowed and we ran errands including dinner out (of course).

December 31st:

New Year’s Eve! Went to the Fillmore Theatre on a whim and saw a group we’d never seen nor really heard – Sound Tribe Sector 9.

Last half of the month:

Yota enjoys a cardboard box!

Happy New Year!!

Legos…with a chinstrap

2010-12-09T23:45:00.000-07:00

Growing up I played with a lot of legos. Spaceships, airplanes, boats, my interest ran the gamut. Basically, if it was plastic and stuck together I would find a use for it.

One constant was the lego head, which could be outfitted with hair (via a snap on hair piece), space helmets, knight helmets, baseball hats, but regardless of the headwear, the face was always the same.

I, like most, carry around memories from their childhood in which most things are not subject to change. That snapshot in time simply becomes reality, and unless we revisit it, there is no need to change. This is often illustrated by visiting a childhood home and realizing the harrowing heights you attained when climbing trees, were actually only 6 feet off the ground. Or in my case recently, seeing new lego figures.

Red hair? A “chin strap” beard? Maybe the one on the right is Ghengis Khan, but more likely, my ignorance of pop culture is forcing me to reach way back into history to find a suitable comparison. If you have ideas on the redhead let me know.

A Yuppie Heart Sings

2010-12-07T20:14:00.001-07:00

I hit all the major marks:

Finish coffee with soymillk from Starbucks and head out for run
Wear new trail running shoes
Listen to blues/rock on iPhone
Don a wicking top from Mountain Hardwear
Run the quintessential “transit oriented development” in Arlington, VA
Capture occasional glimpses of the Washington Monument
Pick up tuna rolls from Whole Foods upon completion
Blog about the experience

Cat Muzzle…made of what?

2010-12-06T19:32:00.005-07:00

So in my meandering of the information superhighway I came across the following photo.

Being a cat owner who has clipped nails, cleaned ears and administered medications I can appreciate the lightning reflexes and sharp teeth of a cat. Yet, at no point have I ever thought, "this feline needs a leather mask to be controlled."

With the aid of Google, I learned it can get worse. Check out the riveted models with the colored ~~bondage~~ straps.

In action!

There are more benign options, with gender specific colors (see below). I hope that the cats that are part of our life will continue to be of the nature that makes muzzles unnecessary.

Birthday Celebrations in Virginia

2010-12-05T23:28:00.000-07:00

I just spent a few days in Virginia to celebrate my nephew’s 6th birthday and my Mom’s birthday. On the descent into DC you could see the shadow of the plane on the clouds below, encircled by a rainbow…physicists, please explain this phenomenon.

Traditionally, I get up and make Jake and Morgan breakfast whenever I am in town, and this was no exception. A little background, my culinary skills are held in high esteem by Jake. He and I have teamed up to make grilled chicken fajitas, cilantro-lime shrimp skewers, crab cakes and grilled chick caesar salads. In fact, he did not want to go out to dinner one night as he wanted me to cook. When it comes to food, he and I take it pretty seriously.

Thus, this breakfast became a significant affair, especially with a mid-morning soccer game in the offing. It started with pancakes and bacon, then included sausage upon request, and ended with scrambled eggs. Not knowing the house rules, which include no eating until dressed, you can tell one of these kids took advantage of my ignorance, while the other was dressed for a 3-star restaurant.

Next up was an indoor soccer game in the suburban hinterlands. With only a handful of kids on the team you quickly learn the names and I was shouting encouragement to Emily and urging Charlie back on defense in no time. During lulls in the action I tried to introduce myself to avoid the “who is that creepy stranger” question.

Jake’s party was football themed and featured 16 boys. Controlled chaos is the best description. There was a lot of laughter and running, a few tears shed over bumps and bruises, but summed up as the “best party ever” by what one can only hope is a discerning 6-year old party goer.

Below is me with my parents (a rare blog appearance!)

I squeezed in dinner with a friend, after which we downloaded games on her iPad and laughed at Angry Birds. I will not mention our collective age, but only say that our behavior rarely reflects it.

Jake and I worked on his roped climbing technique. The pitch was not too steep and the hazards minimal, but he did carry a mallet as a piton hammer and his imagination had him battling alligators mid-climb. I am pretty sure a Rocky Mountain adventure awaits his next trip to Denver.

Morgan saw her first ballet, the Nutcracker, and afterward gave a play-by-play (or maybe it is turn-by-turn...) breakdown of the show.

She is not rough-and-tumble and often speaks quietly, but she is by far the most photogenic in the entire extended family.

I also squeezed in a birthday celebration with Mom, dinner with entire family, more breakfasts with the kids, plenty of time driving around the traffic that plagues northern Virginia, a short run, and learned the unique frustration of putting together kid’s toys that feature many small parts that are delicate and won't to fit together.

Sunrise Series...Part 1

2010-12-02T07:44:00.000-07:00

With the sun rising later I see far more sunrises in the next 2-3 months than I do any other time of the year. Sometimes it is from my desk and other times it is on the ride into work. En route to the gym today, low clouds clinging to the foothills were lit up pink, creating a soft visual landscape to begin the day. Of course, in true urbanite fashion, I was running late to the gym and could not dally for a picture.

By posting a photo I took yesterday morning, when sunlight was bathing the buildings downtown but had yet to ferret the shadows out of Capitol Hill, hopefully I will take the extra minute or two to appreciate the day's start. For those of you who are not early risers and rarely see the early morning light, enjoy.

Bathing Suit Shopping

2010-11-25T13:44:00.000-07:00

Genevieve asked me to go bathing suit shopping with her [Note: G here – after coming home with a suit and was told it was “sort of modest,” I insisted he accompany me. He had to know what I’m up against in a bathing suit store. I think it was an illuminating experience as you’ll soon read]. I am pretty sure I did not have the “deer in the headlights” look, but next time I will. A quick search on a popular search engine yielded such topics as:

A search for stories related to men’s bathing suit shopping include comparison shopping, bathing suit design, and most importantly, not a single horror story or how-to manual. Obviously, I had no idea what I was getting into.

Walking through this door was an innocuous exercise, but then I was assaulted by the myriad of choices, colors, styles and strange metallic bits of flair that adorned many of the suits. Genevieve waded in and I followed suit.
After a protracted search for options it was time for the fitting room. I think in an effort to keep a bearded man from lingering in the dressing area I was ushered into the fitting room with Genevieve, and soon holding a pair of glasses, a purse and draped with multiple “potential” suits. Between the two trips to the fitting room, I would say I was in this state for a solid hour.

Matching bottoms could not be found to tops that were liked, the right size was not available for bottoms that were liked, one pieces were not liked, some two pieces were too revealing (i.e. barely covered the butt), “tankinis” represented a compromise…eventually a suit was purchased, which in a humorous twist, was simply a different color than the style of suit Genevieve had purchased on a solo mission days prior.
One thing I did learn, women’s gauze panties are available in the fitting room. I am not sure what to say about this, because regardless of what I say it will seem creepy. I can say I’m a little perplexed by this. I understand that women need to keep their panties on while trying on bathing suits but is this option for women who aren’t wearing underwear??

My bathing suit purchased involved trying on a pair of speedo “boxers,” having a good laugh and then purchasing the ubiquitous nearly knee length nylon bathing suits that are standard issue for men. No gauze panties in the fitting room either, which is likely an indictment of male hygiene.

Turkey or Bust’ed

2010-11-17T18:31:00.000-07:00

I have hit 26 classes in the last 16 days. Yet, tonight I learned I have some serious competition, a woman by the name of Jill. She happened to be in the same abs class as me so I introduced myself. It turns out she is in the midst of a late surge (four classes today!).

Now this would normally stoke my competitive spirit, I would take a day or two off from work and drag myself from class to class in an effort to win. Except, I have to leave town for work, putting me at a significant disadvantage. I told her this, wished her luck and immediately left the spin class I was about to take. It feels nice to be home early. Now off for chicken wings and drinks!

Also, on the bright side, and I am sure Thanksgiving will ruin this, I lost 5 pounds.

On Belay!

2010-11-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

For those of you who do not know, belaying is the act of “ securing (a person) at the end of a rope.” In short, the belayer catches a climber in case of a fall.

I have been belaying as a volunteer on behalf of the Colorado Mountain Club (CMC). REI provides the climbing wall and gear and gets great exposure, and the CMC gets the $5 cost for each climber. It gives me the chance to swap hiking and climbing stories while helping people new to the sport gain a comfort level prior to venturing outside.

Pictured below is most of the belay team, with a climber on the wall.

Here is a bunch of climbers.

When it is slow, we take turns climbing, belaying one another. Below is a picture I took between my feet, about 35 feet off the deck.

It has been a fun experience and I have seen both kids and adults overcome fear and succeed. The best one yet was a waifish 5 year old who refused to let go at the top. She did not cry, she did not complain, but she did not want to let go and be lowered. In her defense, trusting the entire system and succumbing to gravity is the hardest part. So we had to wait until her arms gave out and then lowered her to the ground. In true 5 year old fashion she was unfazed and immediately climbed another route. Her Dad even tipped us for our patience, which was just passed on as a donation to the club.

Clean Shaven Wrist

2010-11-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

2.5 years ago I launched myself over the handlebars of my bike. My fall was partially arrested by several subtle motions:

My crotch slamming in the headset of my bike, which led to bruising (me, not the bike).
Instinctively throwing out my right hand to break the fall.
Rolling down my right arm into a quasi-flip, which ultimately placed me on my back at the intersection of 13th and Sherman.

I hopped up and dragged my bike to the curb, where I immediately called my friend Tony, who had done the same thing 2 weeks prior, and immediately began the long tradition of masculinity by comparing wounds.

The only long lasting injury is a tender right wrist. This was completely manageable until I injured it yet again a few weeks back, and suddenly it was swollen, sore and could bear little weight. Sadly, I hurt it again while in a “boxing” class at the gym.

This class is a mix of pushups and squats, as well as hitting a heavy bag. So there I am, in my head, vanquishing my foes by landing punch after punch, when pain shoots up my right forearm. I immediately realize that having suffered a previous injury this class was a poor choice, plus, if I ever find myself in a real fight, to kick a lot, but try and not to use my “glass wristed” right hand. Thus, off to the physical therapist. The immediate diagnosis was traumatic arthritis, which meant ibuprofen, ice and tape. I am hairy, so for tape, it means I am shaving my wrist.

Any skin tone I have, well, it is from hair. I now have a pale right wrist, which is still healing two weeks after cutting myself while shaving. If you have to shave your wrist, using your non-dominant hand (left, in my case) do not think to yourself, I have had a few beers, now is the time! On the bright side, I was too lazy to get the shaving cream and was using anti-bacterial hand soap instead. It may have been bloody, but it was sanitary.

Storytelling

2010-11-14T20:13:00.001-07:00

I am not a good storyteller. I tend to ramble, I get off subject, there is a palpable lack of suspense, and likely many other miscues of which I am unaware.

When confronted with a problem I turned to my usual solution, no, not beer, but the public library. Looking at their collection, even recognizing that storytelling is a tradition than dates back to humans earliest time, their material seems dated.

Still, I am going to give it a go. I may not don the white “pirate” shirt that Marsh Cassady enjoys, but if you hear a good story from me, you know who to thank.

James Peak

2010-11-07T13:00:00.001-07:00

This peak shows up often on this blog, which is no surprise given its proximity to Denver, four season accessibility and solid challenge, but one that does not require a full day effort.

Alan and I set out at the leisurely hour of 7:15, made a stop en route and were still hiking by 8:30. This is a far cry from an earlier summer trip that entailed camping and an alarm set for 4:30.

Below is Alan with Grays and Torreys (2 14,000 peaks) in the background.

The view upvalley to a partially frozen lake that sits between Bancroft and James peaks.

It was 3:15 hours to summit and 1:15 to descend. The ascent was slow as my legs were tired from the Turkey or Bust effort (10 classes so far), but we ran down the snow fields on the descent, which is both easy and fun. This all culminated in a fit of gluttony at a local taqueria.

Library Status

2010-11-04T22:18:00.000-06:00

I am a frequent library user, to the point I have my library card memorized, which sadly, fails to impress people. Regardless, I consider myself an established library user. I use their online system, I check out books and CDs, I have downloaded e-books, I have even used the inter-library loan to get a book from Reno, Nevada.

When online this morning I noticed that my borrower status is “good” (see below):

As someone who is timely about their book return and prompt in the payment of fines when not, I thought this status should be higher: great, exemplary, exalted…any bit of hyperbole would do. My coworkers and I determined the statuses are likely limited, to say good or restricted. Either you can get books or you cannot. Nevertheless, a letter was suggested, hence the following, which was submitted via an electronic form.

“For the first time today I noticed there is a borrower status associated with my account. My current status is "good". While I am pleased to know I am well thought of, I am someone who takes pride in the timely return of books and/or prompt payment of fines. Therefore, I feel this status should be higher. If you could tell me the criteria upon which borrower status is based it would be appreciated, as I feel there is room for improvement on my behalf, such as borrower status "great".”

I am unsure if I will get a response, and since the entire endeavor was done tongue in cheek, silence would no be surprising. If a response is received though, I promise to share…stay tuned.

America!

2010-11-04T21:20:00.001-06:00

What is wrong with you?

Democrat, republican, communist, socialist, libertarian…regardless of your political affiliation, I think we can agree that this is harmful to our most precious resource: children.

Turkey or Bust

2010-11-03T21:57:00.001-06:00

Our gym has a contest going on, Turkey or Bust, in which the person who takes the most group fitness classes between November 1 and November 22 will win a free Thanksgiving dinner for four from Tony’s Market. I am interested because:

I like group fitness classes, as I push myself harder in a group setting (read that as ‘competitive’)
I like Tony’s Market
I like the Thanksgiving, especially if I do not have to cook

Thus, I am going for it. I have consigned myself to 22 days of physical discomfort, all to save us a few hours of cooking. The logic is far from sound, but it will keep me active.

Three days in and I am at five classes. The pace is about to slow due to a combination of work and personal obligations. In effort to stay ahead though, I am attending a spin class tomorrow that begins at 5:45, a full hour before I usually wake.

I put my odds of winning pretty low. There is someone out there who works less, is fitter, and has the wisdom to sleep instead of posting about exercise. Stay tuned though, tales of soreness are sure to follow.

Dressing up–year 2

2010-10-31T21:15:00.001-06:00

We have never really been into the whole dressing up for Halloween thing. This year there were two parties to attend and a bar crawl to do and we couldn’t not dress up.

Finding a costume last year was easy with the Gorilla Run event. We just stayed in the gorilla suits all day. This year was more challenging, especially because we waited until the 29th to really think hard or search for something.

Sandy’s original idea was to be an old pro wrestler Jim Duggan aka Hacksaw, but with the bar crawl and being outside, he thought better of walking around all night in wrestling shorts and boots and nothing else. Besides, he couldn’t find a good mullet wig. He finally ended up being a Mormon. I don’t know about your town (wherever you are), but in Denver we see a fair amount of Mormons, in pairs, riding on bicycles everywhere spreading the Mormon word. The pairs dress exactly alike: black pants and shoes, white button-up shirt, dark colored tie, black backpack and black bike helmet. Here is Sandy’s version:

My costume was all figured out by Friday morning – I was going to be a school girl and Sandy was to be a priest. As you’ve likely noticed, Sandy decided not to be a priest. So, I was back to the drawing board on Friday night/Saturday afternoon. Found a fabulous blue dress at Good Will and decided to be a devil in a blue dress!

There are no other pictures from last night. We went to the parties, then the Irish Snug, then walked east on Colfax to try to get into the Rock Bar, which actually had a line. A very, very drunk woman attached herself to me on the walk while her friend hit on someone in our group, but otherwise there was no major excitement. We did have fun though.

I think I get the whole dressing up thing – it brings out something different in yourself when you get to be someone/something else for a night.

Bike Spotting, #1

2010-10-30T14:44:00.001-06:00

I, like many fellow cyclists, tend to look at other bikes while out and about. Not unlike looking at cars on the highway, there is plenty of variety, but rare is the bike that turns your head. Today, I came across a jewel of craftsmanship and autumnal patriotic swagger.

In profile you can appreciate the vegetation and Ol' Glory, but it is the stern to bow view that is most impressive. 4 sets of bar ends with a dreamcatcher, at eye level no less, strung between them.

It is a bike I can appreciate, but not ride. As proof, the unassuming black bike in the background of the first picture, that’s mine.

Rail~Volution 2010

2010-10-24T11:55:00.000-06:00

I’ve just returned from Portland and four wonderful days of Rail~Volution, a conference that brings transportation professionals together once a year to “Create a national movement to develop livable communities with transit.” Two thumbs up to the organizers – it was an excellent event. I learned a lot and met some good people. The folks from Pittsburgh, Vancouver, and Portland were my favorites (other than the Denver crew that is).

So I’m going to share a few photos from a few jaunts around Portland.

As always, I love the random and sometimes silly stickers and paintings on signs, cars, and walls. Denver seems to be lacking in this area and I know because I’m on the lookout.

This was taped to the greeter stand at Kenny & Zuke’s deli. I enjoy stick figures and have been pondering the drawing’s origin – a small-breasted (and lop-sided), wild-haired woman throwing the horns with a seemingly complacent dog. It’s amusing.

These three were in various spots:

This is from the back of a Prius, obviously. I was unusually delighted by it’s lighthearted nature.

There were also some less-random bits of art that I noted – tile work on a wall surrounding a park and a mural:

I ate at some of the food carts near Pioneer Square. The weather was moist and chilly in the mornings until just after noon and I was drawn to the soup and grilled cheese cart. The day I visited it was serving a Hungarian mushroom soup and a cheddar, gruyere, and goat cheese grilled cheese. So, so tasty and satisfying.

A few days later, Lacy (a friend and now co-worker) and I got a similar lunch at a food cart on Williams in Northeast Portland. No food pic, but here’s a photo of the “cart.”

Right across from this cart was a walk-up window for ordering coffee. It was aptly named a “ped-thru” as opposed to a drive-thru.

On Monday I took a mobile tour by bike of Portland’s green streets and bikeways. The weather was amazing, the company was great (can’t go wrong with those that want to get on a bike!), and we saw some interesting and innovative stuff. Near the end we took a break at a park and the tour guides had arranged for coffee and pastries. The coffee was served by a coffee-by-bike sort of thing – Trailhead Coffee Roasters. Quite good coffee but I did burn my tongue (user error).

Walking around Portland in general was such a treat, especially this time of year. The trees were turning and leaves were falling. We were so impressed by the size of some leaves we got these photos.

We also came across this huge elephant-on-elephant art in one park:

Finally, we rode and ogled at the streetcar:

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Portland, I love you.

NYC – Sun 10/10/10

2010-10-16T22:57:00.001-06:00

Day 4: The last day of vacation. Not even a full day – we flew out at 5:30 pm.

We weren’t feeling especially energetic on Sunday morning. As I got ready for the day and packed, Sandy took a trip to Russ & Daughters, a fish market and deli on the lower east side. This was fine with me because I don’t enjoy fish. I ended up eating breakfast at the City Bakery, which was pretty tasty but not amazing.

The plan for the day was to spin through Little Italy and Chinatown, then spend the remainder of our time in Central Park. On our walk from the Carlton Arms to the Little Italy area, we came across a strange building facade, one of the many “Mister Softee” trucks, a uniquely designed building, some sandwich graffiti, a fire station, and an altered city sign (see in order below):

We also happened upon a street art market and purchased some art! It was somewhat serendipitous because the artist from which we bought was one I’d been admiring online for some time. I took this as a sign and got a piece. The artist is Kristiana Parn and we got something that looks something like this:

In Little Italy we saw a bicycle covered over entirely in knitting!

We also saw Sandy’s!

Chinatown was a bit disappointing. We were expecting something as exuberant and assaulting on the senses as in San Francisco. Unless we missed something, the NYC Chinatown didn’t compare to the San Fran Chinatown. We did stop in at a Chinese restaurant for sliced ginger and scallion lo mein, along with steamed shrimp dumplings, and egg rolls.

From there we went to Central Park…Central Park was packed with people! Not only was it an absolutely gorgeous day, but there was some sort of parade going on. We didn’t confirm but suspected that it was a Native American Cultures parade – Columbus Day was the next day. Also, the Strawberry Fields area of Central Park was inundated with John Lennon fans. John Lennon’s birthday was Oct 9 (would have been his 70th birthday), the day before and

We wandered around and finally landed at “the lake.” I looked on Google maps and there is no name to this lake. In fact, while we were sitting on a bench surrounding the lake, a tour guide and her group came along and she said she thought the lake didn’t actually have a name.

These are views at and from “the lake”:

According to the guide, Steven Spielberg “keeps an apartment” in the building on the left with the two big towers. Also, Jerry Seinfeld lives in the building on the right in the distance.

This is us, tired and ready to head home:

From here it was a cab ride to the airport and a flight back to the life we know.

NYC – Sat 10/9/10

2010-10-14T22:10:00.001-06:00

Saturday – Day 3

After Friday (day 2), Saturday was much more laid back. The day started at 10:45 am, again, at Stumptown (love that place). We just needed something to tide us over until we reached the Chelsea Market. The Chelsea Market is an old National Biscuit Company warehouse building that has been converted to a market housing all manner of cute, yuppie attractions – artisanal cheese shop, a gelato place, several non-chain bakeries, lots of cute restaurants, and so on.

Here are some bakery cupcake offerings that caught my eye (but I did not purchase any!):

The one on the left below is a meatball on spaghetti (I’ve had several, um, other guesses): I liked this sign we saw at a meat shop:

Around noon we did find breakfast at the Chelsea Market – we ate at 202, which is attached (and virtually within) a boutique store. This is Sandy and his bagel, cream cheese, smoked salmon and capers:

I indulged in the French toast!

We went to see “ground zero”/World Trade Center site, but all we saw was fencing and tons of tourists. Not sure exactly what I was expecting…We walked the length of two sides but couldn’t see anything else and continued on with our day.

The Wall Street Bull was our next stop – since we were in the area. The images I’ve just Googled are better than the view I got of the bull in real life that day. The crowd around the bull was three people deep! There were just as many, if not more, people who wanted to take a photo of the bull from the back as the front…which means that the sad, little panda below got no attention.

After all the crowds we decided to get out of Manhattan. Our target was Williamsburg, a neighborhood in Brooklyn. We crossed the East River via the Williamsburg Bridge. Walking the bridge was so much fun and was a well done bicycle and pedestrian facility. This bridge carries automobile traffic (eight lanes), subway trains (two tracks), and has a level for bikes and pedestrians. At first the bikes and peds were together as shown in the photo directly below:

Further on bikes and peds were separated. The photo below was taken from our pedestrian side and you can see a bike across the way and the auto traffic below!

I love that an opportunity was almost never missed to personalize elements in public areas:

Upon arriving in Williamsburg, we immediately attempted to go to Peter Luger Steakhouse because they are supposed to have great burgers. It is, however, quite popular on a Saturday and at 3:45 pm you needed a reservation. So, we aborted that mission and headed up Bedford Ave. Here are some bits of interesting art we saw on our walk.

We strolled through Williamsburg and enjoyed being in the more laid back atmosphere of a neighborhood. No one really seemed to be in a hurry. Even the cyclists seemed to be casually riding along. We ended up sitting in McCarren Park and watching people go by for a half hour. Here are some shots from that leisurely time:

Around 4:00 pm we stopped in at Lokal Mediterranean Bistro but just had a Red Wagon IPA and fries because they stopped serving lunch at 4:00 pm but didn’t start serving dinner until 5:00 pm. It was just nice to sit and enjoy a beer on such a lovely day though.

The rest of the afternoon we spent getting back to Manhattan and just walking around taking things in. It’s vacation!

We closed out Saturday by eating at Mayahuel in the East Village; a tequila restaurant serving small plates. This was our best meal in NYC. We drank “randy cocktails” (tequila, ginger juice, lime juice and a “rinse” of mezcal) and “spicy palomas” (Jalapeño tequila with grapefruit, lime, soda & salted rim) – there is no margarita mix here, everything is fresh. We ate chorizo and cheese smoked tomato croquettes, seared shrimp & scallops stuffed with chorizo & roasted sweet pepper, and carnita tacos with cilantro, radishes and lime. It was all so tasty.

For picture-taking, the light was pretty low but we did get this shot of us at Mayahuel using the timer:

This photo came out brighter (and kind of interesting) using Sandy’s photo app:After a very satisfying time we retired to the Carlton Arms. As further illustration of the interesting art throughout the Carlton Arms, this is me in front of our door on which a strange, yet happy being is holding a “15d” sign (our room number).

We were also confronted with the house cat! It was parked in the middle of the landing staring at our door. About a half hour later, after we’d gone into the room, someone actually knocked on our door and asked if we should let the cat in. Of course we didn’t but it was very, very cute.

Come back soon for the next and final installment – NYC day 4!

NYC – Fri 10/8/10

2010-10-12T22:21:00.001-06:00

I realize now that the date of the last post was incorrect, but I’m leaving it. We do our blogging in the Windows Live Writer software and if I merely open a post in Blogger the formatting may go awry. Yes, one more yuppie problem to add to the list…

This is Day 2 – NYC 2010 Trip

Since NYC is two hours off from Denver time, if we rose at 8:00 am that would really be 6:00 am Denver time. So, we opted for a 10:00 am wake up! Hey, we were on vacation, even if it is the City that never sleeps.

The day started at 11:30 am with cappuccinos and a croissant at Stumptown! If you are a coffee drinker and are not familiar with Stumptown, I am sad for you. I don’t really drink coffee unless I’m expected to be active (i.e. not behind the desk) for 12 hours or more in a day. Vacation is definitely one of those times – especially in a walking city like New York. Anyway, Stumptown coffee is among the best I’ve ever had. We originally discovered it in Portland, Oregon, and have been followers ever since. Here’s a shot of the baristas hard at work looking ultra hip and making coffee beverages.

And here is what we had:

Sandy here, who drinks coffee everyday, regardless of expectations. Being active, yep, coffee please. Weekend morning with no plans, coffee. Down and out with the flu…you get the idea. I can say their 5oz cappuccinos are outstanding. That 5 oz includes frothed milk, so the actual weight is probably 3.5 oz, meaning the per pound cost is approximately $16. If there was coffee this good in Denver I would happily pay that daily, possibly more often depending on location.

We ate and drank at the standing bar and then headed out for our day in the city. Our first destination was the New York City Public Library, but guess what? We ran into an amazing city park! Bryant Park (I’ve put in a link to the immediate left of the parentheses and let me tell you, I’m amazed that both this park and Madison Square Park – from the day 1 post – have web sites devoted to them). The park is lined with big trees and has an open, grassy center with chairs and tables. It’s so great that the city has these areas of respite. It actually seems quieter inside the rim of trees, as if you’re actually entering a little haven. So nice.

It turns out that Bryant Park is right behind the library – very convenient! The library was getting some exterior work done so the entrance was covered in scaffolding, which was covered in white barriers. The library is like a museum, so grand. Sandy and I kept thinking about that movie The Day After Tomorrow, that climate change movie that featured the NYC public library.

This is Sandy (on the right) on the way up to the second floor:

Sandy and unknown guy in front of a mural on the first floor of the library:

An eerie bit of marble work at the base of the stairs:After gawking at the library for a bit we sort of ran into Times Square. In the daytime, without the glare of the brightly lit billboards and so on, it’s easier to appreciate the pedestrian space between the sidewalks. I loved that there are tables and chairs, and walkways, and bike lanes running the length of Times Square. I was a little surprised to see so many big stores and chain restaurants though, but I suppose I should have expected it. But, really, Planet Hollywood? I didn’t think there were any Planet Hollywoods left. Oh, and the world’s largest T.G.I. Friday restaurant?

Here are some photos of the pedestrian and bike areas:

Times Square is a little tiring because tourists (like ourselves) flock there and it’s much more crowded than other areas of the city. On top of that, with only a half of a croissant for breakfast, the cappuccino was burning a hole in my stomach. Long story short, low blood sugar led to a quick lunch search. We were successful in the dining concourse of Grand Central Terminal. Lunch was from Eata Pita – I had the falafel combo and Sandy the chicken kebabs. I loved it because I am picky about my falafel and found theirs to be similar to Jerusalem in Denver – very, very tasty.

We didn’t get any pre-lunch photos (thankfully) but here is a post-lunch photo:

The problem with traveling in a place like NYC is that there are so many good food options. This means that we look at places to eat but reject them thinking that the most amazing restaurant is right around the corner, which is almost never the case.

After lunch we went to the awesome nerdy place – the Transit Museum Gallery Annex & Store! I drooled over mugs and umbrellas with the transit map on them, made some purchases, and left. Appropriately, we then took our first NYC subway ride uptown to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is me, the happy subway rider:

The thing we most wanted to see at the Met was the temporary exhibit called Big Bambu:

The monumental bamboo structure, ultimately measuring 100 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 50 feet high, takes the form of a cresting wave that bridges realms of sculpture, architecture, and performance.

It is a work in progress, continually growing on the rooftop of the Met. You can walk around underneath of it and examine its structure as Sandy is doing here:

Or, if you had planned in advance (like we did not), you could take a tour and actually walk to the upper sections on a series of pathways and stairs.

In reading the rules for taking the tour I noted two things: 1) you have to wear long shorts or pants because people below can see up (!), and 2) you have to weigh less than 400 pounds. 400 pounds! I want to see the calculation they used to determine that. The structure is strong with fresh bamboo but really – up to 400 pounds? Obviously I was surprised the number wasn’t a bit lower.

This photo shows the ever-growing wave to which the description refers. The people you can see are actually working on the piece as you watch:

The other perk of seeing this exhibit is that it’s on the rooftop of the Met!! Amazing views and absolutely lovely weather – calls for a glass of bubbly I’d say.

This was easily the highlight of day 2.

We did explore the rest of the museum, well not all of it. It was a quick spin – modern art, Greek sculpture, Native cultures, a little European.

Since the Met is actually located within Central Park, we walked around the park for awhile afterwards. We rested on some rocks, giving our feet a reprieve, and watched what had to be a planned meeting of a bunch of small dog owners.

We had a quick dinner around 5:45pm at an energetic place called Serafina, then we hopped the M1 bus to Carnegie Hall for a live show of Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me. It was pretty exciting just to be at Carnegie Hall, but to see a live performance of Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me was superb. The guest was Nora Ephron, she wrote When Harry Met Sally, a movie I love. It was fun, but the downside was that I couldn’t hear very well. This wouldn’t have been a huge deal except that we got the cheap seats and already had an obstructed view. But I’m not going to complain – it was a fine time.

Interestingly, at the end of the show (after it is “over”), they do two things: 1) they fix mistakes, which basically means that Peter Segal has to re-say stuff and 2) they take questions from the audience. One audience member asked who does Carl Kasell’s home answering machine message. He answered “my wife” and then pointed her out in the crowd. Funny stuff! We got to move to the front of the balcony for these post-show portions and I got this photo (for which I was chastised by the usher):

After the show we took a night time spin through Times Square and then had a night cap at Nios. I;d recommend this place for the spacious and very clean bathrooms, which more than compensated for the spotty service.

Night time Times Square:

Nios: Serious bubbly drinker

Sandy has an app on his phone that lets him apply effects to photographs, which is why this one looks the way it does:

That was basically the end of day 2. More to come – days 3 and 4!

NYC – Thurs 10/8/10

2010-10-11T19:35:00.001-06:00

We’ve just returned from four days in New York City and it was fantastic! I was expecting it to be too much. Too much people, too much noise, too much movement. I had a few moments in which I needed a break, but overall it was just…amazing. I do have to point out that our experience was aided in large part by the perfect weather. It was never hotter than 72 degrees or cooler than 65 degrees (between the hours of 10:00 am and 10:00 pm). We feel very lucky.

Since we take a lot of photos, the trip report will be broken up into days. This post, of course, will cover day one – Thursday. The only written notes I made were our meals, meal times, and sights in between. So, photos and commentary will be punctuated by meals and meal times.

Left Denver on a 7:00 am flight but we were excited on to be on our way:

Our flight arrived at La Guardia Airport at about 1:00 pm. We took a shuttle bus to Grand Central Terminal. In the photo below, I’m on the floor down in the hustle and bustle of it all (good luck finding me). The terminal is fantastic, a museum quality piece of transit infrastructure with beautiful light, and guess what, it has an amazing food concourse beneath the main hall.

Here is Sandy and a view of the main concourse:We walked the 20 or so short blocks to our lodging. We stayed at a unique, hostel-like place called the Carlton Arms. Upon reaching the check in desk, we were greeted by the resident cat:

This was the state of the cat most of the time we saw it, sometimes in different locations. It was a very laidback feline.

Now, the Carlton Arms is a special place because “…every one of the 54 rooms and 4 hallways are painted or decorated by artists that came from all over the world, brought their craft and passion and transformed a rotten hole into a unique Manhattan site where the walls explode with color and art.” That it does! Each room was painted/decorated by a different artist – this includes the bathrooms. Check out the photo gallery on the web site. Our room was painted with kama sutra-type art, so we’re going to skip the photos. However, this is a photo of the bathroom on our floor:

Also this is a creature painted on the wall in the stairwell on the way to our room:

First stop 3:30 pm – The Shake Shack

This is a burger and shake place. There are several locations but we found the original – and an interesting location it is. It operates inside of Madison Square Park (more about the park in a moment) and doesn’t stand out and isn’t garish. Its somewhat small metal structure blended in well and made us wonder why we hadn’t seen something like this in other cities.

This is Sandy on the patio. In the first photo he is waiting for his burger, fries and “shakemeister” beer, then, in the second, he’s even more happy because he’s got them!

Madison Square Park is a beautiful little park with a dog park, a fountain, large and old trees, lots of benches, the Shake Shack, and a reflecting pool with chairs and tables surrounding it. This was one of several refreshing park oases we would find in NYC. Here are two photos of the park that give a taste but don’t do it justice:

There was one strange guy. In the photo below the guy was slapping the tree very hard, one hand at a time. When the trees finally attack, it is good to know that he is on our side.

Oh, and just on the edge of the park were two things: The Flatiron Building and a short-term street market (Madison Square Market).

The Flatiron Building is an impressive old building that is very slim and uniquely shaped. Per wikipedia, it was considered one of the first skyscrapers built and was designed by Daniel Burnham! There are lots of great photos of the building online but this is the one we took:

Here is a bit of detail on the building (like nearly all buildings in the city, this one was dotted with window air conditioning units):

Madison Square Market was your typical art market with food stalls, except the art was a bit better than I’m used to and the food was way more delectable. Around 4:00 pm I ate at the Tanjore stall and had a vegetable samosa with channa masala. It was the best channa masala I’ve ever had.

In the vicinity of Madison Square Park is Eataly. This place is new and is an Italian food-loving yuppie’s dream. It’s really a large market with a butcher, a bakery, a place to buy fresh cheese, pasta, seafood, fruit and vegetables, etc. You can also buy cookware, cookbooks, specialty beer, and, of course, has an attached wine shop. There is also several restaurants within it. Online reviews said it was a palace to house the ego of Mario Batali…I cannot comment on that but I can say what we purchased was tasty, and often not symbolic of quality, the place was perpetually packed. Here are some photo samplings:

Next we came upon The High Line at a lovely time of day – right around sunset. I was expecting the High Line to be impressive but I was wowed. An old elevated rail line was transformed into a relaxing garden and walkway in the city. It opened in June 2009 and it looks new but you can tell the city residents and tourists alike appreciate it. We took far too many photos here but really don’t capture it.

Sandy ascends the stairs to The High Line:

This is me with the walkway and some of the gardens in the background:

As you can see in the photo below, there are benches as well as wooden chaise lounges and they are well-used!

If you look closely at the bottom of the chaises below, you can see that the original railroad track has been preserved and some of the seats sit on wheels on the rails. We thought that was creative preservation.

The High Line wends its way very close to tall, old buildings and some of them have eye-catching multi-colored windows.

The views are nice too. Here are some interesting buildings we saw from The High Line.

Here you can see the glow of sunset on some other buildings as well as the Empire State Building in the back ground:

As you can see from the photos below, there are trees planted on The High Line. Also, even though lots of people are visiting, there are spaces that are a little open.

I really liked this pocket garden showing the old tracks heading off into oblivion – gone but not forgotten.

6:25 pm Zemi for a cocktail and food. We were getting a bit peckish after our sight seeing and popped into this cute Chelsea restaurant and sat adjacent to the sidewalk eating spring rolls, chicken satay, and scallion pancakes. It was nice to be an observer and see the people and traffic of all sorts going by.

I was watching the way all the traffic moved and interacted. This is especially interesting in NYC, not just because there are so many more people, cabs, buses, autos, trucks, etc. It is because there are lots of bike lanes! They are almost always on the left side of the road and are sometimes colored (green) and/or barrier-separated from traffic. See my view below:

Afterwards we walked around randomly. At around 9:00 pm we got a glass of wine at Cafe Condesa – a very small (and sparsely patronized) restaurant in the West Village. They were overtly disappointed that we were sitting at the bar but still not having food. It was uncomfortable and I don’t recommend it.

The travel and early rise was catching up with us. We took a cab to Eataly, grabbed some bread and a bottle of red wine and retired to our room. See more on day 2!

Long Dog Derby!!

2010-09-27T17:59:00.000-06:00

On our way back from camping this weekend we stopped by LoDo (Denver’s Lower Downtown area) for the Oktoberfest. Oh, we didn’t partake of any beer, no sir, we were attending for the Long Dog Derby! That’s right, wiener dogs and their humans came out to race against other little “weens” in the same age group. It was hilarious.

We eventually made it ringside and got some quite funny shots. The dogs just had to run from one side of a bit of green outdoor turf to the other.

Some wiener dog owners were very serious and tried to keep the little canines focused on the finish line at the other end. But, as you can tell from the photo below, many of these little guys were just interested in each other.

This is illustrated below – as you can tell, when released, the dogs of the two focused owners just sort of milled around and said hello to one another. Oh, the full head of hair in the foreground is the stunning locks of one of the male judges.

So, I just zoomed in a bit on the photo above to show that some of these pups took the race pretty seriously – look at that one in the front!

Here’s another serious-about-winning front runner (fully hovering in this shot):

And this is just another starting line shot – such a bizarre race. Some of them had clever racing names like the little frankfurter, oscar meyer faster wiener, red rocket, and so on.

Sadly, we missed the dachshund costume contest because we would have had to wait around for about 90 minutes. We did get to see this little Helga though. Incidentally, this dog was a BIG winner. Its human was quite smart and brought these little squeaky balls that the dog found irresistible. The dog booked it from the start line to the finish line in an effort to be reunited with its little squeaky friends.

While this isn’t really a costume, I thought the little “low rider” tee shirt was funny.

The Silence of the Elk

2010-09-26T21:23:00.001-06:00

At two in the morning I woke up in our car-camping tent to the faint sound of an elk bugling. I willed myself to stay awake to hear more, which wasn’t hard because the moon was so bright it might have been daytime outside. I tried to stay awake because, darn it, the whole idea behind camping in Rocky Mountain National Park during the elk rut is to hear the majestic sound of the elk bugle!

We did hear a few more as well as some coyotes but they weren’t as loud as in past years where you could tell they were close by. For instance, in 2006 two bull elk got into a fight between our tent and our car! I would insert video but haven’t figured out how to do that yet.

The camping excursion was still fun though! Before settling into camp for the evening, Sandy and I played a round of miniature golf on a surprisingly tough course and picked up a growler of IPA from the Estes Park Brewery. Later, Lisa and Tony and two of their kids, Jack and Margaret, joined us at an adjacent campsite. We ate chicken skewers with peanut sauce and, later, drank a little “adieu to summer” bubbly around the fire. Here is a sampling of the good times:

The next morning we got up at a reasonable hour and enjoyed watching the sun illuminating a field of drying flowers and grasses – it was actually quite lovely.

On our way out, we went through Estes Park again and had to stop to get a photo of Sandy and a very large bear carving (these are very popular in Colorado – but people usually have the pint-sized versions).

Goodbye summer…

Leaf Change

2010-09-21T17:17:00.000-06:00

We journeyed south to Salida and Buena Vista, Colorado this weekend to see the golden aspen trees and the beauty that is Colorado – before the snow comes and everything is bleh. Here are some of the photos:

Since we were in the area and had such a good time last year, we decided that we would do the Buena Vista Autumn Color Run again this year. I did the 5K and Sandy did the 10K. This is Sandy at the finish line:

Colorado is fantastic.

Mr. Mustache

2010-09-20T20:37:00.001-06:00

Some may have seen Sandy’s facial hair transformations in the past few weeks. This post will focus on the mustache phase. For the Tour de Fat (Fort Collins) Sandy dressed up as a…well, I’m not sure what we finally decided to call him other than a blue-blooded American. Nevertheless, his costume required shaving his beard into lamb chops and a fu-manchu mustache. This was some serious facial hair, per Sandy, “you need something fixed I am on it, action required I can do, yell at my wife to get in the kitchen, you bet!”

For work the following Monday, Sandy decided that a simple mustache would be best.

Personally, I couldn’t help but laugh every time I saw Sandy for the first 48 hours. Even he would walk by mirrors and laugh. The reactions of his co-workers were interesting. The men thought it was awesome. The women, while amused, didn’t endorse it as a long-term facial hair strategy. A friend from the gym was highly complimentary, but then suggested he should listen to the women.

There were a few comparisons made. One was to Inspector Clouseau, from the Pink Panther series. I can see it.

Another comparison was made to early pugilists – you know, the traditional pugilist look:

Also, we noticed that police officers either have no facial hair or just a mustache. We noticed this because we attended two Tour de Fat events in two back-to-back weekends (Fort Collins then Denver) and there was lots of police support for each event. This officer is just one example.

I’m happy to report that Sandy is in the process of rebuilding the beard but the mustache was fun!

Food Run

2010-09-10T20:00:00.001-06:00

I work a 4.5 day/week schedule, meaning I work four 9-hour days and one 4-hour day. Thus, on Fridays, when I leave work on time, I have an afternoon to myself to spend, generally, as I see fit. Which, is precisely what I did today. I worked up an appetite in a spin class at the gym, and then headed out to make actual headway via bicycle in pursuit of dinner.

That crate contains an afternoon worth of riding/errands. I started at Il Mondo Vecchio, a Denver-based salumi shack, that specializes in dry cured meats. On Friday they hold an open-house, where I nibbled my way through at least ten different offerings, including a duck breast prosciutto, a red wine and peppered salami, Portuguese style salami, and capicola. It was meaty, fatty, salty and all delicious. I left with an Asian influenced salami and pig jowls (guanciale) which I am pretty sure I will be eating entirely myself.

From here it was off to Divino, a great wine shop that is a little out of the way for us, so when I go I tend to load up. Their staff is knowledgeable and indefatigable, the guy did not bat an eye when I asked for an Italian red to pair with pig cheeks. From here it was off to Whole Foods for pre-made pizza dough for tonight’s dinner. Below is the totality of the trip.

On the left is a No-Knead Bread, which was started before the 8.5 mile food cycling circus began. Homemade pizza and fresh baked bread, paired with red wine, is a mighty fine way to end the workweek and begin the weekend.

Tour de Fat

2010-09-06T15:23:00.000-06:00

On Saturday we attended “a ballyhoo of bikes and beer” – a.k.a. the Tour de Fat! Over 8,000 people gathered for the event in Fort Collins, Colorado. Fort Collins is considered the “Mothership” because it’s home to New Belgium Brewing, which is a fantastic microbrewery. New Belgium started the event in Fort Collins and it now travels to 12 other cities around the US. All money raised from beer sales go to local organizations or charities that volunteer for the event. Their signature beer is Fat Tire ale and that where the “fat” comes from in Tour de Fat.
Anyhoo, our wonderful friends Amy and April invited us up to their house for a sleepover on Saturday night and we all attended the event together! The kickoff of the event is a parade and it was a freak show – in a good way. Attendees are strongly encouraged to dress in costume for the event – the more ridiculous the better.
Sandy and I spent part of Friday shopping thrift stores for crazy clothes. I found a hot pink party dress and a pink and white scarf with roses. Sandy went as a “real American.” You’ll see in photos below. Amy and April lashed stuffed animal chickens to their helmets (these also double as slippers) and made chicken sounds. Here is a group shot:

This is me post-parade:

Here are some photos of costumed parade-riders:

A group got busy with some papier-mâché in a very creative way – they created Muppets! They had a Dr. Teeth, Gonzo, Fozzie the Bear (not pictured), the Swedish chef, and a wee Kermit.

The freak show continued at the terminus of the parade where beer, food, and entertainment were provided. We got a beer (you have to donate!) and people-watched. The photos below provide just a sampling of the costume (or lack of).

We actually didn’t stay too long. Hunger and dust chased us away and we went for lunch in old town Fort Collins. We found ample sustenance at a La Creperie & Bakery of Fort Collins. Here are some snapshots of the tuckered out couples.

We walked off the crepes by strolling around Fort Collins, which was bustling with activity. There were gobs of people about – some costumed, some not. It was surreal but created a really fun, festival-like environment.
That night we ate in, chatted, drank Prosecco, and played catch phrase. We also got a chance to meet one of their neighbors who stopped by for a chat!
In the morning we journeyed back to Denver after a homemade breakfast and play time with Charlotte, their Schnoodle.

Longs Peak

2010-08-30T22:53:00.000-06:00

David had booked a flight to Denver months ago to escape the heat of Fort Worth, TX, by climbing a high peak, so he, Scott and I climbed Longs Peak, with a cool forecast high of 55* at the summit. Longs is Colorado’s northernmost 14er and the monarch of Rocky Mountain National Park. It is a 14 or 15 mile trek (distance seems to depend on your data source) with 5,100 feet of elevation gain. Given its accessibility and being in Rocky Mountain National Park, it is a popular climb, but certainly no lark. The first six miles go quick, but once you cross the ridge below a feature named the “keyhole,” the climbing switches between class two and three, offering ledge walks and steep scrambling.

We camped Friday and enjoyed a carnivorous extravaganza, featuring pork chops, bratwursts and roasted corn. None of this was planned well. We had no plates or silverware, so it was a fairly barbaric scene featuring food served off the cardboard six-pack holder.

Scott was running late and we could get his messages, but oddly could not get any messages back out to him. This was good as our messages concerned arriving with beer in tow. Fortunately, Scott showed up without beer, as we had a 2 AM start time. One of the few advantages of an early start time is that you are guaranteed to see the sunrise.

With peaks bathed in alpenglow, I tried my best to bail on the climb. The prior 45 minutes had featured nausea, dizziness and a general disinterest in anything other than walking back down the hill. My partners threatened to quit as well, so I had a few gels with caffeine and told myself I would continue up to the Keyhole and make a decision there. There was much more to this, as I was a pain in the ass when we stopped to pump water, I was grumpy, I was bitchy, frankly if I was Scott and David I would have happily sent me down the mountain to be rid of me.

Pictured below, the Keyhole is the broken rock in the center of the ridge.

Pictured below is the view that greeted us on the other side of the Keyhole, the sweeping expanse of Glacier Gorge.

By the time we hit the Keyhole I had a 180* reversal. I was excited by what lay ahead and set off across a series of ledges to access the Trough, a 600 vertical foot climb up a narrow gully.

Scott and David on the ledges on the way to the Trough.

The view looking up the Trough, as you can tell the climb is a crowded one.

Once you exit the Trough, you are approximately 300 vertical feet from the summit, with only the Narrows and the Homestretch to be traveled. The Narrows is a narrow ledge that requires a bit of scrambling, climbing, down-climbing and occasional acrobatic maneuvers to let all hikers traveling in the opposite direction pass.

Below is David on the most exposed move. It is a simple move and on solid rock, but below David is two bounces and then a few hundred feet of air.

The Homestretch looks steeper than it is. The issue here is the volume of people, you can only move as quickly as the person in front of you, so you have to be careful so as to not be in an awkward position or unsafe position should someone decide they need to catch their breath.

Scott on the Homestretch.

We spent 30-40 minutes on the summit. It was funny as we are all in our own little worlds for at least half of that time. There was a set of priorities: find somewhere to pee, take pictures, eat a lot of food, wander around for the view…we just undertook this mostly at different times. We of course took a moment for flex shots. Flex shots are slowly becoming more absurd, I will say no more, but offer up evidence. While the snickering was not obvious, I am certain the crowd on the top was at least mildly entertained.

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The descent was long, to put it mildly. Blisters formed, water ran out, I found an abandoned sleeping bag that I hauled back to the trail head (no bedbugs or lice yet!). Plus, it started raining. The ride home featured both diet coke and coffee to stay awake, and the evening featured sandwiches and beers with Genevieve, and then 10 hours of solid sleep.

Summer Evenings

2010-08-27T17:47:00.000-06:00

So many of our evenings are spoken for with other obligations, be them professional or social, that we have not spent nearly enough time this summer simply enjoying the setting sun and the cooling air. Luckily, twice in the last week we have enjoyed exactly that, set off by a good meal and a salt encrusted glass garnished with a lime. Hopefully, we will have a long and lingering fall, allowing this to occur a few more times before the “patio season" passes.

Nice Rack

2010-08-26T17:39:00.000-06:00

Based on the blog post title and the picture below you are likely thinking two things, we all know the first, and the second is probably “that cutting board will never fit in the dishwasher.”
Our dishwasher is currently incapacitated and waiting on delivery of a part known as a “unicouple.” Of course, at first we had no idea we had a problem and had engaged in our usual game of dishwasher Tetris in an effort to fit as much as possible in the dishwasher, all the while avoiding the responsibility of being the one to put in detergent and actually run it. Once we realized the thing was broken and that we would be washing dishes by hand, we had far more than our little dish rack can handle. Thus, our dishwasher has become a de facto dish drying rack.

There is certain sense of peace that comes with hand-washing dishes, but is unfortunately accompanied by itching hands and dry skin. We should have gone for the express delivery of the “unicouple."

Pickles!

2010-08-25T17:32:00.001-06:00

I picked up two pounds of cucumbers from the Farmer’s Market, got a recipe from my friend Tracy, managed to track down two canning jars (think this is easy? you try finding Mason jars that are not sold in 12-packs), and cranked out my first batch ever of pickles.
I did not have any white peppercorns so I used a very small amount of black. This has lead to a rather spicy dill pickle, versus sweet. I like the recipe, and having tried these first made by Tracy, it is worth going out and getting the white pepper. Tomorrow is the big test, I am bringing a jar to share with my coworkers, with whom I have shared many kitchen creations, some far better than others.

Denver Burger Battle

2010-08-24T20:25:00.002-06:00

In an event that seemed custom-made for a couple of guys who had been meeting once a month for beers and burgers, Denver just had its inaugural Burger Battle. The concept is simple enough: get 10 of the better burger places in town to show up in one spot, provide free beer, give the proceeds to charity and wait for the crowds to arrive. It seemed a success as the event sold out and had a waiting list for tickets. Luckily, in a surprisingly organized move, most of the Burger Night attendees bought tickets months ago, and it was with no small amount of excitement that we passed through the gates.

Every place gave out a 1/4 burger and I managed to hit all ten restaurants in attendance. Yes, that is 2.5 hamburgers, along with the some french fries, handmade chips, and “Steuby Snacks,” deep fried pork bits with powdered sugar and Siracha.

As you can see, they just kept the burgers coming. Plus event organizers used a plate that solved an age old problem, how do you hold your beer, your plate and have a hand leftover to eat. Success is often in the details, and in this respect the Burger Battle delivered.

Adventures in Aspen and Snowmass

2010-08-15T17:45:00.001-06:00

After much debate about what to do and where to do it this weekend, we decided on hiking Maroon Peak (via the south ridge) near Aspen. We originally planned on camping but Sandy found a great deal on a hotel in Snowmass and we stayed at the Stonebridge Inn. For the price, this hotel was fantastic. The service was constantly friendly and welcoming, the beds were so comfy (we slept really well), and it was a nice place but casual enough that you didn’t feel like a dirtbag walking through the lobby stinky and mud-smeared from hiking. Also, the hotel restaurant, The Artisan, was actually good! I’ve generally found hotel restaurants to be not so good either in feel and/or food.

Before heading to Snowmass Friday evening we stopped in Aspen and walked around a bit. Aspen is expensive and shi-shi, but it has a pleasant little downtown area. We found, however, that it is not without tacky tourist shops. For example, see below.

Saturday morning we were up at 4:30 am and hiking by about 5:30 am. It was still dark and we hiked by the light of our headlamps for the the first 45 minutes or so. These are some shots taken during sunrise:

This hike is basically flat for about 3.75 miles at which point you leave the main trail, take a right, and head straight up hill. This hard-to-stay-on trail gains 2,800 feet fast, leaving you breathless on your trek to the summit ridge, at which point you scramble along the ridge and the broken rock on the backside of the mountain for another mile and 1,000 more vertical feet. We reached the summit ridge about four and a half hours after we started the hike. At this point we stopped, snacked, enjoyed the view, and debated the merits of continuing. These are some photos from the summit ridge:

The photo directly above is a view of the ridge we would scramble and the summit of Maroon Peak (the taller point on the left). We estimated that this effort would take about two hours, at which point our legs would be lumps of jelly. Knowing that fatigue and tired muscles leads to clumsiness, the backside of Maroon was not the place to be for us. So, we began our descent and decided to save this peak for another time. Besides, nine and a half miles of hiking felt like plenty for us. Here are some shots of the descent:

The photo directly below gives an idea of the angle of the ascent/descent.

This is a shot looking back up at what we descended.

Two things happened during the descent and both were disconcerting. First, Sandy narrowly missed getting hit by fast-moving rock about the size of my head that was dislodged by a party of four ascending the summit ridge off-trail high above us. The etiquette on the mountain is to yell “ROCK!” if you send rocks raining down. You are supposed to do this whether or not you know there is anyone below you. We ended up crouching behind a large rock for about 20 minutes while the party completed their ascent. More rocks did go whirring by us and Sandy alerted another party to the rock fall, who scrambled out of the fall line and thanked us profusely. It was pretty scary. Sadly, this story segues into the second thing that happened – a Flight For Life helicopter appeared and hovered around Maroon Peak.

On our hike out we passes a search and rescue team and learned that someone fell and landed in the middle of the couloir (basically a gully with snow) shown below – middle line of snow between the peaks. We found out later in the evening that the person was doing the traverse between north and south Maroon Peaks, was hit by a rock dislodged by another hiker, fell 600 feet, and died as a result of his injuries. He was 20 years old, fit, and very experienced in the mountains. This is the second time we have been near a fatal accident and it once again affected us. It is easy to examine accidents and determine what you would or would not have done differently. That one thing that puts you at less risk than others. This young man was in a place we would not venture, but similarly, we did have rock fall cross our path on the standard route, a quantifiably safer route choice. Accidents are fickle, and can occur anywhere, but when they happen in the places we love it somehow makes it harder to believe.

We didn’t find out that bad news until much later. In the meantime, we finished the hike and enjoyed the flowers and, of course, mushrooms!

We also saw a small marmot, tons of pikas, a ptarmigan, and a porcupine! Oh, and Sandy saw an ermine or weasel dart into the brush. We didn’t get photos of any of those unfortunately. We ended the hike at picturesque Maroon Lake:

Devil’s Thumb

2010-08-09T17:50:00.000-06:00

The name of the hike sounds so foreboding and treacherous, but it was actually a very pleasant hike. My friend, Lisa, and I went for a hike on Saturday to Devil’s Thumb lake. The hike was long, about 13 miles (I later realized that I’d walked a half marathon), but filled with wild flowers and mushrooms! The feeling of getting outside and walking through forest in the sun is so underrated. Get outside as often as you can!

This is Lisa at a small waterfall on our ascent to the lake:

This is a flower called “elephantella” because it looks like an elephant!:

Here are a few other especially fantastic wildflowers we saw:

As I mentioned, there were also mushrooms. The mushrooms on this particular hike had peaked, which means many of the larger ones had already dried out or were losing color. The smaller ones, however, were perfect:

Oh, and this was the Devil’s Thumb:

Everyone should be so lucky to have a hiking partner like Lisa, who wants to get out and do beautiful stuff.

Tour de Abyss

2010-08-08T13:54:00.001-06:00

Alan, Stam and I wanted to climb Mt. Bierstadt, but without joining the crowds that are attracted by its 14,060’ summit and proximity to Denver. Thus, we decided on the East Ridge, a 3rd Class route which involved starting on the opposite of the valley at a pullout on the road to Mt Evans. By climbing the East Ridge, Bierstadt, the Sawtooth and Mt Evans, we would complete a horseshoe shaped hike of the peaks surrounding Abyss Lake, hence the name, Tour de Abyss. To further the opportunity for solitude we left Denver at 4:15 AM and were hiking at 5:30 AM. It was a strange start, as five minutes into it we were descending a steep gully and dropping 1,000 feet to the valley floor. We then crossed the valley and the climbing began.

The following photo shows our objective. We climbed the grassy slopes, 800 vertical feet in 1/3 of mile (steep!), to the gain the ridge and then rock hopped. The summit of Bierstadt is not visible.

We hit the summit in 3 hours, an effort that included few breaks, so we basked in the early morning sunshine for 30 minutes. Our plan had paid off as we saw no one during our climb, save a solo mountain goat and another party ~1 hour behind us. The summit on the other hand was busy, with hikers ascending the standard route pouring forth and hundreds on the trail below. We left the summit and headed across the Sawtooth, a jagged ridge at the head of the valley.

This is Stam on the summit with the East Ridge behind him.

Here is Alan on one of the many highpoints to be found along the Sawtooth.

Sandy with the Sawtooth in the background, leading up to Bierstadt’s summit. To complete the circuit we ascended gentle slopes and crossed the ridge to Mt Evans. Since Evans has a road to the top it sees plenty of traffic. The summit was a zoo, per the norm, so we walked across the high point and then hiked off to find the car and lunch. This is a taste of the summit’s crowd.

This was a 7 hour day, all of it above 12,000 feet, and most of it above 13,000. We all had headaches and were worn out when it was done. It was likely a 5 mile effort with 3,200 feet of elevation gain, but it felt much bigger due to the effects of the altitude, plus an alarm clock that went off at 3:30 am.

Below is another panorama taken near the ridge on Evans, looking at Bierstadt, with Abyss Lake visible, and the East Ridge of Bierstadt on the left side of the summit and the Sawtooth on the right.

This route had been on the to do list for most of the summer, in fact Genevieve and I missed it a few weeks prior due only to a last minute change of plans. The route is long, demands considerable attention, loose in places and overrun with people in others. I am glad we did it, but Alan summed it up best when he stated it is not one he would want to repeat.

Glacier National Park – Day 4

2010-08-02T17:55:00.000-06:00

Huckleberries were in season and hiking demands considerable fuel (calories), so how else to start day 4…

The Huckleberry Patch was a gift shop and restaurant full of all sorts of mountain and berry themed memorabilia which we overlooked, instead choosing to focus on the huckleberry pancakes. This was our first experience with huckleberries and hopefully will not be the last.

The day’s hike was at the Two Medicine area of the park, beginning at the Lower Two Medicine Lake. Rather than walk around the lake, we bought a fare on one of the many historic wooden boats that are found on the park’s lakes. Having been in operation since 1938, they offer less physically ambitious park goers a unique vantage point to view more of the park, and they offer hikers an interesting shortcut.

The hike began in wetlands, but quickly moved onto sun-soaked dry slopes with little shade, but plentiful flies. Without a view and an incessant buzz in our ears, we hiked fast to reach No Name Lake, our destination. Unfortunately, the lake was not much better, so our idyllic lunch plan morphed into an effort to quickly down food while cursing flies. At this point we both realized that we were suffering some hiking burnout, so we did the only sensible thing, began trail running.

We would normally view trail running through a National Park as blasphemous, but given that the current hike was similar to the foothills of Colorado, and nowhere as impressive as the previous days’ efforts, we had no qualms about covering ground quickly. Everything was working out great, but I did pull ahead of Genevieve and waited at the next trail junction knowing she was only 30 seconds behind. 90 seconds later I began to worry so I began jogging back and found her covered in dirt, limping up the trail and teary eyed. It seems Genevieve tripped, flying horizontal through the air for a long enough period of time to realize she had tripped, get angry about tripping, conclude that impact was imminent, and then slide shoulder-first along the trail. With a bloody shoulder and bruises, she actually came out fairly well, but this was tough to convey as we stood there covered in flies.

This sealed it though, it was time for a shower, a margarita and a great meal at a Mexican restaurant I had eaten at previously. With no boat scheduled for nearly two hours it was 4.2 miles back to the trailhead, so we started walking. And continued, and continued…the hike felt interminable. We only stopped to take a few photos at an interesting bridge crossing and a field full of mariposa lilies.

Getting back to the trailhead signaled the end of our time in the park, but we were hot, dry, and sore from 3 days on the move. We had reached a point where we were not as appreciative as we should be, so we knew it was time to go. We drove back to East Glacier and hit the town, although village is a more apt title. Below I am doing an impression of a totem outside the Glacier Park Lodge.

For reasons not entirely understood, in heavily touristed areas, I pull my pants up really high. It is something I began in Yellowstone, when I saw a shirtless German in shorts at the Grand Prismatic Spring. His shorts were several inches above his navel and he simply did not give a damn. I knew I wanted to be him when I am 60, I am simply getting started early.

Sandy, 2010, East Glacier, Montana

Sandy, 1999, Yellowstone National Park

We had a delicious meal at Serrano’s, which was paired perfectly with margaritas. Most of the meals we ate were pretty average. This is not too say they were cheap, this is a bit of far flung destination, so the price of most everything is inflated, but the meals were nothing more than we could have cooked. Serrano’s was the exception. Spicy bean dip, chicken mole, chips and salsa and carne tampica were relished, so the playfulness below is more a result of post-meal happiness than margaritas.

Although we did not stay at the Glacier Park Lodge, we did enjoy its amenities. After playing shuffleboard we lounged on their westward facing deck and watched the sunset across the mountains. There is a lengthy story behind the formation of the park and it is a blend of conservation and capitalism. Our favorite thing about the story, besides the park, is the logo. How can you not love a logo with a mountain goat on it?

The weather forecast below really says it all about being in and around Glacier National Park”: A parting shot…

Glacier – Day 3

2010-08-01T15:23:00.000-06:00

After our 11.5 mile and 3 mile hikes on Day 2, we decided to have a mellow day and do a few short hikes. Our goal was to be able to do all hikes in Chacos (sandals). We succeeded! We hiked to Virginia Falls, passing St Mary falls en route, Sun Point, and walked the Trail of Cedars Nature Trail.

Photos of me and us at Virginia Falls:

This is us at Sun Point:

Sandy’s mom was happy to find out that we purchased and carried bear spray for our Glacier hiking. Now, I know that bear spray intuitively sounds like something you spray on yourself to repel bears (much like bug spray), but that isn’t how it works. In fact, it’s meant to be something you really wouldn’t spray directly on a bear. If you sense a bear is becoming aggressive then you are supposed to spray a few spurts in front of you (provided the wind isn’t blowing at you) to create a peppery barrier. Sandy dutifully carried it on his hip for every hike, no matter how long or short. He even practiced his quick draw action (he did not actually spray it though), which I captured:

We did actually see a black bear on this day! But is was from the car, it was bashing around on the side of the road and when we stopped it quickly retreated. Otherwise, we didn’t really see much wildlife on this day (besides ground squirrels and chipmunks) but we saw a ton of inch worms and twin berries.

Inch worm:

Twin berry:

The Park was smart and put pit toilets near end points of frequently-visited hikes. We were often glad to come across them as illustrated by Sandy below. These are much more private facilities than that found at Rocky Mountain National Park, which are a stainless steel toilet on a concrete pad, sometimes with a low log wall and sometimes not.

We stayed at the Timberwolf Resort in Hungry Horse, Montana, that night, which is outside of the west side of the park. Resort is something of a misnomer. They have camping, cabins (“a camping experience in a cabin”), and two rooms. We got one of the rooms and it was fantastic. It had a patio, on which we sat and read and had a beer or two. Staying in the park was our preference but the lodges were booked up well in advance. Camping wasn’t an option unless we wanted to pay gobs of money to the airline to carry our stuff. We drove the entirety of Going to the Sun Road, which was, you guessed it, scenic! There was, however, quite a bit of road work going on and it took longer than we thought.

Anyway, stay tuned for the final day – Day 4.

Glacier National Park – Part 2

2010-07-31T13:32:00.001-06:00

This picks up from Part 1, obviously. Friday morning we didn’t wake up as early as planned. It began to rain again in the night and there was no point in starting a hike at 6:00 am if it was pouring. This was ok with me because the little espresso shack didn’t open until 6:00 am anyway!

We started our hike to Grinnell Glacier at about 8:00 am and we were just about the first ones on the trail. Hiking in national parks is interesting, as most everyone is on vacation and therefore enjoys a leisurely start to their day. With thunderstorms often intermittent, an 8:00 am start is 2-3 hours later than we would begin a similar Colorado hike, so it was funny to feel like we were running late, but have the trail completely to ourselves with the exception of a ranger that passed by us, and the family we passed right after the trailhead. It drizzled a bit on the way but the views and flowers were more than enough to distract us from any bad weather. This is a “must do” hike if you go to Glacier.

Waterfalls were everywhere.

There was even a waterfall that spewed water onto our trail. See below – Sandy on the way up and me on the way down.

And the plants and flowers were plentiful and gorgeous!

We saw a tiny bit of wildlife - a Columbian ground squirrel (with dried grass in its mouth) and a bighorn sheep:

This was our parting view of the trail:

But the day didn’t end there! The hike took us through a wetland area (on a wooden walkway) and I got some photos of some unique fungus. Here is the fungus and then me in position to take the photos:

This is a macro – these things were tiny!

We finished this 11.5 mile hike at the Many Glacier Lodge where we had a well-deserved and very satisfying late lunch at the Interlocken Lounge. The lounge had Great Northern Brewing beer on tap! It seriously hit the spot. The scenery alone put this hike into our top 5 hikes list, to put an eatery at its end may be enough to crack the top 3.

We popped into our Bessie Shannon room and could not resist taking a nap. I mean why not? We were on vacation and the sun doesn’t set until around 10 pm! At 6:30 pm we headed out for a shorter evening hike to Hidden Lake, just 3 miles roundtrip. This was what we saw at the trail endpoint:

On the hike out we were treated to the sight of a Hoary Marmot (different from Colorado’s Yellow-Bellied Marmots) and her babies!! She was actually nursing the three wee ones when we saw her.

These are the three babies by themselves, for some reason the mom marmot ran off for a bit.

Of course, we saw a deer in a field of avalanche lilies also, which was so perfect it had a certain Disney feel to it:

When we arrived back at the parking lot we found two big horned sheep roaming around along with their deer buddies. But! We also saw a mountain goat and its kid! Interestingly, mountain goats vacuum up the avalanche lilies, they just love to eat them. I have to say that the humans behaved very poorly. There was a couple on a motorcycle that basically followed the big horned sheep around the parking lot taking pictures and a huge, loud, stinky truck that idled for a while near the mountain goat and its kid.

It was a long but extremely satisfying day in Glacier. The next few days pale a bit in comparison. Next up – Day 2!!

Glacier National Park – Part 1

2010-07-27T22:24:00.001-06:00

Northwestern Montana is unbelievably beautiful. We just returned from a four-day vacation in and around Glacier National Park. Sandy picked me up at the airport in Great Falls, which you can see from the Montana map below is a little distance from the park.

To make the drive fun, Sandy rented a gold Mustang convertible!

It was surprisingly fun to ride in! I haven’t been in a convertible since I rode to the beach in my Uncle’s Volkswagen bug when I was nine. All I really remember is that I fell asleep in the back seat and got a horrible sunburn on the left side of my face. This experience was much better. You get such a great view of the scenery with the top down and Montana is the place for that. It was bizarrely perfect – vibrant green grass, ultra blue skies, the angle of the sun was perfect, mountains, and horses all around.

It started to rain as we pulled into St. Mary, Montana. We put the top up and checked in to Johnson’s of St. Mary, which is an RV park and campground with a few cabins. We were told we had a cabin but what we really got was the “Bessie Shannon Room.” It sits behind Johnson’s Restaurant, but over the kitchen on the second floor.

At first I was sort of horrified and imagined that I’d be smelling weird kitchen smells that whole time. It turned out to be quiet and private and without nasty smell! The room had lots of character – both beds had nice quilts and there was an old TV with two easy chairs in front of it. It also had dolls and hand-sewn rabbits and western art:

Johnson’s restaurant wasn’t my cup of tea but I was amused by the citrus decoration on my grilled cheese:

After dinner we drove into the park to try and catch the sunset. Clouds were still moving through but it was still scenic!

The sun actually set sometime after 10:00 pm, which is around the same time we adjourned for the evening with intentions of waking up early the next day…

Great Falls, MT

2010-07-22T10:09:00.001-06:00

I am in Great Falls, Montana for work. Lewis and Clark passed through here, following the Missouri River in their quest to find the Northwest Passage, and now, if they only waited, they could appreciate the casinos and Air Force base which drive the local economy. Admittedly, I poke fun of the city, but the minute you are at its borders the landscape unfolds into a patchwork of hay and wheat fields with mountains on the horizon, all reaching up to the sky filled with cumulus clouds, at which I point I become appreciative of my work assignment. Following are some pictures from the last few days.

Snails everywhere

A storm passes to the south

A turtle. I cannot tell you the last time I have seen a turtle in the wild. Also, we saw a rattlesnake, after it rattled and slithered off.

Shooting target on one of the properties we entered. We had permission to enter, but this still gave us pause.

There are TONS of small casinos in Montana. We have seen them attached to gas stations and laundry mats, and in the case of the one below, put in an old 7-11. I went, it was just as depressing as I find large casinos to be.

Sometimes you want a sandwich and the opportunity to lose money.

And sometimes you just want to pick up some bait and fish. I grew up in Virginia, we fished with worms, this maggot and leech thing seems fishy (hah!)

Lastly, in terms of two syllable words, they got grilled chicken right, but nothing else. Biegger!Juicer!Fillet! For the record, I did not try it.

Mount Neva

2010-07-21T23:44:00.001-06:00

Tony picked out a class 4 ridge scramble and invited me along this past Sunday. We were in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, which to highlight how how spoiled we are, is ~56 miles from my doorstep. We made short work of the 3 mile approach, but things slowed considerably once we left the trail and began the ascent to the ridge.

Below is a picture of an alpine lake with the ridge in the background. We climbed from right to left.

Below is a picture of Tony on one of two steep parts. The rest of the route typically followed the ridge crest, offering great views of the Indian Peaks Wilderness and the Fraser Valley, and much more mellow, meaning the views could be appreciated.

Summit shot with the alpine lake we had passed 2 hours previous in the background, as well as the several 12K-13K Indian Peaks.

Our descent was a bushwhack through a basin filled with wildflowers. It took quite some time, but the scenery had us grinning like fools.

Coq au Vin

2010-07-15T17:11:00.000-06:00

Have you wanted to cook coq au vin but were put off by the time requirement? Then this is the recipe for you, a 90 minute start to finish, frenetic, French-based cooking endeavor. In all seriousness, it is something that I have been wanting to try for a while as it full of foods that I love – onion, mushroom, thyme, parsley, chicken, garlic, bacon, salt, red wine…the only fault was the effort involved, so I was happy to find a recipe with shortcuts.

Cooking bacon while the red wine, broth and herb mixture reduces.	Browning pearl onions and mushrooms, I could eat this by itself.

You end up with a thick stew or a chicken, mushroom, and onions plate poured over with a sauce, it tastes the same whether in a bowl or on a plate, so I took the easy route. It does not photograph well, but is tasty.

The recipe and a much more exhaustive description of the cooking process can be found here.

Cycling Lookout Mountain

2010-07-13T17:14:00.000-06:00

In this case cycling is code for a slow, methodical and painful climb, which is a far better descriptor for this effort. Scott and I thought it would be “fun” to head from his house and climb Lookout Mountain, a foothill peak that overlooks the town of Golden and whose summit is graced by the grave of Buffalo Bill Cody, showman, westerner and evidently a guy who had a serious problem with buffalo.

The ride out was nice, somewhat cool, followed Clear Creek, and the ditches were choked with wildflowers.

Once we hit the base of Lookout Mountain, which is a very popular climb for local cyclists, Scott and I settled into a rhythm. This rhythm consisted of passing cyclists saying good morning and looking chipper, us trying to sound like we were not in the midst of heart failure and then as soon as we were alone again, talking about the relentless sun. The climb, which gains 1,500 in 5.5 miles, has little shade, so we were wilting.

The climb took us just under an hour to complete. At the top we made a quick trip to Buffalo Bill’s grave. This is Scott at the grave site:

My apologies for the blurry photo, the lens was smudged. The grave consists of a concrete and stone marker and then a concrete and stone cap. Supposedly Buffalo Bill is buried beneath a 10 foot layer of concrete (think Jimmy Hoffa!) to discourage people from Cody, WY from exhuming and moving him to what they feel is his rightful resting place, the town named after him. As for me, I am glad he is buried where he is, as that means there is a gift shop, thus ice cold soda waiting at the top of a long climb.

The view from the overlook.

The descent was fast, ranging from 20-30 mph. Scott beat me down, which is no surprise as I am a very cautious (read scared) downhill rider. As soon as I hit 25 mph something in mind tells me that I would not want to wreck in a car with a seatbelt and airbag at that speed, much less on a bike wearing nothing more than a bunch of lycra. Also, I picked up a tack on the way down and hearing the rapid tick-tick-tick of metal on pavement as your tire spins is a bit disconcerting. Evidently some anti-cyclists have been taking pleasure putting tacks in the road around Golden. I can only hope this individual (read asshole) is reincarnated as a bike tire.

The total ride was 33 miles and the total riding time was nearly three hours. It was a good time, but I can say that I underestimated the effort involved. A lemonade stand run by a couple of young girls on the way home and the subsequent sugar boost is likely the only thing that propelled us back to Scott’s house with any bit of energy left.

Torrey’s Peak via the Kelso Ridge (quintessential CO day)

2010-07-12T17:12:00.001-06:00

Genevieve was looking for a more exciting climb than we have had in the recent past, so we decided to climb the Kelso Ridge, a class 3 route up a Torrey’s, a Front Range 14er. We have climbed Torrey’s in the past in 2002 or 2003 with our friend Pete. This is Sandy back then and below him is me and Pete.

The Kelso Ridge is a classic introductory level mountaineering route which climbs approximately 2,000 vertical feet in 1 mile. When looking at a route, it is important to note that it is rated at its single hardest move, so the entire route is not class 3, but at least one move is. Having been on this route twice before I was confident in our ability to climb it.

The day started with an alarm going at 4:00 AM and us being on the road by 4:30 so as to beat the crowds that swarm the front range high peaks, especially this one – more later. The close proximity of mountains and Denver is a blessing and a curse, as accessibility means there was no long drive and a need to camp, but lots of other people come up for a dayhike too.

With our early start we were hiking by 6 AM and we were at the base of the ridge by 7 AM, at which the climbing, versus hiking, began. Below is a picture from the ridge, looking down the valley we had walked up, then the same photo with a climber added.

The ridge is composed of broken rock and one can climb on the right or left side or directly on the ridge crest. Nearly every time an obstacle would arise a bit of cautious route finding would overcome it.

Left	Right	Direct

This being my 3rd time on the ridge, I took the opportunity to take a lot of pictures of Genevieve as she wound her way upward through the rocks.

The most challenging part of the ridge is the “knife edge” which, as it sounds, is a sharp ridge of rock that one can cross like a balance beam, or hang off one side using the top as hand hold, or in a seated position and scoot across. Genevieve opted for the “sit and scoot.” It is about 30 feet long, so it takes a minute or two to cross, but the views are hard to beat.

The knife edge is immediately followed by a white rock tower, which is circumvented along its northern edge and then it is a quick scurry to the summit, all pictured below, including a summit shot of us both.

On our route we saw 6 people, on the summit, we saw at least 15 people who had come up the standard route, and literally hundreds more in the valley below, either ascending or descending. It looked like an anthill and was not something we looked forward to hiking through. Grays and Torreys are considered easy peaks, and given their access, are trod upon by both experienced and inexperienced hikers. The personal favorite, was the shirtless guy in sandals, who would hike really fast for 15 seconds and then stop for 30 seconds to catch his breath. Given that it was 50 degrees and windy on the summit I cannot imagine his summit celebration lasted long, and I would hate to see his feet at the end of his day.

We passed several hundred people on the way out, as you will see below in the photo of the upper slopes (keep in mind this picture shows less than 5% of the route). Also, our decision to arrive early paid dividends, as the line of cars extending from the parking to was nearly a mile long, adding considerably this 8 mile hike.

Admittedly, climbing a mountain is a good Colorado day, but what makes it quintessential is being back in town in time to clean up, grab a nap, enjoy dinner and locally brewed beer at Vine Street Pub while playing scrabble, catch a movie via Netflix and still be in bed by 10:30 pm. Cheers to that.

Independence Weekend, Cont’d

2010-07-11T21:11:00.001-06:00

With a night in the woods and day among high peaks behind us, the remainder of the weekend was spent on urban pursuits, including the Cherry Creek Arts Festival and the Tour de B-Cycle.

CHERRY CREEKS ARTS FESTIVAL

The arts festival is held in Cherry Creek, a high-end shopping district that closes off its streets every 4th of July weekend so that artists can feature their wares. Genevieve and I went ~8 years ago and found it to be a prominently well-heeled white crowd that was out to spend money on art, while featuring their dogs and/or children. In the ~8 years since we had last been there very little has changed. We still have no dog or children and our income is still lower than the average attendee, but it was a sunny day and there was interesting art to be seen.

The had a luchador, with whom you could have your photo taken. I volunteered for a headlock, but my main concern was not dropping my iced americano, at which point a fight would have broken out.

One of our favorite artists was a guy out of the Midwest who fashioned kinetic sculptures from scrap metal. By moving an arm the head and mouth would move independently. A flock of these is a must for the basement of any haunted house.

Last up was lunch, at Eco-Burger, a new burger outlet. With a mission to sell grass-fed beef that has been showered with love since the day of its birth and to recycle or compost nearly all waste materials, one can dine free of any sense of guilt. I did feel guilty, mostly about $6 for what I thought was a pretty average burger.

TOUR de B-CYCLE

Denver recently installed a fleet of bikes for use on short trips around town, a bike share program known as Denver B-Cycle. It is interesting concept, with users buying a membership and then paying a small usage fee for any trips longer than 1/2 hour. To experience the system we decided to ride the “Tour de B-Cycle,” a one day effort to hit all 41 locations scattered around Denver but concentrated downtown. The rules are simple, ride to a station, check a bike in, check a bike out, and then ride off to the next location. The catch: the bikes have three speeds, all slow, and they weigh in at 46 pounds, so efficiency and quickness were off the table.

Below is Genevieve at the 5th station we stopped out, at this point the day was still young and full of promise.

We started with the far flung stations, so the going was slow, and we ran into technical difficulties. At one station, the screen was smashed so it was impossible to use the touch-screen system to check out a new bike. Unfortunately, Genevieve had just locked her bike up at the station, meaning she was now bike-less. She sat on the seat of my bike while I stood and pedaled, I am sure we looked ridiculous for our age, plus it looked like were too cheap to get two bikes. It was laughable.

When we hit the 4.5 hour mark we started to mix in some neighborhood enjoyment by getting pizza at Proto’s, followed by cocktails at Tamayo. Below is us holding our list of stations. By the time we left Tamayo we had been at it for over six hours, all in the sun and heat. It was approximately 30 miles of riding, which on our bikes without a need to start and stop, we could have covered in 2 hours. The margaritas helped raise flagging spirits.

Pictured below is Genevieve lapping a sculpture in front of the Webb building, which houses the city government. I am not sure if the sculpture indicates what an open mind Denver has or if it’s an ode to capitalism with gold on the mind while paying homage to our mining past. Regardless, it is a good feature for laps on a bike.

With the end in sight, we ran into more technical difficulty and ended up having to buy new memberships (later refunded) to continue our quest. At the end of the day, Genevieve purchased three one-day memberships and I purchased one one-day membership on top of my annual membership. Since the rules stated we had to check in and check out of every station, and system errors would not allow us to do so, I included sad photos should we need to prove our presence at this location.

We pulled into home at nearly 8:30 pm, having completely underestimated the time commitment. We have earned t-shirts and our names listed with our Tour de B-Cycle finishers. A high honor, no doubt, but an effort we are unlikely to repeat. The Tour was actually a really fun way to explore the city, particularly if you are new to it. You will see many different neighborhoods and enclaves all from the seat of a fun bike!

Independence weekend

2010-07-07T22:34:00.001-06:00

This year, July 4th weekend was fun and included a variety of activities. There were three distinct sections to the weekend. We’ll take them one at a time here.

Humboldt Peak

We drove about 3.5 hours from Denver to the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness to backpack in about 4.5 miles and camp on Friday night. One of the stunning views on the drive in:

Aside from the mosquitoes that flock to me, it was a beautiful area. We backpacked into this amazing basin and camped nearby. The evening was pretty short. We set up camp, we pumped water, we ate dinner, “we” hung the bear bag, we got in the tent. I say “we” hung the bear bag (which means we hung bags of food in a tree to keep it from bears and other wildlife) because really Sandy took care of the bear bag responsibilities.

Anyway, sitting by the stream, watching the sunset while pumping water was really the highlight of the evening. The two photos below are meant to illustrate what I mean.

It rained through the night. It was quite windy and still raining when the watch alarm went off at 4:30 am. So, we did the sensible thing and reset the alarm for 6:30 am!

Our original plan was to climb Crestone Needle on Saturday and Humboldt Peak on Sunday (we would have included Crestone Peak but we did that one two years ago). Clouds were all over Crestone Needle on Saturday morning – so much so that we couldn’t see it really. We decided to go for Humboldt instead. This is pretty much what we saw as we looked across to the Needle all morning on our way up Humboldt:

It was a really fantastic hike up Humboldt though! The trail had received some recent and excellent maintenance. In spots it was like stairs formed out of rocks – really lovely (seriously). Here are two shots of the hike up:

You can see the clouds pouring over the mountains across the valley in the background of the photo below

I’m the little figure in the center of the photo – this is the last bit to the summit, which you can actually see in the background!

Of course, the summit photos themselves are not to be missed (Sandy's cheeks are stuffed with beef jerky):

It was pretty windy on the summit, so we didn’t hang out long. This is a shot on the way down, looking back at the summit:

The rock formations were pretty spectacular in this area. I have forgotten all the lingo I learned in my basic college geology class but the stuff here was awesome.

In addition to the inanimate scenery, on the descent we also saw some of the fauna of the Rocky Mountains. More specifically, the descent was peppered with marmots and chipmunks! Here are two specimens:

And some flora:

We enjoyed some marmot-watching time and many breaks on the descent but when we arrived back at camp we decided that attempting Crestone Needle the next day with tired legs and uncertain weather might not be best as it is a challenging and technical climb. We packed up and packed out. Crestone Needle will have to be for another time.

This post is long enough. The rest of the story will come later.

Two 14ers, one weekend

2010-06-28T22:00:00.001-06:00

Genevieve had plans to backpack with her friend Lisa when I learned one of the Texans and his cousin were coming to town for a weekend of climbing and Alan was free, thus a group climb was born.

Alan, Brandon, Eric and I decided to climb in the Sawatch Range. Located along the Arkansas Valley, the headwaters of the Arkansas River, the mountains leap from the valley floor, with 12 peaks reaching 14,000 feet or taller. Our goal was La Plata Peak and Huron Peak, two mountains that could be climbed from a single camp.

LA PLATA --- On Saturday, we climbed La Plata. This began with an ascent into a beautiful hanging valley, with wetlands along the valley floor and a series of gendarmes lining the basin’s walls.

The climb was series of large “stair steps”, with a 500 foot climb out of the basin and along a ridge, and then a 1,000 foot climb to another ridge, and then a push for the summit. As usual, the summit celebration included plenty of food, which is always a mix of bars, gels, beef jerky, trail mix, crackers and easy cheese. Hell yeah, easy cheese! I have never had this on the summit, but Eric carried it up and was willing to share. I am willing to admit, the idea of canned cheese has left me skeptical in the past, but on beef jerky after 3,380 vertical feet, you could sell this to fellow climbers and turn a stout profit.

We took a traditional flex shot, which is always humorous, especially since I lack pectoral definition. I did find a piece of wood 2,500 above tree line to add a bit of arboreal masculinity to the shot. Oh yeah, it was also windy and probably 50 degrees, so this shot was followed by a mad scurry for clothing.

The last bit of summit business was the backgammon game, something Alan and I have decided to institute on summits we share. I am particularly excited to mention this as it my favorite game, the mountains are one of my favorite locales and I won handily compliments of many, many ideal rolls.

Eric standing on one of the gendarmes above the basin floor.

The tundra floor was beginning to flower.

This is the view on the descent. The tall peak on the horizon (left, just off-center) is Huron Peak, the following day's objective.

Dinner that night was at a restaurant in Buena Vista (we live well when camping) and the musical selections for the ride ranged from Johnny Cash to Alanis Morrisette. It was a wide ranging and often off-key quartet that came out from the woods.

HURON PEAK --- It was an auspicious start to the day, with a bit of back pain possibly dashing my summit hopes. With a 1.5 mile hike along a road I agreed to keep accompany Alan to tree line and then walk back to camp. Thus, I ditched most of my water and a portion of my food.

The trail went by a historic mine site. Cyanide, which is used to leach gold from crushed rock, evidently came in metal cases which were then used to form the outer walls on mining cabins. We saw a fallen cabin, complete with a four burner stove, sitting on the trail side. It is not unusual to come across mining ruins in the mountains and it always gives me pause to think of these individuals eking out a living at 11,000 feet in areas I pass through for leisure.

After the cabins we hit tree line and the climbing began in earnest. At this point I realized I would be climbing the mountain in its entirety. Given my limited water supply I topped off with unfiltered water flowing from a rock field. This is an all time first and giardia has a 72 hour gestation period, so check back on Wednesday. The climbing was steep and we ascended a gully that led nearly to the summit. The advantage of such a route is solitude, as Alan and I did not see another person until we hit the summit.

The picture below does not illustrate the grade well, but we rock hopped up 1,500 vertical feet in less than a 1/2 mile.

We met Eric on the summit. He had come up via the standard route and was enjoying 30 minutes of unparalleled views while waiting for Alan and I to arrive. I will spare you the flex shots but share this picture of a very social pug who was on his 15th 14er.

All in all it was a fun weekend in the mountains that included nearly 7,000 vertical feet of effort.

Amazing Colorado!

2010-06-27T19:24:00.002-06:00

This weekend my friend Lisa invited me to share her birthday weekend backpacking with her in the West Elks wilderness in southwest Colorado. It was BEAUTIFUL!

We were parked, packed up, and ready to hike by 3:30 pm on Friday. We hiked in about 3ish miles and found an idyllic camping site. It was a small meadow of lush greenery and dandelions surrounded by aspens and tall pine trees.

This was the tent and its backdrop as we viewed it from our spot at breakfast:

The early morning sun made for a great view over breakfast.

All the dandelions in the little meadow were lit up with the sun:

The birthday girl enjoying her coffee:

After our leisurely morning meal we got on our way. Our goal was Storm Pass, which was about five miles one way from our site. The whole hike was stunning though, so it made the length manageable. We were treated to views of unique rock formations, waterfalls, valley vistas, and interesting old trees.

The view from Storm Pass was fabulous. We had an excellent view of the Castles and the clouds made the view all the better.

We were also surprised to see a good variety of wildflowers! This one is an avalanche lily, it grows as snowfields recede. We saw gobs of them.

The white and blue flowers below are two kinds of campion (I think), they are tiny.

This is a budding flower and I have no idea what it is.

This is a tiny little flower that looks like an orchid.

These little sunshines are asters.

This is a red columbine! It looks like a firework.

We got back to camp with enough time after dinner to sit by a stream nearby and enjoy the evening sun and some beverages. There were some flowers around us, Indian Paintbrush, that were awesome in the light of the lowering sun.

We packed up and hiked out the next morning (today/Sunday) and, guess what?, the morning light was stupendous! This is the two of us before we set off:

These are two shots of Lisa on the trail through the aspens:

This was a parting view of the rock formations:

I forgot! There were lots of cows!! Cattle are allowed to graze on public lands with permits and graze they do. On the way in we were literally herding cattle down the trail as they ran from us and mooed loudly. On the way out we only saw a few:

The only downside to doing a trip like this fairly early in the season is that the bar is raised pretty high in terms of expectations of beauty – many places will pale in comparison.

Denver Street Food

2010-06-21T13:43:00.000-06:00

Denver’s street food has improved by leaps and bounds within the last two years. Biker Jims has been selling gourmet hot dogs (reindeer, elk, duck, pheasant, etc) for a couple of years. The Gastro Cart is making tacos, gyros and sliders that are full-service restaurant quality, and breakfast burritos purveyors have saturated downtown with a wide selection of $2 handheld breakfasts.

In addition, the food truck scene is beginning to take off, with Steubens, the Denver Biscuit Company and the Denver Cupcake Truck (NPR story here) taking advantage of newfound mobility to showcase their menus.

I have not sampled all, but have sampled some, and look forward to more of the same throughout the summer.

Below is Denver Biscuit Company breakfast sandwich. I was surprised by the $7 price tag, and found it heavy for breakfast, but the southern gentleman in me did rejoice. Also shown, chicken tacos from the Gastro Cart, delectable and $2 each. Sit down to eat these as they are sloppy, it is not something you can one hand while walking down the street.

The zoning for such ventures is evidently labyrinthine, which is slowing the effort to get to market, but efforts are underway to change that, and these people have shown it is possible, encourage others to give it a go. My food dream of walking down the block and being able to choose from American, Thai, Mexican or any other street friendly, is close to realization.

Beware the lime…

2010-06-20T13:06:00.002-06:00

Two minutes before this picture was taken I was juicing limes for what turned out to be a fantastic shrimp and black bean salad. Cold and easy to make it is perfect for the summer. That is until the lime you are juicing unloads the entirety of its lime goodness into your right eye. Lime juice stings, quite a bit, but does flush quickly, which is more than I can say for the oil of jalapeno peppers, which is another story in and of itself. Regardless, from now on, I will be wearing sunglasses when juicing citrus fruits.

Grays Peak

2010-06-13T13:45:00.003-06:00

After Genevieve and I climbed Cameron and Bross, I took a shower, a nap, ate dinner and then picked up Tony for a night in the woods and a morning of hiking. We drove through intermittent rain on the way up but found clear skies waiting for us at the trailhead. One beer, a tug of whiskey and two shooting stars later (meteorite for those astronomers out there), all way laying about and staring upward, we fell asleep.

True to form, camping is a series of 10-60 minutes naps, with something constantly waking me up. Be it a coyote howling, a late night bird call or simply a squirrel hopping about that my brain immediately blows up into a bear, it is rare for me to get several uninterrupted hours of sleep.

We were up at 5 AM and hiking by 5:45. I could hit the trail much quicker were it not for the cup of coffee my body demands, especially after a poor night of sleep. I view this as vital hydration and a key role in a successful ascent, so it is worth the time. Plus, I am a bit more pleasant in the morning for it.

Pictured below is Gray’s Peak at the head of the valley and Torrey’s Peak connecting to right.

Tony and I had climbed both of these peaks before, but this time we were trying a snow route called the Lost Rat Couloir. I was feeling the effects of the previous day’s effort so I begged off the snow climb and took a gentle snow slope while Tony climbed the couloir proper. Tony took the route on the left that curved up between rock walls. I took the route on the right and then we more or less followed the ridge to the summit.

Tony at the start of the snow climb. You can see some old avalanche debris above him.

On the summit with numerous peaks in the background.

An interesting cloud, with Pikes Peak on the horizon (70 miles as the crow flies)

It was a good day with the weather warm and the wind showing much less conviction than had been forecast. On the summit we met three different people for whom this was their first 14er. All were proud, and oddly enough, all were shod in tennis shoes. I am all for climbing in trail runners, I do it often, but not when snow is still about. I would have hated to see their feet after a four mile descent in wet shoes.

Bross-Cameron

2010-06-12T17:10:00.001-06:00

We are staying in this weekend because it’s in the upper-40s/lower-50’s and raining - sometimes heavy with thunder, sometimes light. Actually it’s a nice break from the hot weather we had this week and we are enjoying the moist air. Well, I am. Sandy has some respiratory thing going on.

But anyway, this post is about last weekend. On Friday night we had went to Breckenridge, stayed at the Fireside Inn, a hostel-like bed & breakfast that was a two-block walk to Breck’s downtown. That’s a big selling point – we do not prefer to drive. The weather was sunny and the temperatures were pretty nice for that elevation. We walked around the area, ate dinner, then adjourned to the B&B for an early bedtime – as in 8:45 PM - we wanted to get up early for the hike the next day.

This is us walking around post-dinner:

This is a view from town of some cool clouds:

We didn’t get up as early as anticipated but I think we started the hike by about 7:30 am. Part of this delay was stalling until 6 AM so the Starbucks in Breckenridge opened. If you can have egg and cheese sandwiches accompanied by a chai latte on the way to the trailhead would you pass it up? These are photos of Sandy and I on the way to the saddle between Mt Democrat and Cameron:

The goal for the day was to climb Mt. Lincoln (14,286’), Mt. Bross (14,172’) and Mt. Cameron (14,238’). Mt. Democrat is in the same area but we climbed that last year. There wasn’t a ton of snow for early June, which was a pleasant surprise for me! Once we hiked up to the saddle, from which to walk the ridge to Mt. Cameron, the wind really picked up. Wind were literally gusting at 50-55 mph. At times we were not able to walk a straight line because of the wind. One time, near the summit of Cameron, I actually laid on the ground on my back so as not to be swept away. We ditched Lincoln and just did Cameron and Bross. It was a 5.5 hour effort and my first time at altitude for the season. It is difficult to really capture the effect of the wind pictorially but here is Sandy near the summit of Cameron. Note the straps on his pack blowing to the left while he is leaning to his right, bracing himself against the wind.

This is Sandy on the descent from Bross:

We went through the town of Alma, Colorado after the hike and noticed this witty store name “AL-MART” – clearly a play on Wal-Mart:

That was it. We drove home, took a nap, then Sandy headed out with Tony for another adventure. I stayed home, watched a film, and slept in my own bed.

Mt Sherman and a Rapid Retreat

2010-05-29T11:54:00.002-06:00

Alan, Murphy (his 2.5-year old pointer) and I camped Friday night with the intent of climbing Mt Sherman. It was surprisingly warm, but windy, for 11,300 feet. The area is littered with mining ruins and ringed by high peaks. We enjoyed dinner, played some cribbage and Alan threw some darts.

Pictured below is a mill from the Leavick mine, an action dart shot and a sunset behind Mt Sheridan.

Sleeping outdoors is typically an exercise in futility and this was no exception. After a series of cat naps, tossing and turning and watching clouds pass overhead we arose at 4:30 and started gearing up. With Murphy barking amongst some nearby willows Alan went to investigate and immediately grabbed my attention when I heard the word “porcupine’. Alan was pulling Murphy back to camp and Murphy was being understandably uncooperative, as he was licking and pawing at the dozen or so quills in his face or mouth.

It is 4:40 AM and I am pinning Murphy to the ground while Alan is plucking quills with a pair of pliers. We get all but three visible quills, two of which were in is nose, and understandably, Murphy yelps and battles every time they are touched. A dog with quills in his face is heartbreaking and incredibly sad to look at as you know there is pain involved. We immediately pack up and drive the 90 miles back to Denver to the emergency vet. With quills in his gums and lodged between teeth Murphy has earned complete sedation, antibiotics and pain killers, but comes out like nothing happened. As for Alan, he has a great story but a stiff vet bill.

Conference Trip

2010-05-24T21:27:00.001-06:00

We have just spent five days here on the east coast, primarily for the Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS) Conference for me. This was my first conference and it was pretty good. On the last day I went on a mobile tour to check out both the Circulator bus system and the new Bike Station at Union Station. I had seen the new bike station in pictures on the interwebs but it was great to see it in person. They really squeezed a lot of bike station into a small strip of concrete. The first photo is of one end of the structure that, in its entirety, looks like a glass quarter of a football. The second photo is what it looks like from the inside.

Our friend Nadine was also attending the conference and her husband, Ted, came along. Ted and Sandy could be described as the “spousal delegation.” Neither attended the conference, but both took advantage of the opportunity to visit the DC area. Highlights included a behind the scenes Smithsonian tour, led by volcanologists and culminating in a hands-on meteorite lecture, a trip to the Spy Museum (with Sandy’s Dad, Phil), a three-course lunch at a middle eastern restaurant and dinner with Sandy’s family to celebrate his dad’s birthday and his parents’ 40th Anniversary! I understand Sandy wowed everyone with some phenomenal crab cakes he made for this dinner. I haven’t seen any dinner photos but this is a picture of a meteorite that landed in Lorton, Virginia, not to long ago, which Sandy got to see and hold during his special museum tour.

This is Ted with the Capitol building in the background:

Sandy got a ride from the airport and was greeted with an enthusiastic welcome from Morgan :) I love the glam photo of her with the sunglasses and I can completely relate to the next photo in which she sort of fell back into the nap upon arriving home.

Sandy, ever the gentleman, did escort me home on the Metro on Thursday night, this is him in the Farragut West Metro station:

After three busy days at the conference, I was pretty pooped. We spent Saturday in Fredericksburg and I slept during part of the trip down there. Sandy was nice enough to get some photos of my sleeping in the car…

We were in Fredericksburg visiting Sandy’s parents, Betty and Phil, and Dumplin’. This trip focused on socializing and food, two activities that go hand in hand. We began at Sammy T’s, eating enough for two meals at lunch, then had dinner at a Japanese steakhouse, Fujiya, eating enough for another two meals, and ended at Carl’s Ice Cream, a Fredericksburg institution, with soft-serve ice cream. It is always great to see friends and family, but it is best for everyone’s arterial health that we limit our time together.

After lunch we strolled through historic Chatham Manor, an old plantation in Fredericksburg. The gardens are lovely this time of year and Sandy and I have lots of fond memories here. There are several interesting statues and details around the plantation. Below you can see Sandy hamming it up behind an eerie statue.

This is Sandy with his mom and dad, Betty and Phil:

These are some of the amazing old trees on the estate:

No respectable civil war era mansion would be without a canon and Chatham Manor is no exception. This is Sandy posing on the canon:

This is Betty and Phil with Fredericksburg behind them (at least the taller bits):

Here’s me with a pineapple statue:

We did get to spend some time with Jake and Morgan on Sunday morning. Morgan has the cutest rabbit robe and slippers. This is Jake and Morgan (with the robe and slippers):

This is Sandy attempting a cute look with the robe…

I’m including this shot not only because it’s a good picture but also because it’s a sight you’re not likely to see too many times, me and Sandy walking and holding hands with two adorable children:

So that’s the whole, long story. The ending has a twist though. We had a flight change and were sent to Dulles via cab for our flight home. Sandy took advantage of my drowsiness in the cab to get this little gem: