Coming back, and dead phone

Ok so two important quick things:

My phone went swimming in Finch Lake today... but seeing as it doesn't know how to swim, it's DEAD. I'm not sure if it will come back alive when it dries out, but in the meantime, I have no phone. Which is especially sucky because I was supposed to call Mom when I got done with my long hike today. Woops. Hope she doesn't call SAR on me!

Second thing: I might be coming back to get all of my stuff on July 7th! Which means I have about 3-4 days to pack everything in the moving truck, see everybody I want to see, and drive all the way back out to CO and unpack. Anybody want to come with me?? You'd just have to fly home. In any case, I'd love to see ya'll that weekend, even if it's not for long!

I'm exhausted from the hike I went on today so that's all for now. It was 8+ miles and I am JUST eating lunch! Once I found out phone drowned, I went from Allenspark to Boulder to ask the Verizon people to recessitate it... But alas, all I can do is wait at this point. Ugh!

Besides that... still not doing so well from that "other stuff" going on. Just this big empty space in my heart...

Cowgirl

I bought some notecards with cowgirl designs on them today, and this is what it said inside the box:

"Cowgirl: She loving, generous to a fault and almost always kind. She is known for her ability to laugh at herself and loves laughing with others... She has a deviant streak and is a believer that in the end, everything will turn out alright. Her family is her pride and joy, but not her life, and her goal is to be a loving, genergous, independent and confident woman. She surrounds herself with people who are seeking, living, and fulfilling their life's dreams. She refuses to live the settle-for lifestyle, and wants only the company of those passionate about life... She loves to flirt, and tease; however, she is a one man woman... She won't brag about what she cannot do or what she doesn't know. She loves stimulating and intelligent company. She is a mother, daughter, sister, aunt, lover, friend."

Sounds like the Colorado equivelant to a Michigan Vixen! ;)

Nothing like finding inspiration and wisdom in unexpected places. Here's to being a cowgirl (or a vixen)!

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I was in a grumpy mood when I woke up and went into Estes - gotta love the tourists for appreciating our natural treasures, but I despise trying to LIVE there while they're stopping in the middle of the road, backing up unexpectedly, driving all over the road, and just plainly ignoring all driving laws. Estes Park = no rules?? It has to be the elevation or SOMETHING, because collectively, these people are just dangerous and not thinking! It annoyed me to the point that I just decided to keep driving... and wound up back in Boulder. :) I do have lots of errands to run down here, so I'm still a little grumpy but the notecards cheered me up a bit.

My weekend? This is my ambitous list:

Wash Truck
Clean out Focus so I can sell it
Open bank Account (I tried to do this but the bank was closed by the time I got there!)
Visit the dogs at the Humane Society
Go to Best Buy for printer ink cartridges and see how much new speakers for Truck would cost
Either lift weights or go for an intense trail run
Do a hard, long hike tomorrow just to prove that I still can
Call lots of people, even though I don't like talking on the phone
Maybe go to the Wool Festival in Estes?
Go over to Grand Lake and hang out with the Maintenance and Trails Guys
Make a chiropractor appointment!
Do laundry

What will I really get done? Go to Best Buy, get some exercise, forget to do laundry until I'm in bed on Sunday night, and maybe start cleaning out Focus. It's just so tiring having to drive 40+ minutes from Estes to Boulder to get anything done, then dealing with the traffic and trying to find everything... I hate shopping and errands!

At least I waste a lot of time on here playing with my photos, writing emails and chatting with friends! ;)

No longer lost! Found a home!

To my complete and total shock - I found a place to live! And it's not only affordable, all utilities and INTERNET (woo hoo!) included, in a great location between Boulder and Estes Park, and in a sweet location - I can also get a pupper!!

I just called this one ad that was in the paper, expecting it to be either really small, or some catch to it. When he told me where it was located, I got mildly optimistic... It's outside of the town of Lyons, off Apple Valley Road - which is a lush area along the St. Vrain River, full of trees, and surrounded by the foothills. The apartment is actually the walk-out basement of a large house build on the side of a hill: the 56 yr old owner lives on the main floor (he is also building a studio for his art company), and a 36 year old guy that works nights and flyfishes by day lives upstairs. The house is on 6 acres that is directly behind Hall Ranch, a Boulder Open Space Park, and has a fenced area outside my door for the dog. He also has a dog, a Golden Retriever/Black Lab mix - she looks just like a black version of the regular Golden, and she's so sweet!

Because of the river, the Valley is warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. The apartment itself is a bit of an efficiency, with one good sized bedroom and another room for living/dining, with one wall lined with the kitchen - oven, fridge, even dishwasher! I'm spoiled! No more dish-pan hands, ha ha!

Lyons itself is a mixed small community, a tiny down town with a brewery I really like, Oscar Blues, and is also home to the RockyGrass Bluegrass Festival. There aren't really any big grocery stores or any chain stores here, but I'm only a short drive outside of the busy sprawling consumer area in Boulder. I have acres and acres of hiking and biking trails literally right behind me, and to both sides of me. 6 month lease, then goes month to month - which is great because who knows where I might be working come this fall/winter! Hopefully in Boulder as a Ranger but hey we'll see what I stumble upon!

Which means that I will be able to have people stay with me when you visit, because I have a sleeper sofa! And acres and acres to pitch a tent on! Oh, did I mention I have a garage to store my motorcycle?! (To which my mom replied, "I wish you would just sell that thing and use the money for something else! I don't wanna have to fly out to Colorado just because you hurt yourself on that thing!" Thanks mom! Ha ha!)

Well after being in Boulder all day and then coming to the coffee shop here in Estes to update AGAIN, I think I'm going to head home and watch Bonnie and Clyde and figure out when I'm going to come back to Michigan to get the rest of my stuff. Soon! So hey, anybody wanna take a road trip with me and a Penske truck full of my stuff and help me move?? Anybody?? I'll buy you beer at Oscar Blues! ;)

Here's some photos of my place, and photos of Lucy and Wilson playing! I'm still sad, but I am resilient and feel much better knowing I have somewhere to live... and if it sucks for some crazy reason, I only have to stay for 6 months!

Ha ha, almost forgot to mention that while I'm sitting in this coffee shop, there is a mama elk that hid her baby close by... and whenever people get to close to her, the elk charges them. It's amusing, but boy people can be stupid sometimes!

This is the home I am moving into in July. My place is in the walk-out basement.

This is the view out my window!

 

Tara's new puppy, Lucy!

Lucy and Wilson!

Am I sad, or am I mad?

Ok, I wrote this big venting journal earlier but I've calmed down now so I cut it down a bit. :)

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Yeah, I'm not doing so well today. Not only has somebody very close and dear emotionally hurt me, but I had written an introspective entry that just got deleted when I tried to save it. Not doing well at all.

I can't seem to decide if I am depressed, fuming angry, numb, or just plain washed my hands of this whole situation. Rather than lie around in bed on this rainy day, alternating between crying, cussing, and sleeping, I thought it would do me better to sit in this lively coffee shop in Boulder, hoping that the social atmosphere would raise my mood a little bit. Instead, I'm even more aggrivated because the internet connection crashed and I lost my journal entry. Grrrrr. Plus, I am sad because I don't have anybody out here to talk to and comfort me, so I'm missing my friends and family even more.

I am fed up with dishonesty. And I don't just mean plain-out lies - I mean half truths that don't tell the whole story. I think those are the most dangerous - they're so hard to identify because nothing false is being said, but the story it tells can be so different from reality. It's not even just myself that has suffered because of these incomplete truths; I'm just fortunate enough to now know I was being mislead. Why can't he just tell the truth?! How can somebody mislead those that love them, when in the end it will only cause pain??

If you cause somebody pain, be responsible and deal with the consequences of your actions! Deal with it, tell the truth, and right your wrongs! People who love you deserve to know what's REALLY going on so that they can make an INFORMED decision whether to forgive you for treating them poorly, or tell you to go to hell. Don't the people who love you and who you love at least deserve that?? It's not fair to play with people's emotions when they love you. It's just not right.

Mad, sad... Sunday was fantastic, full of fun and romance. Monday, everything changed. The pace of change is just nauseating and I still don't have my bearings on how Ireally feel. I guess that makes me lost...

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But, life goes on. I woke up early (couldn't sleep, go figure) and finally got mylicense. I'm officially a Colorado resident! I was very excited, but I'm so sad and depressed right now, I'm just plain homesick. I miss my family and friends, I miss the three terror dogs at my mom's house and I'm bummed I can't watch Tara's puppy and Wilson frolick in the garden hose. I feel so alone and rejected right now, I trusted him completely. How can you trust anybody, when the one that loves you does that??

I am listening to the Killers and it is making me feel a little better. It reminds me of Michigan - dancing at 5th Avenue with Jess, and of Linda helping me move that last chaotic week in Royal Oak. Plus, it's her CD so I should probably mail that to her soon. :) It just makes me feel a little bit warm and happy. And now I am chatting with Jeff online! Good to talk to him!

I feel better now, and I just might have a place to live in Lyons! Woo hoo! Gotta go check it out now!

Thanks guys for cheering me up!!

The Flying of the Beetles

My drink of the moment in this coffee shop is an iced vanilla chai - and boy, let me tell you it feels good to be out of the dreadful heat. Down in Denver they were supposed to have record temps in the 100s - not quite that hot up here in the mountains, but it was still pretty rotten. Plus, a few of us had to head down to Loveland, where it is much hotter... in a truck without AC. :)

I officially got the Grade A Stamp of Approval on my physical for wildland firefighting.  This gives me the ok to now take the "Pack Test" - 3 miles in 45 minutes (I think it's 46 something at this elevation) with 45 pounds on your back. It might not sound that bad, but it's not easy and usually a couple people die each year of a heart attack while taking it. Once I pass that on the 22nd, I will have a current Red Card (wildland firefighting certificate) and be able to help with prescribed burns and wildfires. Looks like I will have plenty of chances, too - this summer is proving to be very hot, very dry, and with all the pine beetle kill, it's just a matter of "when", not "if", we get a big one. In fact, almost every time we get a lightening storm, we get some sort of small wildfire. That might seem weird to you folks in SE Michigan, but it's just a part of life out here.

Work for me has changed from Mountain Pine Beetle mode to Hazard Tree mode. We had a few residual beetle trees left in a campground that we were supposed to drop this week, but by the time we got to them - bye bye beetles! We were just a little too late, and the beetles have left the trees and flown to their next target. Oh well. It's not a huge deal, since it is a natural part of the cycle... but then again, who wants to stay in a campground without trees? We'll see what happens next season.

Hazard tree means walking every public front-country area and assessing ALL trees that have potential hazards. Needless to say, I spend most of my day hugging trees (to get the diameter), walking, and doing paperwork. Yes, we have to document all these trees, rank them for priority, and decide what to do about them. Unfortunately, there are a lot to remove because of their high potential to fail and, say, land on a sleeping camper in his tent or something. Not so good. I officially took down the first hazard tree of theseason, a windblown lodgepole that was stuck in another tree, right over a trailhead. Not the most technical or exciting removal, but tomorrow morning I have 3 trees to fell - two Engleman spruce and one lodgepole. Cisco won't be in so it's all me, baby!

My endeavor to get my Colorado license last week was futile and aggrivating. Joe and I went to the license place and the guy was a condensending arsch to me, saying I needed my medical card for my CDL. Somebody else told me I didn't. So I waited the 3 hours (had to wait anyway, I was Joe's ride!) and went up there and thought I was going to get my license when the woman says, "Oh wait! I almost forgot! Do you have your DOT card?" DOH! I am going to try again at a smaller office in Hot Sulfer Springs on Friday. Grrrrr....

And how is my hunt for housing going? Well as of yesterday I thought I had some good prospects lined up in either Boulder or Nederland but apparently that's changed and I'm not happy about it. Totally back to square one. I'm in a pretty nasty mood about it right now, so don't ask. I am pretty sick of hearing my neighbor's television at 10 pm though so I'm just gonna keep on keepin' on until I find a place.

This past weekend, Joe and I went to that Tree Climbing Competition in Fort Collins and I got to meet a bunch of his coworkers. Great bunch of people and three chihuahuas to play with! We layed around in the grass and watched the climbers swing around, doing various tasks - aerial rescue, where they have to retrieve a dummy out of a tree; work climb, where they have different points in a tree they need to get to and ring a bell; and throw line competition, where they have to throw their throw line into different crotches of the tree. There were only two women there competing; one was one of Joe's coworkers (she didn't finish in time) and one was a smokejumper. I've never watched women climb so it was neat to watch. Can't wait to get my gear so I can work on becoming as fluid and confident in a tree as they were!

We also went for a hike on another horribly hot day at Roxborough State Park, south west of Denver. Oh wait, Trail Log Time!

Trail Log: Fountain Valley Loop, 2.2 miles (yeah, pretty weak huh). It was an easy hike through rattlesnake country (I'm sure my Dad is happy to hear that... "Look out for snakes!" he used to tell me every time he talked to me), very interesting rock formations... surrounded by subdivisions. Weird. It was a neat place to visit though, despite the houses in the background. Never did see or hear a snake, though we wanted to!

Well gotta wrap this up for now, I have the rest of Harry Potter III to watch and/or maybe go out with the coworkers for a brew. And, back to home hunting. Miss you guys!

 

Roxborough State Park, taken with my camera phone!