Since my last entry, I had a streak of good things happen. Which was too good to be true, because promptly a bunch of bizarre and unpleasant things decided to happen. I guess the universe has to balance itself... that, or the gods think it's really funny to mess with me and see how much I can take before I freak out. :P
A neat opportunity for grad students was emailed out to us CSU kiddos and I thought, what the heck, wrote an essay and gave some references and threw it out there. It's called Park Break, and it's a collaborative week long graduate study with the National Park Service the US Geologic Service and the George Wright Society. I applied for the natural disasters study in Mt. Rainier National Park. I didn't hear anything by the time they said they'd notify us, so I figured I didn't get it.
But I did! Woo hoo! It's 5 days all expense paid to study floods and mud slides and volcanos and other natural disasters in Mt. Rainier and now they've included a couple days at Olympic National Park! Very awesome. I do believe I get credit for it also. I ended up having to drop my hardest class (Population Ecology, yuck) to attend but very much worth it. I'll be out the the second week of March. Unfortunately it doesn't really fit with CSU's spring break but my teachers are very excited for me and are allowing me to make up work.
I also had an unresolved dispute between myself and somebody important, and it was official, and I was pretty ticked off about it. The long of the short is that I made my case and guess what, the more important people saw my side and that I was screwed over and well, I got an apology from high up and certain inappropriate claims were thrown out because the other person was out of line and they were disciplined for their mess up and trying to pawn their problems off on me. Ha ha I know that's cryptic but if you know what I'm talking about it makes sense. Justice was served finally!
So while I was smiling and happy and thinking things were super duper, my truck had a freak catastrophic breakdown. It was driving fine and then next thing I know I pull in to get my dog from the kennel and it starts steaming. I turn it off ASAP and wait a while as the coolant comes pouring out of my poor truck. Eventually I open the hood and it took me a minute to realize what was wrong. I mean, something wasn't right... Oh my god there's a big VOID in the middle of the compartment. My plastic fan apparently tore apart with ferocious force, taking out everything in it's path!! Seriously! The fan was gone, the shrouds were gone, some air cleaner box and hoses were shredded and my radiator was jacked! The fan was so forceful that it tore through the insulation that is on the bottom of the hood and put big dents from the inside! It looks like my engine was trying to escape out of my truck! And the paint immediately chipped from the dents, so my hood looks like hell. I was just in shock. I got it towed and at the time they worried that it took out all my belts as well as hoses... looking at over $2,000+ in repairs on a 1992 toyota with 207k miles on it?! What the heck was I gonna do?! I just dropped $900 to get a new clutch but all that money into an old truck?!
There was moments of panic when I wasn't sure if I'd fix it or try to finance a new truck or buy something else used. Somehow my belts got away scott-free and the estimate was "only" around $900. That still sucked but screw it, just fix the darned thing. This happened two Sundays ago and got it back last Wednesday and it's been running like a champ. There I go again jinxing myself I'm sure!
I actually am pretty "lucky" it broke down at the kennel... I was at the kennel because I had been driving back and forth and staying in Breckenridge with Tim's sister and brother in law, who had rented a condo to snowboard for a week. Would've sucked pretty bad if it broke down in the tunnel, or on the big hill on I-70... Pretty scary also to think about what would have happened if I didn't wait to open the hood when it did break, the fan clutch busted and pieces were flying all over the place in there! Could've decapitated me like in some bad movie! Ahh!
And then, in another freaky evil plot from the karma gods against me, my landlord comes up to my place and says, "the new tenant is here can he check out the place"? (I put in my notice despite not having a new place to live; I have about 2 weeks to figure something out, I was sick of getting screwed out of money and paying a LOT of electric when I was gone for 3 weeks out of a month, my place is like 400 sq ft and I pay 1/4 of the electric connected to a big house and a family of 4. NOT fair). The new tenant found the place on craigslist.com and was coming from the Northwest. Oh, he tells me he is working for the park. Neat. I was on my way out the door so I was trying to get my school stuff together and not totally paying attention. Wait, who are you working for? He tells me, fire management. Wait a minute... This dude is the new hazard tree guy. Remember, they axed the west side crew after I went over to Grand Lake and and a horrible summer? Yeah, him and the original crew leader are now pretty much the entire crew. Apparently nobody else is coming back! What does that tell you. 100% turnover for the fire crew 2 years ago; 100% turnover except for the crewleader who pretty much did more than his share of work and finally got promoted on the haz crew this year.
So this dude who got the promotion that, well, there's no way I'd work for that boss again... but my "replacement" essentially found my apartment across the internet and came from Washington to stand in my doorway. I'm so cranky lately that I just think it's a sick mean joke and am not sure what I've done to deserve the mockery. :P I told him, Good luck with that. I didn't tell him to be ready to dish out more money than this place is worth. Karma will probably smack me for that too. Seems like a nice guy though. Think he's buddies with all those fire mgmt guys but who knows.
My good news is that my old boss from the park when I did construction wants me back so I will probably be working on picnic areas and replacing those old wood picnic tables with those 1300 lb concrete monsters, making them look nice. I did want to try to get on the wilderness crew but the job still hasn't flow yet... I also got a few notices I was found to be qualified and am being referred for consideration for jobs in Alaska but no job offers yet. Tim has a pretty good shot at getting a trails job in Denali or Klondike Gold Rush so I put in for jobs there, but who knows. I don't usually post things about us on here but we are at a crossroads and not sure where that's going. Sick of stressing so that's all I'm going to say about that.
I also got an unpaid internship as a wildlife rehabiliation assistant at Greenwood Wildlife Rehab Center, should be fun. I get to feed lots of baby squirrels. ;) If I am lucky I will get to help with some intensive care or real rehab but it all depends on what comes in the door. That starts in mid-March.
My classes are great, getting A's on my tests. Ornithology (birds) is fun, dissecting a pigeon right now. The hard part comes up soon, internal organs and stuff. One class is a wilderness instructor class and in 2 weekends we are going up to Cameron pass, building snow huts and sleeping in them, then practicing avalanche skills. Sounds fun, cold, tiring and useful all at the same time. ;) We watched a pretty crazy, real video of a girl recording her boyfriend skiing, then you hear and see the snow crack and start sliding toward him and then goes right under her feet, you hear her getting tumbled and then you hear nothing. She died. Not sure if they found her boyfriend, there were multiple people in it and some people were found, some were not. Very sobering. Avalanches are scary! Glad I'm not that hardcore, so my mom doesn't have to worry. :)
I did finally start snowboarding again, my left knee still hurts but work through the pain. I might take a telemark lesson at A-Basin this weekend, and I'm supposed to ski in the park with Lindsay. I have a free ticket to the Banff Mountain Film Festival but looks like Tim isn't going anymore so I'm not sure if I'm going. We'll see. I need to find a place to live!
Very excited, my friend Kim will be in town from Portland in March! Yay! Karaoke and jager shots hopefully! I guess her dad is in Telluride for some reason and we might go down there and ski and who knows what else. My friend Matt is in Steamboat but alas this time I won't be able to see him. Bummer. I have SPRING BREAK OFF March 16-20 or something, really wish I could go somewhere warm and tropical with my sisters like last year (sortof) but doubtful.
I have photos on my camera of valentine's day home-made sushi but haven't uploaded them yet. Been "on the plan", as in, I'm working out and trying to get rid of my hibernation winter fat. ;) It's going pretty good! Though I have no idea why I thought it would be a good idea to run around the lake in the horrible Estes wind. It blew my iPod ear buds out of my ears! But I feel like such a cow at the CSU gym with all those 90 lb. 18 year olds! And why are they always TAN! To be young and have a tanning salon membership, those were the days ha ha.
Well Log Dog is snoring next to me on my bed/futon/couch and I should get some sleep. Hopefully won't have any more truck disasters to post the next time I write!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Those photos of Colorado National Monument that I promised
These are all in the same Picasa Album, some are old...
Only a few are from Tim's 30th birthday party, and yes that fat lady singing happy birthday balloon is STILL inflated and we play it daily...
Awe how cute, Timmy and me with Ute Canyon in the background...
A few from my hikes with Logan, in this one he discovers that ice is slippery!
Some from the mica mine...
The most handsome dog in the world!
A couple of Tim's trail work in Colorado National Monument, he claims those rocks are the size of a couch, he moved them with rock bars and they're mostly buried in the ground... Yeah whatever tough guy ;)
And my mom loves sheep. These sheep I believe are "different" from the bighorn in Rocky Mountain National Park, I think desert bighorn are endangered or threatened or something?
And I will be driving back to Estes tonight. Tim will be out here until the end of January, boo. :( We had a great time skiing the back bowls of Vail this past weekend with a couple of his friends, so I might meet up with Tim this weekend to ski again. School tomorrow! I wish I had a metal lunchbox to match the mentality I'm in right now. ;)
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| From Colorado National Monument, Winter 2008 |
Only a few are from Tim's 30th birthday party, and yes that fat lady singing happy birthday balloon is STILL inflated and we play it daily...
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| From Colorado National Monument, Winter 2008 |
Awe how cute, Timmy and me with Ute Canyon in the background...
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| From Colorado National Monument, Winter 2008 |
A few from my hikes with Logan, in this one he discovers that ice is slippery!
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| From Colorado National Monument, Winter 2008 |
Some from the mica mine...
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| From Colorado National Monument, Winter 2008 |
The most handsome dog in the world!
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| From Colorado National Monument, Winter 2008 |
A couple of Tim's trail work in Colorado National Monument, he claims those rocks are the size of a couch, he moved them with rock bars and they're mostly buried in the ground... Yeah whatever tough guy ;)
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| From Colorado National Monument, Winter 2008 |
And my mom loves sheep. These sheep I believe are "different" from the bighorn in Rocky Mountain National Park, I think desert bighorn are endangered or threatened or something?
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| From Colorado National Monument, Winter 2008 |
And I will be driving back to Estes tonight. Tim will be out here until the end of January, boo. :( We had a great time skiing the back bowls of Vail this past weekend with a couple of his friends, so I might meet up with Tim this weekend to ski again. School tomorrow! I wish I had a metal lunchbox to match the mentality I'm in right now. ;)
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Last week of not using my brain!
Hello once again from the Aspen Street Coffee Shop in Fruita, CO!
I was reading my friend Stephanie's blog of her current adventure in Central America and then clicked on my blog. I was appalled to see that in 2004, I had over 130 entries; after that year, I haven't even written HALF that amount, and last year was just embarassing - 14 entries in all of 2008. I'm not as big into writing as I used to, but I can certainly find time to write more than 14 days out of 365!
Next Tuesday I begin my stint as a "real" student (I only had one seminar and one correspondence class last semester when I started, so not much studying or homework or time on campus). These are my last few free days. Not that I haven't been busy, but skiing at Vail and working out 1-2 hours a day aren't the same as studying theories and reading and using my brain for something besides vampire books on Kindle. ;) Tim, myself and hopefully some other folks are meeting at Vail this weekend and I have a feeling I'm going to find myself drinking Irish coffee while the rest of them are playing in the back bowls. I still suck at telemark. I went on Tuesday and did worse than when I went with Lindsay and folks a few weeks ago. And since my knee injury and apparently my cyst in my knee, I'm not the snowboarder I used to be. Boo.
The biggest thing going on is of course the Philadelphia Eagles! Since my Lions set history with 0-16 (I still want to get a commemorative t-shirt), at least I have the Eagles. Sure, I became a fan through Tim but I think after 3 seasons I can call myself a true fan. Though I am absolutely sick of hearing the same crap on sports radio OVER and OVER again. I don't know how Tim can listen to it. It's always a different way of saying the same thing: "Really, the team that wins the game is the one that gets the most points. It comes down to who's defense is better, and who's offense is better. The one that throws the ball, catches the ball, and can get the ball into the end zone more is always going to win the game!" DUH!!!! Or lately, the big news about the Denver Bronco's new 32 year old coach. Ok apparently he's young. "But it doesn't come down to age, it comes down to what he does with this team." OBVIOUSLY! Seriously, I just summed up 2 weeks worth of radio show "analysis" into a few simple sentences. Then there's the announcer that insists that everybody else was wrong with their predictions last week/month/season/years/35 years ago. But miraculously he was the only one that had his prediction, and he's the only one that was right. Whatever! One guy did that a couple weeks ago, and guess what he was WRONG! But you know what he said? "I've said this all along, despite what everyone else thought. And I was right!" Tim gets a kick out of my announcer impressions (when he's not turning it up to try to drown out my smart ass remarks... which are of course always RIGHT ON!)
Anyway, with that said, GO EAGLES!
Tim and his crew out here are now famous. Look at the GJ Sentinal! And notice, everybody else is wearing gloves (which they are supposed to) except Tim! What a rebel.
Logan and I went for a nice hike yesterday to a former mica (a type of rock) mine in the Bangs Canyon area. It was a pretty easy hike in the bottom of a canyon, tall walls of red rock on all sides and huge sage bushes. I haven't yet uploaded my photos but they are on the way!
With that said, I'll be back in Estes (Drake) next Monday night, before I have to roam around CSU like a dork and try to find all my classes!
I was reading my friend Stephanie's blog of her current adventure in Central America and then clicked on my blog. I was appalled to see that in 2004, I had over 130 entries; after that year, I haven't even written HALF that amount, and last year was just embarassing - 14 entries in all of 2008. I'm not as big into writing as I used to, but I can certainly find time to write more than 14 days out of 365!
Next Tuesday I begin my stint as a "real" student (I only had one seminar and one correspondence class last semester when I started, so not much studying or homework or time on campus). These are my last few free days. Not that I haven't been busy, but skiing at Vail and working out 1-2 hours a day aren't the same as studying theories and reading and using my brain for something besides vampire books on Kindle. ;) Tim, myself and hopefully some other folks are meeting at Vail this weekend and I have a feeling I'm going to find myself drinking Irish coffee while the rest of them are playing in the back bowls. I still suck at telemark. I went on Tuesday and did worse than when I went with Lindsay and folks a few weeks ago. And since my knee injury and apparently my cyst in my knee, I'm not the snowboarder I used to be. Boo.
The biggest thing going on is of course the Philadelphia Eagles! Since my Lions set history with 0-16 (I still want to get a commemorative t-shirt), at least I have the Eagles. Sure, I became a fan through Tim but I think after 3 seasons I can call myself a true fan. Though I am absolutely sick of hearing the same crap on sports radio OVER and OVER again. I don't know how Tim can listen to it. It's always a different way of saying the same thing: "Really, the team that wins the game is the one that gets the most points. It comes down to who's defense is better, and who's offense is better. The one that throws the ball, catches the ball, and can get the ball into the end zone more is always going to win the game!" DUH!!!! Or lately, the big news about the Denver Bronco's new 32 year old coach. Ok apparently he's young. "But it doesn't come down to age, it comes down to what he does with this team." OBVIOUSLY! Seriously, I just summed up 2 weeks worth of radio show "analysis" into a few simple sentences. Then there's the announcer that insists that everybody else was wrong with their predictions last week/month/season/years/35 years ago. But miraculously he was the only one that had his prediction, and he's the only one that was right. Whatever! One guy did that a couple weeks ago, and guess what he was WRONG! But you know what he said? "I've said this all along, despite what everyone else thought. And I was right!" Tim gets a kick out of my announcer impressions (when he's not turning it up to try to drown out my smart ass remarks... which are of course always RIGHT ON!)
Anyway, with that said, GO EAGLES!
Tim and his crew out here are now famous. Look at the GJ Sentinal! And notice, everybody else is wearing gloves (which they are supposed to) except Tim! What a rebel.
Logan and I went for a nice hike yesterday to a former mica (a type of rock) mine in the Bangs Canyon area. It was a pretty easy hike in the bottom of a canyon, tall walls of red rock on all sides and huge sage bushes. I haven't yet uploaded my photos but they are on the way!
With that said, I'll be back in Estes (Drake) next Monday night, before I have to roam around CSU like a dork and try to find all my classes!
Monday, January 12, 2009
4,400 miles in two weeks
Every time I sit down to update my journal, I get distracted. It was so much easier when I was in Montana, with not much to do but exercise, hike, drink and write, when I wasn't fighting fires of course. What do I waste my time doing? Fantasy Hockey, email, Facebook, computer and tv shopping (yes I need a computer, no I don't need a tv), college classes, scholarships and easy money (doesn't exist), the news, photos, Facebook, Amazon.com, the weather... A whole lot of nothing, really.
I was out in Grand Junction before Tim and I left for our big road trip. After the 6 hour drive from Grand Junction to Estes, we did some errands and then left for Michigan on Dec. 19th. There were huge snowstorms across the plains but we got lucky - the road was clear despite the plethora of cars and trucks strewn about the median, the shoulders, sometimes upside down in a nearby field that indicated just how lucky we were to have smooth sailing. However, the temperatures were not friendly - -8 in Nebraska, with -20 to -30 windchill! Since we drove straight through, we hit Nebraska all night and refilling the gas tank and taking Logan for pit stops were so miserable I ended up putting on my snow pants just to stay warm. It really went quite well until the next morning. The news said Chicago had blowing snow but really, they were just a little behind on the times. The blowing snow had moved into Michigan, and we were in a near white-out on I-94. Which made for a horrible drive and I was being paranoid about multi-car pile ups as I'd see 3-6 cars scattered across the road here and there. At one point it took a little evasive action on my part, and a conveniently placed exit, to avoid a potential nasty accident. Sometimes a little paranoia is good, though, as only a couple hours after we made it through western Michigan, a 100 car pile up closed I-94 and killed one person.
We made it to Novi in 22 hours. We made such good time up until western Michigan - it usually takes between 18-20 hours; that was the longest it has ever taken me though my mom thinks it's just because I must be doing something illegal. I think it's just because I know how to hold my bladder, ha ha!
In Michigan, it was a combination of seeing lots of people, and doing absolutely nothing at all - except getting brutally beaten by my little brother at hockey on his Playstation 3, or watching sports on their nice big hi-def TV. I was so excited because the snow was thick and fluffy, and we brought our snowshoes to go with my sister, who had gotten a new pair for X-mas. Of course, within a couple days it warmed up enough that it turned to rain and everything was crusted over with ice. :( Tim and I went to the Red Wings game on the 23rd, which is always a good time and of course they won. I also just so happened to be in town for an old co-worker's retirement party, so I got to see the city boys and introduce them to Tim's large beard.
I was especially happy to be home for our annual huge family X-mas party, which I don't think I have been in town for 2-3 years! 50+ people and I still have no idea whom most of those rugrat kids belong to, ha ha! Pretty soon my sisters and myself will be the only ones left without kids... but Sue and I have dogs, and Linda has her cats, and hopefully my mom doesn't mind being Grandma Doolittle for a while. ;) The new tradition they started last year of the "white elephant" or re-gifting things ended up being pretty funny. Of all things, Tim got Old Spice Cologne and I got a manicure kit. If you knew us, you'd see why they were the most ironic gifts we could have received. Tim swapped his but I have to admit, I actually kept mine and (tried to) use it on what little nails I haven't bitten or chipped off, haha!
Leave it to my friend Jeff to have the party that brings most of my friends in one spot, making it much easier to see people in limited time - like Jess, who I missed last time I was in town. Even better, Brian and Melissa stopped by! They live in Seattle and though I used to be good about visiting about once a year, I've slacked off and it's Brian's turn to visit Colorado anyway. Jeff is now in Minnesota and who knows the next time I will see him, too - unless I can convince them to ski in Colorado again instead of Montana. I did stop at Donna's house to see her two kitties - which I love playing with but hate the inevitable allergic attack I have afterwards. I joked that I would name one "puppy" because I wanted her to get a dog.... but Puppy didn't let me down by being the first cat I've ever seen carry around toys in its mouth like a dog! Which was the cutest thing EVER! Besides Donna of course. ;) I am very sorry I didn't get to see Tara, Beth and Kevin... Seems like every time I come home it rotates who I miss. Next time guys, I promise!!
I am also bummed I didn't go out with my sisters like we usually do, maybe not to 5th Avenue anymore but Linda got sick and Tim and I were pretty much broke. Saw my dad and step mom on X-mas day, and I think the highlight of our visit for everybody wasn't so much as seeing ME, but seeing 100 lb. LOGAN! And yes, he did in fact prove he is the best dog in the world. Simple as that! In fact, I think both my parents and Tim's parents took more photos of the dog than us! That's ok, Logan's way cuter than I am anyway. :P
I know I'm leaving things out, like seeing my brother's mad skills at his JV hockey game and stuff like that. Was so darned busy and I don't remember everything anymore!
Saturday before new years was when we left Michigan for Pennyslvania. It ended up taking about 9 hours, not bad. Saw bald eagles, that was the highlight of that drive. We ended up at Tim's parents' house and we were even busier there than we were in Michigan. Went out to breakfast with his friend Matt and his wife Debra, which was pretty much the boys making fun of each other. Tim was making fun of that game "Rock Band", but we went back to their house and Tim couldn't stop being a rock star. I was rockin' the bass and well can't say I have a future as a drummer, but Tim kept singing and singing and his girly voice doing a Garbage song was priceless. We went to his sister's house, and her husband had just become a K-9 cop and has Body, a new 15 month old German Shepherd-Malamois mix K-9 cop in training now in addition to their 3 year old purebred shepherd, Thor. Body may only be 65 lbs, but he's agile, likes to jump, and isn't quite as trained as the other boys. Thor is I believe 85 lbs... and then there's monster Log Dog at 100 lbs (or more, he got fat over the holidays just like his mom and dad, haha!). Those three shepherds got along so great and went nuts in the backyard! We watched the Eagles WIN (which has set the agenda for every Sunday until hopefully the Superbowl) and Tim couldn't be happier. Tim's aunts and uncles came over on various days, the only of which I had met were Aunt Diane and Uncle Steve (they came to Colorado with his parents last year). We went and saw his Nan and she was pretty funny, told Tim she thought I'd be shorter but I think she liked me. ;)
We also went to see his friend Greg and Shannon and their 3 kids and their house in the country, which was pretty nice! Our New Years was pretty uneventful, Tim went through his model train collection and giggled like a little kid and I read books on my new Amazon Kindle. Which is a funny story in itself... my mom hands me a box for X-mas and I open it, it says "Kindle". I get a puzzled look on my face and my mom and Linda are like, "It's Kindle! You don't know what Kindle is??" Ummmm... Even when I open the box, I'm like what the heck?? Now this Kindle thing isn't cheap, but my mom tells me she heard about it on Oprah, you download books onto it. And since A. I love books but B. I travel a lot and am sick of moving boxes of books, it would be great for me! I kept joking with Tim that she got my a flat screen tv (my big addiction)... and I was like well um I've never heard of Kindle... thinking of what size tv I could buy for the same price... Needless to say, I researched it online and started messing around with it, and I LOVE KINDLE! Tim likes to talk about Kindle like Kindle is a person, like "Are you going to hang out with Kindle today?" and "How is Kindle doing?" The only bad part is that books aren't really cheap, considering I buy all my books used, and that since it's set up to purchase books immediately when you click, "Buy this book", it's easy to spend a lot of money. :P It uses Sprint's cell phone network for free to get on the internet (in black and white) and browse the bookstore.
Anway, back on track... I hung out with Kindle on New Year's. The ball dropped, whoop-de-doo it's 2009! Then we watched some crazy dare devils on motorbikes do some stunts, and then went to sleep. Pretty wild huh.
Logan got to hang out with Tim's parents a lot and I think between Logan and Thor, his mom really wants a dog. I hope she gets one. ;) Tim bought $36 in Tastykakes, a Philly local junk-food mini cake, and saw the sights. Went to Cabelas. We did not exercize whatsoever and I am still trying to get back to eating well (no gluten, corn, soy, blah blah blah) and feeling fit. Overall I was pretty tired from socializing and eating uncontrollable amounts of sugar! But it was nice to finally see Tim's hometown and meet more of his friends and family, though he didn't get to see everybody he had hoped. The whole time, I had "The Fresh Prince of Bell Air" theme song in my head...
Then the long, long drive home. We left on Friday morning after New Years and took I-80. It took 29 hours; it wasn't nearly as cold, but it was windy! Logan was visibly uncomfortable in the back of the cab, but he was a good sport about it. I kept myself entertained by reading about the swarm of earthquakes in Yellowstone National Park, but alas no end-of-the-world volcanic explosion is in the near future, (though that doesn't stop some folks from starting a panic anyway). We did finally get to my place in Drake and we couldn't even sleep, despite being so sleep deprived. Watched sports and played online. Got up early the next day, took care of some business, drove to Boulder and watched the Eagles win against the Vikings (WOOOO!) and then headed back on the road west to Grand Junction.
The first thing I did this past Monday back in the Junk is get a gym membership. ;) They have a pretty nice gym with good hours. I've been hitting it pretty hard and feel much better already. Not quite in the "hike all summer in the mountains" shape, or even in as good of "telemark ski around the backcountry of Rocky" shape as I'd like... but much better. The second thing I did was start exploring the public land with Logan. We romped in the snow among dinosaur bones (though we only really saw part of one) at the Fruita Paleological Site and also around Devil's Canyon, though we have yet to go on a long hike. I also spent a couple days fretting over Tim's 30th Birthday, which was on January 7th. Wooo! I had grand ideas but most of his friends are back in Estes, his birthday was on a Wednesday, and I wasn't sure how to make it a grand birthday. My first idea was lazer tag and skee ball at a place called bananas, but since they don't serve beer we went to th bowling super center called GJ Scores. I got Tim this big obnoxious balloon that sings Happy Birthday in Opera-style, some spider man temp tattoos, and some fancy hair conditioner for his Beard. Which, by the way, we forgot to celebrate his Happy Beard Day! His beard turned 2 years old on January 1st, and I had plans to make a big deal about it but without having any way of leaving the house without him (we were in PA), it fizzled. I have more bigger presents planned for him but we'll see what I end up getting him, when he makes up his mind what he really wants. :) After bowling we went and got sushi, of course!
While Tim's at work, I usually hang with Kindle, work out for a couple hours, play with the Loggenator (another new nickname for Logan), go online, stuff like that. My computer screen doesn't work all the time anymore so it's time to look for a new one. Friday, we went to see the new Clint Eastwood movie, Gran Tourino. His one liners are excellent, but it's a very good movie. Don't expect a real spaghetti western type plot - it's very serious, despite many one liners drawing a good chuckle (as well as in the back of your mind thinking, "I can't believe he just SAID that!"). We had big plans, like every weekend, of going skiing at Vail and such, but we were out past midnight at the movie and didn't want to wake up Saturday. So we just watched football and did nothing. :) Sunday, EAGLES FOOTBALL! And they won against the Giants! Next week, the Arizona Cardinals! Tim is freaking out of course, he pretty much doesn't hear or see anything unless it has to do with Eagles or football. ;)
After the victory, I really needed to get out of the house so we hiked a few miles up the No Thoroughfare canyon to a frozen waterfall, I took a couple photos and will post them soon. Today I had plans to go to Vail but after a nasty stomach ache last night and this morning, and the plain inability to get out of bed before 8:30 am anymore, it just didn't happen. Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I swear! ;)
This is my last week in Grand Junction before classes start at Colorado State. I'm trying to decide if I should pick up Ornithology or Riparian Ecology, which would mean classes 3 days a week instead of 2. I'm really going to have to get in the groove of being a real student again, and very quickly! I have a feeling that one class will be challenging, with lots of statistics and population modeling, but just typing my journal nowadays sometimes feels like a challenge!
Anyway time to take the dog for a walk. Send good skiing vibes my way and hopefully I'll get up early enough to make the 2 1/2 hour drive tomorrow. ;)
I was out in Grand Junction before Tim and I left for our big road trip. After the 6 hour drive from Grand Junction to Estes, we did some errands and then left for Michigan on Dec. 19th. There were huge snowstorms across the plains but we got lucky - the road was clear despite the plethora of cars and trucks strewn about the median, the shoulders, sometimes upside down in a nearby field that indicated just how lucky we were to have smooth sailing. However, the temperatures were not friendly - -8 in Nebraska, with -20 to -30 windchill! Since we drove straight through, we hit Nebraska all night and refilling the gas tank and taking Logan for pit stops were so miserable I ended up putting on my snow pants just to stay warm. It really went quite well until the next morning. The news said Chicago had blowing snow but really, they were just a little behind on the times. The blowing snow had moved into Michigan, and we were in a near white-out on I-94. Which made for a horrible drive and I was being paranoid about multi-car pile ups as I'd see 3-6 cars scattered across the road here and there. At one point it took a little evasive action on my part, and a conveniently placed exit, to avoid a potential nasty accident. Sometimes a little paranoia is good, though, as only a couple hours after we made it through western Michigan, a 100 car pile up closed I-94 and killed one person.
We made it to Novi in 22 hours. We made such good time up until western Michigan - it usually takes between 18-20 hours; that was the longest it has ever taken me though my mom thinks it's just because I must be doing something illegal. I think it's just because I know how to hold my bladder, ha ha!
In Michigan, it was a combination of seeing lots of people, and doing absolutely nothing at all - except getting brutally beaten by my little brother at hockey on his Playstation 3, or watching sports on their nice big hi-def TV. I was so excited because the snow was thick and fluffy, and we brought our snowshoes to go with my sister, who had gotten a new pair for X-mas. Of course, within a couple days it warmed up enough that it turned to rain and everything was crusted over with ice. :( Tim and I went to the Red Wings game on the 23rd, which is always a good time and of course they won. I also just so happened to be in town for an old co-worker's retirement party, so I got to see the city boys and introduce them to Tim's large beard.
I was especially happy to be home for our annual huge family X-mas party, which I don't think I have been in town for 2-3 years! 50+ people and I still have no idea whom most of those rugrat kids belong to, ha ha! Pretty soon my sisters and myself will be the only ones left without kids... but Sue and I have dogs, and Linda has her cats, and hopefully my mom doesn't mind being Grandma Doolittle for a while. ;) The new tradition they started last year of the "white elephant" or re-gifting things ended up being pretty funny. Of all things, Tim got Old Spice Cologne and I got a manicure kit. If you knew us, you'd see why they were the most ironic gifts we could have received. Tim swapped his but I have to admit, I actually kept mine and (tried to) use it on what little nails I haven't bitten or chipped off, haha!
Leave it to my friend Jeff to have the party that brings most of my friends in one spot, making it much easier to see people in limited time - like Jess, who I missed last time I was in town. Even better, Brian and Melissa stopped by! They live in Seattle and though I used to be good about visiting about once a year, I've slacked off and it's Brian's turn to visit Colorado anyway. Jeff is now in Minnesota and who knows the next time I will see him, too - unless I can convince them to ski in Colorado again instead of Montana. I did stop at Donna's house to see her two kitties - which I love playing with but hate the inevitable allergic attack I have afterwards. I joked that I would name one "puppy" because I wanted her to get a dog.... but Puppy didn't let me down by being the first cat I've ever seen carry around toys in its mouth like a dog! Which was the cutest thing EVER! Besides Donna of course. ;) I am very sorry I didn't get to see Tara, Beth and Kevin... Seems like every time I come home it rotates who I miss. Next time guys, I promise!!
I am also bummed I didn't go out with my sisters like we usually do, maybe not to 5th Avenue anymore but Linda got sick and Tim and I were pretty much broke. Saw my dad and step mom on X-mas day, and I think the highlight of our visit for everybody wasn't so much as seeing ME, but seeing 100 lb. LOGAN! And yes, he did in fact prove he is the best dog in the world. Simple as that! In fact, I think both my parents and Tim's parents took more photos of the dog than us! That's ok, Logan's way cuter than I am anyway. :P
I know I'm leaving things out, like seeing my brother's mad skills at his JV hockey game and stuff like that. Was so darned busy and I don't remember everything anymore!
Saturday before new years was when we left Michigan for Pennyslvania. It ended up taking about 9 hours, not bad. Saw bald eagles, that was the highlight of that drive. We ended up at Tim's parents' house and we were even busier there than we were in Michigan. Went out to breakfast with his friend Matt and his wife Debra, which was pretty much the boys making fun of each other. Tim was making fun of that game "Rock Band", but we went back to their house and Tim couldn't stop being a rock star. I was rockin' the bass and well can't say I have a future as a drummer, but Tim kept singing and singing and his girly voice doing a Garbage song was priceless. We went to his sister's house, and her husband had just become a K-9 cop and has Body, a new 15 month old German Shepherd-Malamois mix K-9 cop in training now in addition to their 3 year old purebred shepherd, Thor. Body may only be 65 lbs, but he's agile, likes to jump, and isn't quite as trained as the other boys. Thor is I believe 85 lbs... and then there's monster Log Dog at 100 lbs (or more, he got fat over the holidays just like his mom and dad, haha!). Those three shepherds got along so great and went nuts in the backyard! We watched the Eagles WIN (which has set the agenda for every Sunday until hopefully the Superbowl) and Tim couldn't be happier. Tim's aunts and uncles came over on various days, the only of which I had met were Aunt Diane and Uncle Steve (they came to Colorado with his parents last year). We went and saw his Nan and she was pretty funny, told Tim she thought I'd be shorter but I think she liked me. ;)
We also went to see his friend Greg and Shannon and their 3 kids and their house in the country, which was pretty nice! Our New Years was pretty uneventful, Tim went through his model train collection and giggled like a little kid and I read books on my new Amazon Kindle. Which is a funny story in itself... my mom hands me a box for X-mas and I open it, it says "Kindle". I get a puzzled look on my face and my mom and Linda are like, "It's Kindle! You don't know what Kindle is??" Ummmm... Even when I open the box, I'm like what the heck?? Now this Kindle thing isn't cheap, but my mom tells me she heard about it on Oprah, you download books onto it. And since A. I love books but B. I travel a lot and am sick of moving boxes of books, it would be great for me! I kept joking with Tim that she got my a flat screen tv (my big addiction)... and I was like well um I've never heard of Kindle... thinking of what size tv I could buy for the same price... Needless to say, I researched it online and started messing around with it, and I LOVE KINDLE! Tim likes to talk about Kindle like Kindle is a person, like "Are you going to hang out with Kindle today?" and "How is Kindle doing?" The only bad part is that books aren't really cheap, considering I buy all my books used, and that since it's set up to purchase books immediately when you click, "Buy this book", it's easy to spend a lot of money. :P It uses Sprint's cell phone network for free to get on the internet (in black and white) and browse the bookstore.
Anway, back on track... I hung out with Kindle on New Year's. The ball dropped, whoop-de-doo it's 2009! Then we watched some crazy dare devils on motorbikes do some stunts, and then went to sleep. Pretty wild huh.
Logan got to hang out with Tim's parents a lot and I think between Logan and Thor, his mom really wants a dog. I hope she gets one. ;) Tim bought $36 in Tastykakes, a Philly local junk-food mini cake, and saw the sights. Went to Cabelas. We did not exercize whatsoever and I am still trying to get back to eating well (no gluten, corn, soy, blah blah blah) and feeling fit. Overall I was pretty tired from socializing and eating uncontrollable amounts of sugar! But it was nice to finally see Tim's hometown and meet more of his friends and family, though he didn't get to see everybody he had hoped. The whole time, I had "The Fresh Prince of Bell Air" theme song in my head...
Then the long, long drive home. We left on Friday morning after New Years and took I-80. It took 29 hours; it wasn't nearly as cold, but it was windy! Logan was visibly uncomfortable in the back of the cab, but he was a good sport about it. I kept myself entertained by reading about the swarm of earthquakes in Yellowstone National Park, but alas no end-of-the-world volcanic explosion is in the near future, (though that doesn't stop some folks from starting a panic anyway). We did finally get to my place in Drake and we couldn't even sleep, despite being so sleep deprived. Watched sports and played online. Got up early the next day, took care of some business, drove to Boulder and watched the Eagles win against the Vikings (WOOOO!) and then headed back on the road west to Grand Junction.
The first thing I did this past Monday back in the Junk is get a gym membership. ;) They have a pretty nice gym with good hours. I've been hitting it pretty hard and feel much better already. Not quite in the "hike all summer in the mountains" shape, or even in as good of "telemark ski around the backcountry of Rocky" shape as I'd like... but much better. The second thing I did was start exploring the public land with Logan. We romped in the snow among dinosaur bones (though we only really saw part of one) at the Fruita Paleological Site and also around Devil's Canyon, though we have yet to go on a long hike. I also spent a couple days fretting over Tim's 30th Birthday, which was on January 7th. Wooo! I had grand ideas but most of his friends are back in Estes, his birthday was on a Wednesday, and I wasn't sure how to make it a grand birthday. My first idea was lazer tag and skee ball at a place called bananas, but since they don't serve beer we went to th bowling super center called GJ Scores. I got Tim this big obnoxious balloon that sings Happy Birthday in Opera-style, some spider man temp tattoos, and some fancy hair conditioner for his Beard. Which, by the way, we forgot to celebrate his Happy Beard Day! His beard turned 2 years old on January 1st, and I had plans to make a big deal about it but without having any way of leaving the house without him (we were in PA), it fizzled. I have more bigger presents planned for him but we'll see what I end up getting him, when he makes up his mind what he really wants. :) After bowling we went and got sushi, of course!
While Tim's at work, I usually hang with Kindle, work out for a couple hours, play with the Loggenator (another new nickname for Logan), go online, stuff like that. My computer screen doesn't work all the time anymore so it's time to look for a new one. Friday, we went to see the new Clint Eastwood movie, Gran Tourino. His one liners are excellent, but it's a very good movie. Don't expect a real spaghetti western type plot - it's very serious, despite many one liners drawing a good chuckle (as well as in the back of your mind thinking, "I can't believe he just SAID that!"). We had big plans, like every weekend, of going skiing at Vail and such, but we were out past midnight at the movie and didn't want to wake up Saturday. So we just watched football and did nothing. :) Sunday, EAGLES FOOTBALL! And they won against the Giants! Next week, the Arizona Cardinals! Tim is freaking out of course, he pretty much doesn't hear or see anything unless it has to do with Eagles or football. ;)
After the victory, I really needed to get out of the house so we hiked a few miles up the No Thoroughfare canyon to a frozen waterfall, I took a couple photos and will post them soon. Today I had plans to go to Vail but after a nasty stomach ache last night and this morning, and the plain inability to get out of bed before 8:30 am anymore, it just didn't happen. Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I swear! ;)
This is my last week in Grand Junction before classes start at Colorado State. I'm trying to decide if I should pick up Ornithology or Riparian Ecology, which would mean classes 3 days a week instead of 2. I'm really going to have to get in the groove of being a real student again, and very quickly! I have a feeling that one class will be challenging, with lots of statistics and population modeling, but just typing my journal nowadays sometimes feels like a challenge!
Anyway time to take the dog for a walk. Send good skiing vibes my way and hopefully I'll get up early enough to make the 2 1/2 hour drive tomorrow. ;)
Friday, December 19, 2008
Roadtrip = A week of snowstorms?!
I'm not sure what the worst part about these snowstorms is (because I LOVE snow) - the fact that I did not ONCE hit the ski slopes, or the fact that I have to drive from Grand Junction to Estes to Michigan between 4:30 this afternoon and Sunday. Thank goodness for 4x4 trucks, good tires, and an iPod!
I'm hanging out in Fruita, enjoying the expensive new USB wireless-N card I had to buy after my computer took a poop yesterday. The USB port wasn't even registering but with some persistence and aggravating clicking and restarting and system restore and unistalling, the USB port came back to life... but my old wireless card didn't survive the trauma. It wasn't working very well anyway. Amazing what a difference a WORKING wireless connection makes, the internet is so fast I don't know what to do with myself.
Another expensive thing in my life broke. That seems to be the trend of my holidays. My clutch on my truck went out on my way from Estes to Grand Junction. Not a surprise since I'm at 204k miles, and who knows if/when the clutch was replaced. Thankfully I know how to operate a manual without using the clutch (all that time behind the wheel of a 1970 something piece of crap split-shift Brigadeer dump truck) because I could NOT get it into 1st gear! I somehow made it from Colorado National Monument down to a shop in town... barely! Little did I know it would run me over $850! Ouch! I don't know when I'll recover from that one. Student loans can only cover so much... thank goodness I have a little emergency fund for these sorts of things!
Tim gets off work this afternoon after a week of doing trail work in the snow. I spent the time walking the dog, working out (since I was stuck at the Monument without a vehicle), and hiking in the snow.
It was overcast and snowed on and off; maybe 5" of snow on the trail so I only went perhaps 5 miles round trip. Of course, I went off-trail side-trip I tried to take and got cliffed out... so I had to backtrack uphill and retrace my route. Oops. ;)
I didn't end up going to Vail or Beaver Creek, although they are "only" 2 1/2 hours (more more with bad roads) away... closer than when I'm in Estes. Between having no truck, plus one morning it was windy and I didn't sleep well and sure as heck wasn't going to get out of bed... then today, I have to drive 6-8 hours with Tim from Grand Junction back to Estes and probably arrive between midnight and 1 am, so I didn't want to drive 5 hours round trip beforehand! Plenty of time when we get back from our road trip though.
So the roadtrip... leaving Estes in the afternoon on Saturday, arriving in Michigan on Sunday. Busy times, too! Tuesday alone, I am supposed to go out to eat with my family and friends, plus the Holiday party with my cityworker friends, a retirement party, and the Red Wings game (WOOOOO!!!)! Then our HUGE family X-mas party on the eve, my mom's house then my dad's house on X-mas day, Jeff's party on the 26th, and then on to Pennyslvania to see Tim's family and meet Logan's "cousins" - two German Shepherds owned by his sister and brother in law. One is their family dog, the other is the new K-9 Cop that Ryan is training. Pretty exciting, big dogs everywhere! I'm sure Tim's family will give them lots of great Christmas presents again. :)
Anyway need to pack and clean before we head out in a few hours. Can't wait to see everybody back at home! LET IT SNOW... just let it wait until we are done driving. ;)
GO WINGS!
I'm hanging out in Fruita, enjoying the expensive new USB wireless-N card I had to buy after my computer took a poop yesterday. The USB port wasn't even registering but with some persistence and aggravating clicking and restarting and system restore and unistalling, the USB port came back to life... but my old wireless card didn't survive the trauma. It wasn't working very well anyway. Amazing what a difference a WORKING wireless connection makes, the internet is so fast I don't know what to do with myself.
Another expensive thing in my life broke. That seems to be the trend of my holidays. My clutch on my truck went out on my way from Estes to Grand Junction. Not a surprise since I'm at 204k miles, and who knows if/when the clutch was replaced. Thankfully I know how to operate a manual without using the clutch (all that time behind the wheel of a 1970 something piece of crap split-shift Brigadeer dump truck) because I could NOT get it into 1st gear! I somehow made it from Colorado National Monument down to a shop in town... barely! Little did I know it would run me over $850! Ouch! I don't know when I'll recover from that one. Student loans can only cover so much... thank goodness I have a little emergency fund for these sorts of things!
Tim gets off work this afternoon after a week of doing trail work in the snow. I spent the time walking the dog, working out (since I was stuck at the Monument without a vehicle), and hiking in the snow.
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| From Colorado National Monument, Winter 2008 |
It was overcast and snowed on and off; maybe 5" of snow on the trail so I only went perhaps 5 miles round trip. Of course, I went off-trail side-trip I tried to take and got cliffed out... so I had to backtrack uphill and retrace my route. Oops. ;)
I didn't end up going to Vail or Beaver Creek, although they are "only" 2 1/2 hours (more more with bad roads) away... closer than when I'm in Estes. Between having no truck, plus one morning it was windy and I didn't sleep well and sure as heck wasn't going to get out of bed... then today, I have to drive 6-8 hours with Tim from Grand Junction back to Estes and probably arrive between midnight and 1 am, so I didn't want to drive 5 hours round trip beforehand! Plenty of time when we get back from our road trip though.
So the roadtrip... leaving Estes in the afternoon on Saturday, arriving in Michigan on Sunday. Busy times, too! Tuesday alone, I am supposed to go out to eat with my family and friends, plus the Holiday party with my cityworker friends, a retirement party, and the Red Wings game (WOOOOO!!!)! Then our HUGE family X-mas party on the eve, my mom's house then my dad's house on X-mas day, Jeff's party on the 26th, and then on to Pennyslvania to see Tim's family and meet Logan's "cousins" - two German Shepherds owned by his sister and brother in law. One is their family dog, the other is the new K-9 Cop that Ryan is training. Pretty exciting, big dogs everywhere! I'm sure Tim's family will give them lots of great Christmas presents again. :)
Anyway need to pack and clean before we head out in a few hours. Can't wait to see everybody back at home! LET IT SNOW... just let it wait until we are done driving. ;)
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| From Winter 2008-2009 |
GO WINGS!
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