The North Fork Adventure!

From North Fork Ca...

What an adventure indeed! Depending on who you are, you're either going to read about my weekend and say "Wow, that sounds GREAT!" or "Are you freaking CRAZY?! That sounds AWEFUL!"

Let me just say, it was one of the best weekends I've had in months!

I woke up on Friday morning with tons of stuff to do - send Logan off to day care, run some errands... and SOLD MY FOCUS! Woo hoo! I'm rich! Well, not really... but my lovely little hatchback is now frolicking somewhere down near Colorado Springs, and I've got a little bit o' cash. ;)  I finally got all Loge's stuff together and dropped him off at Tara's for the weekend, trying not to be an overly worried mommy. Tim and I wanted to get to the trailhead by 3:00 but didn't make on the trail until about 4:30 pm.

All that fresh powder beckoning us... Strapped on my brand new snowshoes and hoisted my pack onto my back, as Tim geared up in his "bunny boots" (rubber boots filled with air, so they are SUPER warm) and put HIS pack - probably at least 60 lbs - on his back... and off we went. We went up and down the road by Cheley Camp and soon were in the national forest. Fresh moose tracks were along the trail along the drainage, so I jokingly started my "moose call" - "HEEEEERRRREEEEEE MOOSEY MOOSEY MOOSEY" And what do you know, Tim looks up to our left, and there's a momma moose and her baby hanging out on the slope. It was a great start to our trip, and we weren't too tired or cold and the powder was fresh but not too deep. Perfect!

The sun began to set. The last hints of ANYBODY being on the trail quickly faded away, and soon we were traveling through deep powdery drifts of snow. We'd bet that nobody had been up there in MONTHS, as there was no snowpack of footprints and the powder was unlike anything I've ever seen. The snow had drifted and was so deep that we kept losing the trail on and off. Even when we were ON trail, we could hardly tell that there was a prexisiting route, giving us this liberating feeling of bushwacking into the backcountry, wild and untouched.

This was great for a while, but I don't have snowpants anymore and my new snowshoes kick up snow on my butt more than any other pair ever had, so soon my butt was frozen and the temperature dropped severely. We were both pretty warm for most of the hike in, but once the sun set, the wind picked up, and we both got dehydrated from our water bottles freezing... My butt was so cold it hurt! Yes, I did wonder if you could get frostbite on your heiney, it was THAT cold! But besides that, my hands, feet, face and core were all nice and toasty as we went from Forest Service Land, to Comanche Peaks Wilderness, and finally into Rocky Mountain.

The big problem was once we got fatigued and the temperature and the sun went down, we reached a few points where we had no idea where the trail was, and the snow was deeper than ever. We backtracked and plodded around in bewilderment for a short period of time, trying to find some hint - maybe a cut tree, or a rock wall - of the trail instead of truly meandering off into the middle of nowhere. Somehow we always managed to pick up the trail and kept trudging on, uphill, hoping that we were getting close to warmth!

Tim started running on empty and his heavy pack was taking its toll; I was in front breaking trail and, if you've never done this in deep powder, it tires you out fast. I'd get bogged down, catch my breath, curse loudly and pure stubbornness powered me through some deep snow drifts. Finally we reached a high point in the woods and Tim was certain the cabin was somewhere, and that we somehow lost the trail again. Miraculously again, we roamed around until we found the true trail and reached a sign. The cabin is here!

...But where?! With only the moonlight and our headlamps, we knew it was somewhere close but we just could NOT see it!! Tim dropped his pack and headed along the river, and I was so thankful when he called out that he found it. I had visions of us reaching the cabin, then him dropping the key because his hands were so cold, and being stuck outside! But nothing of the sort happened, and soon we were indoors from the wind... and it was a whopping 8 degrees!! So five hours later, at 9:30 pm, we reached our 5 mile destination... Yep, we averaged ONE mile per HOUR!

Once inside, Tim immediately got to work on lighting the wood stove. That piece of metal was my best friend as it came to life and began warming our cold little 20'x16' cabin and brought some feeling back into my butt! Tim was fantastic about getting us warm and fed, and we feasted on cashews and hot lentil soup at around 11:30 pm. The windows were boarded up so it was completely dark indoors, while the bright moon cast purple shadows in the pines outside. We didn't have the energy or desire to get the propane system up and running, so we just lit some candles and wore our headlamps as we set up our sleeping bags and pads in the loft. Soon it was 40 degrees downstairs, and even warmer in the loft, and we drifted off into a dehydrated, exhausted sleep. I for one can say that I had the most bizarre dreams, each part a creative and strange account of why my back ached, why my butt was so cold, why my hand hurt (in the dark, didn't see that there was a drop off and hit my hand on the stove pipe!)... I slept pretty well but was happy to be done with those dreams and back into reality in the morning!

We were worried because we were supposed to call into ROMO dispatch to let them know we made it; however, the battery for the radio was dead, and we were slightly worried that they would send rangers out to find us, as per backcountry protocol if somebody doesn't check in. Nobody ever mentioned that it was a SOLAR battery, mounted under a few feet of snow on the roof... But we did reach them in the morning before any rescue crew came out to greet us. ;)

The shutters were still closed so we didn't even realize how bright it was outside until we climbed out of the loft and went out the front door for a cold and invigorating "bathroom break" - nothing like baring your bottom on a beautiful winter day! (And we never did find the privy - we were looking for an outhouse building... ends up, it was simply a hole in the ground with some logs behind it! We had passed it so many times, but it was so buried in snow we didn't realize it!) As Tim phrased it, Saturday was a bluebird day without a cloud in the sky! Smoke poured from our chimney as Tim removed the shutters and shed some glorious sunlight into our little home! Soon, bacon was sizzling on the propane stove and Tim cooked up toast and scrambled eggs with mushrooms. It was a great start to the day and the wood stove got our little home up to 68 degrees. Well fed, we relaxed in front of the windows for a while and took our time gearing up for our day hike. We filtered water right from the stream and got rehydrated, and fortunately Tim let me borrow some pants so I wouldn't literally freeze my ass off again! Around 12:30, we finally headed out on the virgin powder trail towards Lost Lake. We decided that, in light of our progress the night before, there was no way we would reach the lake, a 10 mile round trip. We aimed for the Falls instead, which I believe is about 2.5 miles. I think we realized pretty quickly, as we took turns exhausting ourselves breaking trail, that this might not be realistic either.

No matter, for the day was bright, "warm" (we were sweating in 30 degree weather!), and just beautiful. We stopped for a chicken/mushroom/asperagus and cashew lunch at Happily Lost campsite and determined that we really weren't going to make it to the falls, it was so slow going and the snow remained deep. We continued on for a short amount of time to see if we could get a better view of Stormy Peaks, but the trail remained buried in the forest so we turned around about 3 pm. Going back to the cabin went FAST, since we had made a trail and it was downhill. We were back at the cabin by 4:30 and spent the rest of the day in our long underwear, reading magazines and just being lazy, watching the icicles grow longer as the heat from our stove melted the few feet of snow on the roof.

Saturday night was burrito night! Tim packed in a tomato and an avocado, tortillas, veggie meat, cheese and hot sauce and cooked under the light of the propane lamp mounted on the rafter. He even surprised me and brought a bottle of wine, so we ate like kings and called it an early night, I believe around 9 pm? The moon shined in brightly but we slept well in the dark loft.

Sunday morning came and it was time to clean up and prepare for our hike out. We had another big breakfast of eggs and bacon, I filtered water and restocked the wood pile by the cabin as he tended to the fire and took care of other chores. We took our time and both didn't want to leave. It was another gorgeous, warm day and everything was set just before noon. Our last two tasks were to sign the Cabin Register and close up the windows. Nobody had been there since October! It was a nice feeling to think we were the only ones to have set foot and enjoyed the North Fork Cabin all winter. All geared up and ready to go, Tim put in the last 2 bolts to the shutters, we closed the door and locked the bolt and snowshoed away from our weekend retreat. Such a good trip!

The hike out was WARM - maybe 40 degrees - and Tim was down to just a t-shirt. The snow was no longer powdery but was wet and heavy, and we made it out very quickly on our trodden path - 3 hours, compared to the 5 it took to get there. Made it to the trailhead, took showers, and was back at the Rock Inn just after 4 for a cold beer or two or three. Picked up Logan from Tara's, watched Seinfeld at my place, and went to bed... And of course, neither one of us slept as well as we did at the cabin, on thin pads in our sleeping bags. Go figure.

So that is the North Fork Adventure. I hope we do something like that again in the future! Unfortunately, I didn't get many photos - it was so cold, my camera didn't want to work, or my fingers didn't want to bother with it.

And here is yet another "could've been a nice photo, but..." picture of Tim and I. Tate, the guy on the right, had a friend come into town and he posted this photo on his myspace page. I'm waiting for the day that we take a photo that I won't get teased about! But, it is pretty darned funny!

At least I can crop it and almost make it look decent... ;)

Ever see a mandolin player headbang??

Last night was that Yonder Mountain String Band show that I was so excited about. I knew that it was for this "thing" called "E-Town", but I didn't really know what E-town was. Tim tried to explain, but I still didn't really know what he was talking about.

Well, it was unlike any other show I've ever seen. In fact, it wasn't like a concert at all. E-town is a one hour music variety show, where they have a few artists come on, play some songs, do an interview, then play a little more. It was a lot like some artist features on NPR; you hear them playing in front of a live audience and hear the interviews on the radio. Seeing this happen as a member of the live audience was a trip - for example, they introduced Yonder Mountain, they played 3 songs, and then they RE-introduced them (without the band really coming back on) because they didn't like how it turned out the first time. We'd have to repeat the "tail end of that applause" so they could come in and thank the sponsors, and sometimes the audience was too loud, or the announcer chick would flub it. In mid-song, David Wilcox flubbed a verse and they repeated it. All this, so they could cut and paste a 2 1/2 hour show into a 1 hour show. This, and they had to edit out the morons that kept yelling out to try to be on the radio. :P  It was so great because Yonder played a few songs, got interviewed, then David Wilcox came on and did a few, got interviewed, did some more songs, interviewed some guy from a Katrina musician's nonprofit, then Yonder came back out and played more. In the end, David Wilcox, Nick Forster (musician and host of E-town), and Yonder all played that Motown song, "I Second That Emotion" by Smokey Robinson - which of course was freaking fantastic. 10 people on stage, including 2 mandolins, a banjo, a string bass, a few guitars...

David Wilcox is one of those singer songwriters that tells a story and gets, well, pretty emotional. He doesn't shy away from religion, love, politics, or anything - "feel good" music. I'd guess they'd play him on one of those "positive thinking" radio stations. :)  He was a little too touchy feely for me for a lot of songs, but irregardless of that, he was SUCH a talented singer and guitar player that I have to give him props. Tim really likes him; but he's weird. Especially since he likes Marilyn Manson and Tool just as much as I do. Go figure. ;)

Anyway, they do air E-Town around in Michigan. I think the latest one is of Susan Tesdeschi - a blues/folk awesome singer with a killer voice. I don't know when this Yonder show will be aired. Anyway, here's some stations to check out in Michigan; other places, check out the website to find them, you'd figure it out.  Ann Arbor's station, 107.1 fm, plays it on Sunday morning from 7-8 am. It is also on 107.1 in the Detroit Metro area, on Sunday morning at 10 am. Around Detroit it is also on 91.5 on Thursday at 10 am (supposedly, though it's not on their website), and in Lansing on 89.7 at 1 pm on Wednesday and Saturday.

Yonder is probably one of my all time favorite bands, and now I've finally seen them live! The lead guy, Jeff Austin, sings and headbangs while playing mandolin. How cool is that?! People couldn't help but finally bust out of their seats and start dancing at the end of the show (which was discouraged because of the nature of the program).

Tim's friend and his girl bailed on our camping trip, so it's just him and I hiking up to the North Fork tomorrow. He's stuck with me in the wilderness, bwa ha ha. We are hiking out tomorrow afternoon, and there is a full moon on the 2nd... with this fresh new snow we got yesterday, it should be absolutely gorgeous, with our cabin all to ourselves... a fireplace and a propane stove to curl up next to... Have I mentioned, life is good? :)

My last day with the fire crew was yesterday, and I couldn't even work! I went in, but I got a migrane the night before, so when we were going over the weather and morning briefing, I couldn't even see straight and the light was hurting my eyes. They were hiking a steep part in a snowstorm, and I just couldn't do it, my head was pounding and my vision was blurry. So alas, I went home, took a pill, shut all the shades and went into a coma until 1 pm yesterday. It was fun work, in a masochistic sort of way. Now, I just have to wait to see if I get that crewleader job, which closed yesterday. Hope to hear in two weeks where I made it on the cert (the list that ranks you).

Hmm what else is new. Time to run down to Boulder and get some snowshoes for this weekend! Oh, and somebody is coming to look at my Focus tomorrow. Hope they want it! Because I'm ready to get rid of it. ;)

Grey's Anatomy is so freaking good!

My freaking entry got deleted! Stupid AOL!

First, I was raving about the latest episodes of Grey's Anatomy. SO GOOD! Lots of good plot twists and unexpected drama. Watch the last 3 episodes if you haven't seen them at ABC.com!!!

I am psyched for our camping trip this weekend. We are going on the North Fork Trail, staying at the ranger cabin, and then snowshoeing up to Lost Lake. This is the only part of the park I have never hiked. Here's a description of the trail, and here is a map. Our trail is the orange line:

My last day of work with the fire crew is Wednesday. Bittersweet, since I like working and I like money, but I don't like that I keep getting sick from inhaling all that smoke and hiking up and down mountains in cold windy weather. I'll be unemployed again until at least Mid March, maybe April if I don't get the crew leader job. WISH ME LUCK! Cisco, the guy I did it with, is ticked that they are requiring a CDL. I know of one guy that may be tough competition IF he put in for it; but I know he applied for trail crew so maybe he's just not into haz tree anymore?? Here's my potential job description:

"At least 70% of your time will be spent completing a variety of projects in the areas of forest health and insect management.  You will be responsible for implementation of field programs for hazard trees, forest insect and disease, and for coordination of logistics for project completion.  The position requires consolidated and detailed reports of daily field activities when insecticides are applied, when implementing pest control strategies, and coordinating hazard tree control actions including the marking of trees for monitoring purposes.  You will assist the Natural Resource Specialist and Fire Management Officer with planning and coordination of park-wide forest health field projects; develop and implement project work plans; coordinate with other divisions and agencies to obtain necessary assistance; obtain necessary supplies; design, coordinate, and conduct trainings.  The other 30% of your time will be spent in motor vehicle equipment operation, fire management activities, buck and rail maintenance, and snow play boardwalk maintenance."

PICK ME! PICK ME!

Oh, and there is a photography contest going on up here, for photos of Estes Park or Rocky Mountain National Park. I can have up to 5 entries. Please look at these photos and let me know which ones you like the most. The worst part? I'm competing against my Timmy - and he's really freaking good. Trust me. If you remember any photos that I didn't put on here but you really really liked from Rocky Mountain, let me know!

 

From Photo Contest

My puppy and I have the same painkillers

Last week, I brought Logan home from day care and fed him dinner. For the first time in his life, he didn't chow it down and just layed down. I KNEW something was wrong - my chowhound wouldn't eat! Strange. He did the same thing the next morning - he would eventually eat it all, but my little Pac Man just wasn't feeling well. After he nearly exploded in my truck because he was SICK and HAD to go potty (bless his little puppy heart, he didn't go in my truck and held it until I could pull over, though he was soooo ill) I realized that this wasn't going to get better by itself. Last Thursday, I brought him to see Dr. Fish. Logan's got a stomach bug. No big deal, some antibiotics and he's good to go... right??

His belly started to feel better right away. On top of this, he's teething and that's bugging him. Then I realized he was sitting funny. I paid more attention... he had a little limp too (hard to tell, since he has that silly german shepherd swagger combined with puppy clumsiness). I checked out his paw and his leg and couldn't find anything wrong. It got worse and worse over the weekend; he would whine and get up and readjust when he was trying to sleep - he just moaned and ached. I got worried, of course. I didn't know if he sprained something, or played too rough at day care... but he didn't even want to sit up anymore, his leg bothered him so much.

I brought him to the vet first thing this morning. Guess what's wrong with him?

GROWING PAINS.

Did I mention he's 40 lbs at 4 months old?

This is relatively common with large breed dogs, and it's called panosteitis. He's a little on the young side to get it, but he's just a big boy and he's definitely growing! The good news is it's temporary; the bad news, is that the only thing you can really do is give him pain relievers. The doctor said that once, a bassett hound came in SCREAMING in pain from it; the only thing they could do was give him morphine! Fortunately, Logan isn't in THAT much pain, and hopefully it doesn't get to that point. So now he's on two pills... one of which is Tramadol... Which is what I take for MY back pain when I hurt it at work! Go figure, my dog and I share narcotics. :P

What else is new with me?? Well, today is a holiday (president's day; I would never have known if I didn't work for the feds!) and I am going to see my friend Maria, who just moved back to Fort Collins from Flagstaff. I only have maybe 9 days left of work (running out of funding), but if I get that hazard tree lead position I might be starting mid March. Tim reserved the North Fork cabin for March 2-3, so a bunch of us will be snowshoeing up there and hanging out in the woods. We got tickets to see Yonder Mountain String Band in Fort Collins on the 28th. I am trading my old trombone for a violin with some lady over Craigslist - I think I'm getting the better end of the deal, since it's in great condition; she just really wants an affordable brass instrument and has an extra violin lying around!

And the last lame little tidbit - I made Logan a profile on Dogster. It's like myspace, but for dogs. I know. Lame. Lame. Lame. I just couldn't help it. He's making lots of doggie friends though! ;)

Happy Valentines Day!

I'm not really big on V-day, but Tim took me out for sushi last night in Fort Collins.... YUMMMMMMY! Oh my god I ate so much I thought I was going to explode!

I'm selling tons of stuff on ebay right now. My user name is amazonchic. Buy my stuff!! It's mostly earrings and some other random stuff. Can you tell I owe in taxes again this year?!?

Here's some funny photos of the mutt. I gave him a bath... That's all I'll say. ;)

Now, I think I'll drive down to Boulder to buy some groceries. Yuck. I totally don't want to go down there!

 

From Winter 2006-2007

Burning stuff is fun

What have I been up to lately? Well how about this:

That was Saturday night at the Rock Inn. It was Erin's birthday and the Stanleytones played. There's a couple photos of myself and Tim thrown in there too. It was a good night! I can reasonably say that I know most of the people in those photos, and a lot of the people sitting at the bar are friends of mine. Welcome to my social life! I even got to bring Logan out with all the other dogs around midnight. He had a good time despite how tired he was.

I had walked Logan in town earlier that day and tons of people told me how cool and sweet he was. One guy even pulled over to find out where I got him, because he wants one too! People seem to think he's part Rottweiler because of his coloring. Purebred shepherd, baby!!

And I've also been up to this:

Amy and Arturo taking a break the day that our coworker Tim dislocated his shoulder

Did I mention it's snowy and steep??

A burn pile that lit a small juniper on fire.

Just workin' and having fun I suppose. It's a rough life, really. :P  Tim rented the North Fork cabin for the first weekend in March; it's a 6-7 mile snowshoe in, so us two and a few of his friends will be going up there. Sounds like fun!

But alas, I am exhausted from another day burning on Deer Mountain. So that's all for now!

Back to the mountains!!

First of all, the photos from Donna's wedding are posted - and they are unbelieveable! I think these are probably the best wedding pictures I have ever seen. I, of course, do not photograph well... But Donna is freaking GORGEOUS! Hot Donna! Hot Donna! ;) Warning: it takes a long time to get through them all. I downloaded just the ones of me and the girls to my Picasa album so it's much quicker to get through... but I didn't download all the cool ones so it's worth going through them all if you have time!

From Donna and Jas...

Well, the trip back to Michigan went by way too fast... And I am so exhausted from all the running around! So let's start from the beginning.

Before I got this fire job, I had been planning on coming back to MI for two weeks at this time anyway. But then since I was working, I figured I would just wait until the end of February and visit before my "real" job doing hazard tree started - which would be March if I get the lead, April if I don't. Well, we haven't been able to burn much so it looks like I will be working straight into March, so I no longer knew if I could drive back and show off the pup. The fuels crew wasn't working Tues-Thurs anyway last week, and I didn't know this until the previous Thursday. Friday I just said Screw it, I'll take Monday and Friday off too and just go to Michigan!

So I just hopped in my truck with Logan around 10 am last Saturday and drove straight through. The dog was soooo well behaved and just slept the whole way - all 19 1/2 hours it ended up taking me! Of course, I had joked to all my city worker friends back in Michigan that I would bring a blizzard with me so they could get overtime plowing snow. This backfired, and I wound up in a lake effect snow storm on the west side of MI at 3 in the morning... I was already exhausted, and it was snowing so heavy I thought I would go cross eyed! But with my sweet new tires, I passed everybody on the freeway... Of course, they probably saw my Colorado license plates and knew they were dealing with a professional. ;)

I rolled into the driveway of my parents' house at 7:30 am, went inside and the dogs started barking like nuts. I just wanted to sleep but there was no way they were going to settle down. Sue saw me and was like, "What are you doing here??" Then I went upstairs to see my parents and they're just like "Oh hey." Hardly any surprise at all! Then again, my friends later reminded me that people expect me to do the unexpected by now, so why should they be surprised anymore? :)

Once the mutts calmed down, I proceeded to sleep ALL DAY. I finally woke up at like 5:30 pm and sent a text message to everybody that said "I'm in Michigan, bitches! SURPRISE!!" and that's when the phone calls and texts started pouring in. By 6 pm I already had most of my week booked with visits to people. I didn't hear back from Donna right away though, so I hoped maybe she was working at Champps Restaurant and I could surprise her. I drove up there and got a seat in her section. She came over to take my order and I look up from my menu... She does a literal double take... Then shouts "LISA! OH MY GOD!!!" By far, she was the best reaction of the whole trip, all happy and loud in the middle of the restaurant. So we tried to talk between her waiting on tables and made a lunch date for later in the week. I hadn't seen her since her wedding, and hadn't even heard about the honeymoon! Definitely had some catching up to do. After Chammps, I went over to see Jess and Michelle... I hadn't even seen them since July, and Michelle is having a baby in 2 months!

After a while, the days ran together so here's just a recap of what else happened. Monday, I went down to the City of Novi DPW garage to visit my old coworkers and brought Logan along. Everybody freaking loved him, he was so well behaved! My friend Marc has owned a few shepherds in his day and loved that he already has that German Shepherd swagger (like a panther!) down. ;)  I also met up with Tara at the Bamboo Club and found out that her hubby Kevin got a job offer in Arizona - so hopefully they'll be moving West too!! Monday night, Linda and I went to Ann Arbor to see Kevin and Beth. Did I mention that my sister, Kevin and Beth, AND Donna and Jason are all buying houses?? We went out to Sidetracks in Ypsilanti, and I can't believe that in all my years living out there I had never been there. If you're ever in that area, GO THERE! The deep friend mushrooms aren't normal button mushrooms... they are portabellos! Soooo good!

I think Tuesday I went out to visit my Dad. He's not really big on dogs, but I think he liked Logan more than he let on. My first dog was an albino German Shepherd that he got when I was little, so I think he might have a hidden soft spot for him. ;)  That night I went out to Outback with Mom, Linda and Sue. Unfortunately, my stepdad was soooo sick for most of the time I was there... so it ended up being a girl's night out. Wednesday was my lunch date with Hot Donna. We switched it up and went to Godaiko, which is a Japanese Steakhouse/Sushi place. I accidentallyordered the wrong lunch combo... I thought I was getting mostly rolls with just a little bit of sashimi (raw fish). Instead, I was presented by a very attractive plate of one roll... and a whole lot of colorful raw fish. Yikes! I guess it was a good way to try new things! By far the salmon is the best; wasn't too keen on the tuna... but it was all pretty good! Mmmmmm raw fish. Much better than it sounds!!

I met up with a few of the Novi guys at a place called Famous Dave's for happy hour - $1 pints of Guinness! I ended up hanging out with Steve, John, and Drew... and got in a pretty heated discussion about gun laws, and about multi-use recreation areas. Drew says he shouldn't have to worry about getting run over by mountain bikes when he's hunting. I said I don't want to worry about getting shot when I'm mountain biking! It was pretty amusing. Then hung out with Linny over coffee and talked about her house hunting and the fact that she is essentially engaged to Tony!! It's not "official" but it's gonna happen. My little sis is gonna get married!!! Don't ask when, because she doesn't know - lots on her plate right now - but I think I'm more psyched up about this than she is! ;)

As is my new tradition, I saw my stylist and got my hair cut when I was back. I always joke that she's just as important as my family, since I make it a point to see her when I come back. Hey, I just haven't found anybody I like cutting my hair out in CO yet!

And in a wonderful coincidence, Thursday just so happened to be Jack's retirement party. Who is Jack? Jack hired me for my first job out of high school with the City of Novi. He hired me among almost all guys to work at the parks, mow grass, run a tractor, prep ball fields... Got me hooked on manual labor... Then put me in forestry where I got started. So if it wasn't for Jack, I probably wouldn't be out here in Colorado doing forestry work! I hadn't seen him in a few years either, and he hired me when I was 18. He was also sooo important as a reference for me, and said great things about me for jobs everywhere from Maine to Alaska... And helped me with a good reference for the City of Oak Park. It just so happened his retirement party was at 5th Avenue, which was where I was going with my friends that evening anyway.

Linda, Susan and I (all three of us work or used to work for the city) show up for the party. I didn't even realize how many people would be there, so many people that I used to work with! A few of my "boys" were there, so my sisters hung out with them. I went up to Jack to say hi, to which he replies, "OH MY GOD, LISA!" He wondered where the heck I was living now, since he gave so many references all over the country. I told him he needed to come upstairs later and dance with us. It was good to see him!

Later, my sisters, Jess and I went upstairs for the music and hung out. Who shows up?? Jack, Tim, and Fozzy. Tim's son is my cousin's best friend; Fozzy is the forestry tech and would have been my partner if I had put in for that job instead of coming to Colorado. Jess has a few photos I'll post when she sends them to me. Donna even showed up! It was a lot of fun, but I'm definitely not used to being somewhere that crowded. Definitely like the quieter atmosphere up here in Estes! Guess I'm getting old, haha.

Friday, Linda and I took Logan out to see Tara's lab puppy, Lucy. Lucy is freaking HUGE - 65 solid stocky pounds, and a freaking wrecking ball of puppy energy! At first it scared Logan to see this massive dog run and jump at him, but he finally got sick of being pushed around and started wrestling back. It was exhausting just watching them!! Later, I got coffee with Jabena and saw her for the first time in almost a year!

All in all, it was soooo much talking! I didn't even get to see everybody that I wanted to - Aaron, Nat and Carl, Jeff and that crew... I was so busy and exhausted. Friday I could have taken my little bro to a Red Wings game, but I was so tired and was going to hit the road between 1 and 3 am Saturday morning so I couldn't. I could have also gone to the Wings/Avalanche game last Sunday if I had told them I was coming back! Doh! That's ok though. I watched the game with my mom on Friday night and got a couple hours of sleep.

Said my goodbyes and hit the road by 1:45 am Saturday night. I left earlier than I had planned because I heard some more snow was coming. The lake effect snow greeted me once again on the western side of the state; it wasn't too bad at the time, but I guess just a couple hours later there was a 20 car pile up! Glad I left early or I might have been stuck!

The ride home was exhausting and just NOT FUN. Logan was an angel again, but it was so windy and record cold temps along the way. It was 1 degree in Iowa with a -25 windchill... at 10 am! It was so cold I couldn't even really nap in my truck, it got too cold too fast. Logan couldn't even walk in the snow becausehis paws hurt! I didn't think I was ever going to make it back. I started getting a little loopy but lots of people called me to help keep me sane. I was convinced I would never get out of Nebraska! It's the state that never ends!

But I did make it, and was home by 8:15 pm (Colorado time). I haven't done the math to see how long it took. I showered up and went over to Tim's; he watched Deadwood and I passed out. Yesterday, we made a big bacon, eggs and toast breakfast, watched more Deadwood, and went to the Rock for the superbowl. I was suppose to work today but I got a nice little migrane and couldn't get out of bed. So, here I am on the computer!!

And that's pretty much all I have to say for now. Still don't feel great and am still exhausted from my trip to MI. Enjoy some photos!

From Winter 2006-2007

Surprise!! I'm in Michigan!

Yep, didn't even tell my family that I was coming home - just showed up at 7:30 am yesterday morning (and proceeded to sleep until 5 pm)!

So, I have lots of people to see! Call me! I'll explain more about why I am here now and not in late February like I thought when I get a chance to write more.

Time to wreak havoc on the suburbs of Detroit! ;)

Photostitched of my truck in the Centennial Valley at Red Rock Lakes Nat. Wildlife Refuge, MT

Sucks to be Ford...

Too bad my entire family is associated with the Big 3 in some way or another. Thankfully, my stepdad is retiring from Ford soon and won't have to worry about all the uncertainty and volatility of working for them... it's only going to get worse before it gets better, right? Unfortunately, my mom still has to deal with the constant threat of layoffs/forced retirement. She's been spared each round of cuts so far... I can only hope her lucks stays good for another couple years, when she'll have her 30 years in and can finally buy a good quality import off her retirement funds! ;)

Work is good. We can't burn piles when it's not windy enough to disperse the smoke, so I had Monday and today (Thursday) off. Tuesday and Wednesday was more snowshoeing up and down Deer Mountain, burning piles and falling over in the deep, heavy, wet snow (it's been about 40 degrees). One heck of a quad and buns work out, that's for sure! Logan starts Doggie Day Care tomorrow; we'll see if I get to work or not. Next week, we have Tues-Thursday off (no burn bosses around to take us out). What to do with all that time off...?? ;)

I guess Steve and I are no longer friends. After he nixed me from his wedding party because I'm "not a guy", I haven't been speaking to him. It's so insulting and ridiculous!!! Breaks my heart, 11+ yrs as best friends and he gets sexist on me. So, that's a big bummer.

Well, Logan is waiting for me in the truck. I think I'll take him for a little walk, maybe check out the dog park for the first time. I'm sure there's more news but having a puppy in the car keeps my online time short!

An almost dreary day in Estes

From Winter 2006-2007

 

Today is the first dreary day we've had in Estes. It's overcast and grey, we had some fresh snow this morning but it's stopped and just been cold. At least there's no wind. It's much like a Michigan winter day... but even as I'm typing this, the clouds are lifting and I see some blue in the horizon. Gotta love Colorado!

Click on that photo of Logan to see the latest pictures of my handsome four-legged friend. As of Wednesday, he was 12 weeks old and 32 pounds. I'm sure he's put on more weight even in the past few days. He's a great alarm clock too - he never fails to wake me between 6:45 and 7:15 am to go outside and eat breakfast. My friend Kim is letting him out in the middle of the day; I also found a really cheap doggie day care that I can drop him off so he's not crated all day. The lady that runs it also works on socialization - introducing him to lots of strangers, weird noises, situations, etc - so he'll be ready for anything! I'll probably start a puppy kindergarten class soon, but I have a feeling he'll be ahead of the class before it even starts. ;)

I didn't go ice climbing in Ouray. But I am on my way to Chris and Edy's to watch the Patriots hopefully win... so gotta make a beer and chips run! Tomorrow I start another week of trudging through the snow and eating lots of smoke while burning piles on Deer Mountain... At least I'll get in shape FAST!

Hot and cold

I started working with the fire crew on Tuesday. My first day of work, we snowshoed (my first time ever) up Deer Mountain. It wasn't windy enough to burn piles (ironic, because Estes is SOOO windy... if it's not windy enough, the smoke won't disperse and settles in town, which is not good) so we spent all day shoveling 2-3 feet of snow off of slash piles and got off early. It was tiring but felt good to be working again.

Yesterday, it was windy enough to burn. We parked on the south side of Deer Mountain and went up, over and down the north side of Deer Mountain, with our fire packs, shovels and drip torches - probably an extra 50 lbs of stuff, wearing only a cotton t-shirt, a polypropelene (moisture wicking) shirt, and a Nomex fire shirt, Nomex pants and gaiters... in 17 degree weather, wind blowing icy snow on the exposed ridge in our faces...

Yeah, I've been unemployed since October and it shows. I was EXHAUSTED just on the hike up. All uphill, without snowshoes until we got to the top... then we strapped them on because the snow was 3-4 feet inside the forest. I haven't done this much physical work, yet alone in these extreme conditions, in a long time. Once we hiked down to the piles, we had to shovel more snow off of them, then light them (they actually burn pretty easily despite all the snow) and make sure they don't get out of hand and start lighting the standing trees on fire. I mean, these piles were letting off 20-30 foot flame lengths, and it does get into the green trees and start torching them from the bottom up. Plus, all the dead snag trees were a hazard, and the deep snow... Let me put it like this. I was supposed to do 15 piles; I only got to 9. One guy did 20. Now, this was my first day, and most of them were on hot shot crews so they're in great shape... But I just couldn't keep up. And, I was not used eating all that smoke, so I was hacking and my eyes were watering. After we light the piles, we go back and "chunk" them - we jump into the pit left by the pile (usually 10-15 feet diameter, still very hot like a huge bonfire) and take the unburned ends on the outside of the ring and throw them into the middle, to try to completely burn everything. This, we do without snowshoes on. So I was hiking uphill in 3-4 feet of crusty snow with all this gear, jumping down into the 3 foot deep pits that are still burning, eating more smoke...

I didn't know if I could even hike out by the end of the day, I was so tired and sore. Everything from my neck, to my arms, my quads, my butt... soooo exhausted. We strapped our snowshoes back on and hiked up up UP the mountain and back down the other side, coughing the whole way. It was 30-45 minutes hiking out. Put this all together, and you have one worn-out Lisa.

I coughed all evening and my body hurt more and more. There was no way I was going to be able to do this again today, 2 days in a row. It's just TOO MUCH too soon. Between inhaling smoke and the cold air, and my aching muscles, I know I couldn't have made that hike today. I called in and told them that physically I just couldn't do it. Not a big deal. They understand, because they've had since November to get used to it... hard to just jump into something like that. I have Friday off to go ice climbing, and will be going in again on Monday.

I was so tired that I couldn't make the shrimp fettuccine that I was going to attempt last night. Instead, Tim and I finally got my belated New Year's tradition chinese food. :)  We tried to watch a movie, and I couldn't even stay up for it (Gladiator, which is one of my favorites)... I passed out, drooling on poor Tim ha ha. I'm only half kidding about the drooling part. :P

I slept like a log last night and had crazy dreams. One was that the pocket on my jacket ripped open, and Logan pulled all the stuffing out. I didn't know how on earth I was going to fix it! Another part, Tim asked me if I was excited for our big vacation. I was very excited, except I don't know where we were going. The weirdest thing is that I didn't know I was dreaming. I woke up thinking my jacket was broke, and that I was going somewhere with Tim. ;)

Logan is getting more shots today. His other ear finally popped up and he looks like a real german shepherd! Need to get some new photos on here soon. He's over 30 lbs and, though he's super smart, he's a little stubborn and loves to nip and mouth. He loves to "talk" but doesn't bark much. He's pretty much housebroken and not nearly as shy as he was before. I can usually expect to sleep from 10 pm until 6:30 or 7 am without him waking up... but then, he needs to go potty and expects breakfast! While I am working, I keep him on a leash indoors so he can get to his crate and water; I don't want to keep him in that little crate all day, but when I let him loose he hangs out on the couch, eats my slippers, and goes potty in the corner. He doesn't make a mess when I keep him in a small area, and he has a huge crate coming any day now (48" tall; will fit him when he's an adult!). If you go to the Silver Creek Kennels website and scroll down, you'll see something cute and funny that the breeder wrote about Logan. ;)

They still haven't posted the notice for that crew leader hazard tree job that I want; It may go from Resource Management to be directed by the Fire program. I doubt we'll be on the West side of the park as much as before, but I ran into Doug (the maint. supervisor on that side) and he told me he expects me to come back over there and he'll make arrangements so I can bring Logan. ;) 

We'll see if I'm going ice climbing in Ouray. It's like an 8 hour drive, and gotta figure out how much the hotel/renting equipment costs... and, I'll have psycho puppy to attend to while we are out there (yes, he'd be going with me).

That's the latest and greatest. I'm just gonna chill out while my aching body and congested lungs repair themselves today, while the wind blows the old, icy snow into huge drifts and the clear blue sky is deceptively inviting. By the way, snowshoeing is so much fun!! I highly recommend it if you've never tried it; they are light weight and easy to walk in, and keep you floating on even the deepest snow! It makes walking in winter more fun. ;)

Logan at 11 weeks old

Tim drinking Glenlivet scotch and watching the Eagles lose at the Rock Inn... with our "turkey feather" Eagle mascot and Randall the bear

Bruce and the Eagle, after shotgunning two Old Style beers

A comic from the local paper about all this damned wind!

Working! Not going to MI!

That's right, I've got a job! The fire crew picked me up for a month or so as an "AD hire" (kindof the fast track to temporary employment for a while with the gov) so I'll be burning slash piles in 3 feet of snow and blowing wind, maybe get to stay on the west side for a few days also. So that means I won't be coming back to MI. Kindof bummed but then again it will be fun working with the fire folks and making money is always a plus. ;)

Looks like next Thursday I'm going to Ouray, CO to do some ice climbing with Kevin (Tim's friend), his girlfriend Kim, Logan, and a few other people. I've never ice climbed, should be fun!! I love it down there in Ouray, Tim and I went there when we hiked those 14ers.

Guess I'm watching football at the Rock tonight... Go Eagles!

An Inconvenient Truth - WATCH IT!

Yes, that's right. Al Gore's documentary about global warming - An Inconvenient Truth - watch it now. Make your friends and family watch it. I don't care what you think about Gore as the should've-been president or anything like that. It's an eye opening look at the science and facts, and the images of the melting polar ice caps and glaciers (Glacier National Park; Switzerland; Greenland)... I mean, you can SEE it. I remember learning about this stuff when I was in elementary school; even then, I worried than in my lifetime that I would see this happen. In fact, I had totally forgotten that I had my own little "environmental club" in 3rd grade or something, I sent away for a kit in the newspaper. Now, it was only my sisters and maybe a couple friends in this "club" and we never did much but plant some little weenie twigs from the Arbor Day Foundation that all died... But it was fun. ;)

I'm hanging out at the Barking Dog Cafe in Lyons waiting for my awesome new Goodrich T/A KO tires to be put on my truck. I got them for a great price (but they're still expensive)... But maybe, just maybe I can make it up the driveway. At least I'm set to drive back to MI.

It snowed again today. Not as much as they thought - originally over a foot, but only got 3 inches maybe - but still, this snow is abnormal here. Actually, here's a good article about how even the Yoopers (residents of Michigan's upper peninsula) are noticing that there just may be something to this global warming thing.

Besides that, just hangin' with my pupper dog, drinkin' at the Rock, and hittin' the gym every day. Fun fun fun! Gosh, I can't wait til April and I can run a chainsaw again!

Happy New Year, I'm a slacker ;)

Let's take a look at the news. Everybody keeps calling and writing me wondering if I'm buried up to my head in snow. No, no, no. I'm just buried up to my @ss in snow. THESE people were buried up to their heads... and cars, trucks, and SUVS... in snow. There was an avalanche on the route - Berthoud Pass - that I take to drive from Estes to Granby/Winter Park when Trail Ridge Road is closed. Nobody died or anything but people were buried. It's always a really hairy section of road, even in June there can be crazy snowstorms along the winding, steep mountain pass. I almost applied to plow snow there, ha ha! Would have been a rich woman by now. ;)

We got another 1-1 1/2 feet of snow on Christmas Day. They didn't call this one a "blizzard" because compared to the 2-3 feet in the two previous storms, this was NOTHING. Bring it on! We're blizzard pros now! I'm posting some pictures, some of which are Dave getting stuck at Mark and Jen's on Christmas Day eve. He just doesn't know how to use 4x4. :P

Besides that, I'm learning that the stories of the "hurricane force winds" in Estes are NOT rumors. In face, I think the wind and blowing snow is worse than the blizzards. Blizzards are fluffy, friendly snow and usually falls very calmly. It's ok to shovel. It's ok to play in. These winds, which started 2 or 3 days ago, are just unbelieveable. I literally dug 3 trucks (including my own) out of our driveway/parking lot for our cabins on Saturday... and we hadn't gotten any new snow in days! It drifted so bad that Tim barely made it out on Saturday morning, but come the afternoon, I couldn't get out! It took some time and luck (and ruts from other people gunning it in and out of our parking area) and I shotgunned it out and haven't parked there since. It's absolutely rotten to be outside with the now-icy blowing snow pelting you in the face and literally blowing cars off the road. Ironically, it's a mostly blue sky and deceptively nice looking outside... And I dread leaving the coffee shop. ;) We even lost power for a few hours to the whole Park this morning. Fun fun!

New Years Eve I did end up working for the Rock Inn doing dishes. Tim realized that I-70 wouldn't open in time so him and his friend that drove with him stayed with his buddy in Kansas City. They drank expensive champagne and played video games. I was bummed he couldn't make it back! We vowed to do Chinese food and champagne for a belated New Years Celebration some time soon. I worked until 10:30, then went home to change out of my grubby wet clothes and look in on Logan, then went back and proceeded to do Jager shots and Jack and Cokes all night. I got one girl so drunk she couldn't put her jacket on correctly and she insisted she could walk home. Woops. Guess she just couldn't hang like the rest of us. ;)  Just lots of drinking and hanging out and I was in bed by 1:20 or so.

New Years Day, I watched that embarassing Michigan/USC football game with Tate and Tim got back later that evening... and got to meet Logan for the first time! He's great with dogs and Logan is really starting to like him. Hopefully not TOO much... he keeps joking Logan is gonna be HIS dog because he'll love him more! Ha ha, I'm not worried. Logan's a momma's boy! ;)

And really, I can't remember much of what else I've done this week. Got Tim a DVD player and Seinfeld season 7 for his X-mas/birthday presents, he got me a really nice sweater and I guess there's more stuff coming (probably DVDs) once my mom's other presents she got me comes in (so he doesn't buy what she bought me). Hung out at the Rock. Read books, watched movies. Played with dogs. Actually I just read a great book called "Arctic Daughter," a true story about a 23 year old girl and her boyfriend that decide to canoe up a river in Alaska to the Brooks Mountain Range, build their own cabin, and live off the land. It doesn't always go very well but catches the spirit of an adventerous soul that is searching out the wilderness experience.

Yesterday the 7th was Tim's 28th birthday! Oh I almost forgot, Tim shaved his beard, first thing he did before he even saw me and Logan! I hardly even recognized him! I joke that he looks like a frat boy (not really, but he was clean shaven and brought back some Tommy Hilfiger shirts from his parents' place) or a football player. But that's the last time I think he's going to shave again until... New Years Eve 2007. ;)  It's pretty scruffy and rough right now, can't wait til it's long, soft and FLUFFY again! Anyway, the Eagles made it to the playoffs so we went over to Bruce and Kerri's to eat Philly Cheese Steaks and chocolate caramel birthday cake and mint chocolate chip ice cream... The boys got schnockered in celebration, drinking Philly's own Victory Brewery beer and Jager shots, since they beat the Giants ("It's ok, we've got Akers!") and will be playing the Saints next Saturday. I brought Logan to play with Daisy, Sailor and Sun Dog and they all had a good time... though it scared the crap out of him at first when the boys started yelling at the TV and jumping up and down. He soon learned to ignore it much the way I do. ;)  Ha ha just kidding, I do my fair share of cheering!

So it looks like I might leave CO for MI on the 21st and get back to CO on the 3rd - gotta be back for the Superbowl Party! Since the Eagles are gonna go ALL THE WAY!!! WOOOO!! It's nice to have a good football team to cheer for. I love the Lions, in all their sucky glory!

I don't know if I'll bother watching Ohio State tonight. Because I hate them. But I want to watch them lose. ;)

Logan's getting bigger. His nickname is Pack Man, he chews on everything/everybody! Actually he's not THAT bad. Not yet. He's probably 26 lbs now. He can sit, shake, lie down, and stay for a few seconds (pretty good for a pup). He's so laid back he gets along great hanging out at the bar after closing and watching football. I didn't sleep well last night though and wanted to sleep in, and the little bugger kept dragging my new sweater (or my socks, or Tim's clothes) across the floor. So tired! No rest for the weary when it comes to puppies.

 

From Winter 2006-2007

Mad amounts of snow

Lots and lots of snow! Snow everywhere! Big fluffy piles of it! Yeah, I'm never getting my furniture out of Lyons. :P  But Logan and I had a great time last night in the snow! I walked to the Rock in the middle of the storm and they made me and Bob dinner before closing about an hour after they opened. Mark and Jen showed up for a beer, but since they were closing, they drove me to get Logan and up to their place for another puppy play date. Glad they picked me up, I don't know if I could have gotten anywhere - Mark had chains on his truck and he was still having trouble. Remind me to get some of those!

Dave came over to enjoy in the puppy fun and watch Northern Exposure, drink gin and tonic and eat Amish cheese and chocolate turtles. He went to leave and lo and behold, his truck was stuck in the snow, which was up to mid-thigh at this point. So I took pictures with my cell phone and laughed as he and Mark dug his Toyota out. Logan pranced around in snow drifts over his head. ;)  I'll send my cell phone pictures to my email and post them on here soon.

Logan had a vet appointment this day; he's a fine looking puppy, and the vet thinks he'll be on "the larger side of shepherds". Looks like I've got myself a big dog!

Tim is on his way back but I'm guessing he's not going to make it back very easily. The roads are close from Denver to Kansas; he won't be through there until tomorrow, but we are supposed to get MORE snow tonight and maybe through Sunday morning. I hope he can make it back for New Years!!

 

The boys and I taking a break at Beaver Creek. Tom's caption: "Goggles for all. Lisa wonders why the rum is always gone." More like Jack Daniels, but he's close. ;)

 

From Keystone, Chr...

Logan the wonder puppy, and happy holidays!

Happy Holidays and all that good stuff!!

Last Friday, I drove down to Longmont to pick up Logan and finally take him home after all these months of waiting - from before the parents were even bred, through the pregnancy and the whelping and watching him go from a little piggy-looking baby to the mini-shepherd he is now! He said bye to his parents and siblings and up the canyon towards Estes we drove... And he buried his little head in my lap and cried, and cried, and cried! And got car sick, of course. I brought him to my still-unfurnished cottage and he followed me everywhere! But I was amazed to see that he's already potty trained, at 8 weeks old! He scratches at the door or cries when he needs to go out. We didn't have a single accident for the first day that I had him, and only after he got sick (I gave him too many new treats at one time) did he ever mess in the house... and that's because he couldn't hold it in his cage and went all over everything (including himself) when I went to work at the Rock. Poor guy! Thankfully things were back to normal soon after, and I've been pretty lucky that he knows to go potty outside! ;)

That first day, I took him to see Rocky, who is Jen and Mark's wiener dog. Logan was very shy and a little scared of this little bouncing barking hyper pudgy-puppy at first; I would be too, since Rocky literally bucks and jumps like a rodeo bull! Logan warmed up a little later on in the evening, but it was a big scary day for him and I knew he'd gain confidence as the days go on.

I hoped that Rocky tired him out sufficiently to ease his first-night-away-from-home jitters and maybe I'd get some sleep. I put him in his crate and for the first couple hours, it was fine. After that, he'd wake up and cry for 5-10 minutes, then sleep for an hour or two. Repeat. All night. Ugh. That, and the fact that my furniture is still stuck in Lyons and I'm currently sleeping in my sleeping bag on the floor in Estes... I was a little bit tired the next morning. Logan made sure I was up at 7 am to let him outside. Looks like I'll be an early riser for the next 15 years or so... ;)

Saturday was the day he got sick in his crate while I was out grocery shopping. I gave him a bath and was busy cleaning out his crate, and created even more trouble for myself when I didn't let him outside soon enough... He was all wet and cold and I didn't want him outside in the blowing wind (it's been howling on and off the past few days) and freeze, but that let him to pee on my floor for the first time. My fault. It was just one of those days, where you're busy trying to fix one thing and something else breaks or goes wrong, one of those chain reactions... Kept me on my toes, for sure. I worked at the Rock Inn that evening doing dishes. It was weird seeing all of my friends sitting on the other side of the bar, drinking and having a good time while I was running around washing dishes and prepping pasta. I had a few visitors back in the kitchen though which was nice. And some free food and beer... I'll be working there tonight through the 31st, then on the 3rd... Then, unemployed again unless I decide to do some tree work.

Saturday night was Logan's second night with me, and when I came home from work I told him to go to bed. He obediently walked into his crate, tail wagging, and plopped down and went to sleep. I had a sock that smells like his mom in there, and added a tshirt that smells like me. He didn't make a peep all night. How cool is that?! Except my back just isn't digging this "sleeping on the floor" thing, and I didn't get any sleep again. At least the dog seemed comfortable. :P

Sunday was Christmas eve. Dave (Tim's roommate) had nothing to do, just like me and a few other folks that were around town. I was supposed to go to the bar with Stephanie, but ends up it was closed for a private party, so instead Dave baked a turkey and made homemade garlic mashed potatos; I whipped up some peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate (5 cups powdered sugar, 1 cup peanut butter... no wonder they were a childhood favorite) and ate too many (believe me, 3 is too many)... Logan and I went over and ate dinner and were going to have another puppy play date with Rocky that night, but I took Logan back to my place for his dinner and I went out the door and he didn't want to go with me. So I asked him, do you want to go see Rocky? Come outside! And he sat there. So I asked him, do you want to go to bed?? And he turned around, went into his crate and layed down. I shut the door and he didn't care. I went outside and started the truck, then went back inside thinking he might be crying to come out now. I opened the door, and he was just laying there. I asked him again just to be sure that he wanted to go to sleep, and he didn't make a peep. Smart little bugger! Ends up Mark was sick anyway so I went over to the other Mark's place (Mark and Amy) and brought the nice bottle of wineI got from Bruce and Kerri for X-mas. So those two, Dave, Smitty and I sat and drank PBR and wine and watched Billy Madison(never seen it, and it's so freaking stupid) and Ice Age, and laughed at the "movie' on Cinemax called "Kinky Kong" instead of Donkey Kong... ha ha you can only image what kind of movie that was! That was definitely a first for all of us on Christmas Eve...!

Here's an interesting side story: I was talking with Mark about hunting in Montana and I mentioned I worked at a wildlife refuge there. He asked which one, and I didn't expect him to know which one I was talking about; nobody has ever heard of it. So I tell him, Red Rock Lakes. He says, "No shit... I turned down a maintenance worker job there last November." This is crazy, because the refuge only has 7 permanent employees, only 1 of those is a maintenance worker. He told me to tell him about it, and well he now regrets not taking the job after I told him about the peaceful solitude, the bald eagles, moose and owls in the front yard; the grizzlies and wolves hiding out there... and all the hunting! It is a small world. That job is actually the job my friend Howard retired from last year, the 60-something year old guy that taught me how to weld and I visited him just this past fall up in Dillon. Mark will be bummed when he sees pictures of just how beautiful that place is!!

Anyway, Logan was a sweetie and didn't yell at me for coming home late on Christmas Eve, or that I smelled like wine and PBR. ;) I curled up in my sleeping bag next to his crate and tried to sleep. He made cute puppy noises in his sleep and chased rabbits that he's never seen before. I tossed and turned.

Woke up early and realized it was Christmas morning. My first Christmas away from my family. It was eerily unceremonial and quiet. For years, we'd always wake up ridiculously early and harass my parents until they'd get out of bed... hurry up, get the camcorder ready, we want to start!!... They'd turn on the lights and we'd read the letter from Santa (yes, I still read that letter last year, even though I was 24 years old...) while Dad would mess around with the camcorder... The dogs would know it was a special morning too and would sit in anticipation of opening their presents too... Of course, the past few years, everybody else was up and harassing ME to wake up, ha ha! Then later, my sisters and I would go over to our Dad's house ("real" dad, haha) and he'd be busy cooking tons of foodand turn on the Christmas music, he too would have to set up the camcorder (that's a lot of Christmas movies between the two sets of parents!) and we'd open presents, then get harassed the rest of the afternoon to "Eat more! Take some leftovers! Eat more!" Yes, those are the crazy noisy hectic Christmas days that I am used to. I'm so glad I had Logan there, he made it a little less traumatic.

I walked out of my bedroom into the living room and saw my tiny 7" tall living Christmas tree (with lights, ornaments and everything) on the window ledge, and my little treasure pile of presents on my end table, stockings for myself and Tim hanging randomly from some nails on my loft, Christmas lights around my windows. It was too quiet, and I realized I left my Sintra/Crosby/Jazz Christmas CDs in Michigan. Bummer. So I dug out my little shower radio and found a fuzzy station playing holiday music... It was the best I could do to recreate something officially Christmas, a small shadow of what I was accustomed to; I sat on the floor with Logan's head in my lap, tin-can music coming out of a single speaker, and opened my presents, which had been mailed to me from the many people that care about me back in Michigan. Salt and peppercorn grinders, lots of socks, some underarmor, a dog trick book, a couple CDs (White Stripes from Debbie and Pat; Yonder Mountain from my family), a photography book, an ornament of a german shepherd angel, plus the dog supplies my sisters gave me that I opened early... There are still a few things that haven't been shipped yet from Amazon.com (hoping it's a certain couple DVDs... Northern Exposure, Grey's Anatomy or Deadwood perhaps??)  but I was very happy for everything.

Once that was done, I didn't really know what else to do with myself. I was so tired that I risked it and decided to take a nap in Tim's bed and hope that Logan would let me get some rest without disturbing Dave. I think I slept for 3 hours, and it still wasn't enough, but the puppy let me do my thing peacefully. He's such a good dog!

With nothing else to really do, I left Logan in Estes and drove to Lyons to try and dig my way up the driveway... which is challenging because it's a long steep gravel/dirt driveway with 2 feet of snow. It took me about an hour but I did finally get my Focus out, then almost go my truck all the way up. Close enough. Filled a load up, then went back to Estes and made my place as homey as possible, minusthe furniture. Tim and I played phone tag all day, but it was nice to hear from him. He'll be back by Sunday, maybe Saturday night. Then I'll be going back to Michigan for 2 weeks in January, then he's doing to Las Vegas for trails training in February... Then come April, whether or not I have the lead hazard tree job or not, I'll probably be living in Grand Lake for the week for 4-6 weeks again, then he'll be in the backcountry doing trails work for weeks at a time...

Anyway, I went over to Mark and Jen's with Logan later that night for another play date. Guess what? Logan's not so shy anymore. He had Rocky a little upset for jumping all over him! I think those two are gonna be good friends. Fortunately, Rocky likes big dogs, because in a few months he is going to be Logan's mini-me! I really like Mark and Jen too, it's nice to have an excuse to see them. :)  Mark works for trails for the Park and Jen works in town. For their wedding, she wore a bright red cowboy hat and cowboy boots with her dress; he wore a western shirt and cowboy hat. Very cool.

I decided to try sleeping at Tim's all night with Logan. He's been so well behaved it erased most of my fears of him either barking all night and ticking Dave off, or going potty all over the floor. It would have been the best night's sleep I'd had in a while, except I'm getting a head cold!! But Logan was an angel. Tonight my friends Tina and Travis may be staying at my place, and I have to work.

And one more bit of news: CONGRATULATIONS BRIAN AND MELISSA! Brian Mount proposed to his girlfriend while underwater scuba diving I think in Australia!! How clever! Woooo hoooo! Ha ha so that's 3 ex boyfriends in the past year that are either getting married, or already tied the knot! Jason, Brian, Steve... who's next?? Ha ha!

So that's my holidays in a nut shell. Now time to go back to the pup and give him lunch! Happy holidays!! And I am uploading my photos from Keystone and Christmas to a new location to see how I like it. It's called Picasa, through Google. If anybody wants a Gmail account let me know and I'll send you an invite.

Keystone, Christmas, and Logan Dec. 2006

Logan on Christmas Eve

Our view from our condo at Keystone

Let it snow... and keep snowing... and keep snowing...

I'm sure nearly everybody out there heard at least something about "that big snowstorm in Colorado." Well, I'm just hanging out in our rented condo in Keystone with Kevin, taking a break from the insane amounts of snowboarding in beautiful, plentiful powder all week, looking out on the slopes of Keystone Resort... wondering if I'll actually be able to drive back to Estes tonight like I am supposed to, or if the roads that I need to take will be closed. I could stay here another night with these guys... but alas, spending the past 5 days with 9 guys has been more tiring/frustrating than going on a wildfire in a tent camp with 15 guys at times. Maybe if Beth had made it out here, I'd be ok. ;)  It's been a lot of fun and so good to see everybody, and a total blast riding the different ski resorts around here - in all this nonstop, FRESH POWDER - and hanging out in Breckenridge and Keystone... and watching the inches of snow pile up. Of course we hit the outdoor hot tub, drank Jager Bombs, Cabo Wabo and Brugal Rum, and made asses of ourselves on shuttle busses/ski lifts/public places. Last night we went to the Goat in Keystone, which was the most happening place in town, and played lots of South Park Pinball, drank PBR and watched one of the guys kill everybody in pool. There was some whining about "there's NOBODY here" - which translated to, there's not a lot of drunk girls to hit on - and more whining about no "dance music" and calling it a "dive bar"... Guess what guys? You're at a ski resort in the mountains of Colorado! It's all about bluegrass, PBR, fleece jackets, and casual/comfortable atmospheres - not techno music, trendy-yet-totally-inappropriate-for-the-mountains dance clothes, and a meat market. That stuff is in Denver... ya know, a big city?? :P  It was pretty annoying to hear those criticisms, because that's not what the mountains are about... and it was everything that I love. Sometimes, the culture/values difference between myself and that of which I left behind in suburban Detroit is so blatantly obvious, it makes me continuously thankful and assured that leaving Michigan and coming to Colorado was one of the best decisions of my life!

Amadeo flew out here with his little brother instead of driving with the rest of the guys because he is leaving for Dominica for med school on Jan. 1st. However, with this huge storm, the airport closed yesterday and won't be opened until tomorrow... and even then, he can't fly out any sooner than Christmas. I know many other people too who were stranded in Denver on their way back to their families for the holidays. It looks like he is going to have to rent a car and drive back, assuming the freeways open any time soon! Here in Keystone, we've gotten just over a foot of snow over the past 2 days (on top of a couple inches we got earlier in the week); up in Estes, my friend tells me it's about 20", with up to 26" possible by tomorrow. It's gonna make that 2 1/2 hr drive from Keystone to Estes into an epic half day journey! But I really need to get back up there and TRY to move more stuff from Lyons to my new cottage, since I am picking up Logan tomorrow around noon. The biggest problem is that my driveway in Lyons is steep, mud and stone... and nearly impossible to get up when it's covered with snow, even with 4x4. Not to mention moving my motorcycle... Yikes. I love this blizzard, but it certainly picked one hell of a time to hit!

I've been tearing it up on my snowboard, and totally sore from head to toe! The runs out here are so long, and the powder is so great to carve in but can be so tiring when the snow is mounded up like mogels. We went to Keystone Monday, Beaver Creek Tuesday, a few of us took Wednesday off to recover, and Breckenridge yesterday. At Breck, they got enough fresh powder that they opened up a few bowls up at the top of their highest Peak. Kevin, Jeff and I went up the Imperial Lift - North America's highest ski lift, at  - and decided to try and do the Imperial bowl... a DOUBLE black diamond... above tree line, with rocks and cliffs scattered around... in a blizzard... hardly any visibility, just a swirling continuous WHITE... could hardly tell where the sky ended, the mountain started, and just how steep this crazy thing was... oh did I mention those rocks and cliffs again?? Really I'm not double black diamond good... heck, even some black diamonds are just too much (though I was loving the ones at Beaver Creek!) but hey, it sounded like crazy fun. Or maybe just crazy. We took lift after lift until finally we were suspended above the alpine peak on a chairlift that we couldn't see 3 chairs in front of us, our noses running and snow and ice covering us, not even able to see the outline of the peak or even hardly which route was open. Once at the top, there was only one way down... so we made our way, ungraceful and uncertain in the white-out, down the steep part, between the rocks. Even people who are really GOOD at skiing were having a hard time getting down... Then there's me, carve a couple turns then SLIDE and stop. Slide a little more. Carve a couple...Slide. Jeff even lost a pole or a ski or something and had to hike back up to get it. That steep part wasn't very long though and soon it was just drifts of powder to explore. It wasn't a very long route but once was enough for me. ;)

Well the snow is still blowing outside and, though I'm feeling tired and lazy today, it just looks like too much fun to not spend one more day on the mountain with my friends. Starting Saturday, I am helping my friends out at the Rock and doing dishes over the holidays while people are out of town... spending time with the puppy... moving... Lots going on! So that's all for now. Off to our winter wonderland!!

Tags: keystone, snowboarding, skiing, colorado, ski trip, vacation, blizzard, snowstorm

Counting down for so many great things!

Busy busy! So much is going on. Tim left for Pennsylvania this morning and I won't see him until New Years Eve! Bummer for me but sounds like he's going to have a good time seeing all of his friends... and bummer because I am starting to move into my new place today! My friends leave MI today to drive out here and I'll be seeing them Sunday - and they are supposed to bring some Bell's Winter White Ale and Kevin's homebrew for me! They leave the 22nd and then I'll be getting Logan! Looks like I might be spending Christmas Eve at the bar with Stephanie, her friend and maybe Dave. It's a different approach to the holidays for me, but there's enough people around here that it should be a good time... even though I'm totally going to miss the mass quantities of food at the annual Christmas party at my parents' house!

Enough sitting around... gonna jet down to Lyons and pack as much crap into my truck as possible. Woop de freakin' doo!

Another picture of Logan!

Moving again!

Yes, that's right, I'm moving again. No, not across the country. T. and Chuck have a cabin for rent that just opened up in Estes. Since my lease is up Dec. 31st, and the price is lower, and the place is bigger/nicer... Why not? Yeah, it's annoying packing everything back up and actually having to move my stuff... But it's worth it. I'm up there almost every day anyway. The best part? It's maybe a football field away from the Rock Inn. ;)  It's a 1 bedroom with a loft, next door to a guy named Bob that just moved in from Telluride. He has 2 beautiful wolf/malamute mixes. Those dogs, plus Bruce and Kerri's dogs, will be a great little pack for Logan to join. It will be so nice not having to drive up to Estes almost every day to use the gym, hang out with my friends, and check my mail!

I went and visited Logan today. He's a big sweetie! The dogs alternated between playing and sleeping every 5 minutes. :)  All but 3 of the puppies have been sold. In less than 2 weeks he will be coming home! To my new home! After a week of skiing with my friends! Wooooooo hoooo!

Speaking of which, Parkie is in Vail with his friends this weekend. I spent Friday night out there. Parkie crashed early so Max, Kenny and I went to downtown Vail and went to "The Club." It was a great place to be, with a solo guitarist that was so good he had the whole place dancing, and the rodeo on TV! At one point, some random person bought the whole packed bar a shot... nasty, horrible tequila shots. Add that to the Jager Bombs and PBR... It was a fun night. ;)

Saturday we went to Keystone. Parkie was the only one skiing; Max, Isaac, Will and Kenny all were on snowboards. The snow was decent - some parts icy, some parts powder. I did pretty well, going pretty fast... until I accidentally went over a little cresh and found myself launched in the air. No, I didn't land very well. ;)  We were all sore and I was done by 5:00... at which point Kenny was also done but went to retrieve his board from the lodge we were resting at... and it was gone. Yes, his crappy $100 board was stolen. Since it happened to me, I know just how he felt when he looked around and it was just... gone. Bummer. I didn't stay Saturday night because I wanted to see Logan and check out that cabin today. I might go back out there tomorrowmorning for the less crowded slopes. We'll see if we wake up.

Now, I'm watching Winter Passing with Zooey Deschanel and Will Ferrill. A drama. Good so far!

Go here for pictures of Logan and the other puppies, Vail and Keystone with Parkie, and some from when Matt and Alex were in Breckenridge.

Bandelier National Monument and Breckenridge

I know I have this tendency to write a lot, then drop off the face of the planet. It usually means that I'm traveling, or just really lazy. ;)  Last Monday after work, Tim tells me that he just found out the next day he was being sent down to Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico to do some trail assessments - which means per diem and a paid hotel... Sounds like a free vacation to me! He used to work there years ago and told me how neat it is, so I just had to go down there and check it out. Tuesday I finally got my truck back, and it's a good thing I brought it in  - we'll just say that there were some "other" things wrong with it, and I would never had made it to Glacier National Park, yet alone Alaska. Burning oil, it ends up, was the cheapest and easiest problem I had. Tim drove out early that day and by the time I got the truck back and was on the road, that huge winter storm had started its way into the Rockies and it looked like I just might need my 4x4 on the 8 hour drive. Fortunately, I took a different route than Tim and avoided the snow for the time being. Click on the photo for more pictures from my trip!

Tim worked all day during the week while I had the chance to explore the ruins of the Ancestral Pueblo people. It was pretty cool seeing the petroglyphs and remains of houses carved into the soft "tuff" rock - condensed volcanic ash, and to climb up all the slippery, snowy ladders up into the Alcove House and look out into the valley of Frijoles Canyon. The first day, I did the interpretive ruins walk that is a must-see when you visit; then I hiked down the snowy Falls Trail along the Frijoles River, which ends at the large Rio Grand River. The white snow was so beautiful against the contrast of the red rock and green cactii and agave, and the Falls Trail had the most memoriable scent of strong juniper and sagebrush - that was probably my favorite part of the whole trail was that smell. I also checked out some separate, unexcavacted ruins (which means, harder to see and coveredin plants at this point) to the northeast of the main park, and the overlook at the town of White Rock gives a great view of the mesas, canyons, and Rio Grand. It was a short, cold day of hiking and I "only" did about 9 miles of relatively easy hiking in the snow.

As soon as Tim got back from work, he exclaimed, "Let's go to the hot springs!" Ends up there are some undeveloped hot springs nearby in Jemez Springs that he used to visit when he worked for Bandelier a few years ago. It had started snowing pretty heavily that afternoon and town was just chaos - apparently New Mexicans have no idea how to deal with snow, and it seemed like there are only 2 plow trucks - but we were determined to drive the twisted road through the mountains and avoid bad drivers to enjoy the hot springs. Tim mentioned that he didn't exactly remember where it was, since the parking lot and trail are essentially unlabeled, and as the sunset early we started to wonder if we passed the lot. Finally after a few "it's gotta be right over this hill and around that corner", we reach this unmarked parking lot. The sign says it is closed after dark and "nudity prohibited", but who's gonna be out in this crazy snow storm anyway? ;)  It was getting dark when we decended and then ascended the newly rehabilitated trail to Spence Hot Springs, a short 1/4 mile down to the river then up the mountain. And there on the side of the mountain were two hot pools - undeveloped save for some man-made rock ledges and mild improvements to make it more comfortable - the upper of which was warmer at the very source (which was just behind some large boulders) and probably 98-99 degrees (we would have liked it a little warmer, but then again, it was probably 18 degrees outside and snowy!), which then cascaded down into a smaller and little cooler pool. It was crystal clear and did NOT smell like sulfur like most of them do, the bottom was smooth with sand and pebbles and it was just AWESOME! The moon was bright and the sky cleared as we enjoyed the hot springs in the dark for about an hour or so.

It was freaking COLD when we got out and immediately Tim's beard and my hair froze. The road was just a snowy mess but we blew by everybody in his 4x4 and went into town for dinner at the Blue Window Bistro, which was a little pricey but excellent. As we sat and ate, we watched the snow just pile up outside. Town was pretty quiet, probably since people don't know how to drive. ;)  I'd say we got at least 8" of snow just that night.

In the morning, we woke up and the sky was bright blue and it was beautiful! There was quite a bit of snow but we both have 4x4 so we drove out to Bandelier by 9 am... onlyto find that they were closed while one guy plowed the whole park. I was planning on going on a long hike so I needed to hit the trail early if I wanted to be done before they closed the gates at sunset... but they let us in and I was on the trail by 9:45. I planned on about a 13-14 mile hike up to Frijolito, another ruins site up on top of the mesa, then hiking along the mesa to the start of Frijoles Canyon, decending down into the canyon and following the river back to the trailhead at the visitor center. It was cold but I was dressed well and the sun was bright and warm; I trudged up the switchbacks and along the trail in 4-6" of snow, the only other tracks along the trail from the elk, deer, rabbit, and some unknown animal (seemed like a wildcat to me). Really wasn't much to see of the ruins up here because they too were unexcavated and covered in vegetation, but it was a great view on the excavated site down in the valley. I did finally see the four elk that I had been "tracking" as I hiked, which were the only living things I shared the trail with the whole day.

I was warm and ambitious for the first 5-6 miles... then I started getting tired of the uphill/downhill rambling before I reached the point where the trail decends into the canyon. The snow made it harder than I thought it would! But finally I dropped down from the relatively open sunny mesa-top down into the cooler, shaded canyon bottom. I was still pretty warm until probably mile 8-10, when the lack of sunshine, the dense trees and the dropping temperatures made my jeans freeze. Still though I was doing pretty well, just getting tired... and it seemed like I would never get out of that canyon! The trail crossed over the river at LEAST 15 times, and there were never any real bridges - either a log or maybe a couple stepping stones, sometimes just a leap of faith - which was even more challenging because the snow hid the shape of the rocks, which were sometimes too pointy and slick to stand on, or it hid the river bank so I wasn't sure how far I had to jump, or it just made the logs really slick... How I avoided falling in at all is beyond me!

The canyon was very dense with some pretty big ponderosa and douglas-fir, and at points the canyon walls were relatively close together bare rock cliffs. It was a good trail that I probably would appreciate more in warmer weather. ;)  Finally I reached the Alcove House which was perched up the canyon sides far above and knew thata warm shower wasn't far away. At about 3:15 I reached the trailhead, a mere 5 1/2 hours to do almost 14 miles in the snow and cold. It was a beautiful day and the solitude and quite was great... but well I don't know if I'd do it again, ha ha!

That night we went over to see Tim's friend Wendy, who had worked with him at Pinnacle National Monument in California and was now a ranger at Pinnacles. In the morning we hit the road and took highway 285 up from Santa Fe through Alamosa and ate lunch in Salida. I think that will be my new preferred route going south, since it takes you right along the mountains and is much prettier than staying on I-25.

Then just on Sunday I got a text message from my friend Matt in DC (I visited him in Keystone a few weeks ago) saying he was in Breckenridge! So I watched some really bad footballs games with the boys in the morning and drove the 2-2 1/2 hours out to Breck that evening. Matt and his friend Alex - both of which I went to college with - had a room at the Great Divide Lodge right on Mountain 9. We immediately whipped out the rum and coke then took the free taxi into town to hit up the bar to watch football and play lots of erotic Photo Hunt util we got a high score. Then we went back to the hotel and tried desperately to find a way into the hot tub after hours... which was literally impossible. Trust me. We tried everything. Instead, we went back to the room and filled up the bath tub and took turns pretending it was a hot tub. A poor substitution!

It was a late night so we got a late start and got room service breakfast before gearing up to hit the slopes. It was a beautiful sunny day and on a Monday, it was pretty uncrowded. We all went our separate ways on the mountain but I did much better on the steeper stuff than I usually do so it was a good day. I was tired and sore and hit the road by 2, and was back up in Estes at Bruce and Kerri's to watch the Eagles win (finally!) by 6:00.

View of mountains around Breckenridge. 

Alex and Matt on the ski lift

So now, I am enjoying a lazy, sunny day and will probably be at the Rock Inn by 5 pm tonight. ;)

Ryan will be in Vail on Thursday so I'll probably go out there for a night or two this weekend... Tim goes to Pennsylvania on the 15th... Friends come out the 17th... I'll probably be spending X-mas relatively alone except with my puppy... And I will hopefully get a call to do some tree work somewhere in between.

Colorado is so much better than Michigan. ;) Life is rough, I'm telling ya!

Oh and my boss called to tell me he is posting the GS-6 term Hazard Tree crewleader position soon. It's no guarantee at all that I will get it, and if any veterans put in for it I'm totally screwed... But at the very least I have rehire status for the GS-5. Wish me luck that I get that term position (with benefits!) because I freaking would love that job and I love the park!

Logan is getting big - about 12 pounds!