Glenwood Adventure!

Dane and I took a long weekend to hike and bike in the mountains and it was amazing!  So amazing that I'd like to re-purpose our Labor Day Walden trip into more of a CO Adventure trip.  We'll see if that actually pans out.  I also have a million things around the house I can (and should) do instead. 

Friday: worked all day then volunteered at a drinking fundraiser for WFP downtown.  It was super fun!  I thought we'd leave by 9pm but ended up staying till midnight then going out with a few WFP folks (Maya, Katja, Double, Jeremy plus Todd and Joel) afterwards till LATE.  Dane drove Double home (me in his lap) then we dance partied till 4am!  Apparently I threw the couch to the side, my clothes to the floor and danced all crazy till I passed out.  Good times. 

Saturday:  Amazingly we still got up (semi-)on time and were on the road for Piney Lake by noon.  We got up there almost in one piece - at some point the train horns became disconnected. I blame the rocky dirt road, Dane disagrees.  Other than that, Rally Raptor was fun and we spent about an hour canoeing on the lake, which was a lot of fun!  We got lost in a little winding river-in-the-lake thing, navigated through reeds and watched a dog splash around.  We ate dinner at Piney River Ranch then headed towards Glenwood Springs just in enough time to check in to Ami's Campground and set up our tent.  The campground had showers so we made a quick trip to Ross to get towels, enjoyed a shower then played PvZ2 till about 10 or so before calling it a night. 

Sunday: Got up early and biked the Glenwood Canyon from Dotsero, so about 17-20 miles give or take.  The ride was great - beautiful scenery, animals and just a lot of fun.  We stopped at Hanging Lake and hiked up the trecherous 1.2 rocky miles to the top - amazing!  Such a beautiful lake and a waterfall that appears right out of a rock - it's crazy!  We had fun there and took our time.  On the way up we found a purse that was FULL of cash and all the valueables of a Kristin Schmidt from Oak Something, IL.  Luckily we also found Kristin from Oak Something and were able to return the purse to the rightful owner.  Hopefully I earned a few karma points.  After the hike we continued our bike back into GWS having great conversation, mostly about Janet Crawford and the training/leadership discussion she facilitated for WFP on Thursday (a different blog will be dedicated to this).  Once back in GWS we decided to forego the white water rafting trip and go straight to Aspen.  Good thing too because we snagged the last walk-in camp site!  We managed to set up camp and get showers at the Aspen rec center and dinner at Hickory House BBQ (as usual) and back to camp just in time for rain.  We snuggled up inside (Dane wanted a fire so bad but nature said no) and played more PvZ2 till it was time for bed.  The roaring river was much better to fall asleep to than the roaring highway of Ami's. 

 



Monday:  Woke up around 8 so we could get a 3.6 mile hike of the Maroon Bells in before we had to leave by noon due to the Pro Cycle race.  We did it and in about 2 hours.  The hike to Crater Lake is moderate, a bit rocky and steep (though not as rocky or steep as Hanging Lake) and I remember last time we did the hike (May 2012) I was about 30 lbs more in weight than I am now and certainly not as strong.  It felt good to be able to hike, canoe, bike and hike again 3 days in a row - a far cry away from where I was last year!  It's motivating and encouraging me to continue my efforts towards fitness (while still having fun with dance party and delights :-)).  After the hike we took a detour in Aspen and I spent money that I don't have at a boutique shop on an infinity dress, a couple maxi skirts, a cute crochet shrug and a belt.  I literally abandon ship from Dane's car to run in the shop then had a fun time with the owner and a couple shoppers.  There's lipstick on one of the maxi skirts and the inifinity dress is cute but I might need more tools (bra) in order to make it work.  We also stopped at Independance Pass on the way home, getting in around 5:30.  We were unpacked and watching the season finale of True Blood by 8pm, dead tired from the weekend.

 

 

So all in all a great weekend and one I hope to have again soon.  Feeling pretty good about life/work/things.  We'll see if I can get all my chores done before we leave Thursday for Seattle adventure!  In the meantime I have a Bacardi Party tonight and the Sanctuary event tomorrow for WFP.  Busy bee!!

Guess Who's Back...Back Again...Shady's Back...Tell Some Men....

After about 4 years of break I find myself ready to blog again.   And it has been quite the 4 years indeed!!  I'll sum it up:
1) Moved back to Denver (but you already knew that). 
2) Bought a house in Highlands Ranch - not the Palamino Park condo but a better, bigger house where we can have a thousand cats.
3) Sadly both Stinker and Boo have moved on to Kitty Heaven.  Stinker died of stomach cancer after a long battle in Summer 2011 and Boo died suddenly in May 2013 of a mass around her heart.  Very sad, very terrible and I miss them so much.  So, so much. 
4) 2 month's later we got two new additions to our cat household, a calico named Skitter and a black kitten named Arya (Underfoot).  In keeping with our TV/movie them, Skitter comes from Falling Skies and Arya comes from Game of Thrones.  We love them and they are two crazy girls!  And now the boyz don't beat each other up nearly as bad - the beatings are once again disbursed. 
5) I AM A CPA!!!  After a long, LOOOONG journey that was one of the most difficult things in my life and I almost quit several times.  I'm happy to say I passed and never did give up (though close) and I have my CPA and it's come in handy.  I'm proud of what I have done and never ever want to do anything like that again.  :-)
6) I have a job at Water For People and it has been a very love-hate relationship though mostly love and without two particular bullies would be a love-love relationship.  That's okay, the bullies have encouraged me to be a better person and I'm the only winner from that.  I read in a recent auto-obituary (from Jane Catherine Lotter in Seattle, odd enough) "And may you always remember that obstacles in the path are not obstacles, they ARE the path."
7) Dane and I are still married - celebrated #5 this year!  Wait.  #6!!  We've been together a total of 12 years, unbelieveable.  I really do love him more now than I ever have before. 
8) Been working out and trying to stay in shape - certainly much harder in my 30's than it ever was in my 20's. 
9) The parents live in Missouri now. 
10) Still haven't really talked to my sister (been about 6 years) and more recently Peck (only a few months) and I'm okay with that.  They will both always have a place in my heart, just not a place in my life.  And that's okay. 

So that's a small wrap up of the last 4 years.  I suppose I could go into detail about vacations to Seattle or camping trips to Walden or the purchase of the Jeep or Raptor or any number of tidbits but I'll leave it at 10 items and catch up as I continue to journal. 

Why now, after 4 years?  Because The Bullies have made my life crazy town, I've been trying to better myself.  I've had two mentoring breakfasts with Mark Duey, my mentor from WFP, and he's lent me a book called Perfect People Skills and some of the advice in the first chapter (Grounding & Centering) is to #1 - be still for at least 20 min a day, and #2 - keep a journal.  So while I have consistently kept a journal in fits and starts, I really need to consistently keep a journal.  Here we are.  I really do enjoy reading through my prior posts and know I will (already do) regret not having documented the last 4 years of my life.  I believe I have grown the most in all my life in these last 4 years and I'm sad I can't look back on the details of that.  Enough lament - all I can do is move forward and blog.