Summer Harvest

Our local farm is in full veggie production mode. Even after a hail storm last week, which damaged some plants, we got another boat load of veggies, including:

• Eggplant
• Purple cabbage
• Corn
• Kohlrabi
• Swiss Chard
• Carrots
• Onions
• Cucumbers
• Summer Squash
• Green Beans
• Beets
• Collard Greens
• Cauliflower
• ...and our first delivery of Western Slope Colorado Peaches (damn - they're good)

Looking forward to Telluride this weekend. We've got some hiking pics and will surely have a bunch of pics to share after this weekend...

Taste of the DNC

We met some friends downtown last night for dinner in Larimer Square in downtown Denver. On our way down, the light rail went by the Pepsi Center, which is ground zero for the DNC. I've never seen anything like it. There are rows and rows of trailers for every major news organization in the world. The platforms rise above the trailers so the anchors can give their updates from above. As I mentioned, security is in full force. Downtown is crawling with cops and they all are carrying gas masks on their hips. It's a bit surreal. The buzz is in the air and the deluge of people has definitely started. We even bumped into Tom Brokaw last night on the street...

Lull

Done with a grueling summer semester and ready for a short two week break before the madness begins again.

Speaking of madness, did anyone else know the DNC is happening in Denver? Hmmm....who knew. :) By the way, some guy named Michael Phelps won something like 8 gold medals in the Olympics....but uh.

Kel and I are heading downtown tonight for dinner at Osteria Marco. We're going to check out the buzz. The DNC has been a huge undertaking and the city feels primed. Some are nervous, but I think most are happy to show off Denver. It's going to be a zoo. There are motorcades and road closures. Traffic is restricted all over the place. Security is insane. 5,000 extra police are coming to town from other states. I've got a buddy blogging the convention so it'll be interesting to get his take. After the Veep announcement earlier today, I watched Wolf Blitzer on CNN and he was just down at the Pepsi Center. The nation's focus will be on Denver. Pretty cool.

Case and I went biking this morning at Deer Creek. The weather was great. Mid 70's, moist from fresh rain, lot'so sun, good flowy singletrack. Kel and I then went to a birthday party at Cherry Creek reservoir and had a BBQ. We're heading out to dinner shortly before some hiking tomorrow... Good weekend.

Olympic Insanity

It seems over the last 10 days I've spent the evening either going to class or watching the Olympics. Although class has been good, the Olympics have certainly held sway. :) Last night may have been the pinnacle of these games. Phelps completed the improbable and Bolt smashed the world record in the 100 without even breathing hard. Incredible. I love watching Bolt run...

I'm looking forward to more track especially the 200, 400, and men's marathon. Kel and I had a pretty laid back weekend. It rained in Denver like I've never seen before. Friday had a high of 60 and the rain came down almost continuously for 2 straight days. We're supposed to be back in the 80s tomorrow, but the rain felt oh-so-good. We went to a couple of movies. We saw the Visitor - an independent film that was very good. We also saw Pineapple Express. I don't think most will like it as it's pretty crude. Kel and I thought it was pretty funny and enjoyed it for a Sunday afternoon movie.

I wrap up the summer semester this week before a break for a couple of weeks. At this point, really looking forward to it. It's hard to go to school in summer...

Hats and Gloves Needed!

Hiking Boots-$110.00

Hydration Pack-$130.00

Hats and Gloves-$0.00

Hiking Mt.  Quandary-Priceless!

The day was finally here-the day that Alli and I decided that we were going to hike our first 14er!  We wanted to get an early start, so I met Alli at 6:00 a.m.!!  We were so giggly on the car ride up, a lot of nervous excitement  in the car for sure!  Finally we arrived at the trail head and were loading our packs and lacing up our boots when a women standing next to us was asking us why we didn't have hats and gloves-looking at each other we just shrugged to her as if to say, "Do we need hats and gloves?"  All she had to say was, "Well I hike all the time in Colorado, and you need to be prepared for everything!"  A little more giggling from Alli and Kelli!  

We started up the trail and were happy to get going!  The trail definitely started out by going up fairly quickly!  Shortly thereafter we passed two older guys and a fairly large group of what looked like a inner-city kids on an Outward Bound trip.  They appeared VERY nervous and apprehensive.  About half way (or what we thought) up-the trail turned into a rock field.  By this time we had been piggy-backing with the older men and I had asked if they knew how much farther.  After asking me if I really wanted to know-he pulled out his GPS and told me we had gone 1,700 feet and had about 1,800 more to go!  We were half way and knew that we had to keep going!  

Then we saw the peak!  We knew it had to be the peak-there were lots of large groups of people just hanging around!  Our spirits were lifted once again, and we were back to being giggly!  We still had a ways to go-but with the end in site how hard could it be right?  Wrong!  

We finally got to what we thought was the peak only to figure out it was a false peak!  I really thought they were kidding me!  But once again, we had come so far there was no way we were going to turn around!  And we were at the base of the real peak for real this time!  The altitude was really bothering me at this point (swollen hands, tunnel vision, and a slight headache) but it was really important for me to finish!  To make things a little more difficult-I had already drank my 100 ounces of water (Yes, Jon and Jay-I did it again!) and had no water for the remainder of the hike! 

And finish we did!  It took us about 3 hours to get to the summit at 14, 265 feet!  We were so happy and proud of each other because it was not an easy, enjoyable hike!  

The weather at the top was around 30-40 degrees and very windy!  So needless to say-Yes we could of used the hats and gloves!!

Oh Saturday!

What a Saturday! I'm so fired up right now - I feel like I could run through a wall. I started the day with my buddy Tod on an epic ride from Kenosha to Georgia Pass on the Colorado Trail. We started early and were able to enjoy the morning sun as we ripped 16" singletrack through meadows and aspen groves. It was beautiful. The ride has cemented itself in my top 5 Colorado rides. We also rode a couple miles above treeline near 12,000 feet as we crested Georgia Pass. The legs are feeling good.

If I wasn't riding, I was planning to watch a ride. Kel and I talked about going to Leadville to watch the Leadville 100 as we did last year. We decided against it, but then found out Lance Armstrong was racing. We didn't get to watch the race, but we tuned in as soon as we got over. Lance ended up taking 2nd to 6 time champion (and my personal hero) Dave Wiens. Wiens is an animal. He finished about 2 minutes ahead of Lance and broke the course record by 13 minutes while finishing the race on a flat tire. I was so pumped after remembering the emotion I felt last year when we watched the finish. Awesome.

To finish, the day I'm watching the Olympics and Phelps just smashed the WR in his first race. Kel wasn't all that amused as I yelled at the TV. :) I love the Olympics...so many great human stories. The smog is terrible though - watching it on TV, it is very noticeable. Yuck.

One last reason I was fired up - Kel had a huge accomplishment and I was very proud of her. I'll let her tell the story though... ;)

Dance Lessons!

Jay and I took our first dance class tonight and it was a blast!  For our anniversary Jay bought us 5 dance lessons-2 private lessons, 2 group lessons, and 1 private par-tay!  We were a little nervous going in because we didn't know their expectations, but it was great!  Our instructor was a cute, young girl named Emily and by the end of class we were giving out high-fives all around!  After touring the studio, we started our lesson with the fox trot.  I had such high expectations for myself-I thought Jay and I would look just like we were on So You Think You Can Dance!  Not so much!  Very basic-but still great to learn the basics.  After that we learned the Swing.  Fun, but I liked the fox trot better.  Lastly, Emily took us into a private room to learn the rhumba.  Why does it always look better on t.v.?  It is supposed to be this romantic dance and poor Jay was reminded to "breathe"!!  How funny!  For a first lesson it was really great and we are looking forward to next week!   

Weekend Wrap

After wavering back and forth between going camping and staying home, we decided to go camping...and then we didn't camp. We headed out Saturday morning for Buena Vista and Salida in the Arkansas River Valley. After arriving in the early afternoon, we hit the local burger and shake shop for lunch. With a greasy, but good lunch in our stomachs we headed to BV's riverfront park. While Kel walked Maggie and read, I jumped on the Yeti for a quick spin on the Midland Trail. The trail weaves through the desert scrub along the river up to an old railroad grade which traverses the ridges above BV. It sprinkled a bit while I was riding, which was welcome considering it was pushing 90. (By the way, Denver just broke a record for consecutive reaching or exceeding 90 degrees with 21 and counting - whew!)

After Kel and I met back up, we made our way down to one of our favorite towns in Colorado. Salida sits right on the Arkansas River, has a unique downtown, and is a gateway to unlimited outdoor pursuits. We watched kayakers play in the rapids with their playboats in Salida's downtown whitewater park. Later, we ate dinner on the patio overlooking the river. As we drove toward the campgrounds in the waning sun, we decided we would make the 2 hour drive back to Denver rather than camping. We had a wonderful drive as the sun went down and it was helpful to be home on Sunday to work on homework.

On Sunday, Kel and I set what may be a record for sleeping in. We made it all the way to 9:15. It was great. After breakfast, Kel went to the gym while I worked on my paper regarding corporate sustainability. Later in the day, Kel went with a friend to help her scout wedding locations while I went and rode Lair O' the Bear. The Yeti and I tracked about 12-13 miles in shaded forest while the weather debated thunderstorms. It was a nice respite to get into the mountains for a quick ride. Winding the day down, Kel and I made another vegetable packed dinner before our next pickup on Tuesday. We had grilled pork tenderloin, sauteed kale, steam broccoli, a salad with butter lettuce, beets, and carrots, and finally, some sourdough bread. The kale was so-so, but topped our list for Kale recipes thus far. We've found it's not our favorite green. We'll keep searching. If you have any great recipes, send them our way.

Wrapping the night up with a little dessert, a little relaxation, and maybe some homework...