MLE in CO

This weekend my best friend Emily came to visit. She's a much better friend than me because she's lived in California for the past 5 years and I've never been to visit her, but within 6 months of moving to Colorado she booked a plane ticket to come see me. She flew in Thursday night so we picked her up from the airport after work and took her to the brew-pub down the street from our house. Friday we hiked Mt. Sanitas in Boulder which is fun because at the top you can see for miles east across the plains. As we were hiking we happened to notice some black smoke coming from the foothills north of us. Fortunately the smoke was downwind from us and the wind was roaring at 50 mph so we kept hiking (although I kept thinking about how the newspaper article would describe our death as another idiotic group of hikers who didn't turn around when they should have...).

After we escaped not-so-near death we took Emily to Pearl Street to shop and people watch. Little did I realize that Drew is actually in the group of people that are watched rather than watching. We had Bogey with us for the hike and you can't take dogs on the outside mall of Pearl Street so Drew hung back in a grassy area to soak in the sunshine and listen to one of the street performers. After Emily and I did a little shopping we went back to meet up with Drew. He then told us that while we were gone some college kid on a bike came up to him and asked if he wanted his lunch leftovers. Drew laughed and said "no thanks, I'm alright." The guy then said "what about the dog? It's a turkey sandwich." Drew turned it down again, but then later regretted it because he was pretty hungry from our hike.

Later that night Sean and Hunter drove up from Colorado Springs to hang out for the weekend. We made tacos and had our usual guitar/mandolin/awful singing jam session (think 20 minute long versions of The Weight and Wagon Wheel). The next morning Emily's college friend Crystal drove up from Denver to join us for snowshoeing in Rocky Mountain National Park. She had been up there last weekend to ice climb so she knew of a great snowshoeing trail along a string of lakes. The hike was only 4 miles round trip but we had a blast playing in the snow and being in the mountains.

Sunday was a little more low-key. We had lunch at Oskar Blues during their usual Sunday bluegrass jam session. Afterwards we spent the afternoon playing Bocce, slack-lining, and enjoying the spring weather.

That night Emily made us Shrimp Scampi and Tequila-Thyme Lemonade (which Drew called the Mojito's gay cousin). As Sean pointed it's awesome having such a talented cook for a best friend.

Today I went back to work while Drew took Emily to Denver to have lunch with friends and then to the airport. All in all it was a fabulous weekend, but I am exhausted and need a vacation from Emily's vacation.

Drew's fun fact: Kangaroos can't hop backwards.*

*Courtesy of Daniel Tosh

Home, Whole, and Happy

My better half is home and we celebrated by going snowshoeing in Rocky Mountain National Park yesterday. Needless to say, I am very happy. I was planning on forcing him to write a blog about his trip when he got home, but he's glued to his books studying for the boards. He takes the test at 8:00 am on Wednesday morning. So until he passes the test and has some free time to write, here's a picture that I think sums up his experience:

Snowshoeing was a blast. It was the first time for Drew and I and we loved it. It was really windy in the park so we found a trail that wound its way through the woods which provided some protection. It was so much fun to be in the wilderness, surrounded by snow, and walking on powder. We're glad to have found another winter sport to enjoy in the mountains. Going up to the resorts to snowboard can be quite the production and takes up the whole day, but there are so many snowshoeing trails in Boulder county and in RMNP. We plan on getting plenty of use out of our new shoes in the next few months. Here are a few pics from our trip, including the fox we saw on our way out (which lifted it's leg to pee and kicked at the ground behind him just like Bogey does):

Drew's fun fact: Wolves possess upwards of two hundred million olfactory cells.

Half Way

Today marks the half way point for Drew's month-long furlough. The past two weeks have taught me that if I ever feel lonely or that I don't have enough friends all I need to do is send Drew away. Since he has been gone I've gotten more phone calls, e-mails, facebook messages, and invitations to hang out than I have in the past year (okay, maybe slight exagerration). I am so thankful to all my friends, near and far, who have reached out to me to make sure I am taken care of and properly entertained. Last weekend Sean invited me to come down to Colorado Springs to help him pick out paint colors for the room he's renovating- Drew must have told him I'm addicted to HGTV. This weekend Brett, Mindy, and Megan came up Friday night for a girls' night, and Brett ended up staying the whole weekend. Today I went to our new friends' house in Pinewood Springs which is half way between Lyons and Estes Park. Drew and I met them at Oskar Blues (a brew-pub in Lyons) a few weeks ago. We were sitting at the bar, started chatting, and ended up exchanging numbers. Drew left for his EMT training soon after and made me promise to call them (we're still desperate for nearby friends). Eventhough I try to be an outgoing person it was not easy to call someone that we randomly met at a bar/restaurant. I started to feel like a single guy trying to pick up girls. I thought " should I call them right away or should I wait a few days?" "Did they really want to hang out or were they just being nice?" When I finally did call I was so relieved to get their voicemail because then if they didn't want to hang out they could just ignore my message rather than having an awkward phone conversation. Poor boys- I had no idea how difficult it is to pick up girls. Now I can completely commiserate. Anyway they ended up calling me back and invited me over to watch the super bowl. The drive to their house was so beautiful. I don't get to do very much mountain driving because Drew usually drives, but it was so much fun. It felt like Mario Kart winding through the mountains, watching out for Elk, and down-shifting instead of breaking. We had gotten about 3 inches of snow last night and had beautiful blue, sunny skies all day. Between the weather, the music (Avett Brothers), and Mario Kart, it was one of the most fun drives I've ever done by myself. So even though I miss Drew like crazy, I've done pretty well the past couple weeks. Thanks to everyone who's checked in one me!

P.S. Drew's been doing really well too. Between the classroom, an ER rotation, outdoor "scenarios" and practicing procedures on other classmates, he's been learning a lot and having a great time. More stories from him to come...

Drew's fun fact: On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year.

Long Distance Relapse

Tonight I'm having a big pity party because Drew is leaving tomorrow. He's going to the Cascades for a Wilderness EMT course that lasts 4 weeks. Coincidentally, the location where the training takes place (Lake Diabl0, about 3 hours from Seattle) is one of the prettiest places I have ever seen- check out Google images. Even though I'm bummed about him being gone I'm really excited about this experience he's going to have. He's been studying for the past few weeks in preparation and asking me lots of medical questions. It's really cool that we'll be able to relate to each other in a new way after this training. And it will be nice to have someone around who knows how to handle emergency situations in the wilderness. When he gets home he'll be looking for a job in search and rescue, firefighting, or ski patrol. With him leaving I feel like I did back in college when we were long distance and I had to say bye to him at the end of the weekend. My only consolation is that I'll get to keep the house really clean while he's gone and be in charge of the remote.

Last weekend my parents came for a quick ski trip. When they got here on Friday afternoon we greeted them with a full growler from Left Hand Brewery and gave them a walking tour of our neighborhood. That evening we walked to Main St for dinner and spent the rest of the night watching Warren Miller movies to get pumped up for skiing. We rode at Keystone Saturday, spent the afternoon in the hot tub at our hotel, and then skied again Sunday. We came home Sunday evening and crashed. Monday we took them to Rabbit Mountain open space up near Lyons where there are nice hiking trails and great views of the Flat Irons and Boulder Valley, then took them to the airport. The trip was short but sweet and we were so glad to get to spend time with my parents.

Drew's fun fact: The ant, when intoxicated, will always fall over to its right side.

Hidden Valley

Happy New Year! We ended 2010 by going on a backcountry adventure in Rocky Mountain National Park. Our friends Shane and Christine took us to do a little backcountry riding at this area called Hidden Valley. According to Shane, back in the day it was all the rage for National Parks to have ski resorts. Hidden Valley opened in RMNP in 1955. Then, years later, ski resorts in the National Parks fell out of favor and Hidden Valley closed in 1991. Now the area is used for backcountry skiing. The road that takes you to the top of the runs is closed in the winter because of all the snow. Christine drove us up as far as the road was open and dropped us off where it closed. When we got out of the car it was -1 degrees outside with a windchill down to -20. This was the first time I've ever been in negative degrees. We had to hike about a mile and a half to get to the area where you can drop in. It was a pretty flat hike, but still very tiring due to the elevation (10,000-11,000 ft), the cold, the wind, the knee deep snow (in some places), and the snowboard I was carrying. Even though it was tiring I was glad to be hiking because it kept us warm. At one point, Drew turned around and looked at me and said "your snot is frozen to your face." All I could picture is that scene in Dumb and Dumber when they're on that little motorcycle trying to make it to Aspen. After what seemed like forever, we finally got to an area where we could drop in and ride. The trees were pretty tight, but there was more powder than I could've dreamed of. Almost too much powder. The problem with riding powder is that you have to go fast to be able to make your turns. This is tough to do in the midst of trees. I spent a lot of time on my butt buried in snow, but it was well worth the adventure. It seemed like the ride down was harder than the hike up. We finally made it back to the car safe and sound. Our hair was frozen and our faces were red, but we felt great. My numb toes proceeded to regain feeling, which was the most painful part of the whole day. Now, hours later, they still ache. I'm sure this excursion sounds like no fun to most people, but the work and discomfort were well worth being present in the beauty of winter in the mountains. Cheesy, but true, and a great way to end the year.

This is the only picture we took today. It was taken with my cell phone where we were dropped off at the road closure. We didn't have our camera with us because the battery was dead, but even if we did we wouldn't have been able to take any pictures because it was too cold to take our mittens off. Also to report, we got about 6 inches of snow in Longmont over the past 2 days. I drove in the snow for the first time and got to shovel snow for the first time. I was so excited I shoveled our sidewalk, kept going and shoveled our neighbors sidewalk, and ended up shoveling the rest of the block. This morning, someone in the neighborhood with a big snow blowing machine came and did the whole street. I guess random acts of kindness really do get payed forward.

Drew's fun fact: The largest snowflake recorded was fifteen inches in diameter.

Powder

Today I had a supernatural experience... powder. And I'm not talking about the movie about the creepy super-pale little boy with telepathic powers. I'm talking about freshies, as the locals call it. For the first time today I was able to truly experience the wonder of riding on powder. It's like floating on butter, or clouds, or magic. The only problem is that you have to ski some pretty tough runs full of moguls and trees in order to find the few spots of powder. But I'm told it only gets better since the good snow doesn't really come until February or March. This Christmas, instead of dreaming of dancing sugar plums I will be dreaming of powder, powder, and more powder.

Drew's fun fact: The movie "Powder", made in 1995, was directed by Victor Salva who was convicted of molesting a 12-year-old child actor in 1988.

AC/DC Thanksgiving

Drew and I had the pleasure of hosting Thanksgiving for the first time this year, which really doesn't mean much because Drew's mom did all the cooking. It was so much fun having it at our house, especially because we not only had Drew's parents here but also my brother-in-law Devon and our friends Sean and Lori. The day was filled with the usual AC/DC antics including Devon and Sean getting "iced", me trying to sit on a chair that wasn't there and falling on the floor, Bogey puking from eating too much table scraps, and me stepping in doggy "unpleasants" and tracking it all through the house. We also didn't buy enough oil to cover the turkey in the fryer, but luckily our friend Lori randomly had some cooking oil in her car and saved the day. What are friends for? When we finally sat down to eat we all got the giggles. All I remember of our dinner conversation is that Devon said his bald spot was sweating. Post-dinner activities included Drew and Devon playing music, Sean sleeping on the couch in my apron, and a walk in our neighborhood that ended with Christmas caroling... all in all a great Thanksgiving.

Drew's fun fact: Turkeys have heart attacks. The United States Air Force was doing test runs and breaking the sound barrier. Nearby turkeys dropped dead with heart attacks.