Christmas in CO

Shoot! Has it really been almost a month since I updated my blog? My apologies. Anyways, it's been a crazy busy month. Between work, being on the mountain, and in town festivities I have barely had a minute to relax- which has been kind of nice actually. It was definitely different being away from home for Christmas, but a buddy of mine threw a Christmas party (with a turkey and all) which turned out great. It was a wild mixture of random people ranging from kids my age to a couple that was about 60 years old. It really felt like Christmas.
In other news, I was lucky enough to meet up with the Murphy's at Winter Park for a day this past week. Ofcourse, I forgot my camera so I can't post a picture, but it was absolutely fantastic seeing all of them. After my day there I was also able to make it down to Monarch Mountain down in Salida and met up with a friend of mine. It felt great to play in some deep snow for a change. I even got a plate of Christmas cookies out of the deal (thanks Mo!).
My coffee is running low and my watch it running late so I must be going. I have no idea what I'll be updating on in the coming weeks, but stay tuned and hopefully I can get some pics up. I hope all is well with everyone. I hope everyone had a happy holiday and have an even better NYE.

Business as usual

Well, all the Texans have left, thankfully, and the mountain is back in the hands of the locals. Went out skiing yesterday and I'm starting to get the hang of it. Today, I am meeting up with the only other guy at work who is able to get up early and catch the first chair up the mountain. The picture here was taken from the porch of the house I live at a couple of mornings ago. Enjoy.

Thanksgiving in CO

Happy Thanksgiving all! So, it has been quite some time since I last posted. Basically, I have been snowboarding, skiing, or working in the past couple of weeks. My managers and owners at the shop I work at are simply the best. They work out schedule so that we can get on the mountain as much as possible. The mountain has slowly been opening up, piece by piece, which is going to help spread out all the damn Texans on the slopes (seriously, they have invaded Breckenridge).
Anywho, I am having my morning cup of coffee before I get on the hill this morning (texans don't like to get up early). After a couple of laps I am off to Salida to have Thanksgiving with a friend and her family.
I hope everyone has a great and safe Thanksgiving.
(I'll work on taking more pictures).

Rock Climbing Adventure

Today, an unexpected adventure presented itself. My roommate, Stuss, asked if I wanted to go rock climbing in Boulder- more specifically the Third Flatiron. Having absolutely no experience, I agreed. Went through a quick 101 lesson before and off we went. He led and I followed- taking turns belaying and climbing. For seasoned rock climbers its considered a pretty easy climb, but this being my first climb ever- I was terrified. Made it up without any problems after 5 pitches and about 4 hours. Once at the top I learned how to rapell (a 40 foot, two 75 footers off the back). Overall, learning experience. Enjoy the pics.
I start work tomorrow so that should be a whole nother adventure to begin!

Halloween in Durango

I am back in Breckenridge after spending Halloween in Durango, Colorado. The weekend started out ridiculous with the drive down. I had to go over Red Mountain Pass in a winter storm and it turned out to be real sketchy (sorry Mom!), but 4 wheel drive saved the day. Anywho, once in Durango I met up with my friend and met all her roommates and friends. Quite the cast of characters. I have forgotten what it was like to be in college again. Had a great time, and met some really great people. Now I am back in Breck and have a week to go before work starts. I imagine I'll hit up A-Basin once or twice this week and other than that just be hanging around.
The first picture of the San Juan mountains on my way back to Breck from Durango and the second is the construction of the Koolaid man (which I was for Halloween). Enjoy!

Breckenridge- getting settled

It's about 10 in the morning here in Breckenridge. I am drinking my morning cup of coffee in the house I'm living at and watching the snow fall outside. We are scheduled to get up to 32 inches or something absurd like that. It's awesome. I spent yesterday snowboarding at A-Basin. Only two runs open, you can't beat getting on the slopes in October. Today I am headed down to Durango to see a friend and hang out for the greatest of all holidays: Halloween. Should be a scenic drive. I would have put on some new pics but I'm feeling rather lazy this morning so I will post them another time. Cheers!

Grinnell, Iowa and another 1000 miles

Hello hello from lovely Fort Collins, Colorado. It's about 55, sunny, and I can see snow on the mountains to the west. Conditions are pretty great. I rolled into town about an hour ago and found a coffee shop to hold up at for a little while. Two nights ago I met up with my buddy, Drake, in Grinnell Iowa. Had some, beers and laughs. Actually, one too many beers because I was a bit hungover the next day so we went to the house he was house-sitting and ate pizza and watched crappy TV until I hit the road around 3 in the afternoon. Spent last night at a rest stop in GodsCountry Nebraska. Started snowing pretty hard and I really didn't feel like driving anymore so I figured a night's rest could do me good. I am headed to REI today to pick up my season ski pass (YEEEEEWHOOOOO!) and then bumming around until the opera show at 7:30. I talked a friend of mine who is coming for the show as well- hopefully meet up with and grab dinner.
That's about it for now. The plan is to stay here for the night and then on to meet my roommates in Breckenridge tomorrow. Cheers!

Chicago Marathon, garage work, and a Hawks win

Looking at my last post, it's been quite some time since I've posted anything. For the most part I have been enjoying some down time at home just generally relaxing. Two Sundays ago I had to run the marathon that I had signed up to do 6 months prior, cursing myself the entire time. Met up with a bunch of good buddies from high school and went to the starting line. We all started out together but about half way through there were four of us (me, Rees, Kevin, and Sam). We kept a great pace throughout the entire race and ended up running faster during the second half (how I don't quite know). We ended up running the marathon in 4 hours and 34 minutes, which is around 10:25 each mile. No land speed records, but we started and finished it together- something to be said about that. After the race I made my way to a friends place downtown and we all celebrated finishing the marathon.
The day after I was recruited by my buddy, Ned, to help paint a garage. After about 20 hours of work in 30 hours we were told by the homeowner we had screwed up the job. Whoops. Hopefully I can get some pictures from Ned to show our handy work.
The days after the marathon and the garage were spent rather lazily (which I think I deserved), until this weekend when I went up to Madison to root on the Hawks. We ended up winning by 10 and I had a great time tailgating with an old friend and meeting a whole bunch of new people.
As for now, I am slowly gathering my belongings and getting organized for my return to Colorado. I am scheduled to leave on Wednesday and stay with my friend, Drake, in Grinnell Iowa. After that I am hoping to meet up with friends in Fort Collins, Colorado for an (believe it or not) opera show that a guy we know is starring in. Should be a hilarious awesome time if I can make it. More updates to follow.

Back in Crystal Lake

Well, 3500 miles later I made it back home. After a quick trip to Ann Arbor for some lunch with friends and a night in Grand Rapids, my unexpected east coast road trip has come to an end. It's hard to believe that I knew people everywhere I went- really nice to have friends all over the country. My days are a little less hectic now and filled with soooo much food. I am currently trying to train for the Chicago Marathon (I have done little to no training) in hopes of just finishing, which will prove to be difficult enough.
As for the winter- I am counting down the days till I arrive back in Colorado. I have a place to live and a job to go to when I'm back out there so all systems are ready to go for the winter. I could not be more excited.

Cleveland?

Hello all! I find myself in Cleveland, Ohio on this soggy morning. It's been awhile since I have updated. Spent a few days with my good friends in Boston- doing some site seeing and drinking too much coffee- very relaxing. I left Boston on Friday night and pulled over somewhere in New York. I was able to score another free continental breakfast which I am proud to say. On my drive to Cleveland I saw a sign for Niagra Falls so I made the game time decision to check it out. I have no idea when I'll be on the east coast again so I figured what the hell. Checked it out- pretty awesome- the falls were great but it was BEYOND touristy which I didn't exactly like. After that I drove through the most ridiculous rain storm of all time to get to the mighty might Cleveland, Ohio. I spent the night watching the Hawks game (they won against #5 Penn State at Happy Valley!) with fellow hawkeyes and friends. It's been a wild ride and my trip seems to be coming to an end. I'm heading up to Grand Rapids today to visit the one and only Kristin Miller and after that I am Crystal Lake bound.

Washington DC and Bahston

Greetings from Boston! It was a long road from West Virginia to Boston, but I finally made it. I left West Virginia on Sunday and headed east to Washington DC. I pulled in pretty late and slept in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn Express. I tried to finagle some free breakfast, but they didn't serve a free continental breakfast- I was NOT happy. I settled on peanuts. Anywho, I headed into DC on the metro and got to siteseeing. I hit up the Capital building, WWII monument, Washington Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, the Reflecting Pool, the Vietnam Memorial, the White House, the museum of American History, and the Museum of Air and Space. The Museum of American History was BY FAR the coolest thing around (and free!). After a long day of walking around I headed for Boston. After a ridiculous drive (and like 40 dollars in toll fees) I stopped at in a parking lot of a Comfort Inn for the night. I was able to score a free continental breakfast and hit the road. Now I am sitting in Ed Liesio and Steve Jorgensen's place in Boston. It's nice to just relax for a change.

Lake Watauga, Gauley River, and West Virginia

Hello there!
It's been awhile since I've posted because I have been crazy busy bouncing around. Since the last post I have been to Asheville for a couple of nights, Lake Watauga in Tennessee, and finally Summersville, West Virginia. Spent two nights in Asheville with friends from out West. Great bluegrass concert the first night at the Gray Eagle bar. I was planning on leaving the next day, but just so happened to bump into an old friend from high school in Asheville and ended up having some beers at an 80's dance night at a local bar. Real fun.
After that, my friend Brandon (who I raft with out West) and I headed up to Lake Watauga for a night of camping to break up the drive to Gauley Fest. Nice relaxing campground with awesomely green water to swim in.
After a night there we headed up to Gauley Fest in West Virginia. Bumped into a handful of people I knew from out West and North Carolina- great fun talking with them all. This past saturday we got to raft the Gauley and oh my lord it was amazing. Brandon hooked us up with a group and I was lucky enough to jump onto a little boat with another guy and we went BIG BIG BIG. Ended up swimming some really nasty rapids (sorry mom!) and pretty much had adrenaline going all day. As for now- I am headed to Washington DC to check out the town and see what the capital is all about. Hopefully I will post a little more regularly and put up more pictures.

To Asheville and on!

It's been a couple of days since I posted. Went backpacking in Pisgah National forest which was probably the most stressful thing I've done in years- ask me about that sometime because I can't let Mom know what happened. Anywho, spent a couple of days mentally and physically recovering from that little ordeal and now I am in Asheville. Met up with a couple of friends from out West and went to a Bluegrass show last night. AMAZING musicians! Holy crap.
As of right now, I am with my friend, Brandon, and we are planning out the next stage of the trip. We are headed (tentatively) to Cherokee National Forest up in TN to camp out for a day or two before we hit up West Virginia and the Gauley River. He knows some people there so hopefully we can get on the mecca of whitewater in America for free! Go on to youtube and search Gauley river to see how big the water is (awesome!).

Brevard

Made it to Brevard. Got in last night after spending most of the day in Boone. Went and saw Greg Mortenson speak. He is the author of "Three Cups of Tea" and is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. It was an interesting speech and I'm happy I stayed to watch. Anywho, made to Brevard in time for the disco party. Doesn't compare to Colorado disco party, but it was fun to meet a bunch of new people and hang out with old friends. Today has been spent swimming in a freezing freezing cold creek and cliff jumping in the water. I had to ditch out of my buddy's house because the landlord was coming and she was PISSED. I'll put a picture or two up as soon as I get them on my computer.

BOOOOOOOOONE

MADE IT TO BOONE! Considering that a small miracle considering the Garmin which I was totally reliant on decided to bring me on the most preposterous mountain route possible and then dropping its signal several times at night in an insane thunderstorm. Anywho, sitting in a coffee shop waiting for Kevin to get out of meetings. I am leaning towards heading to Brevard, NC to go to a disco party with friends from out West. After that the plan is up in the air. A friend from out West is rafting on the Ocoee River and he just contacted me. If he has a work opportunity I may be hitting that up. The next 48 hours should be interesting and probably decide what I am doing for the next month. If all else fails I can always go backpacking for a week or two.
(this blogging thing is kind of fun- I have to give credit to Mr. Clarke for the inspiration to this blog)

On to NC

Well, this is my first blog entry ever and I haven't quite gotten the hang of it. Anywho, I am sitting here in Crystal Lake enjoying a cup of coffee before the drive to North Carolina. It's been a great week- seeing a bunch of old friends and getting to get down to Chicago and up to Madison. I have certainly filled up on food this week- pickings were slim towards the end of my summer in Colorado. I had no idea how excited I was to get down to North Carolina until I couldn't sleep at all last night. I have no idea what is in store for the next month, but I find myself enjoying that feeling more and more. This should be fun getting some of stories out onto this thing- hopefully some fun pictures as well. North Carolina ahoy!