Who is more likely to get struck by lightning while hiking?

In the two weeks that we were in Boulder, I'm not sure that there was more than a day or two that did NOT have a thunderstorm at some point in the afternoon. Typically we finish up work around 3:30 local time just as the clouds are swirling in grey, green and black over the swaying trees and jagged mountains in a classic impression of a Tolkein setting for impending doom. After a few days of wisely avoiding this weather with tame pursuits like shopping I'd had enough. I wanted to climb the Flatirons and I wasn't going to let a few spooky clouds stop me. Nor would I let my whiny husband's complaints about running and hiking on the same day keep me down. So we did headed for Chautauqua park at 3:30 with a 5:00 curfew to get Wee. The hike up the Flatirons is, of course, not flat at all. Even the meadow at Chautauqua is fairly steep. But a good hike with good views through meadow, through woods, across a few scree fields, and finally up to the slanted rocks that give the area its Flatiron moniker. This is one of my favorite hikes, not just for the speed of getting up fast and its proximity to downtown Boulder, but also because of the variety of people on the trail. The mixture that I enjoy the most is the level of equipment that people have - hippies and college kids with no shoes, climbers in full gear, and classic hikers in the latest fashion. We're clearly not true Boulder people yet because we're mixes of our own wearing cotton shorts, but Gortex hiking sneakers. But having our dog with us gave us a little local mountain cred. Rory held her own even over some of the steeper, almost stairs like sections up on the top. She doesn't yet have her Boulder off-leash tag, so she had to stay on leash rather than chasing the chipmunks and big mule deer we saw on the way. Obliviously she didn't even notice a snake she sat on. Luckily the rain mostly held out just providing a nice light sprinkle on our way back down. The thunder boomed ominously in the distance as we first did the math and physics to determine the proper formula for lightning to thunder timing to distance. Then we debated which of us was more likely to get struck by lightning while hiking across the meadow. Alex is taller, but he presumed that I was waterier (based on absolutely no evidence, but turns out that muscle has more water than fat, so I'll take that as a compliment), so who knows.

Perfecting campfire cooking

The very first day we bought the land of course there was 6 inches of snow, but we wanted to "live" on the Land which included making food. I don't remember exactly what we tried to cook, but I remember that we burnt the crap out of whatever it was. Next chance we had we bought a gas grill to make life easier. The grill has served us well grilling veggies, breads, and animals of all kinds and even heating up water and side dishes on its little burner. After that first campfire cooking experience we were scarred and only used the campfire to toast many a perfect marshmallow using awesome telescoping rotatable forks. This weekend and last we spent several hours around the campfire on both Friday and Saturday nights and a little during the day too. We collected wood of all sizes, started fires with dry conditions and wet, we stoked the fire high and kept it going at a slow burn. Then, just as we were about to start cooking hamburgers, veggie dogs, and corn for David Smith's family and ourselves around 7:30 Saturday evening, the gas on the grill ran out. Uh oh. Hardware store was closed. Thankfully David had a small coleman stove and the hamburgers went on there. But it was too small. We looked at the campfire. It was time to step it up. I got some rocks and placed them around the already burning fire at just the right angle and placed an inherited round grill grate over the rocks. I knew from that one previous experience and a fair amount of research that I didn't really want a fire, I wanted slow burning coals. In my previous grilling experience the only way to make coals if from the charcoal that comes in black briquettes from a bag and is doused with lighter fluid. But I also had the image of those late night slow burning embers and that's what I tried to emulate. So I pushed half of the already started fire under the grill grate and there were some coals. And lo and behold it worked!!! The foil wrapped sweet corn was very forgiving, but it was definitely cooked, even having some carmelization in certain areas. I did it!!! I cooked on real fire!!! Two and a half years after that first attempt and I'm a mountain person now! Now time to perfect the craft. Over the next day or so, I realized I could keep those coals going with inch diameter short sticks which are luckily in huge abundance on the Land. We toasted bagels the next morning just to prove that real cooking could actually be done. I still think we'll fill up the propane tank at the next possible opportunity, but the possibilities for camping in different fire pits on the Land without the grill have just opened up. I can't wait to go back.

A little mountain music

The mountains are always famed for their music. I guess people kinda had nothing else to do so they entertained themselves with song. Our first real foray into the mountain music scene was accompanying my sister Susie's friend Amy to her Marimba class. Really? Marimba? What even is that? We drove up Ridge Road north of Nederland to the house where Amy's Marimba band meets. First of all, the house was amazing. It was set on a long drive all to itself. Modern and angular with gorgeous views of the mountains from a nice open porch that had hummingbirds nesting along strings of christmas lights. The back room of the house was surrounded by windows pulling in that view. Its curve and high ceilings made a perfect room to support the 10 or so xylophones of various sizes that made up the marimba band. The sounds of something like Under the Sea from the Little Mermaid let us know that the band was already playing when we walked up. I was surprised at the variety and size of the different instruments. The bass had keys that were maybe 6 inches or more in width, the next smallest was the baritone that Amy was playing for that first song, then tenor and I assume an alto and soprano. The owners of the house were also the craftsmen who had made the instruments. In addition to marimbas, the room contained mountain dulcimers and hammer dulcimers all around that had also been made in house. The music blended simple tone combinations and rhythms from each individual instrument into a really complex symphony with a great beat when all put together. As soon as we walked into the room, Wee sidled right up to Amy and started dancing. The beat was contagious and we all had to move a little at one point or another. And this is what the mountain people do all the time.

The other easy place to find music was in Boulder. Starting with ZimFest at the Boulder Farmers market with a little more marimba style Zimbabwe themed tunes. Then to Band on the Bricks on the Pearl Street Mall. Pearl Street sometimes reminds me of the one Gilmore Girls episode where Stars Hollow is invaded by minstrels - except it's always that way. We ran into no less than 5 banjo players on our way to the main band that had its own banjo, a punk looking lead singer and a couple southern style guitarists. Just next to the main musicians stage was where the break dancers hung out. Wee and Amy were particularly captivated. Wee has always loved break dancing and wouldn't surprise me if he was one of those kids in a few years. Amy was just comparing these kids and their head spinning passion to her own snow/skateboarding kids. A block or so past this stage was where we encountered a bell and suspender clad group of people who were clearly getting ready to do some kind of traditional dance (who else wears suspenders?). But they were also carrying sticks. What? But then they started their Cotswald England based dancing and showed us that sticks are not just for martial arts anymore. Accordian, drum, and fife supplied the music as they danced clacking and waving their sticks in synchronicity. More mountain fun I guess.

Weapons training begins

For years now Alex has been a little bored with Tae Kwon Do. Really it's amazing that we've stayed at it as long as we have. Alex wants to learn something new. He wants weapons. Over Memorial Day we were at the Boulder Creek festival and ran into a few martial arts studios. One of them seemed especially professional and friendly. They even called me back once immediately and then again once they knew we were in Boulder. Monday afternoon while Wee was still at camp Alex and I had our first weapons martial arts class. The first decision was what weapon to choose - broad sword, nunchucks, or bo staff seemed to be the leading contenders. I couldn't imagine myself ever really coordinated enough for nunchucks and bo staffs seem too big for a little elf like me, so broad sword it is. They actually had three different swords which pretty much used the same movements, but were different weights. Alex took the heaviest version and I took the mid-weight version. I almost went for the light and floppy one that makes cool noises whenever it moves, but they said it was a little sharp even on the back. I could just imagine myself half cutting my hand off by accident and I handed that one to the instructor. So there we were pretty much in street clothes hiding looking outwardly like total amateurs. We giddy and giggly at the thought of actually using a sword just like we had seen TKD students giggle at punching and kicking on their first days. The drills started in front of a mirror with a few slashing motions with the wrists kept stiff. I thought of how floppy my wrists often are in tennis, but thankfully in martial arts there are no balls sent awry making my faults blatantly obvious. Just do 50 or so out to in and in to out. 50! That seemed like a lot for the first day, but we're black belts we made it through. Ok, now switch the sword to your left hand. Excuse me, what? We actually had been playing tennis earlier in the day so our right hands were channeling that experience somewhat, but left hands had no clue where to even start. But start they did and, although awkward, it kinda worked. After all in the Princess Bride didn't Wesley fight left handed for the first part of that epic sword battle? Enough with these warm-ups. Time to learn a form (pattern to us). Sword at side, unsheath, sitting stance, push out and support, step to the side with sword version of outer forearm block, inward slash, downward hack with kiyay, and then wipe the blood off in a good extended very kung fu like stance. Awesome. We'll definitely be back.

Sunday afternoon in Denver

Our weekend on The Land actually ended with an invitation to Athena's 5th birthday party. Athena is David Smith's daughter.

I met David when I did some IMT training at Shriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs in like 1997. He had just started working at the Storm Colorado office in Denver and this was one of his first business trips. That trip we had a fabulous dinner in downtown Colorado Springs teaching David the wonders of dining on the company dime. We also hiked a little around Garden of the Gods. After that trip we kept in touch during his time at Storm even though we were in different offices. I always enjoyed getting IMT questions from him when he was working in Italy and the UAE. And I distinctly remember the call when he told me that he had found Wyndell, the love of his life and now wife. We kept in touch even after we both left Storm. I would call him every year for Space Symposium, he had various stints in DC, and we would often get together on The Land. Wee loves having Athena to play with on the Land whenever possible.

So Sunday afternoon we headed down to David's house in Aurora. Although still in Colorado, Aurora is a very different place from Boulder. Aurora is the ultimate in suburbia and Boulder fights suburban stereotypes with everything it has. But we were there for Athena, David, and Wyndell not the scenery, restaurants, stores, or open space. It was interesting to go to a girl's party too. The theme was Tinkerbell and the girls all had wings while the boys had bandanas and other pirate paraphenalia. We were really shocked when the presents came out. No transformers, bakugans, weaponry, or science. Instead Athena and the moms oohed and aahed over an Easy Bake oven, a Hannah Montana barbie, and several princess themed presents. Wow. Totally different world. But Wee had fun playing and running around. We hung out and chatted about life. And Colorado showed that even Aurora is a little natural when a baby bunny showed up and chilled with us in the back yard for a while.

After the party it was a little late, but not so late that we didn't have time to detour through Denver and try out some big city gourmet food. I had a list of places that I wanted to go to, but apparently Denver closes at 8 pm on Sundays and it was just after that. But Table 6 said they were technically closed but could make something for us. We're so glad they said that. It is very rare as a vegetarian to get real imaginative, beautiful food; but this place had it. It was a no-brainer for me to order the vegetable bread pudding with roasted baby zucchini and patty-pan squash over a spinach puree topped with micro greens. Fabulous. Alex had lamb t-bone with a mustard sauce and cannelini beans - none of which I like. But I didn't care. I was happy with my own plate. Although Boulder has more restaurants than we could possibly try it was nice to find something good in a new place as well.

Father's Day hike near Como Creek

For actual Father's Day the plan was a hike again. Our intended destination was some sort of gulch or canyon or gully or gorge or valley off the side of Peak-to-Peak highway between the Land and the town of Ward. We didn't really know what it was, we just knew that people seemed to park there a lot and it looked pretty. Como Creek did show up on our awesome Boulder County map and was listed along with part of the Sourdough Trail, so it didn't seem completely crazy to pull off the side of the road and head for the really deep canyon. For some reason there were no people parked there on Sunday, so it took us a couple of tries to find the trailhead. Eventually there was a thing that looked a little like a road, but was blocked and had a thing that looked a little like a sign, but was blank. This must be it. In my impatience I went ahead a little, just enough to realize that although it was nice and warm in the sun on the top, it was significantly colder in the shade of the path. Sweatshirts required. So we headed down the trail. With all the rain we have been having we weren't surprised to see trickles of water crossing the path occasionally. Not really a problem to just jump over or walk around. Then there was one with some rocks to step on. Thanks to the person who put those rocks there. After a little while we came to a little campsite with a fire pit including an unopened can of soup. At this point the trail didn't end, but we had reached the stream and the trail continued on the other side. But again, thank you to previous hikers who had made a little bridge out of dead trees. Alex went first, then Wee (who was showing off the skills he'd learned in gymnastics), then Rory, then me. No problem.
We continued down the trail in a gorgeous, lush valley. We were surrounded by Aspens with the creek rushing along side. The walls of the canyon were pretty deep, but the floor was fairly even and soft.

But again the path crossed the stream. At this point the stream was rushing faster and the downed trees were higher. We found one "bridge" with a lot of branches for handholds and Alex found another smaller tree to use as a railing. Alex, Aidan, and I took the tree, but Rory thought swimming seemed like more fun. Mmmm. Wet dog. In any case we all made it across and continued down til we found a nice rock in the sun that was perfect for sitting on and having a snack. The fact that the rock was really big and we couldn't figure out how to get Wee and Rory down past it also made it a good turn around spot. So we headed back up the trail planting cherries along the way. Good father's day...

Weather wimps

After our horseback ride on Saturday afternoon, the skies opened up with thunder, lightning, and rain as they have almost every afternoon since we've been here. I think in past trips to the Land we head to Boulder in the late afternoons to swim and avoid the rain leaving us thinking that the Land was a kind Camelot where it only rained when we weren't there. But now that we're spending so much time in Boulder anyway, we had been hoping to spend the whole weekend in the mountains. But there we were at 3 o'clock with a pretty strong rain and no end in sight. So we wimped. We went back to Boulder with no preconception of heading back to the mountains that night. We turned back into civilized people eating dinner at a restaurant and watching a movie in a theater. Wimps.

But the restaurant was pretty cool! It was a Thai place called Elephant Hut. Alex had some yellow curry served on a dish that looked like a painter's palette with little indented cups filled with green curry, tom kha, and tom sum. Wee learned that he liked Pad Thai. And well, we just won't talk about mine. But better than the food was the art. We noticed it even before we walked in the door. A very simple yet elegant picture of an ellaphant. During dinner there was a video running over the bar. It showed the artist doing the painting. The artist was an ELLAPHANT!!! Unbelievable as it may seem, ellaphants have learned to paint and they can even paint pictures of themselves! We were completely captivated by the video. Add one thing to my birthday list!!!



The actual theater movie that we saw - The Proposal - was formulaic, but good. Wee stayed up for the whole thing. The boy loves chick flicks. He at least likes them better than camping in the rain.

A day in Allenspark

After our Land Hike on Saturday morning we headed up to Allenspark.

We had lunch at a great cafe - home made veggie burger. Mmm... We also stopped to get some water from the local spring. It appeared to be water coming directly out of the stream, which would be dangerous to drink. But there was clearly a spigot and an indication that you were supposed to get drinking water. So we assumed it must be safe and it certainly was cold and clear and tasty.

Then we went to a very small little festival with crafts and local stuff. Wee's favorite part of the festival was doing the kid activities at the church tent - counting crosses, finding Jesus through a maze, following a line to Jesus. Our favorite part was the antique tent with a great old train lantern that still worked, spurs, some old toys, and old kitchen implements. I guess when talking about antiques "old" can be taken for granted.

Then it was time for horseback riding. This was Wee's first time on one of these rides with his own horse. He rides enough at home on ponies and with me on Skye that it was no problem for him. He just chatted/flirted with the guide for the whole hour. It was a great ride through Pine and Aspen forest and out into meadows. We could see Mount Meeker and other mountains in the Continental Divide in the distance. The guide had only been in Colorado since Memorial Day, but she was very knowledgeable about the little mining cabins, flowers, trees, horses, and mountains in the distance. Her horse was named Shelby - a perfect name for a mustang. Alex and I agreed that it was the best horse ride we'd experienced in Colorado so far.

After the ride we went to the only other open cafe/coffeeshop in Allenspark for a little drink and snack. Also pretty good, but with few non-egg options for Wee. We sipped and snacked and played with some games while being thankful that we had finished our ride before the thunderstorm hit.

Father's Day weekend hike around The Land

Alex's first request for Father's Day was a hike around the Land. We've been doing this hike for as long as we've had the Land, but it never seems to get old. Although ,as Wee gets bigger, it is getting slightly faster, less whiny, and involves almost no carrying anymore. Per tradition, the hike starts at the Campsite, we head toward the road on the driveway taking in great views of the Continental Divide, then down towards The Aspens. Alex went to check out the Christmas Tree as Wee and I waved to passing cars from the point where elk cross the road onto our property.

Then up the hill behind the Christmas tree along the road toward The Big Dead Tree. This is some of the most rugged hiking on The Land, but a 6 year old expert hiking Wee One had no problem stomping on sticks in his path, scrambling over rocks, and brushing aside brush. The end of our property is marked by a surveyors stake and the Big Dead Tree. At this point we turn away from the road and start looking for the yellow wisps of boundary markers tied to trees and bushes. As many times as we've done this, it looks familiar, but it also looks a lot like just a bunch of rocks and bushes and trees.


We head up for a while and find the Interior Corner and take a right. We try to mark the boundary ourselves with big pieces of wood pointed in what we think is the right direction. It may not be exact, but it's pretty close.


We find the Tungsten Mines (which are just off property) and then make it to Bear Hill for a snack of blueberries and raspberries. If the bear were watching, he would have joined our picnic. Then down Bear Hill along the dilapidated fence line, past Poisonous Mushroom Path, to the Meadow. Then back up the other way through the Ponderosa Pine colonnade and then up the back way over Moose View Mountain. A few pine cone fights did ensue along the way to keep the fun in things. Total time just under 2 hours.

Running into cool stuff - stay tuned

Before heading out camping last Friday, I went for a run. Alex was at Digital Globe, I had just finished a long planning meeting and my weekly status and I needed to get out. Our standard running trail is about 3-4 miles. We go out the back, past the playground, between the lake and the foothills, up an evil rise, past a playing field with a windsock flying, past a big field of prairie dogs, up another rise and back home. The windsock had always caught our attention and puzzled us. The playing fields seemed suited for any field sport - football, soccer, field hockey, lacrosse. They're beautifully groomed, but not exactly marked.

On Friday afternoon, I figured out what the windsock was for. It's for the paragliders that love our little section of the foothills. As I ran, there was one paraglider just finishing up his flight. At first he was all tucked up in his little cocoon as he swirled around the top of the hill, then he glided down, eventually popping his legs out and running onto the playing fields. He ran for quite awhile aided by the paraglider, I'm assuming to get his stuff closer to his car. Then all at once the paraglider just collapsed and he was done. Rory and I ran over to him to find out how I could do it (wimpy dog just isn't that adventurous). Apparently there is a paragliding school (http://www.parasoftparagliding.com) that meets every day at 8 am in this field. Stay tuned for more info on me paragliding!!!

Then on another part of the field, I saw a bunch of guys fighting with sticks. We had seen renaissance like people fighting with sticks or swords the other day near our own playground, but this looked different. Turned out it was a group of people practicing Philipino stick fighting, lead by a guy with a South African accent. After a zillion years of Tae Kwon Do, we're ready to try out something new. Maybe this is it. Again, stay tuned...

Some camping

So funny to think of weekends as a time to get away from things since we're already away from things. I guess it just gives us MORE time.

Friday night was the first evening without scary clouds, rain, and thunder since we'd been here. Time for some camping on The Land! So much easier to pack for one or two days via car transport than for a long weekend or a week with an airplane involved. We tossed sleeping bags in the car by themselves, used the duffel for a few clothes, and packed up some food into a grocery bag. Of course the tent and cooking stuff is already on The Land. We made quick stops to pick up some more food, drink, and ice and we were there.

What a beautiful evening in a beautiful place! Even though we had visited The Land a little last weekend, it had been raining the whole time so we didn't have a chance to unpack anything.

First thing, get the tent up. We have a huge 10' x 15' tent with two rooms and enough headroom even for Alex (I think it's about a 7 foot "ceiling"). But very easy to put together. Wee helps with the poles. We don't even need to read the instructions. It's up in less than a half hour.

Next was gathering firewood and making dinner. I love gathering firewood, it's just such an easy treasure hunt. Ooh, look that's a big one. Can I carry it? It's bigger than me, but I think I got it. Here's a piece, but still attached to something, I just need to stomp on it to break it loose. Instant gratification. But if I'm gathering firewood, that leaves Alex to make dinner. I can't ignore it too much. But this night was an easy, but still fabulous meal of tomato/basil/bread panzanella, arugula salad, grilled chicken, and orzo. OK, so Alex let the orzo cook onto the pot a little, but in general it was all good.

Then just time to relax by the fire. Just us and a few marshmallows. A perfect night of camping.

Wee camper

Alex, Rory, and I aren't the only ones having fun here. Wee has spent his first week at Avid 4 Adventure camp. His schedule was:

• Monday: Hiking
• Tuesday: Kayaking
• Wednesday: Biking
• Thursday: Canoeing
• Friday: Rock Climbing

After the main event they eat lunch from Whole Foods. Then in the afternoon they do either art, music, or yoga.

Aidan has made a ton of friends including Lila, who we ran into at the Boulder Farmers Market; Piper, who looks like Wee's cousins Coco and Libby; Elijah, who also has a red bandana; Leo, who shared his towel with Wee on Canoe and Kayak days; and of course Jamie and Rebecca, his counselors.

Here's some pictures from his camp: http://picasaweb.google.com/Avid4Adventure/2009DayCampBoulderJun1519Group1?authkey=Gv1sRgCJKXpuazrYKDLg&feat=directlink

A day without a car

One great benefit to being here in Colorado is that Alex can meet with the many customers here - Digital Globe in Longmont, GeoEye in Thurmont, Raytheon in Aurora, and Air Force Space Command and many others in Colorado Springs. Today was a demo at 8 am in Colorado Springs. Alex left at 5:45 am to drive the 90 miles or so down to the springs in time. Although normally that would seem like a ridiculously early departure, we're still jet lagged, and in east coast time that's a reasonable 7:45 am. Great! Good business! Apparently they loved the demo. I'll believe that when I see a purchase order, but more face time is always good.

Meanwhile, Wee and I are back here in Boulder with no car. First trial was getting him to camp. Boulder is not a real metropolitan area. It's not like there are cabs just anywhere. But I did some research and found one. The caucasian, American woman driver picked us up in her hybrid electric car confirming that this is very definitely Boulder. She and Wee chatted, he sang songs for her, his infectious laugh brightened her day for sure; she told me about how she had been a taxi driver for her kids for years - now she just gets paid to do it for other people. Round trip to and from camp an even $20. Not bad.

But today was also parents day at camp. Alex was totally bummed that he was missing it. I wasn't going to let lack of engine keep me away from meeting my Wee One at the Boulder Reservoir for a little canoeing. There's a bike hanging in the basement. I could use that! It's only 5 miles each way. That should only take a half hour, right! So the cab driver had told me that I could take the trails behind Wonderland Lake and they would connect to the Foothills Trail, which would get me to some dirt roads that would take me right there. Um, ok. I looked at a map briefly and the route seemed to make some sense and maybe be a little shorter than taking the roads. How very Boulder to be on bike trails that were totally disassociated from the roads. Sounds good in theory, but I just got here and I was riding a hybrid not a mountain bike, I was not really prepared for this. Leaving the house was easy enough, just a little adjustment on the seat. Couldn't find the helmet and hoped I wouldn't need it. The trail behind the lake was nice and flat. Then there was that first killer hill. The one that we're so surprised we can actually make it up when we run. Well, not so much on a bike. I got about half way up and decided I had a long road ahead and I should save my legs. Back to flat and I'm good, happily following the path, stopping occasionally to read the posted maps and confirm that I was going the right way. All good til I get to the Foothills path which would be spectacular if I was riding a mountain bike and/or I had the guts to ascend at a 20% grade over 6-12 inch rocks. Neither was true, so there was more bike walking. Even on the downhills, I just didn't feel right taking this borrowed bike over this terrain (yeah, blame the chicken action on the bike). But eventually I was back on a more reasonable path, in the middle of freakin' nowhere, but at least not hampered by unbikable physical obstacles. I turned east, getting directions from knowledgeable looking people every mile or so. Found some nice dirt roads and trails through some grazing land. So funny to be on a bike ride and have to open and shut gates. I even saw some horses and heard a cow. Finally the reservoir was in sight. I paid my admission fee and some finale energy pushed me quickly to where Wee was lying drenched on a towel with boy named Leo. I had missed canoeing and swimming, but at least got to see him and meet his friends. He didn't have to point out the girl, Piper, who he had said looks exactly like his cousin Coco, she was the one looking exactly like Coco. Lila, the girl we saw at the Farmers Market yesterday was there too. They only stayed a few minutes before they had to head back to camp for lunch. Wee wanted me to go, but I had work to do. I rode slowly on roads back towards home while having a first one-on-one with a new employee. After hanging up I picked back up to normal speed and made it home in half the time. Who needs a car?

Dog bonding

It's such a unique and Colorado experience to spend ALL your time with your dog. She sleeps in Wee's room in the basement guarding him from monsters that we've told him live in the weird little subterranean nook outside his window. In the morning, I often steal Rory away for a long walk before Wee wakes up. As soon as Wee gains any level of consciousness his first utterance is always "Where's Rory?". Well she's with me at work on a call. Instead of walking with a person on a one-on-one or reviving my solo walking commute call with AppLabs I am walking up the mountain behind my house with the dog. There's very little pointer in her, but enough to generally guide my view to the nearest deer, bird, or prairie dog. In some ways not so different from our old habit, but with fewer squirrels, foxes, and trees and significantly more time. But then things get really different. Instead of locking Rory in the house we bring her with us everywhere. Rory and Wee are reunited as she joins the delivery of her boy to camp. Even though it's only for a short time I miss her while they're gone. While Alex and I work, Rory gets a little time to chill; after all this is much more activity than she's used to. At the lunch break of course we bring her with us wherever we go - running one day, tennis the next. In fact we bring her with us everywhere we go all the time. Yesterday we were shopping store to store and she just came right into all of the stores making friends never enemies. Thankfully it is not so hot here yet that we can't leave Rory in the car as needed, but it seems a rare occasion that we even have to resort to that. And forget about dog food. When your dog is with you all the time she gets so much more real food! Is it healthier? Hard to say, but it certainly seems more appetizing and healthy to me. The whole day is just more appetizing and healthy. Rory agrees that Colorado is awesome.

First day of Tennis and Splash camp

Is it Colorado that is so awesome, or the places that we choose in Colorado? Our summer home is in a neighborhood with a tennis court and a pool about 100 yards from our front door.

At "lunch" time (that's noon east coast time; 10 am mountain) Alex and I popped outside to check out the tennis courts. One court was almost completely dry, the other had a big puddle from yesterday's dose of daily rain. Even with the mostly dry court I took the opportunity to play with the giant roller thingy. Cool toy. Then we started playing for the first time since Alex hurt his knee last May and maybe even before that. Anyone who has played with me, especially when I'm rusty can just imagine the gawkiness of the first several minutes. But after a while we somehow started to play games with points and somehow I kinda won a few games. Our minds were numbed by the cacophony of a nearby mower competing with an edger for the loudest lawn equipment. So we didn't really keep track of who had won how many games, but it seemed pretty even with neither person ever seeming to win their own serve.

After work (5:30 EDT; 3:30 local) we meandered the Pearl Street Mall searching in vain for a new swim suit for me, finally giving up and going to get the Wee One. Wee was already in his swim suit after a day of kayaking on Boulder Reservoir, so first thing when we got home we changed into swim suits - brand new for Alex, needing new for me. We walked barefoot down the path to the pool skeptical that it would be a good temperature and cautious of the ominous clouds overhead. Alex was the brave one to check the water first. Warm!!! Really warm. Like maybe 85 degrees. The home owners association must know how unpredictable Boulder weather can be and how dedicated people here are to all forms of fitness. In fact we met the head of the home owners association who found us on his they-don't-live-here radar immediately. He chastised us for bringing our dog to the pool, but was otherwise faux friendly enough. We splashed til we thought the rain might be wetting our towels too much and then a quick walk home to a nice warm shower. Does life get better than this?

Got car

We knew that the blue Ford Explorer from Al's Auto in Nederland had to be ours. Why didn't we just buy it that first day? We looked at just one other car - a white 1998 Suburu Outback with 190,000 miles on it. We knew the instant we put our heads into the heavily dog scented vehicle with a cracked windshield that it wasn't for us. Al had replaced everything on the Explorer and had driven it himself for a couple thousand miles. The Suburu dealer had done nothing and it showed. Alex was disgusted as he drove it. As we were leaving the dealership that had the Suburu, we told the the stereotypical used car salesman that if he would fix up just a few things that the car might sell. At that point he ignored the $2700 price tag and said it could be ours for $1000. That just disgusted Alex even more. Al told us later that the '97-99 Suburus all had bad engines. Al really knew his stuff. As we returned our rental car that was costing us over $100 per day we were happy with our new purchase. I hope our intuition about the honesty and care of Al's auto and our fabulous Ford are good and we'll have a good summer in American made quality.

Scary weather

Why did Alex leave me alone just when the weather started getting scary? Why does it have to thunderstorm EVERY day? Is it bad to read books about vampires on days like this? Is the wind really as bad as the trees outside are making it look? Is there such a thing as a mountain hurricane? That's what it looks like outside. Today is hiking day for Wee. I hope he has shelter!

Alex just got back somehow sprinting the 20 feet from the car to the house. He says it's not a hurricane it's a tornado. He saw a milk weed tree disintegrate before his very eyes losing all of its milk weed fluff in one swell foop of a swirling wind.

Normalizing a bit

The rest of our Sunday was fairly normal. Emerging somewhat from the startup feeling of the previous day.

We had organic, eggless pancakes for breakfast with the organic apple cider and some organic milk. It seems that we should be noting the non-organic items instead of the organic items. Except that I don't think there were any. Maybe the nectarine and pear. But both so healthy it doesn't seem right to dis them.

Weirdly, right after breakfast it was time to make lunch. We were aiming for a picnic on the land and that meant making food well ahead of time - something that seems to go against my nature. Sandwiches (with home made mayo), chips, asparagus vinaigrette, grapes. Although maybe not organic, the chips are local and that's part of the mantra too.

Having woken up so early it seemed like we'd been total slackers when we left the house by 10:30. First stop was Target to get Wee a booster seat. It felt like we were violating our Colorado rules to buy something plastic from a giant box store, but where else can you get a booster seat. Is there any such thing as an organic booster seat? Zillion dollar idea number one for this trip. Why not do some nice hand crafted contoured wooden seats with natural wool coverings? Maybe I should talk to the chainsaw bear guy and alpaca people in Nederland. Not that they could beat the less than $20 price at target, but there is always a niche market for this stuff.

Next stop - Cabin. Looked pretty much like the last time we saw it. It seems like the walls are all pretty much done. Next up will be the roof I guess. It's always stunning how big the logs are. Sitting in the building site we're slightly lower than we would be in the real house and it just seems like we've stepped into something a giant had created.

Next stop - another car to look at. White 1998 Subaru Outback with 190,000 miles. Yesterday's Ford Explorer has some competition. But the place was closed so we have to go back and test drive and talk to the people.

Finally up Boulder Canyon to the land. It had been a pretty morning and there were people climbing all over the rocks and fishing in the creek. The creek is really high in most places. I don't know how people get over it to get to the rocks. And I'll never know what possesses people to stand up to the tops of their legs in the icy cold water just for a chance to kill or injure a fish.

About half way up the canyon the sky darkened. Another rainy day. As if we hadn't had enough of that before we came here! We picked up some organic juice at the convenient store in Nederland and headed up to the land just in time for the heavy rain and lightning. We pulled into the land and parked at the campsite, turned around from the normal position so that we had a pretty view of the cabin site and the potty aspens. Even with our picnic dampened a bit it it was still beautiful just to sit and listen to the rain and see nature all around us.

Eventually the rain stopped and we walked around a bit. Wee chose waving to cars. We checked out the Christmas tree and considered the Aspen fire pit as a camp site. It's close to the road, but flat and we think drivable. Maybe we'll check it out next weekend.

Still wet out we didn't stay long on the land. We headed back to Boulder for some swimming. Wee rushed to put his swimsuit on while I read a little and Alex looked for his suit. Then I put mine on and Alex still looked for his. Then Alex realized he hadn't brought a swim suit! So Wee and I went to the pool while Alex went to Billabong to get a new suit.

The day was too cold and scary for the outdoor pool at our condo. We opted for our old standby the North Boulder Rec Center. This time there were a ton of little kids younger than Wee doing the big slide with their parents. After just a little convincing, Wee and I did it. He loved it! So 10-15 more times up the stairs for us. Alex eventually showed up. He and Wee only did the slide once; ending their ride with a nasal passage filling complete submersion into the pool at the end. I don't mind being the designated slider at all!

After the pool the weather had cleared momentarily. We hung on the porch noshing on pistachios, watered the plants, got ready for camp, and still being addicted to Twilight. Then a nice dinner of grilled portabello and flank steak, rigatoni with garlic tops/scapes, salad of fresh baby lettuce, tomatoe, and mozzarella. I love the restaurant that is my house.

After dinner we walked Lucky's the local grocery store for some dessert and just to get out. It's amazing to me how cold it is here. Must have been in the 50's. We'll call it crisp for our nice mile voyage round trip.

We were home by 9 with nothing to do. I read to Wee from Twilight for a while. Then in an unprecedented move, Wee asked to go to bed. Wow. This from a boy who has fallen asleep in my arms in front of the TV or at a restaurant basically every day of his life. Life really is different here.

Our real first morning

Alex and I woke up at a good time today. Just about 7. What to do, what to do. Alex picked up his computer. I picked up my book. After a little while, I declared this Colorado and beautiful sunny day and decided to head out on a run.

Rory and I went out on the Wonderland Lake trail - http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3790&Itemid=1035 for about a 3-4 mile voyage. So cool that we can get to this trail 100 feet from our house!

At 8 am there are already quite a few people out on the trails. Enough to make you feel like you won't get mugged or eaten by mountain lions, but not so many that you feel like you are crowded. Runners, walkers, dogs, singles, pairs. Almost everyone says hi and politely pulls their dog to the side. Some/most of the runners are in unbelievably good shape with bared six-pack-abs adding to the already gorgeous scenery of the trail. I distracted myself from my oxygen debt by looking at the prairie grasses on the hills and wetland plants near the lake. Tons of wild flowers. I even saw some prairie dogs. I also found some distraction by listening to the sound of the meadow. Normally I hate the sound of birds. Since childhood I have been annoyed by their cawing and waking me up. But here in unadulterated nature with their full orchestra of bugs as backup the songbirds finally sounded to me almost like music.

Rory and I made it there and back with a few stops for nature (one for Rory, two for me to catch my breath) in 31 minutes even.

Alex just headed out to copy the experience Rory and I had, but ended up following the trail around the lake a little too far and getting a little lost. But still a good 25 minute run for him.

Welcome LX to Colorado

We're here in Colorado!

Of course this isn't the first time we've been here. But we're here for the whole summer, we have a real house with walls and a key instead of a hotel card and tent zippers. So it's kind of different this time.

We arrived yesterday into DIA (Denver International Airport) really early in the morning. How weird it was for it to be daylight and for us to be a little snoozy from just having woken up rather than getting ready for sleep. We made it through our travels fairly easily despite our ridiculous amount of luggage - 1 big bag of clothes for each of us, 1 bag of sleeping bags and cold weather clothes, tennis racquet bag, camera bag, toy bag, 2 laptops, and one dog. Having been here a zillion times before we knew the whole routine. Leaving the airport heading for Boulder we didn't need directions, we were home.

First stop - 604 Quince Circle. Our rented condo for the summer. Beautifully clean inside. Perfectly situated near Wonderland Lake and the surrounding open space. Empty refrigerator and drawers. We needed to go shopping and unpack.

Second stop - Boulder Farmer's Market. Last time we were in Boulder it was Memorial Day weekend and the Boulder Creek Festival was going on. There were booths selling food, crafts, outdoor fun, and social consciousness. The Farmer's Market is the same, but on a smaller scale. We started at the food court where a digeridoo band was playing REM and other favorites. Wee was obsessed with dumplings and ate two orders. Alex and I shared some of the dumplings and also had some nice eggs benedict served with sides of spinach, tomato, and rice. We shouldn't have eaten so much since there were great samples everywhere, but the dumpling monster was relentless. Once we got to shopping we picked up mixed mushrooms (shiitake, mitake, wood ear, and others I don't even recognize), spring onions, garlic tops, baby bok choy, hot house tomatoes, whole grain bread, pepper crusted goat cheese, tender baby lettuce, a small piece of beef flank steak, apple cider and apple sauce. We could have gotten more exotic stuff containing primary ingredients like flax and buffalo, but we were tired and just wanted something fresh and good. We were missing the reusable bags that everyone else had and that we would normally use, but figured life with a dog needs a few plastic bags.

Next stop was "home". We unpacked, then Wee and I started into our current obsessions - Nintendo DS for him, the book Twilight for me (Thanks Priyanka for giving me your addiction). But Alex had the right idea and started to nap. I joined him after a while, then Wee, after frustratingly not being able to achieve a particularly interesting level against the Evil Empire, surrendered to sleep as well.

We woke up just in time to head to Nederland to look at what I'm sure will be our car for the summer. Renting for the whole summer would be prohibitively expensive. We figure we'll buy a $3000-ish vehicle soon and either sell it at the end of the summer or keep it around for whenever we visit. We met Al of Al's auto and a 1998 blue Ford Explorer that seemed exactly like we'd envisioned. But we never buy the first thing we see, so we're going to go looking at others and then likely come back to that.

Since we were in Nederland, we just had to go to The Land. It was thundering and lightning for a bit and we were tired, so we didn't stay long. Just long enough to breathe in the beauty of the yellow snap dragons and red indian paint brush flowers that had erupted everywhere since our last visit.

We also did a little shopping at the Nederland Mountain Market supermarket. I don't know what I think about that store. It certainly has everything a person needs, but somehow I'm often skeptical. My favorite purchase was the local bird seed - Ned Feed - that we got for the birds on the land. We want to live our Colorado life local and natural and that fits right in.

But we had some bigger things on our shopping list. So REI was our next stop. Somehow I like the REI here better than others I've been to in other places. I think that feeling is because I know that the stuff is used immediately and for exactly its rugged intended purpose. Wee needed a "full sun hat - no baseball caps" for camp. I was imagining one of the dorky fishing caps that Alex always likes to get on vacations. But thankfully REI is cooler than Alex and had great hats with brims that can be put up or down. The hat is red, but looks a little like something an explorer would wear. Go explore Wee! He got a matching red rain Gortex jacket, showing up the ancient jackets that Alex and I both have. For water shoes Wee went for green Keens while I got some great Red Salomon trail runners. A red Life is Good water bottle rounded out our purchases for the day. But I know we'll be back often.

Final outing for the day was to Lucky's the grocery store closest to our house. Now we're talking! Fresh, organic, local, close, perfect. We picked up more necessities (all organic) and headed home to make dinner.

Dinner was roasted chicken (real and fake), the baby lettuce salad with a champagne vinaigrette, baby bok choy with garlic tops (aka scapes), and orzo. Alex and I bumped into each other constantly in the kitchen trying to find everything. We thought of our kitchen layout in The Cabin and hoped for better flow for 3 chefs. We ate at the dining room table with candles lit all around and iPhone music playing. No TV. Big change.

After dinner we walked down to the playground and did some TKD patterns and just enjoyed the lovely evening. Then back up to the house to clean up, eat some strawberries on the porch, and get ready for bed. No TV again - this is really odd. I read on the couch while Alex read to Wee in his room. They both were out in minutes. When Alex came up we went upstairs to do a little computer work and then we were all out.

Great first day!!!