Playing hooky in the Rockies . . .

Yesterday, my friend Tom and I decided we needed some outdoor time so we both took off of work, rendevouzed in Boulder, where he lives, and drove to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a gorgeous day, and we had high hopes of seeing elk and some changing aspens . . . . we were not disappointed. We went in at Cub Lake trailhead and within five minutes encountered these guys . . .

They were so gorgeous and not at all disturbed by us. Well, the male looked a little disturbed, but I suspect that is because other males were scattered around, in the trees, bugling, meaning this male would have to defend his place with the females by nightfall. (And the sound of bugling elk is pretty disturbing --- if Tom had not been with me, I would have been really freaked out.)

We continued on . . . this little guy was sitting on a rock and . . . again, not disturbed by us at all as I took his picture . . .

Not much later, I looked down and a snake slithered right by my hiking boot. I completely froze and couldn't find my voice. When Tom (finally) realized something was wrong . . . he looked down and saw the snake and said "Oh, no worries, just a rattler." ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME???!!!! "Just a rattler!!!!" I tell you . . . . these Colorado boys are a different breed . . . . just a rattler . . . . he then said, in complete awe, "Oh my God, you're trembling," as if that was a completely unnatural reaction to a . . . . RATTLESNAKE!!! He finally coaxed me onward with promises of our great picnic at the lake we had planned.

Unfortunately, all of the pictures of me are on Tom's camera, and he on mine. But I was very proud of myself. We hiked the 2.5 miles to the lake, and me with a fairly heavy pack on my back. He had one too, but the man is uber fit . . . former elite tri-athlete . . . . even beat Lance Armstrong in the swim portion of a meet once, only to get his booty kicked in the bike segment.

Anyway, we made it to the lake and laid out our blanket for the picnic. . . .

Tom scored huge brownie points when he pulled out a Diet Dr. Pepper he had packed for me . . .

We had lots of critter visitors, who apparently found us quite interesting, especially when we unpacked our food. Ducks kept landing in the water right next to us and waddling up; a mountain jay (which looks like a blue jay on steroids) tried to interrupt our party on several occasions and once when we were lying down, soaking up some sun, we heard noises and looked up and a chipmunk was within inches of us. And we could not shake him the rest of the picnic. I tried throwing some carmelized walnuts away from us so that he would spend his time gathering and hiding them, but he would just eat them and come back. At one point, he scooted under our blanket and just sat there like a lump . . . so we had our picnic . . . me, Tom, and our little lump right between us. It was so bizarre. I didn't take his picture because he was so close to us (inches away) that I was afraid he would freak out and bite one of us if he was frighted by the camera noises. Chipmunks, apparently, are known to carry rabies in these parts.

But we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, pigging out on crackers, Cotswald cheddar & chive, sundried tomato pesto, carmelized walnuts, scallopini chicken, pasta salad, and fruit. Tom had also brought some wonderful dark chocolate . . . . but we were too full and still had another 3 or so miles left in the hike. Oh . . . and we had a wonderful zinfandel from the Andretti Winery in Napa.

After lunch, we headed out to find Fern Lake Trail. And the ferns were so pretty, littered next to the streams. It was such an amazingly beautiful day. Unfortunately, we were having such a great time that we were late coming off the mountain and Tom's 14-year-old son was not thrilled about having to wait at school. Thankfully, Bug was already scheduled for extended care since I'm normally at work.

Aside from that timing glitch, it was a great escape from work and the city and one of the funnest days I've had since moving to Colorado. We were like a couple of school kids, playing hooky from school, laughing and enjoying each other's company, with seemingly no cares in the world . . . .just for a day . . . . but it was great to spend time in the beautiful Colorado mountains.

Food poisoning . . . .

Geez Louise!!!! Bug and I went to a restaurant north of Denver on Saturday night to celebrate (1) her acceptance into a competitive children's choir; (2) her team's 5-0 shut out for the second week in a row in soccer; and (3) my having passed the horrible licensing exam that I took in August. So we were excited about our dinner. The restaurant we chose always receives rave reviews and is located in a community where I'm thinking of buying a home. Well, I ordered fettucine with calamari . . . . and it darn near killed me. I knew something was wrong when I started eating it, and only took a few bites, leaving more than 3/4's of the meal on the plate. But it was enough to get me. I woke up at 1:00 in the morning and it didn't subside until about 5 the next night. Bug was terrified, as were the dogs apparently. They (unfortunately) did not leave my side the entire time . . . . didn't matter if I was in the bathroom, or in the bed, or crawling back and forth in between . . . they were RIGHT beside me. I didn't have the energy to even speak their names, much less try to get them to move. Poor Bug had to take care of me, the dogs, and herself all that day. Although, clearly, I need to have a little nutrition talk with her . . . . learned yesterday that her diet consisted of brownies for breakfast, pizza rolls for lunch, and popcorn for dinner. That's my kid!! I threw up so much that I strained my vocal cords and have almost no voice now --- which everyone seems to find it very amusing when a lawyer loses her voice . . . Me? I'm not so amused.

And being laid up made us miss our hike on Sunday as well as the Rapids game. Not happy about that at all. Hopefully, we'll be back out on the trails this weekend, and there is another game Saturday night.

Anyway, I'm on the mend otherwise and not looking forward to eating out any time soon.

Second hike . . . Red Rocks

Bug and I completed our second hike yesterday. We drove to Morrison and hiked the Red Rocks Trail and Morrison Slide. Unfortunately, after coming off of the Morrison Slide, I started down the right path on the Red Rocks Trail, then hesitated because I saw other hikers going the opposite direction of me. I asked "which way to the parking lot", not realizing there was a parking lot at another trailhead which looped into the Red Rocks Trail. So I made what ended up being a 2-mile mistake, which turned our 4-mile hike into a 6-mile hike. That cost me a "Camp Rock" DVD because Bug was NOT happy with me. This hike was much more strenuous than the one the week before. We ascended 600 feet over several switchbacks, and part of them were gut-busters to us newbies. And with my mistake, we had to ascend another 200 feet. But, it was good for us ultimately. And we saw the most gorgeous 8-point buck --- he came right down on the trail in front of us. Stopped and then headed down the mountain. I can't believe we were that close to him. We hear the elk are on the move in Estes Park, so we're going to head up there soon. And, in Colorado, the leaves change in September, so our goal is to be out in the mountains every weekend for the next several weeks . . . can't wait to see the Aspens change.

On Saturday, Bug had her first soccer game with the new team. They won 5-0 --- pretty cool! Saturday night we went out for Indian food and then played tennis. I have lessons again tonight and my double play on Wednesday. It's gotten so cool here now that I'm having to play in long pants and jackets. We actually had to turn the heat on in the house Friday night. Wild --- I'm use to Indian summers and air conditioning in September. I can't remember the last time I had the air conditioning on . . . . we're even having to close the windows when we sleep because it gets so chilly.

But for right now, I'm happy remembering the beauty of the Red Rocks. :)

First Hike in Colorado

Yea . . . finally! I took my first hike in Colorado. Bug and I went to REI yesterday and I bought hiking boots. Thanks to my friend Brad, I knew what type of boot to get and to get waterproof vs. breathable. And he guided Bug and I where to start for a first hike. So, today we drove to Evergreen and hiked at Elk Meadows, a beautiful "open space" in Jefferson County. We parked at the base and took Meadows View trail to Painters Pause, back to Sleepy S and hooked back into Meadows View. It was great! A 5.5 mile hike with varied terrain, but not too great of an altitude ascent. It was pretty warm for the last mile and Bug got a little foul, but she was fine after getting back to the car and air conditioning. We saw lots of trail runners, mountain bikers, and even horses on our path.

Here are a couple of pictures from the hike . . .

After the hike, we were very hungry and found a great little restaurant called "Cuisine of Himalaya", which had Indian, Nepalese, and Tibetan food. I was so proud of Bug . . . she tried all new foods . . . . naan, spinach pakora, vegetables korma, saag, tandoori chicken, chicken curry . . . all from a buffet.

It was a good day. And, thankfully, it's September 1st. From May 2nd - August 31st is a tough time for me. Mom's birthday was May 2, followed by Mother's Day, then June brings Father's Day and the anniversary of my father's death in 2006, July is the anniversary of my mother's death in 2005, August 23rd was their anniversary, capped by Dad's birthday on August 31st. I'm sure at some point in my life, that "season" will become easier . . . . but not yet.