Ok. I'm working on posting about my road trip with the parents but it'll be long and will take some time, there are a lot of pictures! For now, this is a little clip of Izzy laughing. It gets funnier and funnier every time I watch it! Michele I think you've seen this by now, but this is the one I was trying to e-mail to you. Classic!!
AAANNNDDD CUT!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Beautiful Colorado and some running
I feel obligated to start with the running info. It's nothing impressive but it's a start. I started trying to running on Tuesday. I've been putting it off mainly because I feared it. I wasn't confident I could do even a minute. But, I did. It felt good, I ran and walked for about 20 mins on tuesday and Wednesday. I wasn't as out of breath and I thought I'd be and the reason for walking was more for my calf muscles. My muscles are getting used to the new movement. I did the same Wednesday and will keep it up! I have my eyes on the ball now...Next spring isn't that far away... Danskin Tiathalon is in my sights :)
I've finally gotten my internet connection working again. I had some major issues with the first router...cause it was old.. got a second one that was defective and had tech support issues, so I went to Best Buy after work. I got it hooked up and working in about 30 mins. WOHOO!! I love wireless and when I can get things to work properly!
Last weekend I went camping and kayaking with some friends. I got off work Saturday grabbed the doggies and we headed into the mountains. It's such a beautiful drive down to Buena Vista where we were camping. I got there and met my friends in town (Buena Vista) as they were picking up my paddle for me at CKS just before it closed (wasn't sure I'd make it in time). I LOVE MY NEW PADDLE!! We went to a little hole in the wall mexican place and had some dinner (suprisingly enough we all agreed it was pretty good and we were worried at first). Then we headed off to the campsite, it was dark by now. Luckily it was only about 2 miles outside of town, but it was on dirt roads, with a bunch of switch backs. I decided to sleep in back of the jeep with the dogs...never a good idea. It's too hairy, my dogs are too hyper in the morning and I always end up with a dog butt in my face and usually a paw in my mouth. But I was too lazy and hate setting up a tent in the dark. But I learned my lesson this time...I slept like crap and at one point woke up with both my dogs SPRAWLED out and snoring while I was in the fetal position off my sleeping pad all twisted up in my sleeping bag.
Anyway, we sat around the campfire, dogs snoozing all warm and curled up by the fire. Those campfire night are always long...before we realize it's after midnight. The next morning we get packed up and start talking about the plan. A few of the people in the group went to run 'numbers' which is a technical class IV run and not something I'm ready for yet. I opted for the medium run which was Frog Rock. OMG I love this run. It was the first time I've run it and was pretty hesitant. Boaters have a tendency to glorify horror stories of certain features on different runs. It took me a long time to tune out their personal dramatazation and pull the facts out. The run was technical which i love. Technical means it's a lot of quick moves, dodging and finding a clean line as opposed to big waves and fluffy features. So I loved it.
I took a few pictures in the morning before we headed out to do our runs. I love this state! Colorado...any part of it....never stops amazing me. It's inspiring to be in such a huge natural environment. Buena Vista has some of the 14ers which you could see one from the camping pictures. It really puts life into perspective. We're all just small little specs in life. I love how it smells, the never ending peacefulness and there's just so much to see and do in the Mountains. I feel at home, comfortable, and peaceful! But for you people at sea level, you'll just have to appreciate the pictures :) Wish you were here!!
This is the video from the campsite
Now for the pictures (open them up to full size to see the details)
I've finally gotten my internet connection working again. I had some major issues with the first router...cause it was old.. got a second one that was defective and had tech support issues, so I went to Best Buy after work. I got it hooked up and working in about 30 mins. WOHOO!! I love wireless and when I can get things to work properly!
Last weekend I went camping and kayaking with some friends. I got off work Saturday grabbed the doggies and we headed into the mountains. It's such a beautiful drive down to Buena Vista where we were camping. I got there and met my friends in town (Buena Vista) as they were picking up my paddle for me at CKS just before it closed (wasn't sure I'd make it in time). I LOVE MY NEW PADDLE!! We went to a little hole in the wall mexican place and had some dinner (suprisingly enough we all agreed it was pretty good and we were worried at first). Then we headed off to the campsite, it was dark by now. Luckily it was only about 2 miles outside of town, but it was on dirt roads, with a bunch of switch backs. I decided to sleep in back of the jeep with the dogs...never a good idea. It's too hairy, my dogs are too hyper in the morning and I always end up with a dog butt in my face and usually a paw in my mouth. But I was too lazy and hate setting up a tent in the dark. But I learned my lesson this time...I slept like crap and at one point woke up with both my dogs SPRAWLED out and snoring while I was in the fetal position off my sleeping pad all twisted up in my sleeping bag.
Anyway, we sat around the campfire, dogs snoozing all warm and curled up by the fire. Those campfire night are always long...before we realize it's after midnight. The next morning we get packed up and start talking about the plan. A few of the people in the group went to run 'numbers' which is a technical class IV run and not something I'm ready for yet. I opted for the medium run which was Frog Rock. OMG I love this run. It was the first time I've run it and was pretty hesitant. Boaters have a tendency to glorify horror stories of certain features on different runs. It took me a long time to tune out their personal dramatazation and pull the facts out. The run was technical which i love. Technical means it's a lot of quick moves, dodging and finding a clean line as opposed to big waves and fluffy features. So I loved it.
I took a few pictures in the morning before we headed out to do our runs. I love this state! Colorado...any part of it....never stops amazing me. It's inspiring to be in such a huge natural environment. Buena Vista has some of the 14ers which you could see one from the camping pictures. It really puts life into perspective. We're all just small little specs in life. I love how it smells, the never ending peacefulness and there's just so much to see and do in the Mountains. I feel at home, comfortable, and peaceful! But for you people at sea level, you'll just have to appreciate the pictures :) Wish you were here!!
This is the video from the campsite
Now for the pictures (open them up to full size to see the details)
Saturday, August 11, 2007
kayaking AGAIN and stupid keys! and intro to Windowshadding
I'll start with last weekend (8/3). I went kayaking of course, big shocker!! It was an arranged weekend sponsored by the local paddling community, Colorado Whitewater Association. They have several weekends a year on different rivers to offer instruction and support for new paddlers. We were at the Colorado river which at these water levels is almost ALL beginner runs. There's one short stretch which is called Shoshone and it's is a class III run. It's very short and the take out is also the put in for a much much easier run which is where we meet up with the beginners we're going to take down the easy stretch. Last year I ran Shoshone and ate shit several times. I think I swam more of the run then I was actually in my boat. THIS time however it was AWESOME!! I made it through all the rapids upright and solid!! I was so stoked. Then the trickiest rapid of the run is called Tombstone. It's tricky because there is a gigantic rock on river right, but you enter on river right, so it's a quick move left to avoid the rock then another right to avoid another obstacle a few yards away from the rock. Normally it would have been fine but I did not start cutting over until too late which caused me to hit the rock (hard) and then my boat flipped upside down. I waited for a few seconds until I felt my paddle catch on the surface and then rolled up. I have this on a head cam video but I can't seem to make it load onto You Tube. Anyway the head cam isn't the greatest but the audio on this is classic. You see the rapid ahead, then hear a distinct grunt as I hit the rock, and I tip over under water and then you hear what it's like to be under water in current which is cool. The last part is me flipping up and you can hear everyone in my group screaming 'YEAH...NICE JOB...THAT was AWESOME!!'. I'll keep working on the videos to post. All in all in was a great weekend. All my paddling girlfriends were there and we had a great time hanging out around the campfire and chatting with the huge group of people that were there :) We even went skinny dipping....one thing's for sure Colorado rivers are COLD!!! VERY VERY COLD! It was a bad idea but we were already in the water before that started to make sense :) BURRRRRRRR! The whole weekend was a lot of paddling...the beginner runs are really flat so you have to keep paddling if you want to move any faster. My shoulders, arms and torso were so sore on Sunday night. I love that feeling of just having made your muscles work extra hard. The cardio comes in when we have to hike boats in and out on our shoulders...I have a creek/river running boat which means it's heavy and bulky. It may not sound like a workout, but it is..there's sweating involved, heaving breathing, raised heart rates.
I got back on Sunday pretty late. On Monday I had the day off so I ran some errands and took the dogs for a walk. It was pretty muggy from all the rain lately so it was a shorter walk than normal. I got on the treadmill afterwards and hiked up the incline. I'm still a little nervous when walking Olive I don't want to trigger anything. She's was fine...very happy and energtic, so I should probably stop worring about it.
The week went by and on Thursday I met Laura and Chad for a surf lesson at Golden Play park. There are several whitewater play parks around here that are mostly occupied by play boaters and stupid teenieboppers who ride an entertube (sp) down it without life jackets and in their bikinis without shoes.. STUPiD!!!!! I have only ever done river running and creeking which requires large volume boats and lots of rapids and moves. Play boating requires short tiny boats and you are usually getting on a wave to surf if and do tricks. So we started pretty high up on the course (they held the junior olympics on this run a few weeks ago). We went down the first couple of holes until we reached the 'library hole'. Holes are tricky...some are sticky, some are keepers and some will just flush you out, but in these parks there's a big wave to ride just at the bottom of the hole. I wish I would have taken pictures..it's hard to explain it. Anyway, we waited in swirly eddy's for our turn on the wave. Since it was my first time I just ferried accross the wave to get the feel for it. By the end of the day I had gotten flipped about 4 or 5 times, but managed to surf for about a milisecond. I was happy with that :)
I was happy because just a few minutes prior to my milisecond on the wave was my introduction to watching windowshadding. It happens when the wave catches an edge just right on your boat which is caused by doing something wrong. the result is a violent and very audible smack when the wave literally whips you upside down and smacks you back to the water. It's incredbily painful to watch and you hear the commentery from the other boaters in the eddy all scream at the same time 'OHHHH that's gotta hurt'! Thank you, but I prefer to not be windowshadded if I can help it!! :)
We started to get a little cold and tired, so we got out and headed back to the cars which is a very long walk while shouldering your boat. I was in pain by the time I saw my car. I took out my key opened the door and put the key in the change holder so I wouldn't mis place it while I dried off. I hit what I thought was unlock so I could get into the back and then closed the door... Opps, it was lock instead of unlock. So now I am locked out of my car soaking wet in my gear and it's starting to get dark. I called a locksmith and my kayaking buds hung out while I waited. Laura decided we needed to try and unlock it ourselves. So about an hour later while there was a kayaking paddle shoved into the seam of my car window, and from a borrowed spool of wire we made a hook like device that was also shoved into the small opening the paddle provided, we all stood with flashlights and commentary, to try and get the door to unlock. The locksmith guy finally showed up, reaking of alcohol, bloodshot eyes and stinky aroma from smoke and liquor (so glad he drove there to do this). There were approximately 6 or 7 people gathered around my car window and we all asked if I could get a discout because we had ALMOST gotten it open :) He said yes and I gave him a little less cash under the table and I was in!! These people hung out while it was dark and the monster misquitoes attacked violently all while giving 100% effort to try and beat the locksmith. Great friends, this is why I love this little community of boaters. It's filled with genuinely good people!! Anyway, I'm investing in a hide-a-key box and lots of extra keys! First and last time it will ever happen!!
So Mike...Mr. Matchmaker... where's my hook up? I'm single yet again, maybe I should try and find a firefighter? I'm not sure I could date anyone else from Goex though....crazy Matt was enough!!
OK after work today (yes I'm at work), I'm heading up to Buena Vista to camp out with friends and paddle something on the Arkansas river on Sunday. My goal next week is to post again with actual hours on the treadmill RUNNING!! ....and maybe a few videos and pics from the last few weekends.
I got back on Sunday pretty late. On Monday I had the day off so I ran some errands and took the dogs for a walk. It was pretty muggy from all the rain lately so it was a shorter walk than normal. I got on the treadmill afterwards and hiked up the incline. I'm still a little nervous when walking Olive I don't want to trigger anything. She's was fine...very happy and energtic, so I should probably stop worring about it.
The week went by and on Thursday I met Laura and Chad for a surf lesson at Golden Play park. There are several whitewater play parks around here that are mostly occupied by play boaters and stupid teenieboppers who ride an entertube (sp) down it without life jackets and in their bikinis without shoes.. STUPiD!!!!! I have only ever done river running and creeking which requires large volume boats and lots of rapids and moves. Play boating requires short tiny boats and you are usually getting on a wave to surf if and do tricks. So we started pretty high up on the course (they held the junior olympics on this run a few weeks ago). We went down the first couple of holes until we reached the 'library hole'. Holes are tricky...some are sticky, some are keepers and some will just flush you out, but in these parks there's a big wave to ride just at the bottom of the hole. I wish I would have taken pictures..it's hard to explain it. Anyway, we waited in swirly eddy's for our turn on the wave. Since it was my first time I just ferried accross the wave to get the feel for it. By the end of the day I had gotten flipped about 4 or 5 times, but managed to surf for about a milisecond. I was happy with that :)
I was happy because just a few minutes prior to my milisecond on the wave was my introduction to watching windowshadding. It happens when the wave catches an edge just right on your boat which is caused by doing something wrong. the result is a violent and very audible smack when the wave literally whips you upside down and smacks you back to the water. It's incredbily painful to watch and you hear the commentery from the other boaters in the eddy all scream at the same time 'OHHHH that's gotta hurt'! Thank you, but I prefer to not be windowshadded if I can help it!! :)
We started to get a little cold and tired, so we got out and headed back to the cars which is a very long walk while shouldering your boat. I was in pain by the time I saw my car. I took out my key opened the door and put the key in the change holder so I wouldn't mis place it while I dried off. I hit what I thought was unlock so I could get into the back and then closed the door... Opps, it was lock instead of unlock. So now I am locked out of my car soaking wet in my gear and it's starting to get dark. I called a locksmith and my kayaking buds hung out while I waited. Laura decided we needed to try and unlock it ourselves. So about an hour later while there was a kayaking paddle shoved into the seam of my car window, and from a borrowed spool of wire we made a hook like device that was also shoved into the small opening the paddle provided, we all stood with flashlights and commentary, to try and get the door to unlock. The locksmith guy finally showed up, reaking of alcohol, bloodshot eyes and stinky aroma from smoke and liquor (so glad he drove there to do this). There were approximately 6 or 7 people gathered around my car window and we all asked if I could get a discout because we had ALMOST gotten it open :) He said yes and I gave him a little less cash under the table and I was in!! These people hung out while it was dark and the monster misquitoes attacked violently all while giving 100% effort to try and beat the locksmith. Great friends, this is why I love this little community of boaters. It's filled with genuinely good people!! Anyway, I'm investing in a hide-a-key box and lots of extra keys! First and last time it will ever happen!!
So Mike...Mr. Matchmaker... where's my hook up? I'm single yet again, maybe I should try and find a firefighter? I'm not sure I could date anyone else from Goex though....crazy Matt was enough!!
OK after work today (yes I'm at work), I'm heading up to Buena Vista to camp out with friends and paddle something on the Arkansas river on Sunday. My goal next week is to post again with actual hours on the treadmill RUNNING!! ....and maybe a few videos and pics from the last few weekends.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Tagged
I was tagged by Jenny and Mike so here it goes.....
Jobs I've held:
Wisconsin/Minnesota Swim Camp - camp couselor * I video taped kids in stroke clinics, made sure they didn't misbehave, kept them on schedule and helped them train for the Triathalon that was held at the end of each camp session.. I LOVED THIS JOB!!!!
Lifeguard/Swim lesson teacher * I lifeguarded at Lion's Beach and did swim lessons at rockport pool in the summers. I also worked for the City of janesville as a Swim teacher during summer school. In the winters I lifeguarded, taught swim lessons, and taught water areobics (I was horrible at it). I taught swim lessons and lifeguarded as a second job until about 4 years ago.
Waitress at Pizzeria Uno's (I WAS THE WORLDS WORST WAITRESS)
Assembler at a parker pen factory - I had to be there from 6-10AM, then I went to lifeguard from 10a -6p, and then I went to my waitressing job until the resturaunt closed. 6 days a week. I quit the 6A - 10A factory job pretty quick!!!
Seasonal Boston store sales associate - worked during Xmas break at school.
Cleaner at medical clinics _ GROSS job...hated it, but it was nights and it didn't interfer with any of my courses at school.
Dispatcher for private security company. - Uh it was interesting to say the least!
Student Helpdesk. I was the student helpdesk in the mainframe computer lab. it counted towards my internship credits and I got to do my homework if I wasn't helping someone else.
Computer operator - internship at Great lakes Higher Education for 2 months
Computer Operator - WI State Lottery - waiting for GLHEC to hire me full time
computer Operator - Hired full time with GLHEC
Mainframe Scheduler - State of WI - CARES - This was a really cool job. Loved the people, loved the work and freedom, and great pay.
Aquatics Supervisor YMCA - I was in charge of swim lessons, the pool schedule, the lifeguard staff, and the swim team staff. I really enjoyed this because I got to help coach the swim team!!! this was my first job in Colorado...my two paychecks were about 50 dollars LESS than I owed in just rent alone.
Mainframe Tech Support - TIAA-CREF and I've been here for a little over 5 years
Places I've lived: (in order)
Janesville, WI
Madison, WI
Janesville, WI
Madison, WI
Denver, CO
(you might think the janesville to Madison is a mistake...but it's not I obviously couldn't make up my mind)
Movies I can watch over and over:
Oh there's just so many
The parent Trap (Haley Mills version)
The grinch who stole Christmas (cartoom and Jim Carrey versions)
My big fat greek wedding
Hoosiers
Ice age (all of them)
Pretty in Pink
Sixteen Candles
The Breakfast Club
I won't bore you with the rest of the list... I watch a lot of movies
My guilty pleasures:
chocolate
Pizza
sleeping in
kayaking (it's hard to focus on work in the beginning of the season)
snowboarding (again it's hard to focus on work in the beginning of the season)
butterscotch discs
Shows I enjoy
Bones
House
So you think you can dance
MTV - duels and/or Infernos - Physical and mental challenges to win prizes...LOVE IT!
GlobeTrekkers (PBS)
Man Vs. Wild
Weeds
what not to wear
Places I've been on vacation:
Northern Wisconsin (family camping trips)
Florida (Ft. Lauderdale, Kissimmee, Orlando, the Keys and a few others)
Elwood, IN
Rockton, ILL
Mexico ( a few different spots with family)
Olympia, WA
Missouri (a few different places)
Montana (Beartooth MTNS, backpacking, and to meet my my uncle's family to share a cabin)
South Dakota (badlands and Mt rushmore)
Wyoming - (backpacking)
Boulder, CO (for a wedding and it made me want to move back to live there)
charlotte, NC (business trip)
Austin, Texas
Little Rock, AR
Arizona (for a wedding)
Costa Rica (to visit parents)
Spain (Tormellinos and took a day trip to Morroco)
Favorite foods:
Club sandwhich without tomatoes
Pizza
chicken salad from Sentry
Peanut butter, banana and jelly sandwhiches
sweet and sour chicken with rice
Shrimp and Lobster with butter
Website i visit daily:
9news.com
msn.com
msnbc.com
coloradokayakers.com
mountainbuzz.com
jenny's blog
mike's blog
michele's blog
people.com
usatoday.com
Awards I've won
a bucket full of ribbons from swim meets when I was a kid. camp ribbons from basketball and softball and track.
AAUW scholarship
a few things at work
I just won last weekend the 'best combat roll in tombstone rapid'. I'll post the video but i rolled and came back up without having to get out of my boat. I won some super cool hiking poles that you can mount your camera on and use a stabilizer, plus they have shock absorbers...very cool!!
Nicknames I've been called:
Aggie - a co-worker assigned it, I never got it.
TK -
Just like jenny and I'm sure Michele too, my school friends were lame and not very creative. Weinie was popular because of the last name (Keeney). it was stupid and they even made up little songs that rhymed.
that's it. whew...lots of questions and long answers :) I'll post again here a little later to show the video and the chaos from last night!!
Jobs I've held:
Wisconsin/Minnesota Swim Camp - camp couselor * I video taped kids in stroke clinics, made sure they didn't misbehave, kept them on schedule and helped them train for the Triathalon that was held at the end of each camp session.. I LOVED THIS JOB!!!!
Lifeguard/Swim lesson teacher * I lifeguarded at Lion's Beach and did swim lessons at rockport pool in the summers. I also worked for the City of janesville as a Swim teacher during summer school. In the winters I lifeguarded, taught swim lessons, and taught water areobics (I was horrible at it). I taught swim lessons and lifeguarded as a second job until about 4 years ago.
Waitress at Pizzeria Uno's (I WAS THE WORLDS WORST WAITRESS)
Assembler at a parker pen factory - I had to be there from 6-10AM, then I went to lifeguard from 10a -6p, and then I went to my waitressing job until the resturaunt closed. 6 days a week. I quit the 6A - 10A factory job pretty quick!!!
Seasonal Boston store sales associate - worked during Xmas break at school.
Cleaner at medical clinics _ GROSS job...hated it, but it was nights and it didn't interfer with any of my courses at school.
Dispatcher for private security company. - Uh it was interesting to say the least!
Student Helpdesk. I was the student helpdesk in the mainframe computer lab. it counted towards my internship credits and I got to do my homework if I wasn't helping someone else.
Computer operator - internship at Great lakes Higher Education for 2 months
Computer Operator - WI State Lottery - waiting for GLHEC to hire me full time
computer Operator - Hired full time with GLHEC
Mainframe Scheduler - State of WI - CARES - This was a really cool job. Loved the people, loved the work and freedom, and great pay.
Aquatics Supervisor YMCA - I was in charge of swim lessons, the pool schedule, the lifeguard staff, and the swim team staff. I really enjoyed this because I got to help coach the swim team!!! this was my first job in Colorado...my two paychecks were about 50 dollars LESS than I owed in just rent alone.
Mainframe Tech Support - TIAA-CREF and I've been here for a little over 5 years
Places I've lived: (in order)
Janesville, WI
Madison, WI
Janesville, WI
Madison, WI
Denver, CO
(you might think the janesville to Madison is a mistake...but it's not I obviously couldn't make up my mind)
Movies I can watch over and over:
Oh there's just so many
The parent Trap (Haley Mills version)
The grinch who stole Christmas (cartoom and Jim Carrey versions)
My big fat greek wedding
Hoosiers
Ice age (all of them)
Pretty in Pink
Sixteen Candles
The Breakfast Club
I won't bore you with the rest of the list... I watch a lot of movies
My guilty pleasures:
chocolate
Pizza
sleeping in
kayaking (it's hard to focus on work in the beginning of the season)
snowboarding (again it's hard to focus on work in the beginning of the season)
butterscotch discs
Shows I enjoy
Bones
House
So you think you can dance
MTV - duels and/or Infernos - Physical and mental challenges to win prizes...LOVE IT!
GlobeTrekkers (PBS)
Man Vs. Wild
Weeds
what not to wear
Places I've been on vacation:
Northern Wisconsin (family camping trips)
Florida (Ft. Lauderdale, Kissimmee, Orlando, the Keys and a few others)
Elwood, IN
Rockton, ILL
Mexico ( a few different spots with family)
Olympia, WA
Missouri (a few different places)
Montana (Beartooth MTNS, backpacking, and to meet my my uncle's family to share a cabin)
South Dakota (badlands and Mt rushmore)
Wyoming - (backpacking)
Boulder, CO (for a wedding and it made me want to move back to live there)
charlotte, NC (business trip)
Austin, Texas
Little Rock, AR
Arizona (for a wedding)
Costa Rica (to visit parents)
Spain (Tormellinos and took a day trip to Morroco)
Favorite foods:
Club sandwhich without tomatoes
Pizza
chicken salad from Sentry
Peanut butter, banana and jelly sandwhiches
sweet and sour chicken with rice
Shrimp and Lobster with butter
Website i visit daily:
9news.com
msn.com
msnbc.com
coloradokayakers.com
mountainbuzz.com
jenny's blog
mike's blog
michele's blog
people.com
usatoday.com
Awards I've won
a bucket full of ribbons from swim meets when I was a kid. camp ribbons from basketball and softball and track.
AAUW scholarship
a few things at work
I just won last weekend the 'best combat roll in tombstone rapid'. I'll post the video but i rolled and came back up without having to get out of my boat. I won some super cool hiking poles that you can mount your camera on and use a stabilizer, plus they have shock absorbers...very cool!!
Nicknames I've been called:
Aggie - a co-worker assigned it, I never got it.
TK -
Just like jenny and I'm sure Michele too, my school friends were lame and not very creative. Weinie was popular because of the last name (Keeney). it was stupid and they even made up little songs that rhymed.
that's it. whew...lots of questions and long answers :) I'll post again here a little later to show the video and the chaos from last night!!
Sunday, July 29, 2007
A kayaking experience
We ran a run called Deckers today. It is not much more than a meandering trout stream with a few fun little features that make it worth it to boat. As a kayker that has some experience and is confident in class III-IV stuff it's pretty boring (it's a class II with one class III rapid), but it's close to town, has enough water in it even after the other rivers have gotten so low they are unrunnable at this time in the season, and it's an excellent place for beginners to learn. It's also beautiful...it's nestled in a little canyon and has several other options for harder runs providing roberts tunnel is releasing water and they have enough in them to boat. So, this was the first time I've gone down this season without having the newbies (new kayakers who are still really green and can't do much over a class II float) out number the experienced one's. We did have one newbie and 6 others including myself. It's fairly low and running around 400 CFS (think 400 basketballs flowing down the river at once), I took beginners down this at about 600 CFS and there was lots o carnage (swimmers). So here are a few pics of the day. Keep in mind that I was using Kerry's camera which is a super awesome olympus that can be submerged up to 10 feet (maybe more I don't know), and can take just about anything....like smacking on a rock and it still works. But I used it as a point and shoot so some pictures aren't really up to standard, but what the hell, you'll see what you need to:) It was an awesome day!
Step 1: Shuttle and road side scout
We scout so we can read the lines (best route to take) of a particular rapid. This run has two, which the first of which we are scouting here and it's named 'Chutes'. The second one is easy and you can read and run. I hate scouting...you stare at a rapid, and some are rather intimidating, for too long and you psych yourself out. GO BIG is my motto, just try to stay upright!
Ok the next pic is of the Chutes, you can't really appreciate it until you see it in person but this is all I got for ya :) it's pretty easy but intimidating to the newer paddler because of it's rock walls on each side which make it very narrow and forceful. There's a big hole (holes can either be your friend your make you eat shit! Some are sticky, some will recycle you and not let go until they've had their fun, this one is nice and you can punch right through it) in the middle that you simply can't avoid but some hard paddle strokes will get you through it. I always tell people to point your boat just slightly left and the natural flow will flush you out. 
It's very short and at the end of it there's a huge pool with two big eddies, great for catching gear or swimmers :) We had two swimmers today on this part of the run, which they were both fairly new and the swirly water at the bottom gets people every time!
It's very short and at the end of it there's a huge pool with two big eddies, great for catching gear or swimmers :) We had two swimmers today on this part of the run, which they were both fairly new and the swirly water at the bottom gets people every time!
Step 2: Put in
This is the beginning of the run if you didn't under stand the lingo...tee hee hee.
Step 3: Having a good time!
*Patty being goofy!* Kerry trying his stern squirt* sitting in an eddy* me and Kerry floating
Step 4: Take Out
Whadda dork!! *I thought he was kissing me on the cheek, turns out the little
pervert wasn't!!! So much for a cute little picture. Like the hair?
It's impossible to look like anything other than a drowned rat at
the end of a run!!!
It's impossible to look like anything other than a drowned rat at
the end of a run!!!
So that's a day of kayaking...I love it! If I could only find a way to make money at it I'd do it everyday...all day :) Until winter comes then snowboarding season starts!
Olive seems to be fine too, she's been more hyper lately (haven't exercised her much since the 'incident'). Still keeping an eye on her but she seems to be fine! Thank God!! I'm positive that I will have a major breakdown if anything happened to her....she was just a little peanut when I brought her home and she's been the only constant thing throughout all the moving, and relationships and life (other than my awesome family)...she's my little buddy !!!
Friday, July 27, 2007
From Hell to heaven all while working from home.
Friday was a traumatic day. My dog Olive who is 10 years old had a seizure in the kitchen. The day started as normal with the addition of Baxter the elderly Beagle I'm dog sitting . We got up, went outside, ate breakfast and then Olive walked by me and just kind of tipped over, legs stiff, muscles tensed and her eyes rolled into her head. She just wobbled a little on the floor then her head whipped back for a second or two. I tried to calm her down, petting her, talking to her, and after a minute or two she was looking at me again. She hung out for a little bit then got up and walked around...napped pretty much the rest of the morning. I took her to the vet in the afternoon and she was happy and hyper like normal. They said her blood work came back looking excellent and they have no idea what caused it. It could be environmental, stress, a brain tumor, or a one time occurence that may be related to her age.
I heard this morning about food triggers, mainly purina brand dog food, which triggered seizures in other dogs. This is not completely out of the question as the cause since she ate a handful of Baxter's food about 20 mins before it happened. I think it actually took me longer to recover from her little episode then it took her, but I'm having someone watch her while I'm at work for a while just to make sure. Scary and so sad...there's nothing you can do to help really outside of holding them and waiting it out. While it was happening when her eyes were not rolling back she just looked scared and had no idea why she didn't have any control over herself. Poor thing....
Luckily the day was rainy and almost cold, it was a fantastic break from the high 90's and I know all the dogs enjoyed it as well. We took a slow walk around the park before bed.
So this morning at 4AM (it should be illegal to get up that early) I packed up all the dogs, my boat and gear, plus laptop for work and headed out. I dropped Baxter off at his house as his Mommy is coming home this afternoon, in Boulder, drove all the way to Littleton to drop my dogs off at Kerry's house and then went to work. We're going boating tomorrow....in Deckers which is a beautiful canyon up around Conifer. It's close to town and still has water in it, snow definitley melts too fast here!!
I have been eating good the last few weeks, but haven't gotten a whole lot of strenuous workouts in. Deckers will help with that, it's an easy run but when we're done a few of us are doing Foxton which is a little more difficult and will keep me on my toes!
I heard this morning about food triggers, mainly purina brand dog food, which triggered seizures in other dogs. This is not completely out of the question as the cause since she ate a handful of Baxter's food about 20 mins before it happened. I think it actually took me longer to recover from her little episode then it took her, but I'm having someone watch her while I'm at work for a while just to make sure. Scary and so sad...there's nothing you can do to help really outside of holding them and waiting it out. While it was happening when her eyes were not rolling back she just looked scared and had no idea why she didn't have any control over herself. Poor thing....
Luckily the day was rainy and almost cold, it was a fantastic break from the high 90's and I know all the dogs enjoyed it as well. We took a slow walk around the park before bed.
So this morning at 4AM (it should be illegal to get up that early) I packed up all the dogs, my boat and gear, plus laptop for work and headed out. I dropped Baxter off at his house as his Mommy is coming home this afternoon, in Boulder, drove all the way to Littleton to drop my dogs off at Kerry's house and then went to work. We're going boating tomorrow....in Deckers which is a beautiful canyon up around Conifer. It's close to town and still has water in it, snow definitley melts too fast here!!
I have been eating good the last few weeks, but haven't gotten a whole lot of strenuous workouts in. Deckers will help with that, it's an easy run but when we're done a few of us are doing Foxton which is a little more difficult and will keep me on my toes!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
I'm FINALLY getting a/c
It's a miracle!! I just got an estimate that I can afford so on Monday I'll have a/c! WOOHOO!
It's been REALLY hot lately and never seemed to let up. I'm really excited that I won't have to sit and puddle when I'm home anymore!
I went to Boulder the other night to hit a few local paddle shops. In my defense I did check the consignment store first....I bought the paddle I've been wanting. It was maybe a tad expensive but it'll be a good investment. I love this paddle!
Boulder is like visiting a different state, it's in a world of it's own and is always a unique experience. It's filled with Birkenstocks, peddle bikes and I Tele-Loveland (local ski area) stickers. You can't walk down the block without seeing dreadlocks. It has an abundance of hippies and granolas. I love it..not to live there but it's a fun little town! After spending a ridiculous amount of money on my paddle Patty, Alex and I went for dinner.
When I got home it was pretty late but nice and cool, so i took the dogs for a walk, about 3 miles. It's been so hot that I haven't done much of anything outside of walking the dogs but today and the rest of the weekend are suppose to be a lot cooler. I think i will take Baxter (I'm dog sitting) and Olive, who are my geriatric team out for a slow walk, then come back and take Desil for a run. I'm confident that if I have a heart attack from attempting to run and passout, Desil who is a solid 90 lbs of SPAZ will have no problems dragging (literally) me home!
I've been researching all the different gear and training trips for triathalons. It never fails to amaze me how many gadgets are out there for different sports. I'm not sure I can get into the world of Garmin gadgets and stats but you never know! For now I'll stick with the basics
It's been REALLY hot lately and never seemed to let up. I'm really excited that I won't have to sit and puddle when I'm home anymore!
I went to Boulder the other night to hit a few local paddle shops. In my defense I did check the consignment store first....I bought the paddle I've been wanting. It was maybe a tad expensive but it'll be a good investment. I love this paddle!
Boulder is like visiting a different state, it's in a world of it's own and is always a unique experience. It's filled with Birkenstocks, peddle bikes and I Tele-Loveland (local ski area) stickers. You can't walk down the block without seeing dreadlocks. It has an abundance of hippies and granolas. I love it..not to live there but it's a fun little town! After spending a ridiculous amount of money on my paddle Patty, Alex and I went for dinner.
When I got home it was pretty late but nice and cool, so i took the dogs for a walk, about 3 miles. It's been so hot that I haven't done much of anything outside of walking the dogs but today and the rest of the weekend are suppose to be a lot cooler. I think i will take Baxter (I'm dog sitting) and Olive, who are my geriatric team out for a slow walk, then come back and take Desil for a run. I'm confident that if I have a heart attack from attempting to run and passout, Desil who is a solid 90 lbs of SPAZ will have no problems dragging (literally) me home!
I've been researching all the different gear and training trips for triathalons. It never fails to amaze me how many gadgets are out there for different sports. I'm not sure I can get into the world of Garmin gadgets and stats but you never know! For now I'll stick with the basics
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