Rocky Mountain Camping

It's been a long time since I went camping, and I don't think I've ever backpacked to a campsite. This trip on Friday was a big accomplishment. Ben has wanted to camp with me since I've known him. What better anniversary present for Ben than to suck up my discomfort and head to the mountains?


A long car drive up highway 40, past Winter Park, past Fraser, and we arrived at the trailhead. We'd been hiking for just 10 minutes in the above photos. Ben bought himself a hatchet for the trip. He liked it a lot. He carried most of the gear, I just had some clothes, a mat, and water.


This dog met us at the trailhead and followed us. There's a spot of private property about an hour in, where we ran into his owner. It was really fun having a dog on the hike. We named him Cody, even though he has four legs.


Hey, where's the bridge? My hero carried me across.


About two hours into the hike, above.


We were on "Strawberry Trail." At our campsite I helped myself to a snack and I'm not sick yet!


Our lovely campsite. There's a creek right behind the camera. We actually hiked about a 1/2 mile beyond this campsite before deciding to turn around and settle. It was flat, had a fire pit, and some lovely log chairs. Ben set up tent quickly and we settled in for the night.


Hey, we built a fire! High five!


Hmm, dinner.


Lovely sunset.


After a rough night trying to sleep (I just can't sleep outside. It's uncomfortable and scary) we packed up and hit the trail home by 10 am. These pictures are about halfway back to the trailhead. Boy, were we stiff that morning. We're still feeling achey a couple days later. But it was worth it. No rain, no injuries, few bugbites, and good memories.

Maine

Shopping and snacking in Hallowell (near Augusta).


Flowers grow abundantly in Maine.


Hobbit Woods (named by Betty)


Interesting cuisine in Maine, including the infamous whoopie pie and "fried dough."


Picturesque Booth Bay.


Wild turkeys right outside Betty's house! (I was napping, Ben captured the pic)

Miami Meeting

I had to go on a business trip to Miami a couple weeks ago. Bleh. July is generally not a good time to go. When I arrived in the afternoon the weather was calm. This sandcastle on the hotel's private beach looked amazing.

I scoped out the beach and planned to spend any time I had outside of lectures on the sand. The hurrricane Dennis came. We were on Key Biscayne, so we weren't in any serious danger, though the hotel sent out notices to stay away from your windows in case they blow in. The picture below was taken the first evening of my stay, about an hour after the picture above. It got worse each day: incredible wind and warm rain. Meetings and schmoozing were stressful. I was not in the mood to take lots of pictures, so this is all I got of the bad weather. It was a frustrating trip. I could ramble on and on, but let's just leave it at that.

Home Again

Like my sister (see her blog) I have been traveling all month and away from my computer. Unlike my sister, my trips have not all been fun. I'm happy to be home now with no flight reservations on the books . . . for now.

I have a feeling there may be another business trip this fall, and mom already mentioned maybe going to California for Thanksgiving, and Ben and I have been wanting to take a trip for just the two of us. . . but for now there's nothing planned! And it feels good.

Pictures to come soon. Probably after I catch up at work, get laundry done, fill the fridge with food, and watch the Netflix that have piled up.

It's good to be back in dry Colorado.

Lakeside Amusement Park

This weekend Ben and Brian and I went to Lakeside, right in my neighborhood. I'd heard a lot of bad press about this place, accidents and what not. But Ben is itching for rides, especially after getting a taste at Universal Studios last weekend. He and Brian used to be big fans of Elitch Gardens, until it moved and turned into a cement lot, I mean, Six Flags. Lakeside looks like nothing has changed in the past 50 years. It's just $2 to enter and $1-2 per ride. Hot dogs only $1.50! I didn't do any rides (feeling a little sick that day) but I totally dug the kitsch and vintage signs. Enjoy!


Anyone know what Redit means?



Ben thinks the Matterhorn was at the old Elitches. Check out the Scrambler font! The guys rode the Wild Chipmunk and said there isn't a lap bar or seat belt, just a handle on the side.



I loved this bumper car sign (Autoskooters).



Brian was supremely disappointed that the Flight to Mars was down for repairs. He really really really wanted to go inside anyway. The general manager said it should be running next week.



I love this: the world's most exciting ride. Really.
I didn't get a good picture of the rocket ride Ben loved. Bad lighting.



The carnival booths are a bit ghetto, but eerie enough to supplement the atmosphere. Brian got 9 plastic spider rings with his earnings from skeeball.

Newport Beach

A bit belated, but here's a glimpse of our trip to LA.

Director's Label Release

If you haven't heard yet, Director's Label is releasing the next 4 volumes in their series on September 13 this year. This is the label that put together works by Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze. The next line of directors looks great. I've been hoping Mark Romanek would be featured. He's done some of my top music videos of all time, including Scream, Bedtime Stories, and Can't Stop- which will all be on the disc!!! You can see the line up here and click the icons at the top for a preview of the collections.

Movie Trailers

The trailer is online for the film adaptation of Rent the musical. Check it out at Apple, or, if that site is down (as it was last night) here.

I'd also recommend Murderball, Howl's Moving Castle, the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory trailer, March of the Penguins, A Scanner Darkly, and The Chronicles of Narnia. Yea! More Weta Workshop! I can't wait for the King Kong trailer to come out. There are a lot of good movies to look forward to this year.

Big Shirt

Kristin, Jenni and I used to take turns keeping the big shirt. I found it with my fabric scraps last night. I don't think we ever realized just how big the shirt really is.

Potluck

Rose and Luke had a pre-wedding potluck in Greeley yesterday. I prepared some fresh spring greens.

It's surprising how quickly you reach nothing when you drive out up I-25. Greeley's a nice little town. It reminded us of Grand Junction.

Taint!

Jeff has fallen asleep a couple times on our couch. It has that effect on people. He didn't notice the poking.

Serenity Now II

It happened, we got our tickets and we saw Serenity. It was great. I'd only been to one other advance screening before (The Life Aquatic) but it wasn't very "advance" and there weren't any surveys. It was fun to give my opinion on movies. I wish I could do that more often. One time at Westminster Mall Ben and I got to watch a preview of the Man on Fire movie commercial and give our feedback. Not sure we affected much, since the commercial that eventually ran was pretty much the same. But it was fun anyway. Way off track now.


Serenity was awesome. I like it more now that I've had time to think about it. I'll probably like it even more once I see the finished film. This one was poorly printed, Brian said the color timing (?) hadn't been done yet, and the score and special effects were missing. But at least now I know the reason River . . . and that Book . . .
Don't worry Andy, I'll keep it secret until you see it. That's the one thing I felt really bad about, was not getting a seat for Andy. But hurrah! There's going to be another screening! This time I got plenty of extra seats. Looking forward to it, bro.

Browncoats!