Picture Tour of Colorado...

The clear motif of Ben's whirlind visit of two weeks ago was, not surprisingly, pictures. Ben clocked in at 565 photos taken, and we weren't really that far behind with 346 of our own (Sarah and I got caught up in the moment I guess, and Ben was showing me how to use the manual settings on my camera).

With that in mind, I've decided to tell the story of Ben's visit in pictures:

First we hit the zoo, which was pretty cool and we saw (I apologize for the cliche)

and

Then we went to the Springs to visit Colorado's most famous red rocks:

Next free beer was on our list (all it cost is listening to a hour long commercial for Coors)

On Sunday, we decided to step up the elevation a bit - and made it the top of Pikes Peak

Finally we went for a hike - to Crags Mountain near the end of the day on Sunday. This meant there were no other people on the trail and hence ample opportunities for picture taking (even with the tripod)

Link Updates...

Its been long overdue to update some of my blog links. For the sake of history, here is the now out of date list:

Contemporarily Insane -> Rob's Blog has earned the right to stay at the top of my list, especially now that he is posting regularly again.
why.I.hate.dc -> A few months ago this blog was great (this month's are a good example). The guy who wrote it had sarcastic sense of humor that I really liked. When I lived in Arlington, it was especially easy to relate to whatever he was mocking. Unfortunately, he moved to Seattle several months ago and let someone else take over his blog. You guessed it -- the new guy sucks.
Dave's Trail Journal -> I really enjoyed Dave's Trail Journal, I eventually read every entry. But, he's been back for almost 8 months -- if you haven't made it there yet I don't think you ever will
The B&B Party -> Always a classic - with lots of stuff added near Halloween time. It definitely stays.

Now the new stuff:

Ben's Picture Site -> Ben has turned himself into quite a talented photographer the last few years. Some of his best shots are available on his brand, spanking new website (including some Colorado shots soon thanks to his recent visit)
Wade's Blog and Holly's Blog -> Two very different styles, but I enjoy reading them both. Holly is certainly one of the most dedicated posters out there (usually daily) and Wade has a lot of creative stuff on his site. Check them out.
Fark -> A collection of funny news stories from across the Internet, updated every day. Its hit or miss, but its a good way to kill some time.

Missing Rubber...

Sarah and I had an "incident" this past weekend which mainly involved our tire coming to pieces. Speaking as someone who hasn't had this happen before, let me just say that when you have large chunks of rubber missing from your tire, its difficult to maintain much pressure (not much over 1 atm at least).

Luckily Sarah was able to pull off the road safely; she is our designated "extreme" conditions driver-having driven through a snowstorm all night on the way to the mountains. Unfortunately, we were on Highway 25 N and the shoulder we pulled off on was very narrow. Cars were whizzing by at 60+, so there was no way to change the tire without putting my life in danger. I called a tow-truck, we got towed to the next exit and were able to change the tire to the spare in the safety of a parking lot. We weren't deterred from getting in some volleyball that afternoon thanks to a ride from a friend.

Now we are the proud owners of 4 new Michelin tires!

Here is what was left of our tire: