Hiking Adventures...

I must admit that hiking out here is pretty amazing. The scenery is just a lot more impressive than we are used to back east. So far we have done two hiking trips. The first was to the top of Crags Mountain which has an elevation of 10,855 feet. This sounds impressive, but you have to take into account that we started at like 10,300 feet. Just getting to the trailhead was quite an adventure. We had to take my tiny Corolla up the most windy, bumpy road it had ever seen. It made it, but I don't think it was very happy. At that point in our Colorado experience I don't think we had completely adjusted to the altitude...walking on flat land while breathing heavily is a strange feeling. We made it to the top after a few hours, and as you can see there were some truly amazing views:

Last weekend (I'm slowly making my way back to the present) we went hiking in the Boulder area at Eldorado Canyon Trail. Also very beautiful and although it was a little more strenuous and hot with a 1000 ft climb at the beginning and 90 degree temperatures...we made it!



Now you'd think with all this hiking that we'd be considered relatively active and outdoorsy, but people out here are freakin' insane. Let's do an informal survey from a conversation I had at work:

Me: I've done a couple of 5 mile hikes with my wife
Co-worker #1: My wife and I just started to hike all the 14ers -we're doing two more this weekend
Co-worker #2: I've hiked all the 14ers (all the 14,000 foot mountains in Colorado). One with a torn ACL and a massive knee brace
Co-worker #3: Yeah, I liked hiking all the 14ers, but my favorite was Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa (only 19,340 feet)
Me: I'm going to stand over here now...

They were trying to convince me to do at least one 14er while I'm out here, but it might have to be one that I can drive up to...especially after this article in the Denver Post this morning.

Quick Update on Recent Events...

I was planning on posting something earlier than this, but unfortunate events of the last two nights have prevented me from doing so. The minor inconveince was that our LCD monitor finally died on Sunday. It had been sporadically going blurry, but on Sunday it finally stayed blurry and didn't come back on. This made working (on say a blog) very difficult, but we now have a shiny new monitor that is perfectly clear. The much more serious event was that Sarah's grandmother passed away on Sunday. It was not unexpected and probably for the best given her condition in the last few months due to Parkinson’s . Sarah and I were busy making plans to attend the funeral in Ohio this Friday... juggling with if we could get a bereavement fare (and yes some airlines actually do require a copy of the death certificate), who could pick us up from the airport, and when we would return.

Anyway, everything has been worked out (leaving on Thursday, returning on Saturday) and hopefully I'll return to posting something more upbeat very soon.

The Rockies...

If there is one great thing about living in Colorado its the great access to just about anything outdoors that you could want to do. That and you only almost feel like there is pressure to do stuff outside here because the mountains are so amazing.

Our first weekend here after moving out of the hotel and into our actual apartment we were pretty tired of unpacking and looking at boxes. So, we headed down to Colorado Springs and saw great Colorado scenary. Nothing too strenuous was undertaken that day, mainly lots of driving and picture taking. We took the Cog Railway to the top of Pikes Peak (14, 110 feet). Amazingly enough it was in the upper 80's at the base, but we actually saw some snow flurries from the top! Check out the cool panorama from the top:



Since we already had driven all the way down to Pikes Peak, we figured we might as well hit Garden of the Gods. In a nut shell, its a public park around these cool red rock formations. Incidently it got its name from a surveyor who thought it would make a great place for a Beer Garden (is there anything beer can't do?)! Although we didn't get to spend much time there before a storm approached we did get a few good pics...


Needless to say we were very happy with our first weekend.

P.S. Eventually I'm going to actually catch up to the present day, but for now you're just going to have get used to reading about our past freakishly tall adventures. Blame Qwest DSL for taking a week and a half to send us our DSL modem.

Our humble abode...

This is going to be the first picture post, so that means less writing on my part and less reading on yours (so its really win-win).

Our place is pretty well done the way we like it, so its now a good time to show you what it looks like.

Here is the living room...


The guest bedroom (or we may still call it Rob's room for old-times sake)...



The master bedroom...



The Kitchen...



Mike's new toys...


The $20 dollar trashcan...



The reason I put this in is because when searching for a trash can at BB&B (in the Beyond section) I was totatlly miffed at the cost of trash cans. We ended up getting the cheapest one for $20 (which I thought was a still somewhat expensive), however they went up to $180 (check the link if you're skeptical). It is stainless steel, but for God's sake, I paid less for the grill which I COOK AND EAT OFF OF. I just wouldn't think you'd want to get something that expensive dirty with say, your GARBAGE.

Later

So it begins...

It has come to this. I'm doing something unexpected, capricious even. Yes, even though I probably a few years behind everyone else, I'm starting a blog. You may be asking yourself: Why...WHY...WHY!

As you can probably guess, Sarah and I are pretty much out here by ourselves, and we want to keep in touch with as many people as we can. I think a blog is a great way to at least let everyone know what we're up to and how we are doing. If you are thinking, I don't give a crap what Mike and Sarah are doing, then you don't have to read the blog. No one is forcing you...yet (not until plan B). On the other hand if you are thinking I wonder what it's like to be freakishly tall west of the Mississippi, this blog is your window into the life of the freakish. It's that simple.

So, with this in mind and I'm gonig to lay a few ground rules (probably more for myself than you all):
1) I'm shooting to post around once a week (maybe more if I feel so inspired)
2) You won't have to spend a half-hour reading an entry. I don't think either one of us has the attention span, so the entries will probably be about this long.
3) When not purely updating you about Sarah and I's adventures, I will try to mercilessly mock, complain, and rant about whatever I want.

I encourage you'll to post comments, and take luck