Spring Break, Part I

Hey y'all! Hope you've been well since our last post. Since we last spoke, Charlotte and I took a quick, great Spring Break trip to Moab, UT for some camping and exploring. However, first we had to get there! This involved a late-winter drive through the Rockies and across the Continental Divide. On a beautiful sunny day, it's always fun to look up at the Rockies from Fort Collins and imagine what the weather is like. This time, we found out firsthand! The closer to the mountains we got, the more ominous their "little" gray cloud looked!

By the time we reached the Eisenhower Tunnel at around 11,000', our sunny 50 degree driving weather had turned into a 16 degree blizzard!

Fortunately, the weather got great once we descended back down, and after a quick lunch stop in Grand Junction, CO, we were speeding along toward new desert sights!

Our first order of business was claiming a campsite. Unfortunately, all the sites in Arches National Park were full, so we found ourselves "stuck" in this BLM (Bureau of Land Management) campsite in nearby Moab. Needless to say, we didn't complain too much!

However, it was getting late, and so our real desert exploring would have to wait until the morning (and the next blog post)! Before getting into our sleeping bags, though, we did make an evening trek into Arches National Park. There, we were treated to a gorgeous sunset at the first sandstone arches of our trip, known as "The Windows." People get really excited about seeing arches (I know we did), so I'll try to warn you in advance.

Snazzy arch coming up-first arch shot on this blog! 

Brace yourselves!

Phew! Anyway, our brief hike and exploration was enough to convince us that we'd made a good spring break decision by ditching our books for a few days, and that the blizzard driving was worth it! We were happy to be in Moab!

Our next post will feature some more of the desert scenery that we were treated to at Arches National Park. In the meantime, though, we're sleepy, so have a good one! Oh-one more thing. Incoming arches-bottom left of frame!

In Town, Enjoying Winter, Fort Collins Style

Well, hello again! This time, our blog is coming to you from Fort Collins. Even though Fort Collins is a good deal lower than Laramie (4,982' rather than 7,220'), it still gets a good dose of winter! Fortunately, when it's too snowy to leave town, there are plenty of pretty sights to see in Fort Collins, as well. So, in order to get you some new blog photos recently, I grabbed my skis...

...left the "Mountain House"...

...and headed about 10 houses up the road to City Park.

City Park has to be the second-prettiest town park in the US. With good snow, nice views of the Rocky Mountain foothills, sunshine, and ski tracks made by other folks, I've definitely been worse places!

If you're wondering, the prettiest town park in the US is "Fort Foster," located in Kittery, ME. Yowzahs!

Anyway, we hope you have a great week, and we'll catch you soon! Stay warm!

In Town, Enjoying Winter, Laramie-style

Well, winter is finally here in Laramie.  Hah!  That's a funny joke, because it's been here now for about four months (since early October).  However, all of us, including Mort the Mazda, are making the best of it that we can.

One source of continued consternation, however, is Laramie's "relaxed" attitude towards street plowing.  Here's a good road in town...

...and here is a more representative neighborhood street.

How might we make the best of this situation when it's too snowy to leave town?  Well, while Charlotte was at her university's gym one afternoon, I had an idea, and grabbed my skis!  What did I find?  Block after block of glorious "packed powder"!

Here's a dilemma for you to ponder: what side of the road do you ski on (I chose left)?  Fortunately, Laramie's roads aren't the only nearby places to ski when I-80 is too snowy to reach Happy Jack.  We also have a great spot, "Washington Park," just a few blocks away!

Anyway, as we daydream about the warm weather, summertime hikes, and gardens that lie ahead, it's nice to find little ways to enjoy the beautiful snow while it lasts.  After all, it'll be gone in just a few more...months (photo below taken last April 18)!

The time has come...

...to do a blog post!  Wow, we have been letting this responsibility slide lately.  With many apologies, we are now easing into a new year of blogging.  It's hard to believe that we're in our fourth year of maintaining this blog, but we hope that it can again (in 2014) help to lessen the distance between us and all of you!

So, we'll begin this year by sharing a few photos of "Happy Jack," where we've spent a lot of time skiing lately.  Happy Jack is located in National Forest land, about 10 minutes from our apartment, and a bit higher (between 8,000'-9,000').  As a result, even though it's so close by, it's always snowier.  In fact, since I'm a dope and have consistently neglected to bring our camera, all today's photos were taken last November, when there was hardly any snow in Laramie at all!

Since then, there's been a ton of snow, and the conditions are way better than these photos show.  Thanks to a local nonprofit (and our National Forest fees), all that fresh powder is groomed almost daily (with tracks set), and there are handy trail markers and maps to keep folks from getting lost!

Having these great trails so close by has helped wonders with my abilities.  I've come a long way from November, when Charlotte was basically propping me up (see below) to this week, when I attempted (and survived!) my first "black diamond" trail.  For your eternally cautious blogger, that's quite an improvement!

Best of all, our resident Nordic expert, Charlotte, loves it up there, too!  Her nonchalant expertise (and ridiculous patience) may have more than a little to do with that improvement I described above!

Anyway, like I've said, we love it up at Happy Jack, and more current photos are definitely in order!  In the meantime, here are 2 more cool features of our favorite local ski locale.  First, check out this convenience!  Below, Charlotte is showing the grueling, lengthy walk from the end of the trail to our car.  However, even this was before we got more snow.  Nowadays, we can ski right up to our trunk!  

Second, a lot of our ski excursions end around sundown.  This gives us the chance to see some pretty cool high-altitude sunsets (those purple and blue colors are unreal in person)!

Anyway, we hope 2014 is a year filled with health, happiness, and adventure for all of you.  We know we have a lot to be excited and grateful for ourselves, so we'll do our best to start sharing with you again on here!

Hey, crew!

What's new?  Obviously, Charlotte and I have been a bit side-tracked lately with schoolwork.  However, it's Thanksgiving break, so prepare to be bombarded by blog posts as we catch up!  Or, in the alternative, prepare for at least one feeble blog post to remind you that this blog still exists!  That said, while we've been busy with schoolwork, we have managed to undertake a few fun projects, as well.  To wit, these have included:

1) Making homemade tomato sauce from garden tomatoes!  This was a bit of a trick, since frost returned to Laramie before our tomatoes ripened fully.  However, with a bit of online research, we learned how to ripen our roma tomatoes indoors, and the resulting sauce was delish!

2) Roasting Laramie-grown chile peppers!  After getting to know some local farmers, and visiting them at their backyard in-town, we came into possession of quite a few yummy peppers.  Charlotte roasted them up, and my lunchtime sandwiches have been benefiting from a delicious, spicy kick ever since!

3) Brewing beer!  This is one hobby I haven't quite been able to kick since moving out West, and so Charlotte and I brewed a pumpkin ale earlier this fall.  The results have been pretty yummy!  However, there's always room for improvement (and product-testing!) with this hobby, so I'm guessing I'll be at it for a while to come!

4) And (nerd alert!) participating in CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network). Since the the record Colorado floods/Wyoming rains this September, Charlotte and I have been taking daily precipitation measurements in Laramie.  We're among thousands of others nationwide who do the same every morning, so if you're feeling skeptical someday about what you're seeing on the Weather Channel, head to the CoCoRaHS website and see what's actually happening in your neighborhood.  Our station is "Laramie 0.2 SE."

Alright!  We've been busy outdoors lately, as well, so assuming that we get around to another blog post this break, we'll update you on that front, too!  In the meantime, have a very happy Thanksgiving!