The Holidays-Christmas

SNOW !!!!! I just love the white fluffy stuff and we have had our share of it. I worked Christmas Eve sending out the last of the layaway gift bikes. I arrived home to meet Susan heading for Pueblo to stay with her parents. The plan was for me to come down Christmas morning with our friend Julie whose parents are in AZ. I stayed the eve alone then called Julie only to find she was waiting for Susan to "firm up" and when no info came she made other plans. To make the situation more crazy was the 6-13 inches of snow that was dumping on Denver. My little car does not do snow and I had hoped to take Julie's SUV. As you have probably guessed, I spent Christmas here on the couch with egg nog. I had several offers from friends to come to their homes but I found the couch and the quiet kind of nice. It was a great day, I really enjoyed myself and Susan was able to spend time with her family. I hope everyone received their fudge this year.







Unfortunately I have no Christmas pictures, but here we are snowshoeing near Squaw Pass. It was about 20 degrees and beautiful. CJ was trying out his new snow mitts and they worked great.







I have been interviewed for the Ops Mgr at my work. I think the interview went well and should know in a couple of days. I have been hoping to start a new career and this company has many of the requirements I desire. My indoor cycling classes are going great, I have several clients attending each one and getting much stronger. I am off to Morganville, CA in Feb to attend a bike fit school. I do fits now but this will give me more certs to generate business.







I am looking forward to 2008 and all the joys and challenges it may bring. For now, I will snowshoe like a crazy person, enjoying every flake of snow.

First Snowshoe of the Year

Okay, to start I seem to have lost control of where the pictures landed. Here's the story:

Today turned out perfect after several days of clouds and snow. I took off for Golden Gate State Park, about 13 miles NW of Denver. I was shooting for the Burro Trail and hopefully making it up to Windy Point.

This was my first trail of the year so I packed too much gear (which now includes Vicodin) and headed out. We have had alot of snow the last few days and with the temps staying below freezing, ice is everywhere. The drive up the canyon was uneventful for which I was VERY happy.

The trailhead was easy to find and totaly unused. Thus began my adventure in trail breaking. For those that have snowshoed you understand just how tiring this can be. My usual hiking pace is 3-5 mph, today was a whopping 1.6 - 2.2!! Yes, making of, or better yet, finding the trail can be quite the adventure.

My hike went well, I crossed paths with a big dog's foot prints on several occasions but never saw the dog. The snow was powder perfect though mostly on the lower elevation. I did not make it to Windy Point. The snow became scarce around 8400 ft so I wisely turned back. I made it back to the car just as the sun was setting over the mountains.

I am very excted for the snow to return to the mountains. I hope to snowshoe weekly to new exciting spots.

WORLD SERIES !!!

Okay, I pulled the cancer card. Turns out the Rockies were the wild card picks for the playoffs. Even though I did not watch much during the season, attending 2 games and watching only a couple. Once they hit the playoffs I was hooked. As they went 20-21 wins I began to realize they might make it to the World Series !! And they did....

So the mother ship I work for, SSV, has a couple of different season tickets spots. A contest was offered titled, "Why I Deserve Rockies Tickets". I emailed in the sales I have accomplished, the winning of Top Dog at a sales event, my candidacy for Specialized Bike Fit School and my indoor training classes. Then I threw in the C card and they bought it !!!!

Off Susan and I went for a once in a life time opportunity to see the World Series in Denver!! Susan's sister Janet and her great crew at work made our sign, that brought alot of cheers from the fellow Rockies fans. Let me tell you it was the most exciting event I have ever attended. No one really expected the Rockies to win, but it was great energy and fun for the crowd to get into. We had a blast, I don't know that this opportunity will ever present itself again !!!

So for now, GO ROCKIES 2008 !!!

ATVing Trip

Gumby (Susan) and I joined the great American pass time this weekend by taking the ATV out to established trails and zooming around them. It was a very unique experience as we had not done this on ATV trails before. It is a very manly sport as the only other woman on an ATV we saw was on the back of her "man's"
machine. It is also very common the carry weapons, stop along the way and start shooting off into the woods!! While the shooting did not alarm us (we too were armed), the lack of targets or any structure to stop the bullets was very scary. So this is Yankee Hill outside Central City, the wind was up a bit but it was a beautiful day.

I guess I should use this blog as a general letter format as Camille does, it will help keep everyone up to date. My health will be the first subject and it continues to fill my time. The chemo side effects continue to bother me. It is mainly a constant numbness in my hands and feet. I am cold sensitive because of this and I drop things a lot. I also can't buy shoes as I cannot tell if my feet are in them properly!! A new nasty side effect has come on me. While there is no medical evidence to support it, many women have suffered from arthritis or swollen joints from the chemo. As for me it moved up the pain in my knees and Osteoarthritis can now be seen on my x-rays. It came on severely about 3 -4 months ago when I was unable to walk with out a cane due to pain. I am now on Vicodin administered as needed as a pain management program. I am trying to get into an ortho in Dec to review my knee options to include the replacing of them. I am really bummed about this new turn of events, the pain is pretty amazing. But, not to worry, I am still biking like a mad woman, I have taken up swimming again and am trying to learn to be a canyon runner on my motorcycle. My work at the shop is great, I am trying to get into management with this company. I think it will make a great new career choice for me. I am also starting my indoor training program in Nov where I will be coaching people thru the winter on their bikes.

Oh and there is Susan, she is doing great. She and the CEO of Blue Sun had a major falling out regarding the financial reality of the future he had chosen and he preferred they part ways. She is back to being a consultant working with previous and new clients She is also flying quite a bit as the weather here is perfect right now. She is my motorcycle coach as she is one of the best riders I have ever seen.

That is it for now, GO ROCKIES !!!

more Aspens

This is my favorite shot, I cannot express how beautiful the mountain sides were with all the colors. Plus the camera I have doesn't do it justice!

Colorado Aspens

This weekend was glorious in the mountains. These photos were taken on Boreas Pass near Fairplay. This is the 12 mile pass that would take you over to Breckenridge. The pass was packed with people driving up to enjoy the show.

same mine looking out

Here's the Georgetown opening from the inside.

Georgetown mine

I found this one outside Georgetown, it is gated about 15 ft in. What's crazy is the tunnel is still somewhat intact behind the grating and the temperature drops dramatically at the opening.

Welcome to my Colorado

Thanks to Camille I will add and try to keep up with this blog. My current obsession is with the old mines in the area. Most are sealed or have collapsed and, of course, all are dangerous.

I have also decided to ride my mountain bike up as many gravel passes as I can. Last week I managed Mosquito Pass, the highest driveable pass at 13, 185 ft. I will also be testing my GPS as it said I was at 13, 219.