One more day.

We're finally done with the final chores that the days before a big move brings. I'm sitting at Amante, again, finishing up some final photo projects and compiling phone #s of camping sites for the trip. Tonight we will get the Uhaul and load the larger things that I will need Dea's help with,and I will finish the rest tomorrow morning.

James and Jeeeen gave us a gift certificate to Sushi Zamni as a going away gift. It will so nice to unplug tonight and have a quite dinner with Dea- just the two of us.

I was, also, able to catch up with the ann boys for happy hour at Connor O'Neil's last night as well. The last group outing before we leave. Good to toast a couple pints of Guinness with the guys. Rode my bike downtown to meet them- I'm really anxious to be back in a small town where I can use my bike as my only means of transport....except for when it's 40 below zero i suspect. I was all smiles riding home past all of the usual hang outs.

only 30+ hours until we are Northward bound.

Crazy Derrick

Dea and I haven't ween Derrick in quite some time. He has, temporarily hung up his wheels as well, bought a new house in Denver, and started a new job. I'd like to say that these are the reasons that we haven't seen him, but I think it is more to the fact that we need the months between meetings to recover!

We had dinner at Dagabi, and then back to Jen and Brad's place for wine on the deck. We talked, per usual, long into the night about art, photography, science, a little politics. After many glasses of wine, and my last scotch from the old house, we....um, rafted down the 'river' at 2:00 am- only way to go out with Derrick...


Dea and Derrick in the sky chairs.


Derrick putting 'safety first'


Derrick 'lewis and clarking' the creek that runs behind Jen and Brad's place.

JT loves porta-johns...

Dea and I had dinner with JT, Sue, Tark, and Beth last night. I've tried to quantify it before- trying to deal with hanging up my wheels. It's hard to explain but there is a bond that is born during races. I have missed the long training rides in the mountains with these guys, the laughs and jokes about nothing in particular, the conversations that can only be had after five hours in the saddle. Although things are a little different since I stopped racing, I count JT and Tark as two of my best friends. I regret that I will miss Tark and Beth's wedding and watching Leah grow up. Historically I have not been the best at keeping in touch with friends that are separated by great distances, but I will not lose track of these guys and their families...too much fun to still be had.


JT has a seriously creepy love of porta-johns- there are roughly 600 eateries and stores in a one mile radius at Flatirons, and JT finds the only porta john...

Sunday with Shane and Constance

I'm sitting at Amante this morning with Pella, writing a list of all the things I need to do today..and the rest of the week. It's nice to be back in town with all of my creature comforts. The farm was excellent- the most relaxed I've been in quite a while. Jen and Brad's place almost feels like home as well, because we've spent so much time there the last couple of years. Five more days until we are out.

We dropped Dea's parents at the airport yesterday afternoon. It was really nice having them in town, we all had a great time. We laughed a lot...and, of course, Wanda cried when they left. Hopefully we will see them again, relatively soon, in Alaska.

Dea and I had dinner at Constance and Shane's last night. They live only a few blocks from our (new) temporary home, and we were able to ride our bikes- amazing how little things like that make me so happy. It had been a while since we had been at their house- they have done such a great job with renovations. Every corner is spotless, and meticulously detailed, and modern. Their backyard looks like a botanical garden! We were really impressed with the work Shane has done- he may be getting some calls from me if we buy a place in Fairbanks.



Constance made wonderful homemade pesto.

Good bye to the Olwins

We were lucky enough to catch Brad, Jen, Ty, and Katie before they left for Minnosota. We are moving into their house later today until we leave on the 1st. Great to sit on their deck one more time and drink wine and laugh. They are great freinds, and will be missed. Tye, if you are reading this- be good to your sister:)


Brad, me, and our good friend the pinot.



Dea, Tye, Katie, Jen & Brad.

Dea's parents are in town...

...and we spent the weekend doing the usual parent activities. We did a couple short hikes, drank a lot of wine, and even more coffee. It's been really good to see them one last time before we head North. It's always good to have them visit, but this weekend has been particularly pleasant, given that we are leaving soon.

We hiked up Sanitas Mountain in the morning...


Les and Wanda on Sanitas Mountain.


Dea and I.


The best bloody marys in Colorado- lunch at the Sundance in Ned.



All of us at Boulder Falls. I've never seen Boulder Creek with this much water- it was insane!


Les and Wanda.


Dea amongst the mist of the falls.

Storm at the farm

An insane strom ripped though Boulder a couple nights ago. Since we are staying out of town at Kathy and Greg's farm, we had stadium seats for the big show. It's incredible how upslope storms can pound such an isolated area in the front range. We had winds that blew over deck chairs, but avoinded the rain. Boulder, however, got drilled- as we watched from the deck of the house...dinner and wine in hand...


sasha hanging out minutes before the storm rolled through.


the storm starts brewing from the south with high winds.


the skies grew dark, as the rain pounded the distance. this photo was taken about an hour before sunset.

Traffic

Well, i did my last drive on HWY36 today. I was gettign weary of the traffic in, and around, Boulder as of late. I can't imagine we will encounter much traffic in Fairbanks...maybe getting behind a slow line of moose.


this kind of backup will not be missed!

going away party....

...at Pasta Jays. We closed on the sale of the condo yesterday morning (we're homeless now), celebrated Dea's Birthday, and had a going away dinner. So good to get the crew together in one place in Boulder. Liters of Chianti were flowing, and home made spaghetti all 'round. More goodbyes of course.

Dea and I drove by the old place on our way out to Kathy and Greg's, and Amy (Jeff and Amy were the couple that bought our old place) was out on the patio enjoying the cool night air and view of Indian Peeks. We kept driving...surreal.


half of the crew..


the other half.


justine and amy.


beth and jen...giving me the finger(s)??


james, what are you looking at..jeeeeen is over there.


kathy and janna


dea and megan


me and dea...alaska bound.

beth has more photos over at her blog

Dea's Bday

Went to Denver on Friday for Dea and Bergan's birthday. Bergan had a shindig at her dad's old place. Good food and Sangria- relaxed and good to be around good friends. Aaron was there with Heid- nice to finally meet her. Alot of talk about Alaska, skiing, cycling, and remembering old times. Saying goodbye wasn't easy, but so pleased that we could see them again before we left...


The Birthday Girls!


Bergan, Heidi, and Rebecka.


Aaron and Heidi.


Aaron and I... last time until he visits Alaska!

last visit to Fort Collins

Dea and I went to the Fort tonight to have dinner with Cory and Sharae, have some drinks, and go to the New Belgium Crit tomorrow to watch the boys. Had dinner at the Crown Pub, a guinness, and a scotch. I used to frequent the Pub quite often when I lived here- never let me down. It was nice to walk around downtown...


Dea and Sharae in Cory's new SUV (yep, it's big)



Cory and I on College Ave.


Cory and Sharae- coffee at Mug's after dinner.


Dea and I.

Good to be out of Boulder this weekend- spending time with the two 'parents to be'. Can't belive my little brother is going to be a dad!

skiing Mt. Evans: 14,255 feet

Hi, It's Dea. We skied our last colorado ski day. Mt Evans, a fourteener in the front range. It was a great ski, great snow. The road to the top was closed for snow and avalanches because of a big snow last night, up at that elevation. We drove to summit lake and hiked. We made it close to the summit, but the avalanche danger was too high so we started skiing lower. What a great ski day!


The summit of Mt Evans from the drive up.


The begining of the ascent (parking lot in the background).


Me on the way up...


...and ben.


Almost there.


Check out those turns!

All for now,

Dea

tark wins!

arrrrr! i'm gutted- i was supposed to go shoot the team in D-town today, but i got swamped with post on a wedding i shot on Friday, and missed it. wouldn't you know it- Tark won! i'm so disapointed. i've always really liked City Park too- good race, good crowds. really wanted to get a photo of Jon winning a race this year. maybe he can uncork another...

not a roadie anymore...

i sold my road bike a couple weeks ago. feels kind of weird- i haven't been without a road bike for probably 15 years, and i have been racing them for 12. this year i hung up my wheels, quit racing, and never really found the spark to get out there again. it just wasn't as much fun. the legs got soft, the gut got big, and i just wasn't able to find that rush anymore. quite frankly, i had lost the drive to find it again.

that was until last week. my good friend, Brad, set me up with a sweet mountain bike to take to Fairbanks! i had planned on taking a few bucks to pimp out the cyclo-cross bike to use as a utility bike up North, but Brad heard that and was having none of it. he had a sweet Gary Fischer Ziggurat in his garage that hadn't seen much use, so he essentially gave it to me. i like to look as it as 'borrowing' so i don't feel like such a schlep, but either way it is an excellent ride.

rode a trail tonight that is really close to home. out to Coot Lake, by Boulder Res, and up to the North Boulder Valley Trail. short descents/climbs, mud, wild flowers, and of course a higher concentration of ground hogs than anywhere on the planet (don't get me started about the ground hogs). anyway, great ride- and i'm loving being on the bike again.

i didn't take the camera tonight, but i did one day last week- a pic of this trail from a couple days ago...

one month until we head North..

... we sold the condo, and the closing date is june 20th. we have to stick around until atleast the 1st of july, so we can get one more month of insurance form Dea's job. July 2nd- we're on the road! i always intended to start this blog up agian once we were one month out, and i guess this is it. i'll post images and text of some of the fun things we do before we leave. so many things that i want to do one more time before we leave colorado. time isn't waiting for us, but we can't wait to hit the road. 3000+ miles of terrain i have never witnessed before- i feel like a little kid, so excited.

the packing is seeming a bit daunting. we are effectivly packing everything we own into a 5x8ft trailer and the Subaru. anything that we don't love- isn't going. it's all quite liberating actually. trimming your life down to the bare necessities- you realize pretty quick what is important. it's a good mantra i guess- if you don't love it, why own it? we do have a big industiral table that dea bought for me a few months ago that i wish we could take however. it's nothing special, just a big metal, retro, table that i use for framing, matt cutting, and studio table top. i do like the piece, but it's so heavy and bulky- not incredibly practicle. the rest of it- rubish in hindsight.

we will sit down next week and plot the course...finding camping sites, and wifi spots so i can dump journal entries to the blog, and of course every natural photo opportunity possible. i'll do my best to keep this site going strong. i have a habit, sometimes, of feeling like i have so much to say that i opt to say nothing. i'll try to get it all down, and of course many photos.

so for now.. dea, pella, and i went for a nice run around Twin Lakes tonight, and got rained on by a fantasticly beautiful spring storm. we have the condo appraisal tomorrow and inspection on monday. i'm shooting a wedding tomorrow up at the Stanley Hotel in Estes- should prove to be a good time. packing this weekend and plotting our course. our assult on alaska! we're coming ak, and it won't be pretty!

30 days until we are Alaska bound!