Turkey Day

This year, Josh and I stayed in Boulder for Thanksgiving. We were joined by friends from Boulder/Denver area (Keith, Melanie, Alison, Corey, Ryan) and those traveling from California (Jake, Louis, Jasmine).

The holiday festivities around here start the day before Thanksgiving with the celebration of Wild Turkey Wednesday. This is a pretty simple holiday that involves gobbling and taking shots of Wild Turkey.


Gobble, gobble, gobble

Wild Turkey Wednesday had a bit of the twist this year as it turned into an 80's Dance Party.


I am thankful for 80's music and dancing.


Cota does not enjoy dance parties.

We planned to run a 5k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. Somewhere amongst all of the Wild Turkey we decided to wear costumes to this race. I was very disappointed in the Boulder crowd as we appeared to be the only runners out 1044 that were cool enough to wear costumes.


Best dressed Turkey Trotters.

Thanksgiving dinner was amazing. Everyone pitched in and we had all of the Thanksgiving favorites and then some. Much more food than needed. Josh cooked his first turkey, deep-fry style, which turned out delicious.


There is still more food that needs to fit on the table.

At Jake's suggestion, we added a new element to the holiday overeating. We had a contest to see who could eat the most, based on pre and post dinner weight. While I did not gain the greatest absolute weight (Josh and Jake tied at 6 lbs), I did gain the greatest percentage of my body weight (4.2%), thereby winning the contest. My prize was 45 minutes of laying on the floor unable to move as a result of the sharp pains in my stomach. Turns out that chugging multiple pints of water as a final effort to gain weight was a very bad idea. However, my win is somewhat dampened by the fact that the Louis, the pre-dinner favorite who had the dangerous combination of light weight and ability to eat large quantities of food, decided to withdraw from the competition due to questionable scale accuracy.

I Found Ski Season!

Just as I was getting unbearably tired of waiting for ski season, I got a call from a buddy (Andy) who was feeling the same way. We decided to go up high into the mountains and try to force a turn or two, thinking there was a good chance we would simply end up going for a long hike with skis on our backs.

We started early on Saturday morning, heading for Jones Pass (near the more famous Berthoud Pass) just above the Henderson Mine. We drove until the 4-Runner got stuck in the snow and were happily surprised to be able to put our skis on and begin skinning right from the car. There's no denying that the snow was sparse and thin, but we both simultaneously spotted the best line as soon as it came into view as we skinned up the road.


Our run, from the high saddle down the gully that collects all the windblown snow

Not too much later, we arrived at the top of our chosen ski run.


Andy on the windy summit ridge

One and a half turns later, it was like I hadn't missed a day of skiing since last season. It was a tad windy, but the weather was otherwise beautiful. The snow conditions were variable while still somehow remaining fun and forgiving. Oh, how I love skiing!


My first tele turns since the 4th of July

Jakey Wakey

Jake arrived to Boulder the day before I returned from Saskatchewan. Since then, I've done an uncharacteristically poor job of updating this blog, which is entirely Jake's fault. It was non-stop fun until he and Keith left for Red Rocks and Las Vegas, so now I have a bit of time to try and remember what it was we did. I'll stick to the most memorable events that are also suitable for family audiences.

The weekend before last we went climbing in Eldorado Canyon State Park (Eldo) with Keith, Melanie, and Cota. Keith and I put up a few single pitch climbs and we all had about twice as much fun simply because Jake was there.

I took Wednesday off of work and the weather was beautiful. Jake and I climbed the 2nd and 3rd Flatirons in Boulder and it felt like about 80 degrees all day.


Jake at the first belay on the 3rd Flatiron


Me leading up the 3rd


Looking back at Jake on the first pitch of the 2nd Flatiron


Jake on his first trad lead (last pitch of the 2nd Flatiron)

Thursday night a bunch of us went out to see Old Crow Medicine Show at the Boulder Theater. This was my first bluegrass concert, and I found it to be a real hoot (short for hootenany). It really was a lot of fun, and the drinking didn't stop there.

Keith and Jake left on Friday for Vegas, and they both return with Louis and Jasmine on Wednesday in time for Wild Turkey Wednesday and Thanksgiving!

Trolls

A belated Halloween picture:


David Bowie (Jessica), Juno (Melanie), Troll doll (me), Flapper (Brooke)

Yes, that is my real hair ... plus a lot of hair gel, hairspray, and orange hairspray.

A weekend together

Last weekend, something very rare occurred. Josh and I decided to spend time together ... outdoors ... something that hasn't happened since June. The weather wasn't good for Josh to climb a mountain and I decided to take a break from the swim/bike/run craziness. Saturday, we headed to Boulder Canyon to rock climb. The weather was fantastic and we found a nice area with many climbs in our (or more accurately, my) ability level. The rest of the weekend was spent carving pumpkins, taking jello shots (while carving pumpkins), and assembling Halloween costumes. Obviously Josh disliked this time together, as he promptly ran off to Saskatchewan.


Josh trying to find our routes.


Josh climbing


Me rappelling


Pumpkin carving party. The result of pumpkins, knives, and 250 jello shots.


Josh's Cartman pumpkin is on the right. Unfortunately you can't see the chin definition in this picture.



My horrified pumpkin is on the left. Needless to say, neither Josh nor I won any awards for our carving abilities.