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Animal Sounds
Grant is approaching one and half.
He is developing fast.
Along with words and language, animal sounds are a fun part of a child's development.
There is a page on the internet that Dean and I enjoyed years ago... now Grant has been introduced to the same page.... HE IS HOOKED!!!
While Lisa and I were in Colorado the boys stayed with their grandparents in Pittsburgh. I gave a list of activities to help the grandparents entertain the boys... this web page of animal sounds was on that list. By the end of the trip Grant was leading his grandfather to the computer pointing and saying, " more.... an-i-mals."
Then he motioning to the chair in front of the computer and climbing on.
The site is very bare bones... but the boys really enjoy it

Animal Sounds

today is Dean's 4th birthday... we are starting the day slowly
lisa is at yoga
dean is watching the film Dinosaurs
grant is playing with an assortment of toys, when he is not turning off the television
and
I am sipping coffee, blogging, and hanging with the boys......
dogs have yet to be walked, but that will all happen soon enough

other good kids sites....
well.... new parents and parents to be need.... babycenter.com
there is noggin.com, pbskids.com.... the list goes on

rather than watching full movies... Dean often gets to watch movie trailers.... trailers at Apple.com and Movie List
I fear that the fast edits will cause ADD like symptoms... but what father does not want his sons to be like himself?

Walmart: I love Walmart
I know I am not supposed to like Walmart, but whenever I get a chance to stroll down those grand isles I really do enjoy myself. There is something wonderful about the price of an item being less than the MSRP. And I can always use some new underware and socks. There was a time in my life where I battled depression by purchasing tools from Walmart.

While on vacation in Colorado I went to two different Walmarts, one in Frisco and one outside of Denver. In Frisco I was able to get some umbrellas for Lisa and myself, the 3.86 sticker price made it easier to buy two umbrellas for one time use at the wedding. Then while in the Walmart outside of Denver I could not resist buying Dean some birthday presents.... a Spiderman shirt cool enough that I wish they had it in my size, a Superman shirt that glows in the dark (again I am jealous), and a Batman watch.... each item priced under seven bucks...
Dean loves his birthday gifts and the man at the Avis car return seemed appreciative for the umbrellas.

There is talk about a Target opening near the Columbia Heights Metro...
Some are against it.... I am for it.... a long as the structure is something more than that self storage style warehouse form.
The twenty bodegas on my main strip are great for Pinatas, but they are doing no one a service with their cut rate toys and products that somehow bypassed the CSPC.

Road Signs...
I have yet to get my Digital Camera to talk with my Computer since the OS Upgrade....
but I did manage to see a number of very sensible road signs relating to bicycles on the road.
Those signs got me thinking of some of the signs that exist in the states that seem to do nothing for the slow of car traffic.

Maybe this would be more appropriate in some areas



while this next one may aid in slowing traffic in other areas...


or maybe that sign would need to be more like this....


that may work for some male drivers....
but since there are varying tastes the signs could be electronic...
having a rotation for different drivers and maybe for different times of the days...
Some neighborhoods could have the images be more specific to the tastes of different cultures, perhaps showing ther perfered body styles of different cultures.

I always felt that Mount Pleasant Street could use a Mariachi Crossing sign at the corner of Mt Pleasant and 17th Street.

Dupont and Logan Circle may opt for something other than a woman to get the local traffic's attention.

Catching up on Colorado

(back in DC... so this is all faint in my mind)

STILL IN BOULDER

after a morning hike on the Foothills Trail with Rocco I went to meet up with my wife lisa and her college friend Chris

we met at a The Sink on The Hill... a small little resturant right smack in the middle of the Universtity of Colorado campus

Chris is pregnant with number two... waddling about in full penguin mode
we ate a flavorful lunch but I had to evacuate almost as soon as Chris' husband arrived
so much to see... so little time

in an effort to touch bases with a few more people I evacuated lunch before the check arrived

a convenient old trick, but with a joint bank account.... there is no victory

after a quick good bye I jumped in the rental car and headed off to Breckenridge

the drive from Boulder to Breck was a pleasant stroll down memory lane

ON TO SUMMIT COUNTY

I drove the scenic route through the canyon from Boulder to I-70 rather than down through Morrisson

no matter how many times a person may drive this route... I am certain it is always spectacular

perhaps not as dynamic as the first approach... but dynamic just the same

from I-70 I took Route 6 right before the Eisenhower Tunnel

figured I might as well go senic all the way

like the tourist I am I stopped at the top of Loveland Pass

no photo op this time

memories dashed through my hypoxic brain....

my first approach through this spot was on my motorcycle at 21years of age.... going cross county on an old KZ750

then my return where I took these out of bounds steep runs through the trees on a Burton Woody... an edgeless snowboard (a performance I would not care to repeat... a performance beyond single speeding... a performance pretty dam close to suicide)

then many trips over "the Pass" going to and from Denver or Boulder in the two years I spent snowboarding in Summit County

as well as the many snowboarding adventures riding the pass on a board outfitted with a metal edge after I learned the difference in the technology

no much snow remained on this day... patches of snow.... patches of earth

June is not the prime snowboarding season

then down the hill down past A-basin.... Keystone.... and onto Swan Mountain Road

again a million memories... some I would not mind forgetting

as I drove down the winding path of Swan Mountain Road I recalled getting run over by a car as I pushed my friend's jeep from a ditch

an injury I had long since forgotten as there are always more recent injuries occupying my brain

finally into Breck

the approach showed that things had changed

the wide open spaces were starting to fill in

it is only a matter of time when Breck and Frisco will be linked by Conoco Filling stations, City Market Grocery Stores, and cute little stores selling Christmas ornaments year round

once in Breckenridge I drove around this one horse town as I tried to make contact with my old friend Tim Faia

as it turns out he did not have his cell on his person which had me burning up what little time I had

eventually we made contact and I was able to swing by his house

it was great to get a peek into his world

his new home... his beautiful wife... his handsome young son... and his moderately neurotic dog... okay.. his neurotic dog... why candy coat it... Jackson does not read my BLOG.... he does not read any blog... he is a dog!

Tim and I took a short hike with his dog Jackson while his wife picked up their son from daycare

it was good to get out and talk with Tim in a face to face non-electronic way

we talked about life and bicycles all whle soaking in the various peaks that surround the town of Breckenridge

with a shortage of time we were back from our hike in no time and onto task two.... ordering Thai food
when picking up the Thai carryout I looked around and saw no Thai people
I asked Tim where the Thai people were... without hesitation Tim told me that they were in Thailand

we ate as fast as we walked as I could sense in my wife's voice that she wanted to hang out with me in in Boulder

it was hard to leave as I had not had enough to eat this tastee Thai food and Tim's son Beck was just warming up to me

oh well.... the next visit will have to be a less of a drive by

BACK TO BOULDER

taking the non-scenic route I was back in Boulder in a snap of the finger and a push of the pedal
Lisa and I chilled in our luxurious 5 Star hotel... the spanking new St Julien

Lisa sipped a bottle of Sierra Nevada while I slammed Sambuca on ice

our plans to go out on the town were cut short by exhaustion and anticipation for a full day to come
in hind sight we should have used the hot tub

upon waking up we were greeted by black skies and cold rain

Lisa went for a Spa treatment while I lounged in bed

shortly after going through the channels several times I was out on the sidewalk dodging ice cold rain drops seeking out some morning coffee

back to the room with coffee in hand I started to pack my bags

lisa and I set our course for a hole in the clouds for a hike

we could not find that hole in the clouds so we went to brunch instead

in an effort to kill time waiting for the clouds to clear we did some shopping... well... shopping was a neccesity as lisa did not have proper gear for the mountains

with a destination of Leadville CO.... we needed winter gear even in the calendar marked summer for the rest of the states
luckily for us..... Boulder is a outdoor retail store mecca
the North Face store had most of what we needed and some of what we did not need but bought just the same

THROUGH SUMMIT COUNTY ONTO LAKE COUNTY, LEADVILLE CO

with no sign of a break in the weather lisa offered to foresake her afternoon Yoga class for a drive to the mountains

both of us hoping for a different weather system on the other side of "the Pass"

we drove the fast way rather than the scenic way in an effort to give us more time for hiking....

sure enough

as we climbed in elevation the weather did change

the rain changed to snow

through the Eisenhower Tunnel.... there was more snow and more clouds in the distance

we continued onto Leadville

once in Leadville we questioned what to do....

we went from junky antique store to junky antique store...

until it was finally time to get changed and meet up with the wedding party

it was great to see Scott

it was great to meet his wife to be

there were all sorts of old friends gathered for the event

Scott had planned an unconventional wedding with a very casual theme

it was a pleasure for all...

dinner moved into drinks.... drinks went from the resturant to a locla cowboy bar.... lisa and I went back to our hotel to get some rest

lisa and I woke thinking we could just ask any Leadville local about a good place to hike

everyone either pointed us to the same brochure or the yet to open visitor's center

so we went and got coffee as we waited for the visitor's center to open

we sipped our coffee and compared various hikes... but wanted a human opinion

once it was 9am we rushed over to the visitors center for advice

as it turns out they had no opinion.... just the information on the borchures

well.... that and the incorrect advice that we mistakenly took

the hike that sounded most attractive was the hike up to Mt Elbert

this would be an easy hike to the highest point in Colorado

having been to the highest point of Arizona it seemed like we could knock up our second highest point on a list we have not really started

the kind little hippy behind the desk assured us that it was a 3-5 hour round trip...

being fit we figured we could knock it out in closer to 3 hours

we drove to the trailhead

upon arrival we encountered a few people from our wedding party

Stan gave us an estimate based off elevation.... we assured him otherwise

then a hiker from Vail told us of the 5 hour round trip.. granting us a 4 hour if we kept our pace and did little resting

we revised our trip

we would hike up for an hour and half then scramble down

thus giving room for showers and drive to the wedding

THE WEDDING

Scott and Iris went unconventional

no church... no steeple... no building to speak of

there they were out in the open... in front of friends, family, and the open sky of colorado

we drove to the base of the hill then got an exciting ride to the top in an old friend's 4X4

a justice of the peace lead the short ceremony... then they were married

everyone gathered for a BBQ on a lower section of land that looked out over the Colorado Rockies and black clouds in the distance

cold weather rolled in... then rolled out

music played as people mixed and mingled... and ate... everyone ate heartily

then another set of dark clouds rolled in

since it was getting late... cake had been eaten and people had all been mixing and mingling

everyone decided to make a mad dash down the hill to their cars...

it was a good choice... the cold rain started and continued for longer than most people would have been comfortable waiting out

that night the folks in the wedding party gathered for dinner and drinks in small packs

only to regroup at Scott and Iris' small Leadville weekend home

where a bonfire was set for more drinking and socialzing

it was a low key affair

comfortable for all... well.. comfortable for all who enjoy the outdoors

Scott was a handsome groom and Iris was a beautiful bride

rather than posing on top of a wedding cake they stood on top of the world right in the middle of the snow capped peaks of the Rockies

FINAL HOURS

the next day had an early rise

lisa had an early morning flight to Pittsburgh... while I had an afternoon flight to DC

I dropped lisa off at the airport then went off to Boulder for some breakfast, a hung over hike, and some shopping

the weather was good on my last day... but not as but not as stellar as the days before the rain
I did some hiking at Gregory's canyon... but did not manage the loop as I was not familiar with the trial names and could not figure out the map with my hung over sleep dedrived brain

it was good to get home an sleep in my own bed
although my body was not ready for the heat and humidity
with all my complaints.... there is something to be said about the cold mountain climate