snowshoeing at monarch pass

our second day in crested butte we decided to drive to Monarch ski area in search of better snow. Thor and I entertained ourselves in the car taking silly pictures - as you can see!

I dropped Thor, Daphne and Sheri off at the ski area (where they found better snow than crested butte!) and then I headed back up the road to do a snowshoe up to Monarch Pass on the continental divide. fortunately for me the route is on an established cat trail so I was able to snowshoe up without breaking trail (prob too much pressure and twisting on my knee at this point).

I reached the pass and the wind was howling! I had brought three of the five! dogs we were traveling with up with me - and Lance (Daphne's papillon who is all of 5lbs) got so cold! so he got to spend the rest of the snowshoe nestled in my coat.

all in all a super fun day in the snow and sun!

crested butte pictures

and here are the pictures!

Crested Butte

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> we've been in crested butte for the past couple of days and the weather has been lovely! more pictures soon!
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merry christmas colorado

we spent Christmas eve and half of Christmas day hanging out in Mancos, going for walks, and in general enjoying the glorious, sunny weather.

mid-afternoon Christmas day we rolled northward to visit Ralph in Ouray. it was a beautiful drive and we arrived in the early evening and had a great dinner of salmon and broccoli before settling in for the tail end of the Lakers vs. Bulls Christmas day game, and then some James Bond. all in all a great day.

Christmas in Colorado Day 1: The Tingeys Acquire Extra Travelling Companions

Thor and I rose bright and early yesterday (3:15 a.m.) to roll out to the PDX airport (thanks for the ride Mom!) to catch our flight to Denver. The plan was to arrive in Denver, pick up our rental car, and hit the road for the ~8-hour drive to Mancos.

Everything proceeded according to plan. our flights were on time, we made our connections, all our luggage showed up. it was lining up to be pretty uneventful trip until we were finalizing our rental car in Denver and the man behind us in line leaned forward and said "I'm sorry - did you guys say you're headed to Durango? if I pay the difference to upgrade you to a larger vehicle will you give my family a ride to Pagosa Springs?" Through some credit union/debit card snafoo Jimmie had found himself unable to actually rent the car he'd reserved ahead of time - and had no way to get down to their family in Pagosa (approx a 6.5 hour drive). They had left the East Coast the night before and were all clearly tired. Thor and I surveyed the pile of car seats, diaper bags and baby dolls, decided there was no way they could be serial killers traveling with small children, and said 'sure!'

20 minutes later Thor and I plus Jimmie, his wife Rachel, Ella (4), and Aubrey (<1) were packed into a full size truck with the luggage and skis piled high in the back. our Xmas road trip adventure had begun!

Despite the tight quarters we had a really enjoyable ride down with them. Jimmie is a post-doc in chemistry at Yale, and Rachel is a RN with a focus in breast feeding education. We occupied ourselves with a lot of chatting, singing (I think Ella and I sang Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus about 8 times) and iPhone distracting. (Ella and I spent a LOT of time 'customizing' photos with my app Camera+ (i'd let Ella pick the wash, border and caption. see a small sampling of pics below)).

Overall it was a fun trip - the girls were super sports with only one or two mini melt-downs - and we rolled into Pagosa around 7pm with a stiff, tired group - but still in relatively good spirits. Rachel's dad met us at a gas station where we swapped everything out of the truck, we said our quick goodbyes, and then Thor and I hit the road for the final couple hours to Mancos. We rolled in just in time to catch the last hour or so of Sheri's Xmas party with everyone from Alpackaraft - it was a great way to end a long day of travel!

The Most Beautiful Christmas Cookies. EVER!

check out these cookies our friend Katherine made us! Thor will be lucky of there are any left by the time I get home with them!

Nutcracker 2011

we went to the nutcracker this evening for the first time in years and had a great time. our friend, Sue, happens to be the photographer for the show this year so we got our picture taken with a couple of the dancers - doesn't Thor look excited to be next to the sugar plum fairy?

Sunrise From My Office

 

 

I am very (very!) rarely at work early enough to see the sunrise, but every time I catch it I swear I will start coming in early every day because it is such an amazing view!

 

 

First Outdoor Bikeride!!!

It was a little chilly (~25!), but I was not about to be deterred from getting out on my bike after being given the green light to start easing back into it!

I limited myself to about an hour, and it felt so good to be back out riding. Laea kept me company (Thor and Adele were riding fast elsewhere) - and we were the only ones out on the trail.

Bye bye brace!

Leaving my little buddy behind (hopefully for good)! Got the all clear to go brace less and start riding again!

Thor makes a mean biscuit crust! Thanks to mom for the tomato/corn/cheddar pie recipe. Yum!

A Winter Walk

While everyone else rode bikes yesterday I minded the pups and took them for a walk up at Sandy Ridge. I was pooped! Turns out walking uphill is hard work! The air was crisp and cool, and by mid-morning the fog had burned off and it was lovely. The pups and I had a good time, but I can't wait to get back on my bike!!!

November Review

1. William wins a prize
2. The new guest bedroom (come visit!)
3. Williams birthday
4. The fam comes for Thanksgiving!
5. First outside agility work with the 'ol knee!























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