Saturday, December 18, 2010

Glad to be home!

Got my lazy butt up this morning and headed out for a little walk. It was cold and very foggy and I think the tempature was about 25 when I left. Visibility at best was maybe 100 to 150 yards. I made my way down the road and caught the Bear Creek trail. The first thing I came across was a couple of Deer who were having breakfast.
I continued up the trail until I got to Gold Camp Road. I crossed and started working my way up the mountain. Once I started climbing I heated up pretty quickly. With each step the fog was diminishing. Once to the top I stopped and took a couple pictures looking back on downtown Colorado Springs. With low level clouds the city couldn’t be seen.

Above the low level clouds there was only this one cloud in the sky. At the elevation I was at, the sun was shining bright, so bright that I actually got a sunburn on my face from the sun and the reflection coming up off the snow.

I checked on an old fort to see how it was holding up. Looks like we may have to make a few repairs this spring so we can camp out in it next summer. One thing that is nice about hiking in the snow is that you get to see all the animal tracks. I came across Rabbit, Fox and even Bird tracks today.

Worked my way down the hill and came out on High Drive and back over to the Bear Creek trail system. I did manage to get 7.35/miles in today and have plans to get back out again tomorrow. Note to Self: take sun glasses.

Happy Hiking!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

XTIVIA Holiday Party

On Friday we had a little Holiday party for the Xtivia employees and families who work out of the Colorado Springs office.  I think everyone had a great time and some great gifts were passed out.  The following is some of the pictures that I took.

http://picasaweb.google.com/drobincorvette/20101204#

Happy Holidays

Thursday, December 2, 2010

If four out of five people suffer from diarrhea, does that mean that the fifth one enjoys it?

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

SWANY

This week a couple of people asked me about the mittens I was wearing. When it is really cold out I wear my SWANY Toaster Legend II’s (http://www.swanyamerica.com/prod.php?p=SWATS-20&k=134469) .

What I have found with most gloves is that when your hands start sweating and you take off your gloves they can be very difficult to put back on!

With these you have the warmth of a mitten and the flexibility of a glove and you don’t’ have to remove them. You can simply unzip the side and slip your hand out. This comes in very handy when you come across a photo opportunity or need to get into your backpack to dig something out. They have a water repellent shell and side pouch access so that you can insert a heat pack.

For me and my usage these are great!

Happy Hiking!

Mable!

(De) Motivational Poster

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Here we go again!

The last four months I have really slacked off on my walking and keeping track of my mileage. Well I got home on the 19th of November and on the 20th I started walking again and keeping a count of my miles and diet. In the last 10 days I have managed to get 35.84/miles in which averages out to 3.5/daily for the 10 days.

Well we start a new month tomorrow and a clean slate. I plan on walking as much as I possibly can and will report the progress here on the blog. So let’s see we have 31 days in the month of December and if we can get 3.5/miles in a day we should be able to get 108.5 miles for the month.
Wish me luck folks, as it looks like it is going to be a cold month. I know the last couple days have been. But with my gear it has not been bad at all and I have stayed warm.

Tonight I was walking home in the dark, which was actually fun. With the Ipod going you pick up noises from the wind blowing, etc and you get a little chill, looking back saying to yourself what was that!

Happy Hiking

Monday, November 29, 2010

Walking to work

This morning I headed out in the ice and snow to walk to work. It wasn’t bad at all, I think we got maybe three inches. What was bad, it was cold out this morning and on the way home. The wind was whipping through.
On my way in I snagged the picture of a Hawk sitting in the tree, most likely looking for prey.


I took this picture on the way home, sad to say it didn’t come out like I had hoped. The sun was setting on the backside and the color just didn’t show up.


All in all I did get 5.7/miles in today.

Happy Hiking

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Errands

Yesterday morning I got dressed to head out for a walk. Then I remembered I needed to pick up a few things at the store so decided I would walk. I emptied out my backpack and threw it on and headed out the door. The direct route would make it a 4/mile round trip. But I wanted to get a little extra in to recover from the Thanksgiving indulgence. So I ended up making it a 6.93/Mile outing.
After I got what I needed from the store I loaded it into my backpack and started heading back. Below is the route that I took.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Another Day

So the meatballs were just OK.  They could have been a little more spicey for my taste.  I just finished up 3.6/miles on the treadmill.   Hadn't done the treadmill in a while.  Set it at an 8% incline and did an hour.   Now ready for a shower and then to have some fun this afternoon.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Who wants Chinese takeout? I know a great place.

I Hope to head out early and get a quick 3 or 5/Miles in. Need to be back by noon as I have made reservations for his and her messages at the Broadmoor Hotel. Looking forward to taking advantage of the amenities! Love you babe!


Party on Candy!
Party on Dennis!

Through the Park

I got a late start this morning and for a little while there I though Candy was going to be called off work. She got a call at 5am and said they would call back in 4 hours if they needed her and then called back about an hour later and she had to go in. After that I just went back to sleep until about 8:30 or so.


I did my weekly sales call and then headed out the door. I did a short trip today as I just wasn’t into it. Not sure why though? Anyway ended up with 3.3/Miles and just did a quick walk through Bear Creek Park. Had the camera with me and didn’t really come across any good pictures until I was back on my street headed home. I did catch a nice little red finch and came across about 8 deer. This is the best picture that came out of the deer from all the ones I took.

I am working on refinishing a pie safe and went and picked up some of the pieces and brought them home and started sanding. A couple of weeks ago I was able to take it all apart and luckily didn’t break any of the pieces so as long as I can remember how it goes back together I should have a very nice piece once it is all sanded, stained and back together. It’s going to take a while! I will be sure to add some pictures at some point.

So tonight for dinner I am trying out a new recipe. Not sure how this one will go.


1 14-Ounce can Ocean Spray Jellied or Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
1 12-Ounce bottle Heinz Chili Sauce
1 2-Pound bag of frozen pre-cooked meatballs

Combine the sauces in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat until smooth and then add the meatballs. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until meatballs are heated through.

I plan on cooking rice to go with this, so we will see.

Happy Hiking

Monday, November 22, 2010

When do you really get a Vacation?

I started my vacation today, but when is a vacation really a vacation. I think part of the problem is that I am so anal that I am afraid I am going to miss something. So I am always checking email to keep current on what is going on. It is liked being a smoker or hooked on drugs. With technology I can keep current and be found just about anywhere I go. Even though I am off I have a sales call tomorrow and plan on doing it from the Mountain with my phone and IPad. I don’t know why I worry as I work with a team of very talented people who all know what to do.

So my first day off was very busy and I hope to keep just as busy the rest of the week. This morning Candy and I drove up to Section 16 and did the Palmer Loop Trail. This is a great trail as the scenery is beautiful and after you get up the first 1.8/miles the remainder of this 5.8/mile hike is downhill. This is also part of the Ring the Peak Trail. The initial incline goes from 6,630ft to 7,725ft a nice 1,086ft climb in 1.8/miles.

We made pretty good time and actually passed two groups on our way up. I packed chicken that I had cooked last night for dinner as well as two turkey sandwiches. We didn’t get to the food until we got back to the truck. We opted for the sandwiches as the chicken would have been a little messy, but I did have napkins with us.

Then we headed to the office where I had to drop off a few items and then headed home. Once home we hopped in the hot tub and relaxed for a bit. Then I threw a roast in the oven. I am cooking it in Cream of Mushroom soup, Wine, Tomato Paste and Garlic. It should be ready soon so I will let you know how it came out.  (AWESOME!) cook at 350 for about 4 to 5 hours depending on size!

We made our list for the Thanksgiving dinner and headed out to the store. I am glad that we went today as the store wasn’t too packed. Hey and lucky enough we found everything we were looking for. Made it home and got everything put away and then started a fire in the fire place. Ready to just kick-back for a while and then lay out my clothes for tomorrows outing.

GPS Log tracking from today's Hike

Happy Hiking

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Treasure Hunt

We talked a big game last night about leaving early so we could be on the trail before Sunrise. I think we left the house at 10am, later than we had intended, ha-ha.

Today we went on a treasure hunt. Last weekend I found a pair of earrings that Candy had gotten when we were at the State Fair earlier this year. She hadn’t worn them yet. So when I headed out for my hike last Saturday I took them with me. When I reached the top of the Mountain I buried them and marked the location with my GPS.

I say Mountain but not sure exactly what its name is. The loop that I take is 6.9/miles. Leaving the house I make my way over to the Bear Creek trail head off of Orion, then up to Gold Camp Road (GCR). Cross over GCR and make your way up a gully to the top. The elevation gain from leaving the house to the top is 1,298 feet and it is 2.5 miles to the top. Then work your way down the trail and through twilight canyon, down to High drive then re-catch the Bear Creek trail and back to the house.

The real purpose of the trip today was to show Candy how to use the GPS. She did a great job and was able to navigate us to the location of the hidden earrings. I didn’t have my camera with me today but will be sure to take it with me tomorrow. Not sure where I am heading.

This is an image of the route that we took today.

This is an image of the route that I took when I went up to hide the treasure.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Satire

So I have determined that the Beer and M and M diet that I found on the web just doesn't work for me. Based on the outstanding results that they had posted I thought for sure this was the way to go. But there you go; you can’t always believe what you read on the web. Now if I had seen it on TV you know it would have had to been true.

I thought this was a great way to go because I like both of these things. I mean you can’t go wrong with beer and when you throw M and M’s into the mix, OMG.

One issue was the mess that it made. I mean it is not easy to get peanut M&M’s into the beer bottle. When you do, then the beer foams up and comes flowing over the top and onto the counter and floor. Which with the first couple isn’t too bad, but when you are on your third or fourth you kind like screw it I will clean it up tomorrow. Beer and chocolate are a little difficult to clean once they dry up. What I found to be the best method was to take a couple of swigs of beer from the bottle and then try to get the M&M’s in. I got so serious about that I even had a funnel I used to try to get them in. The draw back with this method is you need a rather large funnel. Otherwise the M&M’s just get stuck.

I did try beer in a glass and then add the M and M’s but it’s not a pretty picture when you can actually see what you are drinking. It’s like this kaleidoscope of colors swirling around and when the chocolate begins melting your left with the low quality peanuts that you realize they use.

I won’t get into the other issues as it relates to regurgitation and bowl movements. I mean that is something you need to find out for yourself. My only suggestion is that if you try this diet that you do your own laundry.

I was reading about a blended broccoli and Kit Kat diet. I will keep you posted on how that goes.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Headed to Vegas

We managed to get 5 miles in this morning. Currently I am sitting in the Colorado Springs airport getting ready to head to Vegas. I get in around 11pm local time. We are starting to board so will have to update this later.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Time

Where does the time go? I can’t believe that it is already Wednesday and I am half through my vacation. Yesterday we got Eric to get his stuff moved out and into the rental house. Then the guys showed up to fill and seal the driveway. It looks so much better and should hold up over the winter.


This morning we got up and went out to breakfast and then headed down to Canyon City. We played 9/holes at the Frisbee golf course. The course is pretty decent and is by the college.

We then headed over to the train station and got tickets to ride the Royal Gorge train through the canyon. Oh man they had some awesome food and the scenery was most excellent.

We made it back to the Springs at around 4pm. It was a great day and I know I had a blast.

I need to call the tree trimmer and get him scheduled and take the truck in tomorrow to have one of the door locks fixed. I think we are headed out to do some more hiking tomorrow.

Happy Hiking!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Vacation and so much to do!

We finally closed on a house that we were looking at. We spent most of last weekend painting the basement and have several more rooms to go. I hope to get one more done this week before I head out of town.


I cleaned out the boys stuff out of the work-out room so I have it back finally. His stuff is in the garage and hopefully will be out of here tomorrow. Then I can begin focusing on our basement and get some more stuff move out of here.

This morning Candy and I took Clark to school and then hiked up Helen Hunt Falls. Came home and cleaned and then went out to run a few errands. I plan on taking Clark in the morning and then trying to get some miles in. Will most likely drive up to GCR and then see where I end up. I figure if I am out hiking I don’t have to help the kid move. I mean I already move it all down to the garage so he should be able to handle it from there. Know what I mean Vern!

With the work-out room clean I have been on the treadmill and doing some lifting. I called a paving guy today as we need to have our asphalt driveway sealed and hope to have that done on Wednesday and now I am looking for a tree guy as I need to have some trees trimmed and removed.

Man, I am on vacation but it seems like I am working my butt off!

Happy Hiking!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Playing Catch Up

I have so much to catch up on that I am not sure where to start. Last weekend I did an Urban Hike as I call it. Did 7.5/miles through the CSprings. Had the opportunity to meet some of our finest homeless folks. I am not normally the type to give them money but I did come across one old man down behind the Wal-Mart on 8th street. He didn’t ask but I game him a twenty. From the looks of him he wasn’t long for this world. I figured this would get him a meal or enough booze to finish off the job.


On Labor Day I was traveling, headed out to Long Beach for a conference. Conferences are good and bad. Good that you can drum up some new business but bad as they just ware me out. I got back about mid-day on Friday. So for the rest of Friday and most of Saturday I was just playing catch up on email and other work items that I had put off all week.

I did manage to sneak over to Disney Land for a couple of hours on Tuesday morning. Didn’t buy any buttons this trip as it was a rush. I did pick up a nice coin set celebrating the 70th anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Today was great though. Candy and I did Williams Canyon. This a great little hike once you get past the NO TRESPASSING sign. I think it is just there in case you get hurt then the owners probably don’t have any liability.  We hiked up to the bowls and then back down. Not as far as I wanted to go but what you going to do.

Happy Hiking


Williams Canyon
Williams Canyon

Williams Canyon

Friday, August 27, 2010

Moonlight Hike

Well I made it out on Tuesday night and headed up to section 16. I started at 8:30pm and finished up around 10:30pm. With the full moon the trail was well lit in most places. I did have to turn on my headlamp in a couple of places.

To answer the question, yes it was a little spooky at first. But once I was moving it wasn’t too bad. I did snap a few pic’s but none of them really came out that well.

Candy bailed on me at the last minute. Don’t blame her though. I had the same thought myself for a little while.

Next time I think I will start later when the moon is a little higher in the sky.

Happy Hiking

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Steppin it up!

It's always something isn't it? I had planned on doing the long way to work this morning and remembered I had to take my truck in to have the door lock and other cheap plastic door handles looked at. So I only managed to 3.5/miles in yesterday. The walk back to the Chevy Dealership was a trick. That was the time when the rain broke loose. Being an active walker/hiker I did have my rain poncho with me.


We will see if it clears up as we are scheduled to do Section 16 this evening starting at 8:30pm. We should have a full moon and it should be a blast although maybe a little muddy.

Happy Hiking

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Long Way

I managed to get 6.5 miles in yesterday.  Starting on Monday I will be tracking my daily mileage again and posting.   Also I think the 24th is a full moon and think I need to plan a hike that evening.   Will see if I can get anyone interested.

Happy Hiking

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Seven Bridges Loop

Mario Mushroom
Today I had two additional hikers with me. Both Candy and Clark committed to going the night before and agreed to be ready to leave the house at 7AM. I think we pulled out of the driveway at 7:50AM.

We drove up to the GCR trail headed and headed down the road to catch trail 622. This time we just kept going. This was the furthest that Candy or Clark had gone on this trail before. We worked our way up and then down trail 667 and up around upper Captain Jacks and then back down to the parking lot.

All in all I would guess we had about 7/miles in today. Everyone did great but I am sure they will both sleep great tonight!

Happy Hiking

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Mt. Elbert / Mt. Massive Camping Trip - Day 2

August 3rd, 2010

Well for Tuesday I got up early and headed to Emerald Lake to do a little fishing. I took Mable with me and she just sat and whined. So I took her back and put her in the truck. I will tell you I threw everything I had in my arsenal and didn’t catch a damn thing. Several times I could even see the fish following the lure up to the bank and then turning away.

Even without catching a fish, the morning wasn’t a total loss as I had one of the best laughs I have had in a while. Let me see if I can put it in paper as funny as it was to me.

While sitting on the backside of the lake, I could hear voices of others making their way up from the parking lot. From what I could tell from across the lake it was 5 teenage boys. They were loud and yelling to each other as they all picked a spot to fish. So after listing to them ramble back and forth for a while, all of a sudden one of the boys on the end jumps up, yelling and screaming BEAR, BEAR!

I looked over and all I could see what a big fat round all black Labrador dog. The two kids sitting closest to the boy who thought he had seen a bear were also running half-way down the lake shore. I laughed so hard I was rolling. So was the owner of the dog who starting calling the dog to come back.

Oh, man the four boys really started ripping the kid that shouted bear. The entire episode was hilarious!

It was now about 11am and I decided it was time for me to move on. To go back I had to swing past the kids. As I came across the first one I noticed he had KU shirt on, another had on a Goddard High School shirt. One asked me if I had any luck and I replied no it’s not like Bass fishing in KS. They all perked up and told me they were from Goddard KS. Goddard is very close to Wichita where I lived for a while and often visit family there. I finished with telling them to watch out for those pesky bears! We all laughed.

Being almost lunch time I decided to drive over to Leadville and get some lunch. Also I wanted to get cell phone reception so I could see the morning’s emails. Not that I was going to do anything with the email but just felt like I needed to stay in the loop.

I parked on Main Street and decided to walk the street and get some coffee, lunch and check out a few of the shops. I had some luck as I found a Colorado 1931 license plate in excellent shape. Once I get the Model A on the road I will have this plate registered.

I was back at the campsite around 3:30pm. I went ahead and built a fire and then decided to try my luck fishing in the stream. Again no luck! Maybe it was from all the rain that we had the day before? Last year in September I managed to catch several fish.

The menu for the night was baked potato and steak. Everything turned out perfect and was one of the best meals I had had in a while. Plus I was really hungry and they may have helped everything taste as good as it did.

Luckily no rain this evening and I just kicked back by the fire with the whining dog sitting on my lap. Bed time was about 10pm as I planned on hiking on Mt. Massive the next day.

Section 16 and Intemann Trail

We got a bit of a late start this morning at least late for me. We headed up section 16 and then down the Intemann trail and catching the waterfall spur. No water coming down the fall today but the rock wall was wet.


We had some great views of Red Rock Canyon and over to Garden of the Gods. I didn’t have anything with me today, no camera, water, etc. We did just over three miles. I planned on walking to work tomorrow but will now have to walk from the Chevy Dealership to the office. I have a warning light telling me something needs to be looked at.

Still working on the stories from the camping trip and hope to have day 2 done soon.

Later

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Mt. Elbert / Mt. Massive Camping Trip – Day 1

August 2nd 2010


The following day after returning from Cripple Creek I packed up my truck with all the essentials you need when camping. I had way too much camping gear and didn’t use half of it. I keep the camping gear for the family in plastic boxes in the garage. It was just easier to load the boxes so I was to make sure I had everything I needed. Didn’t need four rain ponchos but I needed one, stuff like that.

I hit the road about 10:15AM and was in the campsite I had chosen by 1:00PM, so I made pretty good time. I had to stop at the Coyote Cantina in Buena Vista to get a burrito. They have some decent Mexican Food and worth the stop. I can’t think of a time that I hadn’t stopped in, if I was coming or going that way.

I camped in the Half Moon Campground and had spot #1. It was a decent spot and was kind of surprised that no one had claimed it. It was a Monday though. The only thing that was a bummer was that I had to carry my stuff down a hill about a 100ft. I thought of it as a decent way to work out.

By 3:00PM on Monday I had camp setup and was ready to start enjoying the peace and quite and being unplugged for a while. Well the peace and quite didn’t last long!

I made one big mistake and I won’t make it again. I took our littlest dog Mable with me. She has done great on the trails around here and is overall usually a great dog. But OMG, all she did was whine and whine. She would stop at night when we were in the tent and for the most part of the trip she spent her time in the truck. I put a pillow and towel down for her and she would finally stop and sleep. I’d be sitting on the bank of the lake and she would just sit there and whine. Just sitting around camp she just whined. Very annoying! She did stop when we were on the trail hiking so that was a relief.

After camp was all setup and the wood stacked, I drove down the road to check everything out. Even for a Monday, I was surprised at the number of campers and hikers. It was actually pretty active all four days I was there. Both the Elbert and Massive trail head parking lots were full and you had to use the overflow area. It started to sprinkle so I decided to head back to camp and get the fire going. By the time I was back the light sprinkle and turned heavier. So I grabbed one of the four rain poncho’s and put it on. With a little work in the rain, I got the fire going. The rain letup to a sprinkle again which was nice.

The meal for the evening was bratwurst. I cooked four of them, ate three and gave one to Mable. That shut her up for about 60 seconds. After just kicking back by the fire in the rain and having a few cold ones I headed into the tent around 8:45PM. Didn’t take long to crash, but the old ears were pierced for any strange sounds. I didn’t have to worry about that to long as it started raining harder and I think it finally quite about 2 or 3 in the morning.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Happy Anniversary

Well not sure where to start as I have so much to catch up on. I guess let’s start with our wedding anniversary. On August 1st 2010 we celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary and had a blast!

Our fun began on Saturday July 31st. We loaded up in the truck and headed up Old Stage to GCR and to the St. Peters Dome area. We had done this same hike the year before and thought we should do it again. I had cheese & crackers in the backpack and we even had a bottle of Champaign but decided to leave it behind as we didn’t want to stumble down the side or slip on the rope. This isn’t a long hike but does have some challenging areas.

On our way up the trail in the distance we could hear sound of fire trucks and police. As we climbed we could tell the sirens were getting closer. Once we had reach the top of the dome is when the Flight for Life helicopter came into view and flew around the mountain and soon after followed by another. Hearing the sirens and then seeing the helicopters you know that cant’ be good!

It was a great morning to be out, a little overcast and cool. Once at the top we found a flat rock, had a seat and a little snack while we enjoyed the views and talked about what we had accomplished over these 23 years. We have worked hard and been very blessed and together we have accomplished quite a bit. I know I couldn’t have done it alone. Love you baby and looking forward to many more.

I guess we had been at the top for about 30 minutes when here came the Flight for Life helicopters flying back around the mountain and headed to the Springs. We then heard voices of others coming up the trail. From above we could see that it was a group of two. We started our decent back down and headed to the truck.

We headed down GCR on our way to Cripple Creek. About 4 miles into the drive we found what the helicopters and sirens were all about? Someone had rolled their truck. From what it looked like they came around a corner to fast and fished tailed, then drove into the mountain, up and over they went. (Take it easy folks!)

We got into Cripple Creek just at noon and headed to our Hotel. Oh MAN! We had made reservations at the Carr Manor and wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It is an old High School built in 1897 that has been converted into a B&B. This place was awesome! It has 13 rooms and each one of them is decorated very uniquely and has its own name. We splurged and reserved the Governor Ralph Carr Suite. From what I read, one time Colorado Gov. Ralph Carr went to this school, hence where the name came from.

Our room was so spacious and the furnishings were all very cool. Yes, the fact that it had a hot tub in the room was pretty sweet. We unloaded our bag and then they took us for a tour of the rest of the hotel. We were able to see every room but one. They have done a very nice job with this place and if you are looking to spend an evening in Cripple Creek this is where I would stay. Candy and I are already talking about going back up and spending the night in the room name the principles office. You can visit the Carr Manor website here: http://www.carrmanor.com/

After the tour we ran out for a light lunch and then headed back to the hotel. We had massages scheduled for 2:30 and 3:30. I don’t know why I don’t get massages more often. This is my second time and afterwards both Candy and I were just so relaxed. We kicked back and then headed out for dinner and then we followed that up with seeing a melodrama of “Gunslinger, The Legend of Billy the Kid”. We had a blast booing and hissing the bad guy while cheering on the good guy. Not sure if you have ever been to a melodrama but the more the crowd gets into it the more fun you will have.

We strolled down the street of Cripple Creek and then made our way into one of the casinos. We sat a three card poker table and each made about 100 bucks. We pocketed our money and made a run for it back to the hotel.

We were down in the kitchen by 8am where they had, fruit, cinnamon rolls, egg and sausage quiche ready for all the guests. The breakfast was great and you had a chance to speak to other guests as everyone sat around a big table, different but fun.

Once we checked out we drove over to Victor, CO. to see what little finds might be had. We stopped into two antique shops. The first one we got an old miners lunch box made of tin. We also found an old carbide lamp still in the box. In the other shop we picked up an old DuPont Blasting box. All nice little finds that will go with our already growing antique mining collection.

From their, we made our way home. All in all this was one of the best weekends I have had in a while and you couldn’t have asked for any better company to spend it with. We need not wait a full year before we do another little weekend trip like this one.


Monday, July 12, 2010

Home

I am so glad to be home! I didn’t do any hiking while I was out, hard to really hike in KS.  Going to have to hit it hard if I want to get a 100 miles this month. Looks like I will be taking the long way back and forth to work and am going to have to crank up the weekend distance miles. Will keep you posted.

Happy Hiking

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Leishmaniasis

So tonight I am spinning through the channels and come across a show on Animal Planet called Monsters inside me http://animal.discovery.com/tv/monsters-inside-me/  OMG, oops a little valley girl slipped out! This is just freaky some of the parasites and bugs you can pick up at home and abroad. So this guy is hiking in Argentina and is bitten by a Sand Fly and is infected with Leishmaniasis.

Check this out! http://animal.discovery.com/videos/monsters-inside-me-the-leishmaniasis-parasite.html

So hey, you may want to carry some bug spray with you or put it on before you head out if plan on doing any hiking abroad.

Happy Hiking

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Walking to work and back


So I have sprinkled pictures of what I have come across this week while walking to or from work or out in the backyard. I should break the 100 mile mark tomorrow for the month. Not one of my best but getting back up there. I feel that my blog looks baron when I post pictures and there is not content to go with it. So the rest of this is about my upcoming trip to Kansas.

I get pretty excited around the 4th of July, don’t you? I get excited as it is a time to visit with family who I only get to see maybe once or at the best twice in a year. This year only Candy, Clark and I will be going to Kansas. Eric will be staying back as he has to work. We will all gather at my parent’s house for the 4th and have a big barbeque, play some horse shoes, drink a little, blow shit up, drink a little and catch up with each other on life’s events. My mom comes from a large family of six brothers and three sisters, so with uncles, aunts, cousins, 2nd cousins, girl friends, boy friends, in-laws and outlaws we have a pretty big group.

That evening we break out all the night works and put on a show. In years past my cousin was able to get his hands on some professional grade fireworks. Oh boy, what a blast! Hey if you don’t come away with a few burns then you’re not doing it correctly. But at the same time you need to watch your ass and as my wife would say when people show up in the emergency room “Chances are Alcohol was involved”!

I believe his source dried up last year. But even so with what you can get at a fireworks stand is still enough to do bodily injury if you not careful. So be careful out there this year and remember that we are celebrating our independence as a country/nation as well as those who are still fighting to help us keep it today!

My sister, her husband and two daughters will be there and it has been a year since I have seen them. This last weekend Candy and I were out shopping and I picked up a few little goodies for my nieces. These should keep them occupied for a while.

Few all pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/drobincorvette/20100628#

Happy 4th of July!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Colorado Birds

Well I didn’t get out and do any hiking this weekend. Busy with chores that I had been putting off. Even with that I still didn’t get everything done that I wanted to. I find I can get more done when I make a list.

Candy and I met for breakfast this morning when she got off work. After words I sat out I the backyard with the camera and took some photos of the birds.  I figured I should just go ahead and post the pictures that I have taken over the last two years of all the birds I have captured on film. I will have to comeback later and name them all.