Ikea

So Julie has been way too excited about Ikea ever since it opened earlier this year, and she finally talked me into going up there back during the cycling event this summer. She found a nice bed frame that she wanted to buy for our bedroom, and had been bugging me about it ever since.

Well, this last weekend we finally made our way back to Ikea to pick it up. We took her parents old Ford truck, even with the old tires all the way to Denver to make our purchase. Debbie somehow got talked into going, but she was prepare and wore her hiking sandals. We picked up a few small things that caught Julie's eyes while we walked through the million rooms full of everything you could imagine. The bed consisted of five heavy boxes of wood, and Debbie and Julie were quite helpful in getting them into the truck after we had paid. Debbie said the warehouse room reminded her of Indiana Jones when they hid the Arc.

The next day we had lunch with my family (just before my Grandpa headed down to Arizona for the winter) and we just couldn't wait to get back home and start putting together our bed frame. We got home and got straight to work... for the next five hours...

Here are assorted pictures from the ordeal, keep in mind that I am programmed to smile for pictures, regardless of my current state of mind. So don't let my facial expressions lead to believe that this was pleasant.

First we had to take apart the old bed:


Then assemble the frame of the new bed:


And finally the headboard had to go up:


All in all, it wasn't as bad as people had made it out to be, but it wasn't fun either. We unfortunately got the wrong size headboard (as you can see in the finished picture below), but we aren't sure if it is worth going back to replace. Stay tuned!

NYC!

For Mikey's 30th birthday we headed to NYC. He always says it is the best city in the world so I figured getting our friends together on a trip for his birthday would be a great way to celebrate him turning the big 3-0!

We headed out on his birthday and got in the NYC around lunch time. We had set up reservations for three bedroom apartment in Greenwich Village and had to pick up the keys after three so we had a little time to kill. We dropped off are bags and headed out to get some lunch at Grey's Papaya.

After our first taste of New York we decided we would check out tickets to a Broadway show. We headed down to Times Square where they sell discount tickets to shows that night, and after about half an hour in the line we decided we wanted to see Billy Elliott! After we got our tickets we got rained on, but headed back to get our bags and then out to find our apartment. Once we were settled in we got ready for a big night out on the town. The show was great and we were all really glad that we ended up seeing Billy Elliott.

After the show we were all hungry so we found a place to grab something to eat, which turned out to be delicious NY style cheesecake!

After the sweets kept us up long enough to get back to our beds we all crashed. The following morning, Jim and Amanda headed out to breakfast with some friends and then Brian, Kim, Mikey and I decided to go grab some breakfast nearby and then walk over to Washington Square Park. We wondered around and then we decided to head over to NYU and look for their bookstore for some souvenirs. After picking out some souvenirs we met back up with Jim and Amanda and headed out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We finally got through the ticket line and then the security line and made it on the boat out to see Lady Liberty. We were running short of time to be able to see both so Jim and Amanda decided to head to Ellis Island and Brian and Kim and us decided we would give it a try to get around the Statue of Liberty really quick and jump back on the boat to get over to Ellis Island. We made a quick trip around the statue and got back on the boat to go see Ellis Island.

After our trip out we walked over to Ground Zero. We couldn't see very much of what they were building and we couldn't get tickets to get in to the Memorial that had just opened. We could see the new skyscraper that is being built and the firefighter memorial. After we looked around we stopped by the fire station that was right next store and picked up a souvenir shirt for Mikey's mom.

After we had walked around we headed over to the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) since they are open on Friday nights for free. Since the subway went through Grand Central Station on our way to the Museum, we decided to stop and look around there. After a quick stop we hit the Museum, we all split up and tried to see everything we wanted to see in the quick two hours we had there.

After the MOMA we were all hungry so we decided to hit up Katz's Deli. It has been on the Food Network for their pastrami, corned beef, and turkey sandwiches. It was also in the movie When Harry Meet Sally. We all ordered what she had! Just kidding, but we all left stuffed and exhausted.

Stay tuned for the last day...

Birthday Party!!!

So Julie is a really good planner. She is easily the best vacation planner that I know of, and apparently she is also super duper good at planning a surprise birthday party for my 30th birthday! First of all, she planned a great trip to New York City (one of my favorite places on Earth) with our friends and family, but I had known that there was a trip of some sort for a few months (although the destination was a secret until this party).

What she didn't let me know about was a surprise birthday party at Bill and Debbie's house the weekend before we left. She had told me it was just a birthday dinner with my parents and her parents, and Jim and Amanda and the kids. Pretty standard birthday time. She even got Debbie involved when she asked me what I wanted for birthday dinner (stuffed peppers), they did real good at keeping it secret!

That morning she told me that she went to workout with her friends, but instead she went up to make this fantastic taxi cake! Apparently she also made another one the previous weekend that I also didn't know about. She is sneaky...



Sorry, got ahead of myself!! When I walked in, just my Mom and David and Bill and Debbie were at the door to say happy birthday to me, and then Reagan came running into the house too. As I was giving Reagan a hug hello, everyone stepped out of the kitchen and yelled "Surprise!", and boy was I surprised! It was beyond awesome having all of our friends there to celebrate with us.

So the theme of the party told me, finally, where she was taking me for birthday vacation. I had some suspicions about where we were going, but hadn't know for sure. But the taxi cake, the NY pizza, the hot dogs with sauerkraut, the I Heart NY cupcakes, and the Times Square Happy Birthday Banner, I knew we were going to the greatest city on Earth!!!

Dessert was equally as awesome as the dinner, we had the taxi cake, and some cheesecakes that Julie and I had got from Costco a while back. I'm now wondering if she planned on talking me into buying those cakes all those months ago, just for this...guess I'll never know.



I had trouble figuring out how to cut a cake shaped like a Taxi!



Unfortunately we didn't get a large group picture of everyone, but rest assured the house was full of people! These are the closest we got to group shots, first with the Raths, Hoff and myself.



Then all but 2 of the guys from "the group":


Thanks honey pie, you're the best!!!


Coming up, our trip to NYC!!!

The Ketchup

Well not really the ketchup, but the catch-up... sorry I am sleepy!

Well we didn't post a single thing in August and I can't imagine why not, we weren't even that busy! In the end of July, Mikey was in a wedding for our friends Brian and Kim. We spent a lovely weekend in Denver for wedding stuff and got to hang out with our friends too!

The happy couple, just married!!!


Mikey, Jim, Hoff and Jeff at the reception.

In August, not much was going on... we got to go see Josh Groban one night in Denver with Mikey's Mom and her friend Barb, and all the old people from around the state. He puts on a very excellent show! Unfortunately we didn't take many pictures of that, but just believe me, it was awesome.



The first annual Pro Cycling Challenge was held throughout Colorado in late August, and we were able to see two of the stages, one in Colorado Springs and the other in Denver. The Colorado Springs stage started in the Garden of the Gods and ended downtown. We met our friends Andy and Pam in the GOG and watched the Time Trial, which let us see each rider by himself.

The race was packed with big name riders, like the Tour De France winner Cadel Evans, and famous American riders like Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie, Christian Van de Velde, Tejay Vangarderen, and Tommy Danielson... just to mention a few. It was pretty cool to see all those guys riding through our own town.

Tour de France winner Cadel Evans.


One of our favorite riders, Levi Leipheimer, former teammate of Lance Armstrong.

On Sunday the race ended in Denver, so we headed up there with some friends and saw them ride around the capital six times before the end of the race. It was impressive to see all those guys riding together and not crashing into each other at the speed they were going.

The riders running going through Denver.

That about sums up the only super cool things we have done recently... well until I tell you about Mikey's birthday trip to NYC!!!

It was my party!!!

Sorry it has been awhile... but I hope to start to catch back up... so here you go!

About a month ago I turned 29, I still can't believe I am almost 30! It seems a bit scary, but I am sure I will be able to handle it somehow. I had a fantastic weekend with friends and Mikey!

It started out with a fun evening at the Golden Bee at the Broadmoor. It is a piano bar that only seats about 60 people. The piano player kept telling us how much he enjoyed our group's screaming, I mean singing abilities, we were his number one table! Also while we were enjoying ourselves, all the waitresses, the hostess and the piano player threw bumble bee stickers at us. I even got a birthday one that is a bumble bee and a cake! It was a very fun night! This is the piano player and probably what we looked like!

Then on Saturday, Mikey and I made our way up to Denver for a night away from home! We wandered around 16th Street Mall for a little while and then headed out to dinner at Cuba Cuba! It was Cuban food, did you already guess that? Well, I miss Cuban food living in Colorado so I have been looking for Cuban restaurants around town and I finally found one that people rave about. We got there and had to wait for a table, but it didn't take too long and it gave us a chance to get some mojitios and some plantain chips and dip! Very delicious. Then for dinner we ordered the vaca frita, and it was even more delicious! I like Cuban food if you couldn't tell. Then for dessert we ordered a quatro leches chocolate cake. I am not the biggest fan of soggy cakes or breads, but it was pretty good and anything with frosting on top is usually edible! It is in these cute little houses.

Then we headed back to our hotel and crashed in the lovely air conditioning. The next morning after breakfast we got ourselves ready for the How to Succeed at Business Without Really Trying play. It was to our surprise once we got there that it was put on by the disabled actors. All the actors had some sort of medical condition, I am not even kidding, they listed all of them in the program. It was a little distracting at first to have wheelchairs zooming around, but after the first ten minutes we got used to it and we were very pleased with the show they put on. It was an interesting twist we didn't expect, but they did a fine job.

Could you tell we forgot our camera??

Then once we got home we weren't super hungry so we thought going and getting some chocolate fondue would be a great way to finish my birthday weekend! We called Jim and Amanda and they met us at the Mona Lisa in Manitou Springs. They have a wine cellar/basement that you can go to and just get some wine and some chocolate fondue. We got a bottle of red and two types of chocolate. They let us sign the bottle of wine and leave it for the future visitors, so you go you can look for it amongst the bottles on the shelves. Anyways, the fondue was wonderful and it was great to have a fun little double date with Jim and Amanda.

Next up on the blog is probably another weekend in Denver which includes Brian and Kim's wedding, and we actually took a few pictures of that!

Wheeler Geologic Area

Julie and I decided that if we didn't plan weekends to go camping, the Summer would pass us by without getting into the Mountains much. It just so happened that the 4th of July weekend looked to be a great weekend for us to get away. It also means that it was a great weekend for everyone else in the state to go camping, so we had to pick a place that was remote enough to have some tranquility but still reachable for us.

Wheeler Geologic Area fit this bill nicely. The area itself is the result of millions of years of erosion on volcanic dust and ash from the San Juan volcanoes. To get to the area there are two options, to take a 4x4 road for 14 miles, but the descriptions of the road made it seem that it was above my level. The other option is to backpack 7 miles in to the campground they have set up there. This is the option we took, here is the picture at the trail head of our trail.



We arrived the Friday before the 4th of July, since Julie and I both took the day off, and Bill had the day off too. We got to the trail head right at lunch time, and started off in the heat and the dust. The trail was well marked, but hilly. The first two miles were downhill to a neat stream crossing. Unfortunately we had to hike up the other side of the canyon and up to the high rolling plains. We took a few breaks whenever we could find a tree for shade. After about 5 or 6 miles we made it to the road again, and hiked on it for around a mile or so, and made it to the campground. We set up camp, ate dinner, watched the sunset and went to sleep, ready for the next day.

Me in the middle of the the stream crossing:


Taking a break in one of the neat flat areas:


Action shot:


At the camp, we tried out all kinds of new gadgets, I used the new JetBoil stove and Bill tried his new tent and his new water filter. Fortunately all of these devices worked as expected, *phew*



After a nice rest we woke up in the cold, had some breakfast and set off for the area. Less than a mile in, we came to a trail junction and shortly after had our first great views of the area. Towering spires of carved sandstone, with lovely views of canyons and mountains behind. We did the 2.5 mile hike which included overlooks and a few trips into the canyons carved out over the years.

A neat tree with red pine cones along the trail:


Our first full view of the area:


Bill checking out the sights:


Julie posing in front:


Bill in one of the grooves in the rock:


We got back to camp, and realized that there wasn't much left to do there, so we took a nap, and headed back to the car after lunch time. We hit a terrible rain/sleet/graupel/snow/hail storm that we hiked through, oh, and it was up hill at the time:


The first five miles of the hike were much better the second time around (except for the flash rain storm), but those two downhill miles at the beginning were now uphill to get back to the car, and we were tired, it seemed to take longer than we expected. We eventually made it back to the car and began our nighttime drive home.

Finally, our group picture at the trail head:


We had a great trip, and are hoping we get to go backpacking again this summer!

Lathrop State Park

For Father's Day we invited both my parents and Julie's parents to go camping with us. Unfortunately we decided a bit late, so just about every camping spot in the state was already booked. But Julie found the last two spots in a place called Lathrop State Park, and we took them.

The park is about an hour and half south of us, by the town of Walsenburg, which isn't known for it's scenic beauty or, really, anything. We were skeptical of the park, but were looking forward to spending the weekend with the families.

We arrived first, and got our tent set up, we unfortunately forgot the pump to our air mattress, which made the whole trip a little bit harder! In all seriousness, it was quite pretty down there (except for the huge snake we saw slithering across the road), and the views of the Spanish Peaks were nice too.

Bill got off work earlier than expected, so they made it down next, and we were excited to sit in the air conditioning!



My parents got there closer to dinner time, and we grilled up quite a feast with chicken, peppers, tortillas and corn. It was excellent. We tried to see the Ranger talk that night, but only caught a bit of it. The entertainment was a local country singer who sang tunes local to the area, but dinner was waiting, so we missed most of it.

The next day we got up and explored the closer of the two lakes in the park, and got a great day of fishing in. Unfortunately we left the camera in the car during the 8 hours of fishing, so there are no pictures! David caught some fish, Bill caught some fish, the people sitting next to us caught a lot of fish, and I just lost one off my line before it got to shore. Overall a successful day. That night we had turkey burgers and chips and sat in the A/C some more, it was lovely.

The Ranger talk that night was a local historian who talked about the mining history of Walsenburg and the surrounding areas. Apparently the town was founded around the Walsen mine which was a large coal mine around the turn of the century. Poor mining conditions and low wages lead to some of the first unionization in the country, and unfortunately to some armed conflicts, like the Ludlow Massacre. It was fascinating to hear the history, especially since the Ranger who gave the talk worked in one of the mines as a kid!

Our last day there we did the 2.5 mile hike which gave some great views of the lakes and the park. It went up to the ridge in between the park and Walsenburg, and we could see a good ways both north and south. We had a great time camping with the family, and we're looking forward to a summer filled of good times!