Fruita Mountain Biking Trip

My second cousin (once removed) Lori got married in Grand Junction and we decided to turn the trip into a camping/mountain biking/wedding trip. We attended a family BBQ at Colorado National Monument Saturday night, camped out at Fruita, biked Mary's loop along the mesa Sunday morning, and attended the wedding Sunday evening. On the way to GJ we stopped in Glenwood Springs for lunch.

Delicious Southwest Ravioli at brewery in Glenwood Springs.

Than and I have become those people - you know, eaters. Kind of like foodies, although not as snobby. He is slightly less discriminatory than me, but we both will eat just about anything. I had to take a picture of this empty dish because it contained one of the most delicious meals we have ever had. And let me tell, as active eaters, we have had a LOT of really good meals. Think of your basic Italian ravioli dish, only substitute the classic tomato sauce for a rich, spicy, red pepper sauce with a few black beans, corn, and cilantro mixed in. We shared this dish and Than told me if I wasn't his beautiful wife of three months, he would be tempted to push me away and run off with the dish...

After lunch we visited the Glenwood Springs Railroad Museum across the street. We paid a dollar and this photo captures almost 60% of the entire museum...

Once we made it to GJ, we decided to drive the entire Colorado National Monument just to check it out. The drive takes about an hour if you are rushing it, and is spectacular. We want to go back when it is cooler for more camping and some hiking.

Self-portrait in CNM.

This is a photo taken from our campsite. Ah... so beautiful. Oh wait, what is that smell and that constant roaring noise? Could it be a sewage treatment plant and the freeway just to my right? Parts of this campsite were awesome...other parts were not so awesome. We only stayed one night and were up  by 6:30 AM to go mountain biking.

This is a photo of me taken after a first aid session (note my knee). I just got clipless pedals and of course I had the classic fall on my first ride out - I came to a perfectly balanced stop, but when I tried to unclip, I fell right over.

We rode a trail called Mary's Loop. It is about 8.5 miles along the rim of Horse-Thief Canyon overlooking the Colorado River. This was taken at about 7:30 AM. It was already 75 degrees and climbing, but the scenery was spectacular. I highly recommend this trail for hikers and bikers.

I don't recommend it for the faint of heart though. At times the trail came perilously close to the edge and we decided to walk it - me especially because I clearly hadn't mastered the whole clipless pedal thing.

Than posing with my bike. I rode the trail to that point, then got off and walked a while.

I started with a food photo and I'm ending with a food photo. This is the Empire malt shop. Run by your classic 60's hippie couple, it is the BEST malt/shake/hamburger joint around. We always stop there on our way back from Winter Park to get a chocolate malt. Seems like a weird choice in the middle of winter, but we never pass up an opportunity to go to the malt shop. If you're near Empire... GO TO THE MALT SHOP!

Statue Riding

In addition to mountain biking, hiking, cooking, and sewing, there is one more little hobby I have taken up: Statue Riding. Big statues, little statues, people statues, animal statues, bronze, plastic, indoor, outdoor, I don't care. If it looks like it can be ridden, I want to climb on it. Statue Riding is spontaneous - you never know when you'll run into something rideable. And it is a little bit dangerous. You never know who might get mad when you start climbing. Of course, if all the hundreds of butt-shined statues across America are any indication...I think there are plenty of other people out there practicing this same hobby. Check out some of my recent rides:

Donkey in downtown Boston, MA. July, 2010.

Bear along Clear Creek in Golden, CO. Fall, 2010.

Dragon in Parfet Park, Golden, CO. This was a tight squeeze... May 6, 2011.

Rhino at the Houston, TX zoo. I contemplated climbing on, but I was at a work function in a mini-skirt, so...no. May, 2011. 

 

Elk along Clear Creek in Golden, CO. June, 2011.

Horse in the Hubbard Museum of the American West, Ruidoso, NM. This guy was set up for photos - no, I did not just climb on a museum exhibit! July, 2011.

Sinclair brontosaurus in downtown Golden, CO. Taken this past weekend.

 And the one not pictured, the bronze cowboy in Central City, CO. Than and I were on our way to the opera when I noticed a bronze cowboy on a bench. I was 3 seconds away from lifting my leg to climb on his back when I realized he was in fact a REAL cowboy spray-painted bronze. Part of me wishes I had ridden him anyway, (it would be such a good story), but the other part of me is glad I didn't get bronze paint all over my opera dress. Happy riding!

Tuesday Evening

It has been a very wet summer here along the Front Range, and many of the creeks and rivers are raging. Than and I took a walk along Clear Creek in Golden last night to enjoy the roaring rapids and people of Golden. You never know what you are going to see...

Kayakers in the rapids. This guy kept doing front flips as if it were nothing. I can't imagine flipping on a trampoline, much less from a sitting position when your legs are trapped, you're holding a paddle, and the river is raging.

This is the best photo I could get without looking too obvious. We parked next to this woman and when I got out I noticed she was reading in her car. Not too weird, save for the fact she was in her trunk reading with her cat. Yes, her trunk. She had folded down the back seats, climbed in, and snuggled up with her cat and pillow. Than tried to give her the benefit of the doubt by suggesting maybe she was waiting for someone, but no, she was alone. I don't really have an explanation for the trunk-reader...or her 50 stuffed animals in the back window (you can just make out some of them).

South Table Mountain. It's more of a butte, really...

Flooded amphitheater behind the police station. Water has covered the stage area, which you can just make out the edge of in the middle of the photo. On the left-side of the police station is the Golden History Museum. For some time now there has been a running joke with the curator about when they are going to start sand-bagging behind the Museum. A couple more heavy rains and it might not be that funny anymore.

Flooded play area near the Washington Street bridge. The normal waterline is about 4 feet forward from the fish.

Pretty Pretty Princess Cake

Every year my dad asks for a cake on his birthday, and again on Father's Day. He likes one very specific type of cake, no substitutions. I like to call it his "Pretty Pretty Princess" cake because it happens to be the cherry chip boxed cake mix with the cherry chip store-made frosting. The entire cake and frosting are bright pink (thank-you red #40) and not terribly good for you. While I appreciate my dad's love of (artificial) cherry flavoring, I wanted to make him a healthy alternative this year. Here's what I did and how it turned out...

I bought cherries, which I pitted and cooked on the stove with aguave syrup. Some ended up in the cake, some in the filling, and some in the frosting.

I pureed the cherries to make a filling for the middle of the cake.

I then sliced one of the layers in half, making three layers total. I spread frosting and filling on each layer.

Lastly I frosted all of the layers and placed one cherry on top.

And voila! One homemade cherry-chip cake for Father's Day. :) Well, actually, it was a total bomb. The cherry flavor was subtle and absolutely nothing like the boxed mix. Turns out Dad doesn't give a crap about how healthy the cake was...he wanted his Pretty Pretty Princess Cake! The cake was also dry - the recipe called for egg whites and I discovered (yet again), that egg whites and altitude don't mix. Than said the cake was tasty, but I noticed he didn't eat too much of it either. I'm not sure what the lesson here is - I plan to practice a few more times and hopefully someday wean Dad off of his princess cake. Happy Baking!

The Wedding Ceremony

These are some of my favorite photos from my wedding day. Not everyone present is represented, and while there is some order, it may not be perfect. Enjoy!

My dad Chris and my brother Mitchell getting into their tuxes.

I like this photo because it is one of the first ones taken and they are both so happy.

 This is one of the first photos of me, and I also look happy (thank goodness!) Just kidding - I was very excited at this point.

This is one of Than's first photos. He is drinking some liquid courage, courtesy of Pineau.

My brother walking my mother Janet down the aisle. I think he isn't smiling because he was nervous about going up and down the aisle so many times - I only had to go once, but he had to seat several people.

My mom and Than's mom (Frances) placing the sand ceremony containers. Fun fact: my mom is the same age as Fran's oldest daughter...

Than's face when he first saw me. He wrote me a haiku the month before the wedding about me walking down the aisle:

I spy a blue dress,
Then another and one more,
My heart leaps at white.

Than and I pouring sand during our sand ceremony. We didn't realize the sand was so fine and would make the smoke effect you see in the photo.

Donald Tallman singing Be Mine by David Gray. Donald is a professional tenor and the Executive Director of the Colorado Railroad Museum (why yes, that is where I work). His performance was outstanding and all we could think about was how much we wished we had asked for a second song!

My favorite photo of Than. He was teary-eyed from the moment I got up there and I had to keep looking around so I didn't start crying too.

The Rehearsal Dinner

We held our wedding rehearsal the Friday before the wedding. After a brief and entertaining run-through at the Foothills Wedding Chapel, we caravaned over to Abrusci's Italian Restaurant for dinner. Here are some of my favorite photos from that day.

About 10 years ago Than traveled the world for a year with his friend Chris Tarr (on the far left). Chris currently lives in Singapore and Than figured there was no way he could make it to the wedding. When Chris decided he was definitely coming, we kept it from Than and turned it into a big surprise.

I like to compare these two photos. My bridesmaids and I are laughing hysterically, while Than and his groomsmen look nervous and/or bored... No, just kidding - I'm pretty sure the photographer snapped the shot at a weird moment. And we are laughing because the officiant started rapping a poem Amy was supposed to read, which everyone found hilarious.

 

Practice kiss!

Toast at Abrusci's.

Long story short, the School of Mines had canceled a fireworks show because of fire danger, and rescheduled it for the Friday night before our wedding. In other words, there were fireworks after our rehearsal dinner...we like to pretend it was for us. :)

The Wedding Shower

I would like to say a gigantic THANK YOU to Angela & Cortney for throwing me such a wonderful wedding shower brunch yesterday morning. A lot of people couldn't make it, (which is a bummer since I will only have one wedding shower), but even with a small crowd it was still a great party. Here are the highlights!

Menu
Tomato, basil, & goat cheese quiche
Ham, green pepper, & onion mini quiche
Blueberry & Maple muffins
Fruit salad
Green Walnut salad
Blackberry & Mango Bellinis

Angela made me a blackberry Bellini as soon as I arrived and consequently many of the photos I took were blurry. Mix one part fresh fruit with one part simple syrup - add champagne and enjoy!

Ang & Cort took a brunch cooking class from Generous Servings the weekend before and I think it paid off.

Than enjoying wedding shower games. He ended up winning, which I suppose is fair compensation for being the only guy at a wedding shower. (My dad was also there, but he had no interest in games.)

Cortney, Angela, me, my mom, Rachel (Than's niece), & Clara (Than's sister). Thanks for coming everyone!