Noodles & Snowflakes

Fireworks on the 4th of July!

2011-07-06T20:52:00.002-06:00

Fourth of July Weekend was packed full of friends, fun, and packing up the apartment.

I decided this year would be the year I attempted to take great fireworks photos. In past years, I just assumed it would be too difficult. Wrong! I've been reading a few books by Scott Kelby that make photography really simple. It's nice for when I want to take a certain type of photo on the spot without having to really think about how shutter speed and aperture work in concert.

He also has a blog (http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/) that makes it easy to search for such tips. Great site! (Shooting Fireworks Post)

I think my fireworks photos turned out great for my first try! I definitely need a little more practice and want to play around with different lenses, but here are a few of my faves.

Alaska: The Last Frontier

2011-06-28T03:34:00.004-06:00

Wow! What an amazing vacation! We are so fortunate to be able to travel to such great locations. Since traveling is our absolute favorite thing the do, having the means to be able to take these trips is such a blessing. We've kind of embraced this philosophy of one big vacation each year to a new and different destination. For a few reasons, these trips always end up being right around our wedding anniversary, so it is always a wonderful celebration for us. For our honeymoon we went on a Mediterranean cruise, last year to celebrate our first anniversary we went to Costa Rica, and this year we chose Alaska! What a wonderful little gem hidden right here in the US!

We started with a 7 night Royal Caribbean Cruise on the Radiance of the Seas up the Inside Passage and followed that up with 3 nights in the Alaska Interior right outside of Denali National Park.

I must say we've turned into quite the shutterbugs, especially on our vacations. Between the two of us we took over 2700 photos! So I will try to narrate this wonderful vacation by picking out some of my favorites to share with you. Hope you enjoy!

Our first stop was Ketchikan. The day started out a little drizzly, but we were hopeful that the sun would peek through. Before our kayaking trip, we spent a little time exploring Ketchikan. We walked to Creek Street, and hiked up Married Man's Trail to the Cape Fox Lodge.

Kayaking in Orca's Cove in Ketchikan. Unfortunately, we didn't see an orcas.

Smoked Salmon Feast after Kayaking

Creek Street in Ketchikan.

Icy Strait Point (as Royal Caribbean calls it), or Hoonah (the actual Alaskan fishing village) wasn't that exciting of a port. I think it was the place that most people booked whale watching tours, but we decided not to. And honestly, it ended up being a good decision because we saw whales right off the cruise ship on many occasions. Right off the ship was an old cannery that was restored as a sort of museum, really only for Royal Caribbean. So we just decided to make the 1-2 mile trek into the fishing village. It was a quaint little town, but not really all that much to see or do. We did later find out that the pub we passed is well known worldwide. We didn't stop for a drink though. ;-)

Icy Strait Point (Hoonah, AK)

Totem Pole in Hoonah

Hoonah

Juneau was our 3rd port. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain the whole day. But we still went on our planned hike to the Mendenhall Glacier. It was an 8-9 hour hike, probably about 6 miles roundtrip. We were soaking wet, but the views were absolutely amazing! Once we reached the glacier, we got to put on crampons and grab our ice axes and hike on the glacier! What an amazing experience!

Our first view of the Mendenhall Glacier

Hiking on the Mendenhall Glacier!

After our glacier trek, we had worked up quite the thirst for some locally made Alaskan beer. So we made our way to the Alaskan Brewing Co for their free tour and samples.

Free Beer at Alaskan Brewing Co!

Our final port on the cruise was Skagway. It's an old gold rush town just below the mountains. Our plan for the day was to take the White Pass and Yukon Railway up into the mountains to enjoy the views and then spend some time around town checking out the historic buildings of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park.

Arriving in Skagway

Hopping on the train right off the ship. The White Pass and Yukon Railway.

A blackbear on the hillside.

The front half of our train going over the scary wooden trestle bridge into a tunnel.

After our train ride we braved the crowded streets of Skagway (4 cruise ships in one very small town all at the same time, it was a mob scene!) and headed towards the Skagway Brewing Co. It was well worth the long, crowded walk. We both got their beer sampler and fresh salmon sandwiches. Yum! After that we just wandered the streets of Skagway as we headed back to the ship.

Beer samplers at the Skagway Brewing Co.

Wild Alaskan Salmon Sandwich

The view down the main street in Skagway

The Mascot Saloon, restored from 1898

White Pass and Yukon Train Depot

After leaving Skagway, the scenery from our balcony was amazing! We almost didn't want to leave the room for dinner.

Hubbard Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park

Mt. McKinley

Our quaint little cabin

Inside the cabin: a bed, a table, and two chairs. Very homey.

Denali National Park

Sled dog demonstration

Pit stop on our Denali Safari

Salmon burgers at the Arctic Roadrunner before catching our red eye to Denver

A Long Weekend in the Grand Canyon State

2011-06-04T08:07:00.001-06:00

Jason and I met his parents in Phoenix, AZ a few weeks ago. I've been a little behind on photos, sorry, work got crazy for both Jason and I as soon as we got home. From Phoenix, we drove to the Grand Canyon where we stayed two nights, then drove to Sedona where we also stayed two nights. It was a great long weekend getaway. I took nearly 2,000 photos with the new wide angle lens Jason got me for my birthday, so here are a few of my favorites.

Our first view of the Grand Canyon, we walked a short distance down the Bright Angel Trail to this overlook.

Waiting for the bus to Hopi Point

Sunset at Hopi Point

On our day hike down the South Kaibab Trail.

I just loved this tree!

At Skeleton Point on the South Kaibab Trail

Wupatki National Monument

The Blowhole at Wupatki Pueblo

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Bonito Lava Flow

Pink Jeep Tour in Sedona

Cathedral Rock

At the top of the Cathedral Rock Trail in Sedona.

Off to Alaska on the Radiance of the Seas on Friday! I'm sure I'll take another 2,000+ photos there. Can't wait!

Cherry Creek Sneak 5K

2011-05-02T14:47:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was race day! We were so nervous this week, keeping an eye on the weather. Last year race day was sunny and warm, but this year called for a high of 47 and possible snow! But as usual, the meteorologists were way off! By 8AM it was already 45 and the sun was shining. It ended up being a perfect day for a race.

It was Frederick and Candace's first 5K and they both did a great job, finishing around 40 and 45 min. Jason finished in 28:06, his best time yet! And I finished in 31:38, didn't stop to walk once! Running has never been my favorite pass time, but my goal is always to run the whole race, so I'm pretty proud of myself. Now that I've figured out how to manage my side stitches, I might try some sprint interval training to improve my time.

After the race there was a huge block party with an estimated 20,000 people. There were samples of food and drinks, and free beer, Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy! We each got 3 free beers, so we stuck around to imbibe, but then it was time for some tasty grub!

After the race we needed to refuel with brunch at Snooze. It was an hour wait, but it was so worth it!

Check back soon, hopefully I'll have some action photos from the race!

Biomaterials & Birthdays with Mickey

2011-04-28T21:07:00.001-06:00

Last week I was in Orlando, Florida for the Society for Biomaterials Annual Meeting. I'm starting to realize that work conferences are the best way to travel! In January, I went to the Orthopaedic Research Society Annual Meeting in Long Beach, California and then extended the stay with a few nights in Sequoia National Park where Jason joined me. This time, Jason wasn't able to join me, but I stayed an extra night in Orlando to spend some time at the theme parks. Can't beat a few days of work, followed by a few days of play!

I stayed at the Contemporary Resort with two friends, just a 10 minute walk from the Magic Kingdom! Here's a photo of the sunset right outside our room. I was on my way to an early morning conference session when I snapped this shot.

Every year, the Society for Biomaterials has a Bash at their Annual Meeting. In 2008, I went to the meeting in Atlanta and the Bash was at the Georgia Aquarium. This year, the Bash was at EPCOT. We were bused to the park where we had drinks and appetizers. Then we were treated to the nightly light show and had access to the park until midnight!

Spaceship Earth, the ride inside the EPCOT ball, has been updated a bit. At the beginning the ride,your picture is taken, and at the end you answer a few questions on a computer screen to determine your future. I rode with my boss Tim. Below are some of the photos from the computer screen. I was laughing too hard to even follow the story. All I know is that it was set in space.

Saturday was the last day of the conference, and my birthday. So a few of us went to the Polynesian Resort for cocktails and dinner before heading to the park.

Birthday Cocktail in a Pineapple...note, that is NOT an artichoke on the top. I tasted it to be sure.

All you can eat meat!

Birthday Dinner at Ohana!

The best bread pudding I have ever had!

Surprise Birthday Cupcake!

After dinner we made our way to the Magic Kingdom. Our first view of Cinderella's Castle!

We are Brer Rabbit and Brer Bear at Splash Mountain!

It's a Small World! I had that song stuck in my head for the rest of the night.

Space Mountain!!

Celebrating my birthday with Mickey and Walt

I stayed an extra day to spend some time at the theme parks with some other post docs and grad students from Boulder. We decided to spend the day Sunday at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, with the main goal being the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I've never read any of the books and have only seen 2 of the movies, but I figured the rides would be fun.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The ride inside the castle was amazing! It was a combination rollercoaster, virtual ride. Amazing! Since I was with a group of engineers, we spent a good part of the day discussing the novelty of the ride and how it worked to make you feel like you were actually in the movie. I know, we're geeks!

Waiting in line the for the Dragon Challenge Roller Coaster

At Universal Studios Islands of Adventure on the Jurassic Park River Adventure

The Hulk Roller Coaster!

Before Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barge...they warned us we would get wet.

After the Bilge Rat Barge...SOAKED!

Sunset from Pleasure Island on our last night.

What a great trip! Can't wait to go back with Jason!

My First Surgical Experience

2011-04-27T09:42:00.000-06:00

I've observed a number of surgeries; open heart surgery, gastric bypass, total knee and hip replacements, pediatric cosmetic surgery, and spine surgery. They were all so exciting and interesting to watch. The human body is an amazing machine! But when it came time to have my own surgery, my nerves were just crazy. Granted, I don't think I would find watching oral surgery as exciting as all the others that I've seen. Actually, I hate teeth and I think it would just make me cringe.

Yesterday, the day that I've been avoiding for at least 10 years finally came...getting my wisdom teeth removed. The dentist and oral surgeon say I was lucky I only had 2 and even luckier that they were on the top and fully erupted. Apparently it's the bottom wisdom teeth that are notorious for severe pain and dry sockets. The oral surgeon explained that it has to do with the difference in bone densities between the upper and lower jaw.

So yesterday morning came and I was pretty nervous, but not too bad. Then of course, I am escorted to the back, to sit in the chair where I'm going to have my surgery. I'm not really sure why they make the procedure rooms look so sterile, plain, and uninviting. It really does make a patient feel even more nervous, well, it did me anyway. It would really just take a few photos on the wall or something.

Thankfully, they were pretty quick about getting the IV inserted. Considering the issues I usually have with having blood drawn, that didn't bother me one bit. I was happy to have my husband there holding my hand to keep me somewhat calm. I vaguely remember the nurse or doctor telling Jason to head to the waiting room as they pushed the versad...and then I was awake again.

From what Jason tells me, it was a lot like "David after Dentist". And if you haven't seen this video, you must watch it. I really don't remember anything for the first few minutes of being awake. Jason tells me I told the surgeon I was so confused. I kept asking Jason if he was sure they took the teeth out. And I asked him about 6 times how long he was out in the waiting room. It's pretty amazing how being sedated makes you lose time. I really felt like there was no time between Jason leaving me and seeing him again, even though it had been about 25 minutes.

They had me stay for another 30 minutes or so while they monitored my heart rate and blood pressure. I was slowly starting to lose the drowsy feeling when I just started to feel horribly nauseous with terrible sweats. And to me, nausea is the absolute worst feeling in the world. So I frantically told Jason to go find someone. The nurse and doctor came back in, lowered the chair back, and told me to wiggle my feet. My heart rate had dropped to 40 and my blood pressure was something like 90/60. I guess I was pretty close to passing out!

I have to say that my nurse, Alecia, was wonderful! She was comforting and attentive and answered all of our questions. As for the doctor, I don't even remember seeing his face yesterday. He was there, he put my IV in, and he put a damp towel on my forehead when I was feeling nauseous, but I don't think he ever made eye contact with me. It just felt odd. And I did get the feeling they were trying to get me out of there as soon as possible. I suppose they are running a business and I was technically fine, but still. The ride home was fine, but having to climb two flights of stairs almost made me pass out again.

All in all, it wasn't a half bad experience. The pain was minimal. After the numbness wore off, I took one vicodin, then switched to aleve. If there had only been something to help with the nausea for the whole day. Didn't help that I could only eat pudding, smoothies, applesauce, and ice cream. All I wanted was real food!

It's pretty amazing I was able to go through 29 years of life without ever having had surgery, being sedated, or losing consciousness. Here's hoping it's another 29!

Car Bomb Cupcakes

2011-04-04T20:31:00.009-06:00

Who needs a birthday cake when you can have Car Bomb Cupcakes?! First, I have to give credit where credit is due. My mom found this recipe for me. I divided this project into three nights after work, since it seemed like quite the undertaking. But it didn't end up being as difficult as I had imagined. I started by making the Bailey's Buttercream Frosting, which was actually pretty simple: butter, powdered sugar, and Bailey's. Yum!

Then came the Guinness cupcakes. I simmered Guinness with butter and cocoa powder, then added that to the standard cupcake ingredients. I must thank the sales person at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for finding this lovely contraption for me. I was pretty skeptical that this pink plunger like device would actually be able to remove the center from a cupcake. But it worked perfectly!

After testing out a few different tips, and getting the frosting to the right temperature to actually be able to pipe consistently, I was able to make these tasty treats! The mini chocolate chips were my addition, I thought they would add some nice texture. And there's nothing wrong with adding more chocolate!

After two batches of ganache (one with unsweetened chocolate, eww!), three batches of frosting, and two nights and one morning of work...here's the finished product!

...and then I forgot them for the trip to Steamboat...so we now have 24 cupcakes to eat! ;-)

30th Birthday Surprise

2011-04-04T19:16:00.028-06:00

Now that the surprise has passed, I can finally talk about it! Phew, what a relief! I spent the last few months constantly worrying about letting the secret slip. Somehow I managed to keep the secret and I think everyone had a fabulous weekend! Many thanks to Lori Fox for finding us a fantastic house! I thought I was a pretty stellar planner, but she just blows me out of the water! She knows where to find all the great deals!

We left Westminster around 12:30 to meet up with the Foxes at Dillon Dam Brewery for lunch, to initiate the surprise. We got 20 minute into the mountains when I realized we forgot the cupcakes!!! Jason was sweet, offering to turn around, but he had no idea we were on a schedule. So I insisted we trucked on.

We arrived at the house in Steamboat around 5PM. The guys were so confused by the huge six bedroom house. So we finally gave in and told them other people we knew would be coming. People started trickling in as Jason prepared chili for dinner, which everyone loved. (Thanks for the recipe Grammie!) It wasn't long before a group made it outside to the Christmas-light-decorated hot tub.

Friday was our first day on the mountain. The views were just breathtaking! The snow near the top of the mountain was nice and powdery and since it was Friday, it wasn't too crowded.

We ended our day of skiing around 1ish so we could spend a little time in the hot tub and rest our legs for Saturday. It was about 55 degrees at the bottom of the mountain and the snow was getting quite slushy and sticky. So we packed up our stuff and hopped on the bus back to the house.

Silly me, I lost my gloves somewhere. But turns out it worked out perfectly because Jason and I went back looking for them just as Mike (Jason's best friend from VT) was arriving from California. It was the final surprise of the weekend, so I was nervous about how it was going to go down. We returned to the house, without my gloves (bummer), and everyone was sitting in the living room. I noticed Mike in the kitchen, but Jason didn't. It took me a few tries to convince him to go grab me a drink instead of heading right upstairs to take a nap. When he finally noticed Mike, his face was priceless! I'm so glad Mike was able to make the trip.

After some much needed rest for everyone, we started the party at Mambo Italiano. The appetizers were just amazing! Yum! I could totally go for some little garlicky bread bites right now!

Lori got a mini ice cream cookie sandwich for dessert, on the house! Don't mind the creepy guy behind the bar. He was staring at me all night as he was flipping pizza dough.

Day 2 on the mountain! The boys posing on the gondola, ready for the first run of the day.

After another great day of skiing, we called it quits around 2PM to rest up, get a snack, and get ready to head up to Strawberry Park Hot Springs. The picture below is a view of Steamboat on the drive up to the hot springs.

An old school, possibly home made, ski lift! Cool!

In line to pay the entrance fee to the springs. I can't wait to get into that hot water! It's a little chilly out here, especially since we're all wearing flip flops!

A view of the natural hot springs as we're on our way down.

The whole gang posing for a quick photo.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of our adventurous trip home. It started snowing in Steamboat around 730AM, and by the time we left at 10AM, there was 2-3 inches on the ground. Getting over the pass out of Steamboat was tricky. There were times we couldn't tell where the road was, so we were thankful to have a car in front of us. The mustang we saw stuck on the road, blocking our whole lane wasn't so lucky. Guess you shouldn't have sports cars out on the road in the winter, let alone trying to drive one in a blizzard. Who woulda thunk it?

We got more than halfway home, only to find out the main highway through the mountains was closed due to severe weather and multiple accidents. At first, I was not happy, but Lori turned my frown upside down by suggesting shopping at the outlet mall. Since there were 12 people, and 3 dogs, we also decided to get two dog-friendly hotel rooms to relax or spend the night in, just in case.

After 5 hours of shopping and watching random movies in our hotel room, the highway reopened and we made our way. Our perfect weekend ended with Asian takeout from our favorite place, and car bomb cupcakes!

Thanks to everyone for a great weekend! I think it turned out to be a memorable 30th Birthday Weekend for Ryan and Jason.

Snow Day!

2011-03-23T20:38:00.006-06:00

After almost 1.5 years in Colorado, I finally took a day off from work just to go skiing! Jason is on spring break, so he was already going with a labmate. I had extra hours built up for the pay period and the fresh powder was just too good for me to pass up. And boy was it worth it!

There's nothing better than being one of the first on the mountain with freshly groomed corduroy and not another soul on the trail with you. I was just in heaven! The sun was shining, the weather was mild, and the snow felt so perfect underneath my skis. It was just therapeutic.

And the best part about skiing in the middle of the week, even during spring break, is the short lift lines! We just went up and down the mountain all day!

I wish everyday skiing was like today! Until next time. :)

Oh, and we ended the day with mini donuts from Sugar Lips Mini Donuts. These are the Black Cherry Donuts, mini deep fried donuts, made fresh to order, topped with powdered sugar, chocolate, and cherries.

I think I finally feel caught up with blog posts now, so I won't be bombarding you with posts from now on. ;-)

TAG! It's Jason's Birthday!

2011-03-23T16:31:00.008-06:00

We always enjoy a night on the town, trying out a new restaurant. We went out to dinner at TAG, a restaurant in downtown Denver to celebrate Jason's 30th Birthday last Thursday. And the food was amazing! Thank you Poppop for the gift card!

Of course we had to start with a bottle of wine to celebrate. Being the stingy couple that we are, we chose the cheapest bottle of red they had, a $40 Malbec. It was quite tasty and just what we were looking for! Then we decided that we just weren't in the mood for each getting one entree, so we ordered salads and 4 appetizers. They were all so tasty and pretty unique, so I had to take pictures.

We started with the Flash Seared Hiramasa (yellowfin tuna), with truffle oil, yuzu, white soy, jalapeno, and those pink things are strawberry pop rocks! So tasty!

Next we had the Kobe Beef Sliders with Duck Fat French Fries. The fries had a touch of sugar on them to give them just the right amount of sweetness.

Next, Sushi Tacos, with rice, charred ahi tuna, mango salsa, and guacamole. What a fun little finger food!

And finally, the best thing Jason has ever eaten, and one of the top 10 things to try in Denver, the French Onion Soup Dumplings! Wow!

So as if the tasty food wasn't enough, when we got our bill, it didn't have the bottle of wine on it. Happy Birthday Jason! So with money still left on our gift card, I guess we'll be going back for the French Onion Soup Dumplings again soon!

Reading for Fun!

2011-03-22T20:22:00.005-06:00

I just finished reading The Best American Science Writing 2010, edited by Jerome Groopman (who wrote How Doctors Think, amazing book by the way). And as the book implies, it's a compilation of science articles from magazines and newspapers such as Science, The New York Times, Wired, The New Yorker and so on. And let me just say that most of these stories don't read as dry, scientific research, but more like narratives by talented science journalists.

Some of my favorites:

The Placebo Problem, about the effectiveness of placebos (sugar pills) in treating certain ailments, especially neurological disorders.
The Orchid Children, about genes that may be problematic for us in certain situations may be advantageous under other circumstances, namely, a gene related to depression.
My Genome, My Self, where the author had his genome mapped and discussed how the results agreed or conflicted with the outward traits he has known all his life.
The Sixth Extinction, mostly about cute little frogs and the idea that we may be in the middle of a mass extinction.
An Epidemic of Fear, vaccines of course.
The Deadly Choices at Memorial, about the events that occurred at Memorial Medical Center after Katrina struck. Euthanasia or not?

Great read! I can't wait for the 2011 version to come out! For now, moving on to Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts About Alternative Medicine

A Long Overdue Update

2011-03-19T10:07:00.118-06:00

So apparently we haven't updated our blog since November 2009! Wow, we've seriously been slacking. So I thought it would be best if I posted a pictorial overview of the last year and a half. Luckily, being the crazy organized photographer that I am, I have all our photos organized. The hardest part is deciding which ones to use! Scroll down and enjoy a one and a half year photo journey!

January 2010

Weekend Skiing Getaway, a full weekend away in the mountains, with fresh powder every morning!

Avalanche Hockey!

Winter XGames 14, Aspen, Colorado

March 2010

St. Patty's Colfax Pub Crawl, a full day of great friends, shady bars, and cheap beer!

Steak and Scotch Cooking Class for Jason's Birthday

April 2010

Happy 28th Birthday to Jenni, celebrating with Ethiopian food!

Cherry Creek Sneak, my first 5K!!

May 2010

Mueller State Park Camping

June 2010

Moab, Utah, awesome scenery, friends, and wine.

Adventures in the Jungles of Costa Rica!

A Tour of Colorado with the Franzes

July 2010

Meg's Bachelorette and Shower Weekend!

A New Addition to the Family, Shelby!!!

Diamond Lake Hike

Mt. Evans, driving up to 14,130ft, Shelby's first 14er!

August 2010

Buena Vista Camping Trip, Shelby's first camping trip.

Fort Collins Beer Tour, sampling all Fort Collins has to offer!

Jason's 14ers, Gray's and Torrey's. Jason summited two peaks over 14,000 ft in one day with his labmates.

September 2010

Great American Beer Festival, more beer in one place than you could ever imagine!

Great Sand Dunes National Park, I'm still finding sand in my stuff!

October 2010

Fans on the Field 5K, Our second 5K together, we started outside Mile High Stadium, ran through the Pepsi Center during a hockey game, and ended the race by running through Mile High Stadium.

Anderson Farm's, finding our way through the corn maze, picking pumpkins, and surviving the haunted house.

My Best Friend's Wedding! We traveled to Philly to see the sites and party with the Stobart's, Gallagher's, and Friends! It was a beautiful wedding and a crazy fun party!

November 2010

Golden Gate Canyon State Park, hiking with the pup, looking for the perfect Christmas card photo.

Denver's Light the Lights, the annual celebration to light up the Denver City and County Building.

Our First Ski Tip of the 2010-2011 Season, Copper Mountain

Our First Thanksgiving Dinner in Colorado. My first turkey, golden brown and perfectly moist. I owe it all to Grammie!

December 2010

Denver Parade of Lights!

Skiing at Winter Park!

Ugly Sweater Party!

January 2011

Sunny California! I had a conference in Long Beach, so we decided to extend the trip and spend a long weekend at Sequoia National Park.

We started with a 5-6 mile snowshoeing adventure.

That's me, hugging the largest tree in the world!

Amazing view!

Standing INSIDE a fallen down sequoia tree.

Had to end our trip with a stroll down Hollywood Blvd.

Denver Big Air and Switchfoot at Civic Center Park! The snowmakers at Copper Mountain came down to Denver to create a 100 ft. ramp for snowboarders and skiers. We decided to volunteer since it had been advertised as a ticket-only event, with tickets starting at something like $40. There was no way we were going to pay that! Well, turns out, Denver Sports, who was hosting the event, didn't want people to know there was a free spectator area. They were even instructing us to lie about it at the gate. Needless to say, we weren't too impressed by how deceitful they were. But I must say, being able to see Switchfoot for free really made up for it!

Dinner at The Fort! We just had to try the Roasted Bison Marrow Bones. 'Known as "Pairier Butter" to the early pioneers, this delicacy was Julia Child's favorite!' We followed this up with Bison filet, elk chop, and quail!

February 2011

Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah Ryan! Lori got Ryan a lesson as a teppanyaki chef for the holidays. It also came with a complete dinner for four, all cooked by Chef Ryan. They were nice enough to ask us to join them. Ryan cooked an amazing dinner, complete with all the tricks of the trade!

March 2011

St. Patty's Colfax Pub Crawl, a full day of great friends, shady bars, and cheap beer!

Happy 30th Birthday Jason! A night in downtown Denver starting with delicious pizzas and beer at Mellow Mushroom, then a quick stop for a beer at the Tilted Kilt, Marlow's for $4 Long Islands, Coyote Ugly to see some interesting dancing on the bar, and Croc's for some dancing of our own!

Wow! That took forever. You can probably tell that I started from the bottom and worked my way up because the captions grew smaller and smaller. Now I promise not to go another year and a half without a post!

Denver Broncos!

2009-11-27T17:46:00.013-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving! We didn't get to have turkey and stuffing this year, but we did get to watch some great football. I think next year I'll have to try cooking a turkey, with all the fixings. But for this year, we had PB&J at Mile High Stadium. :)

We parked over at the Pepsi Center and made the hike to the football stadium. Once we reached the stadium, we were pretty excited for some football!!

Heading into the stadium.

The Denver skyline.

The Denver skyline and Elitch Gardens.

The sunset behind Mile High Stadium, in Broncos colors might I point out.

We had grrreat seats, right on the railing, no one in front of us, and no one behind us. It was a row all to ourselves!

Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!

Here come the Broncos!

Pregame festivities, with a very large horse flag.

Broncos field goal!

Enjoying the great seats and the great view.

Broncos score!

And the Broncos WIN!!

Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium in the moonlight.

CU Football - Nov. 7th

2009-11-22T15:44:00.012-07:00

I found these photos on my computer and realized I hadn't posted them for all to see. So, we've been to a Colorado Avalanche Hockey game and a Colorado Rockies Baseball game...but this time, we decided to go to a college football game. Jason's advisor got us a couple tickets for the CU vs. Texas A&M game. It didn't even compare to a VT football game, but it was fun to see how things are done at CU.

They might not have a very good football team, but nothing beats the view from their stadium! Take a look.

Yes, that's a real buffalo. Her name is Ralphie and she charges through the stadium twice per game to welcome the team onto the field. Apparently, her handlers are students who are on full scholarship!

First Day of Skiing in Colorado -- Copper Mountain, Nov. 14th!

2009-11-14T18:26:00.020-07:00

I know, I know, I've really be slacking on the blog posts. I'll try to be better. :)

This weekend we got our first taste of skiing in Colorado. We purchased our season passes for Copper Mountain and Winter Park Resort over a month ago, so we were excited to use them. Friday night we went to the movies with some friends and saw the late, 945PM showing of 2012...crazy, I know. What were we thinking?! We didn't get home until 1AM and then we got up at 6AM to head to the mountain! Ryan and Danielle spent the night so we could head straight to the mountain. Unfortunately, we haven't yet gotten around to cleaning out the spare bedroom. It's full of things we haven't organized yet. So they brought sleeping bags and slept in the living room. I swear we'll have that all cleaned out and ready for Mike to visit the first weekend in December. Maybe that will be a day-after-Thanksgiving task.

Anyway, off to Copper Mountain at 6AM on Saturday, after stopping for some Einstein's breakfast sammiches of course! We got to the mountain at about 830 and hit the slopes. There was only, what I would call one trail open, straight from top to bottom. But it took two lifts to ski them both. We spent a little time in the terrain park. Well, Ryan and Danielle tried a box rail while Jason and I watched. Next time, when I'm wearing a helmet, I'll probably try it. We ended up skiing until about 230PM and then headed back home. Check out some of our photos...

Our first glimpse of Copper Mountain.

The view from about halfway up the mountain, just as we got off the lift.

Waiting in the lift line at the base.

View from the very top.

We had to pose for a picture!

Mountain biking down the slopes? Pretty cool!

Taking a short break for a snack.

Hanging out in the terrain park (behind me) and people watching. It was snowing at this point.

We saw the sun a few times throughout the day.

Another photo-op on the slopes.

Waiting for Ryan and Danielle to tryout the box rail.

Amazing view from the base after our last run.

Coming up this weekend...Winter Park! :)

Colorado Avalanche!

2009-11-05T08:28:00.008-07:00

So we're making the rounds on all the Colorado professional sports teams...this stop, NHL hockey's Colorado Avalanche! I'm not feeling overly wordy tonight, so check out some of our photos. Oh, and the Avalanche won! :)

The Pepsi Center, home of the Avalanche, and the Nuggets.

TWO Zambonis!!

I got a kick out of these two...they did this before the game and at both intermissions.

Here comes the team!

Adam Foote, not only is he great, but I think it's funny that part of the Avalanche's logo is a FOOT (on each shoulder of the jerseys)!

Star Spangled Banner

Avalanche Power Play!

Great night out!

Denver Broncos are next!

Our First Colorado Snow Storm --- in October!

2009-10-31T07:49:00.018-06:00

Colorado was hit by a HUGE snow storm October 27th-29th. The storm started around dinner time on Tuesday and continued through late Thursday night. We got about 20 inches in Westminster and Boulder. I was actually surprised that the Boulder Department of Commerce campus (where NIST is located) wasn't closed. We heard that some other places in CO got almost 40 inches! I don't remember where, though. I haven't yet gotten accustomed to CO geography. Some of the unofficial regions I have picked up though, are the Front Range (includes Boulder), the Western Slope (west of the Rockies, includes Grand Junction), Eastern plains (the nothingness that is east of Denver and precedes Kansas), and Denver Metro (includes Westminster). Now I just need to get a handle on what cities are where. I have some general bearings around Denver (the major suburbs), into the Mountains (where all the ski resorts are, of course), and Estes Park (entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park), and Fort Collins (where the Balloon Boy lives).

Check out some of our pictures from the storm. It all started with a delightful, light snow...

Two days later, we were buried, well, almost.

Tons of snow on the roof!

Poor tree was completely slumped over from the weight of the snow.

The Focus WAS buried. Took more quite a while to dig out, with only a scraper!

But I made it to work.

I love this picture, right outside our apartment building. I love the way the trees look right after a fresh now.

Another beautiful tree.

A frozen bicycle at CU.

Snowcovered Flatirons

Chautauqua Park

NIST

Took a break for a short walk and some photos of the Flatirons from the NIST campus.

One of the many people that took advantage of the early snow to get out their snowboarding gear.

Boulder Sunset

Another view of the Boulder sunset.

Beautiful snowcovered mountains on Saturday morning.

Our Colorado Pad, A Tour

2009-10-10T20:59:00.014-06:00

Although we still have boxes around, and we can't nearly consider ourselves fully moved in, we figured everyone back home might like a little tour of our new place here in Colorado. We have a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment in Westminster, CO. This way, we have plenty of room to have people come visit. Keep in mind, our new 42" television that we just bought tonight is not in this photo tour, but we're getting it mounted on the wall on Monday :-). Also, we haven't hung much of anything on the walls yet in the way of pictures and paintings. We plan to get these started very soon. Welcome to our "new" place:

View from our balcony out into our neighborhood.

Living room looking into dining room.

View from the door, into the living room.

Fireplace in the living room, and the place where our new 42" TV is hanging.

View from the front door down the hall way, with the kitchen on the left.

View from the front door into the kitchen and dining room.

View from the kitchen in the living room.

Down the hall, 1st right, guest bathroom.

Just beyond the guest bathroom, into the guest bedroom, which is obviously being used as storage for the things we haven't yet set up.

Hallway. At least we have the degrees hung up.

Down the hall to the left, utility room with washer/dryer and camping/biking/skiing gear.

Down the hall, 2nd right. Our bedroom.

Through our bedroom into the master bath.

View from the master bath back towards our bedroom.

Well, there you go. A glimpse into our little world here in Colorado. Ready for a visit? I suppose we could clean off the bed for you.

Colorado Rockies!

2009-09-29T08:04:00.015-06:00

After spending the day in Rocky Mountain National Park, we met up with some friends to go see the Colorado Rockies (MLB) game in Denver.

We got seats in the purple row...exactly a mile high!

What a view!

(Half-eaten) Footlong Brat with Sauerkraut, Onions, Peppers, and Mustard. YUM!

Amazing sunset!

Rockies homerun!

One last view of the sunset we loved so much.

Unfortunately, we lost the game, but what a great experience! Can't wait to go back again. Next up, either the Colorado Avalanche (NHL) or Denver Broncos (NFL).

Fall in Rocky Mountain National Park

2009-09-28T08:43:00.030-06:00

We took another trip up to Rocky Mountain National Park on Saturday. We wanted to get to the park while the Aspen were bright yellow and the Elk were in rutting season. We've heard it's a great time to go. This time we took the Peak to Peak Highway. It's a highway that runs right along the mountains with some great views.

St. Catherine's Church, along the Peak to Peak Highway

We stopped for a few views of Longs Peak, the northernmost of Colorado's 14ers.

Longs Peak

We made a stop in the Estes Park visitor's center before heading to the park. There, we found out entrance to the park was free! That was a nice surprise. So we drove through the park, and of course it didn't take long to find some amazing views. And we could hear the male elk. They sounded like dinosaurs from Jurassic Park!

River through Estes Park

View from Sheep Lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park

Mountains!

We stopped to take a short hike. We saw these magpies at the trailhead.

We saw a bunch of these flowers in the park. I happened to catch this one with a butterfly!

I thought this tree had character.

Looking for Elk!

Wildflower

Can you see me?

The trail.

Herd of Elk in the distance. There were about 15 females and one male! What a stud!

Watching the Elk in Moraine Park

Another great view!

Boulder Flatirons Hike

2009-09-18T08:25:00.024-06:00

Sorry it has been so long since our last post. We haven't been doing quite as much exploring since Jason started school. Not to mention I had a short stretch there when I had a migraine, then got the flu. I'm still feeling a little sluggish, but I can only sit at home for so long!

Since I was sick last week, I had been feeling a little lazy. So Jason suggested we take a short hike after work. Normally, this wouldn't be possible, but it is in Colorado! There are tons of places to hike right in town! We had been wanting to do the Flatirons Hike for a couple weeks, but just kept putting it off.

The Flatirons are a set of rock formations in Boulder, that are numbered 1 through 5 from north to south. Our hike took us up Green Mountain, on switchbacks that zig-zagged between Flatirons 1 and 2. The hike to the top was probably about 1.5 miles, but the first half mile or so is a long, gradual uphill climb through a field of sorts. I think that part wore me out the most. I could tell that my lungs still weren't back to full capacity. I had to stop every 50 yards or so and I kept telling Jason I wasn't going to make it, but he made sure to stay about 15 steps in front of me, just enough to keep me motivated.

On the way up we passed a huge rock slide, the Flatironette, chipmunks throwing pinecones at us, Flatiron #3, and numerous views of Boulder, Denver, and the surrounding towns.

When we got to the top, we were behind Flatiron #1 and could see west into the Rockies. It was perfect timing for the sunset, but unfortunately, the mountains were completely cloud-covered. The view was breathtaking, nonetheless.

It's a good thing Jason thought to bring flashlights, because even though we started down in the daylight, it didn't take long to get completely dark. I'm just happy we didn't come across any bears or mountain lions!

Adventures in Denver!

2009-08-30T14:04:00.025-06:00

This weekend we ventured into Denver to go to the Botanic Gardens, have dinner at Solera Restaurant and Wine Bar, visit the State Capitol, and walk the 16th Street Mall.

Check out some of our photos!

We got to practice shooting macros at the Botanic Gardens. There were some really amazing flowers.

Oh, and there were DINOSAURS!

We saw the Official Mile High Marker at the State Capitol.

We had some great wine and food at Solera. We found this place using Restaurant.com. Since I wasn't able to use my Coke points for the cruise, I bought some Restaurant.com gift cards. So we had a free $25! Jason had Seafood Paella, and I had Broiled Scallops over White Truffle Mac and Cheese! Soooo yummy!

After dinner, we attempted to walk off all that deliciousness by walking from the State Capitol to the 16th Street Mall...all the way to the end! We didn't take any photos though, so you'll have to take my word for it!

Pho! (aka Vietnamese Noodle Bowls!)

2009-08-27T20:00:00.009-06:00

We were craving noodles, yet again. We heard about this great Asian market, Pacific Ocean Marketplace, from some friends. I read up on it and all the online reviews suggested going to Pho Duy, right next door, before going to the market. I'm not sure we would have tried Pho, had my old roommate Leslie not introduced us to it. I would never have known how to eat it! If you are not familiar, Pho is like a BIG soup of rice noodles, chicken broth, veggies, and meat. Before they bring your bowl of noodles and broth, they bring a small plate with basil, lime, sprouts, and jalapeno slices. At some places, very thin slices of meat are served on the side and you place them in the hot broth to cook (kind of like you would with fondue). I ordered chicken (Pho Ga) and Jason had beef (Tai). I even ordered extra noodles, thinking they might skimp. Boy was I wrong! I barely even made a dent! Check out the pics below. I think next time we go, I'm going to try Bun. I'm not as familiar with Bun, but I know it has noodles!!!

You can probably tell by the jalapenos, Jason likes his a little spicy! :)

Hike to Blue Lake!

2009-08-26T18:51:00.021-06:00

On Sunday, we took full advantage of the great weather and went on a hike! We knew it was supposed to be about 95 degrees F in Denver, so we were hoping that it would be much cooler in the mountains. We were right...when the wind was blowing anyway.

We drove north to Boulder, then west through Boulder Canyon. The views were amazing, but I didn't want to get sick trying to take pictures on the winding roads. We found out that the GPS doesn't really work in the mountains...good thing I had Jason buy that atlas before our drive across country! We took a wrong turn in Nederland, but figured it out pretty quickly. And we were back on our way to Ward.

We made it to the gate to the park and realized we didn't have enough cash. Oh my! So we scrounged the car for whatever change we could find. We still didn't have enough! So we told a little half truth, saying we didn't expect the entrance fee to be as high as it was. Which was true, but we also didn't have enough cash for what we thought the fee was. Oops! I thought I had $10, but I only had $5. Well, the nice ranger let us in with the $6.50 we were able to find in the car. I don't think we'll make that mistake again! :)

To give you an idea of the hike we went on, it was about 1/2 mile from Brainard Lake to the trail head; another 1 mile to Mitchell Lake; and another 2 miles to Blue Lake. We started at about 10,400 ft and reached 11,300 ft at Blue Lake.

We took a ton of pictures, but I'm tired and Jason is asleep on the couch...so I'm going to post just a few of the best. Enjoy!

The view from the parking lot...we knew this was goign to be a great hike!

The 1st lake we passed, Brainard Lake.

Another view of Brainard Lake.

After walking about a 1/2 mile from the parking lot, we reached the trailhead.

Jason hates taking pictures of me when I have a hat on, cause he can't see my eyes...but at least my scalp didn't burn!

The 2nd lake that we passed, Lake Mitchell.

Some Wildflowers...

Mitchell Lake behind me.

Jason wants to keep going up!

Not that far up!!

Still climbing!

Stopped to rinse my hands in the fresh mountain water.

SNOW!

More wildflowers.

We made it to Blue Lake! Amazing view!

Now it's time to head back down, home for showers, then out to Rock Bottom Brewery for some dinner. Thanks to the Parents Franz, we had a free dinner.

We started with Potstickers with an Edamame Salsa and some beers.

Jason had Grilled Wahoo with Fried Avacado

I had Grilled Mahi Tacos

YUM!

BBQ Chicken, Beer, and F-16's!

2009-08-26T18:37:00.019-06:00

On Saturday (8.22), we were invited to a BBQ by some friends we met at a wine festival a few weeks ago. I slaved over the stove on Friday night to make my Weight Watchers Spinach Artichoke Dip (with the full fat cream cheese though, oops!) so we could just pop it in the oven just before heading to the BBQ. So Jason grabbed the beer, and we did just that.

It was a beautiful 90 degree day in the Denver metro. And when I say 90, I don't mean 90 plus 10 degrees of sticky humidity. It was hot, but it was bearable in the shade. At one point, we actually had a kiddy pool with cold water to soak our feet in. :)

The host of the BBQ had a feast! BBQ chicken, chips, dips, salads, watermelon...and everyone LOVED my spinach artichoke dip! There was also a mini-keg of Bud Light, so we didn't even end up drinking our Coors Light.

During the BBQ we were entertained by Redneck Horseshoes (or Monkey Balls as some call it). And who needs to pay to go see the Rocky Mountain Air Show when you can enjoy it from the comfort of your own back yard. The highlight was definitely the F-16 constantly flying overhead.

Check out some of the pictures below.

The view from the backyard. I want a backyard like this some day!

The boys drinking beers and playing Redneck Horseshoes. They actually bought that set at Walmart!

What is he looking at? It's a bird, it's a plane....

It's an F-16!

Everyone gathers to watch the fly-bys.

This was the most impressive thing it did! It shot straight up at a 90 degree spiral! So cool! (I know it's hard to see in the picture, but trust me, that's an F-16 going straight up!)

Noodles!!!

2009-08-24T21:49:00.009-06:00

It was a loooong Monday, so I just had to post something about our noodle dinner, especially considering our blog title! Jason and I have been carpooling to Boulder, which is awesome for saving money and miles on the cars. But after work we had multiple errands to run. Jason really had a craving for some noodles, so we decided on Semi-Homemade. We picked up a Simply Asian Sesame Teryaki Noodle kit, canned pineapple, frozen stir fry veggies (peppers, squash, brocolli, asparagus, snap peas), and some frozen egg rolls; all for about $7! I know, not all that fresh or healthy, but when you're craving Asian noodles, you work with what you've got!

So here's our cheap, but tasty, NOODLE dinner. Please excuse the blue and purple plate. Pretty soon we'll have our new, white dishes!

Oh, and we had some Coors Light in the fridge. Welcome to the Rockies!

A General Update

2009-08-21T07:48:00.015-06:00

Hi Everyone!

I thought it might be time for a general update, outside of our recent adventures. Jason and I are getting settled into Colorado, and as you can tell from our adventures, we’re loving it here!

I’ve been at my job at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder for about 3 weeks. I work in the Materials Reliability Division, in the Cell and Tissue Mechanics group. My project revolves around the creation of an instrumented bioreactor used to mechanically stimulate and evaluate constructs for cartilage tissue engineering. So far it’s been a lot of troubleshooting and learning how to use the bioreactor, but I’m enjoying it. It’s nice to be back to my Chemical Engineering roots. Read an overview of my project here.

Jason is starting school at the University of Colorado (CU) in the Integrative Physiology PhD program next week. He'll be working in Rodger Kram's biomechanics lab. For the past couple weeks he’s been in the lab, helping another graduate student with some of his work, and getting prepared to start classes. He’s going to have a pretty full load with teaching a Biomechanics lab, taking 3 classes, and spending some time in the lab doing research. He’ll be pretty busy, but I think he’s ready for the challenge.

As you can tell from our recent blog posts, we’ve been trying to enjoy everything that Colorado has to offer. Jason is even out mountain biking with his labmate right now! They better watch out for mountain lions! Tomorrow we’re going to a BBQ hosted by some friends we met at the Colorado Wine Festival a couple weeks ago, and on Sunday we’re hoping to do a hike in the mountains. It’s supposed to be a nice, sunny, warm weekend, so I can’t wait! Check back next week for pictures!

Love,

Jenni

Top Gun on the Rocks!

2009-08-19T13:36:00.034-06:00

Tuesday night we went to Films on the Rocks at Red Rocks Amphitheater to see Top Gun. We started the evening off with a little tailgating in the parking lot. Let me just say, Colorado just keeps on impressing me. First, a Beer Softball League, then a free wine festival in the shopping center across the street from our apartment, now tailgating before a movie?! I love this place!

Ryan and Lori's friends (Nissa and Shaun) brought the grill and the burgers, Ryan and Lori brought the wine and mead and a few other fixings, and we brought the cupcakes, yum! And of course, we couldn't pass up the variety pack of New Belgium beers. I think my favorite was the organic wheat beer.

This rockin' truck was parked in the spot next to us. Yup, that's astroturf! I guess it's better than a really crappy paint job.

What a beautiful place to tailgate, surrounded by red rock formations!

We made our way into the amphitheater at dusk, ready to see some 1980's aerial combat!

This was the first view we had when we walked into the amphitheater. From the north, where we were parked, you walk up a few sets of stairs, walk past the visitor's center, and into the "food court" area.

As you walk past all the wonderful smells coming from the food carts, you come to the top of the 9,450 seat amphitheater. What a sight! We sat one row from the top to have a great view of the movie and the city.

The 80's Tailgating Group: Nissa, Shaun, Lori, Ryan, and Jason (I'm always behind the camera.)

It was packed with people reliving the 80's!

Posing with one of the HUGE rock walls in the background. The picture doesn't even do it justice.

Ryan and Lori, excited for the show to start!

A view of the stage with the red rocks and the Denver metro in the background.

There was a Guitar Hero Competition between a Marine and a Navy Sailor, to the Top Gun Theme. To our dismay, the Marine won.

Bye, bye Red Rocks, until we meet again...hopefully to see Dave!

Rocky Mountain National Park!

2009-08-17T12:17:00.036-06:00

Another beautiful weekend in Colorado! On Saturday, we went to Rocky Mountain National Park for the third and final Free National Park Weekend. Our plan was to enter the park on the east side in Estes Park, do a short hike, and then take Trail Ridge Road all the way to the west exit of the park and head home. Essentially, it was one big loop that took about 10 hours, including all our stops to hike and take photos. The outline on the map traces our path through the park.

(Modified from http://gorp.away.com/gorp/resource/us_national_park/co/map_rm.htm)

When we left Westminster we could see some rain clouds looming over the Rockies south of us, but we were hoping that would pass right to the east, since we were heading north to the park. As we got closer to the park we realized that wouldn't be the case. It was a bit cloudy and I was starting to regret not waiting until Sunday...but by the time we got to the park, the clouds were breaking and we could see blue sky!

We grabbed our map at the entrance station and drove right through. We decided to head to, what we read as being, the most popular hike in the park. We drove halfway up and the parking lots were full! So we took the free shuttle up to the trailhead. What an efficient shuttle system they have at RMNP! We didn't even wait for 15 minutes!

We hiked about 0.6 miles to Alberta Falls, to a beautiful view. It was an easy hike, but I must say, I think I'm still easily winded at the higher elevations (we were probably at about 9,000 ft). I need to get in shape! I guess we'll have to go hiking more often!

On our hike back down, we somehow managed to miss the turn to the parking lot we had come from and ended up hiking an extra half mile to an upper lot, located at Bear Lake. At first I was a little annoyed because it was all uphill! When you’re hiking back DOWN the trail, it isn’t supposed to be uphill! But we ended up with a nice view at Bear Lake, and a little more exercise. Good thing the shuttle bus runs up there too!

It remained mostly sunny and bright until we climbed to the Alpine Tundra region (11,000 ft+). The clouds were rolling in over the mountains as the wind really picked up. The temperature dropped rapidly as we climbed to almost 12,000 ft...and all of sudden, it was snowing! I tried to open the window to take a picture, but I was getting pelted by snow! It didn’t take long for us to drive right through it though.

Of course we had to stop to get out of the car and take some pictures on the tundra. We were almost blown away when we got out. And boy was it cold! Apparently I need to buy some hiking pants, the ones that convert to shorts by unzipping the legs. (I think that will be my first purchase at the HUGE REI Flagship store in Denver.) We did get a few pictures of the amazing mountains, still with snow in the ridges.

We only stopped a few more times to get out of the car. The wind was just whipping the cold air around. We took a few pictures from the warmth of the Fusion, until we were able to descend a few thousand feet and gain about 40 degrees of warmth. However, while we were in the tundra, we did see some female elk and one yellow bellied marmot! Nature! No sheep though. Bummer.

Once we got back down into the warmth and green fields and forests, we spotted some male elk, HUGE antlers and all, grazing in a clearing. One of them even looked right up at me to pose for a picture!

After seeing the elk, we stopped at the Continental Divide, our last stop, since we didn't see any moose near the river, so completed the loop back home by driving through Winterpark and a few other small mountain towns.

Until our next adventure...

A few things that I've learned so far in Colorado

2009-08-13T09:00:00.022-06:00

Since moving to Colorado, I've been doing a lot of reading of the different online news outlets in Denver and Boulder. I've become aware of a few interesting laws (and other tidbits of information) in this state, so I thought I would share:

It is illegal to collect rain water in Colorado.
It is illegal to make a U-turn anywhere in Denver, "No U-Turn" sign or not.
It is illegal to let your grass get higher than 6 inches tall.
Colorado posts signs and names areas of land called "Open Spaces". I'm still trying to figure that out. I'm not sure if that means it is land that cannot be developed or not.
The sales tax in and around where we live is about 8.25%!
When the thermometer says 80 degrees, it actually feels like 80 degrees, there isn't an additional 10 degrees of humidity.
You can get struck by lightning in the middle of town...so I will be watching the wonderful storms inside!

And last, but not least...

There is SO MUCH to do here, I don't know what to do with myself! (Festivals, Movies, Concerts, National Parks, Hiking, Biking, Camping, Scenic Drives, Wineries, Cooking Classes.....)

I'm sure this list is only going to get longer as we continue to live out here. But I thought some of these things were worthy of sharing. :)

Colorado Mountain Biking

2009-08-12T20:00:00.005-06:00

So, I figured my first entry should be something really worthwhile, so of course I'll choose my first mountain biking adventure here in Colorado. It took me two weeks to get back on the bike since being out here, since our schedule has been filled with unpacking and starting lab work. This morning, however, at 7:30 am, I was back on the bike in Lyons, CO in the Northern Open Spaces.

Very different from Virginia, where I could ride right out my front door. The 40 min drive was well worth it though; amazing trails, more technical than I've ever encountered, but with views that make all the work well worth it. Only 10 miles rountrip, but at 7000 ft I was wooped by the end. Encountering signs about mountain lions every so often was intimidating. Each sign had a 4 step "what to do" list, which ended with "fight back".

Definately loving it out here in Colorado. Now let's see if I can convince my wife to go;-)

Start of the climb:

My bike is totally at home here:

View through the trees:

Another view:

Yet another view:

Made it to the top:

Haven't stopped talking about this ride since getting done this morning, and have convinced my new labmate to go with me next week.

I don't think my posts are as well constructed as my wife's, but I try...

Award Winning BBQ - Elevation 9,087 feet!

2009-08-08T21:52:00.028-06:00

This weekend was our first adventurous weekend in Colorado...so of course we spent it eating and drinking! We met the Fox's (Ryan and Lori) in Golden, CO to begin our adventure by driving through the Rocky Mountains to Dillon, CO (near Breckenridge). We kept our eyes peeled for wildlife (i.e. big horn sheep), but there were no sightings. Upon arriving in Dillon, we weren't quite sure where to park so we would be near the BBQ...so Jason decided to roll down his window and follow his nose. Boy did it smell DELICIOUS! It was only 11AM, but those aromas were too good to pass up. So we purchased our BBQ Bucks and started our BBQ tasting adventure! Lori and Ryan set out to find the best Brisket and Pulled Pork, while I had my eyes set on some good ribs! I think Jason just wanted to try everything...and have some beer.

So we made our rounds to all the different BBQ booths, trying samples of pulled pork, brisket, and ribs. Soooo tasty! With all the little samples and beer, it didn't take too long to fill up. But when we walked past the Rocky Mountain Oyster Bar, someone had to try one. Ryan was the most daring, but he let us all have a little taste. It was actually flat (not a ball like some would expect) and it was breaded and fried. And they had a number of different BBQ sauces to put on them. We tried it with a Cranberry BBQ sauce, which was pretty tasty. But that couldn't take away the fact that the "oyster" itself was pretty tough and chewy. But it was fun to try, considering I'll try almost anything once. I even tried escargo on the cruise! (I will never eat those again...gag!)

And who could forget the Jalapeno Poppers, YUM! Fresh jalapenos stuffed with cheddar jack cheese and bacon, then grilled.

In addition to all the great BBQ that we could try, some booths had desserts. And I must say, my favorite was the Berrie Kabob, which was a little bit of a misnomer (not to mention misspelled) since it only had strawberries and bananas. But what made it really tasty was the fact that the fruit was drizzled in white and milk chocolate. Yum!

The festival also included some live entertainment, in the form of a band called the Zonky Tonk Zydeco Band. They had a bit of New Orleans flare, which was fun to watch. And wouldn't you know it, a lot of the BBQ teams had a lot of energy and excitement, showing off for the crowd, trying to get the People's Choice vote. :)

Swine, Wine, and Dine had THE best Brisket. It even had a beautiful smoke ring!

After overfilling our stomachs with beer, BBQ, and chocolate covered fruit, we took a walk around Lake Dillon. Gorgeous! The water was a little chilly for swimming, but there were numerous sailboats out.

We headed back home and on the way, stopped to see a buffalo herd in Golden, CO. I'm still not sure if they're wild, or completely fenced in. Either way, they were neat to see.

We didn't hang out with the bison too long, though. We were due for naps. :)

For the upcoming weekend, we're thinking about heading to Rocky Mountain National Park!!

What a Road Trip!

2009-08-03T20:12:00.071-06:00

We finally made it to Colorado! Last week we drove 1600+ miles through 8 states (Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado) in a 22 foot Penske truck, towing the Focus behind us. We felt like truck drivers!

On Monday we packed up the Penske truck with everything from our 10 cubic foot storage unit in Charlottesville, VA. It only took us about 3 hours! Jason did most of the heavy lifting while I made food and drink runs. :) By noon we were all packed up and ready to get the trailer and the Focus hooked up behind the truck. At this point, I must note that we decided to ignore signs at the storage place saying, "Vehicles over 20 feet long not allowed." Well, we figured we could sneak our HUGE truck in. And that went fine...the hard part was getting it out. Not only was there a pretty steep hill, at the bottom of this hill was a pretty sharp turn. Needless to say, we learned why large trucks are not allowed. Jason drove all the way down the hill and tried to cut right to avoid other storage units. Of course this monster of a truck doesn't turn on a dime. And at this point, we could hear the grinding of the rear bumper and trailer hitch into the pavement. I about had a panic attack thinking we were completely stuck. Somehow Jason managed to perform an Austin Powers multi-point turn without digging the trailer hitch too far into the hill. Thank goodness for that mega-deisel engine! I sure hope they don't call us about paving fees!

So after hooking up the Focus, with very little help from Penske, we were on our way. We didn't make it far on I-64W before I made Jason pull over in a rest area to make sure the Focus was still there. And she was. But I swear, I kept my eye on the side mirrors for a good portion of the afternoon making sure my baby hadn't rolled off. :)

What a beast of a truck! Not only did we take up the whole width of the lane, we also had to worry about not cutting someone off with the trailer. Driving through the mountains in Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky was a bit scary! We sat up so high I thought we were going off the edge at times. And I was a little worried we were going to have to use one of those runaway truck ramps! Going up the hills wasn't too bad though, considering we couldn't go much faster than 35mph!

For dinner we thought we would attempt to find one of the places Guy visited on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. So we decided on Smokey Valley Truck Stop in Olive Hill, Kentucky. We figured it would be pretty easy to park the monster there, considering its a truck stop, right? Well, we ended up in this tiny little town, driving down tiny dirt roads, and we never ended up finding it. So we settled on a gas station with a Subway. :)

Tuesday was a LONG day. We made it from Frankfort, KY to Salina, KS! In Louisville, KY we crossed the Ohio River into Indiana. There was literally nothing to see in Indiana. At one point we thought we might run out of gas without seeing a gas station. Thankfully it was one of the smaller states we had to cross.

And then there came Illinois...pretty uneventful as well. Which meant it was my turn to drive!

We saw the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, as we crossed the Mississippi River from Illinois into Missouri. The Mississippi River was not as big as I expected it to be. But apparently its wider just north of the city.

As the trip continued, we realized that it was just easiest to stop at rest areas and not get off the highway. It was just too hard to navigate around all those puny, little cars. We felt like we were in the big leagues of trucking. Check us out at the rest stop! We're almost as big as an 18 wheeler!

As luck would have it, this rest stop was an Award Winning Rest Area in Missouri. I think its their magic, automatic handwasher/dryer that make them award winning. (Because honestly, it was a pretty crappy bathroom if you asked me!) I had never seen such a contraption! It looked more like a urinal! And by the time I read the directions, the automatic washing cycle was done! I'm not really sure if the soap ever actually hit my hands. Has anyone else ever seen one of these?!

And then there was the flat flat flat state of Kansas...our last state before Colorado.

I really wanted to see a tornado...in the distance. :)

But we got a nice sunset instead.

And then we finally made it home.

I promise I'll work on the formatting for the future, but for tonight, I'm beat. Goodnight! :)

Hello! -- Our First Post

2009-07-26T07:28:00.008-06:00

Hi Everyone!
This is our first official blog post as Dr. and Mr. Franz. :) Why Noodles and Snowflakes you ask? Pretty simple...two of our favorite things. Who doesn't like to say the word noodle?! Noodle, noodle, noodle, noodle! Not to mention, they're pretty tasty. And snowflakes, well, if you know me at all, you know how much I LOVE the snow. It's a good thing too, moving to the Rocky Mountains and all!

It's been a crazy few months...
In May, I finally graduated from Virginia Tech with my PhD in Biomedical Engineering. Boy was that a long time in the making! In June, Jason left his job at UVA to join me in Maine to prepare for our wedding. On June 27th, we had the most wonderful wedding with family and friends in Bar Harbor, Maine. A week later we left for an amazing 15 days in Europe.

Tomorrow we start our drive across the country to our new home in Westminster, Colorado! On Friday I start my job as a postdoc at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, working on cartilage tissue engineering. And in late August, it will be Jason's turn to work on his PhD.

We'll be sure to keep you posted (with lots of photos) as we start our new lives in Colorado, so check back soon!

For now, we have some packing to do. :)

Love,
Jenni and Jason