Kelley's website is really coming along

If you haven't check it out in a while, please go to Kelley's website. You can click on the link to the the right of this blog. She has been working hard on updating it and it's pretty good in my opinion.

I got a new bike yesterday and it is sweet. It's so much easier to ride up the hills around here. The wheels are narrower, the brakes function and the gears shift easily. I finally broke down and bought it because I got scared going down a hill yesterday...I couldn't stop and I thought I was going to have to ditch it and try to run down the hill.

We met another neighbor this evening. Anna Maria is from Rome, Italy. She is here at CU as a research assistant for the "Mars Exploration Team" at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Here husband is going to arrive later this week and his name is David also.

Eldorado Springs

We got home from church and decided to go for a short hike. We had heard of a placed called Eldorado Springs. This is a state park about 8 miles south of Boulder. It is famous for rock climbing and rapelling. We kept both feet on the ground but found some nice places also.

Eldorado is also famous for it's "spring". This is where all the Eldorado Springs bottled water comes from.

Pizza dinner with a new friend and ice cream.

I made a new friend ealier this week so Kelley and I went to dinner with him at a pizza place called Proto's. Proto's makes really flat Italian style pizza. We had a great time eating outside on the patio and getting to know Alan better.

Alan is from Monterrey, Mexico and it was fun to talk about some of the places that I have been able to visit in his hometown.

Afterwards we went to a grocery store that had a $1 discount deal on personal size Ben & Jerry's ices cream cartons....we stocked up for the rest of the summer!

Kelley found another nice spot to paint - The Red Rocks

Kelley found this rock formation last Tuesday on a trail near where we live. It is called The Red Rocks. She has started a few paintings of the area. She took me up there for a hike a few days later. This is about 1-1/2 miles from where we live.

International Day

Hi everyone. Today was pretty exciting. I started a tutoring plan with a woman from Argentina. Her name is Ariana Cabeza and she is a masters student here in the Spanish/Portugese department of CU. She already teaches "spanish for professionals" so I guess that includes me. We are going to meet once a week for starters. I think it'll be good.

This evening Kelley and I hosted four (4) of my soon-to-be classmates. Their names are Pui Chaipromprasith, May Chantanayingyong, Korkiat Permsantitam and Sethaphol Rutrakool. All four (4) of them are from Thailand. All told there shall be 17 foreign students in my class. That's about 1/4 of the class.

And this morning I made a new friend at the gym. His name is Alan and he is from Monterrey, Mexico.

Kelley just got back from the farmer's market. We are going to watch a movie called "Catch and Release" tonight which we learned about from Amanda Shirkey and my mom....this movie was filmed in Boulder.

Nepalese Cuisine with some other ex-Michiganders...and a free ipod Shuffle!!!!

So you might notice a trend of blogs here about free stuff, well I haven't worked for 4 weeks now so I need to find all the free stuff I can get.

First of all, tonight we had dinner with one of Kelley's college classmates, Andy Zenz. Andy's wife Betsy and their daughter Mercy also joined us. They introduced us to a restaurant named "Sherpa's" which serves food from Nepal. The food was great and hanging out with Andy and Betsy and Mercy was even better. The moved here 2 years ago.

Earlier today my free ipod Shuffle arrived. Actually, it wasn't free, it cost me about $14. Long story. If you want to hear the secret email me or email my smart sister-in-law Amy Fannin....she gave me the secret information.

FREE LUNCH...YES INDEED

I was studying (allegedly) in the student union today and I stopped by to talk to this guy (Randy) working an information booth. The booth was promoting a company named "Feed". Turns out "Feed" is an internet company that is trying to develop a "pay by cell-phone service". So, this guy gave me a text message number that I could send a text message to in order to receive a "transaction number" for a $9 credit at a local sandwich shop called Spicy Pickle.

After studying diligently for at least 15 more minutes I hopped on my bike and headed over to Spicy Pickle. I sent a text message to the number I was given, I received a text message back in abou 2 seconds (with a transaction number, I ordered a sandwich and a soda and paid $0!

It was awesome.

Then, as I was eating my sandwich Randy came in and we talked all about this company "Feed". Apparently it is a recent tech start up in Boulder and Randy is one of the first employees. We had a nice chat.

So, I guess there is such a thing as a free lunch.
http://www.feedtribes.com

Back to Boulder

We drove quite a bit the past few days but I think it only whet our appetite for exploration. It seemed as if every 5 minutes we were seeing a new site. The road was beautiful today. The first hour we were in a large plain surrounded by mountains. The plain had huge ranches with cows and horses, etc.

The second hour we again crossed the continental divide at a different location (Rabbit Ears Pass) and took in some fresh air on top of the mountains where Kelley snapped this photo.

As we descended towards Ft. Collins we drove through canyons and along the Poudre River (white water rapids). Ft. Collins didn't seem too great and the drive from Ft. Collins back through Boulder was a long one...only 40 miles but we decided to bypass the highway and use more local roads.

We stopped for gas in a small town called Walden - The Moose Viewing Capitol of Colorado. The gas station has everything you need including horse saddles, halters, and an old fashion gas pump.

The Colorado Loop...Steamboat Springs

We have been continuing to explore this amazing state. As we drove, we noticed that almost every five minutes the landscape changed drastically.

Our day of driving led us to Steamboat Springs. While there we visited Fish Creek Falls, an amazing waterfall coming over a mountain top. The question of the day was do fish go over waterfalls?

Top of the Continental Divide

Today we took off on an adventure. We didn't even know we were going to do it, but we ended up of top of the world.

These photos are from the "Continental Divide". Our main destination for today was Aspen, but we happened to pass through some mountains on the way.

Tomorrow we are heading north to Steamboat Springs.

Daredevils

It was close, I almost had to climb up and save Austin and Kelley. Fortunately they we safe and made there way back down the safe ground.

Our next adventure is to find breakfast....we think we are going to go to the "Burnt Toast" restaurant at University Hill. Then the sad trip to the airport to say goodbye.

It was sweet to have some guests.......who wil be next?

Our first guests!

Austin and Amy made it out here to Colorado for the weekend. Today we did a lot of fun things together including hiking, biking, climbing, photographing, etc. I think they liked the area a lot.

We are anxious to see who shall be here next!

Our First Visitors Arrive Tonight

Hello. Tonight we will pick up Austin and Amy Fannin at the Denver International Airport. They made some last minute plans to visit!
The weather looks like it will be good so we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Rodeo - Colorado Style

Normally, I consider myself quite a "worldly" kind of guy. I've been around the block a few times and I may have been known to say on occasion "this isn't my first rodeo, ya know". Well, last night WAS my first rodeo and I have to say it was awesome.

The event took place in Estes Park (about 45 minutes from Boulder). The rodeo ring had the mountains as a backdrop. The activities were way more exciting than I would have imagined and you know that without a doubt my cowgirl (Kelley) loved it all. Many people in the stands wore all of their cowboy/cowgirl gear, the announcer was very entertaining and the rodeo clowns were super.

The main event was the bull riding at the end but I think my favorite part was Bare Back Bronco riding or maybe the Mutton Busting (small children trying to ride sheep). I think Kelley preferred the Barrel Racing.

I recommend planning a trip to come visit us next summer during the Rooftop Rodeo!

Giant Burger Attacks Kelley

Don't worry.
Kelley was able to fight off this giant burger.
The other photo is the view from the restaurant.

Sounds like we are going to a rodeo tomorrow evening.....yee haw...ride 'em cowboys.

Old School

On the way home from dinner tonight (as we drove through some undergrad guys playing whiffle ball in the middle of the street) I realized that maybe I need to take some lessons from Will Farrel and rent the movie "Old School". As I told Kelley, there is nothing wrong with a mature, nearly middle aged man hanging out on campus.

The Golf Channel Rocks

One of the bad things about having cable come included with our apartment is that i now have the option of watching the golf channel 24 hours a day. Kelley is not very thrilled with this development but I am learning much valuable information about the current events on all of the professional and amateur golf tours.

Farmer's Market

Kelley found lots of good food today at the farmer's market. This market is every Wednesday and every Saturday. It was pretty packed today and the local high school football team was making good money for parking cars. Fortunately for us the market is only about 8 blocks away from our apartment so we can walk.

Sounds like we are going to have Indian food for dinner tonight as Kelley continues to try to diversify my cuisine.

First case of road rash......

Well, I had my first spill on my bike today. A hidden tree limb just happened to jump out in front of me at the last moment. I was very thankful because I fell on the front lawn of someone's home and not on the sidewalk.

Tattered Cover Bookstore - Downtown Denver

Tonight Kelley and I visited Denver for the first time. There is a famous "independent" bookstore in downtown Denver, The Tattered Cover, which Kelley was really excited to visit. (She worked for a pretty cool bookstore in Jackson for about 1 year. I think she was thinking about her good memories of the Nomad Bookstore in downtown Jackson.)

We had Mexican food for dinner and walked around the "LoDo" district in Denver for a little while. We were able to see the Colorado Rockies stadium "Coors Field" and the football field where the Broncos play. It was a 35 minute drive to Denver from our apartment.

Parking for Alternative Fuel Vehicle ONLY

Hey, this is my version of an "alternative fuel vehicle". This is my bike and I AM THE ALTERNATIVE FUEL. We are definitely getting much more bike time here in Boulder since we are one (1) sharing a vehicle and two (2) so close to most of what we need to do.

Our hike this morning - Mt. Sanitas

Kelley and I got up early today and went on a hike at Mt. Sanitas. This is actually in Boulder. It is only about 2 miles to get to the trail head from our apartment. I tried running on the trail for the first time and it was a good challenge.

Any Ideas to help?

No, there is not a giant in our shower. Our shower head is very low. Any ideas? I was thinking about running a hose from the end of the pipe coming out of the wall and then I could hang the showerhead a little higher but maybe someone out there has a more elegant solution?

Our first Skype call with Kent and Marilyn

Our sister, Marilyn Fannin inspired us to set up this blog, so much thanks to her! We just had our first skype call with Kent and Marilyn and it was great. It is so nice to be able to see people while you talk to them....even from 1,200 miles away. I hear my mom (Sue Shirkey) is trying to get Skype set up at her home also?

Ralphie brings the fireworks

Last night (4th of July) we attended the free fireworks show at the Univ of Colo football stadium. The highlight for us was when Ralphie (the Univ of Colo mascot) buffalo was raced around the football field. We can't wait to see how the actual football fans react because the fireworks fans went pretty crazy when Ralphie came out of his pen.

The football field is right behind our apartment maybe 1/8 of a mile away. The photo shows the football stadium and the mountains in the background.

Kelley got pretty excited earlier in the day when we happened upon a horse show where people were doing "english riding competitions." The horses were Arabian horses. Kelley taught me all about it. She used to do this type of horse riding when she was younger.