My Adventures and Travels

After my lovely breakfast (see below) I went for a hike that was about 4 miles long. Everything was so GREEN from all the recent rain! To see what this mountain usually looks like, click here. It was a lovely, if muddy, hike. One of my favorite things about this area (Green Mountain) is that you can see Downtown Denver to east, the snow-covered peaks to the west, and Red Rocks to the South Unfortunately, I did not see (and never have seen, in this area) a single paraglider landing. Darn!

What else to do on a rainy day than update my blog? This one has been delayed, not just because of general busy-ness, but because I need to do a test-post. Toni got a new computer (a tiny eee netbook) and I need to make sure I can update the blog on it before I take it to Guatemala! Anyway, on to the posting! Memorial Day here was EXTREMELY rainy. 3.4 inches between Saturday and the Monday night. So it was with great happiness that I woke up on Wednesday to SUNSHINE! First order of the day: a lazy breakfast at one of my favorite breakfast places, which is in Morrison, situated right on a creek and bike path. I had coffee, a tasty scramble thing, and read an entire newspaper (except sports and business) out in the sun. It's a beautiful thing.

Let's face it. There comes a time in every school year when all you want to think about is getting OUT! Report cards, staff meetings, end-of-year testing, it's all for the birds! I found a 7-day sailboat trip out of Guatemala to some islands of Belize that I can fit into my trip. That has given me PLENTY to daydream about these days! More photos and info here .

So life has been REALLY busy lately. If you know me, that's nothing new, but it just seems to be getting crazier and crazier! It's the time of year where there are evening performances and activities at school, and I had a Saturday class yesterday, on top of fencing and Spanish classes. AND the Rockies have been on the road for almost all season (and the two weekend days they played were miserable and rainy). So, despite less-than-ideal weather, I decided I NEEDED to get to the game today-and I'm glad I did! For the record, ideal weather requires sunscreen! It was a fun game, especially with the Rox' record thus far. They won! By a lot! They were up 9-0 at one point, and ended up winning 10-4! 8 of the 9 players scored, and the other one got a 3 RBIs, so hopefully this is a good confidence booster. How lazy am I? I am using pictures from different baseball games. Actually I also forgot my camera...and have as many baseball game pictures as I need! But they are actually ...

My next trip is being planned! (Those of you who know me well won't be too surprised that I'm actually planning 3 international trips, but we'll stick with the soonest one here!) I applied to and was accepted, to the Denver Justice and Peace Committee's Guatemala Education Delegation. This is basically a trip for educators, to see what is happening in Guatemala's education system, since the indigenous population was guaranteed a right to education in 1996. We are going to go to different schools in rural and urban areas of Guatemala and talk to the teachers and students, as well as learn more about Guatemala's history and the struggle they have had in educating their population in the midst of major conflicts. So, I am super excited about this! That part of the trip is 10 days, and after that I am taking about 3 more weeks to travel, volunteer, and take Spanish classes. Guatemala has some of my favorite things, like several other locales I have visited in the la...

There are some funny-looking plants growing right outside of Tucson. On a non-game day I went on a hike (maybe just a walk, as there was no elevation gain required?) in Saguaro National Park. There were saguaros aplenty, along with plenty of other interesting cacti and flowers.

Okay I am FINALLY updating! :) I got to Tucson early Sunday, and decided that even though I hadn't bought tickets, I'd go to the Rockies game! I met up with Amy & her family and soaked in the AZ sunshine! After the game I did some shopping and met up with my friend Becca-who lives in Boston, of all places, but was in Tucson for her grandmother's 85th birthday! Crazy, huh? We went out with a bunch of her cousins that night, and hung out the next morning before she had to fly back to freezing temps. I went to another baseball game on Monday, and Thursday. (The Rockies won 2 of the 3 games! Woo Rockies!) I'm posting all of those pics together, because they all pretty much look the same. My car, as Toni advised, backed in to avoid this problem. Todd Helton is actually playing this year. So far! A common sight before games: the teams warming up, while fans line up hoping for autographs. Living the good life.

Not much to post for today. I drove. A lot. Almost 700 miles brought me to Deming, NM....which leaves only about 3 hours of driving tomorrow to get to Tucson! I saw green things growing today. It was very exciting!

Unless you have lived in Colorado, you might not have expected us to be hiking in the next day's picture, after Saturday! But that is exactly what we did. The four of us drove to nearby Colorado National Monument for some hiking among the mesas and neat rock formations before hitting the road for home. Chris and Rene took good care of us and made sure we'd be coming back often to visit!

One of my good friends recently moved to Grand Junction, and last weekend, Toni and I were able to go visit! We woke up Saturday to an unusual sight this winter: snow! Normally this would not be a happy way to start my day, but we had a warm breakfast and headed to the nearby ski area, happy we had brought our skis (despite weather in the 70's and cement-like snow the previous day). Powderhorn is a small ski area near Grand Junction, and we skied in about 8 inches of fresh powder all day. It is harder than it looks in the commercials! It alternated snowing and clear during the day. The strangest thing was watching an oncoming storm while we were eating lunch, as it came in across the mesas. That night, after a necessary nap, we had an amazing Thai meal and checked out a local watering hole. I slept WELL that night!!

Okay, I've been back from Mexico for over a month, time to come to terms with that! A couple of weekends ago, Toni and I went to quite a unique wedding! It was held on the mountain at Loveland ski area-along with a few dozen other couples! It was also the most casually dressed we have been for a wedding (think: snow pants) and definitely COLD! Here are some pics.

Our room balcony faced a forested area, and every evening, a bunch of these critters came out to play. While sitting on the deck with my coffee and book, I watched many a tourist approach these furry animals, while trying to figure out what they are. Some of the guesses I heard were....raccoons, lemurs, cats, marmots, and marmosets. It wasn't until I got home that my suspicions were confirmed....they are called coatis. And if you give them bagels, they will stand up on 2 legs, then run off with the treasure to bring it to it's family (presumably). And no, I wasn't the one feeding the bagels, that was someone in a room below me!

Here are some shots from outside. Although it was overcast our first day there, who could complain? It was still in the 70s! The next few days were warm to hot, but nothing a pina colada couldn't cure! The ocean was perfect for swimming and cooling off. I soaked up every moment of sun I could, knowing it would have to tide me over for a few more months of Colorado winter! (My first few days back in Colorado were gorgeous, but the high today was 20 degrees. Boo.) i

We stayed at the Sandos Resort, right on the Caribbean. It was beautiful, indoors and out. First, some pics of the swanky indoor areas..... welcome our (my and my brothers) room/suite the in-room jacuzzi...where I spent some quality time the first night, when my brothers were out exploring yep, Obama was all over tv down in Mexico too!

The reason my last post was mysterious was that my mom told us we were going on a trip to Mexico, but wouldn't tell us where! It wasn't until we got to the airport that I found out our destination: Sandos Resort, Playa del Carmen, which is south of Cancun. It. Was. Amazing! January, it turns out, is an awesome time to spend on a beach of the Caribbean! After all, who wouldn't want to leave this: For this:?