Well it is
heading for the end of another year, and I thought it was time to update you on
my doings.
No big trips or anything
really dramatic since the purchase of my house last April.
However, life has still been pretty exciting.
After the
ski/board season it was mountain biking season!
My friend
Cindy got me to work pretty hard and even convinced me to sign
up for a summer mt biking race series.
I was in about the middle of the pack of the women intermed-adv riders,
which I guess is OK for never having raced before.
I also did a super long, 70 mile, mt bike race--the
Laramie Enduro.
It was pretty frustrating though
as I got a flat tire that took forever to change, and then an old lower back
muscle injury kept intruding, and I had to stop every couple miles to stretch
or I could not pedal at all.
So, it took
10 hours—without the problems it probably would have been about 9 hours—not too
bad for just getting into bike racing. On the other hand 2 miles from the end, I
had a nasty little spill that probably cracked some cartilage in my chest—at least
I did not break a collar bone or rib—but it did slow down any rock climbing
that I had planned.
I also acquired
another mt bike from a friend—carbon-fiber frame, very light, and a pretty blue. I don't have any photos of my riding, but I do have some from some of my hikes near
Medicine Bow Peak--12,000'.
I went kayaking
several times this summer; I still don’t have a roll, but I did get to do some
fun
water—the Snake River in Wyoming, including the
Canyon (and did not flip,
so no swim). I also did part of the
Hoback and Grey’s in the same area with some friends, new and old.
Matt took me down the “Milk Run”
above Brown’s Canyon on the Arkansas near Buena Vista, CO then I did some mt biking the following day.
Another trip was rafting
on the Colorado through
Westwater, then a couple more days of mt biking near Fruita. Thanks to the Matt, who invited me, the new friends that hauled me and my stuff down the river, and to Mark for the hospitality so I could bike for a few days. I also spent an afternoon hiking and driving around the
Colorado Monument National Park.
The only flying
trip was to Seattle—a new city for me!
I
was visiting one of my Dartmouth College
cohort friends, Lou, and we had a good time tootling
about on ferries, walking around, visiting Trader’s Joe, the locks and salmon, and such like. Unfortunately, Lou's car did not have
as nice a weekend but apparently the little red Bug is working again.
We also attended the wedding of some old and dear friends from Antarctica. The flight to Seattle was interesting as I sat on the tarmac in Laramie waiting for a virulent thunderstorm
to pass; we waited a few minutes in Denver for the ground crew to return to the
tarmac after some lightning, then we landed in Seattle in a thunder and
lightning storm—I was not that impressed but apparently lightning is pretty
darn rare in Seattle so other folks were excited.
I guess three separate thunder storms in three
states in one day is kind of unique.
Work is good,
still learning new stuff all the time, and getting into the field which is wonderful.
I have gotten sunny summer days and some snowy hikes already. In early December, I will be
heading to San Francisco for the
American Geophysical Union (AGU) conference with some
10,000+ participants.
I will host
WyCEHG’s (my project) information booth most of the time, but I
am looking forward to seeing some old Antarctic friends as well as some SF
friends.
Later in the week, I will head
south to San Diego to visit some other friends for the weekend.
The
ski/snowboard season starts 30 November, and I will be leading
the new hire snowboard clinic.
That
means that most of my weekends are committed until next Spring; however, I will travel to
Biosphere 2 in January for a Hydrology workshop.
My white Acura is still trucking along, just
about to roll to 241,000 miles.
My cat,
Phoebe, is just fine, believes that the house is hers and continues to be a
wonderful companion and playful housemate.
I occasionally still participate in my old photography club from
Vermont--
QACC.
One such event was to take a
photo a day for 10 days.
Otherwise, my photos are of field work related to my job in really lovely places or the hike, ski or snowshoe around the area..
I guess nothing
too exciting, but life has been busy and full this year, and I hope
all is well for you.
Happy Holidays—all of
them—to all of you!
ET
No comments:
Post a Comment