A weekend of hiking

This past weekend we headed out west of Fort Collins near Poudre Canyon in the Rocky Mountains for a 3-day backpacking trip. I have never seen snow in July before!!!! That was a first for me. This trip represented a lot of firsts- first time camping at elevation, first time hiking above treeline, first time seeing an elk, a moose, and a marmot in real life. [I want a MARMOT!!!!] In addition, this was Penny's first backpacking trip ever. She's been camping, but has never hit the trail with us. She did beautifully- minus the obnoxious moments of barking at the group of 20 teenagers that camped across the stream from us.

So, that's all for now- enjoy the slideshow! You can also view this album on Picasa at http://picasaweb.google.com/Jeana.Maynard/HikingPoudreCanyon#.

A video tour!

So here it is- a quick video tour of our duplex, with my dog Penny as my personal assistant. I'm just learning to use Imovie, though I've used Windows Movie Maker before, so this is purely a trial mission. I wanted to get something up before Ross & I leave for the weekend to go hiking in Poudre Canyon (here in Colorado) with our friend Erick.

A Real Post!

So, between a few intense bouts of boredom, we finally have tried a few new adventures.

Rockclimbing on real rocks

This past week Rachel Jeltema, former running comrade and Laker, and her boyfriend Dave taught us a bunch about climbing. I missed the morning session, which apparently involved some adventure involving a certain car nearly careening into a certain river in a steep parking lot? I wasn't there, and the story is still mysteriously being retold different ways. As all said involved people showed up in good condition, the only evidence was a crack on the front bumper of Dave's car. But I did join up for some bouldering in the afternoon. Yeah, we got to learn to climb on real rocks! We got chased off the mountain by a big lightning storm in the evening, which was OK- it gave us an excuse to go get dinner and drink ;). Rachel and Dave teamed up to make Mexican Meat Cups, a fantastical recipe that I now know how to make. Come visit and I'll make you some.

Yoga with sweaty people

My own new endeavor. Today was my 3rd session; the first week is miraculously free. It has already proven to be a fascinating mixture between relaxation-revival and comic-relief. The "Power Fusion" I attended on the second day was a yoga class packed wall-to-wall in a room about 35 x 20 feet long and heated to 100 degrees. I watched in fascination as the 60-year old guy next to me was dripping sweat onto the floor at the rate of a steady rain shower in the first 30 seconds of the set. I couldn't help but wondering- What am I getting myself into? I kept peeking around me as I watched some of the obvious long-time pro's contorting their bodies in ways reminiscent of the cirque-de-soleil show as I decided that the beginner's postures were fine for me. Don't get me wrong, despited the hilarity I find in people (including myself) performing the "Downward Dog" and "Mountain" poses, I am finding yoga to be amazingly calming for my overly tenacious mind [and gut]. Now by my 3rd class today I'm pretty hooked, though I'm sticking to the less intense unheated classes for now.

One last note- I have taken video of our new house now and am trying to upload my pretty-lame virtual tour by the end of this week, so stay posted. :)

Come Blog With Us

So I've decided since we've relocated to a distant land, we probably should take some new measures in staying in contact with the rest of our world back in Michigan.  Hence, our new blog!  

So, here's the invitation- come blog with us!  Read up, and talk back.  I'm working on creating a virtual tour today so hold on and you will see our new place soon!  ;)  Harry Potter, of course, takes priority... leaving in about 45 min. to go see the new one and can't wait!!!