I've been amazed at the "winter" here in Boulder. Lots of 60 and 70 degree days. We've climbed outside. We've done yard work. We've gone on long road bike rides. Heck, we even painted some of the house this winter. Just last week we watered the grass.
Winter?
Dave kept telling me that it would come. I think he was even starting to get worried that it wouldn't. Starting yesterday morning, it came. It started snowing. And snowing. And snowing. Officially it was a blizzard.
Snow plows couldn't keep up so roads were just closed. We shoveled earlier yesterday but it did little good. All day, we could hear the screams of sledding around. Pretty funny!
As of yesterday, the official measure was 16.4". Over night though, it looked like another 6" or so was added. Dave went out this morning to see what he measured and got 18" on top of the back patio table.
The view from the back porch is beautiful. Though a wee bit hazy, you can see the snow-encrusted flatirons. Gorgeous!
It may snow some more today, but it doesn't seem likely. It's warming so I'm sure in a couple of days this will be gone. Winter is Boulder rocks!
Pente the cat is nothing like a bird. Why this continues to surprise me is an oddity in itself.
If there is a place she is not to go, it is the first place she goes. For example, into your food, onto the table, into the sink. Maddening.
If there is anything new introduced in the house, she sits on it. Toss a sock down, she's on it. A box and she's in it. A scrap of paper she sits on it.
She refuses to come when called or cuddle when requested. However, when someone is sleeping, she gets right on them.
Cat=stubborn.
My brother used to say that when he was a police officer, the worst call was the "funny smell from next door". He and his partner would stand at the door before going in and say "God, I hope they don't have a cat." He said that when people died and there was a cat in the house, the cat had always consumed the individual's face! Gack! Parrots never did this. :)
When I see Pente on Dave, I remind her that he is plenty alive and well!
Anyway, here are a few photos of one rotten cat. Enjoy.
We had an Equinox Engagement party at the house. The usual suspects attended and it was a great time as usual. A few people got away before we remembered to pull out the camera and get some photos. Still, we got most.
Lots of delicious food and drink were devoured. Later, we popped open several bottle of bubbly and made a toast that went like this:
"MMMmmmmmmm"
Then everyone drank up, refilled, and drank up again. Good times.
We've selected a date for the ceremony - Sunday, June 14, 2009. Most of the planning is done. So our focus is now on fun and celebrating!
The evening ended downstairs with several of the women (and Quinn) playing in some sparkly jewelry. The stuff is mesmerizing!
You can see many of the men were psyched! (not). Haha.
We set the alarm and got up early to get to Time Wave Zero before other parties did. We walked into the canyon and up the wall to get to the base of the climb. We arrived just as the sun was rising.
We got geared up, tanked up on water and headed off. Dave took the first two pitches. The second pitch is rated 11a/b - another quick warm up!
This climb is 23 pitches and involves over a half of a mile of climbing! It is the longest route (that people consider doing) in El Potrero Chico. It has a rude surprise at pitch 21 - a 5.12a pitch!
We had pretty good weather during the day. It was cool initially, then got really hot for a while. Happily some high clouds rolled in so we got some relief. This coincided with the appearance of the most pesky flies/gnats ever! They were unbearable!
During the route, we came across a poor dead turkey vulture in a small cave-like area (cave-like for a vulture anyway). Poor thing - he was decomposing and REALLY smelly. The gnats/flies showed up then. And it was so gross, they were clearly looking to eat on us where we had wounds. Totally. grossed. me. out.
There is a third class section of the climb that lasts one pitch. You can see the amazingly attentive belay Dave provided me on this pitch! Clearly, he was very focused. Ha! The photo of the rope on the ground shows the rope as I turned around behind me!
There is a bivy ledge part the way up. We hung out there a while to hide in the shade, eat and drink a little and get our shoes off! Someone had hauled hay up there to make an even nicer place for climbers to spend the night.
We left the base at 7:12am. Though we weren't trying for any sort of speed record, we made good time arriving at the summit at about 3:45pm. We linked most of the pitches which helped save some time. Only in a few cases did this lead to some drag we could have lived without!
The view on top was far more cool than I anticipated! Looking down at Estrallita and other climbs like Snot Girlz made them look so puny! All of the fins of the Potrero were wafer thin looking. Very cool!
After enjoying the summit a while, we started the long series of 23 rappels to the base.
On the way down, Dave got to see a cute tiny bat in a crack. On the way up, I'd put my fingers in the crack and touched the little guy. The bat moved into the crack more to get away from me. It was SO CUTE!
We got back to the ground at 5:12pm while it was still light. Happily, all rappels were carefree. No stuck ropes or other unwanted time-consuming epics ensued. That was cool given the multitude of plants on the walls just waiting to tangle the rope!
By the time we were down, my feet were screaming in agony! Thank goodness there will be no more climbing for a few days. I need to rest the puppies!
Dave walked and I hobbled back to the Posada. En route, we stopped at the Hobo camp (the hobo was gone) and we took a moment to grab a photo there! At the Posada, we grabbed a shower then headed to the restaurant to celebrate our last night in Potrero and our very fun climb of the day.
We started with a grande Sol beer, had some guacamole, then some margaritas (had to finish our tequila!), then dinner, and desert.Yummy!
Then we had a great time chatting with Luis and his mom Luli. They are terrific hosts and the Posada a really nice place to stay. The restaurant really may be the best for miles and miles and miles!
The evening ended with some photo taking. I love how tough Dave and Luis appear with their tough-guy hats on. *snicker*
After saying goodbye, we headed back to our room to pack. The cab was coming at 9am in the morning and we wanted to be ready.
The cab came just on time, and drove us like a MANIAC to the airport. The speed and passing was really unnecessary and reminiscent of times many years ago in some foreign countries. I was happy we arrived at the airport without mishap given the slickness (it was misting) of the roads and the condition of our "cab" driver's vehicle.
At the airport, we sampled some free tequila at the duty-free shop, then settled in for the long trip home. While it was a long day, it actually took less time than it took to climb Time Wave Zero!
It was nice getting home to the birds and our own soft, comfy bed! We'll pick up Pente in a few days if we can wrestle her away from Camp Ahlers!
I've been amazed at the "winter" here in Boulder. Lots of 60 and 70 degree days. We've climbed outside. We've done yard work. We've gone on long road bike rides. Heck, we even painted some of the house this winter. Just last week we watered the grass.
Snow plows couldn't keep up so roads were just closed. We shoveled earlier yesterday but it did little good. All day, we could hear the screams of sledding around. Pretty funny!
The view from the back porch is beautiful. Though a wee bit hazy, you can see the snow-encrusted flatirons. Gorgeous!
