Thanksgiving in Colorado
I’m going to rewind 2 months to when we spent 8 days in Colorado with Justin’s family for Thanksgiving.
A Colorado Thanksgiving!
When we visit Justin’s family in Colorado, it’s almost like we signed up for a triathlon at high altitude. The events include: eating the plethora of scones and soups Justin’s mom preps for our visit, snuggling the 4 cats across 3 households, and keeping up with our pre-teen nephews.
Holidays in Denver
Yes, I am still in NJ passing time and wondering do I go back to AK or stay with my mom—who despite having a terminal prognosis seems fairly stable, but embraces her fate waking up everyday and saying, “I just didn’t think I’d be alive today.” Reality bites, but I am practicing my best forms…
From Sea Level to 10,000 Feet
I mentioned in previous posts that I’ve been “outside” (AKA, outside Alaska) for most of the fall. It ended up being nearly 7 weeks (Justin was with me for 2.5 weeks)! I started in Nashville for my sister’s 50th birthday celebration, then it was in NJ/CT for family visits (my side), as well as Colorado…
Post-Vaccination Family Reunion – Part 2
Justin has been in Colorado since 4/8, but I joined him 4/21! It has been so wonderful to see so much family after way too long (I’m sorry to those who haven’t been able to reunite with families just yet …). There’s a lot of moving parts to our trip down to “the lower 48,”…
Family Time in CO
For the past few years, we’ve mainly “lived” on the West Coast, Colorado in particular. It made sense to claim our residency and health care in Colorado, as 2 of our employers are in Boulder, and both of Justin’s sisters (and spouses/nephews), as well as his mom, live in Denver. As our “living” situation inevitably…
Currently: January
Currently living/working in: We are back on the road for Leave No Trace as one of their Traveling Trainer teams until April 8. Our schedule has us starting in Colorado, and actually coming back through here a lot. But we’ll also be bouncing around Utah, Wyoming, Arizona and potentially New Mexico. Very stoked to be…
Currently: October
Currently living/working in: Our Subaru/Leave No Trace contract ended Oct. 15 and we are in the midst of several Backpacker deadlines. We’ve been hanging out in Denver this whole month & plan to be here most of winter actually, you know, “visiting family,” which translates to squatting. Actually, we have a good mix of petsitting responsibilities,…
Backpacking Colorado: Highland Mary Lakes
Thanks for all the new website love and sorry to neglect the blog this month a little! I think I’ll be back on a regular schedule now. To start, lemme tell you about a gorgeous overnight backpacking trip we took earlier in September in southern Colorado … Trip Name: Highland Mary Lakes/CDT/Cunningham Gulch Loop Area: Weminuche Wilderness…
National Park 42/59: Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Over the years, we’ve spent A LOT of time in Colorado, but only I had been to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. And in our quest to visit all 59 of the national parks, it doesn’t count until we’ve been there together! We finally visited it together last weekend, making it number 42.…
Currently: July
Currently living/working in: Just last week, we reluctantly turned over the keys to the Superfeet Supervan! As for our living situation going forward, we’ll be in Denver through mid August, then head back to New Mexico to teach environmental education for our fourth session at Fenton Ranch. Current mood: Post-trail blues … our epic summer adventure…
High Point #39 For My 38th Birthday
I celebrated my 38th birthday this weekend. Typically I am not a “birthday” celebration kind of gal. To me, it’s just another day. But J and his sisters love celebrating birthdays and making a big deal, so since we have so much family in Denver, it was par for the course. J asked me what…
Southwest Colorado Spring Adventures
I know the Denali and Alaska blog posts piqued a lot of interest here in May and June, but while Justin was off climbing mountains, I was not just sitting on my butt in Colorado. And while this is a belated post, I still wanted to share. Today we celebrate ‘Murica and I sure do…
Currently: June
Currently living/working in: In limbo! We returned from Alaska June 16 and intended on only spending 1.5 weeks in Colorado … but we are still here. Just lots of adulting going on and we can’t make definitive plans until we sort out a few adult matters. Current mood: These in-between periods are always the most stressful for…
Currently: May
Currently living/working in: For the first time in a very long time, J & I have been apart. Just about 3,500 miles apart! I have been in Paonia, Colorado, doing a writer residency program this month and he has been climbing Denali in Alaska. Current mood: Anxious to see my hubby again and for this whole climb…
Writer Residency: Elsewhere Studios
Well, being I won’t have much of an update about Justin while they hunker down waiting out weather at Camp 3 (14,200 feet) this week, I thought it was time to let you know what I’ve been up to! Since May 5, I have been “hunkered down” in Paonia, CO, where I have been living…
Hasta Luego, Colorado
When we arrived in Denver on Dec. 10, we didn’t really know how long we’d stay. We knew we were getting our Wilderness First Responder cert and J would be getting his AIARE Level 1 (Avalanche) cert. We knew we’d be spending the holidays. We knew we had to tend to some affairs, including switching…
Currently: March
Currently living/working in: One foot in Colorado and one foot in New Mexico. There has been a lot of adulting these last few weeks in Colorado, between tax preparation, car care and doctor’s appointments. That’s what our stable, stay-put periods are for. We will be diving into an actual regular work schedule in New Mexico starting…
Colorado Winter Adventures: James Peak Wilderness
This week has been very status quo because we’ve been playing the role of adults in charge of a home–taking care of doctor’s and dentist’s appointments (I type as my mouth is numb), car registration/oil change, prepping taxes, freelance writing project deadlines, cat-sitting … This is what I call the opposite of fun and it…
Colorado Winter Adventures: Rocky Mountain National Park
J & I went for round 2 of winter camping 101 by hitting up Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado this week. I should clarify that J is very much into this winter camping thing, while I am still easing in and convincing myself that I like it. To be safe, we car camped at Moraine…