29 June 2008

Home

There seems to be considerable interest in my living arrangements. Many have asked for pics of my apartment. Well, this is my pad...

I now have a place to park my butt when I watch sports.

I have some ideas for wall decorations... those will come when the budget allows.

My current bedroom is slightly bigger than my previous one in New York. Actually, my bed alone would not have fit in that room. Now I have space for a good sized bed, dresser, and even a home office in the corner.

For those who visited my New York apartment, you will recognize an appreciable increase in closet space as well.

And, of course, the ever-generic water closet.

25 June 2008

Coors, Driving, and Rotten Pizza

I finally had the cable guy over yesterday evening to get me wired for the basic electronic necessities to survive in the world today. I considered discretely slipping him $50 for a bit of extra service, but when he introduced himself as Chip Douglas, I thought it would be wise to forebear.


Now I must return to last Tuesday to complete my travelogue. There was only one thing of interest to me when I arrived in Denver - a game at Coors Field! It was a beautiful evening for a game. The Rockies handled the visiting Cleveland Indians. The highlight of the game was in the bottom of the third inning when Rockies first baseman Jeff Baker hit an infield-the-park home run.


If you enlarge the picture, you can see a row of purple seats in the upper-deck. That row is exactly 5,280 feet above sea level (mile high). Awesome!

I hit the road early Wednesday morning anticipating a long day traveling from Denver to St. Louis.

I saw a whole lot of this during my drive - flat, empty plains

I made one significant stop along the way. Considering the recent National Championship won by the Kansas Jayhawks basketball team, I thought it would be a good use of time to visit their campus. In Lawrence, Kansas I was able to gain access to KU's two major venues...

The famed Allen Fieldhouse (a classic arena)


And UK Memorial Stadium

To provide the details of this final picture, I must revert back to Friday 30 May (two and a half weeks ago). It was on this date that that Trent and I arrived in St. Louis after our road trip from New York. After four days on the go, we just wanted to rest at my place the last evening of our trip. We ordered some pizza, rented a movie, and just relaxed all evening. Early the next morning - before 5:00 - a taxi picked us up to take us to the airport to catch a flight to Salt Lake. Just before we arrived at the airport, I turned to Trent and asked, "did we throw the leftover pizza away?" We both realized that the remaining pizza was left sitting upon my countertop.

The whole time I was in Utah I worried about what would become of the pizza. Certainly it would not keep for such a duration. Would it mold to the point of attracting every rodent within a one mile radius? Would flies find it and turn it into a maggot breeding paradise? Would I need to hire a fumigating company to return my place to livable conditions?


Fortunately none of this happened. Yes, it did mold. But for the most part, it just dried out - no extremely foul odors to worry about (fortunately).

19 June 2008

I am not in Kansas anymore... Thank goodness!!!

I arrived in St. Louis late last night. It was a rough day of driving from Denver. I would argue that the wrong adjective was chosen when deciding on the name "Great Plains."

I will include a more elaborate post when I have a decent internet connection that allows me to upload pictures. Look for it on Monday evening.

17 June 2008

Out west

Greetings from Denver!

My two-week stint in Utah is now over. I had so much to do, I did not even make time to post my many activities.

I went from one activity to the next...

- Annie's blessing
- Camping with Aiden, Andrew, & Trent
- Wyoming shooting trip with the boys
- Bought a car
- Family picnic at Sugar House Park
- Campfire with some old friends
- Bear Lake race

I do not have pictures for all of the events, but here is what I have:

Shooting trip...

On our way to Wyoming to help some farmers care for their land

Aiden and Andrew liked to see the bloody "squirrels"

Bear Lake race...

It was a beautiful evening when we picked up our race packets

The CHAMPION!!! - winner of the 1st Annual Bear Lake Marathon

Now I am on my way to the Midwest. With all the flooding, I hope I have a home when I arrive in St. Louis.

I departed Salt Lake on Monday morning. I drove for about eight hours and found a campground where I spent the night just outside Rocky Mountain National Park in Northern Colorado.

Chillin' by Shadow Mountain Lake before heading to bed

I had a beautiful morning run around the lake. I then used the lake for a brief bath (brief because the water was ice cold) before heading on my way.

Rocky Mountain National Park would be a great place to spend several days. There are hikes everywhere. Unfortunately, my schedule did not allow me to hang around for too long.

The road through the park climbs to over 12,100 feet above sea level.

Between the park and Denver, I stopped in Boulder to see Colorado University - a beautiful campus. Here is a picture of Folsom Field.
 

Blogger