happy new year

happy new year...chaos has been partying it up all night with the bubbly and some Telluride Truffles from his Maine Grammy. He managed to just sample a few since it is late and put the box away for the evening. Chances are he'll be back into it first thing tomorrow... we've got the day off and are going to ski a bit, cook up some turkey and play with the monster.

playtime

the critters take on christmas...

so as you know mu-nee kitty is a very grumpy kitty. she has taken a reccent interest in kitty toys again and santa made sure her stocking was full of them... plus a sweet kitty hat for her to wear.

Chaos found a huge bone in his stocking and demolished it! He didn't even notice that we put his Santa hat on him... we could have dressed him in a tu-tu and he wouldn't have flinched! He was a happy guy and an exhausted pup by the end of the day. We're glad he had a good day- he's currently suffering from a cold and the vet said no puppy friends for a month which is an eternity for our social puppy!

Yeah Wescott!

So our Sugarloaf buddy had a fine showing here at the Jeep King of the Mountain Race here in Telluride. Seth took home the silver and had fun doing it. We had a nice crew of sugarloaf exiles on the finishline cheering him on. At first Dave & I took the banner to the start and Seth was in the gate along with 3 others.

We yelled "go wescott" but he was in race mode and tuning out the world. Someone saw our banner and yelled "Sugarloaf" and Wescott broke his trance and looked around and spotted us and pumped his fist in the air. We then moved to the finish to watch the rest of the heats and cheer him on.

the ski tour hits telluride

The Jeep King of the Mountain Ski Tour has hit Telluride. It's a pretty big thing and we're busy making sure everyone knows about it here in town. Dave and I will be attending some shows and watching the races on Sunday afternoon. We're gonna cheer for Seth Wescott who is also a sugarloafer. Tonight we made a banner to show our support!

So when the Snowboard cross airs on TV check it out and look for us! I have to say I'm pretty happy with the way the banner came out. I think it's the best Sugarloaf logo I have ever done.
The Telluride Skier Cross will air on CBS 12/29/07 5:00-6:00pm Eastern Time
The Telluride Snowboard Cross will air on CBS 1/12/07 4:00-5:00pm Eastern Time

snow day

I got up with the dogs this morning and let them romp outside in the fresh snow. Chaos's favorite game is "stick"- it's never fetch for Chaos! He loves to play keep away with his friends then plop down and chomp on his prize!

After playtime I geared up and hit the mountain. It was a bit chilly but warm for this time of year. It's still snowing and I'm hoping Telluride gets dumped on. We've got a huge event in town next weekend and can really use this new snow.

monster playtime

The last few weeks we've continued our dog sitting stint to include Kiera a white Samoyed husky. She goes home this weekend and I think Chaos will miss her as well. They've had some great walks and even gone to work with Dave at a ranch he was painting at. I'm even told that on the way home from the ranch they would cuddle in the truck together.

Winter Hits!

Winter has finally arrived in Telluride! It took Mother Nature awhile to find us this season I'm hoping this means that we'll get more snow mid-season to make up for this!
We went to Summit over turkey day and hung out with Team Frisco- we somehow managed to not pull the camera out at all during the four days we spent there. Courtney cooked a huge bird and we all piled around the table while Chaos hung out with his friend Kaya and tried to not beg. We did let him clean up afterwards. Sam also joined in on the Team Frisco endeavor and we all had fun watching the three kids get silly with the dogs after dinner. Both Golden's were brushed and had their hair played with. The kids danced to Hannah Montana music and headed off to bed while we had a bit of wine.
Friday morning I met a friend from UMF for breakfast at Copper. He was doing a race clinic so it was much earlier then I would have picked but it was good to catch up. He was actually working with Jon for the week- who is also a UMF kid. After breakfast I geared up and waited for Dave. I went to do laps on the main lift. It was my first day in my new tele boots which Bob from Bootdoctors in Telluride. Bob is one of the best bootfitters in the country and much needed after the agony I've gone though the last few years. I have a lot of friends who are also incredible boot guys but I wanted to stay local so if I start to hurt I can take advantage of the fit guarantee. I took one run- at first things felt great and I was pretty happy but halfway down the owies set in. I found a comfy chair and waited for the boys. When they arrived an hour later I was a bit nervous about heading back out but somehow sitting for an hour helped my feet settle into the boots. My feet have been great ever since. Plus since I'm no longer in a sloppy boot my telemark skiing has improved and I no longer hate to ski. Last winter was a challenge for me as I didn't have fun on the mountain for the first time in 16 years.

gone to the dogs....

so i know all of you must think that all we do in Telluride is ski and play with dogs. This really isn't true but sorta feels that way these days- at least the dogs part. The skiing part is not at all true these days!

We haven't even skied yet. We haven't had much snow yet and the weather has been warm- so just be thankful you didn't buy that expensive plane ticket and plan on skiing here over turkey day. The snowmakers have been doing their best but snow really can't be made when it's warm out- mid 50's during the days. (Meanwhile back at Sugarloaf the temps are good and 10 natural inches have also fallen!) We're headed to Summit County to do Turkey Day with Team Frisco. As part of the agreement we're going to ski with ALL of Team Frisco during our time there. This means all of them even if it's just a short run or so.

We've been staying pretty busy here as of late. Our new guest room has gotten some good use in the last few months and the latest was Crystal and Murphy the 1.5 year old golden. We've also had some more puppy time with Kiera a white Samoyed husky joining the mix for a few weeks. I'm currently staying with a few others- Budo and Samantha. Budo as you may recall is Chaos's best buddy so Chaos has joined me while Dave and Kiera have stayed at Camp Chaos.

Chaos leading the pack- you try getting a pic of four dogs!

We've taken the dogs out for some good playtimes. Managing a pack of 4 dogs is much easier then you'd imagine. You just need to get one dog to follow your lead then the rest fall into line.

nyc

I just returned from a trip to nyc for work. It was cool but really short. I flew in late on Wednesday night and left on Friday afternoon. I spent the entire day on Thursday on a trade show floor- so the point? I was able to walk from my hotel on 34th and Broadway to Times Square which was cool. Another fun feature was catching up with an old friend, Kris from high school who I haven't seen in 11 years! Kris and I had rocked the ski team together and also la clase de espanol. We caught up for dinner in his neighborhood- because essentially this big city of millions is just lots of neighborhoods.
It's fun reacquainting with someone after such a span of time. We've been through some similar experiences and it was cool to compare notes and see how another person goes through something that is different but essentially the same. I would also much rather see a great person and have fun vs playing tourist games. However- there were games involved~ I was introduced to Guitar Hero which I had not heard of (I've now seen it on countless commercials) and really stunk at it! It requires a level of coordination that I do not possess.
I am now a pro at catching cabs and not getting hit while crossing the street- those of you who have seen me wander into traffic know this last one can be a challenge!

best buddies

So Mu-nee Kitty is happy to be back to a one dog house. Tipsy is really gentle but Mu-nee would never let her get close enough to learn that. Today I worked from home in our newly claimed office/guest room and the critters curled up beside me on the bed. Chaos is used to sleeping by me as I work but it's new for Mu-nee Kitty.

I was also suprised to see the funny little kitty jump on the bed beside the monster and hang out. At times she seemed to even be copying him. When we brought Chaos home 2.5 years ago I thought it would take her a month to adjust to her new playmate- now all this time and a cross country move later she's almost friends with him... maybe by his 3rd birthday I'll be able to post pics of them cuddling!

chaos's friends

Chaos has had a big October. We've been dog sitting for his friend Tipsy who is a St Bernard mix who used to work next door. We got to watch her for a little over 3 weeks and Chaos loved it. Today her mom came home and was very excited to see her baby again. Chaos seems a bit lonely tonight and misses his partner in crime. The two did very well together and I know Chaos will miss his friend as she moves to California.

Chaos and Tipsy playing stick games.

Chaos may be the charm!

So as many of you know I am not much into sports- however Dave is and since we are pure New Englander's Camp Chaos is going to support the Red Sox in this World Series.

In fact I believe that Chaos helped them out the last two nights.... we were hanging out here at camp chaos watching the game tonight while the score was 3-2 and I mentioned to Dave that Chaos was naked (no collar) last night when they won. Dave laughed but took the "life is good" collar off and let Chaos be naked. Within minutes the Sox had cushioned the lead and continued to rock it.... Looks like Chaos will have a lot of naked time in the next week or so.

Chaos sporting his colors in Mass, summer 2007.

doggie time

We've been watching one of chaos's friends for a couple of weeks and been enjoying doggie time. Tipsy is a big St Bernard & Labrador mix and although she's a big monster of a dog she's super gentle. Chaos loves his friend and is happy to have a playmate at his disposal 24 hours a day.

Mu-nee kitty is not a thrilled but has become much more stealth and found some new places to hide. We've all come to an understanding that although Tipsy is obsessed by Mu-nee she is not going to eat her. What can I say- it's a dog's life here at Camp Chaos.

Both dogs go to work- Tipsy's mom used to work in the office next door to us so Tipsy is very familiar with the office. The walk home is the best part. We find the trail and the puppies run off leash and play the whole way home. They run ahead and somehow manage to find a stream or muck hole. We've had one bath night after a very big muck hole and found that 2 doggie bath time really is twice the fun.

GONDOLAS!

Chaos's favorite thing about Telluride is most certainly the gondola. The first time he rode it he was apprehensive but now he is downright obsessive. I know- Caesar Milan would tell me a few things about this and tell me to be the pack leader and show Chaos how to act but I first had to make a video to show everyone his level of crazy. This is a section under a ski trail- we were unable to do this in the village area as he would be unsafe to himself and others.

Chaos and his gondola chase... he almost got it!

It's funny... after these sesssions the monster gets an obsessive look and can't chill out for a while... his tougue hangs out and he looks wild!

my high of the day

The high temperature today was 47 degrees according to my weather channel desktop icon. It had a certain bite to the air as I walked Chaos today and even on the walk home I was glad to have worn a fleece and non-chaco's. At this time last year we had already seen a foot of snow!

Chaos 2006

Now it caps the peaks but has stayed off the ground. I'm still not ready for that much snow. I need some Fall and have even gone so far as to purchase some yankee candles to remind us of new england falls. if someone wanted to send an apple pie, squash soup with a side of fresh cut pine logs I know one home that would be pretty excited for it!

and the final festival of the season...

This weekend was the Blues and Brews Festival here in Telluride. This is the last big festival of the season and we're closing in on one full year in Telluride. Last year we came on the day after the festival was over with the caravan of the subaru, the tacoma and the u-haul with chaos and mu-nee kitty.

Dave worked with some folks from Summit county at a beer booth and was busy all weekend. I got a Saturday pass and hung out. This festival brings around 8,000 people to town park so there were lots of people to run into and chat with. It also has some incredible people watching.

a little bit of rain...

double rainbows from our deck...

new shoes from birthday monies... which didn't get used today

because of said rain

How to build a truck sleepling loft w. drawer

Our big home improvement project for the Labor Day weekend was for our truck which at times has seemed like home. We framed out a big U shape with 2x12" boards and used a large sheet 6'x4' of 3/4" plywood to top it off. We then built a drawer to fit inside the U. This rectangle was made from 1x10" pine and 1/2" sheet of plywood for the bottom of the drawer. The two pieces are independent, the first larger one slides in and comes just over the wheel wells and the second piece, the smaller drawer slides easily. The result is a sturdy contraption that we can take in and out of the truck easily to sleep on and w/ ample storage space. Our cushy sleeping pads and Chaos's dog bed will ensure many good nights of rainy or cold camping.

We even reinforced the structure with some me tel L joints and sanded the edges so one one (or the dog) gets any splinters. We got to play with our growing collection of power tools and are happy to report no lost fingers or tails and we are still talking. It's a pretty simple design we borrowed from others~ thanks to Dano, Tim & Ethel!

Telluride Film Festival

Labor Day weekend and one of the more famous festivals~ the Telluride Film Festival. The highlights of this festival include people watching and free movies in the park. Last night we found a spot with friends among hundreds of others in our crowded little park and sat under the rain filled sky to watch "Into the Wild". We'd both read the book by Jon Krakauer years ago. Sean Penn just directed the movie that is going to be released so the rest of you can see it on Sept 21.

At times the sky opened up and dumped buckets of rain on us. We'd driven into town and had the tent in the truck so we grabbed our tent fly and ground cloth to help cover what our rain jackets couldn't. Props us lasting through the film go to our LL Bean rain fly. Also what better way to watch a movie (based on a true tale) of the wilderness then in the rain?

dave's view....

a busy summer...

my apologies for the lack of postings... we've had a very busy August!

I'll see if I can sum up the adventures of camp chaos...

Gary came visit and we hiked, rode the gondola and hit the four corners and durango...

Team Frisco came to Telluride (or tellyride as some may call it)...

we took a mini vacation for dave's birthday...

We had a great August and are happy to have had some great visitors!

rainy days

we're on a long stretch of rainy days in Telluride. It started as days that began with sun then a shower at 2pm and we're now in full out rainy days. I had picked up a new rain jacket at Bean's while back East and am amazed at how much I've used it.

This is how we used to spend sunny summer afternoons~ enjoying Marg's at La CocinaLuz downtown. Now we go to town and get caught in the rain so enjoy a wet ride home on the gondola.

Other then giving our rain wear a workout we've been pretty mellow. I've done a bit of traveling for work and Dave's commanding the Jedi forces while his commander is out of town on his vacation. August should bring excitement with Gary coming to town and hopefully a visit from Team Frisco if all works out!

where did july go?

somewhere between the big road trip back east and my flight back for my 10 year high school reunion July has slipped away. I haven't had time to do many posts or any collages but you can click on the new chaos flickr montage on the side bar to see some pics from our travels.... or click here to see some of the wedding, babies and other views from the crew at camp chaos...

vacationland

here's a small gathering of pics from the vacation thus far. a small view of Judson's, Chaos new souvenir collar, my new niece and nephew and the two new Sugarloafers. we're off to see some more folks in the valley before we depart tomorrow.

the return of the travel dog...

Our travel dog has returned! We made the big venture cross country in 40 hours and 4 minutes. The trip this time was a little harder as we weren't well rested and started the long journey out tired. We quickly fell into a pattern of sleeping and driving and Chaos became really good at the sleeping. We'd stop along the way and take walks on dirt roads in Iowa with the monster.
We faced a few traffic snafus- two hours of total stopped traffic in Iowa and a long creeping delay near Chicago. Go Turtle!
Chaos seemed very happy to be the travel dog again. He did a great job staying hydrated and eating his snacks along the wasy. He was pretty excited to pull into his grandparents house on Sunday afternoon and find his friends waiting for him.

prep work....

so we've been pretty busy with all the prep work for the trip. I'm actually feeling anxious as I am not anxious enough.... for this trip I pulled up my packing list from our cross country vacation spring '06 and made some modifications. Right now I am sitting in a hotel room so I had to be ready to go this morning. Dave and Chaos still have another 2 days at home. I know Dave's back is mostly packed and Chaos is all packed and the other items are sitting in the back of the Tacoma thanks to my OCD.
Good thing too as Dave didn't get home from work until after 10pm tonight- he leaves the house between 7:30-7:45am so that's one long day. Thankfully it was big Dave's day off so Chaos got dinner and some breaks at a decent time! He also had a puppy friend come over today and play (thanks Emmy!) and I may call for another to play tomorrow. I was feeling guilty about leaving him today so picked up some good road trip treats for him at Target this afternoon! I am so ready for vacation... it's been since last April (September didn't count as I had less then 1 week off between jobs to pack and move 2,600 miles! That's not a vacation!) Please forgive us if we're zombies when we return to Eastern Standard Time. We're going to need at least a day to recover from this last week!

a busy weekend....

whew. It's the end of a busy weekend in T. It was the 34th annual bluegrass festival . This brings over 12,000 people to a town that is less then 2,000. One of the nice parts about living in such a cool town is that people want to come and visit you! We had some old friends from Sugarloaf spend time on our couches and play with...
I'll do more on that another day... It was a busy and fun weekend and we're headed into a busier week as we go back to work and get ready to drive east on Friday. I actually did some packing this afternoon as it's going to be such a crazy week.

updates....

so here's a pic of the injury...it's been fun watching the different color blues my toes have changed. I'm still having issues walking but can drive the Tacoma which is a standard provided that I remember to use the ball of my foot. So this injury will not be affecting the trip... we leave in 19 days for the east coast.

skiing in june...

so the daves and their buddy cruisy got up early on Saturday and hiked for some turns in June. They headed over to Ophir pass in the truck and hiked to ski in yet another month.

quote for the day: "mmmm... corn.... is there anything it can't do?"

ode to the subaru...

last summer in Maine with a Moose

the end of an era is here. this weekend we said goodbye to the Subaru. It has gone on to another life with another couple and will be replacing a 1987 Subaru. It was time to part ways- the Subaru had been neglected for months and has only left telluride a handful of times. We don't need two cars here- Dave drives a company truck to work and Chaos and I ride the bus (we were walking home until the toe incident.)

So here's to road trips, pimping it out puppy style and cross country drives. We'll miss the Subaru and her heated leather seats, dual moon roofs and cruise control.

no more hiking for a bit...

A windstorm has ended my hikes for a while. The whole area was without power due to the windstorm that killed a generator. Everything I had to do at work was computer based so I grabbed some files and Chaos I headed home to work on the laptop until I killed the battery.

Chaos was pumped when we turned onto the Jurassic Trail to take the long way home. It's a great trail and it takes us past the bench where we walk Chaos behind our house. We were nearing the end of the trail when my sage green croc stumbled. I manged to catch my fall on my other foot but my toes had bent in a curled position and it was the worst stub I've ever had. I gimped home with Chaos thinking the pain would subside.

Chaos will be having a poopy time with my broken toe!

Back at home I propped it up on the couch and ignored my throbbing toe feeling like a wimp. A few hours later I finally realized that something was wrong and should head to the medical center while it was still open. They had closed early due to the power outage so I still had to hit the emergency clinic on the other side of the building. They had some power from generators and were able to take x-rays but couldn't print them due to the power issues. The doc checked the small images out the screen and didn't see any fractures. I was sent home with instructions to ice it and keep it elevated.

my crocs-pre broken toe- pacific ocean 2006
The doc just called and he's reviewed the full size x-rays since the return of the power and I did fracture my toe. It makes me feel validated to know it's broken. I feared I was being a wimp with a stubbed toe. Fractured toes do not require a cast or anything. I just have to buddy tape it to another toe and gimp around as much as possible. Chaos is pretty upset as this is going to kill our daily walks for a least a week while I rest it. Looks like his new pack came just in time to aid in his daily workouts as our outings will be severely reduced.

take a hike...

chaos got a new pack- he was pretty psyched and strutted his stuff on the trail behind the house. he seemed to gaze longingly over a mount wilson... ok maybe not but was happy to be outside in his new pack. we kept the wanderings in the backyard this weekend

sunday headed out on a rafting trip with my company. it was a class two and seemed like a trip down the lazy river after some of the whitewater we've seen back in maine. it was a good time and we ended the day grilling and enjoying sangrias while chaos played with jager and a samoyed named kiera.

the return of river dog and finale of the festival

Bernadette, Roz, Lynn and Kit

This morning I got up super early and headed to town to listen to four "adventure divas". These ladies are not the typical "diva" they each rock in their own right and between them have accomplished a lot, a solo row across the atlantic, visiting the poles, free climbing el capitan in less then 24 hours and skiing all seven highest summits.

I've read Lynn's book Climbing Free and had been hoping to see her at the book signing yesterday. It didn't happen so today after the presentation I lingered like a dork with my book in my pack. She was very gracious and chatted for a moment and signed. I walked away pretty psyched to have a book that I loved signed by the author... I've read it a few times.
This afternoon Dave hit the skate park in town park and I took Chaos to play in the river. At home Chaos loves to play ball in the living room but outside he's easily distracted so we let him become river dog again. On our way home from the park we stopped at the market in town. We were walking in and I spotted Lynn again- not wanting to be a stalker I walked on into the market. While wandering looking for honey I ran into her. She remembered my name and we had a small conversation about the location of pesto and the fact that her four year old son loves pesto! Silly I know- but she remembered my name and was super nice.

our first telluride festival...

So it's finally here- after eight months of living in Telluride we've been to our first festival. Mountainfilm kicks off the four month long festival season every Memorial Day Weekend. The festival is in it's 29th year and I can see why it's such a long running festival. We've attended films, lectures and even an ice cream social plus enjoyed the new ambiance around town. Pray flags adorn the town and people scamper around with festival programs making their way to one of the four venues to see the next event. Sometimes the lines are enormous and sometimes you walk right in. The programs are intense and range from notables like Kit Delauriers who was the first person (and a girl to boot!) to ski the Seven Summits which are the highest points on each continent to David Breashears who filmed the IMAX film on Everest during the notable(and deadliest) 1996 season. I met John Harlin III who climbed Eiger 40 years after it killed his father. We had gone to the presentation and I bought the book and had it signed. Last night we enjoyed some free Fat Tire and watched the 1974 Eiger Sanction with Clint Eastwood. I think this may turn out to be my favorite Telluride Festival. I like the people this one brings in. It's pretty cool to be surrounded by folks who have some very impressive resumes.

Mu-nee in our herb jungle and Chaos cruising in the truck...