river dog

We took the monster on an excursion today. We drove around the area and stopped by the river to let the monster play. He lives for this stuff- whenever we tell him to get in the truck you know he just hopes that we're doing something cool. Sometimes he ends up disappointed when we run to town or the store but days like today keep him jumping in the truck.

We let him wade in the water, chew sticks and be a monster. The water was chilly but Chaos didn't seem phased at all. He's just happy to be a water dog again.

Dave just finished his first week painting in Telluride. He likes the crew and it's been a good change for him.

The mountain closes in two weeks. Telluride will clear out and it will be a ghost town for a few weeks. That was our first view of Telluride when we did our road trip last spring. It will be nice to have things quiet around here. We're hoping to get away during this time. We may head to Moab for the weekend to camp and enjoy the desert. We'll see what ends up happening...

spring has arrived...

we're getting ready for the spring weather that's been hitting Telluride. We've had a bunch of days over 50 degrees and the high altitude sunshine makes it feel so much warmer. All over town summer gear is being sported.

Chaos sporting his visor- ready for the sunshine!

dog days at work

Chaos is now a working dog. He's learning how to be cool in the office and is way more excited to ride the gondola to work then I am. We leave the house in the morning and he does his business before leashing up and hoping on the gondola for the 5 minute ride up the hill.

Every morning he has to go next door and see if his best work buddy Tipsy is there. Tipsy is a saint bernard mix and a bit younger then Chaos. However Tipsy is one of the most mellow young dogs I've ever met. If she's there she'll meander down to our office and hang with Chaos. They usually chew bones. Each will have an identical bone but Chaos always wants the one Tipsy has. When he gets it that bone it's cool for 90 seconds before he repeats the process. Tipsy is cool chewing whatever.

He has other friends too. Sadie is a young chocolate lab (whose parents are from Maine) and comes to the office to kick Chaos's butt. Sadie & Chaos wrestle and play for as long as we let them.

After work Chaos sometimes has walk buddies. Murphy is a curly lab(or golden)doodle who frolicked with Chaos the whole time! Emmy is a hound dog that's too busy chasing a scent to play much but when she comes over it's crazy puppy time. One of of his best buddies is Budo. We can't say his name much or he starts to look around for him. Chaos & I stayed with Budo and his older sister for a week around Turkey Day and the two have been good friends. Budo is going to move closer soon so hopefully they'll get more playtime.

Chaos's work life is way more exciting then mine. I go to the office, do emails, phone calls and projects then go home. Occasionally I get to travel. I'm headed to San Antonio at the end of March. One of my friends from the East will also be going so I'm pretty psyched.

Dave's work life is soon to change. He finished snowmaking in January and has been a barista at a local coffee company since October(carrabassett coffee still is the fave of this coffee snob). Monday he starts painting with Jedi Painting- may the force be with him.

A Telluride Day

So how is life in telluride different from sugarloaf? There's a few things that stand out- some good, some bad and some just different.

First, we can go a month without driving and still go places. That's a hard thing to do- especially in the original camp chaos location.

Rent is 3 times higher. Groceries and other stuff cost more too.

Chaos goes to work in my office. It helps to pay for his dog food and treats. He also goes to the bank and shops in some stores too. He rides the Gondola like a pro but does love to bark and chase them given the chance.

The terrain is different. I would do bad things for a run on Narrow Gauge or Tote Road right now. There has been a lot more snow and a lot less rain. There's also more opportunity to play in the trees here.

There's some good open space out behind our house but gone are the days of letting Chaos out on his own. He's more apt to play in the road or chase elk here. This is bad on frigid days and great on bluebird days.

Mu-nee Kitty gets bath time just like Chaos!

She's one grumpy wet kitty. We're also working on the relationship between the cat and the dog... I am still determined that they will be buddies! Progress is good... she now sleeps in the dog's house on his bed as he tends to sleep on our bed.

We can ride the gondola to the grocery store instead of driving 5 miles. The store also has produce that is fresh and looks good. This was not a strong point at Fodder's Market.

We pick up a lot of dog poop.

Most things can be access by the gondola. Sometimes it's a pain but great for a night on the town and no one has to be a DD. In fact they have a safe ride home program that runs after the G closes for the nights we feel we may need to close a joint down.

I can now say I've had the best truffles ever-Telluride Truffles made right here in town.

We have more that 3 restaurants and bars- over 40 places to get a bite to eat here! There's even international cuisine like thai, chinese, mexican and italian. We do miss Bag burgers, D'Elies sandwiches and Gepetto's but it's hard to complain with so many options.

We don't have to wear 15 layers to go outside in January. We're down to 10 on a bad day and that's the only time we wear scarfs!

Our people aren't here. We're meeting people but good friends take time to cultivate.

welcome to camp chaos

camp chaos began in a cozy cabin (in maine-speak a "camp") near the edge of the Bigelow Preserve and Sugarloaf/USA in the western mountains of maine during 2004. the name came later after the arrival of a fluffy golden retriever dubbed Captain Chaos Monster in February 2005.

Life in maine was good but winters were hard- not for the bitter cold and snow- but because of the effects of global warming- rain in december, extreme wind and grey skies put a damper on the ski season. So camp chaos relocated to south western colorado in search of powder, mountains and sunshine to play in.

Camp Chaos packed a subaru, a tacoma and the small u-haul with whatever fit plus a few things that didn't and drove 2,600 miles with Mu-nee Kitty and Chaos Puppy Monster navigating for each driver. Four days later they were in Telluride and life was forever changed.