a long december....

I have to say that I'm ready for 2009 to be over. It's been a busy year and I'm hoping to slow down a bit more in 2010.... but with an October event and the craziness of Telluride I think a slow 2010 is just a dream.

I've been trying to spend more time cooking and baking. I've been playing with a few gluten free flour blends and perfecting my street noodles. In case you didn't know I also am a gluten free blogger.... but have fallen even further behind there!

Dave's been busy snowmaking and starts grooming next week when the roll up the snowmaking hose for the season. He'll be working nights all winter so Chaos will have a buddy to nap with during the day.

Telluride hosted the 2009 Snowboardcross World Cup event and we cheered on two Sugarloafer. Seth Wescott won the gold in the 2006 Olympics and we've cheered him on in a few events. This year Alex Tuttle joined in on the fun... he even stayed here at campchaos and managed to make it through Dave's entire collection of the Simpson's.  Alex is 19 and graduated from CVA last year and this was his first world cup race. There are 60+ racers that come to town for this and they only have 32 spots for race day so they do a qualifier the day prior. SBX is a lot of fun to watch as it's 4 races flying down the course at one time and egging each other on. The qualifiers are a grueling process where each races gets two solo runs down the course and the top 32 times advance to the next day's races.  Alex had a great showing and hit 43rd (did I mention this is his first World Cup event.... and not his last!) and Seth hit 2nd and went on to the next day. The bonus for us was getting to watch the finals with Alex and knowing that when he said Seth was solid that things were ok and when he got nervous there was a good reason!  This is a race that is helping to secure spots at the 2010 olympics. It was on NBC last week and that was Dave and I rocking the Go Wescott Banner.... you could safely call us his biggest Telluride fans.

Work has been insane and I'm on day 11 straight.... 'nuff said. Plus my crackberry is on the fritz... it thinks I want to take photos instead of making calls or sending emails. At one point it wouldn't even let me pick up phone calls. I ordered a new phone and as soon as I did the old crackberry started working again.... arugh. I also changed my mind and am going to move away from the crackberry and find a new model..... I've been asking around and everyone seems to love the droid.... thank goodness for a 30 day return policy. This is the hard part about working too much and not having a good cell phone store around us.

sitting with santa

Blizzard walks

Riding up the chondola with chaos for our nightly walk down the hill..... Tonight in the snow
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Welcome to winter

Telluride opened the lifts on turkey day and between cooking the bird and gluten free pies we managed to get on the hill and ski a few days. I was able to score a long weekend..... Which will be my last until April!
Chaos now gets to run down the mountain at night and loves the new variation on the walks. We ride up the chondola from our house and hike down the trail. He plays the whole way and even slides down the trail like a sea otter.
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Poopy nights

3rd night in row of waking up every 60 to 90 minutes. Put on down jacket, hat, head lamp and boots. Walk down stairs and stand outside for 5-10 min in 14 degree weather. Come in and wipe runny pooh from Chaos's sore bum and long hair. Try to sleep before next round and feel guilty for feeling grumpy when he's sick.

And oh yeah.... Dave's working nights so I am on chaos duty alone. I still have to work and did a presentation at 10am today for crowd of 40 people and had to wing it since the power point I made wouldn't work on the big screen and then froze on my computer- remembered that i should always print a hard copy so i don't have to remember my presentation after a night of 4 hours of interrupted sleep.
He is eating. He now likes to have his dish elevated since his muscles are tired of bending. I made him rice and boiled chicken and mixed it with a bit of canned dog food. He is doing better during the day with much longer times between episodes. He went to his friends house while I went to a longer afternoon meeting and did really well. I was feeling optimistic that tonight would be mellow but we've been outside 3 times since 10:30pm- good times.
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not so chaotic....

the vet wasn't sure either but there's a good chance chaos ate something that messed up his system. He had his stool and blood tested on Monday which both came out clear and did not have any tummy troubles when Dr. Taylor checked him out. He feels better in the afternoons and mornings are rough. Last night he woke me at 1:30am and the puke monster became the poop monster (in a very watery version of this term).... this continuted every 60-90 minutes through 10am. He started to feel a bit better and started going a few hours between trips outside. We're very lucky as he does tell us. I'd rather have him wake me 7 times then wake up to piles.... or  puddles as it came out...
He didn't eat breakfast today but did eat a good dinner and is now begging for another trip outside... it's gonna be a long night.

he's moving a lot faster now...

Waiting

The vet is in surgery all morning and I am waiting with chaos for a 2pm appointment. He has been drinking water and has not thrown up since 10:30pm last night but still isn't eating and would not get out of bed this morning. I tried all the good words and even brought him a treat covered with peanut butter which he didn't eat.
I went to work this morning racked with guilt on leaving him home alone and was thrown out. I very much appreciate working with dog lovers.
He's resting in the back of the 4runner and I'm reading to pass the time. I was hoping to get in early but regardless this is the best spot to wait. If anything goes funky we are here. I had to lift him out of bed this morning and carried him halfway down from our third floor condo before making him walk. My dog carry needs some work and chaos needs to lose a few pounds. He seems a bit better then this morning but he isn't himself..... What self respecting monster turns down peanut butter covered treats?
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Chaos puke monster

He has thrown up 6 times today and will not eat..... If this keeps up we will be at the vet tomorrow! Chaos has never refused food before..... Or treats or peanut butter. We got him to drink a small amount of water which came back up.
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Colorado boy pub

A lazy Sunday in Ridgway.....
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Best way to clean a peanut butter jar for recycling....

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Stella and chaos

They chill out together as well but this is when they are having the most fun.....
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6 inches and still dumping

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off season?

Most ski towns have an off season where things and life slows down. Technically we are in off season but I'm still spending a lot of time and energy working. Dave worked Saturday and started snowmaking tonight. We managed to take a bit of a break this weekend and hit a pumpkin carving party at Jim's house. He made his signaure chili and even made two pots and made one with Gluten Free Beer! I'm very lucky that our friends have been great about helping me eat gluten free... guess it just goes to show you how grumpy I used to be when eating gluten.... or that we have good friends. Either way we had friends ensure that there were chili, crackers, dips and cupcakes that were glutarded for me.

Here's a little photo montage from the event. At the end there is also a Munee and Chaos segment...



And a shot of Team Dave on their first night of snowmaking... we made a really good slow cooker meal tonight to send them off into the night shift and 18 degree weather warm and happy.

Things chaos loves...

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a trip down memory lane via the Last Dollar Road

Dave's enroute to the East Coast right now (should be landing in Boston any moment) and Chaos and I are home with the spaz of a cat holding down the fort. I've been catching up on cleaning and even managed to trap the cat in the storage under the window seat when I made the bed. It's ok... she meowed an hour later and I let her out... really- I didn't leave her there on purpose. Although I may wish I had later when she's overtaking my pillows. I've been waking up congested a lot and blame this on the small furry one.

Oct 2007 Last Dollar Road

On our way home chaos and I took the shortcut. Last Dollar Road was the first way Camp Chaos ever attempted to drive into Telluride. The 2006 Visitor Guide showed the road and Dave and I thought it would be a good shortcut. Although it is shorter it is a more scenic drive on a dirt road in the mountain, in late April 2006 we found this out the hard way and didn't make it the whole way. We had to turn around and go on the Sawpit road instead--- but not before killing the midpipe of the subaru's muffler in a deep puddle. In April 2006 the road had been partially snowed in and was impassable. We have had some snow this season but only small patches remain in the woods and the 4runner had no issue with our scenic route today.

Our 2006 road trip covered Maine to Washington in three weeks and over 9,000 miles.

We packed a subaru and thule box with all the things for a good trip and only managed to camp out one night... where we didn't even set up the tent because it snowed 4".  It's funny now to think that we wanted to camp in Colorado in late April!

The trip gave us a chance to see ski towns all over the west and try to plan where we wanted to move... we ended up in the town that we spent 3 hours in. We had came into Telluride during the spring off season and it was a quiet town. The gondola was closed as were most of the shops. We walked Chaos in town park then grabbed pizza at BIT while taking advantage of their free Wi-Fi to send out an email update.... this was before camp chaos became bloggers and had a crackberry.

Chaos looks so young in all the photos. He was a year and four months old and still living up to his name. He had a sweet set up in the back of the wagon. Chaos was still using a crate so we packed his foldable soft sided crate along with his LL Bean dog bed for the trip. I loved that crate but am glad that phase is over. It's a lot easier traveling sans crate.  We used to take it into hotels when traveling with him. When we moved cross country we had Chaos with his crate and Munee Kitty and her litter box plus their food and our stuff to contend with each night.

While going through photos tonight I found this shot of the Last Dollar Road and also the one above taken in October 2007. It's funny to see how we capture the same mountians and now view them so differently. In April 2006 we thought this was a great shot of pretty mountains... after three years here I can now see how  this isn't...it's almost drab in comparison to the Fall 2007 image.

It also goes to show you how long we've been here now. This September marked three full years in Telluride.

rest and recovery

Where to begin.... a road trip to red rocks, camping, gluten free slow cookers, dog adventures, blues & brews festival.... so much to catch up on and so little time...

Jason mraz

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rainy day adventures....

um.... guys... i think it's gonna rain again...

I'm not sure why chaos was so concerned about it raining since he spent much of his time Saturday in the lake. Meg and Sam came to town and we escaped our house and headed up to Alta Lakes. It was a rainy afternoon and we set up our sunshade(ok.... rainshade), had a small fire and enjoyed a day by the lake with the three goldens.

we had started the day out right with a good breakfast of gluten free pancakes and finished with a visit to Fat Alley BBQ. Oh yeah... there's a small festival going on but for once we skipped it all! All four of us just needed a chill day watching some cave man tv (aka the campfire) and letting the monsters swim... Chaos spent most of the day yesterday recovering on the couch from all the fun!

bouldering after work

chaos wishing he had fingers....

me working past my fear of falling while jess shows no weakness

even in a place like telluride work can sometimes be stressful... so we head out bouldering after work with Jared and Jess. Their dog Stella and Chaos run around while we play on the rocks and get out some frustrations and have fun.

jared working the rock

We hit a nice spot not far outside of town. I prefer climbing on a rope to bouldering... I like the security the rope offers. On my little problem I found that my fear of falling (even just a few feet onto a thick bouldering pad) made me crimp my paw (hand) in fear. I wasn't able to move it at all or communicate my conundrum. After glancing through the viewfinder dave realized the my face was an unnatural shade of red and something was really wrong. I did manage to tackle the problem by the end of the night.... just not for a few more tries. I definitely earned my gluten free beer after that experience! It helped to take the edge of my aching arm muscles.

Dave's earned the name spider-pig due to his ability to latch onto the rock in an unnatural way... Jess and Jared have only been climbing this year and have really taken to it. It's fun to be able to go play with our friends while letting stress go.

Alta lakes

Chaos and I scouted a nice spot and have settled in for an afternoon at the lake. At 11,000 feet this does not include swimming for me. Chaos doesn't seem to mind the cool breeze or chilly water and has been playing fetch for the last hour. This is my final day off. I was able to get 4 off in a row after working 10 in a row. I was finally able to run some errands, take chaos on long walks in the woods, get a haircut and find the best gluten free cake at the farmers market. Where is Dave in all this you may ask? Well some band named phish reunited and Sam and Dave got tickets to the gorge in Washington. He's on a little road trip while I enjoy some long overdue quiet time. He already added a new sticker to the thule box collection- we add one on all of our travels with the thule box....
Chaos is fine with Dave being gone for now.... He's been able to take up daves whole spot on the bed and has enjoyed our four days of chaos fun times.... What dog wouldn't enjoy long walks, swimming in mountain lakes and a few extra treats?
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Morning gondola commute with chaos

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Mountainfilm night two!

Two more flicks under the stars... Luckily the torrential rain that hit earlier today has moved east and we have our second clear night in a row!
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Movie night telluride style......

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Mountain film under the stars

Waiting for darkness and the start of mountainfilm under the night sky
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Makos mark departs from telluride

And makos mark readys to depart from town after a scant 1.5 years of hanging out with camp chaos. Chaos is having a quiet night with mako while we enjoy a rowdy night at the historic new Sheridan bar in town with the humans from makos mark. Cheers and safe travels to Alaska!
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Fuzzy cousins.....

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asiaramblin hits campchaoscolorado

it's been a busy week here at camp chaos and chaos has been making friends with his two of his cousins. Keturah fell in love a first hair pull and Moyer took a bit of time to warm up to the furball who we called his cousin... chaos is the oldest and tallest and can be a bit intimidating to those shorter then him. He's been very gentle with the kiddos and enjoying their company.
We hit the sunset concert on Wednesday night and Moyer became terribly upset when chaos left to go play with his friends. "My doggie! My doggie is gone!" Chaos loves Moyer's dropped peanut butter sandwitches and cleaning his hands after meals and snacks.
We hit the Ouray Hot Springs today and have also had fun here in town at Bridal Veil Falls, riding the gondola, thai food, climbing on Adventure Rock, sunset concerts and small hikes. We even kicked P&K out for an evening so we could watch movies with the kids here at home.

Another week, another show....

Dave was pumped to see George Clinton performing in telluride town park. Rusted root opened and made for a stellar show under the setting sun on a warm July day.
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Grace potter and the 3rd of July

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gondola cabin #38

we camped out thursday night at the woods lake campsite. I had a late afternoon meeting that ran into the evening so dave drove out and set up camp while chaos scouted the area. We drove out after the meeting in a rain storm that never really let up. Although it was a sweet site we hung in the tent and watched Into the Wild on the ipod touch. There's something about a rainy night that makes me love this movie.
We awoke the next morning to more rain. Mornings are usually sunny but it was pouring. Chaos and I ventured out of the tent for a short walk and were drenched. we left camp set up trying to be optimistic that we would be back for another drier evening with friends that night and headed in for breakfast at the Blue Jay.
We headed into town and met Jess at the Farmers Market to pick up some cheeses and other goodies for that evening. the plan had been to have our friends camp out with us on friday night to celebrate my birthday but the rain changed our plan and we invited them to the house for dinner instead.
We headed up the gondola with Jess and all ventured out at the top to enjoy the break in the sky. Jess headed down to Mountain Village while Dave and I caught cabin #38 back to Telluride and the 4runner. He asked if I wanted my birthday present then handed me a bubblegum machine ring. I took it out and asked what it meant. After I put on the black glass ring he pulled out the real ring. The Bigelow Range are the mountains that our camp bordered and that are best viewed from Sugarloaf. While we were back east this spring Dave had called Liz, the designer, about the ring. Liz has a great line of jewelry and was eager to make Dave a ring. They worked on the details and the ring arrived last monday in telluride. I love those mountains and it is a great symbol for us.
our friends came over for dinner and no one noticed the small detail... we had been pretty adamant that we were on the 10 year program that his older brothers had followed so he caught pretty much everyone off guard. I guess last birthday's kitchen aid mixer had to be topped somehow!

We spent the weekend having fun with friends, attending a wine tasting and a Citizen Cope concert and spreading news. Thank goodness for facebook and the blog or else we would have killed our cell minutes for the month! Tonight we had ice cream in the famous kitchen aid ice cream attachment and enjoyed a quiet night after a busy weekend.

No details have been decided but stay tuned. Any ideas for a fun event.... must include one fabulous golden retriever....

Citizen cope concert on a big weekend

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Wine festival in telluride for my birthday weekend

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Sunsets on ajax

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Mountains, music and summer in telluride

I use the word summer loosely since I am in town park at the bluegrass festival and we are all in down jackets. The temperature is sinking faster then the sun and its in the 40's tonight. Our new sun shade morphed into a rain shade today and filled with friends when the clouds opened up and dumped during the normally scorching and sunny festival .
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Yonder mountain kicks off bluegrass...

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High on the bilk wall

Climbing after a long Monday at the bilk wall outside of town.....
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