Trout Lake and Balloon Festival

The dogs had their first serious swim day this weekend and enjoyed the frigid waters of Trout Lake. Both boys swam until they shook. It jumped from winter to summer in the span of a week and we're now enjoying daytime temps in the high 60's to low 70's and went from snowy days to sunshine.

This year marked the first that we witnessed the Balloon glo on Colorado Avenue in Telluride. We each grabbed a camera and captured the shots. Dave used the D100 and the tripod while I used the Nikon S6000 and just clicked away.

campchaos welcomes a little mayhem

It's offical... campchaos is now also home to a little mayhem. We picked Mayhem up yesterday and he is settling in well to life at campchaos. Mayhem is almost a year old and a pure golden. We weren't able to see photos before we picked him up and were pleasantly surprised that he looks similar to Chaos. We've been talking about getting a second dog and this was set into motion around Christmas when we asked our landlord. She knows Chaos well and consented. Last week she called and asked if we were interested in an older puppy. She had a friend who's daughter had a golden that needed a new home. It was a big week and we decided to have Mayhem join campchaos. We kept it quiet in case it fell though... what if they backed out? what it the puppy was a monster? 
So Friday morning we were up and on the road before the sun to go pick up our new pup. We did drive through a storm because it was the first time we've ventured past Montrose all winter and that's the way the world works. Since we drive the car so infrequently we also learned at the top of Monarch Pass that it was time to invest in some new windshield wipers for the 4Runner. Thankfully there are a number of places to pull over a clean the windshield.

Chaos has the entire back of the 4Runner to spread out in on the way there and ended up curling up on top of our bags. The normally six hour drive to Colorado Springs turned into an 8 hour drive and we all felt a little cooped up by the time we arrived in the Springs. (Go Turtle!)

We picked up Mayhem and went over to the nearby Garden of the Gods Park to walk the boys together. The weather was moving in and we grabbed a quick gluten-free dinner at PF Changs before the long drive home. They just added a few more items to their gluten-free menu and it was great to be able to try them out.

21 hours after we left, we returned home with our new monster.

This morning I took the boys out for a walk and Mayhem had his first gondola ride. He slipped his collar and was afraid to get on but Chaos climbed in like a seasoned pro and I scooped up Mayhem and added him to the cabin. He rode it fine after that and I tightened his collar for the exit.

We had a good walk and the boys romped in the fresh snow.

Chaos has a lot to teach his new little brother... Mu-nee Kitty checked out his crate last night and has not made an appearance yet today to make comment on this new addition.

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.

All the cool kids are doing it...

The boo-boo buddies

We have definitely needed a sense of humour to get through this weekend. Less then 30 hours after chaos was bit his friend mako was too. We were with the dogs in the backyard hanging out with some friends and mako was bit over a tennis ball. Another trip to the world's best vet and more stitches! Both dogs are recovering well and have no lasting damage- just scars.
~Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

camp chaos hits the trail

we took a break from skiing this weekend and went for a snowshoe up Bear Creek. We had Murphy the golden doodle for the weekend and also invited Budo along since his parents just had a baby and he needs the playtime.



the trail is also the location where skiers dump out from some of telluride's extreme terrain and we saw around 10 skiers and riders headed down. Murphy was able to take down two snowboarders and I managed to distract the other two with treats so they wouldn't join in on the fun. But I guess if you can handle the terrain you should also be able to deal with 3 monsters chasing you down the trail. Chaos had a lot of fun with his friends and we all enjoyed the sunshine.
Dave and chaos are now sacked out on the couch watching The Goonies... this 1985 classic became a lot cooler since we visited the town and beach featured in the movie during our spring 2006 road trip. Here's chaos running after the waves.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.