Elvis goes to Mountain Magic at Sugarloaf

A few weeks ago my brother, Virg, came over to visit us along with his 5 year old daughter, Elvis. Virg hasn't skied in at least 6 years and was pumped to be back out on the slopes. They arrived to camp chaos on Friday night and we got Elvis suited up in a helmet and goggles for her day on Saturday.

Elvis jumped ski school for the day where she joined Coach Emily and other 5 year old never-ever skiers and mastered the art of slidding downhill and stopping. The program is called Mountain Magic and it certainly describes how the day went for Elvis. We skied by a few times during the day and it was obvious that she was having a blast with her Coach and teammates. After we picked her up at the end of the day we took a few laps on the Birches with her so she could show off her new skills. It was obvious from the look on her face as she clicked into her bindings that a skier had been made that day at Sugarloaf.

Elvis also got to watch me finish her pink sweater...

and enjoyed sledding around camp chaos with her furry cousins...

life with chaos and mayhem

Mayhem is settling into life at camp chaos nicely. Chaos is learning how to be a big brother to someone who likes him a lot more then Mu-nee Kitty does and Mayhem is learning our rules and routines. Dave has another full week of grooming and being a creature of the night before off-season hits the lifts stop for the summer. Chaos and I are really good at taking up the whole bed now after a season of Dave working 5 nights a week. Mayhem sleeps in his crate as it enables Chaos and I some sleep in and cuddle time in the morning. Once I let Mayhem out he springs onto the bed with us and squirms vying for attention. Mu-nee has also figured out that Mayhem's crate time and take the opportunity to have her free roam of the house back.

Munee and Mayhem have had some kitty therapy time and Mayhem is actually afraid of the grumpy cat. She tends to avoid the new monster at all costs and was pretty upset when we made her spend some time with all of us in the living room one day. I think she now realizes how good she really had it with Chaos.

The boys and I play outside each morning then Mayhem has some crate time while Chaos enjoys some couch time before Dave comes home from grooming. He also takes them out for a bit before going to sleep for the night.

In the evenings I like to avoid the mud pit and slush that has become many of our trails and drive the boys to a empty cul-de-sac to play. It's at the base of a hill and tennis balls roll back to me in case one of the dogs (Chaos) loses interest and drops it. Mayhem is quite the ball dog and will play for as long as I let him. Chaos loves to play fetch while swimming but quickly loses interest on terra firma.

Our new spot is great as the hill also lets me pretend to be the ski coach from hell and I make the boys do uphill sprints. I keep waiting for them to catch on to my game but they just keep running. These workouts let Mayhem (and the rest of us) have a quiet night.

Mayhem enjoys sleeping in the tub on occasion and isn't afraid of it like Chaos. They each had a shower on Sunday and the lavender puppy shampoo scent lasted a few days before the spring mud smell returned.

Chaos has been excellent about sharing his toy collection and Mayhem is learning how to use the treat spot in the kongs and Planet Dog Toys.

We're working on our manners and although Mayhem eats like he hasn't been fed in years, he is sitting before his meal is presented just like Chaos. We've been adding some toys to his food bowl so he has something to work around and helps to slow down his pace. This little step also ensures that each pup is in his own spot and we haven't had any food fights at all. In general the boys don't wrestle with each other. This helps keep things at campchaos pretty calm overall.

Mayhem had his first vet visit on today and he was dropped off early in order to get neutered for an early birthday present. I'm sure he'll love spending his birthday on tomorrow wearing a cone... perhaps we can dress it up like a birthday hat?  When I picked up Mayhem, Chaos had a few routine shots done. We don't get to schedule vet appointments very often... usually chaos will find some reason to see Dr. Taylor, he'll do anything from getting sick to a ski injury to see his favorite vet.

We have less then a week left of lift service here in Telluride. We lucked out on Saturday and had 22" with bluebird weather. Jared, Dave and I even did a hike-to. Bald Mt is a 20+/- minute hike for some pretty deep snow.

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.

powder days in telluride

We awoke on Saturday to 13 fresh inches and the sky was still dumping. Chaos managed to score a short walk before Dave and I headed out for a day on the hill.

After taking some runs together, we found our friends waiting at the gate to Prospect Bowl... the rope dropped and it was a ski/board cross race to the lift. 95% of the crowd hit Gold Hill and Jess and I met up at Prospect Express. We had first tracks down Stella and captured the image in the low light..

We found some good stashes and hung out in prospect for a while...

Eventually we found Jared and Dave again and stopped for a snack at High Camp.

Seriously... this sounds narly but was actually really good and marked gluten free... a gourmet chocolate bar laced with bacon. While there was more snow this morning I ended up working all day and not making time for a ski break.... perhaps tomorrow if all goes well!

The bacon chocolate only made us realize how starving we all were and we descended on Big Dave's house at Melrose Place for some food and tubby time. We made Brinner (breakfast for dinner) and all the non-glutards piled it high on a bulky roll.  We made gluten free pancakes, hash browns, eggs, bacon and sausage and a few folks managed to get all these layered up into a sandwich.

powdah days

Friday had 15" of fresh powder and somehow we both managed to have the day off. We were on the hill by 10am and didn't hit apres until after 3:30pm. Today was another 5" and a shorter day on the hill since Dave is working tonight and needed to rest and nap. I used his nap time to make some gluten free homemade granola bars and reload my ipod.  Right now I'm watching a lot of Grey's Anatomy and started loading episodes right onto the itouch. Gotta love the McMainer! We started watching this October starting from season one on Netflix and am now on season six- which happens to be the current season. I had to delete some music and movies to make room for upcoming episodes. There's worse addictions I could have.

Chaos has dealing well with getting ditched on powder days... we try to take him on a good walk most nights and last night he got to go to a party at Uncle Dave's house then a big walk home down the snowy trail. He still chases skiers and did pull his muscle last week and has been limping around a bit. He's fine when he's outside but limps when he gets off the couch. That's what he gets for sprinting after skiers again...

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...

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.

18 inches... 'nuff said

Skiing August 3rd Telluride, Co

somebody call singer...

Because these guys ripped it up in Telluride!

Good times in Telluride~ Sara and Colleen made the trip out this winter and we had a great visit... they skied hard, hit all the telluride hotspots and had no turtle travels! Whoo-hoo!

More Snow!

Here's some photos I've been meaning to share- henious amounts of snow, the x-games and a few more...

welcome to 2008~ six feet of snow!

2008 has started off very well. We have gotten over 6 feet (yes-FEET) of natual snow in the span of a week and have had some pretty epic days. I'm also working a lot which leaves little time for posting... here's some images that may make you want to VisitTelluride! And yes I am on my alpine skis... you try making tele turns in 6 feet of snow! Chaos is also buried up to his neck.... and that was one of the early days of the snowfall! He's becoming quite the bounder in the deepness.

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.

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!