Hard to Believe We Were Just There

Hard to believe we were even on vacation! 

Jumping right back into work we left smoldering tends to snap the feeling of being on vacation right out of your mind.  

It helps to look at our pictures to get me back in that traveling / adventure mood!

Just looking at this picture makes we want to take off on another mountain bike vacation RIGHT NOW!

A very fun couple on the trip, Judith and Deke, sent us their pictures in a nifty website; they did an excellent job photo documenting the trip.  Judith's Pictures

And now it is time to start searching for the next adventure!  

I wonder where it will be and I hope it comes soon!

Snow to Desert and Back for Summer

I always hate leaving our cats when we go on vacation, but Joanne is right when she says they wouldn't have much fun tagging along with us.   However, the look that they give us as we leave tells a different story.

Our mountain bike vacation to the desert started with a snow storm in the mountains the night before we left.  We were very lucky that we decided to leave early Saturday morning rather than after work on Friday; the trip over the mountain passes would have been miserable.

Our friend Jeffrey showed up right on time at 630 am, and then we made the quick trip to Glenwood Springs for a fun stop to see what is new at the cave (Glenwood Caverns).  As usual, Steve has new and exciting things for visitors to do.

After a quick tour of Glenwood Caverns we hurried on down the road to Moab, Utah to meet up with Lowry and Colleen and start our latest adventure.

Our 2010 spring adventure was a catered 4 day mountain bike vacation on the White Rim Trail within Canyonlands National Park.   Four days of riding our mountain bikes with buddies, sleeping under the stars, drinking beer, and enjoying great meals.   Yee Ha!!!

To put the trail into perspective, this picture is from  the trailhead; the little dot on the road is a truck!

The White Rim Trail is on this layer of sandstone and goes for over 100 miles in a big loop.   There are spectacular rock formations and canyons to be seen on every mile of the trip.  You can do the trip on a dirt bike motorcycle or a stout 4WD vehicle, but we prefer a slower, more personal method - mountain biking.

I love sharing this trip with Joanne, because she truly loves riding her bike!  

(more posts to come)

Weather Watcher

For the week or so before any of our outdoor vacations/adventures, Phil and I check the weather reports 3 - 5 times a day. It must be the latent farmer in each of us.

Anyway - Woo Hoo!!

Looking forward to some sun, some fun & good times with good friends.

Many photos to follow - we promise.

Too Wet To Go Outside

This year had a long cold winter and now has turned into a very, very wet spring.

Fritz and Rex are quite annoyed at not being able to got outside because it is too wet, and we don't want to deal with muddy kitty prints everywhere. 

I make it worse by stocking the bird feeder every morning to give them something to fantasize about.   :)

A Great Weekend

The weekend started with our first bike race of the season, the Front Range 50 mountain bike race.

Race day was brisk (about 35 degrees at the 830 am start, and maybe 52 by the end), but dry and sunny!   Unfortunately, being the novice blogger that I am I forgot my camera to take pictures of the race.  But we did get a cool sticker in the race packet.

Joanne did 30 miles, or 3 laps of the race, and pulled out before the other races funneling onto the course made it crazy. I unfortunately did not know her wise plan and continued on.  

On the fourth lap several groups of 8 to 12 riders in the Expert class came by me in a tight twisty area of single-track.  The Experts are much stronger riders than Joanne or me.   Ther are all fighting for position on a 2 lap race, so they are going hard and furious.   Riders were passing me on both my left and right sides. I got frazzled, which led to hitting a rock wrong, and WHAM! I was down with two Expert class racers landing on top of me.

Luckily for me I only got a couple of bruises and a good stinger.   The fifth and final lap for me was just the opposite of the fourth's chaos.  The shorter races were done, the faster racers on the 50 mile race were done, and there I was with a fraction of the riders on a sunny dry day.   I spent the whole last lap trying to catch and pass other riders and finished stronger than I expected.

We woke up to a beautiful Sunday, which was probably our nicest weather yet this year.   Sunny and in the mid 60's.

The day started with YOGA to loosen up our sore muscles.

Rolling in the dirt for Fritz and Rex!

Eating on the patio for the first time this year!

Getting some of our gear ready for our mountain biking vacation in Canyonlands National Park by Moab, Utah.  We are heading out next weekend for a 4 day trip on the White Rim with our friends Lowry, Colleen, and Jeffrey.   

Lowry and Colleen called and left a message on our phone saying they were sorting out camping gear.  When I heard that message I instantly got pumped up!   One week until we are riding in a living postcard with good friends, catered food, and sleeping in a tent with my best friend.

To top it off, we are supposed to get a big spring snow storm this week, which makes us appreciate a warm weather vacation even more.

We hope your Mother's Day weekend was special as well.

Pigs, Pigs, and more Pigs

Thanks to my mother's sharp eye at a yard sale, the annual Kriz/Morrow P-I-G basketball tournament is well stocked with several years of prizes.

Which one is your favorite?

Mine is the tiger stripe!!!!    

I hope that is the grand prize the year I win!    

Ha.....that is never going to happen, the competition in our sporty neighborhood is just way too rough. Even the little kids are good; they spend several hours shooting hoops in our driveway every week to keep their skills sharp. 

Thanks Mom!!

And Happy Mother's Day!!!

Love, PK and JM

Don't Try This at Home

Ouch. 'Nuff said.

Lost & Found!

Fritz went missing Sunday afternoon.

I walked around the neighborhood calling his name several times last night, this morning, and then this afternoon.

Then I started checking neighborhood sheds; he was locked up in a garden shed - and not very happy about it from the sounds he was making!

So, he is grounded!  Rex is outside playing and Fritz is wandering around pissed that he cannot go out, but having him home makes me and Joanne both happy ~ !!