MOUNTAIN LIVING

On Joe's 37th birthday (Aug 1st), we moved into a small cabin up in the mountains as a place holder until we find our dream fixer-upper.

Click here for a Map Quest view of the cabin's general location. Zoom out to see our proximity to Nederland, Boulder, etc.


Getting here is a 20 to 30 minute drive to/from Boulder (depending on the weather and *whether* you're traveling up or down the mountain). The cabin is located on Lazy Z Road, just south of Nederland, which was once a Tungsten mining town nestled in at 8233 feet. Although the altitude hasn't changed, the attitude has... "Ned" is now full of hippies, dreamers and slackers (we've increased this portion of the population by +2.5) ...it's also peppered with seasonal athletes in high altitude training (mostly long distance runners from anywhere in the world), extreme... you-name-its & whatevers, and the occasional non-standard success story.



The views are breath taking and it's very peaceful ...with exception to the train whistle that carries from way down in the valley. I didn't mind the sound, but it took Tina a few sleepless nights to adjust.

EUROPE '05

In the fall of 2005 (while Tina and I were falling blissfully in love... ), we took advantage of my previous employer's travel policy and hit up various spots in Spain (mostly in Madrid and Toledo) and then onto "Pair-EEE"... we paid the toll in Paris as I had to work all week and Tina was hit by a bicyclist on her way to the Louvre.

During the 2 week adventure, we ate a lot of Tapas and Crembrule, AND Tina even found some time to do a little rock climbing somewhere above Burgos ("Vairgos"?? -Spain).




While taking this photo of us at the Eiffle Tower, we were approached by several militants with machine guns, as they were clearing the space under the tower.
In my elite 007 style, I chose not to follow the crowd, and decided it best to head in another direction... with the gunners yelling and pointing at us, Tina and I had to disagree on whether or not to listen to the guys with guns. I lost this disagreement shortly after Tina took sides with the French militia (I thought she was Austrian!)... no one was shot.