Make something happen

Now that I've tried to submit to stock agencies (without success, so I'm in a bit of a holding pattern and trying to study the sites), it's time to query travel pubs or websites to see if I can something accepted. I'll be off to Chicago next week, and hopefully what I'll be doing there -a writers workshop - is taking that step and having it go somewhere.

I have a few articles, so I can get things going right away. But just like with the photos, I'm afraid of rejection (who isn't??). I just need to get it done, hard as it is.

So, I may be writing here on Monday. After that, though, it's on to the Windy City. We'll see if I can blog and take pictures from there.

Running (sort of) strong

This morning, our Lab Zena and I went up to Chautauqua in Boulder. It's a beautiful place, but I've never felt that I could run there because it's all uphill - or really, up-mountain. But now that I'm in a little better shape than I've been before, it wasn't so bad.

Until I had to stop, which was more than a few times :( Those inclines were much steeper than I thought and the temperature was much hotter than I like it, but somehow I made it to the top. Of course, I rejoiced in the descent. Oh, how mistaken I was.

Going down the mountain was almost as tough as going up. The grade was so steep, I had to traverse and almost bound instead of run, so I wouldn't slide headfirst onto the rock-strewn path. But all in all, it was fun and very much worth it. What I couldn't do for the past eight years living in altitude, I finally can do - with a few breaks along the way.

Our new home - in 10 years?

We were down in Durango this weekend - actually, the last four days. R went to college down that way, at Ft. Lewis, and really enjoyed his time there. We'd gone down there once before, when he ran his first (and so far, only) marathon. This time, we met up with his family for a mini-reunion. All of us went on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad - R, his mom and I went up and did the round trip, and the rest of the family went rafting, then took the return trip with us.

Here's what some of it looked like...



On our way, we also went over Wolf Creek Pass, where I scared the living daylights out of R's mom. But I think my risk was worth it.






Someday, when the kids are at college and R's parents are gone, we may try to find a place here. Personally I'd also like to live in San Francisco or the Sonoma wine country, but that's my ultimate goal. We'll see if it comes true.

Website purgatory

So I finished my long-delayed website for my writing and photography. Here it is!

And not to denigrate GoDaddy too much (after all, they are providing full service for my domain, web design and most importantly, hosting), but it was a pain in the butt.

I spent most of the day trying to do the writing and layout, uploading the pictures, and just trying to get the darn thing off the ground. For some reason, it kept timing out, and every time it did, it would basically kick me off the website. Of course, I will still have to fine-tune the whole thing, since it's very basic, but now at least I have something to show people and to refer editors to.

Tomorrow we head off to Durango, so of course I'll be looking for things to write about and pictures to take. So I'll probably post next Monday. See ya then!

The Springs

Last weekend, we traveled down to Colorado Springs. Some friends lent us their passes to the LPGA US Open at the Broadmoor and encountered way too much in the way of thundertstorms. The girls, getting easily freaked out by these kinds, begged us to leave early. So we didn't get to see much of the tournament. But we at least got to stay at our friend's place in Manitou Springs, with this jaw-dropping view (which you can't see that well because it's sunrise.



The next day, R headed back to the Broadmoor to watch more the tournament, while the girls and I went to Cheyenne Mountain. Here they get to feed some budgies



And feed some giraffes (and I mean, really up close and personal). All in all, Cheyenne Mountain has more to offer than one think it would. I highly recommend going there if you have children who love zoos.

How ironic...

Here I'm writing in this blog more than ever, but I'm not getting any traffic and therefore, no readers. Now that I've discontinued the knitting aspect of this and expanded it, I'm not quite finding the audience. But I'm hooked - I'm not giving this up, because I know eventually, I will get that audience. Just keep plugging away.

Cooking and food are another thing I want to write about here. I love to eat - that's why I also have to exercise like a demon. And lately, I've tried to be more vegetarian - not something that's easy to do, especially when three out of the four people in my family are not inclined to do that. I also love desserts and sweets, beer, wine and cheese, and breads. All foods that are certainly not the healthiest, but I love them nonetheless.

Right now, I'm trying to learn more about wine - a fascinating subject and yet so esoteric to me. It's something that I'd like to learn a lot about, but I still don't have a good grasp on it.

Camping pics

So, I just thought I'd add some pictures about our recent camping adventure. Even though it was only one day out, we found a nice spot next to a rushing, high-level creek just below Red Cone Pass near Bailey. This was at sunset...



We also went on a very small part of the Colorado Trail, a 420+ mile route stretching from outside Denver to Durango. R talks about going on his bike someday and riding the entire length of it. Personally, I'd love to see him do it, but I just don't know if he could handle it.





Because of the snow and all the precipitation, wildflowers blanketed the ground everywhere - including the state flower, the columbine...






Next week, it's on to Durango. Later on, I'll be writing about our little weekend jaunt to Colorado Springs (really, Manitou Springs, which is just five miles west). I didn't realize this before, but we're doing a lot of traveling around this summer! :)

Horsing Around

Continuing with the cruise...

We went to St. Maarten as part of the last stop on the cruise. Here, we thought we were being clever and rented a Jeep. But as it turned out, we had limited time and sometimes didn't know where to go (traffic circles can be such as pain in you-know-where). So once we found this Seaside Nature Park - right next to an oil refinery/power plant, ick - they had a mix up with our reservations, and we ended up waiting 1 1/2 hours to get on the horses. You can imagine how gumpy the girls (and I) were.

Once we got on, though, it was quite enjoyable, even with the industrial structure at our backs...



Another "must-do" on St. Maarten is Maho Beach. Here, just yards away from the main landing runway of the island's airport, people can watch - and feel - jumbo jets going overhead, despite ear-splitting noise and find sand stinging their faces.



Of course, there are some foolish individuals who try to REALLY experience what jet wash feels like. We didn't see anyone doing that, but I guess enough people attempt to do just that. Hence the government warning...



The last thing we attempted was to go to the French side of the island and the town of Marigot. But since we couldn't find parking, we just headed back to the port and to the ship.

Lesson learned - when you're on a cruise and have very limited time, take a tour instead!

More about the cruise...

So as I tried to write yesterday, J and N really enjoyed their time on Freedom of the Seas. Case in point...


When we set sail, they had a Dreamworks party with the "Madagascar" and "Shrek" characters. The girls couldn't help themselves and joined the party.

And yet another...



N took part in a circus parade and was a tiger. She also was part of a pirate parade. Personally, I think she enjoyed the massive attention she got from crowds.

We also took an awesome snorkel charter to a cove with sea turtles. Of course, N really enjoyed that trip. And because we took a leisurely sail from St. Thomas, it was fun for all of us

Cruising (not just for old foggeys)

We had a lot of fun on this ship, Freedom of the Seas...

I think both R and I thought that being a cruise would be too limiting, regimented and not conducive to exploring. But we discovered it's really what you make of it. Even though we only saw a couple of shows, one movie and some karaoke (watched, not participated), it was good enough. Being lazy on a lounge chair by the pool was what we needed, even though there were 3,000+ others on board just about doing that same thing.

Camping

R and I went camping up near Bailey this weekend. You'd think after coming back from a cruise last weekend, we'd want to stick around. But he said that he wanted to take the trailer out, even if it was just for one night. As usual, I got devoured by mosquitos and God knows what other biting insects are out in the Rocky Mountain forests, but overall, it was a good experience.

We found a nice creekside opening that surprisingly, no one else had claimed on this holiday weekend, except some guys from Denver who were dirt-biking for the day and left later in the afternoon. The next day, we drove up to the Colorado Trail and went for a two-hour hike. All in all, a great way to spend a Saturday.

Again, pictures will follow... :)