Great day for a Fall mountain bike ride. Wen't up to Beaver Dam this morning only to find it closed because of all the rain we've been having. Steve had a back-up plan: Crabtree was open. Love the twisty, turney single track. The trail is covered in leaves and it almost takes a 6th sense to figure out where to turn. Leaves make for slippery roots and rocks too. Still, no major spills and a heck of a good time! Great to meet Christine and Paul. Maybe next time it will be a girl's ride with Christine. ;)
Next: off to the NC Farmer's Market for fried shrimp sandwiches. Mmmm. Then across the street to pick up a fresh half bushel of Virginia oysters for appetizer's at Bob's (Levi's boss) tonight. Should be fun, as long as we don't get a "bad one"...maybe I won't take my chances and stick to a 40 of Fat Tire as an appetizer. :)

Fun in the Colorado Sunshine.

Last weekend, went horseback riding with Stine up at Beaver Meadows, which is near Red Feather. So many gorgeous wildflowers! After riding we went for a short walk to take pictures of the flowers. Later we sat on the deck overlooking the ponds and the hills. We had some ice cold Sunshine and a couple buffalo burgers before heading back down to FTC.

This weekend went for a great hike up Crosier Mountain with Stine and Beste. Beste is Sonja's young german shepherd: she was so happy on the hike, she smiled the whole way. I think I was probably smiling just as big! Again, the wildflowers were unbelievable! We've had so much rain. On the way, we encountered a huge rattlesnake on the trail! You could hardly see it and it startled up on the way up and the way back. We screamed so much, we probably scared away all the mountain cats, so at least I could breathe easy about that. :)

Done!

I'm done with labwork! I have a few loose ends to tie up today, but as far as I can tell: I'm done. Here is a picture of what I've been working on that has held me up for quite a few weeks (This is called a Western Blot and I've been trying to find the second strong band from the top):

Split Weekend-Saturday was play day and Sunday was a work day. Saturday met Overland Mountain Bike Club for a 10-person ride up Blue Sky Trail. Had a couple of bad wipeouts, but it was a great day in the sunshine! The group split in two with a group of 4 heading up to Devil's Backbone...too technical for me, but beautiful views of the mountains. Saturday evening, drove up to Estes Park with David and Stine (vet student staying at Sonja's house). The Rooftop Rodeo was tons of fun. Today worked in the lab this morning, then tried to read papers and work on manuscripts in the afternoon. Then went to the CSU Oval for the bike races.

Great News!

We are going to be an aunt and uncle! Trish just shared the news with us. Here's the first ever pic of Baby Harrill.

Labor Day Weekend Mountain Biking, Crested Butte, CO

Levi, Luke and I met Tom and Natalie in Crested Butte for a weekend of high altitude mountain biking. We found a great campsite at the Gothic Campground located in the most beautiful, lush valley surrounded by breathtaking peaks. Friday, Luke got to go to daycare while Levi and I hit the trails. Our plans were changed when halfway up the first climb I realized there was something wrong with my rear deraileur. Aparantly last time I rode at Lory State Park (and fell off a "seesaw" at the terrain park) I bent the damn thing so that it started throwing my chain off. We scrapped the ride and went back to the car just in time to get hit by a massive Colorado hail, wind and lightning storm. We dozed for a bit in the car and waited for the storm to pass. Later, we picked up Luke Dog and went into town for pizza and beer.

Tom and Nat arrived Friday night and we all got up early Saturday to ride the classic and spectacular 401 Trail. If you are ever in CB, with or without a bike, you MUST do this trail. It was phenomenal! Luke Dog got to go back to daycare while we rode the 14.5 mile trail all day. The climb up to Schofield Pass (10,707 ft) on Gothic Rd. was grueling, only to be followed by an even more challenging climb on singletrack through thick forest (some of us hiked-a-bike). However, the views at the top were well worth the climb. We were also rewarded with the fastest, zippiest singletrack through alpine meadows and thick stands of aspen just starting to turn. I had a few bad spills, but all in all, a great day.

Next day, Luke and I went for a hike on Deer Creek Trail, while Tom and Levi rode ahead, all the way back to Gothic. Luke was the happiest dog alive that day, running from creek to trail and exploring all the delicious smells. Cattle are allowed to graze this land and Luke thought it was a great idea to eat as much cow dung as possible. You know it's true love when we still let him share our tent that night.

Monday we headed back to town. What an amazing weekend! Crested Butte truly fills your soul. We hope to come back here soon!