1200 Miles West

Note from Mom today:

You got mail here yesterday from: United States Marine Corps, Inspector-Instructor, Engineer Support Company, Battle Creek, MI. To: Interested Officers. Subject: Command Opportunities in Battle Creek, Michigan. They are looking for a few good Company Grade Officers. There is currently an “officer Affiliation Bonus available for qualified Officers. “My intent in mailing this letter is not necessarily to sell or recruit you in the SMCR, it is simply to inform you of the need for your services and the opportunity to meet this need in the capacity of a Commanding Officer.”

Good to know if this flash in the pan technology thing doesn’t work out that I might have another future in the USMC.

Things must be getting desperate if they are looking for fat, old guys.

It’s time for bed, but I will continue updating the blog with pics and stories from Michigan in the next day or two. 

Stay tuned…

On Sunday, we headed out to the cottage and enjoyed a day in the sun.  The weather was wonderful and we were able to get the boat in the water. 

It was great to see my Grandma who was happy to have everyone together.  Mike also enjoyed riding the jet skis.  It’s funny how much you miss the water living in Colorado.  Don’t get me wrong as the mountains are beautiful, but there’s something about hanging out at the lake.

Dad’s birthday is June 13th, but we celebrated it early as we were in town.  He has to be one of the best dressed guys in town as Michael gave him a new Polo and hat and Mike and I got him a short-sleeve Columbia button down and a t-shirt.

On Saturday Laurie-Anne and Dave had a deck party and while we only spent about half of the time on the deck (hot and muggy in Michigan!) it was great to catch up with some old CareerSite and PowerOne co-workers.

I traveled 1200 miles from CO to Michigan, but Kristen also gets kudos as she drove in from Chicago to hang out with us.

Towards the end of the night we broke out the Wii and I am disappointed to say that while I was able to beat Maya (Laurie-Anne’s daughter) I was no match for Kristen who knocked me out in round 2!  I guess this means that I need to stay on her good side, otherwise I may be in trouble.

After arriving home on Friday and spending some time with my parents, I headed up to Gaines to hang out with two of my best friends - Todd and Monica.

Ethan (who turns 2 on June 13th) and Addison (9 1/2 months) were excited to see me.  Ethan took his time checking me out, but after a few minutes he was on my lap and we were reading books together.   Addison is already pulling herself up and will no doubt be walking soon.  Where does the time go?

Hugs to the Ackers…can’t wait to see you again soon!

Received this in an email today:

Congratulations! You have been accepted into the Master of Business Administration at the Business School, University of Colorado at Denver, Graduate Programs, for the Fall 2008 semester.

Should be fun.

Last night we attended the APEX awards at the EXDO Events Center. Indigio was nominated in multiple categories and we were awarded Best Tech Workplace.

Here are some snap shots from the evening…

The curly haired girls of Indigio - Teresa, Heather, me, Sara and Becki. Sara and Heather straightened their hair for the event, however they normally have curls like the rest of us!

During Tim’s acceptance speech, he thanked the CIA instead of CSIA…OOPS!

No, they aren’t the same pair…but their close!  Also, I’m not sure why Mike elected to take the picture at this angle, but it’s kinda cool.

Indigio designed all of the marketing materials for the event…way to go team, they looked awesome!

Mike and I left work a little early today as we wanted to see how things were going with our patio.  On Friday, we found out that they would be here Monday morning to start the project.

Here’s a sneak peak of a few of the photos…

Mike estimates that they have at least two more days of work left on the patio and the stairs, so watch for updated pictures over the next few days.

The landscaping won’t be done until the following week…I can hardly wait!

On Sunday, we met Sara and headed up to Mt. Falcon for a hike.  Originally Sara was going to take us to Herman’s Gulch, but no one was able to verify the snow levels at 10k feet and above, so we’re going to save Herman for another weekend….possibly in July.

When we first arrived at Mt. Falcon, I wasn’t sure what to expected, but Sara mentioned ruins and pieces of a story related to a Presidential Summer Home.  So, we headed down Castle Trail to figure out what was out there.

I was surprised by the number of bikers and trail runners out that morning and after hoofing it up some of those hills, I have a greater respect for the athleticism that it takes.

The first ruins that we came to were that of the house that John Brisben Walker built.  It burned to the ground after being struck by lighting in 1916 after his second wife Ethel died.

After checking out the ruins, we continued down Castle Trail until it intersected with Walker’s Dream which took us up to the second set of ruins.

Looking out from this point, you could see the ruins of the Walker home.

We headed back out to do some more hiking which included Old Ute Trail, Devils Elbow and Meadow Trail.

Somewhere along the way we ran into a wild bird who seemed friendly at first and then proceeded to “attack” Mike.  I thought that it was going to peck his leg, but thankfully he just got tangled in his feed.   Here’s the culprit…

Sara had her pedometer on and we walked something like 16,000 steps or close to 6 miles.  It got a little challenging at the end, but we all pushed through and rewarded ourselves with a little treat afterward.  Sara and I had a salad and Mike had a cheeseburger.

We’re already looking forward to our next hike with Sara!

How many of you can say you have been to the highest point in South Dakota? Thought so, no too many. During our trip to South Dakota we were able to get out and enjoy our first hike of the year. I like my walks in the woods to be challenging so I chose a hike up Harney Peak in South Dakota to make sure our hearts would at least pump a little.

The Black Hills of South Dakota are very scenic with interesting rock formations, beautiful pine trees, and a nice green plushness as compared to Colorado.

One of the neat things along the hike were the Cathedral Spires. Yes those are people on top of those rocks. Fools.

We started at about 6000 feet (we live at 5400 in Colorado) and hiked up to the peak at 7242 feet. With the ups downs on the trip though, my GPS says we gained almost 2000 feet of elevation overall. The view from the top was spectacular and supposedly you could see five states: South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Montana. On the day we were there though, someone forgot to turn on the dotted lines so you could pick out the state borders.

There is a lookout tower on the summit that the Forest Service manned until 1967 to keep watch for forest fires.

Here we are, the happy couple, on the peak. I must say that Erin hardly complained at all during the seven mile round trip. Yes, my shirt is a nice bright orange and doubles as a safety signal in an emergency.

We had a great time during our hike and I look forward to the thirteeners and fourteeners we’ll summit this summer.