Unexpected Weekend

Christine and I had planned to head to Moab, UT with friends for a long weekend of mtn biking, hiking, and camping. The mini-flu hit me mid week and we were wondering if it was the best idea to go. After I was getting better on Thursday, Christine took a turn for the worst. We thought it better to stick around Longtucky and take it easy.

I still took Friday off from work and the unexpected weekend was great. We slept in, then went to our favorite restaurant, Lucile's, for breakfast. We enjoyed coffee, salmon, and good conversation for hours. We then headed to Lyons Picture Rock trail for some hiking/trail running.


Picture Rock Trail

Town of Lyons below

After the trail run, we took off to Boulder for the TRG film 'Under the Influence.' Christine and I decided we're getting too old for the college, ski flick, waiting in line for hours, loud, scene. Next year we'll just buy the movie and enjoy it at home with ice cream.

Saturday morning I got up before Christine, made coffee, and spent some good time reading. After Christine got up, we had coffee together by the fire and talked a little bit. I then slipped out for a little mountain biking prior to the Bama game.


Hall Ranch, with Long's Peak in the background.

We topped off the weekend with lunch with our friend Keith (soup!) and a win from Alabama over Ole Miss. I wasn't the happiest camper, as they played terrible in the second half, but a win is a win right. Good times were had though.....well, as good as it gets with a Miss St graduate!!!

Good Times in Alabama

Christine and I took a couple days off and spent time in Alabama with my family. We left at the crack of dawn on Thursday (getting up at 3 AM...ouch). My parents picked us up at the airport and treated us to lunch. We then recommended stopping for ice cream (we're suckers for ice cream, no matter when or where). We hung out with the parents for the day, catching up and hitting he sack pretty early after a tiring day of travel.

The next morning I took off to find coffee for us, since my parents don't indulge. Surprisingly, the one coffee shop in the metropolis of Russellville has closed....did I mention the town population is around 9,000. After a quick stop in to see an old friend, now an optometrist, it was on to McDonald's for coffee (not too bad actually).

My brother called and offered to take us to lunch. We enjoyed getting time to hang out and hear his thoughts about welcoming a new little one to the family. After hearing from him that it was homecoming weekend, we had to drop by and see the town parade.

No offense, but the floats from the class of '97 were much better!!!

Christine and I got to hang with my grandmother for a while. Her German/Southern sound coupled with good story telling skills make for a good time.

One of the best parts of the weekend was getting to spend time with my nephew Samuel. He's grown so much. Check out the sweet snow boots....he had to wear them as he always associates us with snow!




All in all, it was a good weekend.

It seems the older we get, the important things in life shift from where you are and what you're doing, to who you are with. Life is definitely full of changes.....the internal changes are now starting to catch up with the external ones. I'm both excited and scared for what's next.

Did I say scared? No way, I'm from Alabama!