One thing I love about talking with Logan is the topic-flow of our discussions. The trains of thought between the two of us circumnavigate a liberal arts degree. I love her excitement and interest in everything, and listening to her talk about her passion for studying primates was inspirational. We definitely had a hang out day. After much deep contemplation, we decided to have a late dinner and to make Tofu Pad Thai. We went to the whole foods store, and after drooling over all the products, we got what we needed and headed back to her apartment to concoct a dinner that we couldn't believe we were hungry for after the brunch we had. While she made the thai sauce, I decided to make some cookies! I made chocolate chip & craisin cookies. If you haven't tried making chocolate chip cookies with this twist, you should. I also usually add pecans and oatmeal if I'm feeling frisky. Here's the recipe if you want to try it! Note: the craisin idea I got from Amy Goodnough.
In one bowl:
2 sticks of softened butter
3/4 c. granulated sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
The more you whip this mixture the fluffier it will seem to get. I like to stir it until it is like a thick frosting.
In a separate bowl mix:
2 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
1tsp salt
1/3 c. oatmeal (you can use different balances of oatmeal and flour depending on your preference)
Use dark chocolate chips, its sooo good. I usually add some of the flour mixture to the wet mixture and then add in the chips, craisins, and pecans. I then little by little add in the rest of the flour mix. Sometimes I don't use all of it. If the dough is too flowery, the cookies will cool and be more like rocks. Anyway, I bake them 12 min at 375 degrees F. I forgot about high altitude cooking when I did this, but they turned out fine!
Anyhoo, the pad thai was AMAZING! Our tummies full, we watched a movie and hit the hay.
Monday morning I drove up north to Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park. The temperature dropped about 20 degrees between boulder and Estes and the mountains were blanketed in snow. At the visitor's center I found out which roads were open and what hiking trails I could do. I wasn't sure what the trail conditions were going to be like, but I figured I'd give a couple a shot. I drove up the winding switchbacks trying to keep my eyes on the road and not on the EPIC peaks all around me.
The trail had been previously attempted by some snow-shoers which made my going pretty smooth. I had only seen a couple other people at the trail head and none of them were near me, so it was just me, the sun, the wind, and the mountains. The woods were peaceful and and yet the trees were proof of the hardship they endure. The juniper trunks and branches twist and spire as woven vines fighting to reach the sun like botanical gladiators against the wind. I have been mesmerized by the junipers of the west. They are stoic and patient and represent true rooted effort and determination to survive.
I hiked out to Dream Lake following the trail but otherwise seeing no signs of trail markers. I really hoped the track in the snow I was following was headed in the right direction. I would have gone beyond dream lake, but I could not find where the trail went under the snow. No one had ventured past the lake and I sank up to my thigh in snow, so, I enjoyed the view of the canyon and turned back.
As I ventured down the rocks I saw a spot where I could pop through the trees and see the surrounding land. There was a storm brewing in the west and I could see the snow beginning to swim around the mountain tops on its way to the valley. Everything was so big that there was no way I was actually comprehending it, and there is no way that a camera lens any smaller than the mountain itself could really capture its immensity, but my little one tried.
The next morning, Logan and I went to the Celestial Seasonings factory. The foyer was colorfully flavored with pictures of the company founders, tea box artwork originals, and free tea samples.
The tour took us through the maze of machines which clean and separate the tea ingredients. My senses were on overdrive in the most orgasmic way, especially in the mint room… The peppermint and other mints are so potent that they have a separate room for them and the exorbitant amount of menthol oozing out of the leaves makes the room literally feel cold. It was amazing; I could have stayed in there all day. I also learned that the only actual teas they sell are the ones containing the plant camellia sinuses (the only way I was able to remember this name was by thinking "chameleon sinuses"). This one plant makes white, green, and black tea! The white is the baby plant, the green the mature plant, and the black is the picked plant that has been withered until it oxidizes and turns black! All the other herbal drinks are not actually teas… they sure fooled us! If you have the chance I would suggest trying their Red Safari Spice tea, it’s fantastic!
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| Tea bag dress!! |
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| Logan contemplating the floating tiger... |
Another drink you must try is one of my winter favorites that I learned about while in Vienna. It is called Glühwein (pronounced glue-vine) and is a form of mulled wine. Ian made some while I was in Chicago and we sat in a nostalgic stupor while sipping spiced liquid goodness. I had meant to pass on the recipe and forgot! I made it for Logan that night in Boulder and she loved it, so anyone who reads this must try it also.
In a saucepan, pour one bottle of your favorite red wine (I like to you a Cabernet) along with the juice from one lemon (throw the lemon rinds right in there too), 3-4 cinnamon sticks broken into pieces, 6-12 whole cloves, and at least ¼ cup of sugar. You might want to add more sugar depending on your liking and the type of wine. Let it come to a boil and simmer so that the spices really come out. The longer you cook it the spicier it will be! Strain the wine so that you don’t choke on pieces of cinnamon stick and enjoy!
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| I couldn't help it...I bought this wine because my favorite numbers are 3 and 7 and it was right there! Turns out it make delicious Gluhwein! |
That afternoon I went for another short hike up Mt. Sanitas. There was a cold wind blowing, but the sun was bright and warm. It's a popular hike and was a short but steep, rocky climb.
On Wednesday I drove back down to Denver to meet with Ken Cox, the chair of the music department and director of the opera program. After sitting in on two of his voice lessons, he took me to lunch at a little burrito place across the street. It turns out that he actually worked for a camp very much like RDC and was the Recreation Director there just like me! He was easy to talk to and I respect and appreciate his dedication to teaching. He had a successful career as a bass, but realized that in the whole picture of his life, he wanted to spend time as a teacher too. Now, he has dedicated himself to developing and improving the opera program at U Denver and I think his emphasis on collaboration and respect within the department is commendable. I also had the opportunity to sing with him and enjoyed hearing his comments and suggestions.
Thursday night Logan and I decided it was time to get out and about! After an awesome dinner at Mountain Sun, where our waiter brought out about 10 samples of beer to our table after we couldn't make a decision making us look really thirsty, we went out for some dancing, then went home, ate some cereal and sesame sticks while jamming out to some classic rock and roll, and hit the sack. A good night to me it twas!
On Friday morning I decided to move west. A storm was brewing and I thought it a good idea to drive before it hit the highway. I decided to take a windy road west from Boulder that would pass through Central City where this is an opera program I have been looking into. The road twisted and turned through a maze of towering rock as it ascended into the mountains. White peaks appeared in the distance surrounded by blue sky.
When I got to Central City, it was the weridest little town! I wasn't quite sure what to expect. All I knew was that it was an old gold mining town and the opera house puts on an impressive season for being in so remote a place, and that the summer opera program seems to be well known. Well, it's still a gold mining place. On every corner there were casinos! There were only 3 main streets in this town, but about seven casinos! The only place I could find to get food that wasn't kind of creepy was a casino! I don't know if you have ever been to a casino in the middle of nowhere in November, but it draws a fairly... unique crowd. There wasn't enough cover for me to take pictures inconspicuously, but in the restaurant where I ate there was the stern looking Asian woman dressed all in red who looked like she was about to ninja someone, the couple who I think were married but looked more like brother and sister, and the family with gender ambiguous siblings who seemed to be on their Disney vacation in July... I have to say, the grill made an amazing French dip sandwich, but after that, I left the frequent buyer card the waitress gave me on the tooth-pick counter and promptly exited stage left.
I headed to Breckenridge for the evening to stay with Stuart Bownes, the son of my neighbor Arlene. Even though it was still early season, Breck was alive with ski tourism. The downtown is actually pretty hip, but its got that jive where it looks good and feels warm covered in snow and Christmas lights. I contemplated skiing there, but I have been utterly spoiled by being a Waterville Valley employee. I forget what the rest of humanity pays for a day ticket to ski... and in CO, the rates just get higher with the elevation. Plus, there really wasn't any foundation of snow yet to ski on, and the next morning it had started to snow a bit, so I headed out to face route 70 before it got worse. 
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| I guess no one got creative... |
I headed to Grand Junction, and as I got there, the sky miraculously cleared and before me lay the desert. I did not know that I had entered the realm of the Colorado Plateau and the idealist imagery of the American West. I had been so focused on the mountains that I had completely forgotten what on the other side!
I spent the next two days at the Colorado National Monument. The day I had driven from Breckenridge, I got about three miles into the park and realized I had no gas... Thank goodness the drive till that point was all uphill because I just coasted aaallll the waaay down, found fuel, then went back. The plateau is fantiastic! It literally is a section of he earth that sepparated from the rest and was pushed up and away. The rock is primarily sandstone and after millions of years the elements have sculpted away at it leaving an expanse of canyons, spires, and domes. For more information check out, http://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/parks/colm/ If you are not stunned and awed by this landscape, something is wrong with you...
Having been driving for a while, I was in a bit of a brain haze, but I was promptly awoken by the sights in front of me. It's actually amazing that the park road is where it is. It winds around the very edge of the canyons with no guard rails, therefore allowing for no driver error. My ears popped about six times before I reached the top of the plateau and I was amazed by the accessibility of the place. I spent the rest of the daylight stopping at various points to gaze into the canyons and scoping out a place to hike in the morning. There were hardly any other people there, so it felt like I had the whole open space to myself... and the bighorn sheep.
As the sun began to set, the clouds over the distant hills sank and settled over the summits and crept down their sides. The sun was setting behind the monument, but the last bits of pink lit up the mountains across the valley for a brief moment before retiring. The horizon was a flame of pink and white, and as the chill of dark was settling, the clouds overhead were also inspired by the light. The wind picked up brushing my cheeks with red and I inhaled the smell of the cold, and the space, and the sighing trees, and the aging rocks...
The next day I got to the park early to take a hike down into one of the canyons. I brought along my handy-dandy mountain lion fending stick and made my way down down down into the deep. I had also picked up my junior ranger packet. Oh yeah, I'm so cool that I can be a junior ranger AND a post-grad! The hike was beautiful to say the least, and the perspective from the canyon floor made it seem like I had been swept back in time to a place of untouched magnificence. The sun was a blazing beam of warmth and I thought, holy moly, if its this warm in the sun in November, I can't even imagine it in June!
Canyons are soooo cool!!! The layers of rock are like a surround sound mural, and as you hike down, the colors change; yellow, white, burnt red, green, purple!
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| Monument Canyon |
It's hard to explain what I felt down there. At one point I just stopped because I know that sometimes you can be in a place, your mind knows you're there, your eyes see that you are there, but your soul and your memory hasn't taken the time to be there. So I stopped walking, took a breath, and soaked in the silence. I saw, and heard, and smelled, and felt, and just let myself be; to let it sink in, and to go beyond what a picture would allow me to remember. Its hard, really hard to let your mind go completely and to stop thinking for even a moment, to recognize and accept your part in nature, and I felt something, I'm not sure what, but it was a calm, a reverence, and a freedom.
I'm going to leave you with something that I hope you find as fun as I did. You might need to listen to it with the volume on high to get the best effect. I'll just say, that I felt pretty darn cool. You can also view it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OoaHjiZ91c
Till next time.
Really nice use of a national park!
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