American Safari

We got up at the crack of dawn yesterday (before said crack, actually) because the hike we wanted to do was on the other side, the far side, of RMNP. After a thousand miles of driving (God bless Starbucks and their grande vanilla lattes) and a few miles of hiking, we turned around and headed back to the car. The mosquitoes were the size of Blackhawks and ate us alive. Note to self: next time wear a hazmat suit for this hike.

But! Since we were already deep into the park, we decided to drive Trail Ridge Road and see what we could see. Our drive turned into an American safari; we watched this lil gal (her calf was napping in the woods behind her) for a long time. Isn't she sweet?

We capped off the day with a BBQ lunch, a nap for me (and nerding it up for G), then a few episodes of Veep. OMG, watch that show immediately. It's very bad (language, references, well, everything) but also very good.

Remember how I was making progress for Comp II lesson planning? Hahahahaha. That came to a stand still last week and my social life took over.

I caught up with The Russkie during a neighborhood walk & talk:

Doesn't her hair look so good?! Don't look at mine.

G and I only have a few weeks left for our lunch dates. We went to the plane restaurant a few days ago. Take a look at my nerd in his element:

And I did a killer hike with Em. Altitude sickness is real, folks, and I'm learning my limit, which is currently 12,000 feet. Anything above that and I get so lightheaded that things don't make sense anymore and I start teetering around and hoping my head will implode. We have some 14'ers on the schedule and I'm gonna have to break it to her later today that they're not a possibility for me.

One of my favorite hiking views so far, though, take a look at that! This is the Chasm Lake trail in RMNP, close to Long's Peak. It was at this point, after a long up-hill slog that led to an unacceptably quick altitude gain, that we split and Em finished the hike without me. I sat down and recuperated for an hour.

And look what came by! A line of llamas!

I think they were practicing their trekking skills. They arrived earlier that morning and we saw them get situated in the parking lot. Could you die or what?

I capped off a physically and socially rigorous week with a massage (please remember to pronounce the word like the Brits do: MASS-ahgze). It was glorious and magnificent. I arrived an hour early and sipped champagne and lesson planned in the relaxation room. I kid you not.

Now that my muscles have been steamrolled and pounded back into place, it's time to work on Comp II. For real. Before the nightmares come back.