work colleagues at play

Steven & Michelle Kohara

I was very happy to see Senator Clinton (Wendy) at the party....

Barbara & Marty. (A few people didn't recognize Barb; her real hair is brown & much shorter than this)

Mark & Tanya. (Mark Carvalho, or Johnny Depp?)

Jeanine, Jana & Carly. (And Sandy in the background...)

very creative Halloween fare

We were very impressed with the food offerings at last night's party.

the scariest costume I could think of

You guessed it: I am Sarah Palin, and Tom is Joe SixPack. Hahaha! Of course, my costume cost $8.50 ($1.50 for the three-piece suit, $3 for the shoes, and $4 for the flat-iron to straighten my hair).

hiking at Chatauqua

Today we had a perfect hiking day -- so we headed to Chatauqua Park. This particular region of the front range (basically, the foothills to the Rockies -- but a distinct mountain range) is called the Flatirons. From the top photo, I think you can see why they were so named.

leaving New England

Once again, I enjoyed our ride from Boston to Manchester. Tom and I had a little extra time, so we stopped by a pizza place for lunch. There was a cemetery nearby, with gorgeous trees. Of course, I couldn't help but snap some departing photos.

MA, day #8

We had beautiful weather when leaving Nantucket. We enjoyed the ferry ride home -- Tom and I spent the majority of that ride out on the back deck.

the process of creating scrimshaw

After selecting and polishing a tooth, the next steps were engraving, then pin-pricking, and finally inking.

scrimshaw

My favorite part of the whaling museum was the Scrimshaw exhibit. Whalers (in their spare time, while on their boats for 3-5 YEARS following the whales around the world) would make all sorts of things with the whale-bones. We saw napkin holders, canes, busks (decorated pieces of baleen used to shore up ladies' corsets), jewelry boxes... you name it.

more touristing

After visiting 2 different beaches, we rode our bikes to the Whaling Museum. We saw a very good presentation that described the horrors (in my estimation) of whaling in those days. Evidently, the Right Whales (baleen whales) started out being the target of choice (among other things, because they are docile). However, when people discovered the oil that is produced by the Sperm Whale (and stored in their jaws/skulls), these whales became hunted exclusively. The bottom photo is a jaw of a sperm whale...

MA, day #7

We kept our rental-bikes, and rode out to Brant Point. The beach was covered in beautiful seashells.

more delicious seafood

Our 2nd dinner on the island proved to be OUTSTANDING. (So much so, that we returned on our third night!). Tom and Henry had the seared tuna. Jennifer and I had the lobster bisque as an appetizer -- the best I've ever had. Then we shared two dinners: "free form" lobster ravioli, and a crab-stuffed shrimp dish with lobster sauce. WOW. For dessert, we had fried ravioli: one banana, one apple-cinnamon, and one chocolate. Mmm.

MA, day #6

We rented bikes, and tooled around Nantucket to see the sights. We went to the Bartlett Farm for lunch, and then headed to the local brewery (Cisco).
Cisco produces beer, wine & spirits (vodka, rum, and I don't know what else). The boys did a beer-tasting; Jennifer & I tried their wine. Tom wasn't super-impressed with the beer in general, but liked the Porter fairly well. I thought the wine rivaled Colorado wines (this is NOT a compliment!) -- I didn't really like any of them, except the rose (and in general, I don't like roses).
We still enjoyed the fresh air, the beautiful weather, and the whole day.