my inspiration to "finish strong"

By the end, I was definitely doing at least as much walking as jogging. I was going to walk the last 1K, when I heard people cheering: "Go, banana!" I figured if this guy could jog the whole thing, then I could certainly jog the last 1K...

mmm... more pork!

After seeing this sign, I just HAD to stop at the 3rd bacon-station.

fuzzy photo on purpose

This guy was actually jogging with his baby in the pack. As if that wouldn't be hard enough, people were heckling him: "No!!! DON'T SHAKE YOUR BABY!!! That's terrible!"

I love this sign

This sign is at the top of the long hill at mile 5. (And it's worth clicking on this one so that you can blow it up to see the "fine print.") Sometimes, you just gotta love Boulder.

the demise of another camera?

I LOVED stopping around mile 4 for this slip 'n' slide. Unfortunately, the camera did not. I'll let you know if it recovers... for now, it will take pictures (and I can get pictures off of the memory card) but the display doesn't work any more.

The slip 'n' slide was wonderful for me -- it really rejuvinated me. However, the lack of display for the remainder of the race made subsequent picture taking a lot harder.

some of my favorite race sights

Elvis (one of the Elvis-runners, not one of the Elvis singers) -- who appears to have stopped to hit on one of the belly dancers.

This was new this year: a family at mile 2.2, throwing marshmallows to racers. I don't know... is pure sugar good race energy?

This was one of 3 (yep, count 'em -- 3!) places to stop and get bacon.

and, they're off!

This year I had a different strategy for the Bolder Boulder: jog a little, walk a little... and have more fun. So among other things, I brought the camera this year.

As you can see, it is a GORGEOUS day here. This was the starting line with my wave (MC). You can see the starting line in the back of the photo (where the white & orange banner is). They have a bugler who actually starts each wave -- every 90 seconds for over 3 hours. Wow.

Tom started about an hour before I did (he runs faster than I do); he was in wave FB.

trying to learn the Mac

I think I took this photo back on 5/3 (Tom and I were hiking along the Mesa trail; it was a lovely day). However, since we got a new computer -- I'm trying to learn the new software. (After 20 years of using a PC, learning a Mac is not entirely as intuitive as the ads on TV would like to claim!) So I tried to touch up the "seams" on this panoramic picture...

what a dessert!

Tired of me gushing about the food yet? Too bad -- it just kept getting better. Mitzi served the best "strawberry shortcake" I've ever had. The strawberries were macerated in a wonderfully sweet balsamic vinegar, and then served with whipped cream & fresh biscuits.

This dessert wine was amazing. I didn't take a picture of the wine in a glass -- because we were sitting out on the deck (it was a lovely evening -- although by that point it was reasonably dark, so the lighting didn't work for photographs). At any rate, the color was amazing: a very dark, golden color -- and it tasted of honey. A perfect close to a perfect night.

main course: seafood

Mark served a wonderful quinoa (I have no idea how to spell this -- sorry...) with a creamy tomato sauce, topped with scallops and shrimp. Served along side were wonderfully fresh, sauteed peas & red peppers.

I had never tasted this white burgundy (chardonay) before; it was wonderful. As usual, Mark picked an excellent pairing.

opener: smoked salmon crostinis

Tom has been experimenting with bread these days... he has made his own chef (named Mother Mary) from which he has been producing sourdoughs. His opener was a smoked salmon (of course, he smoked it!) with citrus & chives, on top of home-made sourdough crostinis. YUM.

We debated on serving this course with a Riesling (to have the sweet complement to the savory smoked salmon) vs this Pinot. Since we had started the evening already with champagne, and discovered that the main course and dessert were both being served with whites, we opened this Pinot (originally a gift from our friend Kelli). I cannot overstate how delicious it was! I didn't want to finish my glass -- because I wanted to keep a tablespoon at the bottom of the glass to keep on enjoying the nose. If you have an opportunity to splurge on this wine, I highly recommend it.

another successful gourmet potluck

We haven't met with our Gourmet Potluck/wine pairing dinner crew for a while. Last night was another amazing treat.

Mark started us out with a champagne (or sparkling wine, I suppose) from New Mexico. Who knew that tasty, affordable champagne comes from New Mexico? I would highly recommend this as a great bang for your buck.

mmm... brisket

Tom smoked a brisket last Monday. We're still feasting on delicious sandwiches...

The Big Horn

For my birthday Elise gave me a fly rod and

my neighbor Jack took me to the Big Horn river

in southern montana, about an eight hour drive.

We floated in his drift boat eight hours a day

for three days. it was great.

This was the first fish on the new rod, about sixteen inches.

snow shoeing (or slush-shoeing) at Brainard

Tom is in Montana today -- he went on a fishing trip with our neighbor, Jack. I hope they're having a good time!

Meanwhile, it was gorgeous here today. I took the opportunity to go snow-shoeing at Brainard. It was gorgeous. It was so warm! This was a nice change to the often windy weather we've found up there, but the snow was incredibly slushy.

At any rate, Tom has the camera with him, so I took a few snaps with my cell phone. Tom showed me how to extract the photos from my cell phone, so here they are.

Adrianna's birdhouse

Adrianna gave us a bird house that she had made (and painted). Last summer, it lived out in our front yard -- hanging from the limb of our maple tree. This year, Tom gave it a permanent home in the back.

Tom's garden

Tom started tomatoes and peppers from seed this year. He planted them yesterday. If even half of them make it, we're going to have boat-loads of both.

Mark's thoughts on Boone's Farm

Mark didn't think that the bouquet on this wine was very noteworthy....

It doesn't get any better than this!

These were brought out late in the evening, fortunately.

good party get-ups

Tom with our host, Ryan. Clearly they had similar ideas of proper facial hair for the occasion.

Mark borrowed this mullet from a friend... but I think the final photo is stunning!

Brian and Christy: all they need is her father with a shotgun! I loved their "redneck wedding cake." Tom was the only one who could properly identify all of the layered tasty treats.

I think I've got it....

choose

remove head, suck...

eat small amount of remaining tail