Operation woof!

I was on top of my rig this strapping down some gear for the trip tomorrow night, had the gate open waiting for roto rooter to come clean out the roots in the drain line (see, old houses are so much fun!). I noticed 2 dogs coming up the block, but didn't see anyone with them and they looked very happy to be roaming free. I hopped down and went to the gate and the labradoodle started barking up a storm and backing up into the street. Crap. Everyone that drove by went real slow for once, but of course no one stopped to help. The other dog was a bulldog and came storming into the yard sniffing and huffing and.. well British like. The doodle charged in behind it and I closed the gate hoping the dogs were friendly enough for the rescue to be completed.

The family who owned the dogs had just gotten the bulldog from the pound (that's why he wasn't scared of me, he had just been busted out of dog prison) and were very worried when I called their number (and this is why collars and readable tags are a must) but couldn't be here for an hour. They 1/2 mile away so I told them not to panic, the dogs were enjoying the grass and all the dog toys in the yard. My boys were not pleased to be in the house, not one bit. I just couldn't handle 4 dogs in case they didn't get along.

The rooter guy came and left. I managed to keep the rescue dogs out of the basement and the owners came and were really happy with what I had done for them. They couldn't figure out how they got out of the fenced yard so I suggested they lock the gates even if it turns out to be a pain in the ass, you can be sure no one will walk by and open it. Securing your gates is one step closer to having a more secure house.

The dogs got snacks, lot's of grass to play in, pets and scratches, big water drinks (even from the hose!) and they were safely back home after a big adventure. This was probably the 8th rescue operation this year, all with happy endings. Be kind and do unto others seems to still be working out well for me. Loads of good karma before the road trip can't hurt.

Victory lap and some fall colors.

Last night was the end of my 30 day challenge. The miles added up to running from Colorado Springs to Laramie, Wyoming. Yesterday I was exhausted and dreading the last run, but since I knew it would break 200 I decided to make it a victory lap and put my camera in my hydration pack. This was amazing since the camera really didn't fit in well, and I don't like having all that weight with me when running.

I knew the colors would be awesome, I'd been running up there the last few days and wanted to get some shots before I left town for a few days. I'm giving myself some time off, it's hard for me to run and camp for 5 days although I would love to run in the Silverton and Durango area with 14'ers all awaiting my feet. I feel amazing right now, it's nice to hit a goal that was realistically unobtainable for the most part.
Someone asked about using one of my pictures and I really don't mind, it's just a hobby. I can always send you the high resolution file if you so desire.

Smooth portion of the trail with leaf covered toe catchers.

Aspens love the water and follow it for miles.

The trail follows water for the whole 2 hour loop, like this.

No filter on the camera, electric yellow!

Same spot as kilt picture was taken a few posts ago, looking down.

High altitude training, I love running under them.

2nd one swooping around

Busy busy! Go have fun!

I'm trying to get all kinds of projects wrapped up at work so I don't have any issues while I'm away next week. It's a typical daily struggle of me vs. hourly employee's who don't understand what "pull all of the weeds from these rocks" means. It looks like I'll have everything finished today with a manufacturer inspection tomorrow, perfect timing.

I visited a friend of mine in Boulder and saw her presentation about how she recovered from epilepsy to become one of the top ultra runners in the world. I wish they would update her bio online, it's pretty old and doesn't have the last 4 or 5 years listed. She was, as always, very inspiring to me and really helped me refocus on what I am doing in many aspects of my life. Intent to find more of my inner beast I went out running on a loop that I've never been able to finish in under 2 hours 5 minutes and absolutely killed it at 1 hour 59 minutes. I almost threw up at the end but I left everything on the trail and was thrilled I didn't actually barf all over, the parking lot was filled with people and I wasn't up to give them a show.


It was bowling night too, about 20 of us from work showed up. We had a blast and I let my guard down and was determined to just have some fun and enjoy the moment. I even wore these (in disco short version, hard to bowl in pants) to lighten up the mood some:

I bowled a 130 or something, then a 92. But on the other lane I was bowling I got a 140. I was using a 6 pound ball working on my spin and disco moves in 2 lanes at once. I got home and my old neighbor was there, he is going with us this weekend for a 4 day mountain excursion. While we chatted I inhaled about 2000 calories so I would have some energy today.
Not only did I give it my all and had fun today, but I then got the pleasure of not sleeping all night while my body bitched about what I had done to it. Oh the joy's of being me.

UFC 135 yummy stuff

I invited a dozen or so people to the house for UFC fight night. I made some spaghetti since that's easy to do in large batches and the sauce is make and forget. I had my neighbors daughter over and did some instructing on the spaghetti sauce as well as the goodies below.
Low fat blueberry cheesecake with coconut crust

1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 C shredded coconut, 1/2 C butter, 1/4 C sugar. It's not a coconut overload, just adds a nice flavor combination most people appreciate more than plain.

Mix and layer a spring pan on the bottom (you can make sides as well if you make more crust mix, but this is a low calorie version). Be sure to wrap the entire bottom and sides with foil so it doesn't drip in your oven if you don't cook it over water.
12 Oz. ricotta cheese, 2 boxes of 8 ounce low fat cream cheese, 3 eggs, 2 Tbs lemon zest, 6 Tbs butter, 3/4 C sugar. 350 degree about an hour.
While that's cooking make some pie dough for a blackberry pie (why not!). 1 1/2 C flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 C shortening per crust (I like the crust thicker than most, some people can get 2 crusts out of 1 batch of ingredients). I tossed it in the fridge until I was ready to use it.

 Cheesecake is done! If you don't want cracks then cook it over a pan of water. I was covering it with topping so I didn't care that it cracked.

Blueberry topping is about 4 cups of blueberries, 2 Tbs. sugar, 1/2 C lemon juice. Slow cook it real thick. Make sure it's cold before you put it on the cheesecake and it looks like this:

Finished product once you remove the spring pan sides. I kept it in the fridge until it was time to eat. Only lost a few berries once the sides were removed, but as you can see I had plenty of forks for the those.

Blackberry pie is a 2 crust pie (for this one). Filling is 3 C blackberries, 5 Tbs. sugar, 2 Tbs. lemon juice, 3 Tbs. corn starch, 1 Tbs. butter. Cook it until it starts to thicken, remove from heat and get your crust in the pan. Add filling, put top crust on cook at 400 for 45 minutes.

You can reduce the sugar in the blackberry pie if you desire, this way I think is just right. If you don't want your pie edges to darken cover them with foil at about 25 minutes. I thought it was perfect at 45 minutes.

Everyone left, the place is clean and I managed to get rid of almost everything I made. Time for some sleep.

How not to buy food

I went to REI to pick up some of the mountain house pro-pak food packs. I want to take some on the upcoming camping trip and test them out, and the pro-pak's don't take up much room since all the air has been taken out of the package. I figured I would spend about 80 bucks and get a bunch of stuff to sample for future trips. I was going to get more than I need in case something really sucked I would have a backup plan.

I stared at the shelf full of food packages, looked at other brands, checked nutrition information, etc. Suddenly, off in the distance I saw something shiny so I ran over (that's the real reason I run right) like a raccoon to a trash can.

I am now the proud owner of a new North Face soft shell with hood. Sometimes I don't even understand myself, but I wanted it and 80% needed it. I wasn't buying the food for storage and I'll just go pick some up in the next few days. I have a few heavy duty winter jacket, a climbing jacket shell, sub zero running jackets, wind breakers, etc. This fills a slot and if I ever have to I suppose I can eat it.

I amaze myself at times. I'll post up a review of the jacket just in case anyone likes this kind of thing. I also saw about 8 business with help wanted or now hiring signs posted. Probably can't have medical Marijuana so there goes most of the city.

Movie trailers

One of the reasons I go see movies is to take a break from reality and just have a good time. Some make me think, laugh, cry (damn you old yeller) but mainly it's just a good escape. My tastes vary from indy films about the middle east to westerns to just good old fashioned ridiculous bullet frenzy movies. I always show up early to the movies so I can see trailers.

A group of oil-rig roughnecks are left stranded on the sub-arctic tundra after their plane experiences a complete mechanical failure and crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness. The survivors, battling mortal injuries, biting cold and ravenous hunger, are relentlessly hunted and pursued by a vicious pack of rogue wolves. Here is a link to the movie trailer.

Here are some other upcoming movies that look interesting to me, your mileage may vary.

 

Movie Info

Movie Info

Kitten sighting!

I got a lot of work done today so it was nice to get home and play with the dogs at the end of the day. They have been really restless for some reason the last week so I've been taking extra time to play wiggle worm or belly drums. You know, the cute games we play with our animals when nobody is around. We had a blast and it made me feel young again.

I realized it was getting later than I normally run so I grabbed my hydration pack and dropped my running gloves, hat and headlamp into it. The headlamp is a Black Diamond and has a remote battery pack so I don't have much weight on my head. It takes 4 AA's and has a 3 foot, 2 piece cord to the lamp that tucks into  some clips on the headband. It's my favorite running light and was a prototype from Black Diamond. I often carry 2 lamps so I can strap one on my hand for the really dangerous trails, and in case one does go out. If I let my eyes adjust I can walk out of about anything, but with 2 lights I can create shadows for depth perception. Tonight I only had to use it when running in the 2 railway tunnels they used to use for hauling out the gold from over the mountains in the early 1900's.

Meow baby!

Suddenly there was movement on the dirt road I had to run down. Movement is normal but this seemed large so I instantly stopped and spotted a bobcat. I said "holy shit aren't you a good looking cat" and we stared at each other for a few seconds. I walked backwards and it got into the middle of the road and I got a great look at it. It was amazing, not unlike this picture I found online, with more black on the tail and legs but a lot smaller.

After a few minutes the Bobcat wandered off the road down into a gulley and I hauled ass looking over my shoulder every few seconds. I've seen mountain lions, moose, bears, different kinds of rattlers and just about every other animal in Colorado but never a Bobcat. Cat's attack from behind when the prey is larger and while I wasn't scared or nervous I was still going to play it safe and keep looking while I moved away.

I was super excited and wish I had my camera but even a 6 ounce camera is heavy with each step and it's 80+ steps a minute for 90 minutes or more. Seeing a young Bobcat and checking it out for a few minutes was amazing. I'm glad I was paying attention or else I would have missed an extremely rare encounter (or possibly been attacked, never know).... I love living in Colorado Springs.