Snow storms and snowshoes

    The week started out with a big snow storm that dropped about 15" of white gold, I was happy to see some snow and a lot of it was even better, I have been needing to get out and get some adventuring in so when work canceled on Friday and with Serena and Claudio in Iowa I took Benji and we went to the mountains.  What a beautiful day to be out with the dog out in the mountains some of the trail was packed out but we got enough breaking trail to make both of us tired and ready to relax.  Conditions couldn't have been better the snow was soft and fluffy with mostly untracked trail. Benji was so excited after being stuck in the house the previous day he was running up and down High Dr on our way up to bear creek, I haven't seen him like that in quite awhile it was good to see him acting like a pup.

my favorite trail sign

 

   This is where the fun starts not sure how far up the trail we made it but it sure felt like triple to  what it actually was, but holy cow it was fun and I even got to go and get some High Grade Food from my friend Everton, man that guy makes the best Jamaican food I have ever eaten.  While I was out getting my snowshoe fun in Serena was in Iowa meeting with the great doctor Morcuende and I am happy that Claudio is not in a cast or ready to have another tendon lengthening operation because then I am afraid that Serena will want to stay out there for more than a week and I don't think that is a good idea but we will figure that out when we come to that bridge, I just hope we don't need to cross that one it make me nervous just thinking about it. As much as I am thankful for everything positive that has come with Iowa the one big negative is that it is so far to travel and if we go as a family it gets to be rather expensive and I can't afford to miss work, even though I wouldn't actually miss work.  Being close to home would be nice if and when Claudio will need to be casted again.
     Saturday started with a nice wake up in the form of Benji licking my face to let him out and me just being completely hung over and wishing I could handle my lack of drinking prowess better, oh well just suck it up and quit being a pussy is all I can say about that and since the family was going to be coming home later in the day I had one thing on my mind besides coffee and that was to get ready to go snowshoe with Jay and Benji up in Monument and wow what an adventure we would have once me and the dog got Jay moving in the direction of the front door because he was feeling the late night of drinking just as much as me if not even more, insert evil laugh.  Since it was going to be such a nice day out I didn't push to hard.  Once we got ready and start our little trip I forgot about being hungover all together and just really enjoyed being outside with my good friend and my dog, Benji definitely wasn't as wild as the day before and thank god because we might have lost him to chasing down the deer but to my surprise he listened for a change and didn't go chasing them down.  After that first encounter the rest of the day would go smooth and we did a lot of free shoeing around the Monument Preserve, not sure which is harder going up something steep or trudging through the flats?  One thing I do know for sure is that snowshoeing is my favorite winter time activity, no driving for hours and spending a bunch of money at a ski resort, I do miss snowboarding, the speed, the powder days and the tree runs but what I don't miss is the drive to and from. With all the driving I do for work I would much rather spend time doing and less time driving to get out.
    We are starting our first big project of the year and we have been taking the house apart to get the new bathroom started and with that I have my Uncle Roy coming down from Denver to help me get the plumbing done and the electrical done, while I can drywall and lay tile myself I needed his expertise in getting the two most important things done right because if the plumbing isn't done right we have a nasty problem and if the electrical isn't done right I burn the house down so the decision to call in the pros was easy.  Can't wait to get this project going I think Serena has a good idea of what colors to paint and the type of tile that will make it look good while I have the job of executing her ideas, lets hope I can make it look as good and she thinks it will look, I have my fingers crossed. Overall it has been a really good week, and I can say for certain that I am glad that Serena and Claudio are home because it is just to quite and lonely in the house when they are gone, sure its nice to have the house to myself and to get out and see my friends without a timer running but I don't sleep very good alone anymore and I can't even sleep in the bed I always end of sleeping on the couch.

Benji