Under A Bright Blue Sky

I went wandering around Red Rocks today. The amphitheater was closed, but the trails around the grounds were open. It was a pretty setting with the snow. Although on some portions of the trail, the snow had melted, and the trail was mudding.












To whoever asked if I was going to Tampa for the soccer game in March, I don't have any plans to go at this time. I must admit when I saw where they were playing I took a look at plane tickets. It is a little expensive for a trip that would require a quick turnaround. I don't have any vacation time at the moment. I'm guessing Spring Break is not a good time to find good deals to Florida. Anyway, Take Care!

-M

P.S. Welcome to my blog Big Joe.

Pleasant Snowy Sunday

Guess what! Snow again. I'm getting a good initiation to winter weather. There was blizzard warning east of town out in the Plains, but it was just snow where I live. The snow did foil my hiking plans Sunday. So I just went for a walk in the park instead.













Soccer Ramblings
US Men's Soccer was finally back in action this weekend for the first time since the World Cup. A new era has begun under Interim Coach Bob Bradley. US beat Denmark 3-1. Difficult game to evaluate the good play though. Denmark brought a young team. You can evaluate the bad play, and I'm a little disappointed in some of the vets. Landon Donovan and Eddie Johnson need to wake up. The next game is Feb. 7th vs. Mexico. That game should be telling. I also watched an entertaining match between Arsenal and Manchester United this morning. Arsenal won, but it was great match.

Until next time,
-M

Winter Park

With the weather being so frigid, it can be tempting to sit on the couch and wait for it to thaw out. I had been resigned to doing that with the temperatures hovering around O° F. Then I was presented another option. I got invited to go skiing on Sunday. I gladly accepted. The Ski Destination was Winter Park. To get to Winter Park you have to take US 40 over Berthoud Pass (11,307'). Yep, that is the same road that the weekend before had an avalanche that made the national news. (No one was killed or critically hurt in the avalanche if you hadn't heard.) You got to figure it is much safer go up there after the avalanche has already happened. We saw the spot where it came across the road. It was pretty close to the bottom of the mountain. Anyway we made it across the Pass without any problems as expected. Skiing at Winter Park was a lot of fun. It didn't seem as crowded or as commercialized as Breckenridge. There were a few runs where I didn't have to worry about other people. That made it easier for me to work on my skiing skills. The weather wasn't too bad. It got a little chilly on the lifts, but overall it was not too bad. We were prepared for it. On the way back we stopped off at Tommy Knocker in Idaho Springs for some food and spirits. I enjoyed a Maple Nut Brown Ale and a Buffalo Roadhouse Red Chili Burger. Mighty good!!! Here are a couple of ski pictures.








Mark















Me

Winter Pays For Summer

Cold Days Indeed!!! Single Digit High's, Below Zero Low's. BURRRRR!!! I must admit that it is a little colder than I would prefer. However, I do like this better than spending the summers in Georgia or Florida. I'm looking forward to summer in Colorado. Winter is a small price to pay for that.




When I told my friends I was moving to Colorado. They were all excited for me. They said I needed to go out and find a Snow Bunny. Well I found one. Not quite what I had envisioned.





This has been an exciting week for Soccer Fans. Soccer has been all over the news. I was real happy to hear about it. U.S. National Team Player Clint Dempsey was issued a UK work permit so that he can play for Fulham of the English Premier League. He will be joining fellow American's Carlos Bocanegra and Brian McBride at Fulham. Plus there is still the possibility of Oguchi Onyewu joining Fulham as well. Three Americans on the same team in England's top flight is pretty impressive, four would just be incredible. The other soccer news that the American public might have actually heard is that David Beckham is coming to America. The publicity is going to be good for the MLS. Hopefully they can figure how to sustain it.

Happy Snow Storms,

-M

Back Home Again

I made it back home without any problems after spending a week in North Carolina. I was fortunate that I was not scheduled to fly during either of the blizzards. Everything pretty much looks the same as it did before I left. Lots of snow. The trip to North Carolina was fun. It was good to see family again. We went hiking, bowling, and even ice-skating. I ate way too much, but I got a whole year of hiking in Colorado to try and work that off before the next Holiday season.

Some of the family that hiked up Hanging Rock in North Carolina





How about them Dawgs! Great comeback in the bowl formerly known as the Peach Bowl. I hope everybody had a great New Year's/College Football Day.

Have a great Year!
-M