Posted 3:45 PM by MelanieandSteve
9/26/03:

OK, so we've dawdled a little bit. But who wouldn't? Being with family and friends in the relaxing area of Steve's folks' natural, bird singing, tree spattered, Rocky Mountain viewed, Deer frequented- land and home, (a place he has more than once referred to as "Paradise"), it hasn't been difficult to lose track of time.

But all good things come to an ... not really an end, because goodness is not over, it's just progressing into something else ... another thing. Steve and I have our tickets and are off for the land down under tomorrow night. No worries...

Here at home, we haven't kept a calendar, or a journal, like we did overseas. So we’ve had a jumble of good times w/o organization. The benefit to you may be that we'll be less wordy because we remember less.

Highlights in Colorado post 8/20/03 (date of last blog):
-HIKED to an above tree line Lake Ann with friends Kim and Ed. Dipped in the cold, making us renewed members of "The Alpine Dippers Club" for people who swim in water above 10,000 feet :). (Same day, thunder and lightening caused us to fail an attempt to climb 14,000 foot mountain Huron. :(
-VOLUNTEERED WITH HABITAT FOR HUMANITY with Steve's dad in Montrose Colorado. The house that started as a skeleton - just ribs – turned into a walled, doored, windowed, roofed beginning of a home. We spent basically all our time on the roof. It was HOT up there, and we had a Great time. The fellow volunteers we worked with were all so full of life and energy and love, and we also got to know Tammy and Mike and their little baby Sheryl who will live in the house once it's done.
-NIGHT AT CABIN: Visited Aunt and Uncle Ruthie and Arnie Wills in their Cabin which they build with their own hands. It was a working weekend, and we helped them put up dry wall. Where we left off with Habitat hammers, we picked up with Wills’ drills. It was a beautiful getaway.
-FIRST 14ER OF THE YEAR: The next day, we and Arnie and Ruthie peaked the first fourteener of the year (Mel's lifetime 4th and Steve's 5th). A "Fourteener" is a mountain over 14,000 feet altitude. We hiked Mt. Sherman in the rain and sleet. We almost froze, and Steve and Mel even ran the last 100 yards at high altitude since a common saying about Mt. Sherman is the top is so broad you could have a football game up there. More Fourteeners to come in this blog…
-MOTORCYCLED: Got back on the motorcycles a bit. Forgot how good they feel. Tried to sell them - failed (market stinks right now). But sold the Explorer, miss her.
-FRIENDS: Got together with friends that we hardly ever see:
--Played pool at Steve and Audra and Annika's, good friends who we never miss the chance to see in CO,
--Saw movies, played guitar in their living room, and went hiking with Ed and Kim and Erin who we met in Hawaii and learned we come from the same town,
--Elizabeth who Melanie worked with at Adventure Unlimited ranches a decade ago had us over for a home cooked awesome meal and lots of catch up and stimulating conversation.
-FAMILY: gatherings, games, lunches, dinners, with Steve’s cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and Brother and Sister and kids in Parker.
-MORE 14ERS: inspired by our trip up Sherman, we went on to hike Mounts Lincoln, Democrat, and Bross together. And then with Kim, we celebrated the years first “termination dust” (snow) on Mount Princeton – one of the most aesthetically pleasing mountains here. Totally covered in white, and snowing the whole time we hiked, it felt a little bit more like a documentary for even higher elevation mountains in other countries. A gorgeous adventure and accomplishment. Bringing Melanie to 8 and Steve to 9 overall fourteeners. (54 are in Colorado. We’ve got a ways to go).
-PICKED GRAPES and Uncle and Aunt Warren and Rose’s. Steve made fresh squeezed concord grape juice.
-MYSTERY DINNER THEATER: Helped work on and then went to Steve’s parents’ church’s, “A Play Runs Through it.”
-ROCKIES/PADRES GAME: - both are our teams. How do you cheer? Padres Trounced Rockies.
-HOME IMPROVEMENT: Steve did lots of work on his parents’ beloved property: building a shed, clearing a walking trail, building a bridge across a gully.
-SELF IMPROVEMENT: Melanie worked out: she missed having tennis shoes in Europe and felt like a fool when she tried working out in hiking boots. She had a great time getting back into the work out swing of things at the rec. center, the yoga gym, and the martial arts kick boxing gym – all in comfy tennies. She also enjoyed some morning jogs in Parker’s dirt roads complete with morning miracles of sun rise and lots of deer sightings.
-GOOD FOOD: Jean, Steve’s mom, made us feel very happily fed: never a meal we didn’t love. So good to be well fed after 5 months of not always satisfying travel meals.

So we were wrong: this was still wordy.
Looking forward to blogging you from abroad. And also looking forward to hearing from some of you via email (or visits). We’re off!!

Happy Birthday today to Nathan

Happy Birthdays past to:
Erin, Michelle, Petra, Uncle Arnie, Uncle Kenny, Kevin, Jasmine (just born), Cousin Jennie, Niece Tess, practically sister Laura, Sister Linda, Aunt Sharon, Cousin Laura, Niece Sara, Brother John, Judy, Erin, and Lesley.

Happy Almost Birthdays to Cousin Felice, Uncle Gary, Steve, Sister Melanie, Cous Barbara

Happy Anniversaries to:Nate and Sandy, Andy and Toni, Bob and Jean, Norm and Linda,

Happy Wedding to Jennifer and Stefan.