Frisco

Just got back from three days in the high country and need to run to the airport soon to drop Hamish off while he heads to San Fran for the weekend. I'm headed back to Vail til Sunday and will visit with Ray, Lisa, Nate, Terry, Bruce and Nathan. Had a great day at Vail yesterday and jumped off a sweet cliff in Blue Sky Basin. I stuck the landing too. On my shoulder...
Talk to you next week!
Oh yeah - I signed up on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1263222317&ref=profile#/profile.php?id=1263222317
Hope to connect with a few friends!
Talk to you next week....

Hamish in Denver

My good friend Hamish is visiting from Hungary for a week so I'm putting on my tour guide hat. Started off with a walk around the park then a visit to REI downtown then took him to LODO's for a rooftop beer. We stopped by the apartment to figure out what to do for dinner when his phone rang. His two friends from Budapest had missed their flight from Salt Lake City to Kona with no more flights until the next morning. So we told them to hop on a flight to Denver. Picked them up an hour and a half later then I scored a reservation at Table 6 for the Denver Restaurant Week's $52.80 special. Had a blast although the 4:30 am trip back to DIA sucked.
Next stop - Red Rocks for the afternoon. It was a nice warm day and we hiked the lower loop by the Trading Post them walked around the ampitheater and even ventured beneath the stage. Had a Blue Moon at the Visitor's Center on the patio out back. High was 67!
Back at the crib Ray stopped over then Lisa & Nate dropped in from Albuquerque on their way to Frisco for a week of skiing. Ambereen and I made a great dinner and it turned out to be a party. Good times for sure.
Hitting the links today as it'll be 70. Headed to the high country tomorrow to ski for a few days and I think we scored the Vail condo this weekend.
Hey, if I'm not working I may as well have fun, right?

Powder day at A-Basin

Had to take a powder day off from work (conducting a search for a Manager of Business Development and Financial Planning for a Denver area hospital - if you know anyone like this let me know!) due to 8" at A-Basin. Ray called the night before and we made a game day decision on Wednesday morning. No traffic, no lift lines and plenty of fresh! Hit double blacks all day. Montezuma Bowl was great!

SKI SKI SKI!!

We headed up to Breckenridge to stay for the three day weekend. Made it to Breck three days in a row. My legs are sore..... Had some visitors and some good times. Weather was nice and the snow was much better than last weekend. Still not nearly as nice as it was last season. I told you I was spoiled after the dumping we got last year!!

I've been summoned for possible jury duty tomorrow. I'll know after 5. I'm OK with performing my civic duty but am still surprised I've been summoned already. I mean, I registered (in Colorado) to vote last year and have already been selected?

My friends Lisa & Nate are going to be in Frisco next week on their annual ski trip. Remember, I went to Utah with them last year. How convenient they will be in my back yard this year. Ray & I will visit them for a few days. Another friend of mine, Hamish, is visiting from Hungary starting this Saturday and will be here for a week so he'll ski as well. Should be a great week.

End of Hiney Gate??????

I read this in today's Dispatch -
Holiday Inn to become 480-bed OSU dormitory

By Mike Pramik
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Ohio State University’s community development arm has reached a tentative deal to buy Holiday Inn on the Lane and close the campusarea hotel on March 31.
Harper Hotels Inc. would receive $19 million from Campus Partners for the 243-room hotel, which the university wants to use as student housing. Campus Partners is scheduled to complete due diligence on the transaction by Feb. 27. If it decides then to proceed with the purchase, the deal would close at the end of March, said Doug Aschenbach, interim president of the development group.
The Holiday Inn is a Lane Avenue landmark that for decades provided lodging for families of OSU students, Buckeyes fans and people doing business with the university.
But with several south campus dorms set to undergo repairs in the coming years, the university sought out the extra space.
Campus Partners plans to spend $4 million to $6 million to convert the hotel into a 480-bed dorm. Aschenbach said it’s possible the dorm will be ready by fall quarter.
The Holiday Inn also is widely known as the home of Hineygate, an OSU football-related party featuring live music. Aschenbach said Hineygate’s fate is uncertain.
“Our first issue there is determining when students will occupy the building,” he said. “That will allow us to evaluate options that may be available on continuing to host Hineygate.”

What the hell? Are you kidding me? There will be no reason for me to visit Columbus ever again!!! Well, other to visit Stace & Chris. And all of my friends. And to go to the football games. ANd to get my stuff. But seriously! I have many many memories of the Holiday Inn on the Lane. It's a travesty!!!!

Acura update

Got the car back last Friday after two weeks in the shop. It looks like new! They did a great job with the repairs. I tried to negotiate a deal with the repair shop to cover my deductible and he agreed to do some additional work instead. The side mirrors and door handles were painted as they were faded pretty bad. He also got State Farm to pay to have the hood repainted. Cathy's friend Henry owns a car dealership and referred me to a tire shop and they gave me a 10% over cost discount. The wheel / tire combo I selected was less than what I was given to buy OEM wheels so I more than made up for the deductible. All in all it worked out great. Icing on the cake is the off street parking I secured with a friend who lives nearby. Picked up the garage door opener today. When I picked up the car the security feature on my car stereo had been activated so I called the company and after answering several questions they walked me through the activation sequence so I have tunes again.
So Stace - no need to root through the storage unit for that CD ;)
Headed to Breckenridge yesterday and was disappointed with the conditions. It was thin and icy. We only stayed for a few hours then headed back. Ran into traffic so we caught the frontage road to Idaho Springs where we had lunch at the Tommyknocker Brewery. Had a buffalo burger with a beer. They were out of the Cocoa Porter on tap already but I picked up a 12 on the way out. Great beer! Scored the condo at Breckenridge for the long weekend so looks like we'll head up Friday. Hope they get some snow by then.

WOW! What a great day

THe forecast called for sunny skies and a high around 70 so I shot out of the crib and headed to Red Rocks for a hike. Took some cool pics and had a great hike. It was so warm I was sweating. Got back to the car and drove to Fossil Trace in Golden to play 9. Got there early and sat on the patio for a bite to eat. Hit the range then headed to #10. Was paired with a guy named Kevin when the started called to us to wait. This guy came strolling down the hill with his pull cart. Teed it up and smacked it down the fairway. Turns out John was 75 and was walking 18. Mind you, this isn't a flat Ohio course. Major hills everywhere. This guy could play too! I started off poorly but regrouped. Had one of my 3 birdie putts lip out. Played from the tips too. That R7 Draw was a great gift - thsnks again Dad!!!!! I actually played one fairway shot from a snow bank. I wouldn't recommend that. This is the course where you can see dinosaur tracks next to hole #11. Way cool. Aslo saw a coyote strolling across the #1 green / fairway when we approached #18. Keep your pets close! FInished 18 with a bomb of a drive right down the middle, an great 8 iron then stuck my lob wedge to 1 foot. On of the best shots I've ever made. Made the birdie putt. Then I had to high tail it to the Pepsi Center for the Avalanche game. Got to watch the entire game and got out early so I joined a few buddies from Red Rocks at Brooklyn's for a special 2 for 1. All in all it was a great Thursday. A little cooler today with a chance of snow this weekend. Hope it gets cold - ski season is in full swing and Lisa & Nate will be here in tho weeks for their ski trip. They're the couple I went to Utah (stayed with them in NM as well) with last year. They're staying in Frisco at the ind of the month so I'll ski with them for a few days.

Car update

Woke up on Monday to find a ticket on my rental for expired tags. WTF? Are you kidding me? I could have been pulled over at any time over the past two weeks. Idiots. I stopped by to pick up the new registration yesterday and decided to swing by the repair shop to see the wheels and check on the progress of the repairs. Looking great! It almost looks as good as new - I'm not kidding - and the wheel / tire combo looks better than what I had. My friend Henry hooked me up with the Manager at Paris Tires and he gave me the 10% over cost discount. I'm trying to secure off street parking to keep it out of site. It won't last a month on the street looking like this.........
Looking for a high of 65 - 70 today.
What to do...what to do.

Groundhog Day

Hear Ye Hear Ye
On Gobbler's Knob this glorious Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2009
Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators
Awoke to the call of President Bill Cooper
And greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths
After casting a joyful eye towards thousands of his faithful followers,
Phil proclaimed that his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers were World Champions one more time
And a bright sky above me
Showed my shadow beside me.
So 6 more weeks of winter it will be.

I've never been so excited!!!!

Super Bowl party

The party was a hit - great time had by all. Great game and a pretty funny commercial that hit home - http://superbowlads.fanhouse.com/quarter3/Bridgestone-Moon_Dancers/2409760

Hope to get my car back this week. Looks like I'm working the Avs game tonite as I have some free time.

Silverthorne

Just got back from skiing at Winter Park on Friday and Keystone on Saturday. Great weather and had some fantastic runs. Came down one run at Keystone like a bat out of hell. I bet I was going 60 when I hit a catwalk which at that speed is a jump. Flew through the air and landed like it was powder. What a feeling!! I'll post pics later but I'm throwing an impromptu Super Bowl party and guests will arrive in 30 minutes.