Slight Change of Plans

The pool party was canceled for inclement weather, so the plan was that my human friends and I were going to head out and do something fun for Memorial Day weekend. We hadn't figured out what yet, and first, I needed to walk Voltaire and visit with my sister, Kumo, a little.


When I called Kumo and told her the pool party was off, she said she was going to head over anyway, just to visit and "scope the place out."


Upon hearing the distinct sound of Kumo's motorcycle approaching, Voltaire seemed to remember Kumo and started barking, and jumping around excitedly. Kumo lived with us when Voltaire had her puppies, and was quite the puppy nursemaid for a bit.


Even though the pool party was canceled, this did not seem to dissuade Kumo from wearing a grass skirt to ride over on her bike.



Turns out, it was a rented hula dancer costume, and she wanted to get her money worth out of it. (I read no reports of bunny on a motorcycle in a hula outfit related motor vehicle accidents, so I guess that's all good.)

So instead of going out with my friends to do Memorial Day things, I ended up sitting around in my apartment with Kumo chatting. It was nice to catch up, but she was a bit cagey when it came to talking about where she's living. I hope she's doing okay. She said she would have to have her belongings "called for" and that she'd see me soon. So maybe it's all in storage or something. Maybe she'll tell me the details next time I see her. She said she'd bring her dog, Tsume, and Voltaire will like that a lot. She hasn't really had another dog to play with for a while.

Not a very exciting Saturday in spite of it being mostly spent with Kumo. But quiet is okay, at least while I'm still getting settled in.

- Gage

My Dinner With Girlzoot

This week is shaping up to be a rather social one.

My buddy Mal is coming to visit from Washington state in a few days.

I finally decided to let my sister, Kumo, know that I was back in Colorado. I've been invited to a pool party on Saturday, so I told her we could just meet up there. She sounded really enthusiastic... which is always a little worrysome with Kumo.

And tonight, I got the honor of having dinner with my friend, Girlzoot.


She told me she gets lost easily, so we agreed to meet at Cafe de France, where we've been before.

It's been months since I saw her, way before I lost my mind and go married, and over those months I've found several books that I thought she'd like. So while we were waiting for food to show up, we looked through the books I found her. She seemed pretty tickled with them.



Dinner was pretty good (I had the pasta salad), but dessert was the BEST. We split something with orange and chocolate that was really just wonderful.


She agreed to let me blog about dinner with her, if I'd help her with her art project. It's kind of neat. You can see it here - Girlzoot: Words and Faces.



Then it was off to Build a Bear to see if I could find a pair of swim trunks for the pool party (I did. Thank you, Build a Bear), and where I was serenaded by Girlzoot singing "Sing, Sing a Song" with a little stuffed microphone.

Now there's something you don't see every day.

It's been much too long since I've seen Girlzoot, and there are a lot of my friends I've neglected with this whole marriage thing. I need to see about fixing that. But first I need to figure out which box my address book is packed in. It's got to be here somewhere.

- Gage

Trail Blazing Bunny - Part 2

Okay, so when I left off, we'd just taken a break from trail building to have some delicious Sloppy Joes for lunch.

And corn stuff that was WONDERFUL.


I got to spend part of my lunch talking to the fabulous Donna Warner Wilson, who is the CEO of Cherokee Ranch. Which I figure must be kind of like being Queen, only she doesn't live there, and without a crown. She was very nice and I really enjoyed chatting with her over sloppy joes.


Before we all got back to it, we were addressed by the lovely Ann Baker Easley, Executive Director of the VOC. She had some really encouraging words, and just reiterated how important to this the volunteers are. I'd heard there were about 115 volunteers who showed up, and that is a LOT of sloppy joes, but it's also a lot of people giving up a Saturday they could've just been lounging on their couch eating ice cream sandwiches and watching TV to come build a trail. That's pretty impressive.


So back to trail building. We went back to the trails we'd finished and cleaned up the tools and everything.

I think they both looked great, but then I might have been a little biased, having had a paw in the creation of them.

One of my crew mates, Ian, planted this little tree to help show that this WASN'T part of the trail. It's tough making trail borders look like they weren't put there on purpose and the branches and stuff just happened to fall there.


We had to wait for just a little bit to join all the folks up closer to the castle for the final little bit of trail that needed to go in.


Fletcher brought around water for everyone, and we finished things up, tidied edges, that kind of thing.

Some of us posed in the sun, on a rock, like a wild bunny. Well, a wild bunny with sunglasses.


Finally, everyone was working on the path closest to the Castle. This is where the crusher fines would be coming in, and they really do make a beautiful path.


But they have to be carried down by the wheelbarrow full, and that can be kind of tricky on lumpy ground like this. So some of us were running back and forth with wheelbarrows, some were digging out the path so it was about 1" deep, and some were tamping down the crusher fines on the path. It was a whole lot of movement, and pretty fast, because everyone was ready to be done and go to the Castle for ice cream!

It took a lot of work, but finally, the trail was done. Completely and totally DONE.


There's the "before".


And the "after".

Then it was up to the Castle for ice cream and tours!


The Castle is INCREDIBLE. That roof is seven color slate, which is available only in Vermont (I think. I was pretty worn out by the time we got to the tour. I could barely hop.)


This is a nifty little building that I think I overheard one of the Castle docents say was a guest house. Oh, it looks small, but I guess there's a spiral staircase in it that goes down to the guest rooms. Or something like that. I'll have to ask when I go back.


The view from up here is amazing, and I can't imagine a better place to put your Castle than up here.

You can even see Pike's Peak! What a view!


I never did get a chance to ask about the cannon, but seriously, what Castle doesn't need a cannon?


The tour was wonderful, but there are no pictures allowed inside the castle, so I don't have any tour pictures to show you. While we were waiting for everyone else to get out of the tour, we hung around eating ice cream.


And some of us posed on rocks in front of trees.


There was a raffle.


But I didn't win anything. And after the raffle, we all went home. Kirkachu and Wendy talked about going back and walking the trail, but we were all way too tired, and we all promised to come back and walk the trail again someday soon.


On the way down, we saw a deer.


And like the good tourists we are, stopped to snap pictures.


She sure was pretty, though.


We decided that we'd worked hard enough, none of us felt like cooking. So we ended up in a Red Robin for delicious burgers.


And still not carrot cake. Harumph. I guess this diet thing is making Wendy happy, but I'm starting to have carrot cake withdrawal!

The salad did have carrots in it, though. So I guess it's okay.

I don't know what adventures we have planned next. I skipped the Mothers' Day picnic because I was still really, really worn out (and it was cold. I don't like cold picnics.) So we'll see. It's great to be back, and trail building really was an incredible experience.

To look back at that last trail and know that an hour before, that hadn't been there. It was like magic. I can't describe it, but if you'd like to see for yourself, I recommend you check out the VOC - Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado. I know I'll be doing more projects with them, so maybe I'll see you there.

Also, I highly recommend a visit to Cherokee Ranch and Castle. It was really obvious to me on the tour how much the docents and employees there really care about the Castle and everything in it. Also, I think the lady who lived there last, Ms. Tweet Kimball, seems like a real character and it was a lot of fun hearing about her and her cattle. They offer tours and teas and brunches and all kinds of musical events. Hopefully we'll be checking out more of those too.

For now, I'm pretty content to continue settling in to my home. It's great to be back in Colorado. I missed it more than I knew.

- Gage

Trail Blazing Bunny - Part 1

Kirkachu had talked Wendy and I into going with him on a trailbuilding project with the VOC (Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado). So for a Saturday, we were up pretty early.


I navigated, of course.


We were building trails at the Cherokee Ranch and Castle, and it was really beautiful. But I didn't see a castle.


I did see a wild turkey. But no castle.


Until, one more bend in the road and...


There it was!


Cherokee Castle!!


The Cherokee Castle is really something to see. It was originally called the Charlford Castle and it took two years to build, from 1924 to 1926, and that's just the beginning of its amazing history. They said we'd get a tour after the trails were all built, and I was really looking forward to that.


But first we had to figure out what to do with all of this trail building stuff (called crusher fines). This ALREADY looked like hard work, and we hadn't even started yet.


We wandered over to the picnic area where they were setting up to check in the volunteers and where all the crew leaders were meeting.


There's a beautiful view of the castle from the picnic area.


The views up here were breathtaking.


The VOC had provided lots of water for the volunteers. VERY important stuff up here, doing such hard work in the mountains.


There was a crew leader walkthrough, and Wendy and I followed Kirkachu (who was like a crew leader caterpillar that day - almost there, about to turn into a beautiful crew leading butterfly. Hmm... rereading this I think maybe I shouldn't do blog entries so late at night. -Gage) Anyway...



All of the crew leaders were assigned their parts of the trail. There was the main trail, a loop, and a couple of "stubs" that were all going to be done in one day!


Some parts of where the trail was going to be looked a lot more difficult to clear than others.


But, there was already a pack of school kids coming on Monday to hike the trails we were building on Saturday! And looking at the view, it seemed to me that if it opened this up so kids could come up and see this, it was worth it.


Back to the picnic, where more people were starting to gather.


A bunny and his drinking water. I agreed to share with Wendy.



A lot of families come and get involved with the VOC, which is a really wonderful thing to see. They even had a special project specifically for the littler kids. The smaller kids got to plant trees by the pond. At the end of the day they looked like they had a really great time at it.


Up next, everyone had to be put into a crew to start working on their part of the trail.


Super big tools, but Wendy said she thought I'd be able to help anyway. If we're going to keep this up, I might have to invest in a set of tools of my own. We'll see.


We got to be on Kirkachu's team. Standing next to Kirkachu is Steve Austin. No, not the bionic man, the guy who was mentoring Kirkachu on how to be a crew leader. He was incredible. Steve knows a LOT about building a trail, and it made me tired just WATCHING him. The guy's got a lot of energy.



Everyone kept saying that our part of the trail was pretty difficult, and it certainly was a LOT of hard work. But we got it done! And our reward...


Another section of trail to do. But this one wasn't quite as difficult.


We pretty much finished it up just before lunch, which is a great stopping point for this already super long blog entry.

My trail blazing blog entry will continue on Saturday the 16th! Check back! I got to see the Castle!!!

Hare Trek

Today, was Star Trek day.

We all took the day off of work so we could go see Star Trek.

Kirkachu drove. I navigated, of course.


We went to the Continental, for the giant screen experience.


Woo hoo! Movie time!

The movie ROCKED. I really like Star Trek. I always have. And I thought this was really brilliant. I can't tell you anything about it without giving things away (no spoilers here. I hate that). All I can tell you is, go see it, in spite of this Onion news article (which cracks me up) - Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film as 'Fun, Watchable'.


We saw a preview for "Terminator Salvation" and it looks pretty. I'm trying not to have any expectations, but the special effects in the trailer are incredible. We'll go see it. Absolutely.

Wendy's on some kind of freak diet, so there was no carrot cake to be had this afternoon, but it was still a good movie day, I guess.


So I got home and took Voltaire for a walk, which she loves.


My buddy, Sam, who has apparently grown tired of whomping me at Connect Four AND Battleship decided to whomp me at Boobytrap. I did win a couple of games this time, though.


And now I'm finishing up a lovely day, typing a blog entry on my spiffy new laptop (poor Bessie, my previous machine, didn't survive the move. R.I.P. Bessie). Wendy and I got my "library/office" set up, and even though Voltaire and I have a lot more settling in to do, it really is starting to feel like home.

Tomorrow, trail building project with VOC. I've never done anything like that before. It'll be interesting. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks for reading, and go see Star Trek.

- Gage

Titanic Do Over

Having previously been unable to see the Titanic for the trees, we tried this again a week later.



Kirkachu was pretty determined that we should go, and he was driving, so that was a pretty good sign that we were actually going to make it this time!



I navigated, of course.


And we made it! (Well, once we found it in the mall parking lot.) It was a pretty big structure , though it looked smaller than I thought it would. There were a LOT of people.


The lines were long, but we were up for it. We settled into the VIP line that our special little ticket thingy got us into (Thanks, Lucas!) and took some pictures while we were waiting.



As I was reading the description, Wendy said there was an employee coming over towards us, probably to tell us either that live bunnies weren't allowed in the exhibit (it's happened), or to put the camera back in the car because no pictures were allowed (it's also happened).

But that was not the case at all.



Turns out, this guy (who's name is Jay. Hi Jay!) had seen my blog and recognized me! He took us out of the line, gave me the official "press" kit, and took us in through the exit to the beginning of the exhibit!

No pictures were allowed inside the exhibit, so I can't show you how cool this was, but trust me. If it comes to your town, go see it. It's a difficult thing to explain, the feeling you get looking at the handwriting on a letter, or the broken cuff links, of someone who died in such a tragic event. But if you go see the exhibit, I think you'll feel it for yourself.

More people have been in space than have seen the wreckage of the Titanic. And the ship eventually will collapse, though it's hard to say exactly when she'll be gone for good. I hadn't realized why the recovery expeditions were such a big deal (it's dangerous and expensive), but I get it now.

It was very moving to see the little biographies of people who had been on the Titanic and then find their names on the wall of survivors/lost to see who did and didn't make it.

There was so much to see, and it was a really fascinating display of things from a different time.

And I did, in fact, resist the urge to quietly hum "The Heart Will Go On" through the whole thing. (Okay, Kirkachu only had to elbow me once to get me to stop.)



Anyway, it was a really great exhibit. And I'm glad we finally got to go see it. You can see if it's coming to your town here, on their official website - Country Financial Presents Titanic Treasures from the Deep.



We got back to the car and I had to sort through all the cool stuff Jay gave me. I got a cool piece of recovered coal from the Titanic on the 1994 expedition!

Apparently, because we were in a mall parking lot, for some reason, that meant we had to go INTO the mall.


Where we found Wendy's next car (though if she drives like she focuses a camera, we're all in big trouble.)

She told me if she got it, I could be her mechanic and that maybe that'd be a good new career path for me.


She's funny, that one. Ha. Ha.


There was a school art exhibit going on in the mall.


I vaguely remember this fountain thingy being bigger the last time I was here, but even being smaller, it still seems to encourage the same strange human behavior of compulsively throwing change into running water. Weird.


We were all starving and decided on a delicious lunch from Panda Express.

Then it was off to the theater to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine.


To be totally honest, I wasn't expecting much. I had already seen Wolverine: The Musical, but I like the character of Wolverine. I'm not a huge comic book fan, but Kirkachu is, and I was happy to tag along.

When I asked Wendy why she was going she just mumbled something about "Hugh... Liev... very hot" so maybe she was going because the theater is air conditioned? I dunno. It didn't seem all that hot out to me, but regardless, she came along too.

We got there early and took in the posters for upcoming movies.



We are so there. Wendy and Kirkachu even took the day off of work.


Whatever day this is coming out on, I'm busy. Or sick. Or busy being sick. Or something.


Sunday afternoon is apparently THE time to go see movies. Even with it being only the 2nd weekend for Wolverine Origins, the place was pretty empty.

The movie rocked. Seriously, rocked. I didn't know who half the characters were, but comic book nerd, Kirkachu, said he didn't either, so there you go.

As usual for us, we ended up out for food and movie reviewing.


Which we did at our favorite, Village Inn, which is always delicious.


All in all, it was a great day. We saw lots of cool stuff, and had a great time. And any day that ends with carrot cake is a good day in my book.

More adventures and more movies coming up. Thanks for stopping by.

- Gage

Off to see the Titanic Exhibit - or Not

So... Marriage. Yeah. Didn't really work out. I wish Lyra well with whatever his name is, her new beau.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Voltaire and I are back in Colorado, and we're back to staying with Wendy. They say you can never go home, but I did.

Wendy's got new roommates, and one of them, Sam, likes board games. She likes them almost as much as I do. And she plays a wicked match of Connect Four, let me tell you. But more about that later.

Anyway, now that I'm settled in a little bit, Wendy and I went out. It was a little chilly today, but no rain. It was nice to be back somewhere cold (Vegas = not especially cold).



Wendy's beloved, Kirkachu, had scored VIP ticket thingies to this Titanic traveling exhibit and that sounded like a lot of fun. Great way to get back into the swing of riding in the purse and all that.


But first, we ended up in a Denny's because they were both hungry after planting trees all morning for Arbor Day. (I did not attend the grand tree planting, but they said they had fun.)


I ordered the nachos and a hot chocolate. It's a weird habit I picked up from Lyra. I dunno, it's just tasty.

I eat carrots during the week to balance it out. Really.


While lunch was lovely, and it was great to hang out with Wendy and Kirkachu, they stuck me with the bill. Oh yeah, I'm home all right.


And then we ended up at Black & Read, which is a store I really, really like.

But it is NOT a Titanic exhibit. They didn't have the CD I wanted (Lyra seems to have gotten custody of all our CDs, so I have some collection reconstruction to do.)

Shortly after that, they both completely wimped out, said something about just being too tired and came home.

So while they're napping, I'm doing this blog update on Wendy's computer (they're napping in the room where my laptop is. So maybe, while I'm on her machine, I'll move around her icons or something. Or change her wallpaper to this.)

I'm going to try to talk them into going tomorrow, and we'll see how that works out. At the worst, I'll end up getting my tail handed to me by Sam again at Connect Four. (I wonder how she is at Battleship? Maybe I'll try that next. I RULE at Battleship.)

So I'm back to blogging. I missed it. And hopefully, someone out there is still reading it. Even if not, it's nice to be back.

I'm glad to be home.

- Gage