This past Saturday, Kim and I made our first mountain summit hike. You will often hear people around Denver talking about the 14ers that they’ve climbed, meaning the mountains over 14,000 feet in height. We didn’t want to rush into doing 14ers, but we wanted to start working our way towards them. So we decided to attempt hiking the Twin Sisters Peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park after finding it listed as a suggested hike on their website. This is rated as a moderate hike consisting of a 3.7 mile hike in each direction. The peaks reach the heights of 11,413 and 11,428 feet with an elevation gain of 2,338 feet from the trail head.

I’m happy to say that we were successful in our first hike! Despite the threat of rain and overcast skies for most of the day, it never really rained on us. We packed a couple of backpacks with lots of water, a couple of sandwiches, and other hiking supplies. We started the hike around 9:30 in the morning and reached the summit around 11:30. We then had lunch at the top of the mountain while we took in the surround view. The view of Longs Peak (14,256 feet) was amazing as well as the other mountains and even the plains off to the east. After lunch and climbing the rocks to the other peak, we began our descent which took around another two hours to get back to our car. As if that wasn’t enough, we also took a two mile hike to see Alberta Falls, after driving around the park for a little while. It was an exhausting but rewarding day.

With all of the clouds, the lighting wasn’t the best, but there are still some pretty good pictures on my flickr page.

Last night we caught the final performance of Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo in Denver. I had never seen a Cirque du Soleil performance before, so I had no idea what to expect, but Kim was really excited for it since she had already seen a show before. I have to admit that the acrobatic elements of the show were pretty amazing. I think my favorite of acts were the Teeterboard and the Ladder (video of both posted below). I could have done without some of the more theatrical acts, but I guess those are necessary as the crew sets up for the next acrobatic act. The two hour show flew by, so that must be a good sign, and I would gladly go see another Cirque du Soleil in the future.

Toward the end of last year, I mentioned that Deer Creek Music Center (Verizon Wireless Music Center) went up for sale and could soon be turned into something else. Well it hasn’t happened yet, and I have finally ironed out my plans to head back to the famed amphitheater for two nights of the Dave Matthews Band. I haven’t been to Deer Creek since 2004, and I couldn’t be more excited to return there. As always we’ll be camping at Sleepy Bear for the weekend and probably sweating like there’s no tomorrow. Gotta love camping in the Midwest in the middle of the summer.

Take this quiz to find out whether you speak like a northerner or a southerner. The higher the percentage of your score, the more southern you are. My results were 61% (Dixie). A definitive Southern score! I guess I still haven’t kicked my southern roots from spending ten years in Alabama. I must have a little bit of Ohio in me and I know that I answered a couple of questions like a Missourian. I don’t think I’ve had any impact from my short time in Colorado, but I think we’re just a mix of everything here. Post your own results in the comments.

With the Tour de France over, and the lack of other good TV shows on, I’ve been watching a bunch of “Shark Week” on Discovery this week. With an upcoming trip to Hawaii in September, it’s probably not the best idea though, especially since Kim wants to try surfing while we are there. Watching shark attacks on TV makes me want to avoid the ocean completely, not to mention never think about surfing again. Just the other night I had a dream that not only did a plane I was on crash into the ocean, we were then attacked by sharks while waiting to be rescued. That’s probably the final sign that I should find something else to watch.

Kim and I went out on our rollerblades late Sunday afternoon. Like I did the last time, we took the light rail out and then rode back home. But unlike last time, we took the light rail north to Union Station and started off on the Cherry Creek Trail heading back southeast from there. Going in this direction, opposite the direction of the flowing creek, the trail is slightly uphill the entire way but not bad at all.

After around three miles on the trail we headed south along Downing Street and then Marion Parkway. Both of these roads either have a dedicated trail off the rode or a lane for bikes (rollerblades and anything else). This took us down into Washington Park where we decided to do a loop around the park to completely wear ourselves out. The entire route was around six miles in length, and was about the perfect distance for us, at least until we go out a few more times.

On Saturday evening we participated in a flip cup tournament with around 24 other teams. Each team consisted of five players and were required to have a theme and costumes. Since we joined just a few days prior, and weren’t feeling too creative, we just threw on some Hawaiian shirts, some leis, etc. and became Team Hawaii or Team Buffet, as we used both names interchangeably. Other teams were a lot more creative and came complete with elaborate costumes, just check out Blades of Glory or Double Dare.

We played against the hosts of the party in a practice round and got beat badly. So we re-arranged our lineup and had a little more success. In our first round match we still lost, but it wasn’t as much of a blowout as before. Not to worry though, there was a losers bracket. In our first match of the losers bracket, we lost the first game, but each match was a best of three competition. We went on to win the next two games and took the match. Unfortunately that was our last game, as the tournament ran out of time and the losers bracket was canceled. I’m not sure who won the tournament, but it was a great time regardless.

I posted a few more pictures on my flickr page.

We almost won our first hockey game last night, but couldn’t hang on in the end. There is a rumor that my team won a couple of weeks ago, when I wasn’t there, but I don’t believe it. Plus, the website for the league does not say that it was a win. Despite having the lead in our game last night, and a goal by yours truly in the third period, we couldn’t put enough in the net to win. The good news is that we are still headed to the playoffs, since every team makes it. Man, we really suck. At least my ankle is feeling really good and I’m actually starting to play well again. It’s about time, eh?

My recording of MER’s performance at Pig-Fest is now online. I’m pleasantly surprised by how well it turned out since I had a few adult beverages prior to setting everything up. I was even fearful that all we would hear at the beginning would be cornhole bags hitting the boards. That distinct sound is still there, but very faint, and disappears after the first couple of songs. One thing that didn’t turn out as well as I would have hoped was the sing along version of Friends In Low Places. Everyone should have turned around and sang to the mics. :)

Anyway, check out the recording, it’s very listenable and enjoyable. Click here to open a popup window to stream the show online. If you want to download the show, use the link at the top of the page. Also be sure to support MER and buy some of his music, especially once the new CD comes out on August 31st. I know I will be ordering my own copy.

I’ve sorted through our own pictures from Pig-Fest and added the good ones to my flickr page. Yes, I am still battling with the gallery on my own website and still haven’t been able to get it working again. Anyway, Kim took most (if not all) of these pictures and I think there are some really good ones. Of course we are no Joe Vedder, but who really is? Hopefully you aren’t sick of Pig-Fest pictures yet.