I guess my weekend started a day early! I still was working today, but doing so from a resort is a little tough. I’ll be sure to make my updates next week worth it. Lots of pictures to come. Back to playing shuffleboard…

Hello from Salt Lake City. I’m working from a Hampton Inn while Kim is out doing her own work things. Later today we will head back up into the mountains for a couple of days and then over the weekend we will explore southern Utah. We drove out here last night cutting across the southern part of Wyoming, thus adding another state to my visited list. The drive was very scenic and fairly easy, minus the high winds for most of the trip. We took some pictures along the way, but I don’t have any way of getting them off the camera right now, so it will have to wait until we’re back in Denver.

While searching for things to do in Utah, I stumbled upon 43 Places, which I have been addicted to ever since. It is pretty easy to find the most popular destinations not only in each state, but also in different areas like cities, national parks, etc. Many of the things we have planned for this weekend came from this site. They also have cool maps you can add to your site, like this one below. Check it out…

Over the weekend we did something that we haven’t done in a long time, watched a movie. Kim had been wanting to see Music and Lyrics since it was in the theaters. Fortunately we didn’t even have to leave the house to watch it as it was available on Comcast On Demand. Typically I cringe at the thought of watching Hugh Grant in a movie, and this was no exception. However, this movie was actually better than I was expecting. I guess it helps going into it with a bad taste in my mouth, but it was actually pretty funny in parts. I’m not going to recommend seeing it, as that would drive up expectations, but if you happen to watch it go into it with low expectations. You might actually be amused.

O.A.R.‘s latest release is out in stores today. It is titled Live From Madison Square Garden and was recorded at the famous arena in January of this year. It is their third live release and probably the best sounding yet. As I wrote on oarsa.org, “the set captures the growth of the band and recreates the O.A.R. concert experience like never before.” I would highly recommend picking this up if you haven’t already.

In addition to the double CD set there is also a double DVD that I am even more excited about. I haven’t seen it yet, but tonight I am going to a theatrical premiere for Behind The Backline at a theater here in Denver. They are also showing the film in various other cities across the country. Definitely check this out if you are in one of the featured cities. If not, this feature film is part of the double DVD package along with the full concert, so be sure to get a copy of this as well.

Snowboarding in June? Yes it is possible, and that’s what Kim and some friends did on Saturday afternoon. Arapahoe Basin is by far the longest open ski area around. In fact they just closed for the season yesterday. Since I was having some ankle problems, I sat this one out and spent most of my time hanging out at the base taking pictures. Kim also got some shots from up on the mountain where people were attempting to skim across a small pond on their skis and snowboards. It was a gorgeous day in the mountains.

Taking full advantage of the weather, later in the day we headed to the Green Mountain Reservoir to camp with a group of twenty or thirty others. We spent the afternoon and evening cooking up food, hanging around campfires, playing glow in the dark bocce, and having a great time with lots of new friends. As it gets very cold at night, I think Kim and I are going to have to invest in some better camping equipment soon. Otherwise, we all had a great time and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Earlier this week Google launched Street View. They only have five cities available right now, but fortunately for me Denver is one of those. The scary thing is that the our house is only one block from the available streets. In fact, our house is directly behind this hardware store, which I actually visit regularly. If they have plans to expand the available streets, I’m sure ours will be in the next batch.

Apparently I’m not the only one who is addicted to this new feature. People all over the web are posting links to all sorts of funny things they have found. Here are the top 15 Google street view sightings according to mashable.com. There are a few other sites with link after link of funny things. Personally, I think this guy on Colfax Ave with a lightsaber is the best.

Almost two month ago I mentioned my friends project A Minute In The Life: The Simultaneous Photograph Project. Well the time has come, pictures will be taken all around the world at 2:00 PM Eastern Time this Saturday. I would encourage all of you to take a minute out of your life and snap a picture at the appropriate time (see this time zone map for your exact time). Once you have your picture all you need to do is email it to him, along with the location of your shot, and any other information you wish to include. Sounds simple, right? I know that Phil & Doni will be snapping a picture at 8 PM while they are attending a wedding reception in Sweden. I’m planning to be on the slopes at Arapahoe Basin by noon on Saturday, so I can take a nice snowy shot. What will your shot be?

Another thing we did this weekend while Amy was in town was finally check out a Villebillies concert. As the name implies, the band is from Louisville, Kentucy, and being that Amy is from the same place it’s obvious that she introduced me to this group of nine guys. In many ways they remind me of the old Ordinary Peoples, which were an seven member live hip-hop band. Take what O.P. was add a few more vocalists along with an acoustic guitar player, an occasional banjo and/or harmonica, and an even wider range of influences, and you get the Villebillies. In the studio the Villebillies sound very clean and polished, but live they are a raw group of vocalists with a live backing band. It was nice to see a large band of guys having a blast on stage!

Over the holiday weekend we finally made the trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. Our good friend Amy was visiting for the weekend, thus giving us a great excuse to finally make the drive up. We started on our way around 8:30 and were at the park’s west entrance around 11. We made a quick stop at the Kawuneeche visitors center for some information and then continued on our way toward a trailhead that would take us to Adam’s Falls.

Before we could even make it to our trail, we stumbled upon a couple of Moose who were grazing right off the side of the road. This was the first time I have ever seen Moose, and it was on the top of my list of things to find for the day. I was astonished that my first goal was met so quickly and easily. Throughout the rest of the day, we only managed to see a glimpse of another Moose after that. So I guess we were a little lucky to find these two.

The hike to Adam’s Falls was a fairly simple one, measuring .3 mile each way. The only difficult part about it was the constant changing altitude, but we survived it with no problems. These waterfalls were wonderful and all of the varying colors of leaves provided the perfect backdrop. I took lots of pictures of this area, but it was very hard to capture the multiple stages of the falls and the twists and turns that lie between them as the crystal clear water winds through the rocks.

Another highlight of the trip, at least for me, was the drive on Trail Ridge Road, which is the highest paved continuous highway in the United States. This road is closed for the winter and even still has high snowpacked banks along the sides of the road that had to be cutout. I wanted to wait for this road to open before going to Rocky Mountain National Park, as it is the only way to get from one side of the park to the other. Originally I planned to spend as much time on the east side of the park as we did on the west, but by the time we got there we were hungry and ready to head back.

Before leaving the park, we did get some of our closest moments with multiple groups of Elk. At times, we were probably within twenty yards of them. The largest groups we saw were near the Sheep Lakes, where I was actually hoping to see some Big Horns, but no luck this time. However, the Elk were a pleasant surprise, as I don’t think I had seem them this close before. Plus with the backdrop of the trees and mountains I was able to get some good pictures of them.

I decided to snap a couple more pictures of our ever improving front yard today while I was out watering. I still have to mulch some areas, and decide how I want to edge one particular area. But the porch is completely re-stained and we even have some grass growing. It’s quite a change from what it looked like when we first moved in, but it’s definitely a good change. Just look at these pictures from before (especially this one) compared with how things are looking now in this photo album.

Even the neighbors are taking advantage of the good looking yard we have now by putting their house up for sale. Anyone want to join us out in Colorado?