After our exciting rafting trip, we decided to explore the area a bit on Sunday. We were camping very close to the Royal Gorge, so after some breakfast we decided to go see the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park. Built in 1929, the bridge is highest suspension bridge in the world, standing 1053 feet above the Arkansas River. The first thing we did upon entering the park was to walk across the bridge, which is made of wooden planks stretched across the steel supports. Because of this, there are many small cracks along the way where you can actually see all the way down to the canyon floor below. It’s a bit scary, to say the least.

Besides the bridge there are a number of other attractions in the park, including the worlds steepest incline train to the canyon floor, the worlds longest single span aerial tram, displays of elk, bison, and bighorn sheep, among other presentations, thrill rides, and shops. We did nearly everything available, though I was even more afraid of the aerial tram than the bridge, so we skipped that one. We were able to see most of it in a few hours, though I’m sure it’s possible to spend even more time inside the park. Though pictures likely don’t do it justice, I really wish I had my camera with me, but as I mentioned earlier I forgot to bring it along.

Canon City on Dwellable

We had quite an adventure over the weekend. After work on Friday we drove down toward Colorado Springs and then over toward Cañon City and just a bit past that to our campsite for the weekend. We were joining a group of close to 150 others with the primary goal of whitewater rafting Saturday morning and afternoon. Nothing terribly exciting happened the rest of Friday, but that was definitely made up for on Saturday.

I will admit that I was a bit nervous of the actual rafting for a few reasons. First, my ankle was injured a couple weeks ago and is not back to 100%, or even close really. Second, the Arkansas River is the highest it’s been in over ten years due to a huge snow pack that is now melting. Third, I had never rafted before and wasn’t really sure what I was getting into. Add this all on top of the fact that the original section we were supposed to raft, Royal Gorge, was closed due to the extreme conditions.

So instead of doing the Royal Gorge section, we did a section called Bighorn Sheep Canyon, which is typically rated at class II/III (out of six classes) but due to the conditions was more like III/IV. Our group of six was fortunate to be led by one of the owners of the company, who has been rafting the Arkansas for years. That’s not to say that all of their guides aren’t great, but I felt added comfort in knowing that we were in especially good hands.

The trip started off easy enough, as we learned the commands the guide would call out the rest of the day when going through more advanced rapids with names like Shark’s Tooth, Double Dip, and Kamikaze. The first big rapid we ran into was called Three Rock Falls, and our plan was to stay on the left side of the river to avoid the namesake three large rocks. But as I soon learned, not everything goes as planned and we actually ended on the far right side. Our guide said that we probably came the closest to flipping possible without actually going overboard.

From that point on the guide felt we were capable enough of having some fun and hitting some of the bigger stuff along the way. He said that sometimes he gets very timid groups who want to avoid everything possible, but our group was all for going after the big stuff. So the rest of the day was spent steering into the heart of the rapids and having a blast! We never lost anyone out of our boat, despite it slowly leaking air and taking on water at times. However, we did get to see three other boats flip and participated in the rescue of those sent swimming.

I really enjoyed rafting even more than I thought I would, had no problems with my ankle, and cannot wait until we can do it again. Since this year is such a good year to do so, perhaps we will take another trip later in the summer back to the Arkansas for round two. If we do, I will be sure to bring my camera even if I can’t take it on the boat. I regret not having any photos from our weekend this time, but will be on the lookout for other group members sharing theirs.

Last night we went down to Castle Rock to meet up with Amy Collins and her husband Corey. Amy is a longtime family friend who recently moved to Colorado Springs. She is also a graphic designer and is going to make our wedding invitations for us. So it was very convenient that we could get together to check out some samples and to have dinner along with a couple beers at Rockyard, one of the few restaurants in the town. Things are looking good for the invitations, so expect to see them in next few weeks, well if you are one of the chosen ones. :)

Where have all of the good TV shows gone? I know that things typically slow down during the summer with the nice weather outside, but having been on crutches recently there isn’t much I can do. Though I must note that my ankle is getting better by the day. I am back on my own feet, though things are still a bit tender, so no activities yet. Back to TV though, we’ve been forced to watch crappy shows like Farmer Wants a Wife and re-runs of shows from our DVR backlog. I’m not sure how much longer I can take it before I swear off TV completely.

Our honeymoon cruise itinerary so far:

• Day One: Cannes / Monte Carlo / Nice
• Day Two: Livorno / Florence / Pisa

And now onto day three, we’ll be making a stop in Civitavecchia, Italy, which I’ve since learned is really just the port town for Rome. Obviously, we won’t be wasting any time and will be making the trip to Rome as quickly as possible. I’ve found online that it is pretty simple to take the train between the two, all you have to do is grab a shuttle to the port entrance and then it’s a quick ten minute walk to the train station.

We’ve also been emailing with a tour guide in Rome that was recommended to Kim. This isn’t something through the cruise company, rather a single guy that gives tours on his own to people when he has the time. I think whether we use him or not will really boil down to the price. There is so much to see in Rome that it would be cool to have a guide. Otherwise I’ll be spending lots of time mapping out a path. Feel free to leave recommendations for your favorite spots though, as I will definitely want to see all that I can. Kim has already been to Rome in the past, so hopefully that will help with the planning. I’m sure this will be one of the busier stops on our wonderful trip.

You may recall a flip cup tournament that we participated in last year. Well we attended again this year with a new team but had the same results as last year, pretty much nothing but loses. Our theme for this time was baseball, calling ourselves the “Grand Slammers.” Despite not winning a single match, we still had a blast.

Since I was still confined to crutches over the weekend, we decided to make Friday a dinner and movie night. One of our favorite combinations in Denver involves food from the Hornet followed by a movie at the Mayan, which is right across the street. Nothing of note happened at dinner, the food was good per usual. We did sit on the back deck after dinner to enjoy a drink and the nice weather, despite it mostly being used by folks grabbing a quick smoke.

As far as the movie of choice, it was Bigger, Stronger, Faster a documentary about steroid use and abuse in America. The writer and director of the film followed the personal steroid use of his two brothers along with loads of others in professional sports and entertainment. It detailed the risks of abuse, but also unmasked some common myths of the performance enhancers. Though it wasn’t ever clear if he is for or against steroids, the movie was highly educational and well put together.

Something is really bugging me about my turkey sandwich from Subway that I’m currently eating. Where the heck are my tomatoes?!? I’ve always loved tomatoes, and this recent health scare has really been bothering me. I hope it all gets resolved soon or else I may have to start a garden out back or help the neighbors with theirs. Fortunately I heard that cherry tomatoes were 100% safe, so I used them in a grilling recipe last night that I found in a book called Patio Daddy-O at the Grill. The book was a recent wedding shower gift to Kim from her friend Amy, which translates to recipe books for me to use to cook for Kim. The results were so delicious! I wish I could find the recipe online, perhaps I’ll type it up later if I remember.

I’ve been battling with the photo gallery I typically use on my site, and I am still continuing to do so. In the meantime, I found out that I can host a photo gallery from inside of my blog engine, wordpress. So I’ve finally added these pictures from Kim’s cousin Katie and Bill’s wedding. There are some good ones in the group, so I’m glad they are finally up somewhere. Let me know if you think this photo gallery is better or worse than the other, as I’m still comparing the two. It was tough to get the exif data to display and figuring out how to just display the first image on the main post page. Enjoy the pics!

I thought I was completely past this, but I hurt my stupid ankle again last night. The culprit this time was hockey once again, but I didn’t even make it into the game. I was skating around the rink during warm-ups when I suddenly lost my edge when circling behind the net. I slid on my butt into the boards, and my foot actually hit a gap in the boards left by an open door. It didn’t hurt at first, but as I continued skating around I quickly realized that the damage was done. I wasn’t able to play a single shift in the game and I am back on crutches again today.

These injuries have been going on since last February, and I’m really sick of it. The only positive thing is that I’m working from home yet again. I really don’t want to go into the office on crutches, that seems like a huge pain. Keep your fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.