Monday 2/19/07
Hello everyone. A day behind on this journal but better late then never!
In the last journal I was so happy that I could use two-wheel drive again to get to the house. Well that lasted until Wednesday when we got more snow and I am back in four-wheel drive. It melted pretty fast and I can now make it to the house in two-wheel drive again. At least for the next day or so as another snowfall is predicted for tonight. We are definitely not use to this much snow here and I am waiting for it to get back to normal.
The original plan for this weekend was to ride snowmobile on Saturday and then go to the Denver Aquarium on Sunday. Well the snow and wind in the mountains changed that plan. Most of the major passes were closed because of snow, wind and avalanche danger. As a result we switched to Sunday as the day to ride. So Saturday Linda, Zach and I headed up to the Denver Aquarium. It was our first trip there and was pretty fun. They had many fish on display including sharks! It took Zach a while to get up enough courage to approach the glass but by the time we were ready to leave he was doing great. Here are several pictures from the trip. (pic1, pic2, pic3, pic4, pic5). It was very neat watching Zach gawk at all the fish and take everything in. He had a blast! After the aquarium we called Rick and met him at Champps for lunch. It had been a while since Zach last saw Gick (not a typo as that is how Zack pronounces Rick) so it was good to hook up. Zach started to get a little feisty so we headed back home. Zach was sleeping within 5 minutes of getting into the car. He still talks about the BIG fish he saw.
On Sunday Rick and I headed out to do some snowmobiling. With all the wind and snow the riding was much better than I expected. Here is a picture of Rick jumping off a cornice. I hit this one first and you can make make out the foot prints heading down the hill. You cannot tell from the picture but that is about a 15 foot drop. I took off of it and when I landed my hand slipped off the handle bar and that was it. I flew off and landed in the snow while the sled headed for the bottom of the hill without me. A very good "get-off" and Rick saw the whole thing. Here is another picture of Rick catching some more air. No pictures of me as they are on Rick's camera and he does not have a computer to download them (new one on the way though). It was a very fun ride with lots of snow.
Linda and I have been watching some movies on the weekends after Zach has gone to bed. A few months ago I purchased and new plasma Tv and few months prior to that I got a xbox 360. I needed a new DVD player for the entertainment room so instead of just buying a DVD player I got the xbox 360. It was a great purchase and here is why. With the wireless network I installed I can stream music, pictures and movies from my home computer. When I ride bike in the basement I simply select a playlist and I have great music I like to listen to. There is easy access to my music library. Not sure when the last time I listened to an actual CD in the house. Another neat thing is that you can now download movies from Microsoft with most of them in HD. I also purchased the HD DVD drive for the xbox and have a few movies that way. I initially procrastinated getting HD because I thought it was not that much better. I could not have been more wrong. HD is awesome. The picture quality is so much better. After watching a movie in HD and then going back to regular low-def satellite the difference is so pronounced. I am now waiting for Directv to support Colorado Springs stations in HD so I can get most other channels that way as well. Also, the xbox plays video games and I am one kill away from finishing "Gears of War" but that is another story. I know this sounds like a sales pitch but thought I would pass along my experience in case anyone else is thinking of getting a new DVD player.
Until next time....Mike
Sunday 2/11/07
Zach is doing great and having fun being a boy. Here is a picture of him when I got home the other night. Here is another one. Very cool when I get home and runs at me yelling DADDY! DADDY! I am trying to enjoy it while it lasts. I assume in a few years it will be --"oh great dads home...". All in all, Zach had a good week full of playing outside and reading all his books. He did have his first endo. I was pushing him on his tricycle when he veered to the right and clipped a wall sending him over the handle bars. Nice little mark on his neck but nothing else. After a little crying we were back at it. Good to see he got back on the horse so to speak. Linda and Zach went shopping yesterday and then we all went to pick some stuff up for me today. So he has been very busy.
We have had very good weather here over the last week. The snow pack around the house has gone down considerably. On Thursday night I actually felt comfortable enough to drive to house in two-wheel drive. I have not done that since the middle of December. Here is a picture of our drive way. The snow piles along the drive way were once about six feet high. They are now 2-3 feet high. You can also see the pavement on the road. Hope the melt keeps going but I heard we may get more snow next week.
I got my first mountain bike ride of the year in this weekend. Been so long it took me forever to figure out where all my gear was. It was near 60 degrees almost all week so I knew some the roads would be clear enough to ride. So I headed down to gold camp road. Here is a picture from the truck. Looking pretty good!! Well I road gold camp for about 45 minutes. Great ride as it is all climbing. I then turned onto highdrive. A little steeper climb but sill looking pretty good. Now I knew as I got to the north side of the mountain I would be running into snow. I just didn't know how much. As I started to round some of the corners I began to see a little more snow. Snow wasn't too bad except for the fact I was climbing a pretty good incline. Some larger patches of snow I would get stuck and have to walk the bike for a little ways. As I got closer to the summit, snow started really getting deep. Some sections were knee deep so I was carrying the bike. I considered turning around but then thought that would be admitting defeat. When I got to the summit and looked at the road coming down, this is what I saw. Doesn't look too bad, but look further down the road. That is about thigh thigh deep snow. I dealt with that snow for about a half to three quarters of a mile. The road then switch backs so it is south facing so I could ride a little. The good thing was as I got lower the snow became packed down by all the hikers and I could actually ride on it. I then skated all the way to the truck. It was about a 1.5 hour ride and it was a blast!! It was so nice to get out and ride again. Physically and mentally I really need to suffer on a bike to feel good. Weird I know.
As a part of getting ready for the ride I needed to reset all my computers. My goal last year was to mountain bike 1,000 miles. I ended up at 975. Bummer. I could have down that 25 miles in one ride but with the two snow storms in December there was no where to ride. Well, I did 10 miles yesterday so only 990 to go this year!! I also reset my watch. The tally from last year is as follows:
| Total Time: | 142 hours |
| Total Feet Climbed: | 102,000 |
| Total Cal Burned: | 96,000 |
| Avg Heart Rate: | 146 |
I look at those numbers and think I must be as thin as a rail. NOT!! I think I only lost 5-10 pounds last year. Well, the plan is to do much better this year and it really began yesterday. Today, the plan is to run about 4 miles. Ok walk/run. I am that out of shape.
Until next time....Mike.
Sunday 2/4/07
Well, what can I say? I have been completely lazy when it comes to updating the journal. Not that I am lazy, its just that it seems tedious to update so many files and photos on a weekly basis. So I am going to try something new. As you can tell this page really does not "fit" into the standard iSchmitz user experience. I have decided to simply update a straight HTML file and link pictures in the hopes that I will update the journal more often. I plan to update regularly or simply stop writing. You should all know the answer in a few months!!
It is has been so long, I am not sure where to begin -- so I will begin at the beginning. Zach is growing up fast!! I cannot believe he will be two this June. Where does the time go? I have been very bad about taking photos of Zach and I really need to correct that. Here is one from today as we wait for the super bowl to start. Here is another. Zach is learning to ride his tricycle and big wheel even though his feet don't quite reach the pedals on the down stroke. He loves it when he gets pushed and actually likes to fall off. He is just a blast to have around and I look forward to riding bike with him in the years to come. Linda is doing great. She started a new job that allows her to be home with Zach on Monday's and Friday's. This makes me feel good that Zach will have more attention four days a week instead of just two. Linda also really enjoys being a mom and I think was looking for this type of opportunity. Linda is busy today getting ready for the super bowl by making some really good "football" food. We are not having anyone over as I have a cold but it should be fun to get some "not good for you" food and watch the game.
Back in October, yes October, Linda and I headed to Las Vegas to celebrate her 40th birthday with several family members and friends. It was a blast!! Here is a picture of the girls hamming it up and a picture of me with the birthday girl. We partied pretty hard and I lost a boat load of money and had fun the whole time. In Las Vegas it is pretty hard not to have fun. The hard part is trying to get some sleep. The girls bar hopped and shopped while the boys went to see supercross. The funny thing is that on our snowmobile trip to West Yellowstone a few week's back I learned that Todd my cousin was in Las Vegas at the very same time. I wish we would have known that because it would have been great to hook up and have few drinks with him and his wife. He maybe could have taught me how to win at blackjack!! Next time I go on a trip I will need to email everyone to make sure I know if anyone is going to be there or not.
For those that were keeping tabs on the garage progress, it is complete!! It is so nice to have that extra space for the motorbikes and bicycles. My dad is currently in the process of building a workbench and I bought a tool chest with Linda buying me tools for Christmas. I can actually work on bikes and motorcycles and have the correct tools. Let me tell you it makes a huge difference. I will snap some photos after I get things cleaned up a bit.
Minnesota. That is the word that comes to mind when you talk about the weather here. When I was a kid in Minnesota we would get huge amounts of snow and it was always cold, cold enough to have a skating rink across the street. This is what it is like in Colorado right now. We have about 4-5 feet of snow on the ground and it is cold. It is suppose to warm up this week but if the pattern keeps up we will again have snow in a week or so. Not that I do not like snow, I actually love it! I would rather have it in the mountains though. That way I can ride mountain bike and motorcycle here and go to the mountains to ride snowmobile and play in the snow. I really want to get the mountain bike out. Been two months since I have ridden. As a result I am way out of shape and it sucks and feels terrible.
On a sad note, my grandfather passed away in December. I really looked up to him as a kid and had even more respect for him as an adult. As I grew older I learned more about his time in WWII and the things he did for this country. I look at myself and wonder if I could have performed as well as he did. I had the privilege to be a pallbearer and will never forget the experience of carrying his flag draped coffin. For me it was a great honor and I appreciate my grandmother for allowing me do it. As I write this I remember throwing a basket ball through his garage window. As I saw him walking towards me I thought I was really going to get it. He came up to me and said I really needed to work on my shot and laughed. That was the kind of Grandfather he was.
On our way back from the funeral we got stuck in Minneapolis for three days while Denver dug out after a huge snowstorm. It was a good chance to get caught up with Linda's sister and her husband. Also, we got to my home town early for the funeral so Zach could see all his cousins and grandpa and grandma. Here is a picture with grandpa and one with cousins and grandma. It was the first time that Zach had been back to the mid west and he did very well and everyone was happy to see him.
A few weeks ago, Rick and I along with Todd, Justin, Mark and Todd's son Sean headed to West Yellowstone Montana to so some snowmobiling. It was the sixth annual snowmobile trip and we decided Montana was better than the U.P. of Michigan. Let me tell you, we were right!! It was the best riding I think I have done in a long time. Here is a picture of all of us on top of a big hill. As you can tell the weather was just great and the snow perfect. Here is a picture of Rick resting after some tough riding. Here is a view -- look at all that area to ride and we just barely scratched the surface. Here is another one. The most interesting thing happened on the second to last day when Todd broke the drive axel on his sled. We all talked about how to get the sled out of there. We decided to hook the backend up to Sean's rental so the track was off the ground. For some reason after a bit of towing, Todd stopped and asked Sean to ride the broken sled like this. I had to take this picture because it looked really quite funny going down the trail. Well after three hours and a couple of huge icy hills later we finally got it out and Todd rented a sled to ride the next day. Here is a collage of some of the funnier movies I took. I will definitely be heading back there to ride. It was great!! Oh ya, couldn't leave this topic until I showed a picture of the hole we had to dig to get Rick out.
The last topic for this week's journal is that I finally got out with my 35mm camera last weekend. Kind of a late start as the sun was already up but here is a picture I am pretty proud of. If you like it, send me a note I can send you high quality photo you can print for your wall.
Until next time....Mike