EPIC ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG YOU GUYS I FINALLY GET TO GO ON A LEGIT ADVENTURE AGAIN I'M SO EXCITED!!!

Nikki, me, and her besties Lisa and Lauren are going to 4.5 states in 2.5 days. No one thinks we can do it, and we probably can't, to be honest, but it's gonna be SO AWESOME to try!

First stop: Wamego, KS for their tulip festival and Wizard of Oz themed food/wine stores.
Second stop: Oklahoma City, OK because Lisa's never been to Oklahoma; we're also gonna go to a blues bar and eat barbecue
Third stop: Amarillo, TX to see Cadillac Ranch where this dude PLANTED CADILLAC CARS and then got all artsy with them
The half-state: We're gonna drive through New Mexico to get back to
Fourth state: Colorado, where if we have time, we're gonna stop off at this place named "Cimino Park," just like Nikki's family's name!

We got a new camera, because Nikki's fancy one stopped believing that its lens was attached to it when IT TOTALLY WAS, so we'll be able to document all the awesomeness of what we're doing.

See you when we get back!!! <3

Nikki Post: Friendship is Magic

For Christmas last year, I gave my niece a My Little Pony "doll" (Rainbow Dash, because my brother can be homophobic, and I like being "gay-friendly, feminist Aunt Nikki"). She basically lost her shit because a) she LOVES MLP, and b) I had managed to buy her favorite pony. (SCORE!) Nostalgic for my own childhood when I had an insane amount of ponies (and according to my mom, mine are still in the attic), I bought one for the white elephant gift exchange at Audra's party. As you may remember though, I wanted to keep the pony all to myself, and by threatening the lives of the other guests, I was able to keep Lyra Heartstrings (not one of the main ponies, apparently). She currently lives behind the business cards and Frida the philodendron on the main part of my desk.

Being badass in the skull (Dia de los muertos) bracelet Agnes gave me

Many people in the office laughed at my pony, and yet they enjoy playing with her hair and moving her around. As a front desk person, many people consider "my stuff" to be "everyone's stuff," since it's so out in the open. So I'm a bit sensitive about items on my desk being moved around/messed with. After a VERY stressful week, I went to pick up Lyra and comb her hair to calm down (because I'm a child, apparently). That was the first time all week that I had noticed she was missing.

I. Lost. My. Mind.

I flipped out on Tracy, demanding to know where the pony was. She said she didn't know. I asked if she knew who took it. She said yes, looking more and more terrified by the second as my eyes began to glow red with bloodlust and a deep river of rage that lives deep inside of me and that most people don't see. Then I started angry-crying, and she told me that Marshall had taken Lyra on his vacation as a joke because he thought I'd get a kick out of him treating her like I did Claire. Under normal circumstances, I would have LOVED this opportunity to update the blog with something silly that someone else did as an homage to my country-traveling armadillo. But the stressful week, the bubbling rage, the crying, and my sensitivity about my possessions made me angrier than amused. Had Marshall asked or, wanting to keep it a surprise, someone had mentioned it BEFORE Friday when I discovered it on my own, things would have been better. There were some apologetic emails that got sent around that weekend between Marshall, Tracy, and me, and eventually everything was settled and forgiven.

On Monday, Marshall brought in a stack of pictures that he and his wife Kelly had taken while on their vacation with the pony. He said that they had a lot of fun taking the pictures in different locations. Marshall especially liked it because the pony was just the right side to put in his coat pocket while skiing. He had gone old-school and taken pictures with a film camera and went through great lengths to make sure that he had everything printed before he came into work on Monday. So I apologize for the quality of the pictures; I can only do so much editing.

I'm sure that I'm compressing the actual time line a LOT. After all, Marshall was out for a whole week of mountain fun times. But since I didn't go with him, I don't really know what his itinerary was, and he's a busy guy, so sitting down for an "interview" isn't a possibility.

Everyone's favorite picture - Lyra makes her escape!

Marshall made sure that Lyra got to watch my team WIN THE SUPER BOWL!

 En route to Copper Mountain Ski Resort; this shot was taken on Freemont Pass between Copper and Leadville

The amenities at the condo in Frisco where they all stayed were pretty sweet:

A romantic fire place...

...festive Native American decorations...

...a large backyard area for playing in the snow...

...a hot tub!!!...

...and game night!

But the real reason why Marshall, Kelly, and Lyra drove up to the mountains was to ski. It's Marshall's favorite activity, but unfortunately, due to a recent knee injury, he's out for the rest of the season. It's really sad panda times. He said that Lyra was a real champ about having her picture taken in the cold temperatures and that she was easy to put in his ski jacket's pocket and take from place to place.

On the way to the ski slopes!

Behold, the majesty of the Colorado Rockies. (She's on Marshall's ski pole in this picture.)

At the top of Spaulding Bowl. Be careful, Lyra!

Riding on the ski lift to the top of the mountain, the only thing about skiing that I like. :p

Perfect powder for a day of skiing in the sunshine

Whew!! Ready to go back to the condo to warm up and relax!

What better way to relax than to head over to an old-time saloon, eat some good food, and drink some good beer? The family headed over to the Blue Spruce Saloon and Bar for dinner. Marshall and Kelly were joined by Kelly's nieces Charlie and Penny and Penny's friend. (Obviously the young girls did NOT partake of the saloon's fine spirits.)

Waiting for a table

Marshall said that Lyra got all of her drinks for free that day because she flirted heavily with all of the guys at the bar. And here I thought she was such a sweet, innocent little pony!

Finally got a table! Time to settle down and order some food to go along with all that beer.

Everyone thought it was great that Charlie's outfit matched Lyra's coloring! I've circled the pony for you so you can find her more easily on top of Charlie's hat.

Penny and her friend were also pretty stoked to have Lyra joining them for dinner. I mean, who doesn't like My Little Ponies?!

Don't do it, Lyra!! Nothing good can come from that much Jager!

Another day, the crazy party went to Woodward at Copper, a gym with all kinds of "extreme" sports type of things to do. Frankly, I'm mad jealous, as I've always wanted to do these sorts of things. Unfortunately, I'm terribly clumsy with an equilibrium problem, so doing things like skate boarding and leaping off of things into a giant box of foam might not be a good idea for me.

The foam bricks

This half pipe was at Copper, and according to Marshall, Lyra had a great time going down it and being all EXTREME!

A beautiful night in the mountains calls for a beautiful night...

...spending time in front of an outdoor fire. Don't get too close, Lyra! Remember, you're made of plastic and can melt! Ponies are pretty flammable.

Lyra returned to me in one piece, and I gave Marshall official permission to take her on his next vacation, wherever that may be. He said everyone had fun finding photo-ops for her and it was a good way for the group to have fun together. Perhaps Lyra will get to see as many places as Claire someday!

Nikki Post: DINOSAUR RIDGE FOLLOW-UP!

You may remember that last June, Claire and I took a "mecation" and stopped off at Dinosaur Ridge to see cool fossils and fall in love with TJ, our paleontologist tour guide. Recently, Steve and I went to the ridge to take pictures for our wedding save-the-dates. While we waited for our friend to arrive and take the photos, Steve and I visited the museum. While there, we made an exciting discovery:

THE MISSING DINO FOSSIL!

Here's its story (click on image for larger version):

I was VERY excited to be able to follow up on this mystery, but Steve was...less than interested. *eyeroll* BOYS.

West Chicago Creek Campground, or Pup in the Wild

[Nikki note: I've added some artistic photos from this trip to the Facebook Fan Page. Check them out!]

You may remember from the filler blog post I made a week or so ago that Nikki, Steve, Eva, and I joined some friends for a camping trip in the mountains. On the suggestion of our friend Mandy, we joined her and two friends, Beth and Dave, at the West Chicago Creek Campgrounds, near Idaho Springs. We arrived on Saturday, and after noshing and chatting a bit, Steve set up our tent.

He also blew up the queen-sized air mattress with nothing but his enormous lungs and determination.

I, however, didn't help set up the tent. Journalistic armadillos such as myself are not meant for manual labor.

Chillin' like a villain in my balla shades [Nikki note: These are actually MY sunglasses; Claire recently broke them. She's no longer allowed to borrow my things.]

Eva, meanwhile, took some time to get used to her new surroundings, mainly by sniffing things, whimpering, getting her leash caught on tree branches and rocks, and rolling around in the dirt.

We decided to spend some time taking a hike and checking out the woods around the campsite. The trails weren't always easy to go through, as there had been a big storm a few days before, so a lot of trees had fallen down or lost their branches. Some of the cabins in the area had lost power because of downed lines! I didn't have to worry about any of that though, as I rode in style (as usual).

Eva enjoyed the hike, although since Steve is trying to teach her not to pull on the leash, it was slow going, since they had to stop every few minutes so Steve could tell her "no pulling." (She's starting obedience classes soon.)

This is the view we happened upon during our hike. How gorgeous, even for a spot that's mostly rocks!

Nikki took this picture for her mom, who has decorated her bathroom with pictures of outhouses.

When we got back to the campsite, everyone started getting things ready for dinner. Eva, however, started doing something strange. She started pushing dirt into her food dish with her nose. We couldn't figure out WHY she was doing this; why would a dog want to eat dirty food? Steve looked it up later and read that dogs bury their food for later when they're in the wild. Instinct is a strong habit to break. Then Eva started digging a hole near the chair where Nikki was sitting. We weren't sure why she was doing that either.

Dogs are so weird.

It turns out, she was digging a hole to lay down in, I guess because the sleeping bag/blanket Mandy donated to Eva wasn't good enough. Again...dogs are weird. She's SUPER CUTE though, so that kinda makes up for her weirdness.

If you don't instinctively saw "Awwww!" then you're a monster.

We had hotdogs and cheeseburgers on the menu, as they're the easiest food to cook over an open fire. (This was before a complete fire ban was put into effect due to the high number of wildfires in Colorado this year.) While Dave cooked me a hotdog, I waited patiently, safely away from the fire, as I'm highly flammable.

Eva also wanted a hotdog, specifically Dave's hotdog, but Dave was NOT in a sharing mood (valid).

"Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but GIVE ME YOUR HOTDOG."

Before we had gotten to the campsite, someone in the group had the "brilliant" idea to soak berries in cheap vodka so they could get drunk off of fruit. Now, I'm usually in favor of booze-soaked fruit, especially if that fruit is in a giant pitcher of sangria, but vodka and I aren't friends. 

Bask in its booze-soaked glory.

Steve, on the other hand, is a big fan of vodka in its many forms, so he was more eager than I to try the experiment. Mandy was hesitant at first, and her fears were justified. Both she and Nikki ended up spitting the fruit out into the grass, as the vodka had soaked so deeply into the cells of the strawberries and bananas that their DNA was probably permanently changed.

As people picked through the fruit (or avoided it entirely), we played Cards Against Humanity, a card game like Apples to Apples, but for people with really twisted senses of humor. Dave was incredibly good at the game; Nikki was not. [Nikki Note: I'm terribly funny, but I guess others just don't get my sophisticated "humour."] As day turned to night, we built up the fire and put a sweater on Eva so she wouldn't get cold. (She has short hair and is still really skinny.)

Seriously! How can you look at this dog and NOT fall in love?!

We turned in around ten or eleven, I think, all the while listening to the church youth group/volleyball team play acoustic guitar and play flashlight tag or something until the wee hours of the morning. Nikki wanted to yell at them from the tent, but Steve said that'd be too rude. I had set up the sleeping bag Mandy had donated for Eva on the side of the air mattress, but she was having none of that. She curled up horizontally on the mattress, right between Nikki and Steve. Nikki and I got VERY little sleep that night because we kept almost falling off the mattress! Here, I drew a picture for y'all about how we looked sleeping.

Note Nikki's angry face in this diagram. Also, it's color-coded! :D

The next morning, Nikki made all of us pancakes and bacon. (Beth didn't eat bacon because she's allergic.) They were SO tasty. She also went to drink a bottle of water and found it woefully full of cheap, berry-flavored vodka. Nothing wakes you up like surprise liquor!

After we finished packing up camp, I made all of us sit for a group picture. Nikki's tripod was missing the piece that connects the camera to the top of the tripod, so she and Beth took turns being the photographer.

Left to Right - Top Row: Dave, Eva (sorta), Steve; Bottom Row: Mandy, me, Beth

Us again, minus Beth, plus Nikki, and now you can actually see Eva better.

We had a fantastic drive, and Eva really enjoyed bumping along down the windy dirt road from the campsite back to the highway. Even though there's a lot of wildfires this year due to droughts and a really dry winter, there are still a lot of safe places to camp, so we'll (hopefully!) go on more adventures as the summer progresses.

SNOWVENTURE! Part Two

Now that we're done having our fabulous Snowventure in Evergreen, let me show you how fun it was so you can be TOTALLY jealous!!

Evergreen got about two feet of snow during the recent blizzard. Using Steve as a yardstick, you can see how much snow his aunt Pam and uncle Rob got on their porch!

Since it never really snowed that much in Maryland, Nikki and Steve don't own any cold weather gear. As such, Nikki had to borrow Uncle Rob's waterproof ski pants for our sledding adventure. Luckily, T-Rex and I were fine with just ear muffs and a scarf.

Aw man, T-Rex!! You're facing the wrong way! You'll go down the hill backwards if you're not careful!

Steve went down the sledding lane with a giant jump in it. Check out the look on his face!

The cold and wet aftermath of getting some sweet air.

Oh my God! I can NOT stop LAUGHING at this picture!!! Look at the look on her face! Ahahaha!!
[Nikki: I went FLYING down the damn hill but wasn't on the sled properly, so when I hit the jump, I flipped in the air. This is the exact moment I realized that I was going to die. And NO, there wasn't a video of it...thank God.]

Nikki faceplanted SPECTACULARLY. I mean, seriously, everyone went SILENT because we thought she had broken her neck and was dead. She just lost her glasses and hat and got covered in snow. THIS HAPPENED TWICE. The second time was just as funny as the first. After that run though, she decided just to stick to taking pictures. :p

Steve's aunt Pam spent all of her rides down the hill screaming bloody murder and laughing hysterically.

This is a hilarious video of me, T-Rex, and Nikki sledding down the mountain. Getting back up the hill was the hardest part...for Nikki. Neither T-Rex nor I have arms big enough to carry a snow tube back up a hill. ;p

After our trip down the hill, T-Rex and I spent the rest of the day chillin' at the top of the mountain. We saw what happened to Nikki, and even though we don't have any bones to break, he and I didn't want to risk it!