After three weekends in a row of travel, and with three more anticipated, I enjoyed this past weekend staying in Routt County. I feel like I really took advantage of all that Steamboat has to offer, and relished in a few late summer days, with definite hints of autumn. Friday night I promptly fell asleep early watching tv in bed. This whole "tv in bed" concept is very new to me- but with a small television in my pre-furnished bedroom, I've started to enjoy a taste of tv before bed... and I've started to make a really bad habit of trying to stay up until 10pm to watch a quick episode of Sex and the City on tbs before heading to dreamland. It wouldn't be a bad habit, except that ten o'clock = eliza's bed o'clock...
Anyway-
Friday: early to bed.
Saturday: I finally connected with my dear Jenna on the phone for a nice chat session while I enjoyed my coffee. The Bretts and I stuffed ourselves with a delightful brunch at Winona's before venturing to the last Steamboat Farmers Market of 2009 to stock up on local soap, asiago-basil bread, shitake mushrooms & tomatoes. While the Steamboat Market is no Montpelier or Boulder market, I've come to really enjoy all that it offers and I'd like to note that the meager produce selection improved slightly this summer. Next we headed off on an adventure that has been on my to-do list for just about three years... hiking the Mad Creek trail to Strawberry Park Hot Springs! It's a fairly gentle 3 mile hike, and the colors were really starting to change along the trail and mountainsides. We enjoyed a soak in the springs, hiked back down, and headed down to the Farm for an end-of-summer Grilled Pizza party at the yurt with Ken & Carol and Rob & Anita. Brett's brother Chad also came up for the feast. We made many delicious creative pies over the fire, and as always I appreciated the "family" I have formed here with Ken and Carol. While I have really enjoyed living right in town for these past 3 months, I think that I will always think of my "home" in Steamboat as the Alpaca Farm. I spent almost two full years living there, doing the drive, feeding the 'pacas and enjoying my "family" of Brett, Ken and Carol.
Sunday: After a fitfull night's sleep accompanied by my guard-dog girlfriend Lupita's barks, we had a lazy morning around the farm. Eventually around noon I made two pizzas with the leftover toppings from the night before, and the B's and I headed into Steamboat. The Bretts have gotten very into mountain biking over the past few weeks, and I wanted to try to ride with them. We headed up Spring Creek Trail, which starts a moderate wide trail and becomes a single track off-and-on climb towards Buffalo Pass. I was proud of my gym-fitness as my legs held up very well (I smoked the boys on the non-technical uphills!) but I did have moments of panic in the more technical and rocky parts. I have little mtn biking experience (aside from my old favorite ride on the Vassar Farm!) and I definitely need to gain some technical experience to improve my confidence. Regardless, I made it up and down (roughly a 14 mile ride) in one piece and despite some ailing back pain and stubbornness, I would call it a success!

This week is going well-- the Community Foundation is the key player in a conference taking place in Steamboat this Wed-Fri called the Northwest Colorado Rural Philanthropy Days (northwestrpd.org) so I'll be busy for much of the week. This weekend I'm headed down to Boulder for my friend Faith's graduation from Massage School and celebration. The following weekend my parents arrive and we are going to see Van Morrison in Denver! I am so thrilled. The weekend after that, Brett's folks will be here and I may be headed to Eagle or Denver to catch up with them. Phew!

Sorry I haven't been a regular updater recently. Love to all!