Royal Arch

This morning I went for a hike with Paola and Julie. (Paola used to work at NOAA, and is in town for Harald's 40th birthday party tomorrow.)

Here we are on the shady side of Royal Arch (L to R, Julie, me, Paola):



We sat on the other side of the arch, drank water, ate snacks, rested, and took pictures like this one.



I took this picture of one of the Flatirons through the Arch.



Julie took this photograph at the base of the trail near Chautauqua. We've had so much rain, you can hardly tell where the fire in January burned the grass along the distant hillside.



After the hike, I went to help my officemate Ilana move from her apartment to her new townhouse.

Then I went to Costco with Harald to help him buy supplies for tomorrow's party!

More from the Bolder Boulder

Here's the meal I fixed for myself the night before:



Sara and Rich split up to try to take pictures of me finishing. Fortunately, I ran right past Sara, so she was able to take a series of pictures of me a hundred yards or so before we entered the stadium. Here are a few of them.





That last one was taken a split second before I realized Sara was there. I was able to smile at the camera, but Sara was only able to capture me from the jaw down, and the camera wasn't able to focus because I was too close. Oh well.

Memorial Day

It was a busy Memorial Day for me. I awoke at 5:30 am in an attempt to get to the starting line of the Bolder Boulder by 7:25. Unfortunately, there were so many people (I heard 54,000 ran in the race today), that by the time I took the bus to the starting line and stood in line to check my backpack and then pushed my way to the front of the starting-line pack, it was nearly 8. And despite being sick all week, I was able to finish! Here are my results.

After the race, I met up with Rich and Sara.



The race ends in Folsom Stadium (where the University of Colorado plays their football games).



We sat in the stands awhile to watch the later waves finish, then the professional women and men finish, then the Memorial Day festivities, including several parachutists.



Then I went into Denver to meet my friend Jorge from New Mexico and his girlfriend Charlene. We had a late lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, then walked around downtown. We bought the cheapest tickets we could to see the last 2.5 innings of the Rockies-Dodgers game.



When that ended, we headed over to the Pepsi Center to see the Nuggets-Lakers game. The Nuggets tied the series at 2 games apiece!



And now it is almost midnight, and I am ready for bed!

Tasmania, Part 2

... and now for some pictures (and video!) from my camera.

First, a picture northeast of Huonville of "Sleeping Beauty", whose silhouette can be seen in the hills on the right.



A view south of Pirates Bay. I like the rocks off in the distance. I believe they are known as the Lanterns and the Candlestick.



And finally a video of Tasmanian Devils eating. They simultaneously ate and fought for the same piece of food for at least ten minutes!



UPDATE: Oh yeah, and a few of Russell Falls.

Tasmania

I just got back home to Colorado, and boy am I tired! But first (to help keep me awake until a decent hour), some pictures from Terri's camera from the Tasmania leg of our vacation.

Me "hang gliding" along a zip line at the Tahune Forest:



Kangaroos eating out of my hand at the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park:



Terri and I at Port Arthur, where a penitentiary used to be:



Remarkable Cave, which at the right angle looks somewhat like the outline of Tasmania itself:



My Mom, Dad, and I at Cape Tourville in Freycinet National Park:



Fairy penguins at Bicheno Bay:



My Dad and I at the Bicheno Bay blowhole:



And a view of Wineglass Bay (partly visible in the Cape Tourville picture) after a 40 minute hike with my Dad:

Adelaide, Part 2

More pictures, this time from my sister's camera.

Here I am trying to feed a wallaby at the Cleland Wildlife Park:



Saturday night, we went to an Australian Rules Football game. It was a rivalry game between the Adelaide Crows and the Port Adelaide Power. Port won handily.

Adelaide

Last Thursday, we arrived in Adelaide to stay with Terri. We went to a wildlife park the first day, where I had my picture taken with a koala.



On Saturday, we took a boat tour of Gulf St. Vincent:



The following day, we went to the McLaren Vale wine country:




The last few days, I've been driving us around town while Terri works:



I've had to learn how to drive on the left side of the road!

Australia

I'm blogging from my sister's computer, so I don't have the usual ability to resize pictures and such, but here goes:

A picture of Denver on my way to LA:



A self-portrait of me at the Opera House in Sydney:



My Dad atop a pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge:



A view of Circular Quay and our hotel:



Our hotel was the taller of the two buildings to the left of the shorter AMP building.