Busy!

How did we let a whole month go by? I still haven't added Heather's pics to the last blog..

Things have been busy- a bit of kayaking and camping, some nesting, and a trip to NYC for me. I was sampling air on the subway platforms. Here's a fun pic of Kristen (the technician) and I sampling at 14th and Union Square (note the trains! and no comments on the um, fit of my fashionable sampling attire):

We sample the City Hall station, which was one of the first subway stations in the city but now serves only as a turnaround for the 6 train (due to design issues). Because it was the City Hall station, this station is really interesting, with chandeliers, arches and sky lights. They were going to open it as a subway museum, but then 9-11 made everyone less eager to open access up right below City Hall - but I'm glad the MTA people are kind enough to help us sample there. With no people, I tried for some arty pics. Here's one I like:

And finally, for the pics - we stayed in a new hotel - right between Grand Central and the Chrysler Building. Sadly, we had a west (Grand Central) facing room, but I still got to see the reflection of the Chrysler Building:

Things will slow down for me this month, but there's still plenty of nesting to be done. :) Ray has his usual work schedule, and the world is still not safe from the German empire (he's been playing some Civilization in his off time), but I think we're out of camping plans, so between the two of us, maybe the house will actually get worked on. Maybe. :)

Estes

We took a day trip this week to Estes Park with our friends Heather and Pete

It was a long haul to the top, but worth the effort.

Views from the top.   Lack of Oxygen makes you smile goofy, but the cool weather was much better than the 95F Denver was experiencing.  Still a little bit of snow up there.

We also got to see the yellow bellied Marmot and some Pika.

Americana

So, I haven't gotten ahold of the Bahamas photos yet.. and I really wanted to share one last batch from the honeymoon. One of our missions was to see all the kitschy Americana we could... and I think we did well. If you click on any of the pics, you should see the Picasa album, which also has a couple of other shots.

Monterey provided our first shot- Rappa's seafood came with this old salt:

And the closest we could find to fitting Ray into a John Deere tire (ala the MN state fair) - penguin egg at the aquarium.

Along with the drive-through tree, the Shrine Tree had a "three little bears house".

Our absolute favorite - the Treehouse of Mystery (or some equally crazed name) was all about "The life and adventures of Paul Bunyan and his friends and dog". For those CU fans - Babe bears a certain resemblance to the Ralphie on Baseline....For the Minnesotans, I will note that Ray was pretty offended by the crazy Californians' hubris.

And of course, what would it all be without a T. Rex?

Beyond all that - I guess I have to table the appliance debate for a while, as Ray finally let me demo our weird hallway-closet thing and is helping me build a walk-through closet. So I'm using my home depot allowance for the month, I think..but I still think the stove needs a pretty friend. Not avocado green - geez! :)  And I'll be baking my first bread on the new stove tomorrow.