Catching up

So it's been about a week since our last post, so we thought we should catch you (our faithful readers) up on our lives. 

Angela: Lots of work. One of the other Program Support Coordinators is out of town so it has been pleasantly more busy lately. I have been taught how to use the magical box we call a computer and have therefore been tasked with printing off lots of forms and fielding phone calls from parents who swear they have filled this stuff out three times already! Today I was one of 4 people at work, the rest are in the field or on vacation. By the end of the day that number changed to one of 2 because we sent two guys into the Wind Rivers to pick up a kid from the field who had an old knee injury acting up. Other than work, I try to get in some exercise so my little sister doesn't whip my chili when I get back, and so I can do this tiny little triathlon next weekend.

Riley: So after getting back from my Pine Ridge trip I have had a comfortable bit of time off. Other than getting sick yesterday I have been filling in my alone time (while Angela is at work) by: Day 1- Riding Mtn Bikes with my good friend Aaron Coleman in Curt Gowdy State Park. Day 2- Getting the stereo fixed, which required driving to Fort Collins because Laramie doesn't know the words "car audio". On the same trip I ventured west to meet my buddy Evan Scrutchins from back home, in Estes Park, CO for lunch and then headed back to Laramie to pick Angela up from work. Day 3- Sick. Day 4- (today) I went up to the Snowy Range to do some fly fishing and was successful catching a good number of fish in an hours time. Tomorrow I plan to ride to Centennial, WY and back on my road bike. The ride is about 33 miles one way and then I have to ride back. This ride is hopefully in preparation for a ride all the way to Lake Marie in the Snowy Range which is about 47 miles one way with a large elevation increase on the way out. We'll see how things go.

Angela again: I will not be riding that far. Maybe to the coffee shop and back.

Riley again:  Forgot to mention I went to do a nice multi-pitch climb with my good buddy David Laws.  The climb was just 3 pitches (lengths of the rope) but offered every type of climbing from multiple types of crack climbing to friction and a gnarly chimney. It was a fun crack and we even got to see a moose on the hike back to the car.

Riley + Angela: We were blessed with the company of our friends Aaron and Cookie (aka Sarah) Coleman this last weekend. They drove up Sunday and we stayed up way too late catching up. Monday Sarah and I (Angela obviously) started our day with some yoga (much to Cookie's dismay, thanks for being a trooper) at the rec center. We then met up with the boys, checked some gear out from SROM, and went climbing at Vedauwoo. It was Aaron's first climbing experience, and maybe Cookie's first one she actually enjoyed... a little. They both did great. Riley conquered an extremely difficult route that none of the rest of us tried (mostly because if Riley set up an anchor for us and none of us made it to the top, which was likely, then he would have to climb it again to take the anchor down, which was too much trouble). And I asked Riley to teach me how to take the anchor down from the top of a climb and rappel myself down (in other words, I would be controlling my own rope instead of someone on the ground lowering me while I fussed at them rudely due to my barely-concealed terror). It worked well. I did it all without tears, with less rudeness to my loved ones, and it turns out I like lowering myself better than someone else lowering me. Something about being a control freak... From our climb we rushed back to Laramie for a bite to eat and then to Washington park for some ultimate frisbee. It's so easy to put together a game here. You just walk into SROM, say, "Hey, want to play ultimate tonight?" and 14 people show up. Fantastic. So we played for about an hour and a half until it was too dark to see the frisbee. Since we apparently had not done enough that day we decided to go see the new Spiderman. Good movie. I stayed awake through the whole thing. Tuesday I went back to work so we really have not been doing a whole lot together except eat and sleep. Hopefully tomorrow we can climb after I work. If Riley doesn't die on his bike. Or come back so tired he can't set up climbs for me. In which case I will mercilessly apply the guilt trip and make him come anyway.

Brookie caught in North Gap Lake in the Snowy Range

Another one

Coming down from setting the anchors

This is me rappelling myself down.  Apparently I am building up my supply of pictures of my butt.  I think this is a nice one.

Alces alces seen on the way back to the car

Sum up: Lots of work.  Riley leaves on his last course Wednesday.  Angela's race is next Saturday.  We love you all!