30 years, 8 days, 3 hours, and 24 minutes later I am still having a fabulous time. I have been blessed with many unique experiences in life and turning 30 was one to remember. With a little planning on Lesley's part and the restrictions placed on me and information given to me on a need to know basis, anticipation grew for weeks if not months. I was counting down the days until we flew to Colorado and the fun that awaited, but to my surprise it began in Mississippi. After work on Aug 22nd Lesley, her mom, and Tucker took me out for what can only be described as the best steak I've ever had, next to my dad's of course. We went to Tikos in Jackson and had a wonderful evening at their house where we stayed the night because our flight was at about 6:00 a.m which equals getting up at 4:00. The alarm sounded right on cue and I was surprisingly wide awake. I wasn't sure what I was going to be involved with today but I did know that it was in Colorado with my family. We boarded our plane and landed in Denver a few short hours later to all the excitement of the Democratic National Convention which was taking place this weekend. I did manage to pin on my Obama 08 pin for the ride into Denver.
My parents picked us up, which was exciting, and we headed back to their place in Aurora. Upon arrival my little brother, his girlfriend Elizabeth, and my Grandma were waiting. One thing I had been looking forward to was the new New Belgium Fat Tire beer in a can. I can't get Fat Tire in Mississippi so it was a treat to have lunch and a cold "can" of Fat Tire waiting for me.
We sat down to lunch and Chris passed a note to me which read "
Happy Birthday! Wow, 30 that's amazing. Seems like just yesterday we were going to the Brighton skate park for your Birthday. We've got something very special planned for you this weekend. But we're keeping it a surprise. We're going somewhere special. But, I lost the directions! You'll have to help us find our way. As I was climbing in the mountains a strong wind blew the coordinates we need all over the place, But I was able to hold on to one. This is your first clue. "We know you've been waiting for this for some time now. It rhymes with flat wire but it doesn't come in a bottle." go to 39% 36' 37.25" N 105% 8' 51.36" W - Chris" 
I received the clue and instantly was whipped into a frazzle of excitement. I need a map and compass I exclaim. No sooner had I made the exclamation than did Lesley pull out my GPS that she brought from home. Perfect! I ran up and down the back yard trying to get the satellites to line up and give me my position. Got IT! I don't remember what everyone else was doing but I was ready to go "The Party's Here" exclaimed the sign given to me. My dad, and Chris got the car ready and we headed out to find out where this "Flat Wire" was.
Lesley, Mom, Grandma, and Elizabeth where left behind, I had little time to contemplate what they were going to do. The coordinates brought us to C-470 and Bowles and the largest monstrosity... ahemm. liquor store I have ever seen. Dubbed Tipsy World this was like a super Walmart of booze.
Well I had found the "Flat Wire" aka Fat Tire and a new clue.
Wow, How does that taste? Bring your brew and let's scoot. A special prize awaits you. (if you can find it.) The way is tough and I hope you don't fall or get caught. Watch out for cactus and shotgun wielding mountain folk, and always remember, "In case of flood, climb to safety." Go to 40% 00' 25.5" N 105% 20' 28.3" W. A new clue! I must be getting close. I punched the coordinates into my trusty GPS and off we went in the direction of Boulder, CO. As we drove through the city full of recently returning co-eds excited about a new year at CU we make a turn to the west and head up Boulder Canyon. My GPS tells us to stop at a tiny pullout on the side of the road just as the rain starts.
There is Middle Boulder Creek to our left and a mountain to our right, I start up the mountain. No sooner had I started than I noticed a barbed wire fence, Ah "
watch out for shotgun wielding mountain folk" I get it we're trespassing. Onward and upward the rain picks up and I finally notice a bright yellow dry bag suspended high in a pine tree.
I've found it. I get the bag down and it is filled with all kinds of bread making goodies, and another clue. This one was written on the back of a box that told us to head up to the town of Nederland and then go north. We wound our way to the fun town of Ward and the Utica Grocery.
Utica grocery was full of hippies and dogs, just the kind of place that would have delicious home baked mountain cookies. We enjoyed watching the locals shoot coffee cans with blow darts the size of a javelin and viewing the local yard art but we had one more clue to go.
"
Hurry Up! You're taking too long. Quit wasting everyone's time stuffing your face with those delicious cookies your last clue; 40% 20' 32.54" N, 105% 30' 22.11" W. Off we went to our weekend destination in a mountain cabin in Estes Park, CO. I arrived to Joyful howls by all of the ladies.
Now, I should mention that Justin was to be a part of this little geoadventure but due to some run-ins with the Mexican immigration departing Mexico, and some flight cancellations he was slightly behind on the arrival into Colorado (hopefully that will be told in his blog). But that didn't mean he didn't have some clues and treasure to find high up in the trees as well.
We had a fun time that evening when Justin arrived with our good friends John and Kelley and their dogs and then Nate and his dog arrived and Jamie and David arrived from Santa Cruz too.
We stayed up late catching up. The next morning we had a little climbing to do in Rocky Mountain National Park. There are few places that I have strong place connection to, but Rocky Mountain NP and Longs Peak is one of them and I was excited to spend the morning climbing.
Chris, Elizabeth and I went up to the Jurassic Park area across from the Twin Sisters to get the climbing bug out.
We warmed up on some fun little routes that were very slabby, definitely a different type of climbing than I'm used to.
After our warm up we went to one of the classic routes of the area "The Edge of Time" but Chris dubbed it the Edge of Reality. This was a 5.9 R with a difficult start but wonderful holds on the right all the way up.
The views were also quite spectacular.
I wish we would have had more time to go climbing and that more people would have been able to enjoy the routes. We headed back to the cabin for lunch, a fabulous cookout with burgers and brauts, and to see what else would unfold. Soon all of our Colorado friends and family started showing up.
I was so surprised to see so many make the trip to the mountains it was wonderful. We spent the afternoon visiting with so many good friends. Again, I wish I would have had more time... but we alway have next time. Justin and I were toasted into the 30 something club, Yeah Lesley I made it.
Slowly everyone departed and we settled down to relax and enjoy the rest of the time in the mountains. The next morning, my actual birthday, we packed and cleaned so we could head back to Denver for a BBQ at my parents house.
We took the scenic drive along the Saint Vrain River. The BBQ and celebration at home was great with all of the family there.
Our flight left the next day and it was back home to Jackson, MS for work and a little recovery before our next family event (Next Blog). Check back soon because we have a lot more to talk about with Lesley's family vacation and hurricane Gustav. I leave with some extra pictures of the fun. Enjoy!
Cool Al is a Jamaican who makes hamburgers. In fact he is listed in the book "1000 things to do before you die" as a must do, well, before you die. So we made our way to his restaurant and discovered that he made 16oz hamburgers. That's right hamburgers that are 1 whole pound, and for the low price of $5 you couldn't go wrong, you couldn't eat the whole thing, but you couldn't go wrong.
He also specializes in veggie burgers and has won a PETA award for them. As a side note on the way out of the restaurant we saw an elusive urban tumble weave. That magic piece of hair that has gotten away in search of a better life. 
From Cool Al's we made our way to the Natural Science Museum to see the wildlife and hike around by the Pearl River. While at the museum we watched a couple snakes eat whole fish.
I should mention that this was also Kristy's birthday so we had a birthday meal for her as well at a great Italian restaurant in Ridgeland . Newt may have been bested by the impending hurricane , as far as birthday surprises go, but he did manage to bring a few surprises to Jackson with him to surprise Kristy on her birthday.
(I know you can't see it but Newt is wearing a T-Shirt that says "Make Wetlands not War" with a picture of some cattails growing in an old army helmet. I thought it was a great image) The next day we all decided since the hurricane was eminent (and we could see the clouds swirling) that our best bet would be to head further north up to the Delta in search of BBQ and Blues. We didn't find much in the way of BBQ but we did find Kermit the Frogs home and a piece of "food" called the BBQ Ripper.
The BBQ Ripper didn't really have BBQ and really it was just a two foot long hot dog with baked beans on it. The real find was Tamales. I have heard that Tamales were invented in the Delta, I informed the informant that tamales were in fact invented by the Aztecs, that is to say the word came from an Aztec word that means "wrapped food". Any who.... the African American tenant farmers working side by side with Mexican migrant farmers adopted the food and it is now a Delta Mississippi staple. The tamales were good and it made the whole trip worth it. We made it home just in time to watch the hurricane start to role in. The next morning it was raining and a little breezy, the power even went out for a little while, so we packed up and headed out to see if we could find any treasures at the "junk shops". A few trinkets were found so I guess the excursion was a success. The last night of the vacation catfish was in order so we went to Cock of the Walk to enjoy the fried fish and watch the hurricane rage, or not, outside the window at Ross Barnett reservoir.
A long story short; we may not have had canoing on the Buffalo, or fishing in the marsh but we did experience a little "regionality" in our own backyard here in Mississippi... and the hurricane didn't kill us. (This is me saying good bye, Lesley will be writing for awhile and I'll see you guys (Y'all) later)
