December 2018

December 1^st weekend – the weekend began on Friday, November 30 as Susan and I were both off.  We slept in a bit before coffee and listened as the trash was picked up.  Around 11:00 our friend Patryk came by to pick up his sunglasses on his way to the airport.  He had left his shades in Grand Junction and we had luckily brought them back.  After these important things were through we packed up Flo and soon left for Glenwood Springs to celebrate our 20 year dating anniversary. 

The drive was largely uneventful besides a bit of snow and we made great time.  We went straight to Hotel Colorado to check-in and leave the dogs in the hotel room before making a trip to Walmart for stuffs and Turtle Liquors for other stuffs.  After we came back Susan and I gathered up our beach bags and walked to the Glenwood Springs pool to soak in the cool and hot pools.  It was cold but the warm water made the experience pleasant.  After an hour or so we made our way back to the hotel restaurant for dinner. 

We were happily surprised to find live music in the form of a guitarist in the bar area and managed to snag the last open table.  The service wasn’t exactly swift but we didn’t mind.  When the food did arrive we found it tasty and also imbibed on a couple of glasses of wine before making our way back to our room and the pups. 

Saturday I was up earlyish to visit a local doctor about a cramp in my left calf muscle.  It was no biggie and I picked Susan up at the hotel after I was through.  I drove us back to the downtown area and we sat down for coffee at Sacred Grounds Coffee House.  Originally we were planning on also getting breakfast but it was almost 11:00 at that point so decided to visit Doc Holliday’s Saloon across the street for lunch instead. 

The Saloon was old but not entirely dingy.  There was some questionable music played on the jukebox and the other patrons were a mix between obnoxiously loud and literally deaf (a couple was signing to each other).  The menu was plain and simple with reasonable prices.  My burrito and Susan’s sandwich were nothing to write home about but sufficient to fill our bellies.  I read out loud the back of the menu which detailed parts of Doc Holliday’s life and final demise in the town of Glenwood Springs.  Hilariously the name of the saloon is a reference to his spending time in the town and not because of some affiliation with the restaurant itself.  The menu said it was possible Doc Holliday “may” have gotten a drink at a bar in “this very building”.  I loved it. 

After food we made a quick trip to Walgreens before going back to our room and gathering up our pool gear again.  This time we walked to Yampah Spa and Salon to spend some time in their vapor caves.  These natural caves are underground and the air was very hot.  Honestly it was a bit too much for me and if it wasn’t for the cold water and washcloths the staff provided I probably wouldn’t have lasted long in the heat.  We stayed for a time before showering off and walking back to the hotel to grab Flo for a drive to Iron Mountain Hot Springs. 

Iron Mountain Hot Springs is a relatively new attraction and consists of many small hot pools along with a couple of regular pools of the chlorinated variety.  Each of the small pools had their own little sign with the current temperature of the pool and paths connected them all.  It was a pretty neat setup and Susan and I found ourselves in a few of the pools as the time went on.  The springs are located right next to the Colorado River and we watched a mess of geese doing their thing while we soaked.  We both agreed it was a nice place, especially the locker rooms, and we’ll likely visit again. 

After driving back to the hotel to take care of the pups we walked across the pedestrian bridge to Riviera Supper Club & Piano Bar for dinner.  We were underdressed for the joint but found they still accepted our money.  The menu was full of interesting food so Susan ordered duck and I mac’n’cheese.  In my defense I had them add bacon, jalapenos, onions, mushrooms, and chicken to the ole standard.  The meals were delightful and the portions overwhelming.  As is our way we also ordered one of their cheapest bottles of wine which we liked once we got past the first sip.  We were early and thus missed any piano playing but agreed that the experience was a good one.  It was a cold walk back to the hotel but the pretty Christmas lights looked pretty.  We decided to stay in for the night and hung out with the dogs for the remainder of the evening. 

Sunday we were up a bit before 8:00 to await our room service breakfast.  We were happy enough with the food although both agreed we probably should have given ourselves a longer buffer from waking up to eating breakfast.  Packing and getting checked out proved to be simple enough and we were on our way back home around 9:30 after purchasing more caffeinated beverages at the gas station. 

The drive home was crazy-fast as traffic moved briskly virtually the entire way through the mountains.  We did make a quick stop at Walmart for food stuffs but otherwise we averaged roughly 70 MPH for the trip which is craziness.  Once home we unpacked and dined on rotisserie chicken before Susan and I left to pick up front brake components at O’Reilly’s for the suburban. 

I almost decided to wait to install the new pads and rotors but decided to just get on with it while Susan took herself a nap.  I’m glad I did work on the truck as I found out they had sold me the incorrect rotors and I had to swing back over to exchange them out.  The work itself went quick and was mostly a success.  I now plan on replacing the rear brakes as well. 

Susan baked us chicken for dinner which hit the spot and we spent the remainder of our anniversary weekend firmly planted on the couch with our two cuddling dogs. 

December 8^th weekend – nothing much went on.  We had a nice weekend staying in with the pups.  Ordered Door Dash and whatnot for food.  Twas relaxing. 

December 15^th weekend – Saturday morning started earlyish as I got Susan out of bed around 8:00 for coffee after which we drove to Littleton U Pull to look for Miata stuffs.  Luckily they had two Miatas so we had some choices.  Our goal was to buy a passenger seat for Scrappy and a cigarette lighter plug.  We had luck with the seat but the plug was too much a pain to remove from the junk cars and we passed.  Weirdly all the Miata seats were already unattached and the bolts were missing so we had to purloin some from other non-Miata cars.  We were pretty hungry at this point so stopped at Qdoba in Highlands Ranch on our way home. 

Once home we set about doing various car things.  Tia’s clutch pedal wasn’t working well so I’d ordered a new master and slave cylinder.  I swapped them both out while Susan vacuumed the new used passenger seat for Scrappy.  After getting past some frustrating moments with the slave cylinder Susan pumped the clutch to help me bleed the system.  Tia now fixed Susan took it on a test drive and I popped Scrappy’s hood.  I took it upon myself to finally remove the rest of the air conditioning system and set to it. 

While I whiled away on Scrappy Susan went to Walmart to pick up more Christmas lights for the house (one of our strings had stopped working) and then raked the driveway on the east side of the house.  Eventually I asked Susan to pick up a new serpentine belt for Scrappy at the store and I finally finished.  After helping bag up the driveway detritus and hanging the new lights we declared our outside time over for the day. 

Alvin and Kari were to come over for dinner and painting so we set about getting ready.  The food was to be a taco bar and the chicken was already cooking in the slow cooker I’d started earlier in the morning.  I cut and diced up veggies while Susan cleaned up around the kitchen and bathroom.  Hilariously I had a difficult time cutting up a particularly strong onion (so many tears).  Susan also helped prepare a Mexican mushroom alfredo dish I thought might be yummy to try. 

Kari and Alvin arrived around the time the alfredo was simmering on the stove.  We hung out for a few minutes while Susan and I warmed up the food that needed warming up and laid everything out on the table.  As is our way there was enough sustenance available to feed twice as many people and we collectively ate more than we needed to. 

We decided against painting as time was flying and just hung out and chatted which was nice.  We did watch some YouTube of Susan’s open lapping driving at HPR and various other racing stuffs which was cool.  Alvin and Kari’s dog Piper had come along for the evening and Pebbles had a difficult time adjusting to her presence.  Lots and lots of barking and many shows of dominance were forthcoming from our tiny Pebbles.  It was quite hilarious.  The evening ended late with Alvin and Kari leaving around 10:30 to install tire covers on their big trailer in our lower 40 before heading home. 

Sunday we slept in.  Well, Susan slept in a lot and I slept in a little which was alright.  Our only plan for the day entailed hosting the CORX awards ceremony at the Urban Sombrero close to our house.  We’d originally packed our PA and trophies in Flo but I thought it would be nice to stretch the evo’s legs and moved all the stuffs to that car before we left.  We had our ceremonial coffee and I drove us to the restaurant. 

We’d reserved a private room which was plenty big enough for our needs.  There was even a long shelf along one wall we used to stage the trophies.  There was a decent crowd and everyone chatted and had lunch before I got on the microphone and passed out the trophies.  I think everyone had a nice time.  After we got home and unpacked we plopped on the couch to finish out the weekend with our two happy little pups. 

Christmas weekend –

Friday – I took the day off to work on Scrappy and because I had no choice.  My vacation allotment from work is use or lose so I had to use a few days lest they go to waste.  Susan also stayed home but worked via her laptop.  She also had a doctor’s appointment which she went to. 

Saturday – we hung out most all of the day with the pups before heading to Kari and Alvin’s for a game-night. Also in attendance were their new neighbors Joe and Grace.  We played Cabo and Codewords and had a good time.  Eventually we walked over to the neighbor’s home to meet their two dogs – Sammy the pug and Suki the French bulldog.  They were fun and cute and we pet them before heading home. 

Sunday – this was about as lazy a day as possible. 

Monday – we went to lunch at the Mariachi Mexican restaurant which was nice before stopping at King Soopers to buy ingredients to make mashed potatoes and green bean casserole. 

Tuesday – we woke up earlyish to prepare our dishes before driving to Alvin and Kari’s to hang out and bake the casserole.  John and Karen eventually showed up and around noon they all piled in Kari’s new-to-them BMW while we drove separately to Emilee’s home to each a Christmas meal.  Also there were a friend of Emilee from Idaho named Jeff, her son, and both of her and Alvin’s parents.  We stood around for a few minutes before finally getting down to the business of eating.  There was entirely too much food and much of it was yummy.  Soon after we ate we got to watch the lone child present open a lot of presents.  This was interesting in its way.  I wonder if we were presumptuous and demanding as children.  Emilee was kind enough to have some presents for everyone which was a happy surprise.  Once that was over we played some games together before packing up our leftovers and going home. 

Wednesday – this represented my final vacation day of the year and I took it solo-style as Susan had to work.  My day was glorious as I napped, played games, and watched TV with Bella (Susan had brought Pebbles to work). 

December 29 weekend – Saturday began early for me and I spent some time working on Scrappy.  Susan eventually came out to let me know she was going to an antique store which was, of course, cool with me.  After she got back with her new art piece which was a neat coleslaw-making thingie we hung on the couch with the pups.

Sunday was the first day with nice weather in some time and I took advantage of it to remove Scrappy’s fog lights and then start changing Tuna Bean’s timing belt while Susan went antiquing again.  Things were going smoothly until I discovered the crank bolt stuck fast.  Luckily I had a tool to help loosen the bolt.  Unfortunately the tool was no match for the bolt and I broke off a different bolt in the process of failing to remove the crank bolt.  *sigh*  Susan was back at this point and we decided to catch lunch at a local Chinese place before picking up some things at Lowes.  I did not end up getting the crank bolt out that day. 

New Year’s Eve – Kari, Alvin, and Ken came by to celebrate the end of 2018 with us.  We served a Costco dinner with lots of snacks to get us through the night.  We played games into the late hours.  Our guests aren’t accustomed to staying up until midnight and we had to wake up Alvin as the critical hour approached.  It was a merry time for all! 

I’m not going to write a TLDR for 2018 but I will say that it was a great year for Susan and myself.  By in large life is going pretty well for our little family and we’re looking forward to 2019!