First Half 2015

We started 2015 off right with great food and drink and a small gathering of teenagers at our house.
 

It only took us a day or two into 2015 to head up to the mountains and snowshoe. Pictured above is the Guide / Tracker for the excursion.
 

We returned to that memorable wedding spot.
 

Kathy and JP signal they need assistance after hiking too many miles.
 

We went to the RV show with Barry and Gretchen to see their options for their new fifth wheel. The best in show had to be this actual cabin on wheels.

Kathy wants one. So we just need to find $70,000.
 

In the Jeep headed to the Broncos divisional playoff game against Peyton's former team, the Colts.
 

Kathy enjoying all that Club Level has to offer.
 

Luckily the weather was really nice for the game...cool yes, but still, we are talking January in Denver. Could have been much worse.
 

Excellent seats on the 25 yard line in section 339. We were in row 15, seats 15 and 16 (aisle!). In Club Level if your row is 11 or higher you are protected from the elements. The Broncos sucked it up and lost 24 to 13.
 

For Kathy's birthday we met Betty and Dede at Zink Kitchen for breakfast. It was very good and a worthy breakfast eatery in the Tech Center. It is located just west of I-25 on Orchard.
 

The gift from JP and Santi was a very cool pair of Puma BMW sneakers. Nice job guys!
 

Kathy with the boys looking all dapper.
 

Betty and her girls.
 

Finally Randy gets his turn with Kathy but then can't stop kissing her.
 

IT contractors were allowed to attend the End-of-Year Celebration. The event was held at the Hyatt Regency Denver. Randy reserved a room at the hotel and called it a date after Kathy said she would go with him.
 

The ballroom was beautiful.
 

There was acrobatic entertainment, too!
 

The band was very good. Each new song resulted in different members wearing new costumes appropriate for the tune.
 

The band played for 90 minutes straight. After that a DJ took over until midnight. Kathy and Randy closed the place by dancing until 11:55 PM. We then retired to our hotel room for the night. We had a blast!
 

There were many opportunities for pictures at the party.
 

We spent part of the evening hanging out (and dancing!) with Bill and Beverly.
 

Sometimes you have to let IKEA solve the question of what to have for dinner.
 

If you want a beer that tastes good with ANYTHING, try a Boddingtons. Rinse a pint glass in water and place it in the freezer for 15 minutes. Then grab a chilled Boddingtons (and your glass from the freezer) and open the beer. Quickly start pouring the beer since the Nitrogen capsule in the can will start foaming the beer to simulate a draught pour at an English pub. Slowly pour out as much beer as possible until the 1/2 inch of foam reaches the top of the glass. Drink the remaining beer from the can and then recycle it.

Admire the perfect pour you completed (assuming your pour looks like mine above). Then take a sip, and be sure you get a taste of that sweet foam. Cheers! 
 

We stopped by RV America to look at the new Sprinter models (JUST TO LOOK) and ran into these retro, yet brand new, Shasta trailers. We would get one if Randy could stand up in one.
 

These Shasta campers also come in red...with matching red wheels! Too cool.
 

Randy commuted to downtown from Longmont on MLK day after visiting Betty and Dede and watching the Patriots crush the Colts to go to Super Bowl 49. Since it was MLK day Randy assumed traffic would be light. Nope. Those poor north-enders cannot catch a commuting break even on a national holiday. As soon as 104th avenue was in sight, boom, traffic stopped. So glad we live on the south side!
 

Randy was coming home from work in mid-January when the Yukon started acting really weird. From the moment the truck started in the parking garage, it sputtered and had very little power. It finally died on I25 at 8th avenue. Not an ideal location but Randy managed to get it out of traffic and into the appropriately-named breakdown lane. Called Geico and a a tow truck arrived 30 minutes later.
 

After spending all day at the GMC dealer in Park Meadows, the cause was not a bad alternator as Randy had hoped. Much worse. The internal fuel pump (inside the gas tank) had failed. Guess what that means? They have to pull the gas tank, drain the gas, and replace the internal pump. The cost of the pump alone is $500. Total bill, including a new fuel filter is $1,200. Good Lord. No choice really unless we want to stop skiing in the Winter and camping in the Summer. That won't happen.
 

Over Valentines Day we went skiing at Winter Park / Mary Jane. We also came to watch Lizzi race. Dede rented us a sweet condo with a garage! Here is the view from the Winter Park base on Saturday. The weather was very warm, almost too warm for skiing. On Sunday we skied again and had much better weather (for skiing), and the snow storm arrived mid-morning which made conditions better and better as the day went on.
 

There is Kathy stopping to give Randy a break from chasing her all over the mountain. One minute Kathy is skiing next to Randy...10 seconds later she is 500 yards ahead of him. 
 

This trip to Winter Park was the first of the season for us. About time!
 

Kathy resting and eating lunch in the Yukon.
 

We skied on Saturday with our friends Randy and Nancy. Both families have 8th grade boys and they came along as well. Here Kathy and Nancy visit on the upper deck at the Winter Park base lodge.
 

Nancy and Kathy buy beers after a day of racing down the mountain.
 

We love skiing together and then relaxing with a cold beverage around 3 PM.
 

Here is the Saturday group resting on the deck. Randy, Nancy, Mitch, JP, Kathy, and Randy.
 

Pictured here is a group of people we didn't know. There is something going on in this picture that may not be immediately obvious.
 

Zoom in on the picture to see Randy photo-bombing these strangers. When they passed the digital image around they saw the bomb immediately and told Randy it was an "epic" photo-bomb.
 

Here is everyone at the condo wearing our "Team Big Liz" shirts. Sitting next to Lizzi is her boyfriend Logan.
 

In mid-February 2015 Randy made the decision to sell Miranda. There was no specific reason for the sale other than too many toys and only one butt to sit on them. Miranda has been a pleasure to own for three years.
 

Kathy did not want to sell her. In late 2012 we had our first date on Miranda. Since then we have gone on countless weekend rides and received admiring looks from other riders. When parked among other bikes at Twin Peaks, no other bike has the stunning good looks that Miranda has.
 

A buyer from Colorado Springs purchased Miranda for his wife. Miranda is a BIG bike for a lady rider, but when the buyer's wife saw her listed on Craig's List, she told her husband to go get her before anyone else did.
 

Randy sold Miranda for $300 less than he bought her for in 2012. That works out to $8 per month for the pleasure of owning her. She is going to a good home. She will be missed. The cool thing is, when we are ready for our next bike, we get to shop for it together.
 

On February 24, Randy was commuting to work in the left lane of NB I-25. Traffic came to a stop due to traffic congestion. By complete surprise, a lady in a Jeep hit the Volvo on the right rear bumper. 
 

The impact pushed the Volvo into the Nissan XTerra in front.
 

The front end of the Volvo was smashed. The lady driving the Jeep was issued a ticket. Prior to this day, there was not a scratch on Randy's beloved Volvo. Now it sits at an auto body shop in Castle Rock awaiting her fate...fix or total.

Randy was not injured. The whiplash protection system (WHIPS) did its job. Nothing compares to Volvo's safety systems (and amazing good looks, of course). Swede life!
 

Speaking of amazing good looks, Kathy met Randy after work at the Yard House downtown, right across the street from Randy's office. We ordered the Turkey Pot Pie to share, and it is a good thing we decided to share.
 

One Saturday morning while drinking coffee and catching up on work at DazBog, two very talented girls (with their dad playing bass) sang country and bluegrass songs for everyone's enjoyment. These girls were seriously good.
 

Date night! We planned to bar hop to at least three different establishments in the Tech Center. We started at Brook's Steakhouse...at that is where we stayed. Brook's is a very difficult place to leave when you see some of the best steaks and seafood being served to everyone around you.
 

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