Stupid Camera...

On the 19th, Sarah and I flew home to see two of my best friends get married, to each other no less. Greg Courtney and Christina Mavian (now Christina Courtney of course) get married at this huge Armenian church in Detroit. Christina is 110% Armenian and Greg is just a skinny white guy, so they decided to get married in her church with a traditional Armenian ceremony.

 The ceremony was really interesting, with lots of speaking in tongues (well, not really in tongues, but just some language I couldn't understand), some singing, and some interesting rituals (they got crowned king and queen with actual crowns, how cool is that?) The reception was also at the church in this large room that most churches from Middleville could fit inside. It was beautiful and the food was fantastic. The dancing at the reception was the best part. Half of the music was traditional American dance stuff, and the other half was traditional Armenian dance music played by a live band which was awesome.

Basically Armenian dancing is where everyone joins pinkies and does dance moves that Brian couldn't figure out. By the time I could join the circle and attempt to figure out the dance, I was opposite the circle from the non-drunk guy that knew what he was doing (many of the people were either too drunk to keep a rhythm, or just plain can't keep a rhythm. Good luck learning a dance from them...)

I tried to mimic what he was doing but since we was on the other side of the circle everything he did was backwards from what I had to do, so I could never figure out if I was suppose to use my right leg or left. Either way Sarah and I tried our best and had a blast.

If you ever get a change to go to an Armenian wedding, I highly encourage it. Of course, in typical Brian fashion, I packed a camera but forgot to charge the battery, so it promptly died in our hotel room before we left, so no pictures. Once one of my friends puts theirs on the web I"ll provide a link so everyone can see how good I looked.

Mt. of the Holy Cross

After screwing up the 14er trip the weekend before, Sarah took back control over our weekends and planned a backpacking trip to Mt of the Holy Cross. Sarah did this 14er two years ago during the winter and said it was one of her favorites, so I was really excited to do it.

We made it to the trail head without any problems, packed up our stuff as well as Bella's and headed up the trail.

From the parking lot at about 10,300ft, the trail slowly heads up the side of Notch Mountain to the Half Moon Pass at 11,674ft. From here we finally get our first look at Mt. of the Holy Cross.

From here you start switch-backing down Notch Mountain to the Bowl of Tears valley floor at 10,600ft. After reaching the valley floor, we hike up East Cross Creak and find ourselves a suitable campsite.

We rise at 6am the next morning, fill my backpack with water and snacks, and head up the 3500ft climb up to the summit. The first part of the trail is very gentle as it slowly climbs the mountain heading north before curving back south again. From here there are fantastic views of the mountain range to the west.

From here the trail starts to get steeper, and the nice dirt trail gives way to rocks and boulders. After about an hour, we are afforded our first glimpse of the summit for the day.

The boulder field isn't too bad and we eventually make the summit. The view was absolutely fantastic and the weather couldn't have been better. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the wind was calm.

After enjoying the view for about 45 minutes, we decide to head back down the mountain to our campsite. After an hour nap, we pack up and head back home, which unfortunately means we have to get back up out of the valley and over Notch Mountain again. Overall the trip was great. This is one of the most beautiful hikes I've done in Colorado and would recommend it to anyone. My only complaint is that from the standard route up to the summit, you can't see the cross for which the mountain is named. I guess next time I'll have to hike the Bowl of Tears route...

The rest of the Pics...

Mt. Columbia

As part of the 4th of July festivities while Hayley was in town, Sarah decided to introduce her to 14ers. The planning began the night before and it was decided that we would climb Mt. Massive near Leadville. As a little back story, Sarah constantly nags me about how she ALWAYS plans all of the trips and I never help. Being the outstanding husband that I am, I decide to step up, "Sweatheart, I got his one." So I quickly take a peek at the map, look at where we have to go, and memorize the route. Piece of cake. What's so hard about that? The next day we are out the door and driving by 5am. I'm feeling pretty good about myself, feeling like a good husband, just enjoying the road. I take I-70 west, get off at C-9, and head south. After a few hours we see a sign that says, "Fairplay 9 Miles." Sarah tells me if Fairplay is in 9 miles, we are on the wrong road. I assure her that the turnoff to go to Fairplay is in 9 miles, and we'll be to Leadville in no time. Boy was I wrong. We were in Fairplay. Later I'd learn that I needed to take C-91, not C-9. Anyone could make that mistake. Really. I mean, what's an order of magnitude among friends? Ok, I can recover from this. What's plan B? We didn't have a plan B. I did the only thing a good husband could do at this point, pass the buck. "Sarah, come up with Plan B. What 14ers are close to Fairplay?" We decide to do Mt. Harvard. Luckily for me though, after driving half way to the mountain, the road become impassible, there-by plunging me even farther into trouble. "What mountain can we do from right here?" Mt. Columbia of course. But it isn't the standard route up the mountain. No problem. I got this one. We head up the mountain and plug away without a care in the world. We get to a stream and turn up the trail the heads up the mountain. After a few hours we realize that we most certainly aren't on the right trail, and have in fact missed the turnoff for the first route to the peak, and haven't gone far enough to reach the second route to the peak. Shit. I try to explain how beautiful this valley we are in is, and how it's almost as good as making the peak. I'm not sure Sarah is buying it, but I keep spoon feeding it to her anyways. Hopefully one of these days I'll be allowed to sleep in the bedroom again, but secretly, I don't mind sleeping on the couch. It's kind of like camping... FLICKR!

The Johnson Wedding/4th of July

So two weekends ago I attended my cousin Phil and Morgans wedding. Luckily for me, I was attending an acquisition class at the Defense Acquisition University in Dayton, OH, so I was able to get free plane tickets there, and all I had to pay for was a rental car ($200 a day for a compact, can you freakin' believe it?!) Well I left from Dayton right after my class got out on Friday, but because of stupid Chicago traffic, I just missed the ceremony.

Luckily though, I made it in plenty of time to make the reception. All of the family was there, with the exception of my wife, and it was great to see everyone. Fun was had by all, especially after the Patron started flowing...

Saturday was a luncheon at the Johnson's apartment complex and then Sunday was just a lazy day which was fantastic. The only down side was that Germany lost in the Euro 2008 final. Stupid Spain...



On the 4th of July weekend, my sister-in-law Hayley came out to Denver to visit Sarah and I. She flew in on Thursday morning and her and Sarah ran off and did, actually, I have no idea what they did. I didn't get there until Thursday night.


Friday was the 4th of July, so we got up early and headed out to Boulder Mountain Park for some nice hiking. Of course, I forgot my camera, so I can't share that experience with you.

Later in the day we headed next door to our neighbor Ryan and Amanda's for a 4th of July BBQ. we met a few more young couples that are friends of theirs and had a great time. Of course, Hayley had to make fun of how domestic Sarah and I are, crazy college kids








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We ended up leaving the party early though, because we had tickets to the annual Blues Traveler Show at Red Rocks Amphitheater.

Red Rocks is a natural Amphitheater just west of Denver set in, well, some large red rocks. The amphitheater overlooks the whole city of Denver, so as Blues Traveler was playing, you could look out over the city and see tons of fireworks.

On Saturday I mostly worked in the lawn, trying to get it to come back to life after Sarah and I manage to kill it off. I may be a second time home owner, but I'm definitely a first time grass owner.



Sunday, the three of us plus my dog headed out to the Buena Vista area to hike a 14er, but since I can't get the stupid pictures off my memory card, I'll write a post about that adventure later.

Here are the wedding pictures… and here are the 4th pictures.