Thanksgiving Weekend 2009

Wildermuth family tradition decrees that the Christmas tree is drug out from the shop and decorated over Thanksgiving weekend. My house (and my dogs) prevented me from having a tree, so my sisters and I all gathered at my parents house to decorate the tree as a family. Zander had a great time, and the tree looked amazing.

Matt & Ron (both newcomers to Wildermuth traditions) also managed to enjoy themselves. We did have a slight hiccup when we couldn't locate the box of hooks from last Christmas, but we pulled through.
 
 
 
 
 
 

We even managed to convince my Dad to join us for a family photo once the tree was complete!

Christmastime in the Desert. . . Hanging lights in flip-flops 11/27/09

Ahh, Christmas in the Desert. The cactus have shed their needles, the rattlesnakes are in hibernation, and the masses get to hang Christmas lights with a frosty mug of beer in hand while wearing shorts and sunglasses.

It's the Great Pumpkin Zander-A trip to the Pumpkin patch 10/17/09

There is a sweet little farm, Mother Nature's Farm in Gilbert that runs a pumpkin patch during October. My parents, sisters, our respective significant others, and Zander trekked out to pick out pumpkins. Unfortunately, Mother Nature's memo on fall weather had not quite reached AZ, and it was well over 100 degrees that day!! There was a small playground, and Zander scampered through the tunnels and made a few friends.

Meghan, Ron, Angie & Zander were much braver in the heat; they went on the hay ride while the rest of us sought refuge from the heat and bees in the limited shade that was available.

Note how red Zander's face is! Poor little man. He still had a lot of fun!

Boyce Thompson Arboretum-October 11, 2009

Matt had never been out to the arboretum, and I was on an outdoors high after my trip to Colorado Springs, so I organized a trip out towards Globe with my parents for some hiking. My family has been going to Boyce Thompson for years, before it was as popular as it is today we used to have Easter picnics there every year. I highly recommend the trip out to BTA, just perhaps not on a holiday weekend.

There was a bird watching hike when we first arrived, which sounded neat, but turned out to be rather slow. I did get a picture of the elusive hybrid hummingbird. We did see a bobcat, briefly, but I didn't have my camera at the ready.

Howdy, Howdy, Howdy-Horseback Riding in COS 10/4/09

Having already had a fantastic dinner, attended a concert, hiking (legal and not so much), and a party, Doug & I were still up for more adventure when Sunday morning rolled around. We took to the road, and stopped at McDonalds so I could run in for a cup of coffee (Doug and his green tea-nice for the afternoon, but I need caffeine to wake up), and it was the world's slowest McDonalds. All I wanted was coffee!! I eventually got my steaming cup of morning goodness, and we trekked to the Stables at the Broadmoor.

 It was a quiet morning, just us and a a couple who arrived late. Doug & I were praised highly for being early enough to leisurely fill out our paperwork, and of course we got the best horses, Juliet & Cheese. Our tour guide Kenny asked if I had ever ridden a horse before, and I replied "not since I was 12" and he said, "So that would be a yes." He then asked Doug, who had been standing right next to me as I mounted my horse, if he had ever ridden a horse, and Doug replied, "not since I was a kid" The poor tour guide just shook his head and said, "so that would also be a 'yes'".

 He was an excellent guide, funny, knowledgeable, friendly, and extraordinarily helpful. He took pictures for  and of us. The views were absolutely breathtaking.

About 30 minutes into the ride, I had a saddle malfunction. I was sliding off the side of the horse, so I had to dismount and have Kenny re-adjust my saddle.

During the ride, I noticed that Juliet's ears seemed peculiar. I inquired to Kenny, and he explained that she had been born in the middle of a blizzard, and by the time they found her, she had frostbite in her ears, so she lost the tips. Poor thing! She is an excellent trail horse though, responsive, sure-footed, and calm.

The ride was about 3 hours, and I felt it towards the end. But it was worth the saddle soreness to be back on a horse (my first time since I was 12!!) and to be out on such a beautiful day and see a part of the trail not easily gotten to by foot.

Saturday in Colorado Springs-October 3rd 2009

Well, it's taken me several months, but I'm back to blogging, and picking up where I left off. Saturday morning after our late night at the Better than Ezra concert, Doug & I still managed to hit the trail early for hiking!

We went up to St. Mary's Waterfall, and having found that was a ridiculously short hike, scrambled our way to another trail.

Our ridiculously short hike soon became a 4 hour adventure, as we scurried along rocks, dropped cameras, and ate snacks. We did our best "Anchorman" poses, then set off for civilization.

We rounded out the afternoon by having pizza at Leon Gessi's, ice cream, then some rousing bouts of Guitar Hero with Doug's friends. I even got to meet Colorado Amber.

Annual Colorado Trip-Friday Night Concert in Denver!! 10/2/09

I embarked on what has become my annual trip to Colorado Springs, needing to get out of the lingering heat in the Valley of the Sun, and get away from work for a while. My good friend Doug is always willing to host me. He shares my love of food and good wine, as well as hiking and music.

We started our evening by having dinner at The Blue Star wine bar & restaurant in Colorado Springs. I mention this restaurant every year in my blog post, and will continue to do so. It's the best wine bar I've ever been too. The menu changes with the seasons, and I've yet to have anything that even approaches lacking in taste. Doug & I shared a Malbec, ordered a couple tapas to share from their wide selection on the menu, then each got an entree, with more sharing. We did manage to hold ourselves back and only order one dessert, with coffee.

After stuffing ourselves, we hit the road to Denver and the BlueBird Theater to catch Better Than Ezra in concert. The BlueBird is one of the cooler venues I've been to for live music; I highly recommend seeing a show there. There wasn't a bad spot in the house, and if you don't mind the crowd, you can be extremely close to the band.

Josiah Leming opened up the night, playing solo on his keys and singing. He was followed by a Denver based band, the Knew, who are bringing back Hair Bands!! They rocked, and I enjoyed getting to hear their music for the first time.

Finally, Better than Ezra took the stage, and right away they had the crowd in the palm of their hand. I have loved Better than Ezra since high school, when I first heard "Good." It was my anthem, the song I played with windows rolled down speeding down the highway. Soon after came "Misunderstood," and I was hooked on the band. I'm a little ashamed that this is the first I've actually seen them live, but they were worth the wait.

At one point the audience was singing the chorus to "A Lifetime" and it gave me chills. That's such a poignant song, and to hear everyone pouring their heart into the lyrics was amazing.

BTE rocked out, and Doug & I had a blast.

After the crowd threatened to tear the place apart they came back out for an encore set of 3 songs, the first with the Ken Griffin doing an acoustic song, then the rest of the band joining in for the fun. It was the day after KG's birthday, and the end of the tour for BTE, so they were willing to go all night long. Keep rocking, and thanks for the great show guys!!