Insanity insues... the big move

Got back from peaceful, blissful Strawberry to the insanity of finishing the build out of our new space and move into it. Construction is the same everywhere and the idea of getting done as promised on budget doesn't really occur to them (at least from what I hear this is a true generalization and in this case it took some unnecessary yelling and screaming to get it done and unfortunately construction will continue well after the move which is what we wanted to avoid). The move went better than expected but was EXHAUSTING... we had the help of several SPECTACULAR friends and some great movers. We are ready to open on Monday and I am very happy to move on from our old place. It was good to us and had a special charm but we outgrew it and where we are going to is clean, efficient, not falling apart and much bigger. We were able to make it have charm in so many ways and at least it doesn't rain in it when it is raining outside, there is new plumbing and the floors are level.

YAHOOOOOOOOO... end of one era and the beginning of a new era!

In the midst of this a beautiful young woman died unexpectedly. I will miss her and fear for what will happen to her family in her absence.

Strawberry Music Festival 2009

Well last week was catching up with old friends at Strawberry Music Festival in Yosemite CA at Camp Mather... it was a fantastic Strawberry with incredible weather, great music and friends. Saw lots of great music at the main stages and in our camp and felt at home with all my friends. Flew/drove out Wed and hooked up with everyone in the parking lot that night... had a great reunion and slept in the woods... Thurs we went in and set up our camp and officially started the weekend. Celebrated a few birthdays and all around had a great time. You should check out the festivities at http://www.strawberrymusic.com/home.asp or on my Facebook page and join us next year!

this week in Aspen

This week I got on my motorcycle and twas fun; starting to use it again for commuting. I LOVE MY totally awesome, factory lowered, used, black BMW F 650 GS motorcycle that gets 70mpg.

I did some fun hiking around the area (see photos) and hung out with/took care of Benji as his dad was getting his back fixed. I am glad that they are reunited and on the road to recovery.

Work is going well and we are well on the way of finishing a huge project in preparation for the move. We are getting floors in this week and then all the fixtures should be in so that inspection can happen the end of next week. There is still a lot to do but the moving vans are set up for the last week of May so it will happen one way or the other. It will be good to get in there and get used to our new space! Dewayne and I went shopping for things needed today after I hiked for a long while. I have decided I am happiest when I can exercise outdoors in the mountains and sun for 4+ hours a day!

Brad headed out on a big motorcycle trip to Yosemite and I will be following next week for the Strawberry music festival. I look forward to camping with my hippie friends in the woods and listening to great blue grass/folk music. Tomorrow I will be getting ready for the trip (and hiking/biking and meeting with Shinta) since the rest of the week before I leave will be INSANE!

That is all for this week... hope whoever reads this is happy and healthy!

weekly update- "re-entry"

Well I finally have a day off to feel like I am back... re-entry wasn't too bad but after coming back I was on call the first weekend and it was moderately busy and worked regularly with another call during the week so I have not had a break until this morning when I could sleep with impunity! It was awesome!... Big news since re-entry into real life; 1. got a new camera (I was borrowing one from my mother to take to Peru and it was so awesome I bought one for myself) and included some pictures of my home on the hill in Aspen including a view from my bedroom, my outdoor tub in the trees, the music studio and Clifford lounging, 2. we set a date for our move into our new office... supposedly it will be done memorial day weekend and so the official move comes the next weekend but lots happening in preparation for that (pix to follow), 3. Brad got his finished CD back and it is PHENOMINAL... I am so proud of him and he is pleased that that HUGE milestone is completed. 4. my bro Jeff started a new job and hopefully that is going great, 5. my bro Greg is still MIA (haven't heard from him in > 1mo but hear through the grapevine that he is healthy, 6. got my name in the local paper in a letter to the editor by Shinta(http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20090507/LETTER/905069935/1020/)...

That is all for now... more later

Peru #4

Ok I totally forgot about Lima which was a nice surprise the last day in Peru... I had planned on only staying at the airport on my way home but then we found out about this tour that we could do by a friend of Arturo (who had guided us all over Peru)... A few of us went and it was phenomenal... We went to all areas of the city (some influenced by Spain, some poor, some rich), went to a GREAT place for lunch and then walked through parks and different areas... It was so WONDERFUL and MUCH better then spending the day in the airport. Claudia was our guide and she was great!

Peru #3

Lake Titicaca… (sorry the pix aren't exactly in order)
To get to Lake Titicaca we first biked at about 14000 ft high over this awesome pass (see pix). It was an UNBELIEVABLY fun bike ride with great views and great weather. It ended with us taking a van ride to Puno on Lake Titicaca drinking wine and singing "We are the Champions" and Born to Be Wild". When we got to Puno we had a fabulous dinner (Claire tried guinea pig and I forgot my camera… DUMB) and danced to a great local band in the restaurant.
The next day we ventured out on Lake Titicaca leaving behind Puno and algae to go to these INCREDIBLE islands… first Tachile which was PARADISE and then Amantani to where we had our home stays.
Tachile has 400 families and NO foreigners, no crime, a completely sharing society (they work on a rotation system with everyone sharing in the work and profits) which was STUNNINGLY beautiful with incredibly nice people on it. People who are born there have the chance to leave but rarely chose to (oldest was 102 years old). Comments from my notes were; beautiful, simple homes, farming, weaving, blue sky day, lake is gorgeous, sole of shoe hinges, arches made without cement, no cars or roads.
Amantani is where we met our "mama’s" who took care of us on our home stays. We played soccer with the locals, hiked up to see the sunset and after dinner they dressed us up in their traditional clothes and took us dancing with dueling bands. It was awesome and they made sure we all felt included in their festivities.
The following day we kayaked all over Lake Titicaca and had an unbelievable lunch at this home of this family that was so impressively artistic and full of craftsmanship and pride. BEST TROUT EVER. I really liked the husband and wife so much. They were just wonderful people who did everything for the education of their 2 children.
After that we went by boat to one of the most bizarre places I have ever seen. It was called Uros and consisted of many "man-made" islands (too hard to explain in writing how they make them out of peat moss and reeds but they showed us with a model while we were sitting there). There are 8-12 families per island and about 1400 inhabitants overall. The islands are about 50 square meters and are spongy and move with the waves… and people have lived on them for 800 years (with the average lifespan of 70 years I would go insane living on 50 square meters…). The only thing on the islands that was inorganic was the solar panel!!! It was surreal.
The trip was unbelievable and Peru is spectacularly beautiful and the people very nice (forgot to show you Lima which will come later). I would love to go back one day! See below for some other comments I sent back while I was there… Feel free to write, call or visit so I can explain more in person.
More emails: went on a bike ride yesterday... it was FANTASTIC... lots of fun downhill... some straight against the wind at 14,000 ft that got us winded and minor uphill with GREAT scenery and a train... pix will be fun to share with you... off kayaking to islands today for home stay and getting dressed up in traditional clothes and learning traditional dances... fun... ALSO had an awesome dinner last night with great music... Peruvian man multitasking on guitar and traditional pipes
Emails re Lake Titicaca: i´m back from an incredible several days on lake Titicaca... so many stories to tell you all about... found a place i would consider paradise and then another place that was the oddest thing i have ever seen in my life... truly it was spectacular...

Peru #2

The Amazon…
Took a scary boat down the crocodile and piranha infested river to a "lodge" that was exquisite with no walls or windows but our own bathrooms with showers, mosquito netting, rare power and candles. LOTS of heat and bugs… saw tarantula, sloth and walked up the canopy tower the first day. The second day went on a Peruvian catamaran (see pix of the guy on the platform boat), fished for piranha, hiked, rode around a lake, saw monkeys, birds etc. We also went to a medicinal gardens and met a shaman which was cool and then went on a wild night hike to see lots o weird bugs. Got woken up listening to howler monkeys that sounded like dinosaurs… I really liked the experience but I am a mountain woman and like cold better! See below for some comments that I made from Peru re this part of the trip.
"Hi everyone. Just got back from the Amazon and it was wild... HOT HOT HOT... saw lots of animals on many hikes including night hikes. Animals included tarantulas (yuck), piranhas, tree frogs, possum, hawks, beautiful birds, monkeys etc etc etc... stayed in an AWESOME place in the jungle with no walls or windows and a cold shower never felt so good."

PERU #1

Hi all, I am back... I am doing this in 3 installments since it is a lot of info, lots o pix and my trip was in 3 different parts...
Peru: With "Active South America" was PHENOMENAL and I would highly suggest this trip to anyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Travel… stuck for 3 hours on the tarmac in Aspen due to winds making me miss my flights to Lima… got a hotel in the Houston Airport and worked out and tried to stay sane… Highlight; wearing an Obama t-shirt (all I had) at the George Bush Memorial International Airport… finally got out of Houston and to Lima at midnight and found I had 3 flights from Lima to Cusco instead of a direct flight… begged many people for help and finally a wonderful woman named Allison helped me so I left 1 hour later than expected 5am and arrived 2 hours earlier AND she put me in first class for the trip YAHOOOOOOOOO….
Machu Pichu… We started in the town of Cusco and I literally got off the plane and onto a bike for a 1.5 hour mountain bike ride then a great picnic lunch in the woods and a 3 hour hike. Despite the strike by the farmers re the government wanting to charge for water causing a change in our plans since they put rocks in the road to block tourism we had a great day…Our guide Arturo was great and we have 9 people on this part of the trip (5 will go the Lares Trail and 4 will go the Inca trail to get to Machu Pichu)… The ruins around Cusco and the back country just out of town is unbelievable and like Aspen you are in the middle of no-where just minutes out of downtown.
Day 1 of the Inca trail which was much easier than expected with 6+ hours of hiking and lots of pit stops. We arrived to our tents set up with hot water and soap to wash with and then GREAT Gourmet food throughout. Our group consisted of 11 people, 2 guides for the trail along with Arturo and 20 porters carrying everything from the tent to food and tables… the oldest porter is in his 60s and they carry 27 kg and run in front of us so they can have it all set up for us when we get there… the weather was awesome with off and on cool and sunny spots with rain only when we were on pit stops.
Day 2 of the Inca trail started with waking up to Peruvian flute playing and warm water to wash with and tea brought to the tent. After an incredible breakfast we hiked through rain forest with rivers/water falls etc and then went over "dead woman’s pass" which was high and more challenging than the previous day. The hike down was also challenging and I fell on the rainy slippery steps 4 times (I hate going down). There was more mist and rain that day but GREAT ruins.
Day 3 of the Inca trail was a "easy" hike downhill for 3.5 hrs (did I mention that I personally don’t like going downhill and there were thousands of stairs)… I didn’t fall this day but my knees were pissed at me. Before dinner that night we saw AWESOME ruins right near where we were camping.
Day 4 of the Inca trail we woke up to cake for breakfast (how they made that in the middle of no-where was a mystery)… then a fast hike to the sun temple to try to get there before sunrise and a leisurely hike down to Machu Pichu. Machu Pichu was spectacular and started in clouds then cleared later. It was so massive with incredible architecture. A sight to see. Then a train ride back to Cusco for a sleep in a dry bed, toilet in the room and a shower!... Of note, some Inca rules; 1. don’t be lazy, 2. don’t lie and 3. don’t steal.
Next installment includes the Amazon/Rain Forrest and the last is of Lake Titicaca... until then... love to you all!

Old info... Costa Rica

Hi all... Here is how our trip to Costa Rica (CR) went with pix attached by Brad (there are more to come later but they just take too much memory to send ‘em all now)...
Day 1... started with getting to the airport in Aspen and not being able to park since the ticket dispenser machine at the parking area was jammed. Brad had to, ummm, strongly persuade the wooden gate to let us pass... he wasn’t arrested for destruction of public property so we were happy. Then we actually got to fly out of Aspen! We really didn’t think the weather would let it happen but we got lucky. We had a smooth trip to LA and from LA to CR after hearing a stewardess announce during her safety drill as we were getting ready for take off “if there is a sudden decrease in cabin pressure, yadda yadda yadda, stop screaming and pull the oxygen mask toward you and place it over your nose and mouth...”. When we got to CR we got a rental car and drove from San Jose to Jaco. On the way we had an AWESOME lunch overlooking the mountains and onto the ocean in a very clean restaurant with great food. It was a GREAT way to start our trip (just pulled into this unbelievable spot called Casita de Cafe). Drove to Jaco and our hotel on the beach which backed up to jungle (see the pix of kim walking toward it on the beach at low tide). It was a nice hotel with more pix coming later. We slept on the beach, walked on the beach to town and ate a nice dinner. Almost died on the way back to the hotel with a FAST taxi driver and no seat belts (no need for them in CR it seems). Then I got to listen to Brad play his guitar on the balcony with the ocean in the background. It was a pretty good way to start vacation!
Day 2... after great sleep we woke up and walked along the beach to town. Got breakfast and walked around looking for surf boards for Brad. Discovered haggling is the way of CR and found some people/prices he liked. I went off hiking and found my way up a hill with lizards, great views of the ocean in the forest/jungle, guys with machetes, carved animals in a rock wall etc. Then I went down to the beach and after the beach we got a “couples’ massage”... AHHHHH... then we walked to town for an incredible dinner with HUGE smoothies and Thai/CR food. We walked back on the beach and then planned out what we wanted to do for the rest of the trip (which, of course, we changed the next day).
Day 3... “let’s kayak in the morning; it’s not that far”... ok so we learned that it was farther than we thought. We rented a kayak with the idea of kayaking and snorkeling for a morning trip that ended up being an all day adventure with both of us water logged and whipped by the end. Went out to dinner to an ok place but not nearly as good as the previous night. Got stalked and serenaded by the local mariachi band who had us pegged as the gringos who can’t say “no” and who played for us MANY a night in Jaco for the requisite $5. Was asked in 2 different places if I was Argentinean (???). Did minor surgery on my “black” blister to remove sand from every place on my body (we were on a grey beach with individual sand pieces looking black).
Day 4... AN ADVENTURE!... we started by grabbing a quick snack in town after sleeping in. The plan was to head south to Quepos and Manuel Antonio. Driving was relatively easy except going over the “bridge” made of railroad ties, plate steel, scraps... it was a 1 lane, scariest bridge I have encountered in my many years of travel to 3rd world countries. We decided to skip Quepos and went straight to Manuel Antonio which was STUNNING! GREAT/BEAUTIFUL beach, awesome food. Got a WONDERFUL B-day present from Brad of a gecko carved in bone inlayed in wood and macramé... GREAT anklet/bracelet. Brad surfed and I hiked Manuel Antonio and saw sloth, monkey, huge rat thing. We forewent the poison dart souvenir which may have been a mistake (it was totally cool). On the way home we went to the COOLEST restaurant to watch the sunset. We had pulled into “el Avion” by chance on the way into town but it was closed at that time; since it was soooooo cool we had to go back. It is a bar/resteraunt built around the fuselage of a contra 1954 Fairchild G123 bought in 2000 by the folks that owned the restaurant who had it put up on the hillside and made it a part of their bar/restaurant. It was fascinating and fabulous with great atmosphere and food. Left there after a great day to return to Jaco and stopped for our worst CR culinary experience on the way back (it had to happen).
Day 5... Diving... went to Heradurra dive shop and got set up with our gear. We went out with an overweight French man who had a bypass scar on his chest who came up from his dive to go straight to his cigarettes. Our guide was a Rasta dude named Mario with a tattoo of a naked woman on his back. The first dive was pretty spectacular with shark, lobster, puffers, eel, sting ray, turtle and a HUGE manta ray (5 meters ish) who liked to get her belly tickled by Rasta man. It took me a while to get adjusted and fight off panic and claustrophobic fears but I made it through the first dive and the next dive was easier for me. More mellow and I was not so nervous. Saw a huge shark, huge eel, lots of clams etc. Both dives had cool colored fish (including rock fish) but it was good to be on land again that afternoon. We had a great TICO (Tico is what CR people call themselves) lunch after diving and then a nap before surfing for Brad and hiking for me. The hike was awesome and I got to be on the hill overlooking Jaco and to see Brad ride the surf as the sun was setting with beautiful colors (he later told me he was surfing with a sting ray jumping up and down out of the water next to him). Later there was a great walk on the beach to town and a return to the unbelievable dinner place for another “to die for” meal and another “big ass smoothie”. Then we got a safe taxi ride home and I again got to listen to Brad play guitar on the balcony... pura vida (life is good/enjoy life/pure life) as the Tico’s say.
Day 6... woke up leisurely and walked into town for breakfast and shopping. Did the shop thing for way too long but did get a new hammock for the house Yeah! Had a great lunch at Pancho Villa’s (brought back memories of childhood dinner excursions), then went back to the hotel for some music by Brad at the bar then again hiking for me and surfing for Brad. I hiked up and over to the next town “Hermosa” and got a new blister. Got back in time to take pix of Brad surfing and then went into town for a VERY nice last meal on the beach at this very pleasant restaurant. After that we went to “Nate’s Place”... we had read about this hostel in the travel guide where “Texas guitar legend Nathan Dees lives” and had looked for it the whole time we were in Jaco and had finally found it earlier that morning. Nathan no longer lives there but his Texan father does so we went to play him some Texas music. All went very well until Nathan’s father started talking not so nice about the “Mexicans (ummmm, they are Costa Ricans)/blacks/heroin addicts etc” and started to ask Brad how to pronounce his last name and ask where he was from. He didn’t use the machete that was sitting in front of him since he really liked Brad’s music and Brad played it off saying he was a “Texas Jew” just like Kinky Freedman (which Nate’s father appreciated even though he thought Kinky was crazy and probably doesn’t really like Jews)... needless to say we hightailed it out of there pretty quick after the racist comments began and chalked it up to a bizarre CR experience.
Day 7... Homeward bound... got up and packed and went for our last walk on the beach and on some rocks near the hotel... did some pix taking and last minute sun burning and hit the road to go back to the airport. Stopped on a bridge to view some VERY LARGE crocodiles and then went back to that first restaurant on the hill (spectacular again) and on to the airport. Got on our plane and made it to LA at about midnight where got through customs and to the national terminal to find out everything was closed. Brad found us a little slice of NOT SO HORRENDOUSLY LOUD or BRIGHT airport and we slept on the HARD tile while waiting for 4:00am when we could go into the terminal proper. Our flight actually made it back to Aspen and we had time to do laundry, catch up on stuff before the week begins and to enjoy our beautiful scenery here...
Overall it was a great trip and although we already miss the food and the geckos we are very happy to be home!
Hope you all had a good week and enjoy reading about our adventures and more pictures will come in the future...
Lots of love, peace and PURA VIDA!!!

old info New Years 2008-2009

Happy New Year and welcome to 2009!
What a both wild, at times, and wonderful, at times, end of 2008 and beginning of 2009!
This past week started with a Chanukah celebration at Carolyn and Marty’s with INCREDIBLE food and a great group of people. Then our friends (Mahlon, Ellen and their kids Miles and Leah) from CA showed up to stay with us for the week. It has been awesome playing with them. I was able to ski with them for a little bit on Sunday after they showed up on Saturday and we got to take them down to the Woody Creek Tavern for dinner. Brad has spent the week off of work and has had lots of time to play with them. I had to work Mon through Wed but had a very nice dinner with the whole gang at Boogies Tues night. Wed (New Years Eve) turned out to be an odd adventure in Aspen. It started at work with a “code-black page” which I imagine you will read/hear about in the National news. There were at least 2 bomb scares in Aspen and we were all on call to come to the hospital if they went off. So the core of Aspen was shut down and evacuated (we worked through our clinic and it is a good thing we initiated a ‘first fill’ prescription program in our office because the pharmacy in town was evacuated). So, instead of going out to dinner in town since all the restaurants were closed except one at the outskirts of town which was packed we had a WONDERFUL dinner at home with our friends. The bomb squad has diffused the situation and is still working on the areas and they have a suspect they are looking for but unfortunately with all this because of the need for security etc paying attention to the very real bomb threat the plans for fireworks and the large bonfire were cancelled in Aspen. Lots of businesses were hurt tonight too which was a bummer. However, we at the Lazy F ranch had a fire in the wood stove and made s’mores and then Brad made a GREAT bonfire in our fire-pit outside which he had dug out with 2 benches, 2 overstuffed chairs and lots of candles in the snow... it was FANTASTIC hanging out under the stars with friends. New Years day will consist of sleeping in, hanging with our friends before they head back to CA on the train, playing with my dog, going to a New Years party with some wonderful friends and starting our trip for the weekend to Crested Butte to spend a day with Brads best friend from elementary school and his family. These are great ways, although bizarre and a bummer for lots of the businesses in Aspen, to end and to begin a new year.
2008 has been a good year overall with Obama winning the presidency (yahoo/phew) and my year being good overall. In 2009 I am expecting a lot of adventure starting with a trip to Costa Rica and then a 2 week adventure in Peru going to Machu Pichu with hiking/biking and kayaking as my 45th b-day present to myself. I look forward to another great Strawberry Music Festival with friends and helping Carolyn and Marty celebrate their many year anniversary. ALSO, moving into our new space will be SO EXCITING... we at AMC can’t wait!
Well I have to go celebrate the ball dropping... yahoo...

old info... 11/08 (first update)

Hi all...
I am going to try to get in the mode of sending semi weekly updates by email... for some of you who hear from me regularly this might have some repeat info so you can skip it but for others it may be a better way to keep in touch and keep up with goings on in life.
First, I hope you are all happy and healthy.
Second, I am happy and healthy.
Third... here goes...
A lot has gone on at “the Lazy F Ranch” this past week... the whole gang has had a decent time with Clifford enjoying some snow and Brad and I surviving another week of work. Brad has gotten the music studio finished out so that he will have a very nice room to make music in (instead of the unfinished garage). It was done yesterday so he is moving stuff back in there which will mean I get my side of the garage back so we are both very happy. We also did some ground work that was way overdue above the garage and had some work on the erosion that was happening in the driveway area. It all has come together VERY well and we are both pleased.
In the past week I have met with my “English in Action” student and that went well. After spending years complaining of the Hispanic folks in Aspen who haven’t learned English I decided to do something about it and started volunteering for English in Action. I went to their training sessions etc and got paired up with a really nice woman who wants to learn English and who they thought I would work well with BUT she is from Indonesia and not Hispanic so I haven’t “done something” about my original complaint but she is great. Her name is Shinta and she is married to Katut and has a daughter Sekar. We have been working together for a few months and she is improving significantly in her English and is trying to teach me to make Indonesian food in return. She cooks for me every week since we usually meet after a very busy day of work for me so she feels bad for me and feeds me. Her food is EXCELLENT! Brad gets left-overs and loves them. We meet 1x per week for an hour or so and we are working on her learning English so she can better teach her daughter (who is 4) and so when she gets back to Indonesia she can work with people there to improve her country.
AMC (my practice) bought part of a building in Aspen and the plan is to move into the space next April. We have finally gotten approval from the local planning office so construction will begin this week. We can’t wait to be in a place we own (or the bank owns) and that is not old and about to fall down. We will miss the charm of our old place but it will be nice to keep the weather outside (currently when it rains outside it rains on our patients inside too) and not to have to share the space with another practice. It has been a little ulcer provoking thinking about financing this project with the current economy but we have been very frugal saving money for construction and we just found out we may be able to get a pretty decent loan that would work very well for us. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
Last night Brad and I were invited to the local Rabbi’s house for dinner. It was VERY nice and very educational. There were about 15 people around the adult table and several more at the kids table. The food and company were awesome and we all left “rolling” out of the place with our stomachs stuffed. The Rabbi spoke for a while during the dinner about faithfulness (not blind faith as other religions accept and expect) and questioning. He said that you don’t need to believe in God to be a good Jew since it is really actions and not rhetoric/thoughts that are important (at least that is what I got out of it). He was fascinating and very welcoming as was his wife.
Finally for this week’s installment, I got a video from Jeff today that was a conglomeration of home movies from our family’s past. It was GREAT to watch and brought back MANY memories. We had more adventures and got a long better than I remembered! There was skiing, sailing, swimming, sand dunes, playing in the rain, Grandpa’s house, other Grandpa’s birthday party, etc etc. What fun and THANK YOU for sending that. Anyone who hasn’t seen it can be subjected to my memories anytime through that video.
Again hope you are well and more anon!!!Love, Kim