200

200. What does that mean? A prequel to a Gerard Butler movie? The number of laps in the Indy 500? Rosie O'Donnell's weight when she was 14? All good guesses, but not applicable for this entry. For me, 200 is a milestone. Two years of focus and hard work. Two years of beer drinking. Yes, after a little over two years, I finally did it. I made it into the Ring of Honor.

Let me fill you in. In Downtown Kansas City, there's a bar called the "Flying Saucer". Based down in Texas, there are fewer than 15 of these places across the country. They are beer bars. At any one time, they have over 200 beers available. Not only domestic stuff, but the best from around the world. A good chunk of those are on tap. They are somehow able to get really good and really rare stuff on a regular basis. Racer X from Bear Republic in California. Cask conditioned Hop Slam from Bell's in Michigan. Trappistes Rochfort 10 from Belgium. Good stuff! Anyway, they have a program where if you try 200 different beers (no more than three per day), you get your own personalized plate on the wall. My big day was May 13, 2010. My after lunch beer for #200 was a Westmalle Dubbel.

Serving me my 200th was the lovely Casey...

So, a week and a half later, I had my plate unveiling party on a Saturday Night. I was asked to come to the bar, actually, get on top of the bar, with one of the manager's where my exploits were announced to the teeming masses. Thankfully, I was not asked to do any "Coyote Ugly" moves while on top of the bar.

Next, it was off to pull the shroud from the plate. First I needed to stop and get the accolades from the fan club...

So here it is. I'm the 108th person at this Flying saucer to enter the club. I'm actually in a pretty good spot. I'm along the main wall on the west side out in the open.

A final thanks to the person who probably has served me more beers at the Saucer than anyone else. Thanks Lani!

Feathers, Cleats, and Lace

It's Spring time in the big City. When we're not dodging the rain which never seems to stop, we're taking the girls to one of their games or events. This Spring, we've added another sport to our itinerary. Sara has decided to play softball. She's never played a competitive sport before, let alone swung a bat, so we were a bit unsure how things would turn out. Well, it turns out that she really loves to play. She has cleats, a pink glove, and a pink bat, so she's ready to go. She's already gotten her first hit and has scored. Pretty cool. The girls don't have one position, so Sara's been able to play in the outfield, at catcher, and as the pitcher (although the coaches pitch). Here she is at pitcher...

At catcher...

And at the plate...

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Sara had her first communion a few weeks ago. She was wearing the same veil that her Aunt Karen wore on her first communion, 30 some years ago.

Meanwhile, Libby has been busy as well. After Sara's first communion, Libby and I went out on an 18-mile bike ride (her longest ever). We rode from Shawnee Mission Park, north to the Kansas River, and back again. It's pretty hilly, and she was a beast on the climbs. Here's Libby at the halfway point...

Libby is also in the choir at school and the Spring concert had a Hollywood theme. To go along with the movie themed music, they were to dress up as their favorite movie star or character. It's pretty obvious whom Libby chose...

(If you can't figure it out, it's Cruella De Vil!)

Libby is also quite the artist. Two of her art projects were in the Shawnee Mission School District Art Fair. She was the only kid in her school with two pieces in the Art Fair (only 14 kids in her school were selected for the showing). This is a piece that was based on an Archie and Jughead comic strip.

Finally, besides her regular weekly dance class, Sara was in the tumbling program at school. They had their "Open House" last Friday after school.

I'm Riding My Bike!!!

Yesterday (March 29, 2010) was a pretty big day. Over the weekend, I took Sara's bike downstairs and hooked it up to the trainer so she could practice her pedaling. After a few minutes on the trainer, she got the hang of continuous pedaling. So, last night, we took the bike into the backyard and had her try to pedal a bit on her own. Everything looked positive, so we decided to head over to the church parking lot to see if we could do this for real. We got set up, and I told her to start pedaling. After a couple of pedal strokes, I took my hand off her back and she was on her own. A couple of seconds later, Sara said (pretty plainly) "I'm riding my bike." So, we called Lori, and along with Libby and Sandy, they came over to the church to watch Sara. Here's what they saw:

After a few more runs, it was time to call it quits for the evening. We made Sara pose for a picture or two:

Then it was over to Sheridan's for some ice cream. Couldn't think of a better way to celebrate!

Steamboat 2010

DAY 1 - STEAMBOAT OR BUST

OK, here we go again. It's Spring Break, so it's time for the four of us (plus one this year) to head to Steamboat for skiing. And to start things off, we have the usual "we better take a picture in the airport parking lot so we don't forget where the vehicle is" photo.

As an omen of things to come, the trip started off on a sour note. One of the baggage inspection machines at the Southwest ticket counter was broken. When we checked into our flight, there was a mountain of bags waiting to pass through the one working machine. We didn't know if our bags would make the plane. The baggage staff was very unhelpful. When asked if the bags would make the flight, their response was "Don't know... They might." Very encouraging. Anyway, we got on the plane. I mentioned above the fifth passenger on the trip. It's Sara's buddy, Flat Stanley. This is the Flat Stanley that she sent to her cousin Jessica in New York. For the plane trip, F.S. is wearing a sweatshirt from Jessica's school.

The flight to Denver was smooth and without delay. However, we did get there a bit early and we waited on the tarmac for about 15 minutes until our gate became free.

We finally parked at the gate and made our way to baggage claim. After a tense wait, our bags finally showed up on the carousel. The two bags were one of the last ones off the plane. We grabbed our rental slug (a Dodge Journey Crossover/SUV - my recommendation: Do Not Buy!) and headed northwest. Just outside Denver, we passed Medved Chevrolet. Medved is my Mom's maiden name. Don't think that we're related to these folks.

After a wonderful lunch at Carl's Jr., we made our way to Steamboat and checked into our condo. The one bedroom that we were assigned had completely white walls, one picture on the wall, and no other decorations. This wasn't going to work. I've got closets that have more appeal. So, we called the Management Company and told them that we needed to change rooms. They found us another ski in / ski out place a bit further up the hill. This place was decorated much nicer, and it had a pool and hot tub. The girls had to hit the pool. In the background, you can see our unit. We are the balcony in the middle of the photo in the upper right (white chairs and wood for the fireplace). Too cold in the heated pool for me, so I stayed in the hot tub.

Libby floats on over to the edge of the pool while Sara stays in the deep end in the background.

Finally got everyone back in the condo and settled in. Sara wanted a picture with her puppy Linzy.

DAY 2 - SKI SCHOOL AND WE GO SOLO

First day back on the slopes. Libby to snowboarding class, Sara to ski school. Lori and I trying to remember how the skis work. I dropped Libby off to her snowboarding class. Helmets were required this year at both ski and snowboarding school. So, this is one of the few times you'll see Libby with a helmet on the slopes.

And here's Lori dropping Sara off to her class. In the background you can see the stage that they were setting up for the reggae concert at the base area at the end of the day.

Lori stuck with Sara for a little bit, so I took a few shots looking up the hill from the ski school area.

Lori and I finally went up to the top of the mountain (about 3,300 feet of vertical) and got to skiing. Pretty soon it was lunch time and a burger and a beer were the order of the day.

Then it was time for a little bit of relaxation.

After a couple hours more of skiing, it was time to head back down the mountain to pick the girls up from school. The town of Steamboat Springs is in the background just over Lori's right shoulder.

After getting the girls, Libby wanted to go shopping for some new sunglasses, while Sara wanted to make one more run. Here's Sara on the Christie Peak Express lift.

Sara and I made it back to the condo, threw the equipment in our ski locker and drove the rental slug down to the base area to pick up Libby and Lori. We found them at a bar at the bottom of the mountain. Here's Libby on commentary:

Our day wasn't done yet. We had a snow cat driven sleigh ride that evening to go to. The ride originated at Thunderhead Lodge which is about 2,000 feet above the base area. One of the families that we met at the pool (who just happened to live about 15 minutes from us back in Johnson County) were also on the ride. About halfway into the ride, the driver of the snow cat asked if anyone wanted to ride up front in the snow cat. Sara and her friend from the pool, Sophie, volunteered. Here are the two of them with the driver. It was a pretty cool experience for the both of them.

DAY 3 - THE WINDS OF CHANGE

We awoke to a really strange noise Sunday morning. Something strange was going on outside. It was the wind. There were 50 - 60 mph winds at mid-mountain. The winds kept the lifts closed until early afternoon. So, we decided to go into town to explore. This is from Lincoln Avenue in Downtown Steamboat Springs looking back toward the ski area.

Steamboat wasn't the first ski area in town. The first was Howelson Hill. One of the cool things that they have at Howelson are ski jumps. In fact, this is where a couple of the medal winners in Nordic Combined at the Vancouver Olympics got their start.

The big "landmark" in Downtown Steamboat is F.M. Light, a western wear outfitter. Outside they have a horse named Lucky.

The girls dropped me off at the condo and they went to do some more shopping. I called the snow report line one more time around 2 PM, and heard that finally all of the lifts opened at 1:45 PM. So, I threw my gear on, grabbed the skis, and made my way to the gondola. The wind was still blowing pretty good, and when I got to the top of the gondola, I discovered that most of the lifts were now closed. So, I headed to the very lower part of the mountain where one lift was still open. I spent the next two hours doing "laps". Here's looking at the base area from the top of See Ya.

And a little bit more of a wide shot. See Ya is to the left of the poles with the red base. See Me is to the right. Our condo building is the second building on the right, facing the mountain.

Everybody made it back safely to the condo. Sara tucked Flat Stanley into bed and climbed in herself. We were all hoping for a calm day on Monday.

DAY 4 - TUBING... ON A SUNNY AFTERNOON

We woke up Monday morning and peered outside and were greeted with not a cloud in the sky and no wind. Perfect. We grabbed Flat Stanley and skied (and snowboarded) down to the gondola. Another shot of Sara and Flat Stanly, this time on the gondola.

We took the girls up to the top of Sunshine Peak. Sunshine has a great mix of beginner and expert runs. Below is a great "blue" cruiser, the Sunshine Lift Line Run.

It was a beautiful morning for skiing. We stayed on Sunshine Peak the whole morning, then went to lunch at Rendezvous Saddle. Sara fed Flat Stanley some potato chips.

We split up after lunch, with me taking Libby and Lori taking Sara. Libby and I made our way over to Thunderhead Peak. Here's Libby at the top of Vagabond.

Lori and Sara also made their way to Thunderhead, but were on different runs. Here's some action video of Sara on Why Not:

We ended our day a bit early because we had another activity planned. We were off to go tubing at Saddleback Ranch which is about a half an hour bus ride from the Base area. Walking to the Transit Area, we had a great view of the lower mountain. The gondola terminates in the little building that you can see at the top of the hill (that's Thunderhead).

We caught the shuttle bus to Saddleback Ranch and found out that our names were not on the reservation list. Another bit of Murphy's Law to hit us on the trip! However, once we got to Saddleback, the folks who run the place called Steamboat Central Reservations and got everything worked out. The tubing area has three different runs. You get hauled up the hill by a modified rope tow. It's a lot better than having to walk to the top of the hill every time.

Everyone gets their own tube, but on two of the runs, they let you hook your tubes together for added speed and excitement. Here's Libby and I:

After tubing, I was too lazy to make dinner, so we went to The Tugboat, a local bar at the base of the mountain.

DAY 5 - MORE SUNSHINE

It was another gorgeous day on Tuesday. Temps in the mid to upper 40's and lots of sun. Libby wanted to hit Buddy's Run on top of Storm Peak and Sara wanted to start off on the Kid's Terrain Park on the lower mountain, so the four of us went in two different directions. This is Libby and I heading up the Bar-UE chairlift.

Meanwhile, Lori and Sara were in the terrain park and in Rough Rider Basin where Sara shows off her Poma Lift riding skills.

Back on Storm Peak, Libby liked the looks of the Storm Peak North run, which happens to be a a black diamond, or expert run. You can see the Four Points Hut at the bottom of the run.

We went back up to the top on the Storm Peak Express lift. Going up the mountain, you pass by the two Mardi Gras trees. (And no, the photo is not upside down!)

After a few more runs, we hit lunch, this time at the Four Points Hut.

After a few more runs on Storm Peak after lunch, we went back down to the lower mountain to ski Vagabond, Betwixt, Lower Concentration, and a few more runs that got in our way.

Lori and Sara meanwhile made their way back up Sunshine Peak. Here they are on Broadway.

That was pretty much it for the rest of the day. Over to Mahogany Ridge Brewery for Happy Hour tapas and beer. Then back to the condo for more pool and hot tub time.

DAY 6 - LAST TIME DOWN THE MOUNTAIN

The final day of skiing for us on Spring Break. There were a few clouds in the ski today, but it was also a bit warmer. All four of us took the gondola to the top of Thunderhead and posed for a couple of pictures.

We split up again with Libby and I heading over to Storm Peak and Lori and Sara hitting Sunshine Peak.

I realized that I hadn't taken any video of Libby snowboarding, so here we go:

Before splitting up, we decided to meet up for lunch at Rendezvous Saddle. Surprisingly, we all made it to the Saddle within a couple of minutes of each other. I don't think that's ever happened before. Lori thanked me for being on time.

After lunch, Sara wanted a picture of the two of us.

And another picture of her and Lori.

And finally one more family portrait.

A couple more hours of skiing and snowboarding, then back to the condo. The girls went to the pool while I took the ski and snowboard equipment back and began to pack. Here's a photo off of our balcony with the lower part of the mountain on the right.

Panning a little to the left, here's the pool and hot tub area.

One more thing left to do. It was St. Patrick's Day, so we had to head back down to the base area for the Torchlight Parade (down the mountain by the ski school instructors) and the fireworks. Sara and Flat Stanley were both wearing green.

Down at the base area, we did a bit of shopping, with Sara finding a new friend (Smokey the Moose). As you can see, she was also sporting her shamrock head gear (Sara was, not Smokey).

DAY 7 - GOING HOME

Time to end the vacation. Got the rental slug all packed up and got on the road. Lori drove for the first chunk of the drive to Denver. I got to be a passenger for once. This is a picture of Rabbit Ears Pass, just south of Steamboat.

The weather was great again, so we made good time getting to Denver and had time to stop and eat at some other place besides the airport. This year, we went to Breckenridge Brewery, just across the street from Coors Field (Home of the Rockies).

And a view of the Brewery from across the street. No, that is not our rental in the middle of the photo.

It was in the mid 60's in Denver so we walked across the street and checked out Coors Field. This is a view of the stadium along the first base line.

Nothing too exciting about the rest of the trip back, except for our flight leaving Denver an hour late. Overall, except for some of the Murphy's Law things, the trip was a lot of fun. No one got hurt, and nothing got lost or misplaced, and there was no forgetting our lift tickets in the condo this year. Can't wait to see where our next vacation adventure takes us...