OBAMA-nation!!!!!!

I had the great privilege of attending the Chicago Rally on Nov 4, 2008! It was a while in the making but Brad and I made it! It all started a couple weeks ago when my sister and mom told me about the rumor of a rally in Chicago after Obama won on election day. I told them that they better get downtown and attend because it was going to be such a Historic/Country Changing event. So, my mom got on the phone and internet and started looking for hotels downtown. It took her two days of trying but she finally got a room in the Best Western right across from Grant Park-where the rally was to be held! But then after thinking the rally was free and open to the public she learned that tickets were going to be issued in a lottery. So my mom made sure to find out when she could sign up for tickets and then got my sister and dad to sign up as well. The all got the same response email saying that the Obama campaign would get back to them later with more information. Did they have tickets? Were they wait-listed? Finally, on Sunday, Nov. 2nd they all recieved an email saying that their tickets would be emailed to them between 6-7pm Monday night!!! How exciting! When they told me that on Sunday I immediately started looking for cheap flights to Chicago. I found one for under $200 but the flight there would take me through Phoenix first and on the return flight I would have to fly all the way to SanFrancisco and then to Denver but I didn't care...I was going! Brad decided to join me on Monday when he found out that we had an extra ticket. I was so pumped to have him come along and enjoy this historic event with me :) So we left Golden, Co at 4am on Tuesday, arrived in Ohare at 1pm that same day. Got to Chicago and our hotel right across the street from Grant Park at 3pm and was now officially ready for OBAMA fever! We had a nice dinner with Jen and Jonathan before the rally and then they went to see the play WICKED while mom, dad, Brad and I went to the rally. It was such an exciting night. We had no idea where we needed to go or how long it was going to take us to get in but Chicago did a pretty good job at controlling the lines and crowds and we made it into the rally in about an hour(way better than the DNC). Below are pics from the night. enjoy!

The fam, brad and me waiting for CNN to get on their horse and announce and Obama win!

The crowd was huge and people were packed into Grant Park like sardines! But it was worth it! Only 65,000 people got tickets and my family was lucky to get 6!

When CNN finally announced an Obama win!

Our President elect-Barack Obama giving his first speech. What a historic night!
"Yes We Did!"

It seemed to me that these lights were shining the way for us into a future of hope and change.

leaving the really. there were soooooo many people! i am so thankful (to my fam esp my mom) for getting us tickets and a hotel right across the street from Grant Park for this Awesome night!!!

What an AWESOME, HISTORIC, HOPEFUL, COUNTRY and WORLD CHANGING night!!!!!

on another note....brad an I got our picture on the web. ha
http://www.flickr.com/photos/busybeaverbuttoncompany/3006018230/in/set-72157608677960012/

update-a-roo (along the same lines as an updizzle)

this past weekend was packed with activity. Brad planned a really nice hike for us Saturday morning. we hiked herman gulch which is a trail very close to the continental divide. the hike was short but challenging with most of the hike being uphill. we brought maya along and she is still doing awesome at hiking right along with us. she is such a smart dog!

the girls at the beginning of the hike

maya could barely contain her excitement for this picture

there was a beautiful lake at the end of out hike

maya and I enjoying the view of the lake

maya was trying so hard to be a good listener and sit with us instead of chasing marmots

our lunch spot. it was such a gourmet lunch brad set up for us. it included fruit, chili flavored almonds, gouda cheese, bread and sausage...plus the guy even carried up a bottle of wine for us. what a nice romantic surprise :)

the view from our lunch spot. it was a super view and we had the whole lake to ourselves for a while!




Then, I planned an outing for us on Sunday. We took the long drive (100miles) to the town of Leadville, which by the way is the highest incorporated town in the US. but before we hit the town, we drove north up Tennessee pass to the Colorado trail to do a little mountain biking.

getting things together before hitting the mountain bike trail

brad taking on a cool bridge along the trail

brad and the camera couldn't keep up with my speed!

we stopped to take some cool jump pics. our jumps and camera taking abilities could probably use some improvements. ha.

this jump is the jump that did me in. i hit a rock with my back tire and got a flat.

this was me changing a tire before we realized that brad's extra tube was actually flat too. bummer. i had to walk/run my bike four miles back to the trailhead. not fun.

having the time of my life...not really. let this be a lesson, always make sure you have "new" spares along for the ride.

we finally made it down the mountain to the cool/historic mining town, Leadville. The town was really cute and beautiful and we made sure the first thing on our agenda was to eat a packed lunch on a park bench. food always seems to take priority.

cool guy pose

i loved how colorful the buildings are, it reminded me of mexico in a way.

posing for brad..ha.

well, even after all the excitement of the day, we crazily decided it wasn't enough. When we got back to Golden, we hurried to the bike shop for THREE spare tubes (can't be too careful) and we grabbed maya and decided to head up to Boulder to fit in another mountain bike trail before it got dark. mostly we wanted to see how maya would do on the mountain bike trail. well...it started off rocky. she was a bit scared of the bikes but then she settled in and loved it. i think she really loved running at her top speed (bc up until now she was only running as fast as i could run, which is super slow compared to how fast she COULD run). when we came to a tight spot through trees she stayed right on my back tire the whole way, slowing down and speeding up as i did. All was going awesomely until...POW...I blew ANOTHER tube. what luck. i was so frustrated that I didnt want to change it and risk loosing another new tube so brad took off to go and get the car while maya and i walked out. i am starting to get really tired of walking my bike. i think i just need to buckle down and get new tires (esp since I have never gotten new tires, EVER) oh well, at least the walk granted me a beautiful view of the boulder flatirons and a glorious red and orange sunset.

on top of world...or ummmm colorado

so, we finally did it. we climbed a colorado 14er. for those of you who don't know what a 14er is, let me explain....it is a mountain that is over 14,000ft high and yes, people climb to the top of them here in the C.O. we (brad, maya, brad's friend-brad #2, and I) left denver around 5:45 and headed 1.5hours into the mountains to the base of mount bierstadt.

maya and i on the way to our first 14er!


the morning started in quite an unusual way. when we were at our cars getting our gear on the wind blew an abnormal substance through the parking lot and literally everyone in the lot started coughing and sneezing. i tried putting my shirt over my nose but to no avail. it passed after about a minute but everyone was in bewilderment. what could it have been? we may never know?

brad and brad#2 at the trailhead. we estimated it would take about 4-5 hours round trip...not too bad?

our first obstacle...a creek. i didnt want to get my pants wet....so dont mind the fashion faux pas.

yes!!!! we made it!

making our first pitstop...and fueling up for the tough climb ahead.

yep, i may have been hiking a little fast for the boys :) sorry guys.

maya did GREAT! i took her off-leash about 20min into the hike and she listened sooooo well. i am so lucky to have found such a great dog! as you can sorta see in this picture, i recently purchased a doggie backpack for her so that she will be responsible for carring her water and food. she didn't even seem to notice it was on.

a better view of maya and her doggie backpack (or as brad likes to call it "doggie saddle")

we made it! 14,060ft.

what a good pic of my friend, that's a boy.

maya did exceptionally well with all the people around her and on the trail. she didn't try to run away and hide like she has had the tendency to do in the past. she even let people pet her and of course she LOVED socializing with all the other dogs on the trail. however, she did need a little down time when we reached the top so here she is curled up in her "safe spot" :)

the emblem at the top of the mountain.

the view of the continental divide.

cute maya

view south toward new mexico/pikes peak/salida.

oh maya :) she followed me everywhere, i think this pic is from her keeping the lookout while i took a much needed 'pit stop' (if you know what i mean?)

awesome tundra flowers

maya LOVED the snow. whenever she saw a patch she would run over and dive head first into it (much like a "coda dive"). i think she is going to like winter-alot!!!

on the way down...i let the boys go in front but only for a little while bc they couldn't handle me clipping at their heels.

the view of the marsh below

the boys... thats the peak of bierstadt behind them.

we made it out just before the afternoon storms...phew! :)

all in all it was a great 14er...not to hard for the first one and i can not wait to do another one. any takers?