10/15
We arrived into chilly Denver in the evening. Mom was supposed to pick us up, but we couldn't get a hold of her. Turns out the cell towers were down or something, but by some miracle she found us!
10/16
Mom, Ellis, and I drove down to Glen Haven to throw rocks in the River while Zach, Mary, and Steiny did some mountain biking before meeting us down there. We then ate the famous Glen Haven cinnamon rolls. Next we drove up to Estes and went to the trout pond where we helped Ellis real in a big trout! The trout was delicious for lunch!
10/17
We got up early and all headed down to Denver to take Ellis to the aquarium. It's always fun to see all the fish, but the highlights were the river otters, an octopus, the rays, and surprisingly a couple of tigers. After the aquarium, Zach, Mary, and Ellis went biking and Elisha, mom, and I went to visit Nate and Treasure at their house. It was a lot of fun to catch up with them. Then it was a quick stop at costco before heading to Boulder for some pre-gaming before the Buffs game. We all went to Half Fast Subs for drinks. They still have the killer deal for the Strong Island Ice Tea pitchers, and we all left a bit tipsy as we headed to the stadium where Zach and Ellis headed in. The rest of us went to another bar to watch the first quarter before picking up Ellis and driving home after the 1st quarter.
10/18
Mom took us on a driving tour of Estes Park. It was crazy (and sad!) to see all the development. From a mountain roller coaster to some huge construction project in front of the Stanley to some fancy hotel by the old Elkhorn Lodge. We walked downtown and visited the new Stanley themed chocolate factory and ferris wheel. I got some ice cream and Elisha a caramel apple. We then went in search of the elk as Elisha loves to watch them fight. We found some bulls strutting their stuff among a herd of females on the 18 hole golf course, but then down on Fish Creek by the house we used to rent from Joe Czoke, we hit the jackpot. Lots of big males, right by the side of the road, and then a huge herd with males bugling like crazy and even doing some fighting.
10/19
Since we had flown out of Gunnison and into Denver, we didn't have a car in Estes, so mom drove us to Gothic. Mom stayed with us on our first night in Gates Cabin back in Gothic.
10/21
Mom stayed for a few days, which was really nice as we got settled in. We got our first snow in Gothic, thought it didn't really stick, just up on the mountains.
10/24
We got our first significant sticking snow in Gothic while we were there. We did miss a significant snowfall in early October that had melted off. It's been super warm this year, partly because of the El Niño and partly just a warmer climate. It should be snowing, but instead it's a lot of rain.
10/26
We had our first day of work and met our new boss Karl. He has an interesting resume. He went to college at Western State in Gunnison. He competed professionally in extreme skiing, including competitions at Mount Crested Butte. He got into professional kayaking and was involved in some sort of kayaking company in Boulder. He moved to Alaska where he did recreation and facilities stuff for a DOD property that included a ski area. Most recently he was a safety manager for Schweitzer in Coeur D'Alene, ID.
10/29
We had a going away party for Steve (former head boss), Benn (former supervisor), and Kyle (badass facility guy) at the hostel. Oh yea, in case I didn't mention it before. Sophia and Ben, our caretaking couple in crime are moving to Santa Barbara. Sophia has already started grad school there and Benn was following her when he finished up the season at the end of the month. We knew this before we left on our trip. But, we learned Steve was quitting during the middle of our international trip. We were super bummed to find this out as we loved Steve! And we will definitely miss Benn and Sophia.
But joining us this year as caretakers is Beth. I worked with her on the CHESS project, and she's really cool. Also Zach and Mary (with Ellis) will be out here part time as backup caretakers. Of course billy will be out here as well.
After the party, we drove up Gunnison and did some shopping. We filled up 2 carts, had a crazy long receipt and saved $103 on our purchase. The checker always tells you how much you've saved, and he commented that it was the biggest savings he'd ever seen.
10/30
After work, we went for a little walk with David Inouye (a famous and long-time scientist here) so that he could show us his plots. We'll be counting flowers in them next spring before he can get out. He also had lots of good stories. We also helped him put some shutters on his cabin before he left for the winter to Paonia. In return he gave us some salmon steaks from Sitka.
10/31
We went trick or treating with Ellis, Zach, and Mary on Elk Avenue in Crested Butte. We all dressed up as Finding Nemo characters since Finding Nemo is Ellis' favorite movie right now. Ellis was Nemo, Mary was a snorkeler, Zach a shark, me a turtle, and Elisha an octopus. We also had surgeonfish (Dori fish) with us.
After the kiddie tricker or treating we drove to CB South where the bigger kid tricker or treating happens. CB South houses were really decked out for Halloween, which was cool. We went to my friend Julie (from SAIL) and her husband Jason's house. They had a nice fire, spiked cider, chilli, s'mores, and lots of candy. So we hung out with them for a long time and caught up on things and helped them hand out candy
11/1
It was a really rainy/sleety/day, so we did a lot of indoor catch-up tasks (like working on this blog!). In the evening all of us caretakers (Elisha, Beth, Zach, Mary, Ellis, and I) went down to Ruby Lounge where we had soup, cider, pumpkin scones, and beer and watched the Broncos beat the Chiefs in a very exciting and close game! (4th and goal, goal line stand). While doing this we also carved pumpkins. Elisha carved a cool cat, and I carved snowy Gothic mountain with a cabin in the foreground.
