Colorado Vacation

Trying to catch up before the end of the year! Back in October, we took a short vacation to Colorado to visit friends that live in Fort Collins. These are the same friends we visited last year when they lived in Seattle. It seems we follow them around to use their free lodging.

We took the first flight out of Milwaukee and with the time change we were getting off our plane in Denver at 7:30 AM. It was like we didn't even travel! Except for waking up at 3:30 AM to make our flight...

Arriving that early, we decided to drive into Boulder for some breakfast at a place Rob recommended from his college days there (Luciles). After some good food, we cruised some shops on Pearl Street and then headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park. The main road across the park was closed for the season, so we drove to the Sprague Lake trail head, which is an easy flat trail around a lake. Perfect for the first day at altitude with a pregnant wife! After that walk, Diana took a nap while I did some exploring in the woods. We caught the end of the fall foliage on the aspens, but most of the leaves had already fallen off and the snow was starting to fly.

Sprague Lake

Rocky Mountain National Park

After a day in the park we continued our drive northeast to Fort Collins. The drive out of the mountains was very impressive through the canyons. Once in Fort Collins, we were greeted by Karl, the always energetic dog. Diana and I hit some sights while our friends worked, including Odell's Brewing Co and New Belgium. We also did some hiking in the foothills along the Horsetooth Reservoir.

Karl!

Bike Rack at Odells

Hiking in Fort Collins

Horsetooth Reservoir

On Saturday, with our friends off of work, we went into the Rockies to do a nice fall hike. In the mountains, a nice fall hike means a foot of snow. Winter was already setting in. We hiked Montgomery Pass, which is a relatively short 2.6 mile round trip hike up to 11,000 ft. Overall, the hike was very nice on a beautiful blue sky day. It was just a little slower going with the snow. The next day we were headed back to Milwaukee. Fort Collins is worth the visit if you are into outdoor activities. It is not very close to ski resorts, so it is a good summer or fall destination.

Montgomery Pass

6 Year Anniversary!

In August, Diana and I celebrated our 6-year wedding anniversary. This year, we were excited to share the news that we are expecting a baby in February 2017. It has been a journey and we are excited for it to continue. At 12 weeks, baby was just 2.5 inches long and we were able to see all of the little body parts, arms, legs, hands, feet. All there, just very tiny. At 20 weeks we found out that baby is a boy and is growing well. His arms and legs are 2 weeks ahead based on length. We have one more ultrasound coming up at 32 weeks.

Baby Millspaugh coming soon!

Baby at 12 weeks

Baby at 20 weeks

Cassie practicing snuggling with a smaller creature

Mom and Emma come to visit

At the end of July, Mom and Emma came to WI to visit so Emma could shadow Diana at work. Emma is considering physical therapy school and needed some shadowing hours. It was also a good reason to come to WI to visit.

We took them up to Door County to see the Mitsche's house and see the area. We had great weather and went for a nice hike at Whitefish Dunes State Park. Lake Michigan looked just like the ocean, except for no salt water or sharks.

We wrapped up the visit with a tailgate (Mom's first) and a Brewer's game before they took the ferry across the lake to check out Michigan.

Walking at Whitefish Dunes State Park

Lake Michigan (or the ocean as Mom calls it)

Tailgating!

Go Brewers

Door County Triathlon 2016

This past July I raced in the Door County Half Ironman triathlon for the fifth time. Pretty sure it was the fifth. For something different this year, Diana got me (for my birthday) a 14-week training plan to follow instead of just coming up with workouts on my own.  I stuck to the plan and definitely noticed a difference in my preparation.

Come race day and the weather decided not to cooperate. A huge storm cell was heading right towards us and the race committee decided to delay the race 90 minutes to see if it would pass. After 90 minutes, the threat of lightning was no longer there, but the wind and the rain were there to stay. For the sake of safety, the race committee decided to shorten the swim by a mile. The bike and the run stayed the same length. So instead of racing 70.3 miles it ended up being 69.3. A little bummed since I was prepared to race a best time of under 5 hours, but glad they didn't cancel the race.

We started the short swim in the pouring rain, but otherwise the swim was uneventful.

On to the bike and it was soaking wet. It rained almost the entire bike and poured for the first half. A few slick corners, but overall a good ride and a best time even with the conditions. I had to take my bike and wheels apart afterward to get all of the water out of my bike.

Go figure, after the bike, sun came out and it was a nice 95% humidity. It was a solid run, and I finished in just over 4.5 hours. I think I would have been under 5 hours at the full distance, but I guess I will just have to do it again sometime.

For the Cassie picture of the post, here she is posing in the garden in front of the bay house hoping she can go back in the water.

East Coast Vacation

At the end of June we packed the car and drove east for a week and a half vacation. The drive was long, as usual, this time with the interstate completely closed in Ohio due to a fuel tanker explosion. We got off early and drove on slower side roads for a while, but at least we weren't stuck on the highway like a lot of people.

The plan was to get to Erie and spend the night to finish the drive in the morning. But as we looked for dog friendly places to stay, we learned that Erie thinks they are something special... one night at a La Quinta next to the highway was almost $200. Sorry Erie, you weren't scamming us. So we continued on and got a room at a very nice Red Roof Inn in Jamestown NY. Dog friendly. We recommend it if you are in the area and need a place to crash.

Ready to begin our looooong road trip!

We did have a deadline for our drive; we had to be in Walden for Grandpa Millspaugh's surprise 90th birthday party. The timing all worked out and we arrived with 10 minutes to spare. For some background, Grandpa was an avid paddler on the Wallkill river and would put his boat in at an area that I guess was technically a park/boat launch, but you wouldn't know it from the state of the land. So, through the work and coordination of many, the land was transformed and a real boat launch/dock was built and installed. The town renamed the park and the boy scouts built an official park sign.

We had several boats on the river when he arrived, and he appeared quite surprised and impressed. He even got out for a birthday paddle. After the ceremony at the park, we headed to the village municipal building for food, cake, and a "museum" of artifacts from over 90 years of Granpda's life. Overall, it was a great event.

The improved riverfront park and boat launch on the Wallkill River

New park sign built by the boy scouts

That's one surprised Grandpa

Lots of family in attendance

Grandpa going for a birthday paddle

Birthday celebration

After the birthday party, we spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa Vinett's and had a nice visit. Then we headed down state to the Island to visit some high school friends. It wasn't too bad driving past NYC and out onto Long Island on a Sunday morning. We had a nice 1-day visit and then continued driving out to the tip of the Island. The atmosphere on Long Island is actually quite nice, and maybe even tolerable to live in, if you never drive toward the chaos of the city. We are not city people.

From the end of the Island, we took the ferry across to Connecticut. The ferry was dog friendly and was a refurbished landing ship from D-Day. The ferry ride is worth it if you have the chance, and it cut a lot off of our drive. We were now heading to Boston to visit yet another high school friend on our tour-de-northeast.

About to board the ferry!

Riding a piece of history

Cassie loved the boat ride

We like boats

After Boston, we continued on to Maine. This time to visit some college friends. We stayed at the Yachtsman Lodge in Kennebunkport. Diana did the research and said it was dog friendly with great reviews. Well when we checked in, there was a dog bed, dog bowl, and Maine themed dog treats. Diana and planning never fails. We had a good time roaming the little downtown of Kennebunkport, walking by the Bush Estate, and walking the beach along the ocean. We had dinner one night up in Portland and stopped by the flagship ll bean store. I did make an attempt at eating my first full lobster. I think it was a success, but I did have to watch a youtube video first to figure out what to do. It was a short stay in Maine, but I think we will be back.

Maine dog treats!

View from our room. Very Maine.

Visit with Marquette friends who now live in Maine

Diana and Katie

Ready to take on the lobster!

Out for an early walk along the ocean

After Maine, we started driving west. We made a pit stop in Niskayuna for the night and a mandatory stop at I Love NY Pizza for some buffalo chicken. Cassie made some use of the pool.

Pup swimming laps

Pooped pup imitating the carpet

Then we continued to the lake for the fourth of July weekend. Not much to say here, it was a weekend full of swimming, boating, fires, fireworks, family, games, food, and music. Typical summer weekend at the lake and a good visit.

Happy Fourth

Having a fire in the stump furnace

Good vacation. Time for a nap.

We're Back!

Well it's happened again... I log in to update the blog and see that it has been about half a year since the last post. Follow us on Instagram for more frequent pictures. So what have we been up to since March.

In May, I tried out a new woodworking project that I had been thinking about for some time. Over the years we have accumulated a lot of medals from various races that just sit in a box in the closet. Some of the medals are unique and I have always thought it would be very cool to inlay them in wood to make some custom coasters. One set of medals in particular were from the Door County Triathlon where the medals had different landmarks from the area on one side.

I didn't really know how to do it, but I found some examples online where people had inlayed coins in wood, and I figured that was close enough. I gathered some supplies, practiced on some scrap wood, and then went for it. We think they turned out great.

Cut blanks and rounded the edges with a router

Set up an assembly line to router the inlays with a guide template.

Couldn't have done it without this guide

The inlays are complete and ready for stain

Complete with stain and set in place with clear bar-top epoxy

For your Cassie pictures of the day, this is how she relaxes when we hang out in the basement. Tucked up against the couch sleeping.

 When we go camping there is no couch so she just relaxes on the dirt.

I plan to catch up on blogs this week. Up next is our northeast vacation from June/July.