August 20-Day 3 of Vacation

Today, after Justin and I ran our 1.5 miles.  We got perty’d up and headed out to explore Rocky Mountain National Park.  We took the Old Fall River Road which was the first motor route to cross the Rocky Mountain National Park.  It was built between 1913 and 1920.  It is a one lane dirt road that runs for 9 miles following the steep slope of Mt Chapin.

The first stop on our drive was Alluvial Fan.  This was created during the Lawn Lake flood in 1982. We climbed all the rocks to the top of the falls.  We saw a small chipmunk on the way down. 

The next stop on our drive was Chasm Falls.  This is a 25ft water fall.  After that, we climbed our way up the narrow road thru some hairpin turns.  We eventually reached 10,000 ft.  The scenery up there was beautiful.  Mostly just trees and mountains as far as you can see.  It was kind of hazy today, but we still got some good views. I took my GPS watch, so I was able to keep track of our elevation the whole trip.

We did some pretty good hikes.  Some climbed 200ft.  The air is very thin at 11,000 ft.  Some of the hikes really sucked on the way up.  Down wasn’t too bad.  We saw a yellow-bellied marmot on one hike. Even though the signs say “do not approach the animals.  You may be gored”, Justin got as close as possible to the creature.

At the end of Fall River road was the Alpine visitors center.  It is at 11,796 ft.  Lucky for us it had a cafe since I didn’t prepare for the day well enough to pack food and beverages.  We both had a Nathan’s chili dog.  It was pretty yummy.  We bought some souvenirs while we were up there.  Then we hiked to the top of the mountain that was there.  We reached 12,000 ft at the top.

Then we cruised back on the Trail Ridge Road. On the way, we saw a bunch of herds of elk.  It was just like the Discovery channel.  There was a herd of does and one buck.  We rounded one corner and saw this very large herd.  They didn’t seem to afraid of us either.  The females got very close to the crowd that had gathered along side of the road.

By then, we were pooped.  We headed home and got ready for dinner. We decided to eat at a place called Grumpy Gringo’s.  We realized why the Gringo was grumpy.  The food was not very good.  I guess that serves me right for saying we hadn’t had a bad meal yet.  After dinner, we came home and hit the hot tub.  Now we are just laying around being lazy.

Tomorrow, we are headed to Fort Collins for our white water rafting experience.  That is all we have planned for tomorrow.  I’d like to try to get to the Stanley Hotel museum and the airway tram that afternoon or evening.

August 19-Day 2 of Vacation

Today we didn’t really do too much in the morning. After we got up and around, Justin and grabbed my laptop and headed into town for breakfast. We ate at this place called the Egg & I. Very yummy.

Then we walked around town some more. This place is extremely pet friendly. Dogs can go in to most of the stores downtown. They have buckets of water outside their shop for dogs. Samson would have loved it here, however, the 9 hr drive would have been miserable for all of us. We checked out some more stores. We don’t want to buy our souvenirs till a little later into the vacation, but we are keeping track of where all the good stuff is. We mostly spend our money in the ma and pop snack shops with homemade ice cream and chocolate candies.

We came back to our cabin and changed for our horseback ride. We spent some time playing in the river. We took some pictures of our cabin. Then we headed for the stables. After spending a few minutes lost, we finally found it. It is west of town and right up against a mountain. We checked and and I got Cinder, a black horse, and Justin got Silverado, a brown horse. They kept telling Justin to keep Silverado at least a horse length away from Cinder. We found out later that Cinder has been having some attitude problems. He seems to like to kick at the horse behind him. Our wrangler said he is just grumpy because its the end of the season.

This was no Kansas ride where you cruise down a flat dirt street, then they parade you around a small pasture so that you just get to ride a horse. Our first steps were straight up the mountain. There were rocks and tree roots the horses had to maneuver around. It didn’t take long before we were seeing the most beautiful views from this mountain. There were also little creatures following us around. This is a picture of a tiny ground squirrel of some sort. Our wrangler told us they carry the plague. Not so cute anymore, huh? It was only Justin and I on our ride. Our wrangler said it has really slowed down in the last week for them. We got to a point up in the mountain where you could look out and see the continental divide. We tried to get our horses together for the picture, but mine was very stand-offish.

So, going up was pretty exciting, but you have to remember, the steep climbs we encountered on the way up were cool, however, we have to go back down those steep climbs. She told us as we were going down things called “the devils staircase” and “slippery rock”, to lean back, grab the saddle horn, squeeze your thighs and don’t stand up in the stir-ups, or you could go straight over your horse’s head. This was definitely the worse part. My horse didn’t take anything easy. It was like riding in a jeep straight down the mountain. Cinder, would not do anything I told him to. He took me under a tree one time. I had to do the limbo on the saddle to get under it. Then on the path where she said we had to take it one at a time, I pulled back as hard as I could to stop him, but he was going with Hondo (the wrangler’s very large horse). Speaking of Hondo, he had gas and with every step he farted right into my horses face. I personally thought it was the funniest thing ever. He farted the whole way and I laughed every time. We also ran into another creature along the path, a coyote. Our wrangler said she thinks he’s looking for the two baby deer they have up there. He’s kind of hard to see in this picture, but he looked really close when we saw him. We did the two hour ride so we spent 1 nice hour riding up the mountain and 1 horrible hour going down it. I took lots of pictures of the views, but they don’t do it justice at all.

After our horseback ride, we went back to our cabin to change and get the horse stench off of us. We got all cleaned up and went to a steak joint. We both had prime rib and it was super yummy. We haven’t eaten at a bad restaurant yet. After dinner, we decided we were both pooped. We headed back to the cabin to relax. Then we decided to check out some of the trails around our cabin. So, we changed back into hiking gear, grabbed our walking sticks and headed out.

We only found about 1 or 2 marked trails. So, we started hiking. These trails were along the river and straight up a mountain. The trail was about a foot wide and if you slipped, your happy ass was rolling about 100 ft down a mountain into the river and hitting every tree and rock down. Luckily, we had our walking sticks. We found some cool rocks and began climbing to them. We tried to get some pictures, but it was getting dark and my camera was not working out for us. So, before it got too dark we headed back down to the cabin. We stopped at the wood swing they have around the outdoor fire pit. It was so nice and peaceful out. After our hike, we went back to our cabin and chilled for the rest of the night. It was kind of hard to sit around, mainly because my ass was getting sore from my horseback ride.

Today we are traveling on the scenic Trail Ridge Road. I got up early today and made coffee…mainly cuz I can. I’ll let Justin sleep in a little bit. Eventually, we will head into town so I can upload this thing. Remember, I don’t have internet or cell phone access at the cabin. So, if you call or e-mail me, it may be a while before I respond.

I got Justin up around 8am. Then he decided we needed to go for a run. So, we suited up and headed out on this narrow, curvy road we stay on. We started at 7390 ft elevation. We ran downhill for .75 miles, then back uphill another .75 miles back. We did it in approximately 18min. That may seem like a long time for 1.5 miles, but it is hilly and the air is thin up here. Now Justin is going to make me breakfast.

August 18-Day 1 of vacation

We got everything packed up the night before. I was expecting to leave pretty early. Since I had stayed up all day I was pooped by about 8pm. So, I think I went to bed around 8:30pm. Justin however, wasn’t able to sleep. He said he took a 2 hr nap. When I got up around 5:30 am we decided to load up and head out.

We hit Cracker Barrell in Park City first. Then we were in route to Estes Park at about 6:30 am. The drive thru western Kansas and eastern Colorado was as boring as expected. Once we hit Denver, at around 1:30pm, it started pouring on us. We made our way thru Denver in the rain. Then as we got close to Estes Park, as we were driving thru Big Thompson Canyon, it started raining again. The scenery was beautiful. Large rock formations.

We pull into Estes Park. It wasn’t as busy as I was expecting. I think most families have already had their vacation for the summer and are getting their kids back in school. We found our cabin 3 ½ miles east of town, right on the Big Thomson River (or creek as I would call it). Our cabin is in a small valley between two large mountains. There are tons of trees. Our cabin has a balcony that is right over the “river”. It is also much larger than I expected, however, they didn’t advertise that it is 10 ft off the road that goes into Estes.

Our first night, Justin and I went into town to check out some shops and get dinner. We were doing some shopping, and going into all the candy shops. Then, I just got tired. We decided to eat and go home. We went home and were in bed by 9:00.

We don’t have any wireless service here, on our cell phones or our laptop. I will try to write my blog up at night, but I probably won’t be able to publish it till the next morning. Today, I got up around 6am. I decided to go outside onto our deck to enjoy the morning, the “river”, and the great outdoors. However, I mostly get traffic and it’s freaking cold out.

Today we don’t have any real plans for the morning. We go horseback riding at 1:30 for 2 hrs. Hopefully we will be able to walk tomorrow.

Long overdue update

Well, I know it has been a while. I didn't know how exhausting this job was gonna be. Life hasn't been too exciting. All the things that were crazy to me in the beginning are just everyday occurrences now and I don't even think about them.

Back at the end of May, I was sent to assist the south bureau on a disturbance with shots fired. They decided they had enough people there. As I was leaving I saw a suspicious Cadillac stopped on Hydraulic picking someone up across the street from the disturbance. I did a traffic stop on the vehicle. Kasey Weidner, who was in my class and who works out of the north bureau, was my back up. I got the ID on the driver and she got info on the passenger. As we were in my patrol car running them and writing our tickets, the passenger exits the vehicle and decides to take a jog. We ran south on Hydraulic behind a house and into an alley. Kasey got to point her tazer, but we weren't close enough to get him. I jumped the fence and chased him down the alley. This is the point where my head was saying "we are gonna get this guy and hopefully taze him for making me run". However, my legs said "all you have fed me was a peanut butter and jelly samwich today". So, my legs gave out and I went flying on the rock alley. I must have landed on my left side because after someone finally located him at 2nd and Kansas I noticed I had bled all over myself. That was also the first day to wear my brand new soft uniform. I also noticed my shoulder starting to hurt. The city is real picky about workers comp stuff, so I reported it so it wouldn't bite my ass later.

So, my Sgt. had to come to my scene. Then we had to go to the hospital. Luckily, the officer who got to take my report is a cool guy. Of course, he was making up stories about me in the fetal position with my thumb in my mouth yelling for mama. Anyway, after some good drugs, I got to go home early. I went to the dr the next day and he put me on light duty. So, for the next week I was stuck working the desk at the station. I was only on light duty for week. Basically I just bruised my shoulder. No big deal. I also had to get a tetanus shot. Those suck. I do have some good scars on my left elbow to remind me of the event.

The rest of June was pretty calm. I did have to work the 4th of July. It sounded like a war zone in town. I just drove around my beat and watched the show. It was actually a pretty uneventfully night. The next night, Sunday, however, was crazy for me. I picked up Justin around midnight so he could ride with me. We were stalking a suspicious car into College Hill when we turned south off of 2nd which only goes west, when we saw a car coming toward us. So I turned around and stopped this car. It ended up being a 17 year old who blew a .16. He went to JIAC. As we were sitting in the BAT van, Justin looked toward 1st street and heard a loud noise. I didn't hear it so I didn't think much of it. Then, as we were wrapping up that traffic stop a citizen informed me that someone hit a wall at 1st and Bleckley (just south of where we were) and ran off. He had located the vehicle about 5 blocks over. So, we followed the debris to 1st and Old Manor where we found the wrecked out car. I realized the driver was drunk. This guy blew a .308. this is the 2nd highest BAC I have ever seen. He went to the big boy jail.

That's about as exciting as life gets for now. I'll try to stay on top of my updates. Tomorrow is officially my 1yr anniversary with the police department. One of the girls in the class is hosting a pool party. It should be fun and it will be nice to socialize a bit.

May 19

Nothing much exciting happened to me at work this last week. I got the 14th off for Memorial Day holiday. On the 15th, I was told to be out at the range for my remedial training at 1pm. When I showed up, it wasn't remedial, it was just a make up day. I called my Sgt. He told me to go to the station and see if they could put me to work. So, for most of the afternoon I rode with a 1st shifter. Then I was on my own from 5pm till 11pm. It was weird to cover all 4 shifts. Then on Saturday, I didn't do much. I volunteered to sit at the desk in the station because I wasn't feeling very good. Then Sunday I was pretty sick so I didn't get to work.

Last Tuesday, for Paige's birthday, we were going to take her horseback riding, but it was wet and rainy that day. So, we rescheduled for yesterday. We were all excited. We all bought cowboy hats. Paige got a brown horse named Sam. I got a white horse name Jesus. Justin got another brown horse named Howard. We went on a 1 hr "prairie ride". Which was basically 2 miles down a dirt road, then a few circles in a pasture. It was fun though. I think Justin and I are both glad we just did the one hour ride. Here are a few pictures. To see all of them go to My Picture link.

May 11

Well, it has been a while since I blogged. My days are becoming pretty routine. The usual domestic disturbance, traffic accidents, disturbances with weapons, and check shots which are usually fireworks. I have had a few good incidences in the last few weeks.

A few weeks ago, I was dispatched to a man down call. Basically, neighbors were calling because there was a man lying in their street. Initially, I turned the wrong way and didn't get there as fast as I would have had I not gotten lost. When I arrived another officer and my Sgt were on scene. All I saw was a body hit the ground right next to the other officer's police car. I run up and they had him tazed. However, the guy doesn't seem to be feeling it....at all. So, he got tazed 6 more times @ 5 seconds each. Then we rolled him to his belly and tried to get his hands behind his back to get him in handcuffs and he was holding his hands under his chest. So, he got a good beating at that point. He got drive stunned in his arm with a tazer and beat with a baton. Nothing was working. I was pretty much just tugging on his arm. We finally got one and I got it cuffs. All that was left was my arm. I tugged and tugged and finally got him cuffed up. Initially, I didn't know why we were beating this guy up. Then I found out when the other officer arrived, this guy charged his patrol car and jumped on the hood and windshield. Then he charged at the other officer. Come to find out, the dude was on PCP. Yup, I guess it's all the rage again.

The next fun story happened 2 nights ago. I was riding as a 2 officer unit this night. My partner and I were sent to a larceny just occurred from an auto. The neighbor saw the whole thing and pointed us to a house across the street. We pulled everyone out of that house. The guy we were looking for was not in there. However, they did know exactly who he was. One of the people in the house was able to get him on the phone. He was still in the area and could see us. So, my partner and I went trapezing thru the neighborhood. I was about a block and a half from my partner when I saw the guy. He took off running down an alley. So, I chased him. He had a good head start on me though. I was able to call it out on the radio as I was running. I chased him up this alley for about half a block before he ducked into a backyard. I had officers in the area pretty quick, but I think he just hunkered down somewhere. We weren't able to locate him again, but we know who he is and where he lives. We'll get him next time.

So, that's about it for cop stuff. Our vacation plans are going good. I've requested the days off work and they are available. Justin and I have purchased miscellaneous clothing and gear for the trip. I'm doing some research about the history of the area. I remember when I went to South Dakota a few years back I regretted the fact that I didn't know enough about the history going in. Deadwood would have been a lot more interesting.

As for our varmints, Baxter is the devil. Samson is going to the groomer's on Wednesday. We have warned the guy about Samson being a crotchety old dog who's been kicked out of Petsmart. They said the shouldn't have any trouble with him. We'll see. Today I have a massage. I have only slept 2 hours so far today. Tomorrow Justin and I are taking Paige to a horse ranch up in Maize and going horseback riding for her birthday, which is the day after mine, on the 16th. I have Thursday off for my Memorial Day holiday. I don't know if we have any plans for my birthday. Justin wasn't able to get Thursday off with me. I might just ride with him that day.

April 15, 2009

Well, I'm not sure anything real exciting has happened since my last blog. I haven't gotten kicked in the head lately. On March 26th Justin road with me. It was a pretty uneventful night.

On April 3rd, I helped other officers in the area of a hit and run. The run vehicle was abandoned in the neighborhood. When I came into the neighborhood, I saw someone walking along the sidewalk. That was pretty unusual for that neighborhood and that time of night. I turned to check him out and he ran from me. I couldn't call it out on the radio because other officers were involved in a foot chase on the south end of town and I wasn't entirely sure if this dude had anything to do with the hit and run. Later that morning, I spotted a guy walking at 13th and Rock that looked like the guy I saw in the neighborhood. I stopped him and he turned out to be the guy that was the registered owner of the run vehicle. He was drunk, which is what we figured.

On April 4th, I was sent to a suspicious character call in a really nice neighborhood across from Kapaun Mt. Carmel. We located 3 juveniles hiding in the bushes. They said they were making "Works" bombs. Basically, acid bombs. Plastic bottle, pressure, boom! We discussed the situation with the supervisor and we determined that these kids were going to be arrested for Felony Criminal Use of Explosives. I went over to where the "bomb" was exploded. I determined that I didn't want to touch this stuff. We had to call the bomb squad out to collect the evidence. Basically, I was on one call for 8 hours that night.

On April 5th, I got my first DUI for the month. It was 30 degrees and the wind was blowing like crazy. I had the guy out doing field sobriety testing for 6 minutes and my fingers were numb. Believe me, in weather like that, I wasn't looking for a drunk. They just always find me.

April 9th was a pretty crazy night. I was sent to 4 calls and got 4 cases. I started with a juvenile shoplift at the mall. Then a vicious dog. Then at around midnight it started pouring down the biggest snowflakes I've ever seen. I was sitting at the mall at Douglass and Rock doing paperwork when a auto theft just occurred came out at the apartments at Douglass and Rock. It happened to be a motorcycle. I think I would have noticed a motorcycle driving around in that weather. I don't remember seeing one so he must have gone the other way. Then about 15 min after I clear from that a robbery comes out at my Dillons at Central and Rock. They ended up finding the suspects and I got to book one, a 16 year old, for felony aggravated robbery. Most nights I don't have any calls on my beat. On this night I had 3 and 2 were major crimes.

On April 11th, I was cruising west on 13th from Greenwich. Usually I don't go up that far because I know my closest backup is pretty far off. As I was headed westbound, a truck going eastbound suddenly came into my lane. He swerved back into his lane right before hitting me. I immediately flipped my overhead lights and siren on and turned around to chase him down. He stopped on 13th at Greenwich. I was getting ready to get out of my car when he took off again. I was thinking "kick ass, a chase". However, he just turned south onto Greenwich then stopped about 100 yds from the intersection. However, when I got out of my car, I must have turned the wrong knob on my radio because I ended up on another channel. East side dispatch was checking on me and I wasn't responding. So, they put me out in trouble. So, all law enforcement officers in Sedgwick county were headed my way. I got up to the car and realized it was a drunk old guy. When I got on the radio to say I was 10-4, I realized I was on the wrong channel. I fumbled with my radio for a while before I was able to find my channel. Justin happened to be working at that time. He said he was headed my way from Oaklawn. That ended up being a pretty crazy night. The longest I went between any call was 30 minutes. Most of my calls were all back to back.

Justin and I have been planning a vacation for the end of August. It will be our 1 year anniversary by then. We are planning on going to Estes Park, CO. We have reserved a cute cabin with a hot tub. I am sure we will need the hot tub after all our activities. We are planning on white water rafting, hiking, horseback riding, kayaking, and ATV riding. We are going to stay 5 days there. I am totally looking forward to it since I haven't had a vacation since I went to Cherie's wedding in FL in Aug 2006.

Baxter, the cat, AKA "Bastard", has been nothing but a headache. First with the ocular discharge. Now he has ring worm on his ear. He is a total attention whore and hollers when you pet him and when you don't pet him. He is always in my face. He loves to stand in front of the computer monitor and play with the cursor while I am trying to do stuff on the computer. It doesn't matter how many times you throw him off, he just comes back. He licks everything and chews on stuff. He's the weirdest animal I have ever owne. As for Samson, he's doing fine. He is about 5 lbs over weight, and he needs a haircut real bad.