Friday, March 4, 2011
Rebecca Sunshine
Rebecca Sunshine was born at home on 2/22/11 at 6:59am. It was an amazing experience...intense...but amazing. I was in labor for 8 hours, and in active labor for 2.5 hours. I feel extremely happy that we had the birth at home. I do not believe I could have given birth naturally in a hospital.
Me and Sunshine right after she was born. She looks like a warrior with her face covered in blood.
Nick cutting the umbilical cord.
Welcome to the world Sunshine!
Jen weighing her. She weighed 6.6lbs. Measured 19inches.
Jen measuring her and doing the Apgar test. Our baby scored a 10...the first baby the midwives gave a 10 to!!
Julie and Jen the midwives with me and Sunshine
Sunshine gliding with her Grandma Grusing.
Hello Rebecca Sunshine. 
Nick gliding with his daughter.
Sunshine with her great aunt Lavon.
Sunshine not being very sunny!!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Kansas to Dallas to San Antonio
We made a very productive trip to San Antonio. We managed to stop in Kansas to see Mom and Dad, and drop off the dogs. Next we headed to Dallas to see Nick's parents for our Thanksgiving visit. Then we were off to Austin/San Antonio so Nick could run in the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. Finally we drove back north picking up to dogs in Kansas and returning to Denver.
The beginning of a rainbow in Oklahoma.
The best father
Jim taking pictures.
Nick's old cat, Bob. Who ironically almost got eaten b a bob cat.
The start of the new renovations that Jim and Judith are having done.
Mother Judith
Victoria, Ian, and Tony at our early Thanksgiving dinner.
Us with Tina.
Nick, Tyler, Jacob, Erin, and Andrea before the race. It was about 6:50am, dark, cloudy, and pretty chilly. Erin and Andrea are running the half marathon, and the guys are running the full marathon. We later found out that there were 27,000 runners in all.
Andrea's corral starting the race.
Nick on the straight away. He is almost done.
He did it!!! He finished in 4 hours 14 minutes and 7 seconds. He's tired.
BFF's
The group after the race. Andrea had enough time to go shower and change, Erin sprained her knee, Jacob seemed a little out of it, Tyler hurt all over, and Nick was tired but regaining energy quickly. Let's go eat!!!Below is mom with Cheyenne and Addison. This is when we were going back through KS.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Finally Updated the Blog
It has been awhile since we have updated the blog, but we have finally invested in Nick's dream camera so we had a good reason to take some photos.
Pretty Maggie waiting for me by the bathroom.
Daisy taking in the pretty view on our way to go hiking.
Looking towards Rocky Mountain National Park
A waterfall in a cold, mountain creek.
Pretty Colorado
Hiking with our hiking dogs, Daisy and Maggie, up to Lost Lake
21 weeks pregnant standing at Lost Lake
A moose. We did not realize how rare it is to see a moose until later. Moose are so rare in Colorado a person is only allowed one bull moose license in their lifetime.
Thaddeus has decided to claim the car seat for his personal sanctuary.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
March Snowstorm in Denver
A wonderful spring snowstorm hit Denver last night. It is amazing how heavy and beautiful the snow is. All the trees are bending under the weight, and I guess the power lines are too since over 15,000 people lost power last night. We only experienced a few flickers, but our lights did stay on. We are definitely going to enjoy the lovely day!
Our apartment building.
Heavy branches
The sidewalk in front of our building.
The bike rack.
Our apartment building.
Heavy branches
The sidewalk in front of our building.
The bike rack.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Home at last!
It has been a long trip home. I was so happy to be headed home. It is funny it took me 29 days to walk from Katahdin to Gaspe but only 4 days to hitch hike back. Hitch hiking was one of the best experiences I had on this entire trip. I met so many generous and interesting people. I know everyone says it is dangerous, but I feel like you will meet 100 nice people before you meet one bad person. It was a great trip home but I am glad to be back at Dick and Becky's with Sara. I missed Sara terribly.
After posting the last blog in Campbellton NB I went to McDonald's. Upon receiving my order I ran into Denyse Arseneault Zyveniuk the president of the New Brunswick International Appalachian trail (she is the one on the right, the women to the left is her friend). She is a bit eccentric and scatter brained. She insisted I do an interview and photo shoot with the regional paper. So we spent an hour at their office. Then she took me to the South side of town so I could continue hitch hiking. At this point I did not think I would make it in time to meet Ben. I started hitching about 3pm on Friday afternoon and I was meeting Ben at 12pm Sunday afternoon somewhere near Montpelier VT some 517 miles left .
After Denyse dropped me off I got a ride to St. Quentin NB. In St Quentin I could not get a ride. I walked about 5 km through town and out the other side without one person even slowing down for me. It was now 7pm and I was looking for an empty field to set up camp for the night. I still had almost 100 miles to the border of Maine. Then out of nowhere a guy yells at me from his front porch. It was Carlos. His family saw me walking past their house and he invited me inside. They are from Santiago de Chile and they immigrated to Canada. The whole family speaks English, French, and Spanish fluently. They are amazing. They served me dinner, did my laundry, gave me a shower, let me stay in their guest room, feed me breakfast, and gave me a ride to the border the next day. This is one of the closest most loving families I have ever met. They are so generous and willing to help out their fellow man. The two boys are Sebastian and Christian and parents are Luz and Carlos. I am so very thankful to them. I was feeling really low that night and they turned me around.
There is a big gap in my pictures now. I was so busy and focused on getting to Ben I did not take any pictures. On Saturday morning after the Chilean family dropped me off I crossed the border with little hassle. Then I got several quick and easy rides from VERY nice people all the way to New Port Maine. In New Port I had planned to hitch down ME Hwy 2 straight into Montpelier VT. Only problem was no one would pick me up. It was too small of a road and no one was going long distances. So I waited an hour then decided I would never make it by Sunday so I went back to Interstate 95 and got a ride instantly. I headed South figuring I would hitch a ride West on a W bound interstate to Interstate 91 where Ben would be coming South on Sunday heading to NYC. I got to Waterville and it was almost dark. I was standing on the entrance ramp and it was about to rain. I was feel low again and that I would not make it. Also I was in a city with nowhere to pitch my tent. Then Rob picked me up. He is 28 years old, about to start his own business. He lives out side of Portland Maine and just so happened to be heading to a Red Sox game in Boston on Sunday morning. He took me to a cell phone store so I could have a phone and then took me home to stay at his house. He was awesome. The next day we headed towards Boston but when we stopped to pick up one if his friends at a store I met a man headed to Springfield MA I figured it would be easier for Ben to pick me up there on his way South so I said good bye to Rob and threw my pack in this guys SUV. His name was Mark, he is extremely well read and intelligent. We had many great discussions over politics and the state of the world. He even bought me a burger for lunch. I was extremely impressed by Mark. Anyways to make a long story short (too late) Ben picked me up in Springfield, his little sister and her friend and I drove his car to Dallas and he drove his motorcycle. Then they all went to Austin. I stayed with Tyler and then drove to Kansas on Friday 9-18-09. The picture is of Billie my brother in-laws mother. She has taken the place of my grand mother and is now family. She has recently been placed in assisted living. I had a really great time visiting with her and talking about the old times.
Before I left for Kansas we all got together for dinner. From left to right (top row) is Tyler, Tony, and Dad. Left to right (bottom row) is Victoria, Ian, and, Mom. I had a great time visiting with them and miss them already.
If you want to see my hair cut Tyler documented it on his website it is http://tylerbailey.blogspot.com/
and if you click on my picture you will be able to see all of my hair cutting pictures.
I guess this is the end of the AT/IAT adventures...Now onto the next experience!
After posting the last blog in Campbellton NB I went to McDonald's. Upon receiving my order I ran into Denyse Arseneault Zyveniuk the president of the New Brunswick International Appalachian trail (she is the one on the right, the women to the left is her friend). She is a bit eccentric and scatter brained. She insisted I do an interview and photo shoot with the regional paper. So we spent an hour at their office. Then she took me to the South side of town so I could continue hitch hiking. At this point I did not think I would make it in time to meet Ben. I started hitching about 3pm on Friday afternoon and I was meeting Ben at 12pm Sunday afternoon somewhere near Montpelier VT some 517 miles left .
After Denyse dropped me off I got a ride to St. Quentin NB. In St Quentin I could not get a ride. I walked about 5 km through town and out the other side without one person even slowing down for me. It was now 7pm and I was looking for an empty field to set up camp for the night. I still had almost 100 miles to the border of Maine. Then out of nowhere a guy yells at me from his front porch. It was Carlos. His family saw me walking past their house and he invited me inside. They are from Santiago de Chile and they immigrated to Canada. The whole family speaks English, French, and Spanish fluently. They are amazing. They served me dinner, did my laundry, gave me a shower, let me stay in their guest room, feed me breakfast, and gave me a ride to the border the next day. This is one of the closest most loving families I have ever met. They are so generous and willing to help out their fellow man. The two boys are Sebastian and Christian and parents are Luz and Carlos. I am so very thankful to them. I was feeling really low that night and they turned me around.
There is a big gap in my pictures now. I was so busy and focused on getting to Ben I did not take any pictures. On Saturday morning after the Chilean family dropped me off I crossed the border with little hassle. Then I got several quick and easy rides from VERY nice people all the way to New Port Maine. In New Port I had planned to hitch down ME Hwy 2 straight into Montpelier VT. Only problem was no one would pick me up. It was too small of a road and no one was going long distances. So I waited an hour then decided I would never make it by Sunday so I went back to Interstate 95 and got a ride instantly. I headed South figuring I would hitch a ride West on a W bound interstate to Interstate 91 where Ben would be coming South on Sunday heading to NYC. I got to Waterville and it was almost dark. I was standing on the entrance ramp and it was about to rain. I was feel low again and that I would not make it. Also I was in a city with nowhere to pitch my tent. Then Rob picked me up. He is 28 years old, about to start his own business. He lives out side of Portland Maine and just so happened to be heading to a Red Sox game in Boston on Sunday morning. He took me to a cell phone store so I could have a phone and then took me home to stay at his house. He was awesome. The next day we headed towards Boston but when we stopped to pick up one if his friends at a store I met a man headed to Springfield MA I figured it would be easier for Ben to pick me up there on his way South so I said good bye to Rob and threw my pack in this guys SUV. His name was Mark, he is extremely well read and intelligent. We had many great discussions over politics and the state of the world. He even bought me a burger for lunch. I was extremely impressed by Mark. Anyways to make a long story short (too late) Ben picked me up in Springfield, his little sister and her friend and I drove his car to Dallas and he drove his motorcycle. Then they all went to Austin. I stayed with Tyler and then drove to Kansas on Friday 9-18-09. The picture is of Billie my brother in-laws mother. She has taken the place of my grand mother and is now family. She has recently been placed in assisted living. I had a really great time visiting with her and talking about the old times. 
Before I left for Kansas we all got together for dinner. From left to right (top row) is Tyler, Tony, and Dad. Left to right (bottom row) is Victoria, Ian, and, Mom. I had a great time visiting with them and miss them already.If you want to see my hair cut Tyler documented it on his website it is http://tylerbailey.blogspot.com/
and if you click on my picture you will be able to see all of my hair cutting pictures.
I guess this is the end of the AT/IAT adventures...Now onto the next experience!
Friday, September 11, 2009
I AM FINISHED! I have walked 2869.5 miles
So it has been an exciting week, I have finally finished the IAT or as they call it here "Le Sentier International des Appalaches" I walked 2869.5 trail miles but the actual real number of miles walked is probably more like 3300. I am so stoked to be headed back to Sara. I am ready to go home!
This is Route 132 it runs all along the coast of Gaspé peninsula. It reminded me of highway 1 in California along the coast. I have covered more than half of this road by walking or now hitching. I really love the ocean and coast.
Outside of Èpèe I lost the trail. It was the only time I actually lost it. Well I knew after 2km that I was off trail but I was so sick and tired of them not marking the trail properly that I refused to go back AGAIN. So I pressed on knowing that I was coming up on a road. At the dirt road I headed South to rejoin the IAT again. But at this point it was 7:15pm and almost dark. I decided I may have come out South of the trail and was going the wrong way. Just as I turned around these guys drove past. They gave me a ride the last 1km South to rejoin the trail. They were SUPER awesome trail angles.
100 miles to go! This is just before Village Madaline. I was pumped to only have 100 miles left!
The Moon rising out side of Gran Valleé. It was an awesome night sleeping on this beach. Luckily I was on the grass, the beaches here are all rocks.
The Sun setting at the beach near Gran Valleè. The sun on the ocean is magnificent.
Most of the beach/ocean front looks like this where the rocks have been pushed up and start building up to the mountains. It was kind of cool having all these vertical rocks
This is Ursela she is Swiss, we met on Monday. Besides Simon she is the only other thru-hiker I have met. She hiked the AT in 1997 with her husband and is now finishing the IAT. We only have 85km (51miles) left at this point. I was planning on finishing on Wednesday, and she was going to finish on Saturday.
This is Marconi light house, they call it "The world's most traveled lighthouse". It was built here then moved to Montreal then moved back here.
This is my rock chair I found on the beach. I loved it, it was really comfortable.
Here is a bear skull I found. I thought it was pretty cool.
There was this little old lady picking these in the woods. She didn't speak any English. But I gestured if I could eat these, and she showed me how to break open the green peal. Inside is a small nut shell, it looked like a tiny hazel nut shell then inside was 2 small nuts. They tasted pretty good but I would have needed like 1000 of them to fill me up.
This is on my last day. This is Gaspé bay and the town of Gaspé. You can't really see it though. If you look closely there is a REALLY long narrow beach that extends into the bay. It is natural. I thought it was kind of interesting.
That is Cape Gaspé. This is what I have been walking towards for 190 days.
Me on top of an observation tower. The view here was AWESOME!
On my way to the end of the cape there were tons of porcupines. This one just looked so cute I had to his picture.
In the last 8km the trail passed through this old cemetery. I thought that was kind of weird and rude. I don't know why it didn't just go around. There were only like 30 tombstones so it was quite small.
The last km marker. I don't know why they chose to put it on the privy door, weird.
THE FINISH. This is the light house on the tip of the cape. I was over come when I saw it. I screamed out and scared 2 elderly people just leaving, they stared me down but I scared them off when I started yelling at no one and running around. Turns out they gave me a ride out of the park and into town when I got back to the parking lot. These Canadians are nice people, you scare them and then they give you a ride.
My triumphant look. I have kicked the IAT/SIA ASS! I am done! TAKE THAT APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS!
I was excited....what can I say.
This is my porcupine friend at the light house, I was yelling and talking to him and screaming and taking pictures. I was excited and needed someone to share it with since all the people had left for the night. He was a very calm fellow though, cool as a cucumber, he just kept on eating his grasses... he was a good friend to me.
This is my Baxter peak rock and my Paloma peak rock. I carried them from Katahdin and threw them into the ocean! They made it!
This is my leather bracelet with a moon and dolphins on it. I found it in Colombia, and I vowed to wear it until it fell off. Well on the Restigouch river it fell off. But I felt it fitting for it to make it to Cap Gaspé. So I strapped it to the outside of my bag and vowed if it held on the whole way without my interference then it would get to go into the ocean. Well she made it and I threw it into the ocean. It was poetic since I left the NWO necklace Rachel made me at Baxter Peak Katahdin.
I was SO happy I was done! And the sun was in my face, but mostly I was happy to be done.
After I got a ride from the old people out of the National parc Forillon I had to sleep by the road. No one would pick me up. The next day an adventure tourism professor (coolest major EVER) gave me a ride to Ville Gaspé. Then good old Alain here gave me a ride 130km to Chandler. I hadn't even started hitching yet he just picked me up. He was really cool. He does IT work on computer systems at retailers and offices all around Gaspè peninsula so that was why he was headed to Chandler. He by far gave me the longest ride. All the others have been less than 40km so it is taking a very long time to get anywhere. I am now in Campbellton New Brunswick (again, this is where I bought the new shoes) and I am hoping that since I will be on a highway now it will go faster. Also more people speak English here so that will help. I plan on taking route 11 to route 17 which crosses into Maine after 140km or so. Then it turns into Highway 1 and meets up with Interstate 95 in Ft. Fairfield, Maine. That's the plan, hope I make it to Vermont by Sunday morning for Ben to drive me to Texas! Wish me luck.
This is Route 132 it runs all along the coast of Gaspé peninsula. It reminded me of highway 1 in California along the coast. I have covered more than half of this road by walking or now hitching. I really love the ocean and coast.
Outside of Èpèe I lost the trail. It was the only time I actually lost it. Well I knew after 2km that I was off trail but I was so sick and tired of them not marking the trail properly that I refused to go back AGAIN. So I pressed on knowing that I was coming up on a road. At the dirt road I headed South to rejoin the IAT again. But at this point it was 7:15pm and almost dark. I decided I may have come out South of the trail and was going the wrong way. Just as I turned around these guys drove past. They gave me a ride the last 1km South to rejoin the trail. They were SUPER awesome trail angles.
100 miles to go! This is just before Village Madaline. I was pumped to only have 100 miles left!
The Moon rising out side of Gran Valleé. It was an awesome night sleeping on this beach. Luckily I was on the grass, the beaches here are all rocks.
The Sun setting at the beach near Gran Valleè. The sun on the ocean is magnificent.
Most of the beach/ocean front looks like this where the rocks have been pushed up and start building up to the mountains. It was kind of cool having all these vertical rocks
This is Ursela she is Swiss, we met on Monday. Besides Simon she is the only other thru-hiker I have met. She hiked the AT in 1997 with her husband and is now finishing the IAT. We only have 85km (51miles) left at this point. I was planning on finishing on Wednesday, and she was going to finish on Saturday.
This is Marconi light house, they call it "The world's most traveled lighthouse". It was built here then moved to Montreal then moved back here.
This is my rock chair I found on the beach. I loved it, it was really comfortable.
Here is a bear skull I found. I thought it was pretty cool.
There was this little old lady picking these in the woods. She didn't speak any English. But I gestured if I could eat these, and she showed me how to break open the green peal. Inside is a small nut shell, it looked like a tiny hazel nut shell then inside was 2 small nuts. They tasted pretty good but I would have needed like 1000 of them to fill me up.
This is on my last day. This is Gaspé bay and the town of Gaspé. You can't really see it though. If you look closely there is a REALLY long narrow beach that extends into the bay. It is natural. I thought it was kind of interesting.
That is Cape Gaspé. This is what I have been walking towards for 190 days.
Me on top of an observation tower. The view here was AWESOME!
On my way to the end of the cape there were tons of porcupines. This one just looked so cute I had to his picture.
In the last 8km the trail passed through this old cemetery. I thought that was kind of weird and rude. I don't know why it didn't just go around. There were only like 30 tombstones so it was quite small.
The last km marker. I don't know why they chose to put it on the privy door, weird.
THE FINISH. This is the light house on the tip of the cape. I was over come when I saw it. I screamed out and scared 2 elderly people just leaving, they stared me down but I scared them off when I started yelling at no one and running around. Turns out they gave me a ride out of the park and into town when I got back to the parking lot. These Canadians are nice people, you scare them and then they give you a ride.
My triumphant look. I have kicked the IAT/SIA ASS! I am done! TAKE THAT APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS!
I was excited....what can I say.
This is my porcupine friend at the light house, I was yelling and talking to him and screaming and taking pictures. I was excited and needed someone to share it with since all the people had left for the night. He was a very calm fellow though, cool as a cucumber, he just kept on eating his grasses... he was a good friend to me.
This is my Baxter peak rock and my Paloma peak rock. I carried them from Katahdin and threw them into the ocean! They made it!
This is my leather bracelet with a moon and dolphins on it. I found it in Colombia, and I vowed to wear it until it fell off. Well on the Restigouch river it fell off. But I felt it fitting for it to make it to Cap Gaspé. So I strapped it to the outside of my bag and vowed if it held on the whole way without my interference then it would get to go into the ocean. Well she made it and I threw it into the ocean. It was poetic since I left the NWO necklace Rachel made me at Baxter Peak Katahdin.
I was SO happy I was done! And the sun was in my face, but mostly I was happy to be done.
After I got a ride from the old people out of the National parc Forillon I had to sleep by the road. No one would pick me up. The next day an adventure tourism professor (coolest major EVER) gave me a ride to Ville Gaspé. Then good old Alain here gave me a ride 130km to Chandler. I hadn't even started hitching yet he just picked me up. He was really cool. He does IT work on computer systems at retailers and offices all around Gaspè peninsula so that was why he was headed to Chandler. He by far gave me the longest ride. All the others have been less than 40km so it is taking a very long time to get anywhere. I am now in Campbellton New Brunswick (again, this is where I bought the new shoes) and I am hoping that since I will be on a highway now it will go faster. Also more people speak English here so that will help. I plan on taking route 11 to route 17 which crosses into Maine after 140km or so. Then it turns into Highway 1 and meets up with Interstate 95 in Ft. Fairfield, Maine. That's the plan, hope I make it to Vermont by Sunday morning for Ben to drive me to Texas! Wish me luck.
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