every other orange

this cat was quite the escape artist and managed to get out several times, one of those times he snagged a bird and feasted on it's chest. yum yum

The climbing up at skyline boulders was good - lots of stuff I would like to get on if I ever get back. I didn't really get any pictures of the climbing though, that was covered well by many other people.

 

We spent the weekend in Crested Butte at Duffy and Alison's house - a beautiful cabin in the forest. On our first day I spent some time exploring the area and checking out the river across the street. Immediatly after taking this picture I fell in :) but I dried quickly and managed to keep my camera out of the water so everything was ok. 

 

you are correct... i am currently living in my van with no other home. but i have to wonder what took you so long to realize this beacause it has been this way for the last 11 months :)

 

The nice thing about Estes is the weather... It is always nice and cool at night and when it storms it is gorgeous. I spent most of the evening last night just sitting in my van watching the lighting. 

It was a little hard to take a picture of my ceiling seeing as I could only get a couple feet away... but I managed to get most of it in two shots. 

 

 

This year I will again be participating in HERA's Climb4Life, an Ovarian Cancer fundraising event. Last years event was one of the best events I have ever participated in. The climbing was great, the people were wonderful and the amount of money raised sure made me feel like we were actually helping something (and it happens to coincide with my birthday). Last year I raised a total of 578.00 and I would love to raise more this year. I have again pledged 500$ (the minimum). If you would like to help out you can make a donation to me, on-line directly through their website. I appreciate anything that you can give and if you have any questions feel free to comment. Thanks everyone! 

I know i took this picture from your blog mum... but I liked it so much I had to add it to mine :)

... for those of you that don't know... i got the news that Maximus is not going to last much longer for me. His engine is about to give out, a fact which became more apparent when I couldn't make it up a steep driveway last night without a good sized running start. I never thought that I could be so attached to a van, but I certainly am. It is incredibly comfortable, I just managed to fit everything I own into it and gave myself a new ceiling... it also made finding true happiness possible. Because I have to find a new home, I have started putting serious effort into trying to sell my car (the only way I can afford a new van) and am hoping for miraculous things. This certainly comes as a big blow right at the head of all the money troubles I have been having lately. When it rains, it really does pour. 

I just thought that I would warn everyone... I went to check my e-mail today and found that I had over 60 new e-mails... all of them from eBay confirming new listings on my account. Someone had hacked into my account and listed a bunch of stuff for sale. I just got finished with ending them all and changing all my passwords, so if you have eBay, make sure you watch it, or atleast have it set up for e-mails to confirm activity on your account. I think I got lucky this time.

This was the view from my van as soon as I opened my eyes this morning... I loved it. I think I will be staying in the forest more often from now on.
Last night I went for a hike through the forest and ran into one of my friends who has been living there in a tent :) Small world... and I couldn't help but think of what interesting people we climbers are.

I have been staying with one of my friends, Paul, here in Estes. His house has the most gorgeous view... it is amazing to wake up to every morning. He keeps inviting me back and telling me that I can use the house when he is not around so hopefully I am not wearing out my welcome :) 

I have recently "moved" to Estes Park for the job that I finally found. After searching in Boulder for several weeks with no luck I decided to branch out and apply for work in Estes. I am enjoying it here, it is gorgeous and it feels a bit like I am on vacation. Unfortunatly I now recieve a nice discount on things that I like - hopefully I can resist and not spend my money on anything. Beau seems to like it here also. He has been coming to work with me and the dog park has a little lake that he rather enjoys. 

Over the last couple of weeks I have been slowly getting rid of everything that was in my storage space. I sold many things (books, clothes, dvds, dishes...), gave some things to friends and donated everything else. It was hard to sell somethings but eventually I got to the point where I could fit everything in my van (something I am rather proud of) even if it is a bit more full than I would like. One of the things I had a hard time getting rid of was my posters... so last night I tore off the white stuff from the ceiling in my van and started to cover them with pieces of the posters. I rather like what I have done so far. :)