Puerto Rico has better radio stations

As Drake notes we recently returned from our trip to Puerto Rico! It was a wonderful time as we explored San Juan, visited the Camuy Caves, trekked up the El Yunque rain forest, and made our way over to the island of Vieques where we drank fruity drinks and soaked up some rays for the remainder of the trip.
Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the U.S. but it is very much an entirely different culture. This was most apparent our first morning on Vieques. See, cockfighting is a popular sport in P.R. and every house in Vieques had a coop for their prize rooster. Most of us have experienced waking up to a rooster crowing but imagine waking up to hundreds of them competing for the alpha crow. It's absolutely frightening and after closing the window and putting earplugs in we determined the only way to sleep was to drown them out with the hum of the AC unit.
Another popular island animal is the horse. Horses run free on Vieques. The ones that end up domesticated serve as transportation for the locals. Imgaine the common teenage boy with baggy pants, gold chains, a wife beater on, and his cap tilted. Now imagine that same boy jumping bareback onto a horse, riding it with a group of friends to the local tavern, and tying it up as he goes inside for beer. Talk about low carbon emissions!
Oh, and did I mention that roadkill comes in the form of iguanas?
It was a wonderful trip and most importantly we had some quality time with our dear, northwestern friends Paul and Marilyn.

Puerto Rico Pics

Julia and I posted pictures from our adventure to Puerto Rico. As usual Julia's photo album is lushly high resolution and beautiful, while my pictures are a slushy distorted mess, taken with a children's camera.

The image on the left is one we hope to submit to the Denver Post - their travel section prints selected readers' vacation pictures if they are shown holding the Post's travel section. The native savage in the background is actually our friend Paul, who was apparently spear fishing for sand crabs.

The Emkos in Puerto Rico - Caliente!

This is a great week for our little family. Our old friends, the Huckanses, visited us in Denver and shared in a weekend of exhilarating snowboarding in Vail and Breckenridge. Then we all flew out to Puerto Rico for our long awaited vacation in the tropical sun (we went from ice and snow to blazing hot beach in a couple days - how often do you get to do that?).

Julia and I spent yesterday exploring Old San Juan, a beautiful peninsula that exudes Spanish-styled antiquity. Today we climbed through enormous natural caves in Camuy. Puerto Rico has some of the most lush, tropical vegetation, as well as some of the friendliest people I've encountered in a long time. We're trying to brush up on our Spanish, but luckily most of the people here seem to be bilingual. Tomorrow we plan to hike through the rain forest, and afterwards meet up with the Huckanses on the idylic resort island Vieques. So far, Puerto Rico is everything we could have hoped for. Hasta Luego!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow (But Just In the Mountains, Please)

One of the big reasons we moved to Denver is its proximity to the beautiful Rocky Mountains. This winter, Julia and I have been taking advantage of this, using our five mountain Colorado Pass to spend most weekends blissfully snowboarding. In support of our hobby, we even decided to rent a mountain house in Silverthorne with a bunch of people Julia found on Craigslist. Already this has saved us a lot of money and time (compared to getting hotel rooms or fighting I-70 traffic to and from Denver during peak hours).

I unfortunately had to take a couple weeks off, due to breaking my rib during an epic faceplant on Keystone, but I am almost back to normal. Julia and I took off from work Friday to take a trip to Vail, where we undertook the arduous journey to the snowboarding oasis known as Blue Sky Basin. It took us almost two hours to get there from the mountain base at Lionshead Village - there were surprisingly long lines for a weekday - but it was worth it. The vastness and sheer fun of the runs makes Blue Sky a destination we will definitely revisit (but only when we get an early enough start). I told Julia I felt like I was in a surreal snowboarding video game for most of the day.

I unfortunately forgot to bring my mini camera for the Vail trip, but I do have a few photos up from some of our previous snowboarding trips. As the season progresses, I will hopefully add more pictures to that gallery.

Obama Signs Stimulus Package... One Mile from our House!

I took this camera phone picture today on our way to work, as we turned from Montview Blvd. onto Colorado Blvd. There's not a whole lot to see, but notice the black SUV parked at the blockaded entrance to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. It happens to contain a Secret Service agent - we know this because we saw her leap out of the vehicle and vigorously accost a car that was trying to enter the parking lot (She was decked out in a black suit and sunglasses, just as you might expect!).

Of course President Obama was here in Denver to sign the American Investment and Recovery Act today, but I thought it was pretty cool that he was literally performing this historic task in our neighborhood.

It's a New Day for America!

Julia and I woke up to the sweet, sweet sound of our radio alarm - something I would normally never say - but this time it was playing NPR's live coverage of the Presidential Inauguration, with the San Francisco boys' choir singing God Bless America. What a great mood that put us into!

Though I am now at work, I am watching the Inauguration on CNN's live webcast. It is awe-inspiring to view the sea of people, covering the entirety of the D.C. Mall, waving and cheering in the freezing morning cold. Julia and I couldn't be more proud of our new president, and most of all proud of our country for choosing change over fear, hope over cynicism, and service over selfishness.

I couldn't resist attaching a blurry photo of our honorary embossed invitation to the Inauguration that we received, completely by surprise, from the Presidential Inauguration Committee. While we are not traveling to Washington D.C., we will definitely be framing this beautiful piece of history. Today is a great day for America and indeed the world. Remember where you are, what you're seeing, what you're hearing, and savor it - this is the change we've been waiting
for!

Still Gators at heart

Even though we moved from the humid swamplands of Florida to the dry, mile high air of Colorado, Julia and I remain proud Gators (her through education and employer, and me as a UF UNIX administrator for a number of years). Tonight of course is the BCS championship football game, and we are looking forward to watching it at Jackson's, a large and fun sports bar where Rocky Mountain Gators hang out on game day, hopefully with one or more of our expatriate Gainesvillian friends.

Go Gators and destroy those pathetic Sooners! Incidentally I looked up today exactly what is a sooner, and it's just not very cool.