Cool Denver Coffee Shops
This week I traveled an hour down I-25 and spent a few days in Denver with my friend Nick. I had not spent much time in Denver, so I made a point to check out a couple of local Denver coffee shop spots. While Nick worked during the day, I visited a few highly rated Denver coffee roasters and coffee houses.
The first one I checked out was Kaladi Brothers Coffee. According to legend Kaladi is the name of the shepherd that discovered coffee beans after noticing his sheep became excited once eating a certain red berry, what we now know as the coffee cherry.
Ignite Fort Collins
Last night I attended my first Ignite presentation series at Ignite Fort Collins. The tagline is “Enligten us, but make it quick”, so I showed up ready for anything. The schedule said there would be 14 presentations, each on a completely different topic.
The rules of an Ignite presentation kept the speeches interesting the entire night. A speaker puts together a five minute talk about whatever they are passionate about. A slideshow accompanies them, with slides that change automatically after 20 seconds. The amount of slides equals their five minute presentation. Since the speaker has no control over advancing the slides, it keeps them progressing through their talk until the end.
A Year of Sunsets
For my final post of the year I wanted to share with you my favorite sunset pictures from 2011. I took each one of these during this past year with my iPhone 4, anywhere from Washington’s Pacific Coast to the plains of Oklahoma.
Sunsets have meant a lot to me this year. I spent many evenings reflecting on life while watching the circling sun retreat behind the horizon. In many ways I feel it is a reflection of my own journey. The sunsets also brought me peace.
This has been one of the hardest years of my life. I faced trials that have tested me to my core. In the midst of pain, however, I have also found beauty. Immense beauty. No matter how ugly life my be, there is always beauty if only you look hard enough.
I love a sunset that spans the horizon and fills the sky with rays of yellow fire. The tapestry of color crescendos with a burst of white light as the sun dips below the surface of the earth. The peace of the moment surrounds your being and words are irrelevant.
A sunset defines God’s love and beauty in a way that words cannot. As 2011 comes to end, spend a moment to reflect on life and bask in the sun’s waning glow.
Sunset from Carkeek Park
Sunset over the Pacific Ocean from Cape Flattery
Sunset over the Oklahoma horizon
Fire ball sunset from Carkeek Park
Sunset from West Seattle
Sunset at Neah Bay
Sunset through an Oklahoma thunderstorm
Sunset over the cliffs of Cape Flattery
Sunset over Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins
Sunset reflected off Mt. Rainier
Sunset over the Olympic Mountains from Golden Gardens
Sunset from the most Northwestern point of the contiguous United States
My last sunset over the Puget Sound at Carkeek Park
Thank you to everyone who has helped me continue to see the beauty in life.
This fall I finally got to go mountain biking in Oklahoma. I couldn’t wait to ride the singletrack in my hometown of Ardmore. Though I grew up ten minutes away from Lake Murray State Park, I didn’t get into mountain biking until after I’d moved away from home. And every time I came home afterwards I never had my mountain bike with me.
My last trip home I drove instead of flew, so I brought my bikes along for the ride. The first chance I got I put on my bike gear to check out the local trails. I arrived at 7am on a Saturday morning and had the trailhead almost to myself. The oppressive summer heat had given way to cool crisp mornings, the perfect temperature for a good, hard ride.
Bike to Work Day: Winter Edition
I’m not a huge fan of the cold, but when bikes are involved I can’t help but participate. On December 14 the city of Fort Collins hosted Bike to Work Day: Winter Edition. I usually work from home, but any excuse to get out on my bike and drink free coffee is motivation enough for me.
The temperature was a balmy 27 degrees, so I bundled up in a few layers and rolled out the door. The cold hit me in the face at first, but after a couple minutes of pedaling my body temperature rose and soon I was quite warm. I saw a few other bikers out as I criss-crossed my way across town. The traffic was light this early in the morning, and the sun was just rising over the plains.
This morning I woke up and decided on a whim to explore the Poudre Canyon, a 100 mile long canyon north of Fort Collins that follows the Cache La Poudre River. I had planned to work all day, but it was a gorgeous day and I just couldn’t stay inside. I hadn’t been down the Poudre River yet, so I brewed some coffee, filled up my gas tank, and headed north.
Hiking to the Top of Horsetooth Rock
The day after Thanksgiving always makes me want to get out and be active. After stuffing myself with turkey, what better way to work it off than with a moderate hike? I hadn’t been to the iconic Horsetooth Rock yet, so I decided to try a summit bid.
Horsetooth Rock is a famous regional landmark. It can be seen from anywhere in Fort Collins, overseeing all that transpires in the small Colorado town. It’s unique shape lends itself to be described by many different Indian legends. Some say it was a giant’s heart, cut in two with a hatchet. To me it is just a really cool looking piece of rock.
The Kitsap Color Classic – One Last Ride
The Kitsap Color Classic took place this past weekend. I had signed up for the Seattle to Portland bike ride earlier in the year, but had suffered an injury to my shoulder that kept me from participating. When I saw that the Cascade Bycycle Club had this option as an “end of season” ride, I thought it would be a great way to end my summer biking season in Seattle.
Myself and couple other friends met early Sunday morning for the pancake breakfast at the Edmonds Masonic Lodge while we waited for the ferry to take us across the Puget Sound to the town of Kingston on the Kitsap Peninsula. The sky was cloudy and the forecast called for rain. I came prepared with my rain jacket and rain pants, hoping they wouldn’t be necessary.
The Best Coffee In Seattle
For the past nine months my friend Todd and I have met every week for coffee. We made it a goal from the beginning to meet in a different coffee shop in Seattle every week. We have been to every neighborhood in Seattle for coffee, including driving all the way to West Seattle from Greenwood.
I have tasted almost everything Seattle has to offer when it comes to coffee. You might call me a coffee snob. I’m okay with that. I know what I like and I know what tastes good.
Seattle has so many options when it comes to coffee that it can be overwhelming. How are you supposed to know what coffee shop to visit when there are so many to choose from?
After months of sampling cup after cup of delicious coffee from every corner of Seattle, I would like to help you narrow your search for the perfect cup of Seattle coffee. And the winners are…
Bicycling on Bainbridge Island
One of my goals while living in Seattle was to ride around Bainbridge Island, an island situated directly west of Seattle across the Puget Sound. There is no bridge to the island, so you have to take a thirty minute ferry ride from downtown Seattle. Every February they have a bike ride called the Chilly Hilly that circles the island on rural roads. I thought about doing it this year, but I don’t like being cold.
I decided that it would be a great training ride for my Kitsap Color Classic ride that I have coming up. I invited my friend Brian to join me, and on a beautiful Saturday morning we rode down to the ferry terminal in downtown Seattle and I loaded my Specialized Tarmac onto the ferry for the first time.
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