Sunset walk

Me and Brink enjoyed an evening walk when I got home from work! He was really excited to go! He definitely wasn't expecting it!

Tuesday Tidbits

• I'm snacking on mini-oranges right now.  I was craving chocolate.  Small victory!

• I have to wake up early tomorrow for work related shenanigans.  The upside is that I will be home around dinner time.  And because of the shenanigans, I will not have to worry about exercise tomorrow!  For today's fitness challenge obligation I rode the bike for about 30 minutes.  It felt good to loosen up the legs after our four mile run yesterday.  

• I cleaned my closet today.  I have a huge pile of stuff that will no longer reside in the closet.  My hope is that I can actually have some wiggle room in there to put stuff away properly rather than just dumping clean clothes on the floor, which is a method that has proved not to work real well.  And it was nice to remind myself just how many clothes I really do have...in other words, I need to show some serious restraint when we go to Disney World in 64 days.

• We are going to Disney World in 64 days!!  WOOHOO!!!

• Brent comes home on Friday.  While I will miss sleeping diagonal on the bed, I'm ready for him to come home.  Brink and I don't have very exciting conversations.  It's mostly one-way.  Sigh.

• It got a Title 9 catalog in the mail.  Considering their biggest size is a 14, I won't be ordering from them any time soon.  But mark my words, if I ever get back to where I once was, I will reward myself with Title 9 goodies...my full closet be damned.  I'm hanging onto the catalog for inspiration.

• I'm off to bed early.  See second bullet point.  Nighty night!

Evening grub

Brinkley and I went for a four mile run this afternoon. It was an incredibly slow run. My lungs were fine, my legs felt tired. It was a four mile long mental battle with my old, fat self!

It was good to be done!

And now I continue my good eating streak for the day with this ...


Roasted broccoli, green beans, green onions, and grape tomatoes. Steamed sweet potatoes. And leftover baked BBQ chicken.

Mmmmm. So good!

Scrub a dub, dub.

I started out the day with a surge of motivation.  I went to clean the shower and realized I had not bathroom cleaner and my tiered rack that holds shampoo was almost completely rusted and broken in places.  So, I paused my cleaning and headed off to Target.





The shower is clean!  And the new caddy is installed.  And my motivation is slipping.  I despise cleaning the bathroom.  I can't tell you the last time the shower and tub were cleaned.  I avoid the filth for as long as possible hoping someone, anyone will clean it before I do, but it rarely happens.  I need a cleaning elf.

I still have the rest of the bathroom to clean.  And I need to tackle the mess that is the bedroom.  Laundry is everywhere other than where it should be.  I'm thinking it's time for a little pre-Spring cleaning.

Oh, and Daytona 500 is now under the lights for this evening.  It's at this moment, that I'm very glad that Castle is on ABC and not Fox.  There will be some channel flipping going on tonight!

Slow start

My weekend is off to a slow and lazy start.  I can't seem to pull myself away from pinning things on Pinterest.  It is seriously the best thing invented since Facebook.

I did transfer the bulk items I bought at Sunflower Market last week into mason jars for air tight storage.  By bulk, I don't mean I bought a huge amount.  I filled some bags with scoops of sliced almonds, dried cranberries, raisins, chia seeds, etc.  All of these need airtight storage.  I don't have a lot of practical storage containers, but thanks to Pinterest, I got the idea to use the empty mason jars I had on hand.  I used a dry erase marker to write on the lids what was inside.  Awesome!

And that's pretty much all of that I've accomplished so far today.  Much cleaning needs to be done but I can never get motivated to do it.  Blah.  I'd much rather sit on my butt and look at pretty pictures on the internet.  Ha!  Internet = the downfall of productive societies.  

The wind is still howling like crazy.  I'm hoping it stops very soon.  I really wanted to get an outdoor run in today.  I don't want to be stuck inside doing burpees.  I'll be keeping a close watch on the weather through the afternoon.  Maybe we'll get in a short run.  I hope.

100 DFC: Day 32

My fitness challenge is still going strong!  Last night I rode the recumbent bike to try to loosen up my very sore hamstrings.  And I did my Pilates DVD.  I was expecting my abs to hurt a lot more this morning but they feel fine.  My legs are still sore though.  Riding the bike did help though!

This morning I went to the gym and ran a mile on the treadmill before lifting weights - all upper body.  It was a great way to start the day.  And so far I'm still able to life my arms!

Before I left for work I was watching Hairspray on ABC Family.  I've never seen the musical or the movie.  I'm intrigued.  I'll miss most of the movie once I leave for work.  It's coming to the local dinner theatre this summer so I guess I'll have to convince Brent to go!

It was a crazy day at work.  When I got home it dawned on me that it was Friday and Blue Bloods was on!!  I did a little happy dance with Brink and the entire work day faded into oblivion!  Yah, for great television shows!!

Recovery

My legs are pleasantly and painfully sore. It's a good sore but I know they are at their limit. After hobbling around for the day, I decided to make it a rest day.

The past four days have been superb for exercise and eating. I ran five miles, rode the bike, did lots of squats, lunges, etc., and ran sprints!

My legs feel strong and exhausted at the same time. I don't want to get injured so I've got my feet kicked up and am drinking a banana, mixed berries, spinach, and whey smoothie. I added a dash of almond extract too! Delicious!!

Moxon Day

Moxon and I enjoyed a day of movies and games.  We went to the park and played frisbees, dinosaurs, and swings.  I ran sprints back and forth across the soccer field chasing my frisbee.  I thought it was a great opportunity to kill two birds with one stone so I fit in my daily exercise while I was out there!!

My legs felt like jello when we were done at the park.  Moxon improved his frisbee throwing skills.  And Brinkley learned even more patience while walking.  Moxon insisted on controlling the reins on the way back home.  He actually did a pretty good job.  He joked that he wanted to get a mini version of the leash and collar so he could take his guinea pig for a walk!





My VCR ate A Goofy Movie first thing so we had to stick with movies I had on DVD.  We watched Finding Nemo, The Little Mermaid, and Sleeping Beauty.  And scattered throughout was puzzle putting together, sticker decorating, coloring, and the Care Bears game.








We finished up the afternoon by playing a little bit of Wii before his Mom picked him up.  I've picked things up and made myself dinner.  Dinner was my own concoction....

• Two cups broccoli
• Cubed yellow creamer potatoes
• Diced yellow peppers

I put everything in my cute little casserole dish and sprinkled olive oil on top and stirred.  Then I added onion powder, garlic powder, and kosher salt.  I baked at 400 for about 35 minutes.  It was a bit longer then I'd hoped but it took that long for the potatoes to soften a little.  In the end it turned out really, really good!!!  I will definitely be recreating it!!  I filled 3/4 of my plate with veggies and added some leftover mac and cheese to the rest of it!  Deliciousness!!!  Mmmmm.

Morning Coffee

I'm sitting here drinking my morning coffee and eating my morning oatmeal.  No, I didn't dig into my beautiful donuts this morning.  Will power, baby!  I've got dishes and laundry washing.  And I cleaned up some of my mess from last night.
My date for the day hasn't arrived yet.  I'm not sure which movies we will be watching but I'm looking forward to it!  I perused my selection last night and realized that I'm vastly under stocked in the Disney department.  I don't have nearly as many of the classics as I should.  And those that I do have are on VHS.  
I'm hesitant to build my collection on DVD.  I think I'd much rather have a hard drive that stores digital copies that could stream to any TV in the house.  A collection would certainly take up a lot less space if it were digital.

Ok, I'm off to do a few more productive things before Mox shows up!

I made donuts!!

I made donuts!!  They turned out okay.  There is definitely room for improvement but by golly, I made donuts!! I'm not sure they will pass the Moxon test.  We shall see.  Now I just have to figure out how to store them overnight...and not to eat them all.  I won't let all these donuts ruin my good eating the past few days.

Dinner!

This is turning into a food and fitness blog lately.  Oy.  The two things that take up my days right now so I'll run with it.

My deer chili turned out pretty tasty!!  I surprised myself.  It was pretty spicy with onions, jalepenos, green peppers, and red peppers.  I have pretty much an entire pot of leftovers.  So I'll be separating out for leftover meals and freezer meals.  Mmmm!!

I almost went running but it was windy and felt colder than Yahoo said it was so I rode the bike, and tortured myself with burpees.  I also did a whole variety of home exercises.  An hour later I was drenched in sweat and feeling less lazy!!

Now I'm searching donut recipes.  I get to hang out with my awesome nephew tomorrow so donuts are a must.  I may as well try to make some myself.  We shall see.  I have a lot of dishes to put away and counters to clean.

I did figure out how to get my VCR to work so Moxon and I have plenty of options for our Disney movie marathon tomorrow!!

Lunch!!

Day Two of healthier eating is going well.  I had a Eureka moment as to how to use my Jennie-O turkey ham that I got on sale a while ago.  Since how it's fully cooked, I decided to cut it up for salad topping!!  Score!  Lean meat, protein, and easy to store.  I got a lot of cubed turkey chunks out of what I thought was a smallish ham.

It made so much that I had to split it up.  I have some to get me through the week and I put some in the freezer so that I have some in the future.




I heated the turkey in the microwave and added it to my salad for lunch.  My salad consisted of romaine lettuce, spinach, and some other green lettuce that I purchased yesterday at Sunflower Market.  I added some salsa for dressing.  Salsa has a fraction of the fat and calories of light dressings.  Grape tomatoes and shredded parmesan added to the deliciousness.




I'm only half way through this salad and I'm starting to feel full.  Score.  I found an interesting lettuce related tip on Pinterest yesterday.  It seems it's possible to vacuum seal mason jars with romaine lettuce and the lettuce will stay fresh for about two weeks.  Ready for salad??  Just empty a jar.  Pre-portioned, rinsed, and dried - sounds like a good idea to me.  Now to just track down an inexpensive vacuum sealer with the jar attachment.  

A quiet day at home. Yah!

There's something to be said for sleeping until your body wakes up.  I had no alarm (other than Milo head butting me) but I was up a somewhat decent hour.  I didn't sleep my day away.  Although, I certainly would not rule out a nap.

I've taken care of some business this morning.  I paid my chest x-ray bill this morning.  That wasn't any fun.  And I called to change our reservation.  We changed hotels and saved about $300.  Good find, family!!

I also sent off an e-mail to fine folks at the Colorado Marathon to see if I can at least get my packet goodies.  I think it's kind of ridiculous that they don't offer refunds if something comes up.  How difficult is it to maintain a waiting list.  Boom, slot filled!  Just seems like good business.  Maybe they take their cue from Expedia.  Anywho...we'll see what they say.  I'll be kind of pissed if I spent $80 and I don't even get the damn t-shirt.  

I have deer chili started in the crock pot.  I found two recipes that looked simple enough so I combined them. I ran out of chili powder though.  I'm sure it will still be super spicy as I added a small can of jalapenos not green chilies.  Ooops.  I didn't notice it until after I opened it and dumped it in.  So, now it really is a very random recipe. 

And now I'm off to be lazy!

Brussels Sprouts!

I ate them!!  And they weren't horrible!!  They were actually kind of good.

What brings this on?  I've been doing a lot of fitness and healthy food related reading lately.  The basics, I'm very aware of.  Calories in, calories burned, you are what you eat, etc...

And while some days I think I eat healthy, I'm a far cry from where I should be to get as healthy (fit and strong, not skinny) as I want to be.  So, I'm going to try changing that by eating more fresh foods and less packaged foods.  In order to do that, I need to experiment in cooking to find easy and tasty recipes using fresh foods.

I wandered through Whole Foods to get motivated.  But I left with little in my basket because I knew I could get everything I wanted for half the price at Sunflower Market.  I'm not sure what the deal is with Whole Foods.   Everything is a ridiculous price.  I'm looking to get healthy, not go broke.

I picked up brussels sprouts, peppers, bananas, lettuce, grape tomatoes, and various other healthy stuff.  I was pleased with my purchases and motivated to get started using them!

The first recipe attempted was pretty easy to follow.  I heated a little olive oil in a pan and browned up the sprouts after halving them.  That took about five minutes.

Then I put them in my cute little baking dish and popped them in the oven to caramelize.  (Fancy words, folks.)  375 degrees for 20 minutes.

While the sprouts did their thing, I toasted some sliced almonds.

After 20 minutes, I pulled out the sprouts and added the almonds, a handful of raisins, and a sprinkling of kosher salt (I picked up some of that too).

Pre-mixing.  There are some brussels sprouts under there!

The end result was pretty tasty.  I did polish off the entire serving.  I'd say that was about a cup and a half to two cups of brussels sprouts.  That's about 80 calories.  Plus the added goodies and I'd say it was roughly 200 calories of goodness.  Not bad.

Things I've learned about brussels sprouts... very low in calories, high in fiber, cheap, a good source of those magical Omega-3 fatty acids, and they help fight cancer by eliminating inflammation.  Inflammation of what, I don't know.  I'm not an expert.

Mmm...pancakes

The weekend has finally arrived!!  I celebrated by actually making something for dinner.  I want to prepare for my longer run tomorrow so pancakes made for an easy carbilicous meal.  I tried a new recipe I found on the allrecipes site and they turned out great!  Really great!  I think I may have found a permanent go-to recipe for pancakes!!!

They are light and fluffy like you'd get at a restaurant!  Mmmm.  Brinkley even enjoyed his pancake!!  If I share then I don't feel so pathetic eating alone.





I'm glad my work week is over even though I have no big plans for the weekend.  I do get to have a Moxon day on Tuesday and I'm very much looking forward to it!

100 DFC: Day 24

Twenty four days!  Oy!  No wonder I feel so tired.

I woke up early enough to head for the PD gym.  I was so close, sooooo very close, to saying screw it and getting another hour and half of sleep.  I reminded myself I had new music to listen to while running and was off and on my way before the sleepy voice inside of my head got the best of me.

I ran two miles on the treadmill.  It seemed like a very easy and fast run with new songs to distract me.  After running, I stretched some and then lifted weights for about 20 minutes.  It feels good to lift weights. And do something other than just run.

Ever since I started this whole 100 Day Fitness Challenge thing I haven't lost a single pound.  I have actually gained a few pounds.  Say what?!  I'll be the first to admit that my eating hasn't been all that stellar lately.  Brent and I ate out a lot while he was home.  The weird thing is that I've had days where I felt light and fit and expected to see some weight loss.

I think the only thing that hasn't caused me to get discouraged and completely throw in the towel is that I've noticed changes in my body and how I feel.  When Brent and I went to Avenue Q, I got to wear a pair of pants that I had once been too fat to wear.  They were still huge pants but still!!  I will take any progress that comes my way.

Anywho,  I'm sure by the end of the day, I'll be exhausted.  I want to try for a longer run on Sunday (50 degrees!) so tomorrow may be a very light exercise day.

Oh, and I've decided burpees hurt more the second day!!  Ouch!

Wake Up

This is the look I get from Brinkley when I wake up every morning.  It's the patiently waiting look and the I have to pee look all wrapped up in one package.





Another day has begun around these parts.  It was a bike and burpee morning.  I half-assed one at that.  Half-assed but exhausting.  Day 23 is done.  Tomorrow morning I'm headed to the PD gym for some running and circuits.  I've got my fingers crossed that Winter is going to start fading away.  The sun is starting to shine brighter and earlier each day!

I tell Brink every morning that we'll be back to running outside soon.  I say it probably more for myself than for him.  I think he understands me though.  I'm certain of it.

21/22

Last night and tonight I rode the recumbent bike for 30 minutes.  Something is better than nothing.  I can't believe my streak continues!!  Woohoo!  It's nothing really sweat inducing but it's moving and more than I would have done otherwise.

Today was a long chaotic day that started way too early.  Brent's off to Alaska.  Brinkley's depressed.  And already counting the hours until my next weekend arrives.

77 days until Disney World!

Day 20

Two miles in 42 degree weather made workout #2 pretty darn great.  It was an easy run.  Some other lower body exercises rounded out the afternoon.  Yah!

And now I'm exhausted and ready for bed before 8.  I need to keep myself awake until 9 when Castle comes on.  It's a new episode tonight!!  Maybe I can nap before it comes on?!

100 DFC: Day 19 Make-up

Source: Uploaded by user via Angeline on Pinterest

My first workout of the day is done.  This was my make-up workout for yesterday, which was a day of non-stop eating with no time to exercise.

We started the day at Lucille's.  Then we spent the lunch hour at the dinner theatre eating amazing food!!  The show was awesome!!  And Brent enjoyed.  Double win!  There are some people with major singing chops in Ft. Collins.  I was highly impressed by the performers who were also our waiters!  We're contemplating season tickets because both times we've gone to this particular dinner theatre, we were impressed.  The food is great.  The performance is great.  And it's fun to have a something to look forward to and get dressed up for!

After the show we came home and picked up Brinkley Miles to go out to my parents' house to celebrate Brent and Becky's birthday.  Mom made delicious ham and cheesey potatoes.  And banana cake for Brent.  And frosted brownies for Becky.  So we stuffed ourselves at dinner too!!  It was a lot of fun hanging out with the family and talking about our upcoming trip to Disney World.  79 days to go!!

When we got home last, we crashed!!  It had been a long day and we were stuffed and exhausted.

I slept in this morning.  It was wonderful.  Brinkley loves sleeping in with me.  He's lazier than I am on my days off.  Brent's off doing manly thing with machines and I just got done riding on the recumbent bike for 30 minutes and lifting weights for 15 minutes.  The sun is shining so I'm hopeful for an afternoon run later!!

Happy Monday, all!

Long Day

It was a long, busy day. I'll recap tomorrow. I will also do two workouts to make up for no fitness today...unless a ten minute walk with Brink and five burpees counts????

Finally!!

Hilarity is about to ensue!!

Sunday Breakfast

I started off my weekend bright and early. Actually, it was very much still dark out when I woke up. Brent and I met his family in Longmont for breakfast. We ate at Lucile's Creole Cafe.

There's a Lucille's in Ft. fun but I've never been. I've heard people rave about it and seen the lines out the door.  The one in Longmont is just as popular.  We were the first ones in the door this morning and it was a good thing. By the time we left there were about forty people waiting.

Brent had a Cajun omelet - he said it was like a gumbo omelet. I had rice pancakes. Pretty tasty!! Most of the menu had something egg related so my choices were limited.

It was a nice change of pace for a Sunday morning. Brink's ears have been cleaned, he's been walked, and some laundry has been done.

We're headed off to the dinner theatre matinée show here shortly. Avenue Q!!! I've been looking forward to this since I read that it was on the show list about 7 months ago!!

The never-ending Winter

Day 18

Even though the snow was still flying this morning, I headed off to the gym!! That made the day a success before it really began.

I ran two miles on the treadmill. And then I lifted weights. Who kicks butt?? That'd be me!

Day 18 done!!

Expedia Nightmare

Dear, Expedia,

Last July we decided to use your services to purchase two plane tickets to get ourselves home from Ohio.  Thanks to a crane operator in Nebraska derailing an Amtrak train our plans were subsequently derailed.  (See what I did there? Ha!)  Through absolutely no fault of ours, we were no longer in need of the two tickets valued at $360.

I understand businesses have to protect themselves so we didn't get a refund.  Instead we got a credit of $360 towards the future flight(s) of our choice.  And yes, it's reasonable that we would have to pay the difference if we chose a more expensive flight.  A $50 re-booking fee seemed steep but what could we do??  And no, it's not reasonable to put a 12 month expiration date on my $360.  It's MY $360 you greedy bastards.  It should be available indefinitely.  I should be able to take my sweet damn time to determine when I'm going to use your service again. After all, I know have to come up with an extra $50.  If I wanted to wait 20 years and apply to a trip to the frickin' moon, I should be able to.

Fast forward 8 months and we decide that rather than go they easier route and book roundtrip tickets with Southwest, we would use OUR $360 to purchase two one-way tickets back from Disney World.  What's that?  It's a $50 EACH for the re-booking fee.  WTF??  Thanks, for that.  I'm sure the hourly employee you have sitting at a computer desk on the other side of the world really earns that $100.  I highly doubt punching a few keys on the keyboard to book our new flight is a major inconvenience and disruption to their work day.  Oh wait, it's their job!!  So the money is just lining the pockets of the execs.  It's certainly not going to improving customer service.

After talking to, or at least attempting to talk to, a female customer service representative and coming away thoroughly confused, I called back a second time for clarification.  I received a male operator who had an even thicker accent.  So thick that I could not understand him, nor could Brent who was listening on speaker phone.  I had to repeatedly ask questions for clarification and then, AND THEN, your operator began laughing at the fact I could not understand him.  LAUGHING at me with arrogance.  And he made no attempt to alleviate my frustration or provide an alternative.

At no point was I provided quality customer service.  NONE!!  Every single time I talked to an operator, I hung up feeling confused and screwed!!!  I had to pay $100 to use my $360.  And of course, I had to pay the difference on the ticket price.  I think ultimately we paid a ridiculous price for two one-way tickets.    Never, ever, EVER again will I use Expedia or any other company that provides the same services.  I have learned my lesson the hard way.  Expedia, I hope you shrivel up and die in bankruptcy.

I will shout it from the roof tops and warn everyone I know.  You can take your outsourced customer service and kiss my American ass!!  I'm ashamed that Expedia is an American company.  Surely, we can do better that!

Good riddance, Expedia.

B. Miles and Co.

Day 17

It's blurry but you can still see 3.24 miles in 43 minutes. It felt great to run again! Day 17 done!

100 DFC: Day 16

The cold weather kept me from running again this morning.  Winter is killing my motivation.  I did ride on the bike for 40 minutes while watching the latest episode of Castle.  It was amazing!! The episode, not the bike ride.

After stepping on the scale, I've found my motivation.  Eeeck.  I'm off to the gym first thing in the morning to get my sweat on.

I've paid bills and did the whole catch-up on paperwork thing so I'm off to bed.

100 DFC: Day 15

My legs are soooo tired. The last thing I wanted to do today was run or bike. But not wanting to completely kill my streak, I pulled out the hand weights when I got home from work. I did about 20 minutes of upper body work. Every way to my move arms with weights attached... after all, this is not a scientific challenge. I'm just put do something each day. And weights was more than I would have done 15 days ago!

I think it was a good compromise, even if I may not be able to lift my arms tomorrow.

I'm off to bed early tonight. I haven't been able to sleep well lately so I've taken measures to help me sleep through the night. No caffeine after lunch!

If I sleep well, I'm hoping to bundle up and get in a good run!

Night, all!

S'mores for breakfast

I had a parking hearing this morning so I convinced Brent to wake up early with me.  We went to the Silver Grill Cafe for breakfast.  S'mores pancakes were delicious!!  So delicious, I scarfed them up before I gave thought to a picture.  I'm stuffed.

100 DFC: Day 14

Two weeks!!  40 minutes on the recumbent bike while reading my new issue of Runners World on the Nook.

Booyah!!!

Brotherly Love

Mobile Photo Randomness

Last week I had to get a new phone.  I was able to plug in my old one and salvage about 700 mobile phone pictures.  Most of them I already on my computer but I figured one last back up wouldn't hurt.  It was amazing to see how much a phone can capture.

A young, scrawny dog.

A clean, darn near junkless garage.

A garage that no longer stands.

Driving the '67 for the first time.

Road Trip #1

Craft inspiration ideas.

A special Christmas present.

Day one of running again!

Celebrating no lattes for three months!

Seattle

San Francisco

Chicago

Ohio

A grown up Christmas present!

Still making progress!

Goofy nephew randomness.

A story that never was - I touched the top flare and the whole thing tumbled to the floor in about 20 pieces.  My klutziness knows no bounds.  Brent's getting really good at staying in other aisles and disappearing when crap happens.  I think it's to hide his laughter.  This was shortly after a level from a hook in hardware and hit me in the head.  I swear, I DID NOT TOUCH IT.  It just fell and hit me.

Brinkley meets a new friend, Stella.

Three years with a phone is a long time.  I hope my next one lasts just as long.  I'm sure I'll take even more photos because my new one has a better camera!!  

Pinewood Reservoir Snowshoeing

We snowshoed the Shoshone Trail in the Ramsay-Shockey Open Space.  The trail was 2 miles around a small mountain and along the shore of Pinewood Reservoir.  It was a nice little trail that was never really steep enough to kick our butts!  A fun time was had by all!

The last part of the trail is around Fisherman's Cove.  The trail skirts around the cove about 15 feet from the water. At one point the drop off is right at the trail's edge.  Slow and steady kept us dry!!

We were one of three groups of people enjoying the open space.  The first group had two dogs off leash.  The second group had three dogs off leash.  I realize it was a Sunday in the dead of winter but where the hell were our County Rangers??  If Brinkley was off leash, you better believe one would appear out of nowhere to give us a ticket.  The second group also had eight people in a six seater truck - last I checked, driving with kids on your lap was illegal.  Again, Rangers??  Anyone?  My guess is if they didn't care about the leash law and the seat belt law, they likely didn't even have their County pass to be there in the first place.

Ok, end of gripe.  We had a great time.  I would recommend the trail for snowshoeing.  I'm not sure about the trail in the summer time.  I hear the place used to be Rattlesnake Open Space.  Ummm, I'll pass on the snakes.  Thanks.