More pics from 12000 feet (RMNP)

Inside the gift shop at the top - cute moose with O2 tank. We actually saw a guy suffering from altitude sickness while up there (it is a real thing - can be pretty scary!) - the park rangers realized he was sick even though his wife was over shopping, unaware. I hope I will always recognize if Jon gets sick!

Jon was super-excited to use his GPS - it was very accurate in the elevation!
Gorgeous mountains!
There's less oxygen this high up - Jon and I were slow-going on this hike.
Elk!!

Jon's shoe made a sound and the elk suddenly raised his head directly at Jon - he looked rather annoyed that his snacking was interupted.
Still staring at Jon (who is just a tad concerned about how large and close the elk was).
The elk noticed me too - look how fuzzy those antlers are! =)

Mom and Dad's visit

Mom and Dad flew up to visit Jon and me a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time! I was able to take a few days off work to hang out with them. We went to our local farmer's market, had a shrimp boil for father's day, drove up to Grand Lake for a day, went downtown to see the Art Museum, and spent a day up in Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. The following pics are from Trail Ridge Road - the road that goes up to 12000 feet through RMNP.

A yellow-bellied marmot! So cute!

Another marmot - this one's kinda lazy - probably what I would be doing if I was a marmot. =)

A pic from the Denver Art Museum - that's Dad standing in front of a giant broom/dustpan. =)

aftermath of crawfish

Just wanted to show a few pics of what followed the crawfish boil. Jen and I had excellent crawfish etouffee and gumbo, and froze the leftover tails.

Leftover crawfish tails. My thumbs are still sore from gettin' the meat out!

Boiling some crawfish heads for stock. From what I hear, the fat from the thorax/head is the tastiest for stock.

Crawfish Etouffee. Goodness, it was tasty.

Crawfish gumbo. It was gooood!

Crawfish Boil 2008

One thing we missed about Texas was the awesome crawfish boils we used to go to at least once a year. Seafood (and other creepy crawlies) are one thing you can find in TX, but not anywhere this far inland. So this year, I decided that I wanted to host a crawfish boil here in Colorado. I found a company that shipped crawfish overnight (live) and decided to give it a try. Many people thought I was cazy, and most didnt know what a "crawfish boil" was, but there were others that were really excited. I fed my energy off of those people. :)

All-in-all, I had about 35 people that said they would come to the crawfish boil. This included co-workers of Jen and me, some new friends, and some old friends from TX. I ordered 60 lbs of the mud bugs, which is a good amount for 30-35 people (since most of it is exoskeleton and whatnot).

Overall, it was a great time. I spent 95% of the time cooking (unfortunately, I didnt get to sit and talk with everyone, but I plan on changing that next year), and everyone seemed to enjoy it. It was a beautiful day, too! The first batch of crawfish was rather bland, but the next 4-5 batches got progressively tastier! Due to cancellations (and some people only eating a few crawfish), we were left with about 20 lbs of leftovers. Jen and I got the meat off of them and will enjoy crawfish etouffee a few times!

Here are some pics of the event:

Ernie was kinda interested in them, but enjoyed being outside and eating grass more. Plus, the only ones that we tossed to him were the few (4-5) that arrived dead.

Kim, Evan, and I "purging" the crawfish.

More purging. That one looks fiesty.

A brave Jen holds one of the crawfish. Thankfully it wasnt one of the agressive ones!

Emma doesn't like the sound that is coming from the 2x30lbs sacks of live crawfish.

Human and Crawfish enjoying a beer.

Crawfish race for $1. Some people got creative to get their 'dad to walk in a straight line.

Cooked and on the table!

Raw and in the cooler. They slowed down once I poured some ice on them. 20lbs actually. That cooler got heavy!!!

Curtis pouring some fresh potatoes, onions and corn into the mix. That morning, I cooked all the veggies to save time.

Everyone standing up and eating.

Everyone sitting down and eating.

This is James. He was tasty.