Planted a Flag in Boulder

Well, we’re in Boulder and that’s that.  Over 1,800 miles by way of Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH, Chicago, IL (to see friends), Lincoln, NE (what a very cool city) and, finally, Boulder on Sunday, June 6.  Very cool rental house above town.  We’re crammed in since we brought too much with us…clothes, fishing gear, camping stuff, etc., etc.

Unfortunately, all the rivers are blown out due to late spring thaw.  It’s finally hot here and the water’s aflowin’.

Here’s what I won’t miss…at all!

I-270 approaching the DC Beltway...it's not even rush hour!

Back to The Rapidan

First day on a river this year.  The weather has been unpredictable, Sue and I have been too busy/distracted with the Big Move…just no time.  So Fred and I headed down to Madison last week with Daisy and last year’s fly collection.  Virginia has the good sense to make their annual fishing license good for a year from date of purchase.  Ours are ok through June 11.

Perfect day, quite a few fish.  They hit pretty much anything we threw at them.  Para adams, para yellow sallies, para blue wing olives, some purple thing that I brought back from Jackson Hole.  Lunch was from the Sheetz in Warrenton where we had stopped for gas on the way to Madison.  A quick tangent…we saw loads of fallen trees on RT. 115 (the highway between Warrenton and Sperrysville) from last winters blizzards.  Looks like Virginia has run out of money for clean-up.

I let Daisy run around on a retractable leash in the river.  She did a nice job of spooking the pools.

Drive back sucked…2.5 hours due in part to Fred’s “short cut” to avoid the DC Beltway.  Regardless, a good day and nice to finally wet a line in 2010.

New Temporary Digs

I can’t talk about the Boulder move without talking about our new living quarters.  We rented Sue’s house in lovely Edgemore, that quaint little neighborhood near downtown Bethesda.  There we could walk to restaurants, movie theaters, our offices, and the Metro.  Everything was close.  We rented the place to an Edgemore family whose house had caught fire recently.  They were living in a hotel.  That completely sucked for them and we felt some good karma coming out of the renting to them.  We moved out, and they moved in, 3 days after they first saw the house.  Amazing.  Fortunately, they needed all of our furniture, so leaving was just a matter of packing up clothes, and other personal stuff.

Our new place is our friend Stella’s condo in Gaithersburg.  Total stroke of luck that it was available.  It’s small and it’s a basement unit so a little dark…but otherwise great.  The only downside is Gaithersburg.  It’s a suburb of DC and we now have to drive 20 miles to get to everything.  There seems to be heavy traffic 24 hours a day.

Thirty days to go.  We’ll punch through.

Trip Planning

The best part of any trip is usually the planning…all that building expectation and excitement.  We’re saying goodbye to friends and family, though, so its been a bit melancholy this time.  We’ll be back of course and they’ll all come visit at some point, but we’re leaving and we’ll miss them.  We’re also trying to eat at all of our favorite restaurants as many times as possible before we go hoping, I think, to get so sick of them that we won’t long for Spice’s tom yum soup or Moby Dick’s chicken kabobs once we’re gone.

Yesterday we got into a heated argument over the size of the U-Haul trailer and the date we should pick it up.  We only argue about the important stuff.  Another reason we are perfect for each other.

Heading West

Yup.  Moving to Boulder with Sue right after my oldest son graduates from the University of Maryland.  Perfect spot for a fly fishing, bike riding, soon-to-be trail running, (novice) rock climbing, more-or-less unemployed consultant.

About Fred

My business partner, my fishing buddy and my friend.  Last September, just before the Jackson Hole trip, Fred got a bad result back on is PSA test.  In October, back in DC, he learned he had pretty damned aggressive prostate cancer.  Went under the robotic knife at Georgetown University Hospital right before Christmas.  About two weeks ago he got is first PSA results…0.0.  Nice.

Trip Photos

A few select photos from Jackson Hole 2009.  Fred took most of these.

Resident mamma moose and calf

Lamar (left) and me invading the kitchen.

Pat (left) and Brandon (right) of Snake River Anglers. Getting ready for Moose-to-Wilson float.

Brandon releasing one of Fred's catches.

Lamar and I are in Pat's boat

View northwest. Intersting how the mountains seem so small in photos taken with a point-and-shoot camaera. These peaks are huge.

I may have kicked one of the plugs loose in Pat's boat. Pat noticed 2" of water sloshing around. We pulled over and drained the water. Try pulling a drift boat with 2" of water up onto a bank. Not easy.

Franks 1970 Porsche 911 race car (left). Interesting paint job...supposed to be a throwback look. Barely starts and smokes like a chimney.

Me on the Hoback. I'm trying to strip a big cone head streamer through a deep pool. Have no idea what I'm doing.

Lamar

Green River camp 5. Lamar in the foreground, me in back.

Green River camp 8

Fred wading at Green River camp 8

Me and Lamar at Schwabacher Landing.

View over beaver pond from Schwabacher Landing

Fred and Lamar at Dornan's in Moose, WY