We just returned from a camping trip around the Rockies. We drove down the Front Range and camped near Larkspur, CO the first night, then Santa Fe, NM for a couple of nights. We then headed West across New Mexico to camp two nights at Navajo Lake, NM and North to Mesa Verde, CO for a couple of nights. West again to Moab, UT for two nights, then Northeast to Grand Mesa, CO for a couple of nights. North to Craig, CO for two nights, then East Boyd Lake near Loveland, CO, and back home.

I competed in the Elizabeth Highland Games Sunday. We drove down Friday and camped at the site. While I'm moving better, my throws aren't going anywhere. I need more practice and some coaching.

I drove to Kansas City for the Highland Games, though the announcer insisted on calling them the Kansas City Wetland Games. The weather was better on Sunday when I competed than it had been on Saturday. It only rained in spurts, and the sun showed its face briefly in the afternoon. I had a good time and hope to do it again next year.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 had a successful maiden flight today. Commercial space marches on.

I drove down to Albuquerque for the Rio Grande Highland Game. Grant Oliver does an outstanding job as Athletic Director and I had a great time. My throwing wasn't great, but was satisfactory for the first real competition of the season without having had much practice.

Here's a photo of an the caber toss,

and one of Hunter Fobare (aka Shrek) throwing the 56# Weight Over Bar,

and finally one of beautiful classic Harley Davidson that I spied in the vendor parking area.

Betsy had some time off from both jobs, so we headed west Wednesday to check out the Western Slope. We took a room at the Cedaredge Lodge for a couple of nights. The lodge is an old style travel court that has been nicely updated. After checking in, we drove out to Fruit Grower's Reservoir where we a saw couple of Sand Hill Cranes then went to dinner.

Thursday morning we drove back out after breakfast and saw hundreds of the cranes. They seemed restless but didn't take off to continue their migration, intermittent rain and snow probably discouraged them from leaving the area. We stopped by the Surface Creek Winery to sample their wares and bought some to take home.

This morning we checked out of the lodge after breakfast and stopped by the reservoir to check out the cranes. Weather was better and we watched several flights of a dozen or two take off and head north. We headed back toward home, experiencing some snow around the passes, but mostly clear sailing.

Mother Nature didn't cooperate for this year's Iron Thistle. We made do with just the Sheaf Toss, the Braemar Stone and a Braemar Tire Toss. At least we got bragging rights and a T-shirt.

I've been interested in the Palm Pre and WebOS since they debuted at the 2009 CES, but it was only available on Sprint and I prefer Verizon. The Palm Pre Plus is now available on Verizon so I've upgraded to it from my trusty Palm Treo. The graphics are stunning, touch screen interaction intuitive, and mult-tasking outstanding. The biggest down side is the unimpressive battery life, it's been making it through the day with moderate use, but there isn't much reserve. I think WebOS has a lot of potential, but it'll take some time to get used to doing some things differently than Palm OS.

We celebrated the New Year and my birthday at the McGregor Mountain Lodge. We went showshoeing, watched the birds, elk, and deer that visited the birdfeeders near our cabin, and relaxed.

I often work out in Vibram Five Fingers and have been looking for something with a similar feel for every day wear. I bought a pair of driving shoes at a Red Wing outlet store which work pretty well, though I can only wear them with thin socks and they're not well suited to winter.

I just got a pair of Vivo Barefoot Karibas which fit the bill. I wore them to work today and they did fine in our current snow storm, like house slippers that keep your feet dry. Not as close to bare feet as the Five Fingers, but better than the Red Wings and close enough for me, and I like the look.

Virgin Galactic's Space Ship Two has been publicly unveiled. It will begin flight tests next year and begin commercial service in 2011.

Went on a toy run for children of Colorado National Guard troops deployed to Iraq. There was too much ice and snow on the roads here to ride the bike, so I drove the S2000, top down despite the snow. It's the next best thing to a motorcycle. After the run from Frederick to Longmont, we had lunch at the Armory provided by the American Legion. All in all, a good time for a good cause.

Tonight we had our annual Lyons holiday fireworks display. It's beginning to feel like Christmas.

Got home from our Thanksgiving trip to Houston yesterday and mostly chilled out today, though I did take care of a couple of chores. Looks like iffy riding weather for about the next week, so I took a quick ride to Rabbit Mountain on the Lightning to clear the cobwebs out.

MMy VFR 800 was a very nice bike, but the Lightning makes me want to ride more. It's not as refined, but a lot more fun for me. A review of the 2007 model puts it well. There’s little to take your attention away from the motor, which isn’t a bad thing, since the big V-twin is charismatically torque-happy. When riding the Buell Lightning Long, there is no doubt that you are on a MOTOR-cycle. I like Honda's VTEC engines, but the Thunderstorm engine form Buell is getting into my blood.

Visiting my mother in Houston and took her on a drive to Galveston to see how it's recovering from Hurricane Ike. We had lunch at Fisherman's Wharf where our table had a nice view of the Elissa.

After lunch we took the ferry over to Port Bolivar and drove up the peninsula. Fourteen months after Hurricane Ike most of the debris has been cleared, but only a modest amount of rebuilding has occurred. It was a gloomy, overcast day, but we did find these colorful flowers near the edge of the beach to brighten up the day.

More snow! Getting the mileage in to get the first service before the worst of the winter may be a challenge.

I couldn't resist the fire sale on Buells since Harley-Davidson announced that they were shutting down the marque. I've been thinking of one to replace my VFR 800 and decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Last night I picked up a 2009 XB12Ss (aka Lightning Long) in Cherry Bomb Red from High Country HD

It's a hoot to ride.

Yesterday Buell riders from all around the country made one last ride to the Buell factory in East Troy, Wisconsin to pay tribute to a unique marque as it nears its end. The last Buell is scheduled to roll off the assembly line Friday and 180 workers will be out of a job on December 18th. Hat tip to Black on Bad Web.

Harley Davidson announced last week that it was shutting down its Buell motorcycle operation and selling MV Agusta. Buell is one of the more interesting Marques and this is sad news. Best of luck to Erik Buell and his merry band of elves.

While most of the private space industry is focusing on commercializing the Earth to Low Earth Orbit market, others are looking farther out. In this interview former NASA astronaut Franklin Chang Diaz discusses the latest milestone achieved for his VASIMR rocket engine for deep space missions, and the next steps for his company, Ad Astra Rocket.

I attended the Colorado Episcopal Diocesan Convention in Pueblo the past couple of days. It was an worthwhile experience, better than I anticipated. The workshops I attended were interesting, and the business sessions were tolerable. I enjoyed getting to know my fellow delegates from St. Stephen's better as well as meeting delegates from other churches. I wouldn't mind doing it again.

The Wilderness Experience worship service impressed me more than anything else. This service has been held at St. John's Cathedral for the past two years. The experimental litergy is blended with meditation, movement, music, and imagery in an engaging manner. I also attended a workshop describing how it came about and is produced. It involves more work from more people than typical worship services, but I think it's worth the effort.