Don't bother me... I'm crabbing!

My cousin and her husband invited me out to Maryland to go crabbing! For you midwesterners, that means we take the boat into the bay to catch Maryland Blue Crabs. I love to eat crabs and have become quite the seafood snob. After having fresh steamed crabs from Maryland, nothing else really comes close.

I had to take a little vacation from my vacation in Denver, and headed to Maryland to hang out with my mom's side of the family! I stayed with my cousin Laurie and her husband Mike and their little munchkin Mikey! My Aunt Pam, Uncle George, and other cousin Scooter came to hang out too! We hung around by the pool for most of the day on Tuesday and Wednesday, but Thursday was the big day! Wake up call at 0500 and we were on the water at 0600. This was my first time crabbing and apparently one of the biggest tricks to catching lots of crabs is drinking beer while crabbing. I wasn't going to be the reason that we didn't catch a ton of crabs, so I happily cracked my first beer about 6am while we were looking for the perfect place to drop the line.


I had the best teachers!! Mike and his friend Chris helped me master my crabbing technique. We dropped a 1,000 foot trout line in the water with eel tied on every few feet as bait. The idea is that the crabs start enjoying a little breakfast on the trout line as we hook the line on the boat. The boat slowly drives along the line and the "crabber" stands near the front of the boat with a net to scoop up the crabs that attached themselves to the line. The crabber scoops the crab out of the water and into a basket on the boat.

Then, the crabber needs to sort the crabs. You aren't allowed to keep any of the small crabs (I can't remember the exact measurements) or any females. This was my least favorite part of the day because those little buggers are pretty pissed about being in a basket on a boat and have pretty sharp claws! You get to wear gloves, but they can definitely pinch through the gloves... and it does hurt;) This was probably the most entertaining part for everyone else on the boat because I was screaming and dancing around like an idiot!



It was sooo much fun! We were out there until about noon! Every time I missed a crab, or threw it over the front of the boat back into the water, everyone else on the boat insisted that crab was "the biggest crab they had ever seen" (every time I missed one!) Then we headed back to Laurie and Mikes house to steam the crabs and eath them!


This is the buschel of crabs we caught...



...and here is about half of them steamed and ready to eat.

This was an amazing experience that I can't wait to do again next year, but the time I got to spend with that side of my family was absolutely priceless!!!!

Trail Running

One of my friends, Randi, forwarded me info about a trail running group. Now I haven't done a ton of trail running, but when I think of "trail running" I think of the trails in Chicago that consist of dirt paths that go through the woods or even the prairie path.

Well imagine my surprise when I found out that the group meets in the foothills of the mountains. Do one thing a day that scares ya, right?!?! Well one of Randi's friends offered to pick me up since I didn't been there before. THANK GOD SHE DID! We drove up and down huge windy mountain roads! I was so glad she was driving because I was able to concentrate on how beautiful the views from this mountain were!

When we got to the group she told me that she would stay with me and walk if I needed to because I still wasn't acclimated to the altitude (which have I mentioned is pretty brutal when walking/running;) I told her that she really didn't need to, but I am so glad she did! It was an out-and-back course. The first half of the course was all uphill and for fun a thunderstorm decided to roll in and welcome me to my first trail run! I ran for the first few miles that were relatively flat... but then the hills started and I needed to walk most of it!!! I couldn't concetrate on anything but on the ground in front of my feet. There were so many rocks and sticks and branches I was afraid I would trip and break my face. I rolled my ankles about 6 times. Seriously! Definetly need to get some more sturdy trail running shoes for the next run. Once we got a little past halfway, we were able to run the rest (downhill of course;).

A bunch of us went out for dinner afterward. I thought I had met some crazy people through all of my marathons and triathlons. Well these trail runners I met were right up there with some of the craziest! They run marathons in the mountains. Yes, exactly! I don't mean in the foothills! At dinner we were talking about the altitude and one of the guys told me how hard it was for him the first time he was running at 12,000 feet. My. mouth. dropped. open. One of the other guys had a Pike's Peek marathon jacket. That is right folks... This guy ran a marathon at 14,000 feet!

I really don't think I love trail running! But I will defintly try it again before I leave, just in case:)

The adventure begins....

My friend Colleen was able to make the drive out with me which was my first adventure:) It was so much fun to road trip with her and spend the weekend together! We got in town and she helped me get all settled (after trying a few hotels)! The first day here, we definitely felt the altitude! We made sure to chug water and it got better! We headed up to Boulder the next day for some hiking! It was so beautiful!! Again, the air is much thinner up here! But so worth it!!! She had to fly home the next day!



I spent my first week exploring my new hood. I walked everywhere! I walked to work, yoga, the grocery store, etc.! I also did a little exploring on my bike! They have the most amazing bike paths around here that it actually easier to bike most places that drive and park your car! I spent most of my time just getting familiar with everything around here! Most of the time I would get lost and have to ask the friendly Denverians to help point me in the correct direction. I know that most of you reading this are completely shocked that I would get lost;) but I figured it out!

Pretty proud of myself for figuring out how to navigate throughout Denver... so far:)