Leadville Camping/Hiking a 14er

This weekend we went camping outside of Leadville, Colorado. We camped with our friends Ty, Tam, and Amanda. The first night we camped at Turquoise Lake, a beautiful mountain lake where we did some fishing and caught quite a few nice fish. The next day we went on a hike and camped at the base of Mount Massive, a 14er (it is more than 14,000 feet above sea-level). We got up early Sunday and hiked to the top of Mt. Massive. It was the first (and probably last) time Gwen and I had hiked a fourteener. Gwen got a bad case of altitude sickness and threw up at least seven times on the way up and down. As horrible as she felt she didn't quit, she was a real trooper and we pressed on for the four hour hike to the top and two and a half hour hike down. She even left a piece of herself (mostly a peach she had just eaten) at the top.

The view from the top of Mt. Massive

Gwen sick at the top

All of us at the top

New York, New York

Gwen and I recently made a trip to Connecticut and New York City to visit some family, see the city for the first time, and see Yankee Stadium before it closes at the end of this season. We enjoyed staying with Francie and Butch, Gwen's aunt and uncle, and Aunt Nancy and Uncle Gary accompanied us and were our tour guides in the city.

The reason for the trip.

At the Branford Yacht Club.

A jellyfish I snatched out of the water.

Gary and I being rebellious.

Gwen chowing hot dogs in Times Square.

Intro to Aerospace Medicine

I just got back from two weeks of "Air Force Camp" in San Antonio, Texas. Technically, it was the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine, but it was definitely more like camp than school. We learned about some of the opportunities we will have as docs in the Air Force, but we also did a lot of fun stuff. We learned how to land without breaking your leg when you are parachuting, went to Sea World (where we got in for free because we are "heroes"), went tubing down a river, and went to Houston to tour NASA. Unfortunately, I was too honest on my medical eval and admitted that I had migraine headaches as a kid. Because of that, they wouldn't let me go in the hyperbaric chamber or do the centrifuge (where they spin you around to see how many G-forces you can take before you pass out). Overall it was a pretty good time, and certainly was much more enjoyable than last year's training was.

Parachute Simulator->

Before floating the river

Mock bullet to the shoulder