Christmas in NC - Justice Family

Grandpa Justice sporting his new headband

After the Kiser family gathering, we headed to Pittsboro, NC to spend the Christmas weekend with the Justice family. We had dinner Friday night with our friends Chris, Janice, Courtney, and Brock. Chris and Janice are expecting their first child January 3rd.

Me and Jennifer

Courtney and Brock

Janice and Chris

After dinner the couples who were not pregnant headed to the bar...where we met up with Jennifer's brother Nathan and his friends. It was a good time and involved lots of alcohol. I won't bore you with details, but a good time was had by all....and the night finished with Jennifer and Nathan joining the band up on stage :)

John, Pam, George, and Granny Justice

On Christmas morning we celebrated with John, Pam, Nathan, Jennifer, and myself. Lots of good presents exchanged. That afternoon we went to the Justice grandparents house to meet the rest of the Justice family. We had a huge feast with all of the traditional Christmas fixings. It was a great day with family!

Annual Western North Carolina Duck Hunt

Nathan and TK

On Friday December 23rd my buddy Nathan and I took our annual trip to the Pigeon River in Western North Carolina for some duck hunting. We hopped in our canoe and hit our favorite spot. The day was a great success....we didn't flip the canoe over and we bagged some ducks. Nathan and I ended up bagging 6 ducks in total. Good eating!

Christmas in NC - Kiser Family

Laura and Patrick

Jennifer and I left Denver for north Carolina after I finished attending the ICAAC meeting in D.C. We headed to the great city of Asheville, NC on Tuesday December 20th. We stayed with my sister Laura and her husband Joe....our niece Melissa and nephew Patrick were also there. We spent time with Mom and Granny and Papaw on Tuesday night. Mom cooked up some great food for us! We also exchanged some presents.

Dad and Wendy

On Wednesday we hung out with my Dad and Wendy. Dad took us all out to the Outback Steakhouse (Dad's favorite). We ate until we almost burst, then went back to Laura and Joe's to exchange some presents. More gifts woohoo!

Uncle Bill and Mom

On Thursday we got the whole gang together for a dinner at Laura and Joe's house. It was a lot of fun. My Uncle Bill shared a slide show of his trip to Africa with us....really cool.

Uncle Bill, Ricky, Mom, Sarah, and Savannah

ICAAC Meeting - Washington D.C.

I was in Washington D.C. December 16-19th for the 45th annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. I had to present some research that our group did on the use of valganciclovir and ganciclovir in lung transplant recipients.
I got to meet up with some of my other healthcare friends for a few drinks, but nothing major to report. Saw some of DC, but since I had done it all before didn't really do too much of the tourist stuff. Didn't see the President or many politicians for that matter....they must have already started their vacations for the holidays.
I think this was my 8th meeting away from Denver this year, so I am just about over them. I have one more in January, after that I think I am home free until March or April. Time to hang out and enjoy Denver for a while.

Imperial Express Lift - Breckenridge Ski Resort

I got to ski Breckenridge Ski Resort on Sunday after a total of 2-3 feet of new snow over the previous 4 days. About noon on Sunday they opened their brand new lift, the Imperial Express Lift. This is the highest lift in North America, taking you to the top of Peak 8 at 12,840 feet above sea level. A thumbs up to Breckenridge for making this a High Speed Quad and placing it in the sheltered gully of the Imperial Bowl (There was almost not wind during the lift ride). It only takes 3 minutes to get to the Peak. Although I am sure the purest would still rather take the 45 minutes hike to the top. The lift stops about 100 yards from the top so hike it if it makes you feel better.
Only the imperial bowl was open for skiing. The Lake Chutes were roped off. The skiing was great with untouched powder. The wind had provided deep deposits on the West side of the bowl. A short run to the bottom of the lift, but fun. Add in a tree run to the east of lift six for some extra good riding.
Needless to say, it was very cold above 12,000 feet (0 degrees, with wind gusts of 30+ miles/hour), but it was well worth it. Take the appropriate gear and you will have no problems. It was a great day to try out my new K2 Seth Vicious skis! Looks for more skiing info coming in future posts....

Tarheels beat #10 Kentucky, 83-79

The young but talented Tarheels beat the #10 Kentucky wildcats on Saturday 83-79. Hopefully they will continue to improve and inch back into the AP Top 25. I think we will see a suprisingly good season from this young Tarheel squad.
The Denver UNC-CH Alumni Club met at Lodo's Bar and Grill in Downtown Denver to cheer on the heels (Yes they serve beer that early - just for us) . A great day for the Tarheels.

Thanksgiving with the Justice Family in San Diego

A fun visit with the Justice family in San Diego. Thanks to my brother-in-law Nathan for letting us stay at his crib. We spent the day at the lake and enjoyed some time on the SkySki.

Nathan getting inverted...and smiling for the camera. The first of many "Go Big, or Go Home" pictures to be published on this blog.

Bobby and Natalie are having a Boy!

Congratulations to our friends Bobby and Natalie! They just found out they will be having a baby boy next spring.

24 hours of Moab

I am posting this one a little late, but we had a great time competing in the 24 hours of Moab Race. We finished 44th in the men's sport division. Our team name was Rx for Pain. A great weekend filled with hard riding, beer guzzling, and a few minor accidents. Thanks to Steve's wife Kathy for the extra water and food! I would say that this will be an annual event for us. Look for my October post next year to see how we did in 2006!

Training Day: Dugan Climbing a 30+ degree Slick Rock in Moab

Trygve Hutto getting ready for the Mass Sprint Start to the race.

Dugan and Steve on top of the RV: Like I said, beer drinking was involved...

TK: Don't look down!

Labor Day Trip to NC

Dugan and Cori

We introduced Casey Dugan and his wife Cori to Western North Carolina over the labor day weekend. The trip was fun filled with a trip to the lake, biltmore estate winery, Land Rover 4 wheeling adventure, and topped off with a shot of Tennessee Mountain Fire Water (Homemade Moonshine form the mountains of Haywood County, NC) which came with a chemistry lesson from Colonel Brooks.

Dugan navigating the Land Rover

Deepak and Tyler

Deepak managed to get in a little trouble with Officer Trantham of the Waynesville PD. Don't worry, he was released shortly after.

Road Racing Season Ends

We finished our road racing season in August this year so we could start hitting the Mountain Bike hard in preparation for the 24 hours of Moab Race. The last race was the Deer Trail road race just east of Denver. This race is put on by our team: Swift Cycling. Dugan finished 6th and I finished 7th in the Cat 4's. Overall not a bad season. Time to start the winter training!

Virgin Blogger Entry

This is a first for me. But I was inspired by my good buddy Casey www.2wheelmotion.blogspot.com Hopefully this will be a fun way to document our many adventures around the Mile High City! So family, friends, and visitors...Enjoy!!!