AtomJohnson Blog

I am uber jealous.  Ben got an iPhone.  It is every bit as amazing as it looks.  It is one of the few things I’ve ever seen that exceeds the hype.  Most important, the glass surface makes it very easy to wipe off drool.

After freaking out trying to get my work done on Wednesday, I was able to clear out enough of my schedule to spend Thursday at Rocky Mountain National Park with Whitney. With no time to adjust to the altitude, we decided to take a long driving tour through the park rather than attempting a hike. This turned out to be a great choice as the Trail Ridge Road is incredible! I would definitely recommend you take a jacket if you ever go. I was not aware that we’d be entering a Tundra ecosystem. It is best to dress for a Tundra when entering a Tundra.

Whitney arrived yesterday for visit #2 to Colorado this year. As an emergency room nurse, she works very odd hours, so she usually gets very odd times off as well. This time she was able to come visit Tuesday through Friday. It makes it a bit tough to manage with my work schedule, but I think we’ll still manage to have a great time.

Last night we went to Red Rocks for their Film on the Rocks series. The feature last night was Sixteen Candles. In true 80’s fashion, they had a band called Mr. Pacman open. If I ever get married, there is no doubt that I want this band to play the reception….and possibly even the ceremony.

Yesterday Jill and I hit the road at 6:45am in an attempt to get up to Rocky Mountain National Park early for a hike. I was surprised that it only took about an hour from Boulder to get to the trailhead. We stuck to the southern part of the park in the Wild Basin area. The hike was gorgeous! We were next to water the entire time and saw several cascades and waterfalls. We hiked from the Wild Basin trailhead to Copeland Falls, Calypso Cascades, Ouzel Falls, and finally had lunch at Ouzel Lake. We decided not to attempt another 2 miles to Bluebird Lake, which turned out to be the right decision. After 10 miles of hiking, another 4 just might have killed me.

Ben and I loaded up the dogs this morning and headed up for some hiking in the Indian Peaks Wilderness.  Despite a decent amount of foot traffic on the mountain, it was a gorgeous hike.  Tomorrow morning I’m heading up to Rocky Mountain National Park for the first time….can’t wait!

While I love going down to Santa Fe to visit Andy and Debby, the trip usually means that I’ll be returning several pounds heavier. Debby is potentially the best (and most prolific) chef in the world. Every time I go down there, each meal weighs at least 17 pounds. This is 17 pounds of total deliciousness. I love it, but I can’t be around it too long, or I will return to my college playing weight of 240lbs….all muscle ; )

This week Debby brought the show up to Colorado. I was invited on Wednesday night to Denver for Greek night at Mike and Ashley’s. Thinking I was safe from Debby’s culinary temptations, I drove on down. Well, I ate so much, I literally broke the chair I was sitting in. Mike and Ashley claimed it was old…but, the chair told a different story. Later that night, I returned to Boulder….four and a half pound heavier. Debby…thanks again for a delicious meal!!!

This past weekend didn’t even seem real to me. It was one of those weekends where I kept having to pinch myself to ensure I wasn’t dreaming. Jill managed to score me a ticket to the Aspen Food and Wine festival. So, I packed my liver and my road bike into the car on Friday and headed down to Aspen. The trip down was fantastic! As gorgeous as this area of the country is, it is finally starting to feel like home. I am no longer observing it as a visitor, but finally as a resident. It is still awe inspiring, but I feel a bit more like I belong here now.

I arrived in Aspen around 12pm on Friday and immediately met up with Laura for a quick bike ride. I had to be back in town by 3pm to meet up with Jill for the Ming Tsai cooking demo. I had never seen Ming, but I must say I was impressed. It was a hilarious intro to what lay ahead of me for the weekend. After the show, we headed over to the main tent for the Grand Tasting. The Grand Tasting is two enormous circus tents on the rugby fields in downtown Aspen filled with free wine, liquor, beer and gourmet foods. It was like nothing I’ve experienced before. Once we had secured a decent buzz, we walked back to Mike and Laura’s house to help them get through a pitcher of mojitos. I help were I can….

Saturday promised to be even more amazing than Friday. We woke up early-ish and hopped on the bikes to ride up to the Maroon Bells. The Maroon Bells are the most photographed mountains in Colorado. The road up to them is closed to all auto traffic except the shuttle buses and the limited number of cars able to secure a permit. This allowed us to ride four riders abreast up to the Bells without having to worry about traffic. I can’t wait to ride it this fall when the Aspen are changing.

After the ride, Jill and I went and saw Emeril Lagasse followed by Bobby Flay. Following that was another few hours at the Grand Tasting and then more wine and bubbly at Pacifica. Mike and Laura showed up early to Pacifica and scored the best table on the patio. We had a front row seat to the best people watching in the state. My favorite celebrity spotting was Ted from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. With the confidence that can only be had by too many glasses of wine, I yelled, “Hey Ted…”. Rather than just waving and walking by, he came over, chatted and posted for photos. He wins my favorite celebrity at Food and Wine award.

The rest of the night is a bit fuzzy. The photos tell me that we played pool and foolishly consumed more beer. The marks on my cheek Sunday morning tell me that I passed out on the couch. The ridiculous hangover told me to skip any sort of tasting on Sunday.

Thank you to Mike and Laura for the amazing hospitality! Thank you Jill for letting me experience this amazing event and for being my partner in crime through the entire gluttonous weekend!

See the rest of the pics here…

The trip to Atlanta was as good as could be expected considering the circumstances for the sudden trip. I arrived on Wednesday to an incredible southern meal provided by good friends of my parents. We had baked chicken, black-eyed peas, navy beans, collard greens, fried green tomatoes, squash casserole and cornbread. My mothers’s cousin had driven in from New York for the funeral and must have left thinking that we (Southerners) always eat like that. For dessert we had peaches, chewing tobacco and GA peanuts ; )

The funeral service was wonderful. The pastor told us all of Nanny’s love for her family. She recalled how she and Papa met 62 years ago on a train travelling across the country during the war. My grandfather spotted her and never let her out of his sights the rest of the trip. She called him her shadow. Shadow or not, it certainly seems to have worked. After the service, she was lowered into her final resting place about 3 feet away from Papa.

In talking with Natalie about Nanny, Natalie’s first recollection was how proud she was of her time in Service during the war. She always wore and often showed off her necklace made of her “Women in Service” commemorative coin. You can see the necklace below.

After the funeral, Scott and I headed up to Lake Burton. My grandfather built a modest cabin on the lake over 40 years ago. Since then, Lake Burton has become the premiere destination for second homes in Atlanta. Everyday someone buys a small cabin for millions, knocks it down and puts up a house the size of a small hotel.

Unfortunately, our 1970s lake cabin (complete with green shag carpet) flooded this winter and we were forced to tear it down to the studs and start fresh. I am relieved that we kept a modest footprint, but updated the house where it makes sense. The results are incredible. I can’t wait to spend another week there in late July.

I am in Atlanta under somewhat sad circumstances. My final surviving grandmother passed away last Friday evening. She was sitting in her chair watching television with her caretaker, Valerie, and I guess she just decided it was time to join Papa in heaven. I can’t say that I blame her. I miss him too. She was married to him for over 60 years, so you can imagine how empty it must be without him.

I miss Nanny dearly. I really expected to see her when I came home this Spring. It is hard to believe that I am here to say my final good bye. I will always have such wonderful memories of being at Nanny’s house. Any of my friends who had the honor to meet her always ask how she is doing and tell me to tell her hello. Nanny loved her family so much. She was so loving and nurturing. I remember that she always fussed at me for refusing mayonnaise on my sandwich. One thing you could guarantee from a trip to Nanny’s house is that you would not go away hungry. I always had to refuse a second or third piece of carrot cake.

I would give anything right now to be able to share just one more piece of cake with her. Rest in peace Nanny….we love you!

Illegal Pete’s Fish Tacos, Powell’s Sweet Shop, and darts at Pearl St. Pub.