Hello all. This is Bill (Billy, BJ), once again. Today was my birthday, so supposedly it’s my “responsibility” to type today’s entry. Despite my continuing sore throat and four or five really strange bouts of hiccups today, my birthday was excellent. Actually, the sore throat is on its way out and that was birthday present enough. The hiccups were weird, though. They occurred at an astoundingly frequent pace, and sometimes were “double” hiccups. I guess probably a side effect of something I’m taking. Anyway, we got up today and had breakfast at the Eagle Diner in Eagle, CO where my parents used to live for a while. I had blueberry pancakes that seemed to have sprouted a burning candle and 4 singing waitresses, which was nice. We headed out from there and saw where my mom and dad used to live, etc., then headed through Glenwood Canyon towards the great town to Glenwood Springs. I love it. The canyon is awesome, as only slightly evidenced by the pictures below. It was the very last stretch of I-70 to be finished , and if you drive it you’ll see why. Pretty amazing. We saw big horned sheep, a.k.a. rams!

We got to Glenwood and kinda just putzed around. My mom got some new snow boots. We walked around downtown a bit, and went to a used bookstore for a good while. Cool place; the Book Grove. The woman working there was really nice, and I guess she is an author of children’s books. Check her site at www.cassysbooks.com, if you dig children’s books, which you might if you have kids. We got a call from my mom’s old friend Brian, who we’re going to stay with for a few days. We swung by one of my favorite places, “Charcoal Burger.” It’s one of the only places I’ll get a fast-food burger from. Totally worth it. Ate burgers in the car and headed to Brian’s to meet up with him. He’s got a great condo near the center of Glenwood and on the way to Sunlight mountain, the local ski area. My mom and I hung out for a bit while Brian went to officiate a test for some Karate students to advance. Brian is extremely accomplished at Karate, and is a successful Karate instructor. Later on, we met up with him at the base of The Iron Mountain Tram, a new aspect of Glenwood I’ve never experienced. This tram heads up one of the peaks just north of town to a restaurant on it’s summit. It was spectacular. You can look down the valleys to the west and the south to see the lights of the city flowing to convergence at either end, where the valleys turn from view. Our meal was great. I had pasta carbonara, which no sore throat can undermine. Moreover, miraculously, my apple pie dessert sprouted a candle of its own and, this time, a musician with a guitar and two singing waitresses. It was phenomenal(ly embarrassing). All in all, a fantabulous birthday. I was glad I could be with my mom for it, but sadly missed the rest of my family and my friends. I guess I’ll have to ski extra hard the next few days to forget how much I miss everyone! Anyhow, check these pics, y’all: