3wing - Mark and Liz Ewing's Blog of Life in Crested Butte, CO

Netflix Friends?

2009-06-01T15:53:00.001-07:00

Anyone want to be friends on Netflix so we can see what everyone is watching?? Come on--- it'll be fun!

http://www.netflix.com/BeMyFriend/P6HT6V35dIwCmELdpyUn

Whitewater Rafting!

2009-06-01T15:00:00.003-07:00

Here are some photos from yesterday morning on the river - I've been giving out free rafting to anyone that can make it up here - so GET UP HERE! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21488&id=1528307561&l=2263a5fd93

I decided to take the job as the Mountain Bike Patrol Foreman - so that should be fun. Hopefully I'll have some time to raft still cause it IS FUN!!

A few pictures and a short update:

2009-05-25T21:32:00.002-07:00

Photos from our snowmobile skiing mission up to Irwin in late April - it was a blast - and a great way to celebrate Carson's birthday - and my birthday - cause the entire month of April was devoted to that...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20886&id=1528307561&l=36101198c6

Here are some photos from our Cottonwood pass ski trip this past weekend... it was horrendous skiing. The pass officially opened this weekend - but much to our chagrin - it appeared as if the pass had actually been open for a few weeks - simply without the "official" accreditation which meant we missed out on all the snow... I think we had to ski it just to justify the drive...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20882&id=1528307561&l=cb02658073

Here's the latest:
There's turmoil at the medical clinic where Liz works - let's all hope things start to turn around - Liz would be happy to give you an update. I've been taking a whitewater rafting guide school for the last few weeks - it's been a blast - now it's time to make some money doing it... although I've been offered a position on Mountain Bike Patrol for the ski resort - which would be fun - and it's 40 hours a week - compared to the lowly status of 1st year river guide wherein I MAY get 2-3 days a week of work... tough decisions I tell you.

Charley is doing great - we're doing great - the rain has been relentless the last few days (which makes for cold soggy rafting) but it makes our garden grow (as long as it doesn't turn to snow) - Life is GOOD! Come visit us this summer!

Turning 30 and the last few weeks...

2009-04-27T12:31:00.002-07:00

It's been a fun last few weeks here - skied the Red Lady, went to Moab with a fun group of people, acted as ski patrol for the latest Matchstick Productions Ski Movie (they built a huge jump on the mountain), and just got back from a birthday weekend on the frontrange!

I've posted a bunch of pictures on our picasa page - check em out:

Skiing Red Lady:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/RedLady0409#

Our Moab Trip:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/Moab0409#

Patrolling for the MSP Shoot:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/MSPPhotoShoot42009?authkey=Gv1sRgCMvd0uGBkNirWA#

Off to France next ski season!

2009-04-07T14:12:00.002-07:00

We had our end of the year banquet the other night - Liz had to hand over her Part-timer of the year trophy to the new part-timer (Matt Brown) and I was awarded the rookie full-timer of the year - fun stuff. Had some stiff competition including one of our new avalanche rescue puppies.

I was asked by patrol to represent Crested Butte on our ski patrol exchange with Courchevel in France. We send a patroller there for a season - and they send one here. We're working out the details - but it sounds like Liz and I are going to France for all of next ski season!!! So get your passports and come visit!!!

As of now Charley is coming with us - apparently the EU is quite dog friendly - (ie allowed on all trains and most restaurants - no quarantine either!!) The place that they put us up in is apparently a 2 bedroom apartment at the base of the ski area so it sounds like we may have a guest room!!!

We'll keep you updated!

Another Season Ends...

2009-04-07T13:22:00.002-07:00

How quickly the season flew by! Here are pictures from the last day of the season - it was a blast - I took the day off and we did it up Crested Butte style!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17097&id=1528307561&l=d4c450dca7

The Elk Mountain Grand Traverse

2009-04-07T12:58:00.002-07:00

Here are some photos from our stint up at the Friend's Hut - 13 miles of slogging through 20" of fresh snow to be the medical support for the craziest ski race of all time... it's a 46 mile backcountry ski race from Crested Butte to Aspen - starting at midnight and going until the last teams arrive in Aspen - the winners made the trip in just over 9 hours this year... incredible!

We skied up a few days early to help set up and to get some backcountry laps in - we broke trail through deep powder only to have the winds scour everything the first night we were up there - leaving us with breakable wind crust (not the best skiing). We still had an incredible time - enjoy the pictures!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=16581&id=1528307561&l=feb2a93423

A video

2009-03-23T18:38:00.001-07:00

Here's a video from that day on Whetstone:

Remember to look at http://www.mark-ewing.com if you can't see the video in the email that this blog sends to you.

Some Photos

2009-03-23T18:33:00.002-07:00

Here are some photos from last weekend's backcountry ski trips:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/SkiingMtWhetstoneBackCountry031609#

http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/CoonAndWolverineBasinsBackCountry031709#

Interesting Video

2009-03-13T21:41:00.002-07:00

If you pay attention at all to the stock market...

Ross and Meghan Visit

2009-03-11T20:15:00.003-07:00

Here are some photos of Ross and Meghan's visit to CB:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/MeghanRossSkiVaca#

We had a blast with them - incredible weather and great snow - it snowed two nights and we had blue bird days every single day!!

Sorry we haven't been updating the blog lately. Busy busy busy!

Update:
I passed my explosives exam.
Patrolling has been incredible. Went to A-basin on patrol exchange - which was a lot of fun.
Liz and I are doing great - life is good here in CB!
Charley is a happy dog.
The season ends in early April and I have no summer job lined up yet... yikes.
Liz and I are doing the medical control for the Grand Traverse again this year - which will be fun.

Hope you all are doing well!

In-sync days off!! Finally!!

2009-02-03T17:45:00.002-07:00

SO, Mark and I finally had a day off together and guess what we did.....we went backcountry skiing!
We had friends staying in the Gothic hut near our house who invited us to come and spend the night and ski with them. We left promptly at 5:30 pm after work and had a wonderful 3.5 mile ski into the hut in the moonlight. It was quite a surprise to everyone at that point because they figured that we were not coming. The night was spent helping the crew that had been there for 3 days finish their food and drink so they did not have to carry it out. We did a good job of that! We spent time with Jessie, Liz's Boulder roommate (she introduced Mark and I), and met other great people. We crashed that night in a pretty posh "hut" if you could call it that! Normally the huts we have been to in the past have only a wood burning stove, no running water. This place had a stove, microwave (gasp!), in floor heat and a shower. It still had an out house, sorry no heated seat!
This morning we skied out and hiked up Snodgrass mountain for some fresh powder turns. It was great! It was a refreshing little get away. Now back to work tomorrow. Here are a few photos! More can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12032&l=6971d&id=1528307561 Let us know if the link doesn't work. Love you all!

Happy New Year - a tad late.

2009-01-20T22:00:00.002-07:00

Things here are good - patrolling has been fun - though full time on the hill can be pretty tiring at times. We had a great New Year - The Heard played (they played at our wedding) at the Eldo here in town - here are some pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10313&l=8f9fe&id=1528307561

We're lacking a bit of snow lately - but that's typical for January - looks like the weather is supposed to shift for the weekend which will be nice. Despite our lack we still have around 3 feet or so on the ground still... good stuff.

I'm contracted to take some photos from a helicopter of the X-games in Aspen this weekend - that'll be fun.

I take my blaster's certification test on Thursday - hopefully I pass.

IPS has downsized again - it's a bummer to hear how the economy is affecting everyone and everything - hopefully this new administration will be able to right this slowly sinking ship....

We're doing well - and we hope you all are too!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2008-12-23T17:05:00.008-07:00

With the addition of Facebook and it's simplicity of use - our blog has fallen by the wayside - and we apologize!

We've been doing well - we had a great Turkey Day here in the Butte and we're coming up on Christmas here with the local family of friends.

We made it back East for an early Christmas and East Coast reception with those that couldn't make the haul out here for the wedding. We had a blast with everyone and were so happy that everyone came to see us! Christmas was fun with the family - getting to hang out with my brother and his family was incredible - my two nieces are growing up so quickly!!

We made it back despite all the snow and we're getting back into the winter grind. Patrolling has been fun - though I did have an exciting first week of work which included flipping a snowmobile (with our paraplegic Dispatcher holding on to the back), helping with a broken Tibia, a broken spine, and finally getting caught in an avalanche. I figure I'll get the worst of it out in the first week!! There are some pictures posted of an avalanche route from last year - and the slide from this year.

The story of the slide - My route partner and I set off a large explosive at the top of the run which produced no results in the snowpack. We then started ski cutting the slope - on my second cut across the slope - the entire chute ripped out above and below me and swept me to the bottom of the run taking me beneath a tree which you can see in the photos at the bottom of the chute. I was left at the bottom with one arm and my head above the snow debris. Scary stuff.

We've been getting pummeled with snow which is great! Liz and I celebrated our 6 month anniversary the other day - fun stuff!! Now I'm off to shovel the 5 foot berm that the snow plow created!!

We love you all! Merry Christmas!! Come visit - flights into Gunnison are dirt cheap right now!

The pictures can be found here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/Teo2March08#

http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/ElevatorShaftSlide122008#

Hiking, Skiing, and EAST COAST RECEPTION!

2008-11-16T20:07:00.003-07:00

Things have been good here other than Liz getting a tad sick yesterday and today - I have faith it'll be gone soon though!

We've been in patrol training full-time for the last few days - it ends on Tuesday and then the season starts about a week later. I accepted a four day a week full-time position with patrol for the season - so that should be fun.

The dogs and I climbed Purple a few weekends ago - then it snowed a ton - and so we went skiing yesterday up Mt. Baldy - which is one of the mountains that make up Paradise Divide (the backdrop for our wedding) - it was great! The snow was so so - but there were a lot of people out there enjoying the sun and the snow! Charley had her first backcountry skiing day and she did awesome. She's a mountain dog through and through!

Mountain biked today with the guys down in Gunnison where it is still 50+ degrees and SUNNY!!

There are cheap flights into Gunnison right now - so come out and ski!! We'll be back in PA the 9th-16th for an East Coast reception and for an early Christmas with the Ewings - so if you're around come join us on the 13th (Saturday night) around 7pm for a raucous East Coast wedding reception (no gifts expected!)

Hopefully we'll see you all soon! Click on the pictures below to see the whole albums.

From skiing baldy 111508

From Purple Mountain Hike 102908

Mt. Avery Hike

2008-10-27T21:46:00.002-07:00

Still no Cambodia - there are sooo many pictures of temples - it's hard to decide!

So this past Sunday we hiked up Mt. Avery just outside of the small mining town of Gothic - which is just NE of Crested Butte - a 15 minute drive or so. We brought the dogs and had an incredible time.

It's one of those peaks that you look at from the bottom and always dream of hiking to the top of it - it's got a shear red face that is unlike any mountain in the area - it's been beckoning since we moved here and we summited it on Sunday!

Once on top you could see all of the surrounding peaks including at least 3 of Colorado's fourteeners. It was a gorgeous day.

All the rest of the photos can be found here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/MtAvery102608

From Mt Avery 102608

both parties - clear and simple

2008-10-18T23:46:00.003-07:00

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/news/0806/gallery.election_issues/index.html

From what appears to be a very unbiased - non-partisan perspective, this website gives you a clearer idea of each party's economic policies.

Liz's Birthday Hike

2008-10-16T16:41:00.002-07:00

Here are some pics from our lovely hike up to Scarp's Ridge on the 14th (Liz's Birthday - put it on your calendars ;)
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/LizSBirthday08

We had a great time - the goal was to follow the ridge all the way to the top of Mt. Emmons (the mountain that overlooks town otherwise known as the Red Lady) - but alas the birthday girl sprained her ankle and we had to turn around early.

Regardless of the injury we had a blast and then we had Sushi followed with Cake and Ice cream - YUM!!

Happy Birthday Honey!

I'm still getting around to Cambodia and Bangkok - patience please... ;)

Fall Colors

2008-10-16T16:24:00.002-07:00

We made it back just in time for some fall colors - we may have caught the peak on Kebler but most of the leaves in town were already gone...

Here's the link to some pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/Fall08

I know I know, I haven't even uploaded the last of the photos from Cambodia and Thailand... but there are SOO many of them - I'll get around to editing and all of that here soon!

We're back! A few videos...

2008-10-11T13:15:00.003-07:00

We're back in Crested Butte! It's been nice to be home - we've been readjusting for a week or so - getting used to the time change and the altitude. Our own bed and pillows have been great though! Seeing Charley for the first time was incredible! She was soooo excited to see us - we love her!!

Liz is back to work already at the clinic - meanwhile I'm assessing my options - Ski Patrol starts in less than a month and I've already signed up for a bunch of ambulance shifts - however - neither of those pay very well. So we'll see! May do some consulting for a search company or two. Meanwhile the aerial photography is still plugging along - it even made us some cash while we were away which is nice.

Here's a video from the Band of Horses show in Sydney - it was sold out but we waited in line and got tickets 6 and 7 of the 10 that they released at the door. It was a great show:

Here's a video of Liz getting kisses from the elephants in Chiang Mai Thailand!! FUN STUFF! What a crazy sensation to have elephant trunks kissing you!

Enjoy! I'll be posting more videos and more pics! Just what you were hoping for!!

Sawa-dee Ka from Chang Mai, Thailand!!

2008-09-22T02:26:00.008-07:00

So we left the sand and sea to head north into the jungles of Thailand. Recommendations brought us to a city named Chang Mai. It's definitely not a small city but very relaxed with a lot of fun things to do!

We arrived by plane and headed to a guest house that two separate people have recommended along our journey. Man were we spoiled!! For very cheap we had a huge room, air conditioning, hot water and a TV that even played shows in English! Sripoom Guesthouse for all you traveling to Chang Mai!! It was so good that we just kept extending our stay and even extended our flight by dropping Hong Kong off the schedule. It'll have to be a separate trip.

Our first day in Chang Mai we signed up for a Thai cooking class!! YAY!! We both love Thai food and now we know how to cook it and cook it well (so come visit and we'll cook for you!)! We were picked up and taken to a local market where we learned about different types of rice and how to prepare them. Also about picking out our other ingredients. The class was held 30 mins out of the city on an organic farm that grew all their own herbs, which we learned about and picked. We spent the day learning how to cook from a cute little Thai lady and then we ate and ate and then cooked some more and ate. Then we took our LEFTOVERS back to the guesthouse and put them in our little fridge (can you believe it, we had a little fridge in our room!!)!! Eventually we ate all those leftovers for snacks and breakfast! YUMMM!!

Our next day in Chang Mai we spent being Mahouts, which means elephant trainers! We were picked up early from our guesthouse and brought to a wholesale banana market to get bananas for our very large friends. I have never seen that many bananas in one place, but we left with buckets full and lots of sugar cane too. From there we headed north for about an hour to a small elephant camp. This place was unique because they only kept 6 elephants and didn't use them for endless tourist trekking but instead used them to train us, I mean we train them no no wait they train us.....So anyway, we spent the morning first gaining the trust of the elephants, insert bananas and sugar cane, then we learned how to get on and off them and next we learned commands to drive our elephants! Kinda like houseback, I mean horseback riding!! This was all very tiring in the hot sun so we took a break for lunch and relax time. After lunch we hopped up on our elephant and put our new skills to use. Did I mention that we had to learn all the commands in Thai? luckily, we had a real Mahout walking near by to help when we couldn't get it right. At the end of our walk we took the elephants right to the river for a bath, their favorite part of the day and ours at this point too. It was sooo hot! We were able to jump right in and scrub the pachyderms while they splashed and sprayed water back. It was a wonderful day!

The next day we were sooo sore from elephant riding that we slept in and relaxed. The afternoon we spent walking around to all the local Wats (temples) and exploring. We even took in a movie at the Cinema, which is a great experience because first, they over air condition the place so that you're shivering and getting hypothermia by the time the previews are done. Second, Thais LOVE their king, so before the movie everyone stands and watches a 5 min. movie about the king, then the real movie plays.

The next day we again took it easy walking around to all the markets and exploring. Mark's tummy wasn't feeling very well so we've been just laying low. Last but not least today we just completed a Thai massage class taught by a little lady named Aree! We learned a ton but left with books and a DVD to learn more. We both need lots of practice so we could use people to practice on when we get home!!

Today we got our visas to Cambodia and plan to head there on the 24th. In a couple hours we're going to hop on a night bus to Bangkok, stay there a day and then catch a bus to Cambodia to explore Angkor Wat (one of the seven man made wonders of the world). We'll be staying at the Golden Temple guesthouse per Nikki's recommendation!! After a few days touring the temples it's back to Bangkok for us then a couple days later home to the good old U. S. A!!

So here they are.....THE PHOTOS!! Enjoy! http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/ChiangMaiThailand

PHOTOS!!

2008-09-18T08:12:00.002-07:00

Finally found a computer that works!!

Ko Phan Gan, Thailand:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/KoPhangan

Ko Phi Phi, Thailand:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/KoPhiPhi

Railay, Thailand:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/RailayThailand

Perhentian Islands, Malaysia:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/PerhentianIslands

Cameron Highlands, Malaysia (and the end of Bali):
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/CameronHighlands

Happy viewing - don't forget your tea, coffee, or drink of some sort!! There are a lot of photos! COMMENT ON THEM TOO!! Or send us an email!!! We miss hearing from everyone!

Catching up...

2008-09-17T05:43:00.013-07:00

So we have a really good excuse for not keeping up on our updates.....we've been on the islands and the internet is expensive and slow (tough life, huh). So where to start...I guess where we left off.
Malaysia-
from Singapore we jumped on an overnight bus to the Cameroon Highlands of Malaysia. We left the city and woke to sunrise of steep foggy lush green mountains. We jumped off the bus at 6 am ready to be surrounded by touts trying to bring us to their hotel of choice like usual but instead we found peaceful chilly empty streets. We actually had to search out our own guest house. So after getting lost and ending up at a convent we found a wonderful little guest house set up on a hill.

From there we did a jungle trek to Robinson waterfall our first day even though after walking all over Singapore we decided to walk some more, then hitchhiked home with a very nice man who caught us up on Malaysia's political situation.

The next day we rented a motorbike and scooted all over the valleys. Our first stop was one of the many tea plantations. This area was occupied by the British at one point and we all know how much the British love their tea! It was beautiful to see the tea growing on every available inch of hillside and learning about how it is harvested and dried and packaged all in the same place. From there we broke the scooter shops rule and drove up the highest mountain in the area (this scooted had more power then the one in Bali and lucky for Mark there was no walking involved on the up hill!). We caught a quick glimpse of the area before the clouds moved in.

We headed down the mountain to tour around all the quirky roadside attractions all afternoon. We stopped by a butterfly garden which didn't have much in the way of butterflies but had many beautiful flowers and strange tropical jungle insects (yuck!) Somehow a friendly Malay man decided to put a huge scorpion on my shoulder before I got to say no. It wasn't horrible, I just thought it was going to crawl down my shirt! By the way did you know that scorpions don't have eyes? Crazy! From there we drove on down the road to a hydroponic organic strawberry farm. It was great! We picked and snacked on berries while it down pored outside. At this point of the trip we have entered southeast Asia monsoon season, which we knew was coming and hasn't been that bad. Once the rain stopped we made our way to a neat little Chinese owned orchid farm (if only we could grow orchids like that!!) tucked away that we had hiked by the previous day. It was amazing and we took way too many photos so we'll have to pick out the best of the best. We may have picture of every flower in the joint, they were all so beautiful!
By this time it was getting late and had to return in the scooter and sit down to some fabulous Indian food. The next day we loaded into a series of cramped hot mini buses to headed out to our next Malaysian destination.

We then went to the Perhentian Islands where I got a bit sick - a cold and then some bad #2 related most likely to some curry. I dove regardless being that that was why we had gone there and I ended up not having the best dives - having a stuffy nose and a bloated stomach doesn't make for a comfortable dive experience 60-90 feet underwater... we dove a wreck and a large underwater pinnacle - plus the visibility wasn't incredible and we've been quite spoiled with our dives. The Wreck was cool though and we did see some eels and a 3 legged turtle that they call Tripod. We met a great couple from the Czech Republic (who unfortunately also ate the same curry) and had a great time having dinner with them every night. We also met two American girls (Americans have been few and far between on our travels) that we ended up making the long trek west that I'll describe next:

We then had a long journey to the west coast of Thailand completely circumnavigating south eastern Thailand due to the unrest and violence there. What really happened was our direct thru mini bus stopped and dropped us at a tourist desk in a totally random city -we were scammed!! our 5 hour trip turned into 9 with a two our layover with many other pissed off foreigners at this tourist desk. Once we were picked up we did rounds around the town for an hour till the driver filled the van, then we drove north. This is a common scam in Thailand with the bus companies. I do think that we're getting better at dealing with the hasslers though. Thailand doesn't seem to be as bad as Bali, we've attributed it to Bali being in tourist high season and Thailand being in off season.
- it took almost 2 days but we finally ended up in Railay Thailand which is famous for its rock climbing - which we did a good bit of - it was fun to rent shoes and gear and get back into it. And Liz had a blast which is always good for me! She led a route 6b route (similar to a 5.9 at home) and cleaned the entire thing - it was great to watch - I was proud!! Let me (Liz) add that Mark also jumped right up there and led a bunch of routes also with no fear and no problem. The Thai climbing guides climbing near by all complimented Mark's skill. I was proud too!!

We also did Deep Water Soloing - which is when you climb a cliff face that is overhanging deep water with no ropes - when you can't go any further - you jump off into the water - it was scary, nerve wracking and incredible! Went to a Thai kickboxing match as well - that was interesting to see. Plus we met some fun girls from Colorado there which was great to have a bit of interaction with people that know and love the mountains.

We then went to Ko Phi Phi (pee pee) where it rained and rained - but we hung out with the American girls from CO and played some UNO and partied a bit. Ko Phi Phi was ground zero of the tsunami but you would never know. They have rebuilt it up completely, kinda crazy to imagine. On our last day we decided to dive and the weather cleared up beautifully - the visibility was great and the sites were pretty spectacular - plus it was just Liz and I on the boat - which made for a pretty ideal day of diving - other than a REALLY LOUD long tail boat - which is a wooden boat with a car engine strapped to the back - with no muffler).

We left Ko Phi Phi on the west coast of Thailand to the gulf coast on the east. It's rumored that if it's monsooning on one side the other with be sunny and dry. We found it to be true. We hopped and bus to our first overnight ferry experience. We originally were a bit skeptical but it turned out great. Think mats on the floor all in a row. We applied the earplugs and were rocked to sleep by the waves! We woke at 5:30 am on the island of Ko Phan gan.

Ko Phan gan is know for it's Burning Man like full moon parties each month on the beach. We happened to be there at the right time, so when in Rome......It was an all night party with glowing body paint, sand buckets full of drinks, dance music and fire! We made it till 6 am while the party continued to 11 am the next day.

Lucky for us we found a great cheap bungalow within walking distance from the party but also tucked far enough away around a breezy rocky point (I think I failed to mention that there are also pre, post and half moon parties that happen. Party all the time!).So we spent the next day laying low on our hammock and didn't partake in the rage the next night so we could dive the next day.

So we were sad that this was our last dive of our trip but excited to go to this spot. Sail rock known as the best in the area with a vertical swim thru called the chimney which was fun but the visibility was not so great, lot of plankton in the water, kicked up from a recent storm. There was not much in the way of fish and coral viewing and we were diving again in the same spot after lunch on the boat. Our group all geared up jumped from the boat and followed the divemaster to the entry point. She had asked Mark and I to bring up the rear because we had a bit more experience the the rest of the group. As we descended waiting for the group to move along behind the divemaster we turned around to come face to face with a 33 foot long Whale Shark!! It was amazing and not a common sight. It swam a few curious circles around Mark and I within arms reach while the rest of our group was realizing what was there and swimming back towards us. It was one of the coolest experiences we both have ever had and we were so lucky to be in the right place at the right time!!! And just as quick as it appeared it was gone into the cloudy water. Mark, with the camera tried to follow, but got a little too overexerted. While diving you're supposed to use as least amount of energy as possible because of the carbon dioxide exchange and nitrogen in the tank. Mark went for a full out sprint, and felt it. We came up after that for a much needed breather.

The whale shark was the ultimate cap to our wonderful diving adventures, like it knew we were on our last dive, it came right to Mark and I kinda crazy, almost ran right into us!! We have been pretty lucky along the way seeing sun fish, manta rays, sea turtles and the rarest of the rare whale shark!! WOW, we might have to go from ski patrollers to dive masters!!

Now by night ferry, bus and plane we have made to the far north jungle of Chang Mai, Thialand. We're doing well - we're starting to get a bit anxious to be home - but not quite ready yet (although we're bummed that we're missing The Heard http://www.myspace.com/theheardrecords (the band from our wedding) play a huge show at the Eldo ( a bar in town ) for the Vinotok festival (pics from 2 years ago)- the one where they burn the grump... pretty big deal that they're headlining that night - we're proud - and sad to not be there. We miss Charley too....:(

We're taking a Thai cooking class tomorrow - mountain biking on Friday and working with elephants on Saturday... it should be fun. I think we'll then head to Cambodia for 2 or 3 days and then head back to Bangkok to fly out to Hong Kong and then back home - can't believe it's almost over!

Again we have a massive upload of photos to go along with this massive posting.
ENJOY!!

Here's a small dose of pictures: Gili Trawangan - Lombok Indonesia
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/GiliTrawanganLombok

Slow computer led to a picasa glitch so we'll get more every night as we have time.

Liz and Mark