Return of Wild Bill

Great news on the hiking front - long-time hiking companion, Wild Bill, who was sidelined all last year recovering from a torn Achilles Tendon, is back. He has been working hard to get back in the good graces of management here at Hiking Team de-I. So we gave him a test on the infamous Three Gun Springs Trail (I've written about this in the past because it climbs a thousand feet in one mile...that's steep). Bill passed with flying colors. This is the equivalent of either the Bills or the Bears actually having a quarterback! It's that exciting.

After a year of limited hikes, it's time to go back to attacking the significant climbs. With only a little time until the dissection, I need to get as much accomplished as I can and get myself in the best shape I can. Having someone working with you does wonders. I was almost skipping down the mountain (almost), I was so excited. Hopefully this will lead to some interesting new places with some nice new photo ops.

In the meantime we had a nice weekend. In spite of my posted photos I actually did a helluva a lot of work in So Cal and we delivered a lot of proposals which is great. I told Mrs. de-I we needed to go out for a date so when she picked me up on Friday at the airport we went out to dinner at a little place in Old Town called Restaurant Antiquity. It's been around for a long time, is noted for serving relatively classic dishes in a very quiet, romantic space - the ideal thing for a date. Prices aren't bad, I had a nice rack of Colorado lamb in a Catalonian sauce that was made with roasted tomatoes and roasted red pepper. I was skeptical about the sauce but it worked very well with the lamb. Wife had Tenderloin Henri IV, a classic rendition with a bacon wrapped tenderloin on artichoke leaves topped with an artichoke heart with a Bearnaise sauce. We had a nice Sonoma Pinot Noir with it. Scheduling a date for right off the plane may not seem like the best idea and for the first part I was a bit of crab. But half-way through the wine, we were very mellow and it ended up being a lovely evening.