Free Range Gavin

This is the first picture of Gavin driving away in our 2007 Subaru Outback all by himself!  It took a bit of time as he failed his driving test the first time due to slightly going over the speed limit and failing to come to a complete stop at a stop sign.  It was a bit disappointing for him, but his instructor helped him identify exactly what tripped him up and we scheduled a second test for the following week.  In the second test, he was hyper-focused on all of the details and passed with flying colors.  A quick jump over to the Golden DMV (because that's the only one we could find an available appointment at) and he was finally a Free-Range Gavin and could drive wherever he wanted to...all by himself. 

I remember this vividly from my own childhood, it was such a crazy feeling when you first start to drive by yourself.  Although cellphones change this a bit, I remember thinking I can go wherever I want to, and nobody will know where I am going.  It's also kind of scary as a parent because with great freedom comes great responsibility.  We hope he listens to our warnings and can stay safe!

CU Home Football Game

One thing that I have always loved to do is to go to CU football games.  We hadn't been to one in a fair amount of time because I don't have season tickets anymore.  However, Tara had some coworkers that had a hookup for us, and we were able to join for a game.  We got there early so that we could get the full experience.

As we got closer to game time the stadium started to fill in and the sun went down so we could enjoy the game.  It turned out to be quite the game as CU beat CSU 43-35 in double overtime with Shadeur Sanders leading us back to victory.  Way to pick a game to see!

Devil's Thumb Work Retreat

Almost every year, the IT department leadership at my company takes a multi-day off site to discuss strategy and important points of focus for the next year.  This year's retreat was back up at Devil's Thumb Ranch near Winter Park.  It's hard to beat the hotel accommodations there.  This is through the entranceway of the main lodge.

The highlight of the main lodge is this central gathering room where they serve food and have a bar and several fireplaces, the biggest being this massive one in the middle of the room that goes up three or four stories.  The other thing that is hard to understand is just the massive natural timbers used to support this immense structure.

Here is our meeting room for the week with room for about 20-25 people.  I had a section that I had to present on our project approval process, as well as changes to how we evaluate and determine project value to the company.  It turned out to be quite a lively session that went over by about 45 minutes of my allotted hour slot.

Here is my room, but it is fairly typical of almost all of them.  Each one with a fireplace and a nice lodge feel.

This is the view from the upper grounds overlooking a heated pool.  We caught this nice rainbow as the fall weather had started to roll in a bit towards the end of the week.