Happy 4th!

Posted by admin on July 6, 2007 2:42 pm / 0 Comments

I hope you enjoyed a fun 4th of July holiday. I had a great one here in Aspen. It’s one of my favorite weeks of the summer. We attended the traditional 4th of July parade downtown Aspen. It’s a busy week in Aspen with cars everywhere, so we just ride our bikes and enjoy all the acitivites. We celebrated the 4th with an awesome dinner with our friends atop Aspen Mtn., and an unbeatable sunset fireworks show courtesy of Mother Nature. We rode our bikes home from town after dinner to catch the town fireworks show at the golfcourse. The fireworks were exploding over our heads as we rode past; I’ve never been so close.

My friend Jon and Missy and I were in Belgium last week for the “Sport and Transplantation Conference” in Leuven to explore the possibility of climbing Everest in 2009 to promote organ donation awareness. The team is serious about doing it and have invited me to participate. It’s a very interesting project that would undoubtedly demonstrate on an international stage the fact that transplant recipients can return to better than normal lives post transplant. I really enjoyed vising Belgium. Our friend Jacques took us on a tour of Brugge – the Venice of the North. What a cool town. I survived on a strict diet of Belgium chocolates, waffles, and beer. We met some cool new friends that participated in the conference and took in the sights with us.

Yesterday I attended the “Aspen Ideas Festival” sponsored by the Aspen Institute. I listened to Colin Powell and Tom Friedman, author of “The World is Flat.” Tom discussed his new book, “Green is the new Red, White and Blue.” He gave a great speech. Colin Powell is an incredibly intelligent man and a true American Hero. I was surprised how candid he was about the war and international politics. It really helped me to better understand what’s going on in the Middle East. Saturday I will listen to Bill Clinton. Last night I went to the “Social Distortion” concert at Belly Up. The most pit was off the hook. Not too many people from the “Ideas Fest.” were at the “Social D” concert last night – a little different crowd. Only in Aspen can you attend a lecture by Colin Powell in the afternoon and a punk concert at night. What a treat this week is in Aspen, just don’t try to drive your car. Enjoy summer!