Work wanderings

 I have had a tough run of weather the past few months on my travels throughout the state weather wise.  Eastern Wyoming gets hammered with fire and brimstone this time of year it seems.  

This round...., thunder, lightening, and then, eventually, a massive snow storm.  Luckily for me, I was able to get home yesterday and the roads I was on didnt close.  

I was out on a bike ride near Torrington and snapped this of the lightening.  I was fortunate to get back to the car before the skies unleashed their true furry!  

 Literally what my 7 hour drive looked like yesterday.  Late April in  Wyoming.  

Big huge thanks to you Hannah for always being there to hang with Dash when I am gone and Chels has yoga commitments. 

Back in that fine fine saddle again...

Not because of lack of snow, but........, I officially put the sled in storage (fuel stabilizer in gas and deck off the truck) and the transition from one season to the next is happening.  That means......, back on the 450 steel horse once again!  Yahoo, its moto season.  It has been downright gross (it is April afterall) in Jackson the last few days, so, perfect excuse to drive over Togwotee and enter a different world in Dubois, WY.  Drew and I snuck a solid afternoon and evening mission in last night exploring the badlands just out of town.  

Drewski, pulling a third gear climb with Dubois in the background.  Hard to really appreciate just how steep this is!  

 

 Southern Utah??????, nope, literally a 20 minute drive from 10 foot snow banks.  

Yesterdays wildlife count........more buffalo than one could count, almost 200 elk hit on the drive home, one coyote, one moose, over 100 buffalo, and more deer than there are stars in the sky!  Just a typical spring day around the North American Serengeti, aka Jackson valley.  

 

Dry singletrack in April only a hour and a half away?  Yep. 

Another day in the life of.......

 Dashman, you have it well my friend, very well!   Being a kid in Jackson means you get to ride your bike to a national park five minutes from town via an awesome bike path that goes through an elk refuge.  Yep, things that only happen here, check!  Yesterday Dash and I clocked close to 40 miles just cruising around the valley on the paths looking for wildlife and enjoying the sunny weather.  

 A look of utter determination.  He is getting better at drinking on his own.  

PRetty sure he is understanding of just how cool it is to have GTNP in his backdoor. 

Yes please...

I had some work over in St. Anthony, ID today, luckily, a climb up to the top of the 'Ghee on the road bike was in order afterward for lunch hour!  Short sleeve 12 mile descent in April?  Yes, and please, and thank you. 

TNR

 We dodged storms and made the most of an unsettled April evening last night on the Tuesday night ride.  Ended up being a beautiful and awesome ride.  

Riding up the buttes in a tax bracket beyond all of our thresholds! 

Da weekend....

 A quick lil glance of Dash's Saturday this past weekend, in chronological order of goodness....

#1.  Hike up and ski Snow King.  

 #2.  Get dragged around in the sled even though there isn't any snow, trying to avoid dog poop land mines.  

#3.  Afternoon nap after all the fun. 

Uhhh-ohhh

Jail has never looked so darn adorable! 

Always tasty

 The weekly TNR (Tuesday Night Ride) was up in the park last Tuesday and will be for the next few until the road opens to cars on May 1st.  This sort of experience is almost indescribable, especially given how sweet it feels leaving the office and 15 minutes later being transported to another world.  

 It was damn chilly, but the lack of crowds and the views easily make up for it.  

One amazing gift.....

 It is sometimes almost easy to forget just how insanely talented Chelsea is on an artistic and creative level, until........ you go on a long walk with Dash and you come home and this is what she created!   Seriously, who does that in a couple of hours?  It is one of my bigger hopes that Chelsea's artistic abilities rub off on Dash, which I am sure they will because the two of them already craft together.  

Chels, you are amazing!  

 Dash, creating his first painting.  

Another one of Chels' recent creations.  Awesome huh!  Chels has been crushing it with canvas artwork throughout the winter and into the spring.  So rad to see. 

It is that time of year again...

 When you feel even luckier than what you normally do for living where we do!  Riding bikes in GTNP in April without cars is such a unique and awesome experience.  Holy I might say.....

Chels and Dash, solitude, mountains, hell yea.  

 Mid ride picnic.  

 Love this lil dude so much.  

 Was cool to have Dash join us on what is a ritual each and every spring.  

 The best.  

I had to climb a tree for this shot, but well worth if I dont say so myself! 

Same trip, different ride

 Found a sweet 50 mile out and back from Lander last week up to Atlantic City, WY (not to be confused with NJ!).  Awesome climb, super cool stretch of desolate hard top.  

 Gotta love "major" highways in Wyoming.  On the 25 mile ride back to town literally one car passed me.  

And guess who made an appearance for a night and day to keep me company!  The Cheerio bandit. 

Work wanderings

 Over the years I have traveled to every corner of Big Wonderful  Wyoming and just about all points in between.  This spring, I have 4 weeks of conferences in Lander.  Lander, WY is one hell of a great town.  It's closer to Jackson that most all  the rest of my travels, has good food and beverages, and awesome post work outdoor opportunities.  

Such as, road biking!  Last week I found the goods.  

 Towns east of the Continental Divide get rouge snow storms in the spring.  Lander had just received 30" the week before, most of which had melted from the roads.  

Still shredding

 Sledding season isn't finished yet!  Stil plenty of snow in the high country right now, and sun to be soaked up.  

 Lunch hour done right!  No tracks, half an hour from the grind.

 Riding sidehills on a sled makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.  

Dash doings.

 As Dash creeps up on his 14 month celebration, he just continues to get more and more fun!  

Smiles with Dash are not a problem.  

He essentially lives in his chariot.  I think he has been in in every day since last spring (no joke!).  

 

 No more snow in the backyard!  

 The loader is his favorite toy at the moment.

 And checking out books at the home library is a daily favorite activity.  

 This shot encapsulates all that is the wonderful Dashman!  

 Right......, so, when you use a product every day for a year straight, I guess things wear out?  Thanks to Thule for sending us a new wheel for free, if only you knew how happy this makes Dash!  

The Wyoming boy saying hello to another nice horse along the walking route.

One never knows....

 This time of year when your last powder turns of the season just might be.  If these were the last ones until November that we had last week, I could live with that, because damn were they tasty!  

A slice of awesome

 Dash, taking in the sights and sounds of his first hillclimb weekend.  

The JH hillclimbs really is an event like no other!  Pumped it got off this year after a hiatus last year due to low snow.  Always amazing, never dull.....