Destin.....seriously?

Yea, we know.....pretty random. Destin, FL for a long weekend? Yep, that's how we roll. We just got back to snowy/cold Jackson last night after 5 epic days in Destin, FL visiting my high school buds Adam (and his fiance Katie) along with Tony who came down from Alabama where he is stationed in the Army.

The well beaten path down to the beach to check the surf, just past Adam's house.

And the sweet ass view of the Gulf of Mexico from the end of the path. Hmmmm, weather and water temps in the 70's.

Katie cruising down toward the beach, easily under the retirement age, but still chillin on a Friday morn as if she was yet another Destin retiree!

Adam flies C-130's for the Air Force and his base happens to have a golf course, and we happened to squeeze in a round there.......

before heading up the beach to Pensacola to watch the Blue Angels perform on Veteran's day. It was a badass show and all the better being with good friends, of which, two of them (Adam and Tony) are both Vet's of this fine country of ours. And for that guys, Chels and I salute you!

The Angels, getting their freak on.

America, F Yea.....

I love new experiences in life.....like, going to Florida. However, I am bummed to say, things I will probably never have the opportunity to do include......dunking a basketball, and/or.......flying a Blue Angels jet. Damn it.

Adam and Katie along with the Robinson's.

Ohh yea, did I mention Adam and Katie's house is literally right on the water in Destin? Well, it is. Here we are, on the front deck, getting ready for a stand up paddle board mission in the back harbor of Destin.

Me and Tony charging out into the night.

Ghosts of the dark....night cruising on "Earl", which is Adam's "I don't know if Katie is claiming him" pontoon party boat that we took out a few times to go scare up some cocktails.

Damn Grace, lifting weights and eating right really has "pumped you up."

The Coeur d' Alene posse looking like a day hasn't gone by since 1995.

More pictures later this week of sunny Destin, FL. Ugh....now back to work.

Visiting #4

We are off to Florida today!!! Short story, we had 2-for-1 plane tix and wanted to go somewhere random where we had friends to stay with, so Adam Grace and his new fiance Katie in Destin, Florida were the lucky winners of our vacation! Plus, a couple months ago we saw this Good Morning America poll and thought we had to go see for ourselves if Jackson Hole really deserves #5!



ALSO...here is Jackson's cold forecast for the weekend.


I think I would rather be here...Destin, here we come!

Sometimes I Like To Hang Out In The Kitchen

Shout out to Anna.....Sorry Rena, I have used your tried and tested banana bread recipe for years now, but, after Anna hooked me up with a bit of a healthier version (no butter, no sugar) I don't think I am going back. Applesauce was used as a substitute for butter and I didn't notice a difference in taste.
Seemed to spend a ton of last weekend in the kitchen making things.

Goodman, another shout out. The monster marshmallows you got in Evanston, WY are now.......

melted into this goodness! Rice Krispy treats with peanut butter and coconut. So freaking good.
Did I mention something about "healthier" earlier? Two sticks of butter in that pan of awesomeness.

Winter is coming......new gloves need to be waterproofed.

As mellow as a weekend can be.

It's pretty rare that we do nothing but chill for a weekend, but with not enough snow in the mountains to go ski and sled on and it being too cold to do any summer type of activities, we used this weekend to catch up on projects. This is going to be our last weekend in Jackson until the middle of December, so.........thought it was a good time to winterize the dirtbike.

Nope, we don't have a garage! It is one of my biggest "wants" in life, but the mini-storage is the next closest thing. BTW, anyone that is interested in a kick ass, dependable, fun, and 70 miles per gallon mode of transport for next summer......my dirtbike is for sale! Spread the word. I am wanting to upgrade to a bigger bike, and need to sell the current one to swing it.

Tinkering on the bike replacing the oil filter. Holy &%$# the bolts are really small on a moto!

If it can't come naturally....

Then sometimes out of a hose has to be the next best thing. This winter is getting off to a slow start here in Jackson. It has been doing a whole lot of being nothing but really cold and really clear. A bad combination when you are looking for your base to start setting up.

The guns are running over across the street from my office at Snow King. Apparently we aren't the only ones with lack of snow, saw today were the World Cup races next weekend in Levi, Finland have been canceled due to lack of snow. Bummer.

Denver

So, I decided to drive down to Denver this weekend to visit friends and it was a great time. I stayed with Liz and her sister Meredith was in town with her cute little baby, Isaiah. While Liz worked one day, Mere and Isaiah and I explored the Denver Art Museum.

Meredith looking modelicious, as always.

And we saw the NPR Story Corps van parked outside! But, they were never around to talk to so alas, our amazing stories will have to wait for another day.

Some cool museum-isms.

I think my cheesy smile was more interesting to Isaiah than the art.

Posing.

All three of us agreed, that was quite enjoyable. Except maybe my back which was definitely feeling Isaiah's cute little rolls by the end of the day. : )

And we got to see Lil' Kar! Always looking good in The North Face.

A little Halloween wig time. Predicting Isaiah's future hair color, I say it is a perfect match.

Not really sure what Liz and I were trying to be, but always fun opening up the costume box.

We also got to Boulder for a day of strolling and tea drinking. Here we are sipping some delicious chai at the Russian Tea House...look at the ceilings!

A happy auntie.

Beauty. Thanks for the fun weekend girls!

Same Same, but Different

Sunday was more of the same.....moto, but a little mellower and with a different crew of riders. I hooked up with Joe who works at the alternative high school and Matt who works at the high school for a ride that started at Joe's house in Victor, ID and ended up 5 hours later back there. We rode a sweet mix of double track, single track, and at some points, river bottom!

Joe, at the start of the ride before things got interesting.

Joe leading and Matt following about ready to descend into the headwaters of the South Fork of Rainey Creek in the BigHole Mountains.

After a epic journey on some nice single track, we got into the crux of the ride which consisted of countless technical stream crossings, each one with a drop in elevation getting bigger and deeper.

Joe, powering through one of the first crossings.

Matt got the all star award for the day. He hadn't really ever ridden anything "techy" before, had what were essentially street tires on his bike, and still managed to get after it. He took one pretty good digger that only resulted in a broken tail-light and is now officially "hooked."

Joe riding out the trail of gold.

Pretty sure Matt had dry feet up until this crossing.

Four hours later, out Rainey Creek Canyon we emerged and back to civilization......., well, Swan Valley, population 84. The beauty of our bikes is they are dirt bikes that are street legal, so, instead of having to battle back up the gnarly trail we just rode out, we just jumped on the highway, hammered back 25 miles to Victor and had celebratory beers.

I HEART MOTO!!

I am afraid this might have been the last ride of the year, its now snowy and cold here in Jackson. Ohh well, that just means sledding season is just around the corner.