Jan 29th

I made it to Laramie Wyoming last night. I drove past a whole lot of nothing. Although, the nothing was beautiful. It felt like I was on the moon. I also passed the Sinclair oil refinery. In looking at all those towers, the engineer in me wondered what they all did and why they looked so haphazardly placed. In other news, I finally can see some mountains from my parking spot at Wally world. 

Most of my driving days are long but I make them longer by driving 55-60mph. I am not really in a hurry and I get better MPG when driving so slow, so I am that guy… I made it to Cliff’s (close friend from VT who now lives in Jackson) tonight around 8:30. We caught up a bit and headed to bed, to wake up for the first wonderful day at Jackson! I crashed on his couch as it was quite cold out.

Jan 30th

Cliff works on the maintenance team for the Tram at Jackson. I am pretty jealous of his job. He gets to work on a big giant machine all day, climb lift towers and take snowboarding runs in-between.

It was a beautiful sunny day and Cliff showed me the ins and outs of the Tram. I probably asked too many questions, but he was very patient with me and had all the answers! Then Cliff took me out on the slopes. He has been at Jackson for 12 years, so he knows the mountain very well and seems to be the mayor, saying hi to every person we passed. Cliffs girlfriend Rachel joined us for the afternoon and then for a few beer at the “gas station” après ski. Then off to dinner with some of Cliff’s friends and then bed.

Jan 31st

Another beautiful sunny day! What a landscape too look at. The Tetons are beautiful! Cliff and I hit up one of his favorite breakfast spots and then we hit the slopes. Riding with Cliff brings back a lot of fond memories. It was like no time had passed as we raced down the mountain hitting all jumps along the way! Some of Cliff friends would join us for a few runs then we would be off to some other place on the mountain finding all the goodies!

Feb 1st

Cliff and I grabbed a bagel and headed to the slopes. Yet another sunny yet cold day! Strange thing about Jackson, the temperature gets inverted. The top of the mountain is warmer then the bottom… Strange.

Rachel met us in the afternoon and we ripped it up for the rest of the day! Then a gang of us hung out at the general store, had a few beers and discussed the day as the sun faded.

Tonight we are off to Victor to have some sushi and see Rachels Bed and Breakfast. Fin And Feather. It’s linked here, if you are ever in need of a place to stay in Victor this place is so cool! So much charm and consideration put into every piece of it! Sushi was good, sleep in a real bed was even better.

Feb 2nd

Woke up to a gray rainy day. Cliff had to work early, so he left at the crack or maybe before. Rachel and I hung out, she made some awesome breakfast before I hit the road. Thank you Cliff for the hospitality, a place to stay and an extra day of skiing! Rachel thank you for hanging, showing me Fin and Feather and putting me up! Thank you both for an awesome visit!

            I did not make it too far, I ended up in Driggs for the afternoon. I went to the public library to start in on my taxes and think about my next move! Also, convenient when the library closed for the day, I moved operations into the back of Milou and pouched the internet.

Drove to Idaho city last night. Not much to see here. Quite night.

Feb 3rd

Headed west for Sun Valley today! I stopped along the way at Creators of the Moon National Monument. What a cool spot! This was a major volcanic site way back when. Lava fields everywhere and mountains made of cinder. All of which was covered in snow, so I did not see much lava but still very pretty! I went on a ski tour and poked around to see what I could find. I did not find any active Lava but I was careful not to of fall into lava tubes!

            My place to park in Sun Valley fell thru but lucky I was able to find a great spot close to the mountain! This mountain was one that my Grandmother always talked very fondly of, so I am very excited to explore it. Also fun Beck fact, Anna learned to walk here in 1983. I think I saw a plaque about it in the lodge near the stairs.

Feb 4th

Snow, Snow, Snow, Sun Valley got about 12” of new snow today! Yahoo! It was warm, maybe 30° so the snow was very heavy. I made it on the chair by 9am. Took one run and was just in time for the bowls to open after being cleared for avi. Yahoo! I skied many laps today and my legs are very very tired, even rode the last chair. I met some people that know my brother and Dad today, the ski world is very small! Early to bed with this one. It is still snowing so I hope my legs recover tonight 😉

Till next time 🙂