Monday, November 26, 2007

1st day on the slopes

With opening day just around the corner here in Jackson (Dec. 1st), a friend and me decided to get in some early runs at Grand Targhee which is about 1 hour from Jackson. Jackson Hole has a deal with Targhee that lets employees of each mountain ski free at both mountains which worked out great for us. Originally we had planned to go on Thanksgiving but since the mountain opened the day before we decided to wait a few days and hear how the conditions were. As it turns out Targhee has the best conditions anywhere for the time being....as quoted in online.....
"Grand Targhee Resort currently offers 1,500 acres of skiable terrain, more than any other resort in the US Rockies which includes Utah, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. Ranking second in skiable acreage is Grand Targhee’s neighbor to the North, Big Sky Resort, who opened with 854 acres and third place honors go to Copper Mountain in Colorado reporting 159 skiable acres in operation.
The snow wasn't amazing but for the time of the year and considering the lack of snow in Jackson and elsewhere it was pretty dang good....

Seeing as it was my first time on my new board and I hadn't even rode for over two years I was a little apprehensive about my first run...just my luck we ended up going down the blues from the very start (never touched a green)...I was surprised how quickly I picked it back up: I guess it is just like riding a bike....I was however still a little tense on the board which made me nervous to go too fast....I'll have to get over my new found fear of going fast quickly seeing as the terrain at jackson is much steeper and unforgiving....We are planning on going back to Targhee on Thursday then partaking in the opening weekend festivities at Jackson this weekend.....
BRING ON THE SNOW!!!!

Me and me new board sitting at the top of my first black diamond of the year (yeah, it took me awhile to get down it but but I didn't fall)....the Grand is the tallest peak you see behind me and is what I plan on climbing this summer.

Another view of the Grand Tetons (the Grand is the tallest one again)

Me at the observation deck at the top of the mountain....

On another note........Megan and Jenny went to Targhee the day after I did to teach Jenny to ski..I think she had a rough first day, but she's super athletic so she'll be flying down the blues and blacks in no time!

Megan's Birthday and Hot Tub!!!

Megan turned the big 26 on Friday and Rachael is turning 25 on Tuesday so we decided to do one cake and one dinnner out on Sunday.......We went to the sushi restaurant in town so of course I didn't eat anything (I will note for the record though that I DID try sushi this year....just didn't care for it).....after dinner we went back to the house and had funfetti cake.....I'd like to say that there is cake left, but no....the 4 of us managed to finish the whole thing in less then 24 hours.

Goofing off for the camera before heading out to dinner.

Below is a picture of the house where Megan has been dog sitting (a.k.a. The Mansion) and thus we have taken full advantage of their hot tub, cable TV, and massive kitchen.....

Sunrise in Jackson as seen from The Mansion
Hanging out in the hot tub....

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Thanksgiving #2

My roommates and I kicked off Thanksgiving my going out the night before....we ended up goofing off at our house for hours before heading out....since we have no cable we have to think of creative ways to entertain ourselfs....the entertainment choice of the night consisted of sitting on our kitchen cabinets talking for 1 1/2 hour because we have no chairs to sit in and then trying on our skis/snowboard set-ups.....atleast we didn't put our ski outfits on as well....
After we got bored of entertaining ourselves at home we headed out to Cuttie's for the weekly Whiskey Wendesday......It is defintely almost ski season time because the place was packed for once...I guess the rest of the seasonal staffing has arrived
(Me, Robbie, Jenny, and Rachael at Cutties)


After our fun night out we got up early Thursday morning to prepare for our second Thanksgiving dinner of the week....Our first stop of the day was to our friend Robbie's house where we hung out most of the day with a bunch of our southern friends.
(The girls at Robbie's house)
Joseph preparing the goose that he shot earlier in the morning....
(the whole group at Robbie's.....for once there are more girls then guys)
The view outside Robbie'sAs much as we wanted to stay at Robbie's and eat the AMAZING looking food we had already made prior plans to go to our bosses house for Thanksgiving dinner and celebrate with a bunch of people from work. Amy (our boss) had volunteered to make the entire meal which is a huge undertaking....

One thing that I found really amusing was the difference between the two meals we experiences. As I said, our first stop of the day was with our southern friends and the Thanksgiving menu consisted of: fried turkey, goose (that was shot thanksgiving morning and gutted on the porch while the Turkey's were frying), a variety of casseroles that were made with no less then a pound of butter each, a keg of beer, garlic mashed pototoes (again with a pound of butter), stuffing, gravy, and whiskey.......In contrast, our second stop of the day was with mainly northerners and the meal was prepared by a true northerner. The menu there consisted of: baked turkey, steamed broccoli, steamed asparagus, mashed pototoes (no butter), and wine....
hmmmmm....notice a difference in the way the southerners eat???

Regardless of how fattening or healthy the meal was, Megan and I still passed out within 20 minutes of eating.....we were such party poopers!!!!!


After Megan and I slept for an hour we finally arose and decided to head out. Luckily Megan was house sitting at the "Mansion", which is a huge house in the Village that Megan frequently house sits for. Therefore we all decided to spend the night there and enjoy the huge outdoor hot tub the Mansion has.

(Getting ready to run outside to get into the hot tub.....did I mention it was about 14 degrees outside??)
After the hot tub we all put on the plush terry robes the Mansion has and settled in to watch some cable TV...it's amazing how much more we appreciate cable now that we are too broke to have it at our house. ...didn't matter much though because we were all in bed by 9pm...

Megan's birthday was the day after Thanksgiving....Here's a preview of the pictures from her birthday!!

Hiking trip out my front door

I had Wednesday off and as it was a beautiful (yet freezing) day I decided to go on a little hike right out my front door. I hiked up Snowking mountain which should have been about a 40-45 minute hike but cause of the snow it took me a little bit longer. The view from the top was amazing and I could see Jackson Hole Ski Mountain clear across the other side of the butte. Once I got to the top of Snowking I was going to follow the ridge around to a canyon but after being on top for about 10 minutes the wind starting picking up and the temperature dropped big time....plus I was damp from sweating on the hike up (it was a pretty steep hike) which made me even colder.....not to mention I was very thirsty and my water bottle had frozen on the way up.....so I decided to call it a day and started heading back down the mountain. I am excited for next summer when I'll be able to hike all around the trails up behind my house but I think the window for good weather hiking is all but passed for the winter..

View from the top of Snowking...

View from the top of Snowking...you can see Jackson Hole Ski Mountain off in the distance behind the butte

View from the top along the ridgeline....Jackson is directly behind me in this picture

The snowy trail I hiked along....it wasn't bad going up, but was pretty slippery going down

Fun Thanksgiving pictures coming soon!! as well as pictures from my first day on the slopes...

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Thanksgiving #1

Yesterday we had our first Thanksgiving of the week...some of our friends were going to be out of town so we decided to go ahead and celebrate a little early so they could join in the festivities with us. Justin purchased an 18lb turkey the night before and then spent half the night trying to thaw it. This would prove to be all of ours first time having Thanksgiving dinner without family and we quickly realized that none of us had ever cooked a turkey before or knew how too.....luckily Rachael stepped in and got some family advice and made a wonderful turkey.....and YES!!! I did actually eat turkey yesterday and I have pictures to prove it. The food was unbelievably plentiful and the company was even more amazing... we will all be heading to the Village on Thursday to eat another Thanksgiving with all of our friends from work so I'm sure more pictures will follow....
MENU: turkey, homemade mac & cheese, green bean casserole, squash casserole, mashed pototoes, corn, deviled eggs, pea salad, stuffing, gravy, bread, cheese & meat platter (appetizers), homemade fudge, homemade pecan pie, beer, wine, and whiskey

REMEMBER: More pictures are posted online at http://picasaweb.google.com/victoria.glyn
Look in the "Jackson Fall" album for the most recent pictures.

Doing some final preparations for dinner.....


Cheating and tasting my homemade mac & cheese before we ate.....it passed the taste test


Justin getting ready to carve the Turkey...


All of us passed out (particularly me) after dinner....just think we get to do this all over again on Thursday




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Monday, November 19, 2007

My Wyoming To-Do List

Here is my list of things I want to do while living in Wyoming...I'm sure I'll add more things to my list the more I learn about the area

SUMMER:
1. Climb the Grand...the plan is for Megan, Jenny, Rachael, and I to all climb the Grand together this summer...would be nice to meet some people this winter that can take us up so we don't have to pay for a guide... click here for a blog about climbing the Grand
2. para glide
3. ride my bike up Teton Pass
4. Century bike ride
5. rock climb on an actual mountain and not on a wall
6. whitewater raft the Snake River
7. Scenic raft trip down the Snake River
8. feed a black bear....just kidding mom!
9. Cliff Diving
10. learn to play disc golf (and not suck at it)
11. go on an overnight mountain bike trip
12. fly fish on the Snake River
13. go kayaking

WINTER:
1. snowmobile through Yellowstone National Park
2. board 75% of the mountain...considering most of the mountain is black diamonds and cliffs this should be a lofty goal (Trail map of Jackson Hole)
3. Backcountry snowboard
4. Build a snowcave and campout this winter
5. cut down a Christmas Tree
6. build a snowman that is taller then me
7. have a snowball fight
8. go sledding
9. not break a bone on the mountain
10. go on a sleigh ride throught the elk refuge
11. go on an overnight snowshoeing trip

Friday, November 16, 2007

settling in....


I am finally starting to settle into a nice routine here in Jackson....I could not have asked for better roommates (except for if Megan moved in) and they have really helped make Jackson start to feel like home.....we carpool to work everyday, go to the gym together and then go hang out at someone's house for the evening or go out. Everyone is so laid back and relaxed and it feels wonderful to be able to completely relax for once. My only stress right now is money and that is a huge change from the past couple of years.


Our new friend Bobby invited us over for a steak dinner....


The roommates and homemade wine....


Hanging out at Chapman and Robbies before going to Whiskey Wednesday...I love that we are 3,000miles from home and we hang out at fellow Atlantans houses....
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Thursday, November 15, 2007

Christmas help....

I know it's hard to believe but it is almost that time of year again to start decorating and celebrating Christmas...this year will probably be the hardest Christmas ever for me since I won't get to spend it with my family at all. At least I am lucky in that I have amazing roommates here in Jackson that I will be with.

Being as that none of us get to go home for Christmas we want to decorate as much as possible here in Jackson in order to make it seem as much like home as possible. However due to our severe lack of funds that will be a little hard. We plan on cutting down our own Christmas tree and the girls that lived in the house before us left us a Christmas tree stand and skirt and that's pretty much all we have......therefore I am putting out an all points bulletin for old Christmas decorations...you know you have been meaning to clean out your Christmas decorations boxes for years now, so pack up that old stuff and send it on up to us in Jackson where it can get another lease on life......the tackier the better.....

Postal address
PO Box 7988 OR JHRL /
Jackson, WY 83002

or

FedEx/UPS Address
Attn: Tori Cervantez
3200 West McCollister Drive
Teton Village, WY 83025

Sunday, November 11, 2007

wonderful weekend #3

Despite having to work both Saturday and Sunday, this weekend was amazing.....of course it's hard to be a bad weekend when Georgia beats Auburn at home. Luckily I was able to get off work at 1pm which allowed me just enough time to get over to our friends house to watch the big game. About 10 Georgia fans piled onto the couch and settled in to cheer on the Dawgs! During half time we all went outside to partake in some Bocci ball and the guys gave us some lessons on how to split wood.

Jenny taking her turn at Bocce Ball
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Learning to split wood...we got pretty good at it by the time we finished....now if only we had a fireplace at home so we would have a need to split wood
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After the Georgia game we went home a took a quick nap and then headed to a party to watch the South Carolina/Florida game and then on to the Virge for an evening of dancing, pool playing, and people watching....we ended up walking 15 minutes home in the rain becaues we were too broke to pay for a cab ride home and we didn't have a car at the bar (we got dropped off). It wasn't that cold walking home so I was very surprised to wake up to find it snowing and the ground covered with a fresh layer of snow......

Being the Georgia girls that we are, Jenny and I immediately got out of bed and dressed to go outside and play in the 1 inch of snow that was on the ground. I'm sure our neighboors thought we were absolute idiots for gettting so excited over such a small amount of snow...

our first snowman.....and yes, he has on a Georgia hat...
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Friday, November 9, 2007

Shooting Stars..........

One of the top things I love about Wyoming.....the stars....I don't think I have ever seen so many stars in my entire life...even in the Texas countryside. I guess that's what happens when you live in the environmentally cleanest state in the US.

Last night we went to a hot tub and there were shooting stars everywhere. I can't imagine what it looks like during an actual meteor shower. I saw more shooting stars in 20 minutes last night then I have seen in my whole life.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Jackson update....

I know it has been awhile since I have posted anything so I thought I'd give you all an update on my new life in Jackson. I've finally settled in at work, splitting my time between working for the Home Owners Association and the front desk at Resort Lodging. Honestly, my job right now kinda stinks. It is still the off season so everything in Teton Village is completely dead...even the gas station in the village is closed for the off season. Therefore I basically come to work and waste time at the computer all day. There isn't much to do at the front desk when nobody is checking in, checking out, or even occupying in any of the units. I know that once the season starts (Dec. 1st) things will be different and this place will come alive with activity.
(FYI: I live in Jackson, WY......Jackson Hole is the actual ski resort and is located 10 miles from Jackson in Teton Village, WY. Therefor, when I'm referring to the Village I'm taking about Teton Village where I work and where the ski resort is. Jackson, WY itself is still very active right now).

Right now I am staring out the window at work at the slopes and they are completely dry. There is snow up on the mountain tops but absolutely zero snow in town and on the slopes (except where the snowmachines have been trying to make snow). During the day the temperatures have been getting up into the 50-60's which I take is very out of the ordinary for this time of the year (damn global warming). Rumor on the street is that snow is in the forcast for next week but since I am always skeptical about snow forecasts (too many years of Georgia weather forcasters getting my hopes up for snow that never came) I'll believe the snow forcast when it actually starts snowing. I defintely cannot wait to wake up one morning and there be a couple feet of fresh snow on the ground. Supposedly we are supposed to have an awesome snow year because of the La Nina effect but I have my doubts about that as well. In any effect, I cannot wait to get up on the mountian and start boarding again. I will have quickly get better on my board as I seemed to have moved to the town where the skiing/boarding is ranked No. 1 for Terrain/Challenge. It is said that the inbounds skiing is better here than out-of-bounds at most other resorts.....just great! Even the lower runs that come down into the village are all massively steep and our blacks. From what I have heard the blue intermediate runs here at Jackson Hole are comparable to the black diamonds in Colorado.....if that's the case, then what do the black diamonds here compare too?? I don't know if I even want to know. Regardless, I'll atleast leave town a MUCH MUCH better boarder...

Besides working I have been doing alot of other things. Tuesday my two new roommates finally arrived after driving over 3,000miles. After 2 1/2 weeks I am finally all moved into my new place and it is starting to feel a little like home. 30 minutes after Jenny and Rachael arrived we hosted a big cookout at Megan's house next door (we had yet to get a grill of our own to cook on) and then proceded to go to one of the local hangouts that is within walking distance of our house. The next night (last night) we decided to go check out a nice restaurant in town that has buy 1 get 1 free entrees and 1/2 price bottles of wine on Wednesdays.....yes, Athens people I have managed to find a place in jackson with 1/2 price wine on Wed......The place we went though is reservations only so we had to wait until 9pm to get sat for dinner....the girls were trying to convince the guys to just go somewhere else so we didn't have to wait. Thankfully they refused to listen to us and made us wait because it was by far the best meal I have had in Jackson thus far. I got the Buffalo chili (yes mom I tried buffalo) and it was absolutely the best chili I have ever had in my entire life. We ended up getting 6 entrees (all around $20 a piece) and two bottles of wine for less then $100 total (split between 7 people) which is really really good in Jackson. Just to give you an idea of the prices around town, the Wendy's "value" meals cost around $7-$8.

Besides working and hanging out at night the only other thing I have been doing is working out like crazy trying to get in shape for snowboarding these massively steep runs. I joined a local gym as a "couple" with Megan's boyfriend to get a discount so I've been trying to go there every morning and then riding my bike in the afternoon. Since my new roommates had purchased a National Park pass ($80 for the pass) I planned on doing a 3-4 hour bike ride through Teton National Park. I was real excited about this because I have yet to go to the park because I couldn't afford a pass. The park entrance is about 13 miles from my house and when I got there nobody was at the gate. I thought this was my lucky day because I was worried about trying to get in with Jenny's pass and license (you have to show a picture ID with your pass to get in)....so I just rode right on in thinking that I was just going to get free access to the park. However, after riding for about 2 minutes the pavement ended and I ran into a dirt/gravel road with massive potholes everywhere. Awesome! guess i didn't really scam the park that much.....so, since I couldn't ride in the park I turned around and rode out towards Wilson, WY. Once in Wilson I was trying to find the Old Pass Road which supposedly is a backcountry road that goes up over Teton Pass and that is seldom traveled since the finished the new highway. I never found Old Pass Road but I did end up on some back country road that followed a beautiful creek and was right along the edge of the mountains. I stayed on this road till it dead ended and it was amazing. The views were spectacular and I even saw a moose laying down on the side of the river.....One thing I have noticed about riding out here is that I don't have to worry about getting chased by dogs since for some reason they just don't chase cyclists, but I do have to be on the lookout for black and grizzly bears and moose because they do/will attack.....I ended up riding for a little over 2 hours and it was one of my favorite rides I have done so far but for some reason it hurt really bad. I think it was maybe a combination of not drinking enough water the day before, staying up late the night before, and maybe being on the verge of over-exercising and just being plain worn out.

thats about it for right now...I'll take pictures of my new place and work this weekend and post those up soon.