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.