Dogsled race and more skiing..

Friday night was the kickoff for the 2008 Wyoming International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog race so of course we ventured downtown to get our first look at dog sled racing. By the time we arrived the streets were already packed so we really weren't able to get a good look at the dog sleds but the atmosphere was a blast and we saw a ton of our friends....it seemed as if the whole town came out for the event....

Megan, Rachael, Simpson and me waiting for the race to start...

One of the dog sled racers taking off.

I wish you could see the cliffs we are standing below better but trust me when I say they are insane AND they are considered inbounds skiing. We are actually standing just below Corbets Couloir, which is considered the hardest inbounds ski run in North America. We of course did not feel like going to the hospital on Saturday so we decided not to actually ski Corbets and just went to the bottom of it to check it out....believe it or not, this was actually the first day that Megan, Rachael and I all got to ski together.

Megan and me atop Apres Vous before we headed down Saratoga Bowl for the first time.....a run that we probably should not have done...

Our friend John high atop Saratoga Bowl.....he is actually trying to help direct us around the cliffs...YIKES!!!

you know it is cold when....

You know it's cold when you get to the gas station and you can't release the gas hatch on your car because it is frozen shut. This is a fun predicament when you are already late for work and you coasted into the gas station on fumes....
How to fix it.......
1st attempt: pry it open with keys
2nd attempt: pry it open with the edge of an ice scraper
3rd attempt: go inside the gas station filled with about 15 construction workers and ask for help...proceed to get laughed at
3rd attempt: punch the center of the panel in an attempt to dislodge the ice buildup
4th attempt: use a credit card to break up the ice around the edges of the cover = success!

A New Definition of Cold

Have you ever heard of a school district canceling school because it is too cold??? The thought sounds ridiculous to me but that is exactly what happened today. I woke up to subzero temperatures (-10, -27 windshield) and to reports of school closings all around....They rarely ever close schools for incliment weather here but they do close if the temperatures in the morning are cold enough.....crazy!!
So to start of my day I had to get bundled up (baggy jeans today so I could put thermals 0n underneath) and walk to the bus stop to go to work...not only did I have to walk in the freezing cold but I got up to the bus stop just as the bus was pulling away which meant I had to stand outside for 12 minutes to wait for the next bus.....Awesome! my first time missing the bus is on the morning of -10 temperatures.
It's funny because earlier this winter I was hoping and wishing for sunny days because it just kept snowing every day and I missed the sunshine....now however I hate it when I see that it is going to be a sunny day because sunny days in the middle of winter here mean subzero temperatures so it ends up being a beautiful day outside but way to cold to do anything outside which is such a tease! Cloudy and snowy days here are usualy much much warmer, typically around 20-30 degrees which is super nice here.

"cold" and "freezing cold" now have new definitions for me!

SNOWSHOEING

This week Rachael and I packed our backpacks and loaded up my car to go snowshoeing in Grand Teton National Park. We haver never been before and we were excited to get outside and do something new and different all by ourselves. Since we were by ourselves we didn't exactly know where to go. We researched some trails and found a moderate difficulty trail that would supposedly take us to Phelps Lake inside the park. We unloaded and started on our journey but the trail we were on quickly disappeared and we were left we no clue as to which way to go to find the lake. Therefor we pretty much just ended up breaking trail and going whichever way we felt like it. We weren't worried about getting lost because we knew we could always just turn around and follow our tracks back. We never found the lake but we did have an amazing time on a beautiful blue sky day in some of the most spectacular wilderness I have ever been.

Being the Georgia girls that we are we of course stopped to make snow angels along the way. Press play below to see the video of me making a snowangel.



We had no trail to follow so we just wondered around on our own, hoping all along we wouldn't run right into a moose.Breaking trail

I decided to take my snowshoes off and see how deep the snow was at one place. This was one of the shallower area. It was amazing how the snowshoes let us just walk on top of the powder that we would have otherwise sunk down to our waste in.

HOLIDAY PICTURES

Long overdue but I finally got some pictures from the holidays. Megan, Justin, Trey and I were treated to a blue sky, powder day on Christmas Day! We could not have asked for better conditions on the mountain

The girls in the hotel room before going out for New Years Eve. Luckily through work we get $30 rooms at the economy hotel in the Village so we all chipped in and got 2 rooms for New Years Eve so we wouldn't have to make the 13 mile trip back to town. Plus we were already at the mountain to go skiing the next day.

Galen and me at the Mangy Moose for New Years

Rachael, Megan and me waiting for midnight.....if only we had Jenny with us the night would have been complete

CHRISTMAS IN JACKSON!!!!

Christmas Eve we were treated with one of the heavier snowfalls thus far. For dinner Megan, Justin and I went to the Cadillac Grill for dinner and took pictures at the arches in the town square.

We could not have asked for a better Christmas Day as we had blue skies and about 10inches of fresh powder. Justin fixed Megan, Trey and I breakfast before we headed to the mountain for a wonderful day of skiing and snowboarding.

Megan and me at the base of the Gondola

Justin and I riding the Gondola up the mountain on Christmas Day

Megan and Trey on the Gondola

Trip to Georgia!!!!

After only being gone for a couple months I was already so homesick that I decided to come home for a couple days before Christmas...of course it helped that I found a super cheap plane ticket out of Jackson. My first night home I went out in Athens and got to see everyone (except Cleve). I had an awesome time with everyone and I can't wait to come back to visit again.

Also, CONGRATS TO KIM ON TURNING PRO!! Now I'm definitely never going running with you. Check her out at www.kimdunker.com

The girls at transmet..

Heading out from transmet to the Chapel....

Michelle and me trying on clothes at the mall and being idiots!!!

lots and lots going on....

It's funny how during the off season I was really good about updating my blog but once the mountain opened my posts have dramatically descreased. Alot has been going on the past couple week so I'll try to keep it brief.
The week before Christmas I decided to fly home for a couple days. Only my mom knew I was coming so it was a ton of fun surprising Jeff, Tyler and Lexi. I flew in on a Wednesday and Casey picked me up at the airport and drove me straight to Athens where we ate dinner and went out with a bunch of friends. I was thrilled that everyone I wanted to see in Athens came out for the night (except CLeve)....even Fetty who was sick showed up for a bit. I love all of you guys and I had such a great time seeing you all!! Don't worry Shannon I will put up pictures once I find my camera cord!!

After spending the night in Athens Casey drove me back to Atlanta where I spent the rest of my trip mainly hanging out with my family and doing some (ok alot) of shopping. Casey and Michelle defintely win the best friend award. Casey not only picked me up from the airport but she also drove me all the way to Athens and then drove me home to Marietta the next day. Michelle drove down from Nashville Friday afternoon just to hang out with me for the night and then drove back to Nashville early Saturday morning....not many friends are willing to drive 4 hours each way just to hang out for a couple hours but I think it was worth it. I love that we can go months and months without seeing each other and then pick right back up where we left off last time we saw each other.

My trip was way too short and it would have been perfect had I not had to fly home on Christmas Eve......As I was packing to come home I was treated to an early Christmas gift when Jackie called me to tell me that she just got engaged to the guy I set her up with and asked me to be in her wedding...congrats again!!!!! I love you both!!!

Which brings me to Christmas......Christmas started off really hard because it was my first Christmas not with family and Rachael's flight got stuck in Denver so she wasn't going to make it back to Jackson and Jenny of course was still stuck in Atlanta awaiting knee surgery. Luckily Megan was still in Jackson and was my lifesaver (of course!). Megan and Justin let me tag along for dinner on Christmas Eve and then Christmas Day we opened presents together and Justin made us breakfast before spending the day on the slopes.....we were treated to a ton of fresh powder and blue skies on the mountain which was amazing!! It was one of my most enjoyable days on the mountain thus far.....

A couple days after Christmas I signed up for a free cross country skiing lesson through the JH Nordic Center. It was alot more difficult then I had imagined it being but I had an absolute blast. There was another couple in the lesson with me and they happened to be here on vacation from Atlanta and are Georgia grads. They took the pictures below and emailed them to me when they got home. I am signed up to take a women's skate skiing clinic next saturday and afterwards I will probably purchase either a cross country or skate skiing set-up.....since I can't really ride my bike outside this will hopefully serve as a nice subsititute....

I have alot more to write and a ton of pictures to post and will do so this week!!!
I love you all!!!