J-Hole Digging

I am back from Jackson Hole! That place is so beautiful. And one of its most thrilling attractions is the lovely Laura Cooke.



I had such a wonderful time laughing, cooking, eating, backpacking, going for walks, seeing buffalo, going to the music festival, buying "friendship rings," making s'mores, going to a terrible bar with terrible bands and terrible drunk people, and basically tearing up the town. She's pretty much my favorite.
Our backpacking trip was so great. It had been awhile since I had hiked some serious elevation. Curiously enough, the only thing it affected was the number of times I had to use the "Poop Shovel." Let's just say I left behind lots of little "mementos" of my stay in the Tetons.



We started one morning and hiked uphill for the first 7 miles. We only had a permit to camp in Upper Paintbrush, which we reached at around 1pm or so... so we got to play, nap, cook, and make s'mores for the rest of the day! Yay!











The next day we hiked the Pass and topped out at about 10,700 ft. It was so cold up there! But incredibly beautiful. After the Pass, the last 12 miles passed by Lake Solitude and some really gorgeous wildflowers.











We saw the cutest bear EVER and an unhappy moose. Apparently, if a moose is mad he grunts, sticks out his tongue, and pins back his ears. Laura snapped the photo and we got out of there as fast as we could. We would rather meet a nice bear than a grouchy moose anyday.





We also went to the Jackson Hole Music Festival. There was lots of peace, love, noodling, and "organic partying" going on. The best of the festival were these guys:



and Kaki King:



So now it's back to real life, I guess! I started training for work this week. The kids don't come until Sept. 2, but there is alot of work to do! Also, Garrett and I are looking forward to a visit from his parents. They are always so much fun!

Let us know how you're doing! We miss you all.

"What are those nuts up to now?" - Reggie the Reckless, Friday the 13th Part V: The New Beginning

Incredibly, it's now been a month since I last posted and expounded upon Thor's tangle with Baghead. I'm happy to report that there have been no further encounters between the two. However, Thor is still mortified of the sound of a paper bag being crumpled.

Last week we had the pleasure of hosting John Yam and Cary Norton of Atlanta and Birmingham respectively. From the moment they arrived it was a non-stop 7 days of action. Among the highlights:

• Going to the old school arcade/bar, Ground Kontrol, to get our fill of classic video games and PBR. Cary, John, and I proceeded in playing and defeating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game. Not to toot my own horn, but a better Donatello has never been played. Helen sat back and watched with stars in her eyes. John and I also got into a heated battle of NBA Jams that took place over a series of days. I lost the series, got a sore wrist, and managed to relinquish all of my possessions and 29th birthday to John. On a happy note, John ran into the girl of his dreams not once, but twice, on two separate visits there. More on her to come.
  

(John is obviously pleased in our defeat of TMNT. However, my scowl displays my attitude of being the baddest/toughest man in the place at that moment.)

• Driving to the Oregon coast and exploring Ecola State Park. The park is located near Cannon Beach where Haystack Rock, the famous rock in The Goonies is located.

While our shot is taken from a little higher up, it's basically the same shot. Ironically, Mikey is supposed to be lining Haystack Rock up in the doubloon in the film but it is actually behind his left shoulder in the scene. It is the big rock in the distance in our shot. There were no sightings of One-Eyed Willy or Sloth. However, there was a man who was convinced he was seeing penguins; flying penguins at that.

• Fleshing out a long-lived desire of creating a gaudy hoodie club. John and I have discussed this for a few years now. We decided to start the club after walking into Upper Playground, conveniently located across the street from Ground Kontrol. Cary is also going to be a member of the club once he settles on a design. We are currently accepting new members to our club.

John's hoodie is covered with bottles of malt liquor. Mine is covered with various stock market quotes and had a picture of a bull and bear fighting inside of the hood. I wear it when the market opens each day now. Who needs a power suit?

• Going dancing at Holocene. Those of you who know me best know that I don't dance. I don't know what got into me. John proceeded to run into his new obsession for a third time. She is affectionately known as Poofhawk because she was sporting a poofy mohawk-type hairstyle. However, John was dancing with his upper body parallel to the floor too much to strike up much of a conversation. Poofhawk has officially been added to the list of people I'm trying to find. Move over Greg Oden.
• Eating more food than what was previously believed to be humanly possible. Seriously, I'm still full. You can learn a lot about a place by the food it serves. After this visit, Cary and John should be able to lead seminars on Portland.

What lies ahead for us now? Helen will be leaving this week for Jackson Hole, WY to visit her friend, Laura. My friends, Laura and Kevin, from Birmingham will be visiting next weekend. My parents, Kurt and Trix-e, will be visiting from Santa Fe, NM the first part of September. Upon their departure I will be leaving for a 3 week trek across eastern Europe with John and Cary. More on that to come.