Dog Days: Playing and Working, Like We Do!

I had great plans to update you all very frequently this summer, because I frequently did some really cool things! Alas, in between all of the things, there was work.

A little update on work is: I recently got a job directing the Closer to the Sun Gallery of Fine Art in downtown Steamboat, so I have been working on marketing, class planning and general gallery day-to-day things in between all the dog walking at the pet ranch! Its pretty cool.
Check it out at closertothesungallery.com

I am also on a committee of mostly mothers but also young educators who are in the midst of starting a Montessori charter school. The Mountain Montessori Charter to be exact. More info on that can be viewed at: mmcharterschool.com
Its been a crazy few months of getting all of the logos, marketing and advertising going for the charter school as well as researching charter applications. I am also in charge of the website and the blogging on the site (go figure!).

Whew!
All the working aside, here are some of the highlights of the last few months:

In July:
We went up to attend some of our friends’ wedding in Big Sky! We camped in Teton NP on the way there where we encountered a mountain lion and the amazing Jackson Lake/Teton view, plus a little swim in the morning and a small bison jam du trafique!

EDawg visited toward the end of the month and we enjoyed tubing, farm life, some tasty eats and an epic Alpine Slide Race! Note how HUGE Harold is getting! *horns!*

While E was here, I completed my first sprint tri! the Steamboat Lake Sprint! I even got second in my age group!! Bonus: we camped the night before up in Clark.

Edawg and I continued on to Fort Collins, Boulder and Denver for a mini college tour. The result? E still doesn’t know where she wants to go, and I want to go back!

August…so far:
I am the featured artist at the Akinz Boardwear shop in Fort Collins this month! I went up for the August First Friday and we screen printed the shirts I designed, schmoozed about art and generally had an amazing time.

AND Last weekend, I attended the annual Ingram Family OX Roast! Somehow, I missed the last two. But this year, obviously, was better than those. It was a great long weekend of family, drinking, eating and swimming in glorious Lake Erie! Bonus was that my dad came! So the entire Hall family was together for the first time in maybe 3 years? Win.

Tomorrow, I am competing in the Steamboat Triathlon which is an Olympic Triathlon Distance starting at Lake Catamount, twice the distance of the sprint, wah!! It should be amazing. I am excited and nervous all together.

Standby for results!
Cheers!

Gardening and Brown’s Park

Its been a crazy spring here! Lots of amazing, warm and sunny days, lots of cold windy nights. But we managed to to get the garden planted and enjoy some adventures in the mean time. Below are some shots of quick adventure up to Browns Park to search for the wild horses! We will have to go again because we just ended up driving aimlessly into the middle of no where, no horses, but an epic thunderstorm! And, photos of the garden being planted (the dog helping to til) and the budding deck garden

The internet has been a bit spotty, but stand by for updates on recent camping at Pearl Lake, Snowmass Mammoth Fest and the garden as it grows!

        

Baltimore & D.C. & miles and miles and miles.

Last weekend, I flew to Baltimore to join some excellent people on a 50K (31MI) walk around D.C. it. was. amazing. Why did we do it? For MS. For Gary, and for everyone we know or met along the way who also has, or knows someone who has, multiple sclerosis. Everyone that walked was incredible. Along with my 17 teammates (hello, LARGEST TEAM) we raised lots of money ($34,000) and we met lots of amazing, strong, inspiring people. We cried, we laughed, we hurt and we trudged on for two days through the heat and then the freezing rain. And then, half way through, while lounging in my sleeping bag on a gym floor, full of a hot BBQ dinner, I signed up to do it again. It was….wow. I can’t wait for next year.

After the walk, I met up with Gram and Grampa for an excellent two days of relaxing. We lounged around the house, explored Great Falls on the Potomac, and (of course) ate a lot of tasty things. If you haven’t been to the Irish Inn at Glen Echo in Bethesda, MD….I highly recommend it. Its one of the best places my grandparents and I go for dinner when I am in their neck of the woods. All in all it was a great adventure back east! I miss the fall time there, the oak trees and the warmish breezy fall afternoons. It was great to go back for even a brief visit. Now that I’m back in Steamboat, the leaves have changed and the snow has come. Hopefully, it will warm up one last time and allow us a few more fall time hikes and adventures before the snow really flies.

Stand by for greatness!

Its Better in the Bahamas (and Charlotte)

From the epic week and a half of lowcountry adventuring on Daufuskie, I met up with Mom and Dad and we packed the car and drove down to West Palm Beach to fly out to the Bahamas! We got there Tuesday afternoon, popped open some Kaliks and went to work taking the boards off the house. The next three days were spent reading in the sun, exploring the yard with Mom and making the occasional trip into town for supplies (orr…to visit some puppies!).

Sunset at Bahama Palm Shores!

Enjoying the sun and the half filled pool…

Mom and I made some parrot friends…until we starting picking the cherries they like to eat!

Mr. Peacock waiting for treats.

High Banks, Bahama Palm Shores

Lilies by the beach!

Mom’s orchids. Thriving in the Bahamian sun.

Sea grapes and the sun set.

Although it was only a few days, we had an excellent time!

Once we landed in West Palm, I said goodbye to Mom and Dad and headed north to Charlotte to see one of my greatest friends, B. Another short visit, but well worth it! I got in late Saturday and B’s friend Katie met us at the house. Due to an impending storm, the power went out almost immediately after we arrived, so we went out for some dinner and drinks. Unsurprisingly, we got rained-in to the bar for a few hours. Welcome to the life and times of Hannah and B.

Sunday we woke up and met B’s mom and sister for pedicures and then an afternoon of Proseco and Chambord on the porch while B’s nephews searched for snakes and played in the yard. Eventually, B and I called it and early evening and went home to eat pizza and work on the impossible puzzle.

A great two and a half weeks! It was amazing to get back to the south and see so many of the people I miss. It was also great to get out of the sleety, snowy and gross Steamboat and into the sun and some relaxation! Now that I’m back, the weather in Steamboat has improved here, and it has been warm and sunny! Summer?!

I am spending the next few weeks getting my life moved out to the RK Ranch to live with lots of dogs, a few horses, llamas, sheep, alpaca and the wonderful Peggy Has! Its going to be a good few months!

MOAB

So awesome. Here are a few photos of Moab’s glory. Three wonderful days laying in the desert sun and looking at some of the best landscape that I have ever seen. Amazing amazing rocks, light, warmth, fun, life.

Hahn’s Peak Adventures

A few photos of an epic 24hours in Hahn’s Peak! 

An Afternoon in Clark…

Or, forgetting real life for a hot second.

So I figure now is as good a time as any for an update! Spring has arrived (here and there between epic spring snow storms)! Work on the mountain is winding down and plans for mud season and summer have begun!

Today I am spending the afternoon up in Clark with one of my greatest friends, Taylor. She spent the winter splitting her time between here and Steamboat. Clark is about 25 min directly North of Steamboat. It is the home of Steamboat Lake, Hahns Peak and some really friendly people. After a frenzied morning of spin/yoga class, swimming and cleaning the house, I decided to leave my to-do list behind and snagged a ride up here with Taylor for her last day of work and last night of fun times before she heads out on her adventure south! Now, while she works, I am sitting on a couch by the fire in the Hahns Peak Road House, enjoying an amazing hot buttered rum and working on some research for upcoming art opportunities. I am also chatting with a crew of new awesome people I just met when I walked through the door and hour ago. And there are horses being harnessed outside for a sled ride. It is beautiful here, despite the gross weather.I am not sure how time got away, but we have basically spent the last few weeks working non-stop, looking for a new place to live, preparing for mud season (everyone, it seems, is planning something epic) and of course we gotta find a little time to stay sane. A quick run down of time since Februrary is that it has warmed up, gotten cold again, and is now blizzarding. We have had a few good afternoons of outside live music and yummy drinks, some hot springs visits and most excitingly-  a trip to Craig America! On Tuesday, Megster, KT, Liz and I all got the day off. We decided to make an adventure out of it, so we drove out to Craig, dropped off the car for some new boots and spent the next half hour playing around on the train tracks! Then we headed into town for some great thrift finds-including a sweet plaid suit and a $.75 CD entitled Hits After Hits After Hits that is maybe the greatest CD ever produced. Then we had lunch at Los Jilbertos, which is THE best Mexican in CO, before heading back to the Boat! It was a pretty excellent day. Plus, my new bike arrived in the mail and Megster helped me put it together that night!Other than that, I have been spending a majority of my time drawing. I am working on a revamp of my website (yay!) and applying to some competitions and residencies. All a little overwhelming, but also exciting!And on top of all of this, I am trying to plan a beach week down on Daufuskie with a bunch of people from Steamboat, MICA and Macon. The first weekend we will be there it is the First Annual Daufuskie Marsh Tacky Horse Races…and the second is Cinco de Mayo! It is going to be the greatest adventure. And then I will be heading to the Bahamas with Mom and Dad for a few days of tropical sun. Cannot. Wait!

After that, we will be getting close to summer fun and some more great times in Steamboat, as always!

Nuggets Weekend!

This past Saturday a few of us headed down to Denver to catch the Nuggets vs [Sacramento] Kings game. So much fun! When we got there, we met up with a few of our Denver friends before heading for some pre-game food and drinks at the Tilted Kilt…lets just say, a modified Hooters. The stadium was a bit of a trek, so we made a modified wheel chair via bicycle with a person steering me on either side. Obviously, the boys took pity on me after I crutched for fifteen minutes and we still weren’t halfway there…or they just got tired of waiting..

The game was excellent! The players are massive (..to be expected of the NBA I suppose) and our seats were Club Level with a pretty awesome view! The boys spent most of the game stalking Rocky to try and get their photo with him.

The Nuggets won (duh!), and after a confusing trek around the stadium to find the elevator, it was back on the bike for the ride to LoDo for some Giant Jenga and a few drinks!

All in all, a great Denver adventure. Plus, I got to ride the electric buggy [again] when we stopped in Target on the drive home!

And of course, its always good when the sun sets in Steamboat!

Jackal Hut Trip: Hikes and Happiness.

The last four days were amazing. It is still up for debate that they ever existed. Luckily, a two hour car ride home after four days of hiking and playing in the snow without a shower is pretty good evidence. Livin’ the dream life.

So it happened, on Tuesday morning, after a quick breakfast, a two hour drive, an epic go-pro dance off and a ceremonial shot of Buffalo Hunt. The twelve of us strapped skins on our skis, our packs on our backs and set off on a 2,000 vertical foot, 4.5 mile hike from the Camp Hale trailhead to the Jackal Hut. Jackal Hut is one of the 30 back country huts belonging to the 10th Mountain Division. It resides at a lofty 11,660 ft and has excellent views of several 14ers, the Climax Mine and some gorgeous sunrises and sunsets.

We arrived exhausted with aching backs and sore legs, but our spirits lifted when the sun started to set.

The 10th Mountain Division, based at Camp Hale during WWII, was trained how to hike, climb, ski and survive in the harsh mountain terrain. Then they shipped out to fight in the mountains in Italy, in some of the worst conditions soldiers experienced. Most of the original 10th division were not originally service members, but ski bums and back country junkies employed by the military for their outdoor skills. In 1980, a veteran names Fritz Benedict handful of volunteers got together to re-create the hut system that the soldiers used for training here in the Rockies. Today, we use them as back country huts, cozy cabins from which we can enjoy some great hikes, make some good turns and maybe best of all, take in the view.  A great place to drink coffee and cuddle with friends!

It was also an excellent location for some homemade ski jumps and yummy birthday shots!

Cheese plate #1,546,789, or part of the reason my pack weighed 48 pounds (lets not leave out the box of wine, 3 pounds of bacon and the birthday cake).

 Birthday dance-off with snow-a-ritas!

Bros hangin’ on the poop deck.

Skins hangin’ on the drying rack.

 Jonjon, showing us some extreme shovel sledding!

 Our gray jay buddy!   Ian, spearheading the bacon and epic oatmeal fiesta…

..right before the mid-morning siesta.  And then we had another fun afternoon of jumps and smiles!

The definition of happiness as Jeanne and I perfect the art of shovel sledding! Ski boots or slippers? That is the real question. Unanimously, it was slippers.

Broom jumping, right before Dave broke the broom with a karate ski kick.

After some awesome, sunny days full of dancing, singing, sledding, skiing, laughing, some insane eating, birthday celebrations, napping, reading, meeting new friends and generally enjoying our lives (some cat-like, some explorer-like), we woke up to some fresh powder and prepped our gear for a snowy descent back home.

Starting the hike out by tromping through some powder.

The skiing (and riding) was glorious on the way down.

 The garbage barge arrives!

Jon and Ian, packed in and ready for the journey back to civilization. Jon is ready for a shower. But maybe we’ll stop at the Crazy Mountain Brewery in Edwards first…

And to quote our dear friend Katie Sou,  “Ain’t no party like a hut trip party ’cause a hut trip party don’t end.”

Austin Thanksgiving!

Another amazing Austin adventure!

In lieu of an entire post detailing every amazing place we went and all the great things we ate (which was basically everything) I present you with: some awesome photogs. Highlights: East Austin Studio Tour, Paddle Boarding, Salt Lick, McKinney State Park, the Congress Bridge bats, Thanksgiving turkey, Thanksgiving crafts, all of Thanksgiving, cactus. Enjoy!