Snowboarding days 7, 8 and 9.

Twas deep before xmas and all thru the slopes, heather made turns, in hip deep snow:


A little bowl of powder keg, tracked out the 2nd day. There was a total of 5 tracks on this bowl at the end of the first day. The blizzard like conditions kept everyone else away... 2 Thumbs


We stumbled onto this little slide the day before. It looks mellow with 18" of new snow on it. The slide was all the way to the dirt with a 5 - 6' deep crown. I think the run is called cornice...



Warming up after 17hrs of snowboarding:


The drive home, via Ogden Canyon:

A Nice Present

Today we got a package in the mail from an awesome bikforums.net member, AllenG. I knew he was going to send me the bottle of wine that resembles the large picture in our front room, but I didn't know he was going to send us another bottle and a photo as well!





I'm very excited to try this wine, I've been waiting for ages! I could never find it in Utah, and Allen was kind enough to send it to us as a gift. The other bottle is an "ice wine" and sounds very cool, too!





Shardul says "Thank you for the box to play in!" He had a great time spreading the packing peanuts around.





Thanks again, Allen for the very sweet gift! I'll let you know how the wine is!

Digging out

25" fell on our car over the three days it was parked.

Bar sketches

Warming up.

11" in Ogden Canyon

The drive back was fine:

Merry Christmas!

Snowboarding: Day 5 - With Heathers brother Collin.

Day 4 Snowboarding Clip

Here is a small taste of how Joe and I have been spending a lot of our time lately. This clip is a pretty unfair accusation, as we've been able to play in a lot more powder than that!



We have another video that we need to edit and upload from when we went and played in the snow with my brother. That will be uploaded by the end of today.

The drive home...

Blue skies after a day at Brighton:

The Worst Puppet Show in the World

And we can take credit for it.



Stay tuned for the next episode, there will be a special guest!

Attack of the Birds!!!

Yesterday, Joe and I tried to go snowboarding. It didn't end up happening because of the scary road conditions in the canyon, so we ventured back into the valley and soon found ourselves at Wheeler Farm.



Joe had never been to this local landmark below, but for me, I find the place very nostalgic. I have fond memories of wandering through the Haunted Woods around Halloween all throughout my childhood. In fact, I think my very first experience at Wheeler Farm, I was traumatized because the had me cut off a "victim's" head by letting go of a rope that was attached to a guillotine. I suppose that memory isn't as fond as others, but hey, I was only 5. I've moved on.



It was cold and wet outside, but we were anxious to move around so we got out and started to roam the grounds. It wasn't long before we found ourselves next to some Canadian geese foraging for edibles in the snow covered grass.



I've always loved birds, so I a took a few minutes to chat with one goose who seemed somewhat interested in me as well. After a rather one sided conversation, we moved on closer to a lake where we could hear many birds yelling at each other. This seemed to be the local hot spot for most of the geese and ducks on the farm. We decided to get closer to see them better.



Our decision ended up being a big mistake. Once the birds caught sight of us, they immediately mistook us for people that were there to feed them. The poor, hungry birds started moving towards us. They got faster and faster, squawking and quacking their beaks in a rather ferocious manner. I held my ground at first, thinking that they would realize we were not their caretakers, but they didn't. Now, 20 or 30 geese and ducks might not seem very scary, but when they are running after you with hungry beaks it is quite terrifying! I turned on my heels and ran as fast as I could away from them.



What a strange feeling to feel defeated by some farm animals! I'm actually a bit disappointed at Wheeler Farm. They should keep them better fed so they're not attacking innocent folks like us! Well, I found a way to redeem ourselves. We had to go back in front of the bird lake, and this time, I got Joe to run at them yelling and screaming, waving our arms in the air. And it worked. We sure showed them who was the dominant animal. Afterwards, I felt bad for scaring them and apologized.



And the moral of the story is, beware of hungry farm animals.

Snowboarding, day 3.

Today was our third trip out snowboarding for the season. For the first time in close to a month, Brighton received measurable snow.

We were out the door by 8am and were rewarded 2nd chair on the snake creek lift. Runs were quick, 4 - 5" of new snow, we stuck around for two hours and cut fresh tracks on a dozen different named runs. We bolted when all the late comers arrived, but were still able to find powder stashes all the way back to the car.

Heather really REALLY likes snowboarding:

Calexico Road Trip!

I'm not quite sure why, but Heather and I didn't go to many concerts in the summer. As soon as the weather starts to turn in the fall, we start looking forward to concert season. We kicked off this years concert season with a 5 day, 4 night road trip to Denver, Colorado, this is our travelogue:


Day 1: Friday, November 21st.

We got a late start, we wanted to be out the door by noon, but left around 2pm. We loaded up the car with both mountain bikes, Heather's guitar, my mandolin and all the necessary road trip ingredients. We didn't have much food for the drive, so we decided to drop in at the Whole Foods in Cottonwood Heights. Heather bought a salad, and I got a sandwich. On our way out of the store, we ran into our good friend Gardner. We went to a concert with Gardner just a few days before at The Depot where we saw a bluegrass group called Old Crow Medicine Show. After a few minutes of catching up, we exchanged CD's. Gardner gave us a CD full of his favorite OCMS songs, and we gave him one of our favorite CDs ofold timey bluegrass songs. We ended up listening to his music hours upon end while driving east.

We met up with my brother Greg and his wife Cathrine for dinner in Fruita Colorado. They showed us there house and bought us some pizza at the Hot Tomato. We had to head out rather quickly due to our late start. We had made reservations at the Hostel in Glenwood Springs, and would be locked out if we arrived later then 10pm.

The drive from Fruita to Glenwood Springs was shorter then expected. We made the same drive last year for my birthday. Last year, we went all out and splurged for a hotel room with a jetted tub in the bedroom. This year, we splurged for a private room at the Hostel. The place was busy, loud, the bed was uncomfortable, Heather didn't sleep much, but I slept like a baby. I would have no problem staying at the Hostel in the future, not sure if its Heathers cup of tea.




Day 2: Saturday, November 22nd.

We awoke at an early hour and made a quick exit from the Hostel. The car has a thin layer of ice over everything, temps were in the high teens. We ended up finding a place to eat just a block or two down the road. Much coffee was had along with my eggs and toast and Heather's oatmeal. Before we knew it, we were back on I-70 heading east.

The drive was pleasant, the sun brought out warmer temperatures. We stopped for fuel in a ski resort town, the name of which, I don't remember. I do remember it being close to 42 degrees outside. There were plenty of skiers, but not much snow on the ground. We got some weird looks from the ski crowd. On our car was two mountain bikes, everyone else had there winter gear strapped on.

A few miles later and we found ourself in the Eisenhower Tunnel, and from there, it was all down hill to Denver. We gave our friend Steve a call, you may remember him from the wedding. He was the one who read the poems during the ceremony. As soon as Steve heard that we were headed his way he insisted that we stay at his place. We simply could not turn down his generous offer, so we headed directly to his place.

Steve has a beautiful family and house. He insisted that we stay in his master bedroom, and he sleep on the bunk bed with his youngest son. I'm not sure he was aware that we were staying 3 days! We slept like babies in his bed that night.

For dinner, Heather and I were told to check out the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder. The Mall is really just a few blocks of historic Pearl Street that have been converted into a pedestrian only area. There are dozens of places to eat and shop. We picked a sushi place and had the most amazing spicy tuna-cado rolls ever. The sushi chef even made them with brown rice upon Heathers request. After eating we walked over to Mountain Sun Brewery to meet up with a few of our friends from BikeForums.net. The beer and nachos hit the spot and after a few hours of hanging out, we split directions.




Day 3: Sunday, November 23nd.

We woke up early on Sunday, and hung around the house for breakfast. After getting some home made food in our bellies we got dressed for the weather, and headed up Boulder Canyon to go find some mountain bikhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifing trails. We ended up following the road up to a small little ski resort. We took a few pictures and retreated a few miles back down the canyon for lunch at a Mexican food joint. By the time lunch was done, it was snowing outside, so we decided to retreat even further down the canyon before jumping on our mountain bikes. Soon, we found ourselves back at the mouth of Boulder Canyon, warm and in the sun. We ended up riding up the canyon for a mile or so, then heading into town where we road for another three hours.

We made it back to Steve's place just an hour or so before some more friends where due to arrive for a little get together in our honor. We were able to spend a few good hours talking and hacky sacking with our good friends Jan and Mo. Jan and Mo moved to Denver earlier in the year to get away from Utah and take over a small concessions business in downtown Denver. Oddly enough, we met our friend Gardner when hanging out with Jan and Mo at the Meadow Hot Springs last year.

After extended goodbyes, the party wound down, the guests left, and Heather and I went to bed.




Day 4: Monday, November 24th.

Today, we decided to check out Denver. Denver is HUGE. The sprawl goes on forever and ever it seems. Driving takes time, but traffic flows well. Our first stop, was to locate the theater Calexico was playing in. We found it with ease, just 15 minutes south of downtown. We soon were hungry and found ourselves walking up 16th street looking for food.

After eating, we met up with Steve at the REI store. And what an REI store it is! Its HUGE! 4 floors in an old train warehouse next to the river. Heather quickly got separated and within minutes, I was paged over the intercom to go meet her in the travel section.

The doors at the Gothic Theater opened at 8, but we found ourselves back at the theater a few minutes after 7. With temps in the low 30's, we decided to just hang out in our car and play music while the time past. We kept getting distracted by all the people walking in and out of the back stage door. We saw all the members of the opening band, as well as a few members of Calexico enter and exit. Heather got REALLY excited when Paul, the slide guitarist, walked a few dozen feet in front of our car.

The venue itself was small, but not too small. We were close to the front of the line, and quickly found seats on the 2nd floor, 1st row, right above the sound guys. The service there was vastly different then the service we had to deal with at The Depot. Our waitress kept the beer and water flowing through out the show. The opening band was amazing, and Calexico played some old favorites as well as a few from their new album. We ended up leaving a few minutes early and I'm bummed we missed a song or two, but we wanted to get out before the rest of the traffic did.

Heather was craving Mexican food, so we found a 24hr joint on the iphone, and slowly navigated our way there. Heather had two fish tacos, I had two chicken tacos. We ended the night in Steve's jetted tub, relaxing and talking about the concert. I don't think we got into bed until well after 3am.




Day 5: Tuesday, November 25th.

Today was uneventful, we slept in, packed up, jumped in the car and headed north to Wyoming, then east to Utah. The drive took close to 8 hours on the road, we made it home just in time for dinner. The trip was a success, we met with both new and old friends, much fun was had.

There are dozens upon dozens of pictures of this road trip at our smugmug photo gallery: http://joe-and-heather.smugmug.com/gallery/6711274_uPy5T

Pure Pumpkin Pleasure

I have found out this year that I love pumpkins. I like to buy the little pie ones and go crazy making everything pumpkin I can think of. This year, I think I've made half a dozen pumpkin pies (one of them raw), several soups, some pumpkin curry, and lots of delicious, roasted seeds.

There is something very satisfying about the whole process. I think the fact that I can do so many things with one simple item of food makes me very enthusiastic about working with them. When I go to buy pie pumpkins in their extremely short season, I try to pick out ones that I think have the most seeds in them. I'm not exactly sure how I figure this out, and I don't quite have it down yet. I think pumpkins with more seeds might be a bit heavier with less of a hollow sound to them? I don't know, really.

After chopping them in half, and scooping out the seeds, they go into the oven at 450 for about 45 minutes. Unless, of course, I'm making a raw dish, and then I just chop the pumpkin into small pieces and puree it.

While the pumpkin is baking, it begins to emit a sweet, earthy aroma into the kitchen. I think the smell of baked pumpkin is enough to lighten anyone's spirits. When I pull it out of the oven, all that yummy goodness that I have been breathing in is magnified. The color is even amazing.



Here is a picture of the latest pie I made for Joe. I think I made five or six before this.



He never seems to grow tired of them, and I can't say that I blame him. I usually have a tiny sliver of a taste of the pie and its fantastic. I use only the freshest, most natural ingredients I can find and with fresh whipped cream, its enough to send anyone head over heels.

New bike tour video! Moab to La Sal.

Check it out:

YouTube offers high quality videos.

All of our helmet camera videos are taken in DVD quality mode, they look amazing on our 24" monitor at home, but after youtube gets done with them, they often look like something you would see on 1970's TV!

I just finished watching one of our mountain bike tour videos on high quality, its not DVD quality, but it sure is better then what they used to stream, check it out, click on the "Watch in high quality" link under the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9g_eCUFXk8

This reminds me, I still have videos from Utah and Colorado that need to be processed. I'll upload those to our YouTube channel this week.

Cool venue!

Calexico!!!!

We are live blogging in line... Waiting and waiting... It's cold... :)

Maps of our property

Heather and I are starting to get really excited about our upcoming move to Costa Rica. For those curious, here is where our property is.

The big blank space next to our land? That would be the tenorio national park, home of the rio celeste.

Time Lapse Cleaning

Joe's having a lot of fun making time lapse videos. Here's one of us cleaning the kitchen. Fortunately for us, it doesn't take much more time than this to clean the place up. Oh, the joys of living in a small space!

Lunch with Ronnie and Ro

Halloween Hike

Here are a couple more pictures from our hike on Halloween Day.

The trail looking North.



Pretty leaves. Can you see the cute, little baby tree?



I think someone is following me.



Nice wood, eh?



Abandoned beehive.



Happy Joe.



Happy Heather.



Happy Mountain with Snow!!!



"Scary" Halloween mug shot.

Lifestyle Reform

After coming back home from an epic trip filled with constant movement, we allowed to let ourselves relax to an extended recovery mode. Our exercise throughout this past month has still been present, but not nearly as consistent as it had been the previous month.

With the coming of November and the snowboarding season creeping closer upon us, we decided that it was absolutely vital to get our lives back into order. It was time to get serious about our our health and what we could do every day to live completely to our fullest.

Physical activity on a daily basis is essential. Every morning, we will work on waking up at an early hour and starting off with a brisk walk to begin our day. When we get home from our walk, we will start the coffee and while its brewing, do 20 minutes of yoga. Push ups and other conditioning exercises will be done every other day, and at least once a week, we will complete an "epic" hike. Our idea of an epic hike is something that works us out completely, and something we need to pack water for. We can summit a peak, or hike to a lake, it doesn't matter as long as it works us out.

As for food, I'm sorry to say that I haven't fully recovered from my poor food choices on our bike trip and I haven't made the best effort to eat as well as I should. I still eat a healthy diet, but I'm lacking a lot of raw food. I want my diet to be at least 75% raw. That is, at least two of my meals per day should be raw and the rest will be healthy vegan. I don't have too much of a problem with dairy, and every once in a while I think its ok to have a treat, but for the most part, I just don't care for it.

So, that's it in a nutshell: Our 2008 Fall Lifestyle Reform. Each day we will strive to complete our goals and I know that life will be that much more rewarding because of it! This picture signifies the beginning of this reform. It was taken on Halloween Day, before we got dressed up to go to a party. We hiked about 1/2 up to Lake Blanche and today, we will complete that hike!

Some Video Nostalgia...

Of our wedding day. Enjoy!

http://www.joe-gardner.com/movies/broadband-high-wedding.mov

1 Year Anniversary

Yesterday, Joe and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. We took the motorcycle up to Timpanooke Campground and set up camp. That evening we enjoyed a delicious, homemade Indian dinner complete with fireside naan and brown rice. It was heavenly. In remembrance of our Sundance wedding, we had Sunday brunch at the Foundry Grill. This is the same place we had brunch the morning after our wedding with a handful of our friends. To say the food here is decadent and amazingly delicious would be an understatement. We each had a cappuccino and I thought of Tom sipping his a year ago when we were here.



Joe and I have had an amazing year together. I look back on that snowy day in October and I still can't believe how perfect it was. Tom was our officiator and our good friend Steve read some amazing poetry. We shared our vows and within a few minutes, it was over. Food and drinks were served inside a beautiful cabin and my brother played music for us in one of his bands. Everything was magical.







This first year as a married couple has been wonderful for us, and I think this next year will be even better. There will be a lot of exciting changes for us, but we can't wait to face them together. Here's to new beginnings and here's to remembering good times!