stop over

rob & becky made a detour on their road trip to austin to see our little piece of life here in wyomin'. it was nice to be able to share some of our old favorites & new adventures with them. we went to vedauwoo & hiked around the crazy rocks. we were eager to see a moose, so eager i mistook some hikers tromping through the brush for one. oops!

we also spent lots of time in antique shops & each of us found a few treasures. i found a great print of a ponderosa (kind of nikki mcclure style) in a junky frame. we put it in a new frame & it looks great. plus it is a reminder of home, which is always a bonus! 

on saturday we packed the four of us & the two mutts in the outback. we felt like sardines in there with the dogs breathing down our necks! but it was another beautiful day so we took our time & enjoyed the trip to rocky mountain national park. we saw one elk from a distance in the park & about fifty in a city park down in town.

the park was beautiful--definitely a place i want to visit again. most of the park was closed for the season, so brandon & i need to make plans to get there next summer. too bad dogs are not welcome in national parks. i understand the rationale, but as a dog owner it really cramps my style.

on sunday we hung around the house, brandon & rob put together a washstand papa overstreet made a few years back. i need to get pictures of the finished product--it is really cool! becky & i ran errands, went for coffee, & baked an apple pie. it was nice to lay low with them. we even used our projector and $1-yard-sale-score-projection-screen to watch a movie! 

they took off yesterday after a tour of campus. it was nice that it wasn't "goodbye" since we will see them in austin in a few weeks for thanksgiving. after they left brandon & snuck in the last bike ride of the season, which was awesome. i had a wreck that left me hurting pretty bad, but it still felt good to get out before the snow hit. which it did this morning. we are in a total winter wonderland at the moment!

whatever may be

today we went for a hike with a friend from costa rica, max. unfortunately we waited until late in the afternoon, when the dark clouds started rolling in, bringing their friends "thunder" & "lightening" along. we didn't make it far up the trail before better judgment sank in & forced us to turn back. when we were about 100 feet from the car the sky opened up with pea-sized hail {ouch!}. never-the-less, it was fun to explore an area that is new to me. {brandon was there last fall with doug & liz}

pretty little flowers that required a magnifying glass {or zoom lens} to see them.

: : :

harvey has been a real pain lately. i mean a real pain. he has taken to obeying only when he feels like & barking at every leaf that has the nerve to skitter across our sidewalk. it is just a phase, but i am seriously considering bringing in the dog whisperer. anything would be better than me lately, being the antithesis of a whisperer.

i recently found a blog about the massive dog rescue in eastern oregon that happened in december. over 150 dogs were left to fend for themselves in the snowy winter, with little food or shelter. it simultaneously broke my heart {that people could be so cruel} & made me proud of the goodness of the people of the PNW {that all 150 dogs have been adopted or fostered in just 5 months!}. bonus, a social worker was the first to report the case to animal control--way to go social workers! 

a lot of the puppies looked like harvey used to, which made me get all kinds of sentimental. so despite my annoyance, here are a few of the faces of harvey:

he sneaks up on the couch when we are out of the house & during the night. 

shaking off the sleepy face. {please disregard our horribly dirty rug--we had a dog rodeo just moments before and hair was EVERYWHERE! still, gross rug there overstreets!}

he is a pro at giving me the stink-eye. apparently i annoy him equally.

check out that crocodile tear. poor guy! so emo.

one day we will have children & i will look back laughing at the fact i posted so much about our dog. oh well. btw, if any of you want an almost-2-year-old australian shepherd/maniac mix let me know...

new friends in new places

this weekend we cancelled our plans to go to jackson because of the insanely long drive and the fact that i am going to have to drive 2/3 of the same drive this week. with a last minute call to our ft. collins friends doug and liz we had alternate plans and began packing for a camping trip in the colorado mountains. there were 10 people and 3 pooches total and all of us had a great time. we found a wonderful campsite and enjoyed running from the ever-shifting campfire smoke, eating fire-cooked meals, and swapping stories. doug and liz have superb friends so it was easy to have fun.

we went on one short hike on saturday afternoon, realizing about 1 mile in that we were started from the wrong trailhead and that we were a good 8 walking miles from the lakes we were hoping to reach. oh well, my legs and lungs were ok with the modified hike we took instead.

the next day we set out on an epic hike to "bag some 13ers" as the colorado folk put it. there is this strange drive to conquer mountains in this state and although 13ers (peaks that are =/> 13,000 ft) aren't as cool as 14ers, you still get some recognition for hiking those. i'm certain they are all a strain on my respiratory system! anyhow, foreboding rain clouds and burning lungs forced us to modify this hike as well, allowing us to let go of the need to stand on top of the surrounding peaks.

it was a gorgeous basin and we all got to a nice lake at about 12,500 ft where we enjoyed our picnics. half of us then decided to head down before the rains and thunderstorms caught us, the other half decided to press on to the saddle and see the view. i, being in the former half, enjoyed the conversations i had on the way down and then opted to check out aspen with one of the couples. we didn't fit in with our grubby hiking clothes and matted camping hair, but we had fun saying "aspen" in a snooty voice and laughing at the fur clothing we saw parading the streets. we also indulged in a little espresso, which happened to be the best espresso any of us have ever had. leave it to aspen to have that claim!

on the drive home today we went through steamboat springs, which is a town we really liked. i think we will end up going skiing there a few times this winter. they have a gluten-free pizza place so we indulged in that and checked out the whitewater kayak park.

we are home now and i must pry our new laptop (wohoo!) out of my hands and go take a shower. although there is much homework and reading that i have to finish tonight, a nap just might be my first order of business.

east bank adventures

we spent our days off this week going on a little bit of an adventure... the trip started with an enjoyable and mostly dry canoe trip down a mellow portion of the snake. brandon had never been in a canoe and i have only been out once with kemi, therefore neither of us were "experienced". about two miles down river from our place, we crossed over to the east bank, locked up our trusty vessel, and headed inland for bailey lake.

we had the lake all to ourselves and enjoyed the quiet as life in jackson means rarely finding a place to be alone, what with all the cone-likers and city-folk out looking for an outdoor experience. we swam quite a bit and layed on the sandy beach in peace. this was our oasis:i spent most of my time taking photos of the beautiful wildflowers and the amazing clouds. we were blessed with an afternoon-long thunder and lightening show so we spent a lot of our time in the tent--i started and finished an entire book! once the showers cleared, brandon took to fishing the lake and caught a few, although he didn't bring them back to show me so who knows how big those fish actually were! :)the next morning while i lay in my sleeping bag and brandon caught up on some sleep, i heard a grunting sound just outside our tent. i shook brandon until he woke up and quietly warned him of our visitor. i was freaked out, thinking that at any moment a huge moose would come trample our tent to pieces. he, on the other hand, was unfazed and ducked outside to get a better look. this is what he found:indeed, i was semi-correct to think a moose was going to pass through our camp. however, he wasn't interested in us and only wanted to get to the lake for his morning drink. brandon made me nervous, getting closer to this gangley guy so he could get a better photo. i kept thinking, "death by moose stomping is not how you want to go out brandon; please back away from this thing!" he didn't back away and, fortunately, he didn't get the certain death i feared.

the other thing i got to know quite well on this trip was stinging nettle. ouch. never before have i seen so much of this stuff. at one point i lost the trail and stumbled into a huge patch of it, my legs began to burn and welt as i tried to get out. i jumped across the small creek and grabbed onto the nearest plant to avoid sliding back into the water. what did i wrap my hand around? a huge nettle! so my legs and my left hand welted up and stung for the better part of 30 minutes.

essence of a season

here it is folks... the epitome of summer:


for those of you who will not be viewing this site in person, you will not know the true contrast of my sandal-laden feet. to me, this chaco tan, the many mosquito bites that dot my shins, and my favorite pair of long shorts equal the necessary ingredients for a great summer. (as do huckleberry ice cream, bike rides, & campfires, of which we have also had our fair share.)

another requirement of summer (& life of course!) is great friends, which we have quickly acquired a heaping handful of. this photo is of megan and i after we forded the river behind us. see the utter glee we managed to summon despite our frozen feet and soggy socks? true, enduring friendship seems to be made up of such feelings. megan is on my crew and is someone i can be silly with one moment and profoundly deep with the next. she is simply wonderful.

now this photo is a little dated, but necessary for telling the story of our summer. this fuzzy, brown creature is our old friend grizz! megan (see above) is who i was hiking with when we came across the little guy--perhaps that is when we solidified a great friendship as we "conquered" our first bear encounter together. this photo is from the trail and was taken without engaging the zoom. that's right, we were altogether too close, but fortunately our encounter was with a fully-satiated bear.
and this is me fully ready with bear spray in hand as we by-passed the bear.as i look back over this blog, i notice the photos of brandon have been few and far between lately. i'll try to work on that. he either seems to be working or behind the camera. don't be fooled however, he is having the time of his life! of the 30+ days we have been here, he has kayaked all but 8. yeah, rough life for him, isn't it?

we have also been doing a lot of reading, and for some reason the books i keep picking up are about afghanistan. i am totally caught up in learning about this country right now, although i am unsure of why that is exactly. the most recent book i am reading, west of kabul, east of new york, is simple and intriguing. here is a quote i took a liking to:

all of human history can be seen, can it not, as an argument between those who
try to explode the existing forms and those who try to freeze things as they
are. the second impulse always wins in the end, except it's never the
end. the cosmic winner is always change, except change can never settle in
as the permanent state. history is a river, except people can only live in
lakes, so they dam the current and build villages by still waters--but the dam
always breaks. and always, some folks ride the flood, screaming slogans
and exulting. ultimately those folks disappear in the foam and tumult, and
when the waves die down, you always find the bureaucrats in charge again,
saying, "okay, we've slipped downstream, but this is where we should build our
permanent home. "

permanent home, the impossible dream.

so now that i reread this quote before posting, i realize why this resonated with me--it is our mission to live in the current, the deep desire brandon and i have for the life we create. this passage expresses why this is mission of ours is so challenging and why it doesn't always seem possible. this year we are certainly letting go of the need for the permanent home. it doesn't exist for us here.

good news... finally!

we haven't had a lot of good news these past few months, but today we both heard great things. each of us got jobs in jackson, wyoming for the summer! i will be a river ranger (aka: low-level, non-weapon packing cop) and brandon will also be working for the forest service maintaining campsites, doing trail clearing, enforcing campground regulations, etc.
we are both eagerly looking forward to a summer in the tetons.
they have us set up in "rustic cabin" along the river (includes running water, electricity, and potentially a bat family) which is great. we start on may 27 so we will get some time at home with the family before we take off for the rocky mountain range.
if any of you decide to come visit, be sure to check the events calendar for concerts and other exciting things. we would love to have visitors!
if things go according to plan, this will be our view:we have this requirement that we have framed art/photos from each place we have lived up around our house. this won't be a hard location to take stunning photos from!
in other news, brandon had a wonderful birthday (the news of the jobs coming through was a great gift!). he got a zero degree sleeping bag and was able to share a nice steak and potatoes dinner with some of our best friends. to top it off we got to see erik and kayla last night. we are a blessed couple indeed!
i also broke down and went to the doctor this afternoon: sinus infection! wohoo! i am on antibiotics right now and eager to begin feeling better. brandon is being really patient, but i have been whining for the past five days.

the (steep) ups and downs

our backpacking trip along the st. joe river was equally wonderful and exhausting. we have tight calves, sore shoulders, and a few great photos. going with our friends will and andrea was lots of fun--always good to have solid "couple friends"!

a "groovy" rock along the river shore

midway through a killer uphill stretch. i was so glad to see brandon ahead with his pack off!
a much needed break along a very tough climb
some saint joe river shots

i thought this cloud photo looked like the sistine chapel ceiling. i guess the mural in the chapel was based on the real deal...
this setting made this river photo look like a beautiful painting

a hiking we will go

we are off early tomorrow morning for a short holiday/long weekend adventure in the wilderness north east of us. there are rumors of huckleberries, moose, and lovely river views. i promise pictures to come!

brandon is going to attempt to hike on 2-3 hours of sleep, depending on how long it takes us to get there. this late-night once-a-week thing gets old for me and exhausting for him. hopefully he is extra cheery and the rest of us can be patient. maybe he won't have to wait for me like usual. that would be an interesting change!

also, i have tried to get photos up from when mom, matt & bubby were here, but have not managed to make that work yet. those should be on the way...