Where Am I?

Hello from Utah! 

It has been quite a trip so far. In the last few weeks, I have been to Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, and Utah again. We have suffered through two car break-downs, dog barf dramas, and getting lost more times than I care to count, but I can't complain....... 

We have been mostly skiing the last few weeks, which is now my favorite thing in the world (after my dog Sammy, despite the barfing). Here is a summary in not-quite-sequential order:

Utah

We are trying to follow the snow, which I am learning is more luck than science. Have you all noticed this Ridiculously Resilient Ridge of high pressure that is totally cramping the west coast snow-train? The East Coast is totally getting feet and feet of MY SNOW. Jerks. However, we are making the best of it here in Utah with friends who visited from the Bay Area (see photo) - but the snow is looking pretty bleak. 

We are living out of the trunk of our car and sleeping in Dave's dad's basement - yes, I am serious. It feels like college again, but I am going to go with it.

This is the back of the car with all the essentials (booze, ski boots, avalanche gear, a stick of butter?, etc.)

Scottsdale

In any case, I also made it to Scottsdale to celebrate the gorgeous L.P.'s 40th birthday. There is no where in the world I would have rather been than celebrating with these ladies! I am so lucky to have them as friends - and what hotties they are!

Wyoming/Idaho

Wyoming and Idaho were super cool. While everyone knows that Jackson is poshy and nice, I really liked Driggs, Idaho - which is the town at the base of the Grand Targhee Resort. 

So when you ski on a Tuesday, you are pretty much sharing the resort with about 7 retired folks. The slopes are empty and the snow is all yours. AWESOME! I am not sure I can go back to the 45-minute-long weekend lines at Heavenly ever again.

Dave getting ready to ski/skin/hike in to the backcountry

Our view of the Tetons - beautiful 

We also went cross-county skiing along some trails in the Driggs area - see the handsome man in the photo above. They plow a lot of the fire roads for cross-country skiers. I could seriously get used to this.

We stayed at a rental called Thistle Dew, just north of Driggs (which I cannot recommend enough). I am hoping we will head back there again this winter because it was so awesome. 

Next

We are off to Colorado on Friday so hopefully the weather gods will be kind and bless us with fresh snow!

Love and kisses to y'all

Things I Learned About a Sabbatical

There Are Lots of Questions

We are getting loads of reactions to our little sabbatical plan.

From some peeps we get high-fives all around, which is reassuring and fun.

From others, we get the whole, "Really, you quit your jobs? Why the eff would you do that?"

One dude asked, "What is a sabbatical?" Seriously.

Others assume we are university professors or something, taking that sabbatical to write our novel or whatever. This tells me that we should possibly have another name for our adventure, but mid-career break sounds douchey. To be continued......we will think of something cool.


It Isn't All Fun
So we found renters for the house. This is a blessing and a curse. It is awesome because rents in Palo Alto are healthy and the cash will help fund our trip. It sucks because we have to clean and pack. We had to move all our personal crap out of the house to make room for the tenants. So guess what we have been doing for the past three days. Yay - cleaning and moving and packing.

I consider myself a minimalist to a fault, but where the eff did I get all this crap? I have more clothes and junk than you can imagine, like 3 bags of lotions, shampoos, and girl-shit (and I barely wear mascara). How did this happen?

This is as bad as packing for London. At least this trip is a few months and not a few years like London......


What's Next
We are off to Jackson Hole, Wyoming tomorrow. I have only been there in the summer. I cannot wait to see the snow on those mountains, because it is actually snowing there (unlike very much snow-free Tahoe). We are staying at the Cowboy Village Resort, which looks totally kick-ass.

I will report on the state of the snow as soon as we have our first day in the powder! Travel on friends.