Happenings

So my last couple of weeks have been pretty eventful. First of all, I made step torwards (and possibly one back as well) being an adult and bought myself a nice car complete with car loan and everything. It's a 2005 Subaru WRX wagon, not exactly an adult car. It's fast and fun, plus it has all sorts of airbags and ABS so it's safe too.. Plus it's faster than my roomates Mini Cooper S, and that's all that really matters right?

From WRX

That took of most of Saturday, but Sunday brought on a trip to Pueblo, CO which was outlined in a previous post.


The next weekend I went to a "hut" up near Vail for Saturday night with a bunch of friends from work and a few other people. It was pretty flat so there wasn't very much snowboarding involved, but I got a chance to try out my splitboard and skins for the three mile trek in. They worked well, and the trip was alot of fun.

From Jay's Cabin

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Now for another week of work.. The weather's been pretty damn cold too, it was -4 this morning. Not that I'm complaining, at least it's not -30 like Bozeman can be.

Pueblo, CO

About an hour south of here.. Ain't no snow here...  A few more behind the link.

From 2009-01-18 Pueblo

Arizona

So before I get too behind schedule I'll post up some photos and such from our Christmas trip to AZ.

The trip started with a decent drive to Salina Utah, the intersection of my drive and the parents/brothers trip from Montana.  Mine was uneventful, theirs was awful, with the worst driving conditions pretty much ever.  From theirs:

  

After that night, we all piled in the same car and continued south through Vegas and into Arizona.  A quick stop in Vegas for in 'n out burgers and then a quick ride in Bootleg Canyon broke up the drive a bit.

From Christmas in AZ one

We arrived at my Aunt and Uncles late-ish that night, ate some awesome Lasagna and went to bed.

The next day included a bike ride at Phoenix's South Mountain, the largest city park in the U.S.  It was some good desert riding with rocky trails and aggressive plants.

From Weekend in AZ

That night we went to the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden and checked out a bunch of cool plants and glass sculptures.

From Christmas in AZ one

The next day had more south mountain riding and a lot of eating.  We then packed up to head further south for the next few days.  Destination: Patagonia, AZ.  Patagonia was a small little town quite close to the mexican border.  It was warm.  We went on two rides here, both of which had plants of the likes of which I've never had to carry my bike through before.  I think some of the scratches on my legs are still healing.  Fun though.

From Patagonia, AZ

We stopped at Saguaro National Park to see some big cacti and weren't disappointed.

From Saguaro NP

Then it was back to Phoenix for a new years experience: The Tempe block party.   I certainly didn't think I was going to ever see motorcycles doing backflips and Styx in the same day, but I did and it was everything I thought it would be and so much more..

The next morning brought another ride at South Mountain, some seriously rich soul food (smothered pork chop anyone?), and general vacationing.

From New Years Day South Mountain

From Last Few Days

It was back home through Flagstaff, a bunch of desert, and Colorado City.  Snow, extreme poverty, and polygamists in one drive.  Very interesting...

Unfortunately, John has all the Colorado City pictures.  That place was a bit strange.  You could tell the kids were told outsiders were evil by the way they looked at you.  If you've never read about the fundamental Mormons, I suggest you do .   Another night in Salina, and a leasurly 8 hour drive back home.

And that's it for now, all those links below pictures are attached to albums that have many more pictures.  Or click here and choose your own adventure.

Demons

An original by Kelsey Parker..  I like it

New Years Resolutions

Ok, so two of these were unscrupulously copied but here goes.  The seem pretty enviro-hippy, but I suppose that's just the way it is.

1.  Don't throw away any aluminum cans..  None.  (aluminum is way harder to make from Bauxite than to recycle)  it takes around 5% of the energy to recycle than to make new.  Not to mention the strip mining in Australia and China needed to acquire bauxite.  Most other recycling generally converts things to lower grades (plastics, glass, etc.)  Not so with aluminum, this stuff should all be recycled.  Just another case of all the infrastructure and public mindset getting in the way of some serious savings.

2.  Don't shop at Wal-Mart.  Nothing against those who do, but I'll try and buy local instead.  Most everything there is made overseas, and I don't want to give overseas any more money than I have to.  If we truly want to boost our economy and help our country we should buy as much stuff as we can that's made here.  If someone spends their stimulus check at a place like Wal-mart, less than half of it actually helps stimulate.  

3.  Avoid using any disposable silverware or plates.  If I do, I will reuse it at least twice or more if it holds up.  It amazes me how lazy some people can be and use this stuff all the time.  If only it wasn't so cheap, people might think twice before they blatantly add to the worlds trash heaps because they don't want to go through the trouble of reusing or washing dishes.

That's it for now, I'll post some pictures from my trip to Arizona next.