Thursday, May 19, 2011

Spring Update

Spring is here in Northern Vermont ... daffodils and tulips are blooming, leaves are budding on the trees, the ticks are out in full force, and pollen is starting to coat everything. It's SO nice to be able to wear shorts and Chacos after a long winter in ski boots. I even went swimming in the river yesterday ... I think I'll wait until it gets a little warmer to do THAT again! My vegetables starts got a great start, then I shocked 'em good ... oops. Some of them came back, but the cukes, okra, and basil took the worst of it. Oh well. I'm no master gardener and I'm bound to make mistakes! Zach is in his third week of work with the Kingdom Trails Association as a trail crew leader; I start at the local country store (deli, pizzeria, market, antique/craft/gift store) on Monday. Work is only a short bike ride away for both of us (the buildings are literally 50 feet apart), and it's nice to not have a hellish transportation problem like last summer. Mountain biking season has officially begun with some of New England's best single track riding in our backyard. It's bound to be a good season! We already miss our awesome neighbors Josh and Jen, but hopefully they will come down and ride with us (hint, hint!). We're parked next to a river about a mile outside of town; the lot has LOTS of camping room, so visitors are welcome :)

Now for the pictures. This last winter was a lot of fun ... Jay Peak got a decent amount of snow and we were up there just a couple of weeks ago skiing the last of it. Being parked right in town was really nice, and we had great neighbors. While the mountain didn't have much of a challenge to offer Zach, it has a lot to offer me and I finally starting getting into the trees with some confidence. Oooohhhh next winter is going to be so good (have I told you we're planning on heading to Mt. Baker in WA?) ...

Here are some pics ...

First big storm in December ... much more to come

I know it's the same shot, but the snow looks SO COOL!

Who dat?

Zach, Josh, and Maple the dog out for a morning stroll

Hahahahaa ...

Neat snow circles on the skylight

Oh no! Please don't!

Zach was "photo of the day" for Jay Peak on multiple occasions!
There are A LOT more pictures of Zach skiing ... 
our neighbor Josh took some great shots and film footage too ... 
and also some from other sources ... I will try to get those on here too ...

Sliding down the terrain park while sitting on a snowdeck (skateboard for snow) ... 
he is at MACH SPEED in this shot ... and then he went over a jump and ate it ... bwahahahaa

And then it was over ...

You know I love those Black Dog shots

Sno-no-mo!

Love my man

BBQ on the roof

And now for the present ...
Graciously allowed to park on abandoned private property ... 
more road noise than we would like, but it's better than the Burke Mtn. parking lot!

Old sawmill

Back side of the lot (all I can see is a great Frisbee spot!) ... 
the river is just down the hill back there

Not usually this brown or high (it's been raining a lot lately) ... 
swift current, deep enough to swim, flows right into town (gotta get a boat!)

That's all for now, folks. I'll try to do better about posting more frequently. Thanks for loving who we are and what we're doing! 

Kelly