Friday, September 28, 2012

jellystone

kenny on the wooden path to strange hot water sources

mud volcano... had to stop....not as impressive in person
the dragon's mouth.... a very fitting name

i had to look up what a fumarole is....
the sign says Shake & Bake!!!

radical rocks
where the buffalo roam
Upper Falls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
Lower Falls was sweeter

I looked at the 8000 stairs to climb to get out as a nice workout

the colors of Mammoth Hot Springs

odd rock formations

forgot the name of this waterfall, but Kenny swears there is a buffalo in there

tower falls was a quick walk off the road
heading out to the highway... so long Yellowstone

huckleberry hot springs

Moose Falls on our way to the south entrance.
pulling over every 10 minutes to see a water feature

gorgeous rivers

Kenny shoots the river delta
Lewis Falls was tough to shoot.
we kept crossing over the Continental Divide
saw a few long distance cyclists in the park

had to ford Polecat Creek to get out to the hot springs
it was broad, but shallow and not tooooo COLD.


Huckleberry Hot Springs is more like a hot creek.

we had a lovely and relaxing first soak.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh just the right temp
went up higher on the creek to check the surroundings
too hot waterfall starts it out....

OLD FAITHFUL - dusk til dawn

I hadn't seen Kenny since last DEC in San Diego
I drove to Kenny's summer residence in the tiny town of Dubois, ID. Turns out he was all finished with his job so we packed him up and headed to Yellowstone. He summer job with the forest service provided him with a free National Parks pass. I wouldn't have gone to Yellowstone if we couldn't get it for free.
Dubois is in eastern ID so it was a quick drive to WY
Saw this patriot walking the road near West Yellowstone

a cherried out Sprinter in front of us at the entrance to the park
Once inside the photo ops were endless...

animals lounging on the roadside as we made tracks for OLD FAITHFUL

watermelon while we waited for the eruption
there she blew

and just as the sun was setting! perfect!
it was a cold night in the van
preparing the City Cakes donuts as she surprised us

ummmmmm... donuts at Old Faithful!
every 90 minutes - plus or minus 10
from there we set out to see the other hot water in the area.

Friday, September 14, 2012

King of the Road - SLC

It just so happened that the meet up city for KOTR was Salt Lake City and I was in the area visiting Crouse. Mike hit me up about helping with transport of the Mystery guests.  I met up with him for an evening mini ramp session, and then the next morning the fun began.

Jaws was the first to show up. David got him fired up.
Jaws and David double backflips
Decenzo gets his intake interview done on the van.

group photo before we hit the Rose Park skatepark
Creature was stoked to get David Gonzales!

Navarette rocking a wardrobe worth some points

Omar greets Frank
Andy, Cards, and Peter get the news that Decenzo is in their van

Julien, Andy, and Cards greet Grant Taylor
race time folks. Grant vs Austyn
Grant slipped out and gave Austyn the win

dog interference...do over for david and tony
tony couldn't catch david.
colin had a close call when school let out....

watch your back, little buddy!

Bingaman vs Russo
colin and bingaman in practice
on to the finals... Austyn for Toy vs David for Creature

David's board says it all.... he took a noggin bonking fall in practice, but rallied for the win
Mike rolls in with one of the surprises. Toilet lid races up next
mike explains the revised race course
race 1 OMAR for Alien vs Colin for Toy on the toilet seats

looks like colin's in the lead

oh no, wait for it... Omar cuts in on the low road

colin fell off and omar blew up his whip trying to get up the Euro gap.
Joe Brook shows off the carnage. All 4 boards were shredded before race 2 could begin
beyond repair!

skate break with David Gravette.. frontside tailslide
backside air by Gravette as the board toss event gets explained
Al stretches it out, pre toss.
Al was runner up... solid toss... only lost by 6 inches
Preston gives it his best shot
not sure if Mike planned on winning, but he did!
high fives all the way around!
jake gives his take on the win!
Andy was psyched I was willing to give him his 1st Santa Cruz board, but his mom has one.
and just like that, each team loaded up their mystery guests and hit the road.....