Meadows Episode #6

Hello all my blogosphere homies, yes all 4 of you. So yesterday Andy and I were able to hit up meadows for a full day of riding. We arrived at the early hour of 8:45 which means we left my place at around 7:30. The snow was pretty good and we got a lot of riding in.

Now, there are many little secrets you can use while snowobarding and the seasoned rider knows many of them, rule #46 in the snowboard handbook reads as follows: If the lift lines are long, always choose the singles line. It was pretty crowded so Andy and I put rule # 46 into action all day. We had a great time, here are a few photos of the haps throughout the day. Peace.

Driving to Meadows

Tail Grab

Crail

Crail #2


View from Across


Top View
Bottom View (Andy holding up his JJ at the top)
Sequence #1

Sequence #2 (sick)

Sequence #3

Merry Christmas to each and everyone!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Last night was Christmas Eve and I spent it here at Andy and Rachel's place, we watched a movie named The Ultimate Gift , it was a really good movie and I am glad i saw it, click on the Movie name to see the trailer for it. I recommend it to everyone. Another Christmas has come and just about gone. It has been a good day. Had breakfast, hung out, and watched Hairspray the movie. I was a little surprised that I ended up liking it too. I got a few gifts for family members during the past week too. A few magazine subscriptions, a GPS, and some clothing. A was at Fred Meyer last night on my way home from Mt Hood Meadows ( by the way it was off the hook, probably the best snow I have ridden since being here) and I decided to grab some windshield wipers for my roommate nick. I rode in his car a few months ago, it was raining and he turned on his wipers or should I say knives.... It was metal on windshield and I don't think he really cared is the funny thing. So I bought him a set. Happy wiping Nick! So it was a good Christmas and I hope all of yours was as well!!!

B-Day

Well yesterday was my Birhtday and it went pretty well. I basically did everything I would do on a normal Saturday but I guess that is a good thing. That means I have a pretty good life right? I hit up the slopes with Andy and Rachel, watched a boring BYU Bowl game. Although they did win on a last second field goal attempt that BYU blocked to win the game! I was in a hurry to find a place to watch the game so I went to the local best buy and sat on their recliner and watched it on one of their 52" HD TV's, I know a little weird but not bad if you ask me. See the highlights of the game here.
And as always here are a few videos for this weeks "Meadows weekly update". Peace.

#1 Me at Meadows #2 Drew at Meadows

Tis the Season for Basketball

Last Friday the Jazz came to town for a game against the Portland Jail-Blazers, oh I mean Trail-Blazers. My Bad. A friend got us pretty good tickets for the game. We got a few looks as a friend and I walked around with our Jazz Jerseys on, but gotta represent right? Here are a few photos from the game. Jazz lost which was super lame, since when do the Jazz lose to the Blazers? http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=294&sid=2334239

Andy and I were able to go to Mt Hood the other day here is a photo and a few videos. we had a great time, I really enjoy riding with the Bro.

Andy-B/S 180 Indy

PORT-LAND

A really cool website with a ton of photos from Downtown Portland and the surrounding area.


http://www.portlandground.com/

Trip to Utah

Andy, Rachy, the boys and I were able to go to Utah for a few days. Andy and I went for a Yearly Conference put on by OrthoPro. We stayed up at Snowbird for a few days. There were lectures, and informative discussions about the company, it was good, I learned a lot. We also had a cadaver workshop for the reps and Dr's to try out some of OrthoPro's current products. A few friends came up Friday night and we chilled out in the Hot tub, nice to See my friends again and see them, Congrats to Aaron and Krid on their Pregnancy. Best of luck. We got to ride on Sat. at the bird here are a few pics and vids. We also got together at Jen and Trav's for a B-day celebration for the boys, we had a good time! All in all it was good to be back and see the family and friends.

Drew Slashin some PowThe Crew: L to R. Drew, Ben, Pauly, Bill (Yellow seems to be a popular choice this season)

Saturday at Longview, WA

Here are a few photos and videos of a sand track I went to with my buddy Nick in Longview Washington today. It was a little cold when we got there but once we got the blood flowing on the track we were good to go. Fun times!

Snow Day #1

Today Andy and I were able to head up to Meadows. Today was their first day open and they had 2 lifts running. It was a little on the crowded side and the lines were somewhat long, but Andy and I were able to weasel our way through it and get some good turns and rail session.

The only video we got, not enough speed though....

Snow Day 11/20/2008

Today Andy and I went up to Mt Hood in the afternoon for a late snow sesh. Following are photos of the happenings. It was pretty fun and they had a lot of snow, probably a few good feet.

I liked this photo of Andy, the sun through the fog was cool.

HINDSIGHT PART DEUX

Yesterday I went to Hindsight again. Before I went to the track I went to Motosport (not the mailorder one, but one of their satalite shops)and looked around because it was close to the track. They had some cool stuff like a brand new 06 CRF 250 for 3999! a few of their Team Motosport supercross race bikes for sale, and really good deals on merchandise just like in theor catalog. I met my new MX buddy Nick there and we rode for a few hours.

"wow that one light bulb is a 80 watt not a 100 watt like they are suppost to be"

Traffic Jam

Rollin Solo

This Kid hounded me for like 4 laps. It was a fun battle, and of course you always have to give the ever so popular "thumbs up".

A few things I have noticed.

I have noticed 2 things in the past week. I have always noticed them but I decided to write about them briefly.

1st- is I really love it when people wave to me in their car. Since I do a lot of driving I am in the car a lot and deal with the every day quirks that go along with driving. Example: I was waiting at a light and the traffic was backed up. A woman in a van was coming out of the parking lot at Fred Meyer, I let her into the flow of traffic, she rolled down her window and gave me the well known "Thanks" wave, It made me feel good. I know it is something very simple but I like it.

2nd- People in general use certain words or numbers in conversations to their advantage. Example: I was speaking to a person and they said "oh well they live in co-habitation". So they try to use words that don't sound nearly as bad as "Adultery" or as Dr. Laura would say "a paid hooker". Also with numbers like money and time, if something costs a lot and they want to make it sound like they didn't pay an arm and a leg for the item. Real price: $3,300. "Oh Ya it was like 3 grand". Or with time, if someone drives for 8 hrs, "oh ya it was around 6 hrs". why do we do this? Why do we try and make things sounds like they are not quite as bad as they really were? Hmmmmmm

One last though I LOVE to work the system. And I HATE paying retail for most things. I have several examples like the time I went to the X-Games in L.A. with a few friends and didn't have tickets to get into the Freestyle Motocross Finals, we scoured the grounds outside the stadium for any chance to get in. Finally I came across a Latino Woman that had a bunch of tickets and was just handing them out. She didn't understand any English so I helped her out. 10 mins later I had earned the lady 180 bucks, we all got in for free and had 60 bucks cash to show for my effforts. ALTHOUGH the most recent occurance was I reallywanted a certain pair of snowboard pants for the upcoming season and could not find them anywhere! I found them online. They had one pair left. I talked to a buddy and he expressed the fact that he had recieved an email from the same online store a few weeks ago for 20% off one item but had deleted it. I called the store saying I had received an email from them with a coupon but had deleted it. She was simpathetic that I come across such an unfortunate ordeal and went ahead and processed the order.......with 20% off.

Sunny 2 weeks straight in Portland???

So it has been sunny for what seems like forever but in reality has been 2 weeks, this is pretty rare for this time of year here in the pacific Northwest, but I'm not complaining. Although I am ready for the snow up on Mt Hood for the season to start. This week was pretty good , work was steady, Andy and I had a training mtg. for a new company named Orthohelix we picked up that specializes in Titanium foot and ankle plates.

CHECK THEM OUT: http://www.orthohelix.com/

Friday we too had a good day as there were several cases going on with Dr's using a variety of out products.

My dad was in town for the entire week. it was good to have him here. I think he really enjoyed himself. He spent the majority of time here at the house sending time with the boys. We went and played tennis 2 afternoons which is always a fun time. I also moved into my apt. It's a cozey place, nothing too spectacular but basically a place to lay my head.

Today I went to a MX Track in Longview Washington http://www.longviewmx.com/track-photos.html with a guy I met a few weeks ago. He is a nice guy and works at a local TV sation so I told him to give the weatherman a piece of my mind. (read the following) It was suppost to rain according to the weather man here but upon waking up blue skies greeted my brown eyes. So instead of hitting up an indoor track we decided on Longview. They have 2 motocross tracks, one dirt and one sand, beachfront riding and 300 acres. The Dirt Track was too muddy to ride so we headed to the Sand Track, sand is something I have never ridden in on a track before. After a while I kind of got the hang of it. By the end of our trip I was feeling great on the track and having an awesome time. The ruts were great you could just slam the bike in there and pin it.

I'm on T.V.

Here is a link to a T.V. show named "At Your Leisure". The last week I was in Utah they came and to the local motocross track and filmed for an upcoming episode. At your leisure is a Utah based TV show that runs on channel 4 every Sunday morning and night. Their focus is basically anything that is related to the outdoors. My Buddy Todd Kohler helps produce the show and asked me if I wanted to be part of that episode. Of course I said for sure! Here is a link.

http://www.atyourleisure.info/episodes.asp?season=6&episode=7&category=4

Portland Vs. Utah

I have decided to list a few reasons of why I like Portland and what I miss most about Utah.
-Portland is so pretty when it is sunny
-close to Andy, Rachy and the boys
-motocross tracks here are sweet
-downtown is really cool, right on the river
-a lot of outdoor activities to do
Utah
- Jen, Trav and the kids
-Friends that I made there
-snowboard scene
-going to the motocross track with Trav, Aaron and Kelly
-my ward and all the members
-the people I home taught

So those were just a few thought I had that I wanted to share.
I recently bought a Garmin GPS System. I just barley got it in the mail yesterday and got to play with it a little today driving around. I feel like I am getting the hang of things as far as not getting too last around the city. But I am glad I got it, just one less thing I have to worry about.

Andy and I got some stuff from Burton off their Pro-form and we got it all yesterday, when we got home there were 4 boxes just waiting for us. I am pretty excited for the season. I got a bag, UnInc snowboard, pants, Hoodie and a T-shirt. Here is a photo of some of the goodies.

I also am pretty sure I have found an apt. I got hooked up with another lds kid that is looking for a place, his name is Nick. Probably not the first cat I would chose to go hang with but he seems nice and clean enough. "Ben, I really commit to keeping that commons area clean on my part" Which by him saying Commons Area I guess he means the living room???? I think he has told me this statement about 6 times now. But at any rate the Apt is about 5 mins S of where Andy is so that should be good.

We also went to Multnomah (?) falls over the weekend and to some lookout point over the river. Pretty Cool.

I am also trying to set up a Lake Tahoe boarding trip for this season. Probably some time in Late Jan. Paul and I went last year and had a great time. Hopefully it will work out OK. Southwest has great deals right now so I will probably fly in and meet whoever ends up going in Reno. Can't wait.

Lastly I bought a Laser pointer for work purposes and was playing with it when I got it out of the packaging and decided to show it to the boys. I know it;s a little mean but Tayson was trying really hard to get it. The other two were more on the casual side but Tayson really put forth a good effort to try and get it. Watch the video.

Part of my setup for this year.

08 Ak 3L Sqwawk Softshell Jacket, Ronin 2L pant, 32 Lashed, Oakley Crowbar Limited, Burton idiom Gloves, Sickies. Waterfall hike (more like a walk)Look out point over the river.

Rachy, Tayson and I, he doesn't look too interested int he photo. And me trying to do my best Thug impression. Travee will appreciate that one.

Funny Video of Tayson.

It's the Weekend!!!

I was really looking forward to this Saturday, work on Thursday and Friday were pretty hectic so I was looking forward to some rest and relaxation. Friday night I went out on the town with my new "season pass friend". We went to get some grub at the California pizza kitchen just south of Lake Oswego, and then hit up a movie. We had some time to kill between dinner and the movie so we walked around the shopping center. (It reminded me of the gateway, outdoors with nice shops) We hit up Urban Outfitters, I had never been in that store before. I had heard about it but never gone in. I really liked the stuff they have. Cool/different t-shirts, hoodies, track jackets, etc. After we went and saw Dan In Real Life with Steve Carell, the guy from The Office. http://www.fandango.com/videos/v335738

The movie was really good, I would for sure recommend it to anyone who wants to see a good movie.

Saturday I was planning on heading back to the outdoor track in Sandy called Mtn View. But this morning I decided to look on the Washougal Motocross Track web site, http://www.washougalmxpk.com/ they ended up being open today for their last practice of the year. So I figured what the heck I have heard so much about the track and gone their to see Ricky and Bubba battle it out, but had never been there to ride it myself. I figured it would be fun to ride the same track I saw the Pros ride on.

I went and had a great time. It was pretty crowded and they had 6 different practice classes. I stayed for 3 different practice sessions and had a pretty darn good time, although the track didn't really have any good size jumps, the track was the roughest track I have EVER RIDDEN, and the face of the one decent sized jump was rutted to the point that your pegs drug up the face of the jump. I only tried it once and that was enough for me. But I did have a good time, the dirt was awesome, had track flaggers for safety, and the place was ran very efficinetly . I think I will stick woth Mtv View in the future I had a really good time there a few weeks ago. But I am really glad I went and got to experience Washougal. Following are a few photos.

Tonight we went to a ward party for Andy's ward at a members house, we had food, mingled and played bingo. And yes I won a $5 card to Coldstone! Anyone up for an ice cream date? It was good to meet a few other memebers around the area.