Scotland, Antarctica, Puffins and More,
Alaska_2016, Joshua Tree NP, Puerto Rico_2019, New Zealand,
East Africa, Nepal, SW--USA_2008, Argentina,
Svalbard_2008, Norway-Iceland_2008, Camino de Portugues_2015
2023
(quick caveat: I did not curate my photos so you got all of them, good and bad)
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| Zulu and Pele |
February had a fun couple of days at the Wyoming Sr. Winter Olympics. I got 5 gold medals, alpine skiing, swimming, hockey goal shots, and 1 silver in skate skiing.
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| 5 Gold medals Sr. Olympics |
Then I got my next batch of 3 kittens, nearly 10 months old, and have failed at fostering by keeping them: Amy, Beth, and Jo. Beth managed to break her foot, probably jumping off my loft railing. There are far too many photos in this folder, but they are cute kitties.
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| 3 kitties, now mine |
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| Walks around Laramie |
I did some walking in the neighborhood and got this lovely shot of a sunset. There are also lots of photos of walks in the area.
April was off to Snowbird to ski/snowboard with family and a quick weekend trip to Summit County for CEUs for my snowboard certification.
May started the weather station installations in NE Wyoming. I worked with a great crew of folks and we got very efficient along the way. We installed 11 stations which each took a few days. First we had to auger 3 holes for concrete footers, each 5 feet deep, then we poured concrete. After it set for at least a few days, we returned to put up the tower, solar panel and precipitation gauge. We finished installing the last station in early August. Since then we have been working on the comms, via cellphone, back to campus... it has been a bit challenging.
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| Devil's Tower |
After that, I started working on getting new sites and landowners lined up for the next set of installations for next year. We will eventually have ~60 stations, all about 25 miles apart across the entire upper Missouri River basin, plus another 580 (640 total) across MT, ND, SD, WY, and a bit of NE. Still working on the last batch of those sites including driving out to see the sites in person. I have gotten to see a great deal of NE Wyoming this year. It is amazingly beautiful with incredible open spaces and wild landscapes.
Did some hikes in the local
Jelm Peak
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| Medicine Bow Peak |
In August, I headed for Rapid City to visit a friend I had not seen in ages. It was a great little trip, and I enjoyed the drive as well.
Over Labor Day weekend, I headed for Jackson Hole and the Tetons to hike and hang out with another friend. We had a lovely time walking around Jenny Lake and then another hike on Black Tail Butte.
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| MI Trip |
I also got to spend a weekend near Marquette, MI supporting two friends who decided to do a 100 mile mountain bike race, the Marji Gesick, "the hardest 1 day race in the US". I'm really happy I went for the Support Crew t-shirt and not the race.
But I did help him chop some very green Ash for his fireplace, and got to see a Women's soccer game between Dartmouth and Columbia. Also caught up with some Hanover friends I have not seen in years. Unfortunately the apple blossoms were all killed in spring so no apples in New Hampshire, detoured to Massachusetts to get my apples, and then there was so much rain during summer that the maples dropped their leaves early so no lovely colors in the area I was staying.
November has been mostly stay in the neighborhood, talking long walks in the National Forest and our local Open Space. Enjoying my 3 kitties, reading books, and that sort of thing.
December will start up with teaching snowboarding and skiing at Snowy Range again. Not too much new to add. Over the holidays I taught skiing and snowboarding and had a couple Fort Collins folks stay over so they would not have to make the long drive every day. Before that I got in a few days of xc skiing on our local RailTrail. However, the snow is pretty thin so far. Here is hoping for a lot more snow this new year. I also plan to travel a bit more in 2024.
Happy New Year to all!! More like Happy February now 😄
