Mississippi

Spent most of the last 2 weeks down in Mississippi. The job site was in Crystal Springs (south of Jackson) but the hotel was in Jackson. I also had a chance for a quick trip to Starkville (those pictures should look familiar). They're out of order, and I'm too lazy to reorder them...

View from Skunk Hill at Southfarm with a storm rolling in. The storm was amazing!

The 'cross bike at skunk hill. Notice it now has 2 front chainrings. Too many hills in Vermont for the 1x9.

Tool of the trade. Doing the profiling work, we use 7/16" wrenches a lot (for the stainless tubing connections). The job site was a factory that makes transformers, so there was all sorts of copper laying around. Decided to decorate my wrench with a piece of wire...

Ah Southfarm, my old friend, we meet again.

Purple.

Clover, over and over.

Where I spread Zephyr's ashes, near a pasture where some friendly cows usually hang out. I miss that little dog.

Riding near the hotel in Jackson, came across a big puddle near the Pearl River. What is that?

Why, it's a young alligator gar! These guys get huge (6 feet or more). These poor guy was stranded and his tail was beat up.

Inside the plant where the job was. This is a Geoprobe rig. Because we were sampling from a shallower depth, this thing can drive the rods as far as we need. No big drill rig necessary (wouldn't work indoors anyway).

Another view of it. The 3 stainless steel lines run to the "box" where the magic happens.

The "box". This was taken in the middle of an 18 hour work day...

Back in Vermont, before the trip - the Suby.

Truckin'. Smoking up a hill at 45 mph in West Virginia.

Me and Fordo in KY beside the truck.

The 'cross bike along the levee in Jackson near the hotel.

The Pearl River in Jackson.

Things I love about the south.

As you probably know, I've been in Mississippi for the past week or so for work. Being down here has reminded me of some things I love about the south...
First of all, Spring! Here it is, late February/early March, and it's 75 degrees and sunny. Back home in Vermont, it was -6 when I left, with 8" of fresh snow. It felt like spring was on the way, but spring is definitely here in Mississippi. Though I guess you pay for the nice spring with a sweltering summer. That has its positive things too.
Genuinely friendly people. Don't get me wrong, people in Vermont and Maine (and everywhere else I've been) are friendly too, but it seems people really care about how you're doing. One of the guys on the site here went out of his way to welcome me back "home" (since word had gotten around that I had sort of grown up in Starkville). It really can be pretty amazing.
Noises at night. I realize after being down here again just how quiet night in Vermont is. Not that it's a bad thing, I'd much prefer silence to city noises, for example. But down here, there are the spring peepers (tree frogs), crickets, cicadas (at certain times of year), and the occasional thunderstorm.
Thunderstorms! I love them. There's nothing quite like having the night light up by intensely bright lightning, then having your ears blasted by thunder than feels right on top of you. Not to mention the downpours that come from the storms. It'll rain so hard it's worse visibility than the worst snowstorms I've been in. Awesome.
Smells. This is a bit hard to describe, but there's just a sort of lush tropical smell down here, even this time of year. It's not the full blown lush smell of summer, but it's enough to remind me. The Bahamas have it even more. Also, driving around town and smelling the smoke from a BBQ is quite nice too and somehow sentimental as well.
Southfarm. I don't know what it is about that place, but I love it. It's just gravel roads than crisscross a bunch of pastures, but for some reason, it's one of my favorite places, anywhere. If they were ever going to shut it down or try to make a parking lot out of it, I'd be the first (and probably only) one to protest and lay down in front of a bulldozer. What is it about that place?
And lastly (of the things that come to mind anyway), Starkville still sort of feels like "home". I don't know why it is. I suppose because I spent so many years there growing up, and it really hasn't changed much. The people I was fond of growing up are mostly still there and still good people. When I visited campus today, it felt like I'd never left. It's been almost a year since I moved away, but it could have been yesterday. Don't worry, I don't think I'll ever move back there, but I'll always go back to visit.
I'll post more about my trip to Starkville before long. Just wanted to get this down while it was fresh in my head.

Five years, and I miss her more than ever.

Not sure what to call this...

Snowball? Snow spiral? Snow roll? Saw this when I was snowshoeing the other day, thought it was pretty nifty... I've never seen anything quite like it.

What have we here? (doctored a bit so you can see the details better)

Hiking pole for scale.

So, it seems that a slab of snow slid off that there tree and rolled into this neat little thing.

Another angle.

Negative.

The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny.

A bit disturbing, but mostly funny.

Smoke on the Water.

-8 on the way to work this morning. Really quite warm. I was only wearing a jockstrap, and that was too much. But, I have to do something to control the ladies...
Anyway... This is the Winooski river that runs through town. It flows into Lake Champlain near Burlington. I thought it looked really neat with all the steam on the surface. It has frozen over entirely a few times, but now it's flowing freely with chunks of ice floating by. The building I work in is actually visible in the first pictures. Along the left of the river with some snow blowing across the roof.

Eins.

Zwei.

Drei.

Snow and the Maxima

So the work schedule changed and I came home from Rochester on Thursday. Lots and lots of new snow. Still snowing actually. Here's a few pictures of that, and one of the Maxima rental car. That thing sure had the power to pass cars when the need arose (255 hp). Pretty crappy in the snow though. I like the Suby better!

The front porch and big pile of snow.

The driveway and more snow.

The Maxima and a way cooler car to its left.

Memory Lane.

Just got myself a scanner and scanned some old photos. Check 'em out...

Me rippin' it up at Sugarloaf in 1998. Never raced much after that one... YETI represent!

Droppin' behind the small mall. Oh yeah.

Riding trials on the Stumpjumper in Maine.

Some hippies on a beach near Bellingham. (Amy, Allison, Peter) Also note the crazy rock they're on. At the time I wondered what the heck was going on. I'm pretty sure that's a classic example of tafoni development in granite. My buddy Athena studied tafoni development in the Bahamas. Small world of sorts eh?

Two studs at Morse Mountain, Maine. 2001?

Me at my favorite campsite on Spectacle Island, 2003?

Atop some mountain in the Harz Mountains, Germany. April, 2000. Jay Spoon in the dark shirt, Josh Miller in the grey. Hannah Joule in the white vest behind them. Ford knows these folks...

Two studs warming up for a race in Mississippi. Near Jackson, I forget the name of the course. Dig the cotton socks (and cotton jersey for me, wool for Teal).

The house in Cathlamet. From 2001 when I took a trip there from Seattle.

Droppin' along the power lines in Boothbay. This scared the crap out of me at the time. Photo credit to Teal. Good timing! Note the totally sweet Vans Old School shoes. Word up. Yo.

Canoing the sloughs near the marina in Cathlamet. Ford up ahead in the kayak. 1993? Sharka Brah! Man that was a cool place to paddle.

Teal and Ford on the beach near Cape Alava, Washington. Looks like Cathlamet era, so 1993 or so... Ah, the grunge days... Looking at it now, some pretty sweet geology in the background too.

Oregon coast I think. Ford and I.

My dorm room in Utah. 4 bikes. Oh yeah. SS road bike (courtesy of Teal), Monty trials bike, Cove "freeride" bike (which I never really got to ride much), and the trusty Stumpjumper under the bed.

Sofi Hamrin paddling dad's boat (the Sealoution) in Boothbay, off Spruce Point. Summer 1998 I think. Sofi and I worked at the ice cream place together. She now lives in Santa Barbara. Ran into her this summer in Boothbay, we were both a bit drunk (her more than me) but we still recognized eachother after having not seen eachother after 9 years...

Fordo atop a mountain in Camden. This is from that time we all went snowshoeing. What a goon.

Me and the old man at Morse mountain another time. This time in 2000, still hadn't regained my weight lost from the AT. I can barely fit into that vest now.

Senior prom picture. Oh man. Sara Rosen (my date) is now married and living in NYC. Kara still likes women and lives somewhere in Boston. Josh Miller I think is still hanging around Boothbay. One of two times in my life when I've worn a tux (other was Ford's wedding). Don't playa hate.

Winter Fun.

Ford's been bugging me to put a picture of the Suby up. He wanted to see it with snow tires. So, it's not a very good pic, but you get the idea. By the way, of course I didn't do any donuts in the snow-covered parking lot...


So in with all my daydreaming about epic travels, I've been wanting to do something outside NOW. Until recently, the only sleeping bag I had was my 8 year old 40-degree bag. I had it with me for the whole A.T. and it's not very warm anymore. Not even 40, which isn't warm to begin with. So, I bought myself a winter bag. Got a really good deal I couldn't pass up. I imagine it'll probably last forever too. It's more of an investment than a toy. Justification aside, it's a North Face synthetic -20 degree bag. Yep, minus twenty. Tried it out indoors to see how I fit (bit snug of course, even though it's a long bag), and couldn't bear to be in it for a minute before getting too hot. Anywho, decided I'd try it out in the woods behind my house before I did any sort of real camping with it. However, had a bit of a quandry. My tent (which I absolutely love) is not free-standing, so it doesn't really work in the snow (not without a lot of work and/or special tent stakes anyway). So where to sleep? Well, I've got a tarp (from the A.T.), but that would only cover the top of me. What would keep me off the ground? Ah ha, that hammock of mine! Seemed like a pretty good combo...
I've tried sleeping in the hammock before, and I just couldn't really get comfortable. That was this summer on Spectacle Island. Granted, there was someone else in a hammock right next to me that I kept bumping into, and it was slung too low, so I was practically folded in half. But, I wanted to give it another try since it would keep me off the ground. Besides, a hammock + tarp would be a pretty sweet lightweight winter combo.
But enough babbling. To shorten the story, the sleeping bag was warm enough, but the hammock just didn't seem to be the solution. For one, had the same sagging problems even though it was set up really taught. Two, didn't pitch the tarp quite right, so my feet weren't covered (hence the garbage bag). Three, rocking back and forth in the wind isn't all the lullabies make it out to be. Rocking back and forth on a boat is alright, but this was quicker than that. Just kind of weird. Fourth, being elevated off the ground, the cold can get at you from all sides. So I think I was a bit chillier than I would have been in a tent. Anywho, slept through most of the night, but woke up before dawn just not feeling comfortable. It wasn't really very cold (20 or so), but my body was just telling me to get up. So I did. Guess I'll have to find a different solution to winter camping. At least I've got a sleeping bag that's up to the job now though...

Into the woods.

Freezing rain which later turned into snow. Reflective tent lines are sweet.

So close, yet so far away.

I feel like I'm preparing myself for some sort of expedition. Maybe I am. Who knows. I certainly would like to go off on an adventure. Just need to decide where, when, and how. The why doesn't need to be answered. "Because it's there." By the way, R.I.P. Sir Edmund Hillary.

Off to Rochester tomorrow. I'll be there for at least 4 weeks in a row (coming home weekends, a 7 hour drive, ugh). At least I got a decent rental car this time. Minivan last time, brand new Nissan Maxima this time. Oh yeah! Should fly on the highway.