It seems I have been doing little but making up excuses as to why I'm not blogging. Truth be told: I haven't had very much alone/down time that has coincided with inspiration. 

First, my computer had an unfortunate run in with a cup of coffee.  Didn't work, submerged it in rice and now it does.  There is a DVD stuck in the drive but Internet and music still work. Le sigh, I should really be discouraged from owning nice things ;)

But the news of the week is the new condo! Last I updated you, we were talking about moving in together.  In the meantime J and I have hit some growing pains in our relationship, moved past them and signed a lease.  We now live in Teton Village, Wyoming.  For those of you who have never been to Jackson, let me try and give you an idea: 

okay.  Broadway is the main street. Town square is at the corner of Broadway and Cache. From Town, you go south on Broadway, take a right (up in the map) on 22 and head to the stop light, turn right and go about 6 miles to Teton Village. The Village, as it is more commonly referred to is centered around the ski hill.  There are some shops and restaurants, a few five star hotels, a bunch of rich people and some condos slightly off to the side.  I now reside in one of said condos.

This place is NICE! It's a vacation rental by summer- rented by the week.  By winter, it is ours! There are four of us living in this fabulous two bedroom, two bathroom condo- Me, Josh, our friend Bungee and Lady Elu.  Granted, three of us are sharing a room =).

We have a fire place, a wet bar, a separate dining room, kitchen with laundry off it, a gigantic balcony and best of all- it's ski-in.  We can pretty much cruise right up to the back steps. 

I promise I will have pictures up soon! Right now I'm just sitting here basking in it all while the boys drink beer on the porch.  

Anyway.  I PROMISE now that I am settled (and living with two boys who will inevitably win the battle on "what do we watch on TV") I will do more blogging.  I vow here and now to take more pictures and let my (two) faithful readers know what is going on in Teton Village and the rest of Jackson. 

Hope you have a great day!!!

Peace! 

One Year

I bailed on my life. 

That's how I finally came to describe it, later.  

Not too long ago, I was having a conversation that started out to be about money, my financial situation.  Owning a house 1,800 miles away is bad enough, but to start in on thinking about everything that house stands for, is a whole 'nother story.

Six years ago, I was engaged. I was happy and young and foolish and rich (as far as I thought).  I bought a house.  Said engagement lasted three months into living in the House.  We break up,cordially, friendly, easily.  We both recognized that we were too young to be starting a grown-up life together when neither of us had fully outgrown early-twenties idiot-ness.  Roommates move in, another boyfriend happens upon me, he maintains a lease on his apartment for eight months, all the while staying at the House most nights.  Eight months do not lead to much but a slightly more bitter break-up than the last. Another roommate in, another out, once again another in.  Meet guy at bar, next day calls early wanting a date.  Lunch, swimming, kiss on the cheek.  Several months later, by accident, guy moves in.  Cohabitate, "fall in love," proposal, wedding planning.  All the while this poor House is the setting.  Bad news, I bail a month before the wedding.  Six months later, I bail on the House, I bail on Birmingham, on a job, on everything that I was.  I up and leave. 

Quite possibly the best move I ever made. 

I bailed on my LIFE. 

...and here I am, a year later.  I feel free.  I feel like I have found a home in Jackson.  I have collected a great group of loving friends, while maintaining the meaningful friendships back home.  I have a wonderful job and a great little (rental) house. But the irony of it all? I'm taking the plunge again: cohabitation.  Josh and I have decided to move in together.  We have yet to decide if we will stay here, in the log cabin, or if we will start fresh in a place that is ours and was never just mine.  Elu accepts the challenge, I'm looking forward to what is to come. 

CHECK OUT MY NEWEST BLOG!!

As some of you know, I've dabbled in wire wrapping and making jewelry for some time now.  Many of my friends have received Christmas presents and other random gifts made with love.  Well, I have just launched a blog-site to showcase my creations.  If you have any gift needs for a special lady in your life, if you LOVE fun and hand-made jewelry, or if you're just curious what it is I do click here and check out Grand Design Jewelry by Patricia Ireland.  Feel free to spread the word! 

(NEW POST BELOW!)

HOLY BLUEGRASS BATMAN!!!

What I love the most about bluegrass is that it is a genre that spans across generations.  Old men and women sit hand-in-hand in their festival chairs and young fathers dance with their babies on the grassy lawn.  Good music knows no age limits and bluegrass music will never die. 

This weekend was the 22nd Anual Bluegrass Festival at Grand Targhee Resort.  I was excited about the line up when I first heard Railroad Earth and Yonder Mountain String Band were coming. Sometime later I learned of the David Grisman Quintet and was totally sold on the weekend.  Tickets weren't exactly cheap, but worth every penny to spend three full days eating, drinking and being overall pretty Merry!! It was a trip I didn't mess around in the planning for.  I spent three days organizing all of our gear, buying a shade tent, grocery shopping, beer shopping and packing the Subaru.  We set out early Friday morning to secure the best

 campsite.   Real estate is important! 

We set up shop: shade tent, real tent, camp chairs, crash-pad couch, thermarest loungers, and coolers galore. Sarah came a little later and added a table, another cooler and her tent to the mix- we were ready! 

 Josh sold Bloody Mary's all weekend and made a killing.  I attempted to sell my jewelry, but no one bit. I did make one custom piece for fifteen dollars...   

But the camp grounds in a festival is only half the fun... the rest lies in the music!

Friday night: John Cowan Band, Darrel Scott band- both very good- also can't really remember much about their sets.  After a quick run back to camp we were re-beered enough for Railroad Earth!   We danced and danced and had such a great time.  Met up with some other friends: Taylor and Jeff and "other" Josh.  

Saturday was quite possibly my favorite day... ever... I lounged around camp while Josh made the rounds with his Bloody Mary's and Sarah and Taylor went for a hike.  We had some cloud cover so it was nice to be in the shade for a while.  We went back and forth between camp and music all afternoon, lounging in the hammock to some afternoon bluegrass.  Josh went on a walkabout and I swung in the hammock- just watching people go by.  Everyone was so happy, babies danced barefoot in the grass, couples snuck kisses when they though no one was looking, people lounged, people smiled, people danced.  It was hot, but not too hot to keep people from enjoying themselves.  As the sun started to go down Saturday night, the part really started to get-a-swinin'! The Steep Canyon Rangers played their entire set in grey suits with short ties.  They were an amazing band with high energy! Sarah and I weaved our way up front and danced and laughed and had a blast!  After they were finished, we met up with Josh for Yonder Mountain String Band! Now Yonder has been one of my favorite bands for some time now and I will tell you, Saturday they outdid themselves! 

Sunday was cloudy and rainy, so we packed everything but the tent and essentials in the car and headed to the music in the cold rainy muck.  And HAD A BLAST!!! The Wilders were my favorite of the bands I didn't really know. Then of course, David Grisman Quintet played their little hearts out.  I teared up a bit when we had a moment for Jerry.

As soon as Grisman finished his set, the bottom dropped out and it proceeded to pour for hours.  People were running around in the rain like crazy folks and I went straight to my tent to catch some relief.  Josh, Jeff and Josh came to get me and we went to the bar, from there it's less than exciting to discuss, there was packing, some sleeping, some driving home in the morning, a little napper before work and voila! the weekend is over. 

Bad Blogger!!

I'm sorry! I have been selfish.  I have kept all my fun to myself.

This summer is AMAZING!

Quite possibly, my favorite summer ever. 

I'm not kidding! 

When I'm not on the boat, or hiking, or hanging out with my friends or working, I'm generally hanging out with Josh. For that, I am NOT sorry, but for failing to report, I am.

Let's see, I'll sum things up since the Waterfalls Canyon Trip as best I can:

Erin and her friend Wes came to town for 3-4 days and we went on a few easy hikes, had some beers, cooked some dinner, saw some sights and had a blast

Josh and I went (on a whim) to the Targhee Music Festival, which was AWESOME! We saw Jackie Green, Grace Potter and Government Mule, had a blast, bought a hoodie, saw some friends and danced!

Josh and I ride our bikes to the fair,  watched the pig wrestling contest and rode some rides. 

Granger came to town, we camped in Jeff's backyard with Jess, took some hikes, did some climbing, put together 1/2 a puzzle and hung out

I had some good girls' nights

Josh and I saw the Hangover

I have taken Elu on some cool hikes

I started climbing again. 

 In between all these things, I worked

I am pretty sure I hit the highlights.  Not everything I do is worthy of pictures and a narrative, but my summer overall has been delightful! I love that I live with a playground in my back yard! I love that I have found a group of friends that make this place feel like home! I love that I have my best friends back home on speed dial to share it all with (and wish they were here with me). 

and... here's a few pictures to sum up the beauty that awes me everyday

I've got the itch...

...to do a little traveling. 

My friend Brandi and I are thinking of skipping town in January or February about the time the snow will get the bestter of us. We are thinking South America. 

We've both been to Central America and think it's time for a dip below the equator. I found this cool little website about backpacking to foreign countries, which is totally what we plan on doing! So now all we have to do is decide where we want to go and where we can afford to go and hope that at least one place is on both lists. 

Anyone have any suggestions?

so far we're thinking Ecuador/Galapagos, Chile, and Peru. Central America is not out of the country, we were just hoping for somewhere neat! please comment with any cool trips you've taken, or ideas.  I especially need to figure out which airport to fly into, no matter where I go

Waterfalls Canyon Trip

Every day is a new adventure here in the Hole.  This weekend was no exception.  

Josh had a long weekend off work, so he headed to the lake to put around on the Wailer.  I had to work Wednesday until 8, so I told him I would meet him up there early Thursday morning. Wednesday night around 9 or 10, he calls (from the boat) to tell me to plan on backpacking, we're going to do Waterfalls Canyon, which sits between Eagle Rest Peak and Ranger Peak, just to the North of Mt. Moran.  "Okay!" I said cheerily and started repacking my pack for lightweight travel rather than luxury lake-side "boat camping."  

Thursday morning I get up early and head for the park.  Josh and Sherba were out fishing with another friend who works at Signal Mountain Lodge, so I told them to take their time, I was going to lie out.  I sat by the lake at Spalding Bay for about an hour or so, reading, catching a tan and just relaxing.  The boys came to get me, Sherba went home and Josh and I headed out to meet up with Pete and Abby, friends of Josh's, for our hike.  With "Team PBR" all accounted for, we crossed the lake to the base of the mountain to begin our hike.  (if you would like to follow along, click here in a new window and look for Mt. Moran- across from Colter Bay Village, head North a touch and locate Wilderness Falls... from there direct line towards Colter Bay was out route)

Here's a picture of our hike from about mid-way up.  The white stuff (snow) dead center of the picture is about where our camp site was.

Upon first glance, the worst part of the hike was going to be the change in elevation.  Jackson Lake sits at about 6500 feet, Columbine Cascade, where we camped is at 8,000 feet and Wilderness Falls is at 9,400.  Upon arriving at our "dock" we were swarmed with mosquitoes, so we high tailed it up the mountain and record speed.  Once we got out of the mosquito territory, we entered bushwhacking territory.  Eventually, though, we found some semi-flat ground and set up camp.  

We made dinner, drank a couple of PBRs and went to sleep.  The next morning, we woke up bright and early, packed up base camp and went for a day hike up to see Wilderness Falls. 

There was some climbing involved... 

Abby and I kept up with the boys for as long as we could, but we got to the top of Columbine Cascade and noticed that there was some class 4 scrambling that I was comfortable with going up, but knew I would not be so comfortable with on the down climb, so we decided to wait for them about a mile before Wilderness Falls.  I was bummed that I could not see it in person, but I sent Josh with my camera.   The entire time he was gone I was not sure if I was more nervous that he would fall, or drop my camera ;).

The boys came back, cameras in tow and we headed back down to base camp.  Downhill scrambling is super fun! You just get down low and crab crawl the whole way down.  My arms are SORE!! 

We did have a great view for the down-scramble though...

Once at base camp, we loaded up full packs and headed out, thinking this time we would go high and try and miss some of the brush and forest that we hit on the way in.  We found a game trail and cruised for the first mile or so and then hit some seriously THICK growth.  I was not sure if I was stepping on ground or bushes, all the while holding onto poor saplings and bushes trying to keep from tumbling down the side of the mountain.  I will spare you the details of my minor mid-(non)trail breakdown and skip to the end... we made it! Down through the thick, through the thin, through the burn area, through the SWARMS of mosquitoes and to the BOAT!!!

We coined the term "Reverse Normandy," stormed the boat and took off at full throttle (about 8 miles an hour) headed for Leek's Marina- we desperately deserved pizza and beer after that one! 

by the way, although I HIGHLY recommend Chacos for hiking on trails in the summer time, I do not recommend hiking in Chacos when you are off trail...

Well there you have it, my Epic adventure up Waterfalls Canyon.  And as a side note, today Josh and I ran into an old friend of his, who claimed that he attempted the same hike and turned back.  SO, I am feeling VERY accomplished and proud of my physical and mental ability to climb mountains!  

PEACE!!

Tricia