Alberta- Summer 2012

Since its now winter I thought I would take a step back to how incredible summer was with this little reminder video. I'm grateful I had a chance to spend so much time in Alberta this summer even though I really didn't plan on it. Its nice to see so many familiar places I was able to personally visit this summer featured in this short video. Alberta is a pretty magical place.

Farewell For Now

Spending the last couple months in Alberta had a lot of ups and downs. I'm glad I was able to head up and help my Dad with his company, and that I was able to take such an extended amount of time off from my regular job in Salt Lake but overall it will be nice to get back to regular life. Its been great hiking and doing some fun things in between measuring and estimating roofs, working with insurance adjusters, and dealing with so many people needing their roof repaired after the hail storm, but I'm glad its over for now. Here is a picture of my office. I took over the kitchen table (thanks Mom). I had about 60 proposals I was working on at the height of things. Crazy. The second picture is of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Boulder Valley, Montana that I took on the drive back down to Salt Lake. 

Never thought I would say this but I think the time away from SLC made me like it more. Crazy.

Daytrip to Banff National Park

Took a day trip to Banff with some good friends and couldn't be more happy about it. The whole weekend was great but it was nice to take the gondola up to Sulphur Mountain, grab a great meal at Salt Lick (their mac and cheese is unreal), and walk around main street. Myself, Caitlyn, Josh, and Kathy decided last minute on Saturday we should do it and things worked out great. It was cold, a little rainy here and there but it was all worth it with the views up at the top of the mountain. If you havent' been to Banff, get yourself there.

Neighbor Horses

Kid Brother Expedition

Neal and I stopped off at this old abandoned school house in Beazer after spending a few hours looking for lodge pole pines in the community pasture for our tee pee. I love exploring old buildings. I have no idea how old this building is and all the details about it but one day I'll piece all that info together. Its fun having a kid brother to go do things like this with. I wish we usually lived closer together so it would happen more often but I'll take what I can get for now. These past couple months at home have been great. 

Only a 17 year old like my brother could pull off a striped shirt and camo pants. way cool.

Vimy Peak

Had a chance to hike the second highest peak in Waterton National Park recently with some friends. It was a great day. The highlight was shale surfing down the mountain and pushing large boulders down to the valley below.

Horseback Riding

being able to go horseback riding on my favorite piece of land was quite the treat. thanks Cristy.

Bear Den

The other day my little brother Neal told me about a bear den he found down by Lee's Creek and without hesitation I convinced hime to take me their. He had heard about it from a neighbor a little while back and came across it with a little searching. Once we got there we had to get inside. If you're wondering if its safe to be in a bear den, the answer is pretty much yes. It is summer time, bears hang out in the dens during the winter months and don't stick around where they hibernate. I'm glad I have a stud of a little brother that enjoys going on motorbike expeditions like this one. Makes me wish I grew up in the rolling hills of Alberta rather then the suburbs of Southern California. Also, its Neal's birthday today. Happy Birthday buddy.

Canada Extras

A few more from the trip up to Canada. First one is Paula and I in Glacier, Second one is Damien getting the perfect shot of Katelin near the visitor center on Logans Pass, Third one is of a relaxing day in Waterton, Fourth is of the crew who showed up for the gathering At Cody's cabin, Fifth is of Matt and I driving Amy's VW bus around. Matt put it in gear as I put the clutch down and steered. It was brilliant and successful. We made it around like it was nothing. Everything about the trip was perfect. I'm glad such a good group of friends got to see how things are up north. Between all the things we did in Montana and Alberta, there wasn't much more a human being possibly could do to properly be introduced. Looking forward to the next trip up there.

Chief Mountain & A Fake Sunset

A storm rolled in out of nowhere and created this rare picture of the sun trying to burst through the clouds behind Chief Mountain. It's rare because the sun doesn't set behind Chief but this picture makes you think it does. Way to go mother nature. Well done.

Roadtrip Revisited

^View of Waterton from the Prince of Wales Hotel.

^Levi knows how much I enjoy Redvines.

^Cameron Lake

^Carthew-Alderson Summit Hike.

^In the clouds.

^The hike got magical. Not even kidding.

^Looking into Glacier National Park fromt the summit.

^More magic.

^Paula, damien, and myself enjoying this little waterfall.

^Some of the men of the expedition.

More pics from the trip. I wish I had more but these should give you an idea of what it was like.

Roof Time

About three days after I got home from taking my friends up to Canada I got in my pickup truck and headed back up there. In late july there was a pretty heavy duty hail storm in the town my family lives just outside of which took everyone off guard. Especially my dad who had slowly got his roof company off the ground and was easing into bumping up production. All that turned into a tailspin when over 1,500 roofs all of a sudden needed to be repaired. Since I helped my dad out in California doing sales and estimates I decided to come up and help for a bit. I was lucky enough to have a boss back in Salt Lake that was gracious enough to let me come up and help out for a month or so and take a leave of absence. So far things have been busy and stressful. I'm getting used to working with insurance adjusters in coming up with proposals and bids for work. It's way more involved than what we were doing back in Thousand Oaks but its nice to be out of the office and out and about talking with people, working with them on getting a new roof, jumping up on roofs, measuring, etc. Overall its just nice being back home with my family where my dear mother makes me meals and I have a little bit of time after work to walk around the surrounding hills creeks.

Canadian Roadtrip

^The gang just before we departed Salt Lake. 7-11 was a must for a snack stop.

^Damien, Ashley, Paula, and Katelin met up with the rest of us in Missoula after driving through the night. Once that happened we were rolling 18 deep. Two vans and a hatchback. Wes' family were nice enough to let us crash their pad on the way up.

^We had to stop by this trading post in Hungry Horse, MT. The owner of the place even got in a picture with us wearing his coyote medicine man hat. Classic.

Avalanche gorge with some of the group.

Classic group shot once we started on our way up "Going To The Sun Road" in Glacier.

Looking at some Grizzly bears we spotted from the car in Many Glacier.

Evan, Beau, and Tadd going over the cache of pictures from the day before.

Panorama of Waterton Lakes Nationl Park

I don't know what I got myself into but all of a sudden I was among 17 friends heading up to Alberta, Canada on a roadtrip. What started out as a small group of friends heading up north turned into a much larger group and ultimately a party on wheels. Typically when you think of a group this size one might be turned off, but this was different. Everyone was on the same page. I couldn't have asked for a better mix of friends and personalities. There were some real characters in the group and it kept an already lively group even more lively. Never a dull moment. The trip went on without a hiccup or issue. Coordinating this many people in a foreign land was actually quite easy. I didn't think it would come together as it did but really I owe it all to the fact I have honestly, the. best. friends. ever. I couldn't ask for a better group of people to associate with. If you want to go on the next one, next summer get at me. I didn't think I would have it in me to do another one but after it was all said and done I couldn't wait to show more people some of my most favorite places on the planet.