Philly 2010 On the Map

Can't believe it but its time to start thinking about the LIVESTRONG Challenge for 2010 but it is. I just registered for the Philly race even though it seems like the 2009 race was last weekend. Time flies when your having fun. Hopefully frostboys.com will be a central element in our fundraising effort for 2010, gotta go big this year. More on that later.

Christmas comes early!!!

Well, I don't have any waist deep powder to ski...
But this just showed up this morning.
It's white, and light as a snowflake... So it'll work for me!

Yo Clint!!

YO!

Where's all the pictures and updates? By my account you haven't made it to CO yet....

You got us to the best part of the trip then bailed on us.


By the way, how awesome is it to be part of the coolest team in the country?

Absolutely amazing what he has done!

Oh wait, is this thing on???

Well, the boys just received their postcards from Uncle Clint's trip, and needless to say they think they are the coolest things they have ever seen (Mt. Rushmore & the Badlands). So naturally they wanted to respond by sending uncle Clint some "really, really, really, really cool" pictures of their own. It looks like that competitive apple might not have fallen too far from the tree...

Anyways, here's what they came up with.

Warning, may cause drowsiness....

The better side...

Climbing fun

Christmas Tree Time!!!


Little G's Baptism

And one of the funniest pictures of all time...

OK so Luke DIDN'T pick this one, as a matter of fact he's not the greatest fan of the shot, but it cracks me up every time I see it. I'm sure this will just be one of the many things that I do, that he will get the opportunity to discuss on someones couch at some point...

Road Trip Report: Section 3

According to weather.com at the current time of 10:52 this morning it is 4 degrees outside and feels like -10. Guess I can take a little time to update the blog until the temps at least make it to double digits.

So up to now, we had made it Wall, SD. As you may remember from post #1, Wall was where we had to make an executive decision where we had to veto a hotel based on shadiness. Let's just say it looked like the scene from an episode of CSI or something. We ended up at the Best Western (that's high class in Wall) and saved $15 by checking in as only 1 person and not 2. We then headed out into town to grab dinner and drink. Turns out, when it's not summer, and not near Sturgis week, the town is pretty dead. We walked into the bar and we instantly doubled the occupancy of the bar that night. We got a drink, a burger and watched tv, all while obviously being the out of towners.

Then as we were grabbing the check, one of the bartenders (not sure why they had more than one on staff) starts talking to us and we get some recommendations for what to do in Badlands and Mt Rushmore, etc. Turns out we got some really great suggestions, and some awesome bar tricks while we were at it. Be sure to ask about the hidden shot glass sometime...

Isn't this guys stache awesome? And when he found out we were at the Best Western, he asked if we had heard about the death there the night before. He explained how they had found the guy in the bathtub full of milk. Apparently he was covered in cereal. One of the worst/best cereal killer jokes I have heard, but he had Laur going right up until the punch line.

The next morning we loaded up the car and headed out to Badlands. I was pumped. We got a recommendation to hit up this dirt road and that we would be sure to see Bison crossing the road and lots of wildlife.

On the way out of town we made the stop at Wall Drug to see what all the hype is about. Holy crap is that place huge. Got the bumper sticker, had breakfast there and then were on our way.

Random 80 foot dinosaur...

Onto Badlands!!!

I had no idea what to expect in Badlands but it was simply stunning. Amazing landscape paired with roaming wildlife made it feel like we were on our own personal safari. I think this is one of those situations where a picture is worth 1,000 words so I'll let them do most of the talking.

This was 30 seconds down the dirt road.

Well, my computer battery is dying and with no plugs available here in the lobby this post is going to be cut short. I think it has warmed up enough to hit the slopes for a bit. More pictures to come later this afternoon/evening.

Road Trip Report: Section 2

It's another beautiful day in Colorado with temps in the mid 40's and not a cloud in the sky. The weather for tomorrow is forecasting 3"-5" of fresh snow which should make for some nice fresh tracks and hopefully some more terrain open by this weekend.

So back to the trip. Yesterday covered a little over the first 1000 miles of the trip so we'll dive into more of the Midwest today. After dinner in Chicago we headed up to Rockford, IL to meet up with some old clients/friends of mine. I received a text from my friend telling me to meet at the SMSF Club and that I should know what it stood for. Naturally I start racking my brain at all the possible inside jokes and keep coming up blank. We finally roll up and the building only has windows in the front and they are all blacked out so you can't see in. Looking at the building, and knowing my friends, I was confident they had just directed me to meet them at a strip club. I call to make sure we are at the right place and he confirms. We walk in not sure what to expect, and it turns out to be a 'private club'. Now first reaction to 'private club' would be right in line with my assumptions too, but this turned out to just be a local bar that you had to be a member of to drink at or invite friends to drink at. Now I'm assuming you are thinking the same thing I was, why belong to a private bar? Well, it turns out it some sort of not for profit fraternity set up where members pay very minimal dues each year with huge rewards... all drinks are only $2. Yes, $2. And these aren't the skimpy tiny cups, these are regular size, very strong drinks. Without boring you with the details of the next few hours catching up with friends, I will just say that Laur ended up getting a good lesson in driving stick shift that night.

At some point at the SMSF Club, my friend recommended that we try out the laser maze in the morning before heading out of town. He had just had his sons 13th birthday party there and said it was a blast. And no, this is not laser tag. Picture any major heist movie where the thief has to navigate through a web of lasers in order to get to the jewel.

Yea that's a laser maze.

And if you are wondering, yes we were twice as old and twice as tall as any other person in line.

After the laser maze it was off to my aunt and uncle's house in Iowa. We decided to take a smaller highway on the way from Rockford to Iowa and we couldn't have made a decision. Here are just a few shots from the views we had along the drive.

Along the way I decided it would be cool to see the house I grew up in IA and luckily we made it there just before dark and managed to get some pictures of the house and drive around my old town. Now granted I was only 5 when I moved so my memory of Marshalltown is a little dusty, but a few things including the country club and some neighbors prompted some visual flashbacks. Here is a picture of the house, (no it was not that green when I lived there).

After visiting the house we figured it would be cool to check out main street and see what it was like considering I don't remember anything about it. We pull up to main street and it is all barricaded off and the streets are filled with people. With curiosity taking over, we decide to park and walk into the crowd. No more than 5 minutes walking down main street and suddenly a parade starts rolling by, complete with the high school football team (they were runner up's in the State Championship - which is a huge deal in IA). Apparently we had stumbled upon the 'Lighting of Courthouse Square" complete with vendors, parade, and of course the lighting of the tree in, you guessed it, courthouse square. Very random, and very cool, and made for a good night in Marshalltown.

We finally arrived at my aunt and uncle's and were welcomed to a delicious hot meal with warm cider. After eating junk for days straight, the meal couldn't have come at a better time or tasted any better. The night concluded playing a solid game of dominoes in front of the fire. (which I lost terribly, but learned some interesting new family rules).

The next morning after a hearty breakfast we hit the road for our longest single day of driving on the trip - over 600 miles with no real planned stops. The whiteboard yet again found itself getting a lot of use, and Laur's drawing skills seem to be improving.

We did manage to hit up a cool casino along the way:

Minnesota gave us a nice warm sunny welcome:

As did South Dakota:

The next few hours were pretty uneventful and we made it to Wall, SD that night.

That's all for now. Tomorrow will include some interesting stories from Wall, and the full report from Badlands National Park, which was probably one of the coolest things we did along the trip. But here is a sneak peak at what Badlands was like...

Colorado Bound!

Well, I made it.

On Wednesday November 18th, I packed up my new Subaru loaded with all my clothes and gear for a winter in CO, said my goodbyes and was on my way. 3700 miles later, I now find myself sitting in the employee lodge at Copper Mountain wondering what awaits me when I start work next week. But for now, I'll try to highlight what happened between mile 1 and 3700 and the fun and crazy stops along the way.

First stop was Lauren's house in MA, to pick her up and hopefully be able to fit all her stuff in an already packed car. To my surprise, she packed rather lightly and we made everything fit with full visibility out of every window. We hit the road just before 5 PM with hopes of making it to Syracuse, NY to my friends house for a place to crash for the night (thanks again Suzie). We had dinner at an Irish pub in Albany where the food was decent, but they had Yuengling on tap which made my night.

Thursday morning we hit the road early to visit some family friends in Ithaca, NY. We took a tour of Ithaca and Cornell, saw some really cool gorges, grabbed some breakfast, and hung out with one of the coolest dogs I have ever seen. Then it was on to Niagara Falls, with a pit stop along the way at the Goose Watch Winery. Who can pass up 8 wine samples for only $2? We made it to Niagara Falls amidst the fog and spitting rain, but it was still quite a sight to be seen. We walked around for an hour or so checking out the different views and learning that there are actually 2 different 'falls' sections in Niagara Falls. Who knew?

Once we left Niagara we were on a mission to find the cheapest hotel/motel in the Cleveland area. The AAA guidebooks turned out to be very helpful as we called each hotel listed and made our decision based on price and expected shadiness of the hotel. But lets be honest, I'm going to be a poor ski bum, so usually the bottom line price won, with the exception being Sundance, WY (more on that at another time). We ended up at the Travelodge, and learned one very interesting fact about Cleveland: the liquor stores close early, but they sell 'beer to go' at some of the bars in town. So while I went to pick up the car, Lauren went in the local bowling alley and bought a 6 pack to go. Crazy.

The next morning we found a Cracker Barrel for breakfast. We had stopped the night before at one in Albany and got a map of all 580 Cracker Barrel locations across the US so we would never go hungry. We played the classic golf tee game which proved that I was "just plain dumb" and Lauren was "just plain eg-no-ra-moose".

Next stop: Chicago. But with a few fun stops in between. I haven't mentioned it until now, but I wanted to get pictures with each state sign that we drove past. We entered NY, PA, and OH at night so the pictures didn't come out that great, but Indiana gave us a nice warm sunny welcome.

Somewhere along I-90 in Indiana I remembered something from a road trip Laur and I had been on a few months ago: a whiteboard. We had forgot a whiteboard. So we pulled over at the first stop we found with a dollar store and picked one up. To explain a little, we had been stuck in traffic in NY a few months ago when we passed a car that had a whiteboard in the window that said "honk if you like (use your imagination). So clearly I honked and for the next 20 minutes in traffic they kept writing us new notes that were hilarious and helped pass the time. So this trip, it was our turn to pass on the tradition.

It's amazing what a simple "Hi !" to a random stranger in another car can do to put a huge smile on their face. Not to mention it really helps to pass the time. Not long after buying the white board we said "Hi" to a car from RI as it passed. They slowed down and proceeded to show me the UConn football jersey the passenger was wearing. We went back and forth for a few minutes exchanging messages about skiing and UConn. Turns out, they were headed to the UConn vs. Notre Dame football game and had driven all the way from CT. And what a game they ended up seeing, a double overtime win.

We made it to Chicago in time to walk around town as the sun set, and grabbed dinner at a place Laur's friend recommended. Turns out, the pizza there is rated the 4th best in the entire country. Not sure who the official pizza rating organization is, but it was phenomenal pizza.

More on the rest of the trip at another time. I'm sure if you have read this far you are getting tired already and I need to head out to the village to grab a bite to eat.

New Blog for the Frost Boys

The New Family Blog

Well, Clint's heading to Colorado, Chad's got a newborn and I'm busy as always, so we thought that a communal Frost blog might be the best way to keep in touch and make sure that all our stories got told. Can't wait to see Clint's pics from his cross country adventure. Stay tuned.

Clay