Denver, CO to Portland, Maine

Hello all,

that's right. We drove from Denver, CO to Portland, Maine and it took a total of 2 long days behind the wheel of a van, Ryder truck and 5 extra hours of driving on Sunday the 19th of March. We arrived in Portland on Tuesday the 21st at 11pm; after starting that day in Columbus, OH.

I must say that I've had some long trips in my life as a promo-road warrior. But this seemed to be crazy as we where racing the storm that hit Nebraska hard. Due to the storm we also went further south thru Kansas and St. Louis, which added 200 miles to our trip, but kept us out of the snow and we only hit rain. Rain is ok, but better then snow.

During the trip and those that road in the Van, no-one wanted Farvra to drive, so Joel, and Kyle split a lot of the time along with Andy and I in the Ryder for most of it. Good times driving cross this great land a total of 2190 miles with 6 people that want to pee at different times and when a phone battery dies, watch out...That's why I spent most of my time in the Ryder this year to avoid the drama in the van...:)

It's been great being home for my first event ever in Maine. Of course since I'm here my folks are NOT, as there in FL enjoying the sun and warm weather. But after Sunday I'll be done with Snow events for a while and back to warmer weather and triathlon, marathons and flying. Have to love working for PowerBar!

I can say that since I've been back here in Portland. I've made it a point to eat seafood, at Gilberts, Newarks, a good burger at Ruby's and of course a great hearty breakfast at Becky's on the water with the fisherman in the early AM hours. I feel that most of the crew has enjoyed their time here in Portland too, with seeing some of the sites and enjoying the mild temps and great fresh air.

Tomorrow we're off to Sugarloaf to get ready for the last event weekend of the season before everyone gets on a plane to go home from Boston and Andy and I drive to NY to drop off all the elements and fly home!

I'm sorry that there are no photos attached to his entry. My computer crashed in Jackson Hole, WY, hence the reason for no updates for so long. It is still running a little slow in "safe" mode and it will not let me upload photos from my camera. So those great photos of skiing, large plates of food and me and my cowboy hat will have to wait a little longer.

Well friends. Take care and hope everyone is good.

JR

2nd Jackson Hole visit

Hello ya'll.

Well today we made it back to Jackson Hole and we've moved into our Condo again. What a great place and it's 1000x better then staying in a hotel. We're all getting along and enjoying the full size kitchen. Heather and Katie made lasagna for the whole crew for dinner and it was AWESOME. We have a chess board too and Kyle and I have been playing for a good part of the day since we got here and I'm up 4 game to 2. He's learning quick, and I know we'll be playing a lot more.

Today was a good day. Andy and I had breakfast at the "bunnery" again which was great as always. After that I made the stop that I've been waiting for all winter along. A visit to the "Jackson Hole Hat Company" for my custom made Cowboy hat. It was great to pick it up. Granted it was a little pricey but I feel that it's 100x worth every penny as I've been saving for it all trip long. CJ, the owner also branded it for free with the Wyoming state logo, which was mighty nice.

We also made great time on our drive yesterday from Copper to Jackson, WY. The total time took us 9 hours and 25 minutes to get here via the back road, my favorite. I suspect that it will take us close to 8 hours to get to WinterPark on Monday the 14th too. Before then we have some good times ahead of us here with skiing, shopping, and picture taking too. I hope that you enjoy the photos of the Jackson Hole area along with my new bride and joy, "The Hat"!

To add some fun into our lives. Kyle and I decided to play "Chubby Bunny". The game consist of stuffing as many marshmellows in your mouth, one at at time. Each time you put one into your mouth you have to say the fraze "Chubby Bunny". I can eat a ton of food and fit a full size dougnut into my mouth, but this game is crazy hard. If you ever want to feel like you are a member of the famous "Blue Man Group" this is the game for you... Kyle was able to reach 10 marshmellows before he couldn't take any more. I however was 1 shy. I had 9 and 1/2 of one in there before Katie said a joke and made me laugh and gag...It was nasty and sticky but a good time. The bad part was that Kyle and I did this game not once but three times to see how much better we could get. We didn't improve at all. we made each other laugh to much.

Well everyone. Enjoy the photos of the compitition and the new Cowboy hat.

3-4-06...Copper, Colorado

Well everyone I know it has been a little while since my last update. Sorry for that.

We're now in Copper Mt, Colorado working out next to last event in this state. The weather has been great all week long with a little snow on Wednesday with 4" of new fluffy snow for Thursday morning of great skiing of the back bowl here at Copper. Andy, Kyle and I skied all day Wednesday which reminded us of skiing back east with lots of ICE and little powder. That all changed for Thursday as we headed out again to the back side for some good steep trops and a few bumps and 1 jump! It was on purpose too. Sorry MOM and Elisa. It was a ton of fun however and the skiing was great that day.

Also Wednesday was Kyle's birthday and his folks flew into town to see their boy and celebrate for it. They where extremely nice to envite us all to dinner for the ocasion which was a great time. We've been skiing with him and his folks and it's been a blast.

Also this week thanks to the great eye and nose or Glen (semi driver) I've found my new favorite place for Breakfast in the Summit County area. It's called the Lyon's Cafe. I've been there the last 3 days eating like a king. On Thursday Andy, Glena nd I went to breakfast and while I was finishing up a man came to the table and asked

"Did you just get out of Prision?"

my reply: "NO?"

"You ate like you just did"

Andy and Glen then bust out with a luagh and a look of like he's right. I like to eat and can eat a lot for those who don't know. What I ate was a ok size meal for me. It was just 2 frech toast, 2 eggs, potatos O'Brien, 4 pieces of Bacon and that wasn't enough so I also had 1 breakfast taco which consisted of 3 eggs, hashbrowns, tomatos, pepers and more bacon! It was a great filling breakfast which helped the day head on the MT skiing!

In case you're wondering. Fridays breakfast was much the same. However NO Taco this time. Just two blueberry pancakes!

Also Friday, Our (Andy and I) boy Jeff Ayotte "dream job" (we work PowerBar with) was in town and came up to visit and ski with us along with his gal Carie. We had a good day on the slopes getting sunburnt and laughing it up. It was a busy day on the hill but a good day none the less.

No it's work time and it was crazy today at the base. They are saying that there wa 12,000 people on the Mt today and we saw about 1/3 of that by the cars and hanging out for the raffle for the end of the day as well. It was a good day for the event and for the weather. We hope for the same tomorrow too with temps in the 40s...Spring is around the corner. I hope this holds true when we head back to JH (jackson hole) on Monday.

well everyone. I hope that you're well and you enjoy the tales and photos.

2-23....Olympic Bobsled in Park City Utah

I found the right helmet...and I'm ready to GO!


Yesterday was a day I wanted to do for some time. Last year while traveling in Park City, I wanted to do the bobsled ride but never came around to do it. However this year. I changed that. I ponyed up the $200 for the ride and my boy Kyle found a coupon for $50 off, which made the ride that much more enjoyable.

During the training for the ride they inform you that the best blace to sit if you want the most G forces is in the 4th seat, that would be the last person. So me, being me. I took the back seat. The ride offers 5 G's and 16 turns and 8 of those turns offer G forces. In the back seat. I was told that I would experience 6 G's in 4 of the 8 turns and 5 on the rest. I must say that when we where pushed off from the start line I was able to keep my head up for the first three turns. After that, however. My head and body where forced into the fetail position and my head inbetween my legs. I didn't see the rest of the ride, but my gosh did I feel it. My head was rocking back and forth like a bobble-head doll hitting the side walls of the sled. I tried as hard as i could to keep my shoulder up, but that didn't seem to work to well with the G-forces. Our top speed during the ride reached 79.92 mph for a ride time of 55.54 seconds. It is the best Minute I could have paid for. I thought that the "Top Speed Dragster" at Cedar Point was awesome. It is a great ride. However, now this ride takes the cake. A must for anyone who likes speed and thrills.

I want to give thanks too, to Joel for taking the photos that you see, as the photo from the ride is lame and it's at the end with the crew I rode with. Nothing great. Andy, Kyle and Eric all came ot watch and none of them wanted to go after seeing it. While there I read a brochure for a Skeloton camp they have and it peeked my interest and I would love to sign up for that...I've found my calling for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, BC...I have had a taste for this sport and now I'm craving it and want to get more of that speed rush.

However my family and friends would rather I do not continue with this idea. I want Olympic Glorry now.. and this sport is it...LOL

Today, I would call it a recovery day and needed it after the ride. My neck hurts so bad and it's so soar. Kyle had some Tigar Balm and it has been working but I stink like no other. "The mouth", "POP" and I went and skied at DeerValley as it was a beautiful day. Temps in the low to mid 40's with no wind and clear skys. We hope tomorrow will be the same as we have another hard day skiing at Park City Resort.

"turn 1 and away I go....at 35mph"

I hope that you enjoy some of the photos from the sled ride and from our perfect day of skiing.


Kyle at the Top of Deer Valley...2.23.06

2-20-06.. Traveling to Park City, UT

Today we headed to Park City, UT. The drive is normally short and easy. However today wasn't that way. We hit some major wind and snow drifts. At one point during the drive we came across a snow drift that was 4" deep. I was traveling at 70 mph in the Ryder and it fish tailed. I must say that fish taleling is not fun in a Ryder truck. Then we came upon a 4 mile stretch of road that had major snowdrifts and a semi in front that was only traveling 15mph. I must say on a clear day it was the longest slowest drive of my life.

Have you ever been around someone who talks about being home sick so much that you want to just send them home to make life simple and less cumbersome. There is one kid on the team that has complained about being homesick for no joke the last 5 weeks. It's getting old fast and if we didn't have 4 weeks left. I'd buy him a one way ticket home. He talks about stuff that no-one knows about or cares about from back in MI. I have no idea about MI High School basketball nor do I really care about that since I never grew up there or played there. Sounds harsh I know but some of it is driving me crazy. I feel more like a shrink then their boss more days then not.

Since Andy has joined the team a week ago, things have turned around for the best and everyone is getting along and enjoying each others company now too. However some people are seeming to start in slack at work and I need that to change this weekend as we're in the home stretch. I know they can do it and make the last run a great one.

Well tomorrow is an errand day here in Park City. Getting the Ryder tuned up, Andy some ski boots and a few ducks in a row so that I can ski a few days if possible on Thursday or Friday if our Aveno samples show up early.

more pics to follow later in the week.

2-20-06...JH last work day

Today was our last work day in Jackson Hole, for the next couple weeks. I must say that this years event here was like a 180 from last year. The weather was much colder. That's easy when every day you wake up and the temp is below zero and the high is less then 20 degrees. Also our local staff was less then ideal. The one guy we had didn't seem all together there and he didn't follow directions to a tee or anything to that matter. He never checked in and he didn't know how to walk around it seemed like. Not to mention smoking in a work uniform too...Not the smartest thing. I would have loved to replace this person however, he was the only person to show up out of 5 that where slated to work. So our work pool was not that great to start with and he was the only one to keep showing up too. For that matter we where stuck with him all weekend long.

The event was over and our numbers came in as OK in my book, and I hope to improve upon them for the next visit. Katie groves (Peachtree) has left the crew for the week to see her folks in Vegas for a couple days and after we dropped her off at the Airport the guys and I swung by Billy's for a great burger! Which hit the spot! After that Andrew (pops) wanted to play a game of pool so we all stopped off at the million Dollar Cowboy Bar for a couple games. The teams ended up being Kyle (mouth aka the voice of Chevy) and myself, vs. Andy (pops) and Eric (Rudy). Kyle and I played possum for a couple games and we lost the first game we played for money and then on the rubber game we stuck around long enough to finish them off and win our money back and them some! So thanks for playing guys.

While there it shows how small this world and place is. I was getting ready to take a shot and a guy I know from Nike came over to me and stared. It was Rob Lotwis from Atlanta, GA. That was crazy. He was here with this cousin for vacation...So weird but expected with all the traveling I've done in the last couple years and I've been known to see friends and people I know in random places with life on the road!

Wheels are up tomorrow at 10am for our departure to Park City, UT for our next visit.

In case you're wondering why there are names in ( ) here are everyone's nick-names we came up with today and why.

Kyle..."Mouth / The Voice of Chevy" He's been doing a lot of the MCing now

Andy..."Pops" because everyone things he's older then me and everyone here

Joel...."Coughing Eagle" because he found out he has bronchitis for about the last 4 weeks.

Kate..."Peach-Tree" She has a pear scented rollon and she skied onto a tree in Deer Valley, UT

Eric..."Rudy" He always talks about High School Football and how great of a bench player he was/is

Heather "go-go"..This was from her mother since she was known to dance in a cage once in a blue moon

Know you know. Any questions please let me know.

have a great night and more news from Park City as I get ready to do my Bobsled ride on Wednesday.

2-19-06...JH

Today was 100% better then yesterday. We awoke to a temp of Zero! That was at 8am when we took off out set-up. We where able to leave so early since the crew is firing on all circuits and our set-up is down to 40 minutes now! We also reached a High temp of 16 today! That's a turn around of 42 degrees in one day...NUTS! Also we had the addition of one extra local temp which helped in the days activations and the warmer temps aided with the extra data we collected.

After work, I paid a visit to the gym again for another good run and quite time. When I returned I was able to cook my dinner again. It's the small things that make life on the road so good. Like having a full size kitchen and a crew that likes home cooked meals. You can only eat out so much before you get tired of same old same old. So in case anyone cares. Tonight's dinner was mustard chicken and some left over spaghetti.

One more day of work here in JH and then we're off to Park City, UT again for a short week and an event at Park City Resort. I can't wait to go back to a place that towed our cars from the parking lot the night before we had to clean the cars...Good memories.

well I hope everyone is good and you enjoyed in some of the moments from the day.

Oh yes. I forgot. Kyle has a crush on this girl that works for JH Photograhy and he can't muster any energy to talk to her. So if Katie and I see her, we're making a move for him so he can go on a date while on the road. However if we help Kyle then we'll have to try and help out Eric, however that will be a tougher task and a much longer one which will also require the help of others...A huge undertaking..We'll see. One crew member at a time. LOL

2-18-06..Jackson hole, WY

Well today had to be the coldest day I've ever had to work outside. That tops working here at Teton Village last year too. We woke up and arrived at the village and the temp was a bitter -26 degrees. It only reached a high of 9 degrees. The low for the tonight is to be -5, so we're in a warming trend now! Good for us.

You could tell that the weather had an effect on the skier and boarders here today too. They had expected at least 5k for visitors, and we only saw 3,500-4,000 today. Way off. We all did our part today at work to stay warm and entertain ourselves, with a little dance here and there and trying to demo the cars so to stay in them and keep warm. When all else failed we sat in the new 07 Tahoe and enjoyed the "Frozen Joe" DVD commercial!!!!

I must say that yesterday when we skied it seemed like night and day. We could not even think of how it would have been on the Mountain today! But we did dress for it and all that was cold where our cheeks and nose.

I must let everyone know that if you ever visit this great land of Jackson Hole, WY. You need to pay a visit to Billy's Giant Hamburgers, located next to the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar (cash only at the bar). They serve a great 1/2lb burger with all the toppings as you can see below. Once I get my new Cowboy hat on my next visit in three weeks, I'll be sure to share this place too.

I hope that who ever is reading this is staying warm on the East Coast or Midwest or for my folks in Florida.

Take care ya'll and enjoy the burger photo and a few from our display.

Jon (if you like any photos you see please let me know or visit my website link)

2-17-06...Jackson Hole, WY

Well today was another frigid cold day in Teeton Village of Jackson Hole. The temp was -13 when I drove to the gym to get my run in, at 7:30 am. When I returned to the Condo at 9:45am the temp had reached -3! No joke...

Today Katie Groves, Kyle Brassel and Andy Wambach went and enjoyed the slopes here. When we started at 10:30am it was 1 degree above zero out. However there was NO wind, which made or a nice day, as we where all dressed for the weather. We had some good turns and times out there. As we headed down for the last run of the day, we decided to take a Black Diamond run back to the Condo. This seemed like a good idea at first. Then we realized that the bumps where frequent and large. We all made are way down and Katie and I took a couple close calls, but made it. We approached the bottom and came across a Female Moose sitting in the snow in a patch of trees. We took are time skiing by her, so not to spook her and get trample, which would have made for a long weekend for sure.

No crazy night on the town as tomorrow we actually have to work for once this week, showing off the Chevy's of 06 and the new '07 Tahoe.

Kyle purchased a new cowboy hat this week, when he went with me as I really wanted one custom made. However my color of hat was not in, so I had to order it, now I'm waiting 3 weeks to get it. But while there Kyle feel in love with one and bought it too, so he's going to wear it at work and show it off.

That is all there is going on for the moment as the crew is watching a movie and I need to tend to the fire place which is starting to die out. I'll be sure and attach some photos of the trip to date which started back December 1st of our travels and of work.

Have a great night everyone