Physical fitness has always been a part of my family. I remember as a kid playing football in the front yard with my dad, hiking, climbing trees, camping, and spending sun-up to sun-down outside playing. So I was pleasantly surprised this past summer when my mom, sister and sister-in-law decided to all do their first marathon. All 3 had finished a half marathon, and the full 26.2 was the next step in the upward progression. And naturally, since I had done quite a few of them I was asked to join them in their endeavor. December 4, 2011: Dallas White Rock Marathon was the goal. Read the rest of this entry »
This past December I had the opportunity to travel back to one of my favorite places in the world. Turneffe Flats Lodge, thirty miles off the coast of Belize City. Turneffe Flats Lodge is widely regarded as one of the top permit and bonefish destinations in the world. For the last two years I have hosted a trip to the lodge and this year was fortunate enough to have my dad come along. My dad and I have been fishing together since I could walk and this was his first bonefishing trip ever.
Although the weather did it’s best to prevent us from having a sunny, tropical vacation, we still managed to have some fantastic fishing. T-Flats is known for having some unbelievably huge schools of bonefish that will readily take flies. Bones in the 2-4lb range were the norm for the week and we had several shots at fish that were well over five pound mark. It was great to be with my dad when he caught his first bonefish. It was on the small side, but it was certainly a fish to remember. Read the rest of this entry »
Yep, that’s right. You heard me. My latest adventure took me to the Bahamas for the month of January. My co-instructor and I lead 12 college students in a cultural immersion experiential learning course in an attempt to identify some of the issues surrounding the high rates of type 2 diabetes in the Bahamas. We were particularly interested in examining the factors that affect those that live in the Family or Out Islands and chose Eleuthera as our sample site. We as a class worked extremely hard- we spent a few days in Nassau getting an introduction to the Bahamian health care system. Then we headed over to the Island of Eleuthera where we spent the remainder of the month. We provided diabetes education to the schools of S.Eleuthera, spoke with many community groups including the Rotary and Roteract clubs and the students were fully immersed in culture through a three day home stay with local families. We ended our academic class by provided a free wellness clinic for the folks of S. Eleuthera- a very successful event!
We have partnered with the Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival for a few years now and MK has been a huge supporter of our event and the series as a whole. This year was extra fun with myself and MK College Ambassador Chase Nelson both working the crowd for MK. The films are winter oriented and revolve around the human powered experience. It’s a great evening of films, friends and fun for the local backcountry winter sports community here in Moscow. We had 215 people come this year, which packed the local community theater. The films consisted of everything from local snow films to big mountain riding. We had a raffle with prizes from MK and other local vendors at intermission that really got people excited. All the proceeds from the event went to the newly formed Friends of the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center, helping them get a great start forward. Overall it was a great event that got students and the community stoked for snow and a great cause. Thanks MK!
One of the first weekends the mountain was open this year we were able to get my Siberian husky Kenai out onto the slopes – complete with lift rides – to test how much he could handle. I’ve played with the idea of training him as a search and rescue dog as he seemed to have the drive it requires. He loved getting out on the slopes and was the happiest I’ve ever seen him while doing it. Lucky we got a video to document as the mountain has been far too busy to make another go at it – yes, even despite the lack of winter we’ve had!