Scarlet't Birthday! oh yeah, and Travis & Verelle's 1 year anniversary

So, last year Travis and Verelle got married. The date that they had picked happened to be Scarlet's Birthday. Scarlet very politely put the wedding ahead of her birthday and did not celebrate it. Team Kettle has felt very indebted to Scarlet for her roll in the wedding and have been very great full to her for sacrificing for the team. 

Therefore, the decision was made to delay celebrating the anniversary of the wedding and to make Scarlet's birthday the concentration of the day. Travis and Verelle started the day by taking Scarlet to Water Works Park in Redding California. 
 

After Water Works Park the crew went and ate at the In & Out Burger joint and made the drive back to Ashland where they went out to Thai Pepper for dinner with Travis's work crew. After the very tasty dinner the threesome, and a few new recruits continued the fun at Standing Stone. With the night progression being fairly typical the group then ended up at the Hong Kong for Mojito's! The group and severally shrank, but the enthusiasm had not. But, all good things must come to and end, and eventually the group had to split up and go to their respective homes. Despite the evening being complete a good time had been had by all and all had a good time!

Happy Birthday Scarlet! Oh yeah, and happy anniversary Travis & Verelle.

Lava Beds National Monument

Team Kettle made a quick trip this weekend to Lava Beds National Monument along with our friend Emilie. Lava Beds National Monument is in Northern California and Southern Oregon. It is about two and a half hours from I-5, just about an hour outside of Klamath Falls in Southern Oregon.
The first stop in our trip was at Petroglyph Point. This is where the Modoc Indians, that once inhabited the land, paddled out in boats on the lake that used to exist to a volcanic tuff island, and carved symbols into the soft rock.



We also stopped to enjoy the beautiful scenery of this area.

Next we arrived at our camp site. For only $10 a night this place is a steal, and has a truly incredible view.


Finally we got to explore the caves. The caves vary greatly in difficulty, from a cave with a lighted path to those where you must duck and crawl.



This was a fantastic overnight trip for Team Kettle. The geology is stunning. The history is fascinating. The views are breathtaking. We strongly recommend this trip. And we strongly endorse enhancing the trip with a bag of Death Valley Chipotle chips!

Team Kettle Gets Recognized

We're a shy bunch here on Garfield Street in Ashland and have been too timid to tell the folks at Kettle how we feel.  I guess we were worried they wouldn't reciprocate our love.  That was all proven wrong when we received an e-mail the other day from Kettle Foods Brand Ambassador Jim Green saying Kettle Foods loves Team Kettle!

Evidently, Kettle Foods discovered us with a little aid from our friend Wes Barnhart, and as a token of their love, sent us a few bags of assorted chip flavors.  As a token of ours, we're eating them, raving about all of their great flavors, and continuing to be their biggest fans.

Here at Team Kettle, we'd like to thank Jim and the rest of Kettle Foods for their recognition and making wholesome, delicious snacks, and Wes for spreading the word.

Willamette Pass

On Friday March 13th Team Kettle went on a team trip to Willamette Pass Ski Resort . We were accompanied by our good friend Angela Bombacci on this trip, and it was the first time riding at Willamette Pass for all of us.
Angela, Verelle, and I left Ashland around 10 pm and arrived in Corvallis at Dan and Cullen's place around 1:30 am. Going to bed right away was not an option because Thursday was the fourth annual Irish Car Bomb night. After a couple beers and a Car Bomb we all crashed on the living room floor.
We had a late start to the day due to the late night we had, we managed to be at the ski resort by 11:30 am. Even still there was plenty of fresh powder to spare.
The snow was amazing. It was very light and plenty deep. The forest that Willamette Pass is in is very mature and had little to no underbrush which meant amazing tree runs for us. The tree's are spaced out perfectly and we got some of the best tree runs we have ever had. Willamette Pass is also home of the steepest run in the state of Oregon. Dan and I ventured down the 52 degree slope, and it was definitely steep.
We rode hard until 4 pm and then jammed it back to Corvallis and dinner at Mcmenamins. The combination of good snow, good friends, and awesome hosts (thank you Cullen and Dan!) made for an awesome trip. Willamette Pass is a resort we will definitely ride again soon!

Enjoying a lunch break.

The lodge at Willamette Pass.

One of the many beautiful trails.

Christmas, epic as ever!

Verelle and I gave each other the gift of snowboarding this Christmas. However, that entailed what turned out to be an epic adventure.

I got off work on Christmas eve at 4:30pm. Verelle had loaded up the car with gear, kettle chips, and the ever important gas while I was at work. We left right from the store. We were headed to Bend, Or. which is normaly a three hour drive from Ashland. That night it was not. By the time we were in the little town of Prospect, an hour out of Ashland, we were driving on icy and snowy roads. The road conditions did not improve. All the way over the Diamond Lake pass, past Crater Lake, and even on Hwy 97 we were cruising along on ice and snow covered roads. Add all of that to being in the dark equalled us driving for four and a half hours to get to Bend.

The drive was worth it! We checked into the Old Saint Francis McMennemins Hotel around 10pm, and went directly to the restaurant because we were starving. Verelle had salmon and I had a burger. The food at McMennamin's is always good, but this time we were more impressed witht the service and the fact that McMennamins is the fourth largest wine producer in the state of Oregon. After stuffing ourselves and indulging in a bottle of wine we found our way to the Turkish Soaking tube. With its dark steamy atmosphere and its warm water Verelle and I found ourselves soaking for quite a while. It was a perfect Christmas eve and precurser to a day of snowboarding.


We didn't wake up or get going perticularly early on Christmas, because, well, it was Christmas. We were up at on Mount Bachelor by 10am. It had been 9 years since I had ridden Bachelor and Verelle had never, so needless to say we were excited to do some exploring. The first thing I have to say is that their runs are really long. We are not used to having to stop half way down the hill to rest, but we did. There was so much terrain to ride and so much untouched powder easily accessed on the sides of the runs. We managed to get lost almost every run and not be sure exactly how we ended up where we did, but man we had a blast, and by 2pm we were ready to call it a day.

The next leg of our trip took us to McMinnville. We made it quickly out of Bend, but by the time we were in the town of Sisters the roads had gone to crap again and it was snowing heavily. From Sisters all the way to Salem we averaged 25 miles per hour. It made the drive over six hours long. It was brutal. Luckily, it was only dark for the last two hours. At last we made it to McMinnville and to Verelle's mom's house for holiday celebration. Unfortunatly, we were not done driving yet. After being with Verelle's family for a couple of hours we made last portion of our driving for Christmas day to my brother and sister-in-law's place. Once there, it wasn't long till we were sound asleep.

While in Portland, we had a chance to visit the Henry's 12th Street Tavern. It is located in the trendy little section of Portland known as the Pearl District and is certainly worth the stop if you are in the area. The place is huge, complete with the full restaurant, large bar, and even an entire billiards room. There is also a beautiful deck that would be a great for socializing on summer evenings. But what struck us most was the beer list. Henry's has 100 beers and hard ciders on tap! AMAZING!


After hanging out in the Portland area for a couple of days, and doing a lot more driving we made the return drive home south. Finally we made it home to Ashland signalling the finish to an epic Christmas!

Honeymoon

After all of the work, stress, and fun of the wedding was over we were off to Spain for our Honeymoon.

The location of the Honeymoon was not easy to pick, and after some persuading I talked Verelle into allowing me the freedom to plan the Honeymoon and surprise her with my decision close to our departure. Spain was not the most obvious choice for me, but the more I thought about it the more it fit.

On our way to Spain we flew Portland to LA, LA to London, and London to Madrid. It was not a short flight by any means, and we were not excited when our luggage did not show in Madrid. We did not let the loss of our luggage slow us down.

We quickly made our way to our hotel downtown Madrid. The beauty, age, and history of the city was more then we could have dreamed. Shortly after checking in we mosied down the streets looking for the best place to have our first meal in Spain. The perfect street side cafe came on a quaint ally. With our first bottle of wine and fresh sea-food dinner we were in heaven.



The next morning we strolled back down the street and picked up the bicycles I had reserved for us. Something you should know about Spain is that nothing is that easy to find because the old allies are not labeled and they wind from street to street in obscure angles. Now armed with bikes we were unstoppable. The bikes let us see more of Madrid then any other form of transportation would have and we took advantage of them. That day we saw the historical bull fighting arena, the Real Madrid Soccer stadium, and rode past countless other historical sites. While we got around quickly on our bikes we did not move to fast that we could not still enjoy good tapas and wine, and before we knew it was time for us to return our bikes and get ready to head to our next Honeymoon destination.

On our last day in Madrid our luggage showed up, which was a huge relief. We took a train from Madrid to the city of Barcelona. The train ride was one of my favorite experiences. The mass transit system in European countries in incredible and the Spanish country side is as beautiful as it gets. The plains, sharp cliffs, and rolling hills rival in other country side I have ever seen for beauty.

Barcelona is a lot different then Madrid. Madrid's beauty comes from its age, but Barcelona's beauty comes from its blend of age and modernism. Barcelona is the best example of how street art can coexist with museums, and how old building can be taught new decor.

Our first day in Barcelona we tried to do a lot, but then we slowed down. We started drinking and eating more, and going to less museums. The food, wine, and cheese quality in Barcelona was more then we could have ever wished for. With Verelle prodding me we spent more time laying in the sun on the beach and less time walking around. But, we still managed to see a lot of sites and experience the best of what Barcelona had to offer.


The next thing we new our 10 day Honeymoon was concluding and we were making our way back across the Atlantic via London a night in LAX and then Portland.

I could not have asked for a better trip to start our married life together!

Cycling

This is how we burn off all the potato chips we eat!

Dan's ancient Bianchi that he is in love with!











Verelle's rides a Cannondale!







Travis's Cervelo that is wicked awesome!













There is a new bike in the picture now. I recently inhairited my Dad's old 10 speed Nashiki that he bought before moving to Oregon in Kansas City Mo. Which make the bike about 35 years old. I striped all the components off the bike, flipped the handle bars upside down and cut them in down, and put the brakes back on. What I am left with is a single speed commuter bike that has orange handlebar tap.