Thankful

 We had a really great time this past week catching up with family, good friends, and some of the beautiful places we grew up hiking and biking in northeastern Connecticut. We really are from a beautiful spot; we are so lucky to have had access to the outdoors like we did. Look where it has brought us! We're very thankful for that.

A Wodstove Turkey and Crayola Adventure

We spent the Turkey holiday in Connecticut with family. While we didn't have snow, we still managed to get out to some favorite spots and T did a turkey-day ride with the guys he grew up riding with. On that particular day, I stayed home with the fam. My Mom and I cooked our family's supper on / in the wood stove (go us!) for a real wood-fired turkey. It went really well and came out so good. I also did stuffing in skillets on the stove top.

It's very difficult being a dog on Thanksgiving.

 Meanwhile, as the turkey was cooking, I drew pictures with my niece. I forgot how fun Crayola crayons can be! I had a great time and left her with some renditions of outdoor adventure. She's only three, but I'm hoping to leave some kind of mark in the way of inspiration.

 I also illustrated Odin's brutal encounter with four Chihuahuas the day before. (It's a dramatization - Odin wasn't nearly that viscous...actually, he was the one who got beat up. There were four of those damn little Hellians!)

I hope everyone had a great holiday and enjoyed the snow!!

It's a labor of love.

As many of you know, I work at Onion River Sports with a lot of good folks and we love to hang out in our free time and get outside. Everyday, I get to work and there happens to be this great wall of photos of people getting outside and enjoying themselves, whether its on a bike, skis, hiking or snowshoeing . Some of the people are customers, past co-workers, even Olympic athletes that have passed through the doors at Onion River Sports, heck I even know a couple! There are two pictures that often catch my eye; the two people in the photos, embody exactly what I deeply feel about in life, " do what you love, work hard and the rest will follow." I get to work with both these individuals and can't say enough wonderful things about them. To this day, both do exactly what they're doing in these pictures from years past. Why? Simply because they love it.

     I was drawn to ORS because of people like this, to have the opportunity to work with people who do what they love and feel passionately about the outdoors. Their passion helps get other people to understand that feeling of riding a bike, sliding on snow, or maybe hiking a long distance trail for the first time. I can honestly say that ORS is a place where come five o' clock, we want to get your skis mounted and your bike tuned, but we're also chomping at the bit to get in some fresh powder turns or get that single track mountain bike ride in, because- "we love what we do and we do it often." When you come in to the shop and need a new BC ski setup or that new road bike, chances are, one of us or all of us just got back from skiing or riding.  It's just a matter of, we love what we do.
The two, young guys in the photos are our very own Jamie Huntsman; telemark skier extraordinaire- bike mechanic/nicest guy you will ever meet, and the one and only; ORS owner, Andrew Brewer.  Ask any of these guys a question, and I'm sure they have a good story or two to share.  I'm positive Andrew taught Lance a thing or two about bike racing, and Jamie, from what I hear, is the best telemark skier you will ever ski with down the slopes.  Don't take my word for it, come on down and ask them yourself.

Now get outside.

T.