Teton Valley Days: Settling In and Early Adventures

We settled in nicely in our first week here, from simply enjoying dinner on the deck to Music on Main to helping set the course for the "Wrun for Wray" (aka the Targhee Hill Climb).

I'm trying some new recipes this summer, with a focus on healthy summer eating. Our first dinner on the deck (Wed 6/25) included a kale salad that has already become a summer staple. On Thursday 6/26, our friends, Karee and Candice Miller, headlined Music on Main with their band Mandatory Air. We've enjoyed their music for the past 5 years and love that they have transitioned from being the opening act to the headliner! Karee and Candice were an important part of my 100 mile race in October, and it was good to see them. Karee is due to have her third daughter on July 4th, and she was rocking the stage! The weather did not cooperate, with wind and rain that cut our evening a bit shorter than I would have liked, but it was a good chance to see a few friends and enjoy the music for a bit.

On Saturday 6/28 was the annual Targhee Hill Climb, dubbed the Wrun for Wray (in honor of Wray Landon who was killed in an avalanche 4 years ago). I've done this race for the past 4 years, but this year I wasn't feeling that it would be a great experience! I just haven't trained enough to tackle that climb in a "race" mentality, so I decided to volunteer to help at the race (the kids were on board to help too). Jay Batchen asked if I would "preview the course," meaning check to see if the course was marked well enough and check the course conditions. So early Saturday morning, in fog and clouds, Connor and I set out to hike up Bannock. It was really fun to enjoy this early adventure with Connor -- he was so excited to be "hiking in a cloud!" Because of the visibility, we did need to add a few flags along the way. Since the chairlift didn't open until the race start at 10am, we decided to run down TVT. We had a little bit of rain and hail, which only added to the adventure. We made the round trip in well under 3 hours!