What a Great Day...

I sit here by the fire still in my ski clothes, thinking about what a great day it was today. I worked most of the day and accomplished a good bit on my boat trailer project (pictures coming soon). I finally found a kit to convert our wire feed welder to an aluminum welder. About noon I decided to go into Etna. The Volvo needed to be driven because the battery is kind of week from sitting for a long time. So I goto a few shops in town and then get in the car to leave. I turn the key and nothing happens, the battery is dead. I finally found someone willing to help me jump the car after and hour or so. Late this afternoon Dan, Chad (chris's friend) and I decided to go snowboarding off of Etna Summit (pictures on the way). This is a great backcountry run. We got about 4 runs in and took turns shuttling to the summit. Jim, you should seriously think about taking a week off of school to come to do this while the snow is still great. At the top of the run the powder was nearly thigh deep in places. Etna was listed as one of the top 3 dream towns in the US. Here is the article http://outside.away.com/outside/destinations/200408/best_American_dream_towns_3.html
There is about everything you can think of as far as Outdoor adventure goes withing a few hours of the Ranch. As one of my friends put it, I am definitely in my element here.

We returned from snowboarding to have dinner with Luis and April at the Ranch. April and Luis are and older couple living at the Ranch right now. April works in the office and Luis can fix anything so he does a little of everything around the Ranch. April fixed a Mexican Feast for us tonight, it was so good! After dinner we sat around the table and they told us stories. Everything from the tough times they made it through to how proud they are of their children and then what is wrong with our society today. It was and incredible time of fellowship.

Now I sit here typing, worn out from a full day. The past few nights we have taken turns sharing about ourselves with the other guys. It is amazing how much better you understand a person and what they are about when you know their background. I think we are definitely becoming a more tightly knit group through times like this. I think I will stop typing now.