There's always a first

I may not be the first person to advocate for kids outdoors. Or the first to struggle with an injury in their career, but the nurse on duty in the post op recovery room told me that I am the first patient she has ever seen bring veggies to munch on while coming to! Knowing I was going to wake up famished, and not wanting to eat a thousand graham crackers, I made some extra broccoli the night before. Maybe the trend will take off.

Made to last

It is back!! Since I had a ton of stuff to come back, I shipped my Osprey bag back from Switzerland literally stuffed to the max. After almost a month of (I'm sure!) rough handling, it has finally arrived. Living up to the osprey standard, there wasn't even a scratch mark! With the wheels still in perfect condition, its ready for my next high octane adventure.

As soon as I get to unpacking, that is! :)

Cured

The retailer show is over and my surgery is next (tomorrow), but being at the show, surrounded by inspirational people who have traveled and done everything I could ever hope to do and more, let alone running successful businesses woke me back up from my unmotivated break from reality. Since realizing that surgery was the best option for my knee right now, my usually motivated self has been on the back burner. Not anymore. Along with being once again heavily involved in Outdoor Nation, I have big plans once I'm back on my feet. So look forward to some more exciting posts which might include some ranting about my new CPM machine, which is the first form of PT after surgery. By PT, I do mean pain and torture :-).

Outsiders unite!

An outsider is a kid who likes to do activities outside. I am fortunate that my parents introduced me to the lifestyle at a young age. The unfortunate thing is that in America today, there are a lot of parents who aren't introducing their kids. The barriers are vast, but the thing is, many of the kids in my generation who are the lucky minority and who's parents introduced them want to make a difference. That is the aim of Outdoor Nation. The ambassadors of ON, me included, have decided that we cannot wait for government, or whatever other powers might be able to introduce our peers; we need to take action and do it... now. We plan to help finance outdoor clubs, as long as they reach into other communities and bring their peers outside. This isn't a program created by adults to give inner city kids a taste of the outdoors. This is a youth lead movement - peer to peer, kid to kid - that will foster a new lifestyle for America. The outsider lifestyle.

Check out and friend Outdoor Nation on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/OutdoorNation

Wow

That's all I had to say too, when I went to unpack today and realized how many water bottles had ended up in my bag. The thing about being part of media at the show, is that everyone wants you to go home and be reminded of their company so that when you sit down to write, you might feature them more heavily. Thus, even though I am covering stories on travel, jackets, and product naming, I still end up with countless water bottles. I wonder what would happen if I covered water bottles at the show? Maybe next time, I'll find out!

The demo day

It was a tad chilly and my knee was KILLING by the time I had to do some (three) turns, but overall a ton of fun! The new NTN compatible bindings look very interesting!

Connecting with my inner zen

Before the complete chaos of materialism

So tomorrow I head to the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City. With the culmination of every manufacturer of outdoor equipment you could think of, the coolness of seeing all the new gear before it hits shelves is a bit overpowering. Like any extract (learned this one with vanilla), it smells nice, but the full taste is strong. My job at the show is twofold. I am there both as an Outdoor Nation Ambassador and a youth team SNEWS writer, so I get to try to swallow a mouthful!

Outdoor Nation is a youth driven organization that gives seed money to outdoor clubs in return for them taking out kids who would otherwise not get out. For example, if money is given to a high school, the kids in the club need to take out middle school inner city kids twice a month. The goal is to reconnect the next generation with the outdoors.

SNEWS is the industry newsletter. As a youth reporter, I do articles from a youth opinion (yes, I know the opinion of all youth:) ). This summer, I did an overview of energy bars in the industry and what it feels like as a newbie to be in the midst of 300 something manufacturer's booths all showing you new products.

Needless to say, for the next four days, I will be a busy girl!

Got bone spurs?

Rolfing will help!

Today, I visited Thomas Walker, the best Rolfer in the area because I had a nasty bone spur forming on the top of my foot. Rolfing moves the adhesions between muscles and bones, allowing everything to move the way it is supposed to. Since my bone spur was new, it hadn't calcified yet, so Thomas was able to move it and reduce the size. That and a trip to Ski and Bike Care's boot fitters had my feet pain free again!

Trestle table day 1

Starting up the big project of the year. Since my surgery is coming up pretty soon, I don't know when I'll be able to finish it, but I have been teaching my dad how to use the table saw and such (a little backwards, I know), so hopefully he can finish the cuts, then I can finish it. The plan is to give it the same feel as a big bench-table in an old German ale-house, except it is going behind the couch as a buffet table.

Back to the salt mines

Upon my return from my grand adventure in europa, it was straight back to being Ms handyman around the house. This morning, we ground elk meat from the elk that my parent had hunted in October. Using a meat grinder is a skill that requires trial and error, elbow grease and some seriously frozen hands! The meat has to be pretty close to completely frozen in order to not "gunk" up the blades of the grinder. Therefore, the person wielding the cutting knife gets a really good workout. About halfway through, my dad goes "I need a chainsaw!" From there you force the frozen chunks through the grinder and voila! - ground elk for burgers, meatballs and tacos galore! Next up on the kiddy-do-list... trestle table! So stay tuned folks!

Doctors visit

Went to Doctor Sterret, down in Vail yesterday and went through my MRI from before the race where I thought I had rehurt it. The MRI looked good, but since there is a lot of fluid in my joints, there is something mechanically wrong. Sounds vague? That's because it is. Since I got a repair on the meniscus already, on the inner back corner without much bloodflow for healing, the problem could be one of many things. The repair could have not worked at all, meaning they would "trim" my meniscus back smooth. A stitch could have broken loose, creating a floater (fancy terminology, I know). That would just need to be removed. The worst case scenario is if it did heal and there is a new tear, which would mean another repair, six weeks in a straight leg brace and a really pissed off athlete. Either way, the doctor need to go in and take a look, so I am scheduled for surgery on the 25th... wish me luck!

Dill pickles, greek yogurt and egg beaters, oh my!

I arrived back home safe and sound. After months of longing, I have finally been reunited with my three main food-groups... Fage greek yogurt, dill pickles, and egg beaters! After having my fill, I bundled up to give my dog, Sandy a walk in the foot of fresh snow. Comfort food = good; jetlag = bad.

Change of plans

Last week, my knee filled with a moderate amount of swelling and wouldn't come down. After talking to the doctor and getting an MRI, it was decided that the problem was mechanical within the joint, and the next step is surgery back in the states. Unfortunately, that puts an end to the race season. Even though I will not be competing this year, I will be coaching some juniors on the US team along with other things. I may be down, but everything happens for a reason, so I am going to make the most out of my situation.

Lac Leman tidbit

Lac Leman is what Swiss people call Lake Geneva everywhere except in Geneva. Whether that makes it two lakes or not is not the point. The point of my tidbit today is to tell you the fabled story of the upper lake island. As I said, there is an island in the upper part of Lac Leman and on it is one lone tree. It is said that Switzerland gave this teeny island to the Queen of England some years ago, so she could have a little piece of Switzerland. She cordially accepted the gift, but a few years later, the Swiss government started taxing her on her little piece of Switzerland, so she gave it back. I have no idea whether the story is true or not, but I hope it is because it makes me chuckle every time I look at the tree.

Cleaning out the pantry

During yesterday's tour around the lake, I met Captain Stan. If you picture what the old man and the sea looked like with a long gray ponytail, blue sea coat and a pot belly to match, Stan was it. After talking for a bit and learning that he was an expat Californian, making IT programs for banking companies and sailing in various parts of the world during his downtime, he invited me to lunch on the ship today to help him clean out the cellar for the new year with a few friends . As it turned out, his cellar consisted of many truffles, a dozen or so bottles of champagne and plenty of good story telling. From spontaneous races to being kicked off his own boat, it made me want to get on a sailboat ASAP. I guess I will just have to wait for the ice to melt off Steamboat Reservoir first!

Happy New year

To usher in the New Year, it was the sunniest day since late October here in Montreux. I spent the day enjoying vitamin D on the ferry around Lac Leman. I hope the new year will be just as exciting as the last!

Swiss food for thought

When I was in Middle School,we had "life skills" for one year, which included making brownies and learning how to sew on buttons. Not ground breaking stuff. Yesterday, when spending some time with one of my junior teammates, I learned that all Swiss schools have five years of cooking classes and learn from a cookbook-textboook. This book of recipes are of course all Swiss recipes, so along with guaranteeing that everyone knows how to make a croissant, it also preserves their food-culture. Not just croissants, the book has nutrition advice and teaches the schoolkids exactly what is in everything from bolognese to choucroute chou. Isn't that smart: creating heathy eater without them even realizing it!