Travels

This past week has been a very busy one for the Hemmer household. My (Helen's) mum came to visit on Saturday, and on the same day Jason flew out to Germany for his first big trip with Gore. It was great having my mom here while Jason was gone, and we did some shopping, eating, and drank plenty of red wine by the fire:) Mom also taught me to knit -- I'm not too bad! We also took a day trip to Sedona, Arizona, which is about 40 minutes down the mountain from Flagstaff. It is famous for the beautiful Red Rocks, and it's mythical vortex powers. We had a great drive through the Red Rocks, and checked out a church that was built directly into the mountains. Below is a picture of us outside the church with Red Rocks in the background. Jason hopes he is here for her next trip. I'll let Jason fill you in on Germany...



Ahhh yes, Germany. I traveled to Munich for my first official business trip, and it just so happened to be Carnival time there, which is basically Germany's version of Mardi Gras. The locals dress up in costumes and hit the streets with beer and wine in hand. SO, in addition to working hard during the trip, I also had the opportunity to sample many local Bavarian brews and delicacies, most of which begin with the word "Schweine".

Love,
Helen & Jason

From With Mum

Cross Country Skiing...

Hello All. Happy (late) Valentine's Day! We were supposed to post this last night, but got distracted by the Tiger's basketball game last night:) This past weekend, for Valentine's Day, Jason and I tried our hand at cross country skiing. We were supposed to have a lesson at 11:00, which we were late for (of course) because I had to stop for breakfast on the way, and then couldn't get my boot on my ski. I have determined it is A LOT harder than it looks. So, our group lesson left without us, and we ventured out on our own. Although we had no idea what we were doing, we only fell twice (once each) and made it all around the easy trail in one piece. I am not sure if you have ever seen someone fall while cross country skiing, but it is an embarrassingly slow, but inevitable, fall. Unfortunately, we have neither of these incidences on record, but I did include a picture of me, and a video I took of Jason.

So, after all that, we ran into (literally) our group lesson at the end, and the instructor stayed with us for 30 minutes to cover the basics. We felt slightly more competent after our lesson, but were completely exhausted (did I mention how incredible a workout it is!)

All in all, it was a great way to spend Valentine's Day and make the most of the feet of snow still on the ground here. Although we limped around with aches and pains for a couple days, we think we'll keep going back to enjoy the great outdoors here!

Jason is loving his job, and leaves for Germany for a week this Saturday, and then goes to San Diego for a conference in two weeks. I am tagging along on that trip, but before that my mum is visiting this weekend, and my brother Tim the weekend next -- we'll keep you posted!

Love,
Helen & Jason

29.73"

That's the amount of snow that the Flagstaff area has received over the past 48 hours; a new record! It took 5 separate shoveling sessions to keep our driveway clear. Even with that amount of shoveling, our new Subaru Forester was still needed to plow through the remaining snow. By the way, the fun fact of the day is that Flagstaff is the 8th or 11th snowiest city, depending on the source (but, Helen is right -- it is the 8th!!).

So, as this is our first blog post, we would like to welcome you all to the fun-filled internet extravaganza known as "Go West Young Hemmers", chronicling the adventures of Jason, Helen, and Madeline Hemmer. Thus far, our move out to Flagstaff has gone extraordinarily well. We are just getting the house in order (click on slide show below), have gone hiking twice (no elk encounters yet), and will be giving cross-country skiing a try this coming weekend. We've met a lot of nice folks out here, who still like us because they don't really know us yet.

We have lots of wacky adventures planned, so be sure to check back every now and then as we update this blog.

- Jason & Helen