on the dashboard

final beard. fun. beardless

2009-09-19T17:31:00.000-07:00

final beard ~5 mos.

some fun

beardless

beard.

2009-07-24T18:00:00.001-07:00

www.findyourspot.com

2009-07-20T14:53:00.001-07:00

Chatting with some great friends back in the Midwest (all of which I love dearly and had a great time with this past week), I was presented with this site. Since it is a question that has been a topic of many of my recent conversations, especially with Andrea, I wanted to see what the WWW had to offer. My top 5 places to live, according to the never wrong WWW.

1. Eugene, OR "The Emerald City"
2.Corvallis, OR "Heart of the Willamette Valley"
3. Fort Collins, CO "The Choice City"
4. Kent, WA (ha, a suburb of Seattle) "The Heart of Puget Sound"
5. Tacoma, WA (Nate R., that is for you) "Port City of the Cascades"

other interesting places on the list:
6. Anchorage, AK "City of Lights & Flowers"
7. Portland, OR "City of Roses"
10. Seattle, WA "The Emerald City"
16. Denver, CO "The Mile High City"
18. Missoula, MT "Cosmopolitan Mountain Town"
21. Loveland, CO "Rocky Mountain Splendor"

I want one please

2009-04-28T21:43:00.001-07:00

So I have passed a motorcycle safety course and now have a state issued license to drive a motorcycle. 98% on the written exam and 100% on the skills test. Yes, I am that good. I was taking the class to get a feel of whether or not I would want to eventually own a motorcycle. The class was well taught and coached, now I want one. Period.

2 weeks until I start my new job as a Trail Crew Leader for the Olympic National Forest. Excited for a summer in the woods!

2 YRS. & A Sigh of relief

2009-04-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

Today marks a special date --> 2 years for Andrea and I. We have been together for 2 years. It has been a great run! We have had so much fun together. So many new experiences together, both good and bad. We have grown together and I am excited for what the future brings us. Let the adventure continue.

Today was also a special day for job hunting. It all started when I received an email from a past supervisor saying that he had received 2 calls this morning regarding 2 positions I have applied for, one in the Pacific Northwest and another in Colorado. Just as I was writing back to say thanks for the help, I received a call from Colorado. It was a gentleman from the Gunnison Ranger District offering me a position. We talked and it was GREAT. The feeling of accomplishment! To be wanted as an employee at something I really want to do... Whilst I was on the phone chatting away, I received another call from the Quilcene Ranger District informing me that they would like to offer me a position as well. TOOK IT! It is a GS-5 Wilderness & Trails Ranger Position. Although it would have been nice to make it back to Colorado, whether it was Aspen area or Gunnison area, I am glad I will still be in the Pacific Northwest. Bring on the summer in the woods.

I have decided to celebrate with a delicious Franziskaner Dunkel Weisse and some Annies Deluxe Mac n Cheese. I deserve it, ooh and it is so good.

01.19.1983

2009-01-25T00:17:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday to me.
Turned out to be a beautiful day in Seattle, sunny and a bit chilly. 25 was yet another great year, so many experiences, life lessons learned, and great times had. 26 can only get better! I just want to say right now that I am thankful for the years I have had... health, friendships, family, and adventure.

forever tasty... champagne

Washington Riding

2009-01-09T11:45:00.000-08:00

Andrea and I went up to Alpental Ski Area and this is what we came up with. (yes i do have extra time on my hands).

... for now check out her blog ... www.andreafranzen.blogspot.com

On other notes, I have been able to check out a few of the local ski areas -> Crystal Mountain & Stevens Pass. They are both fun and provide the much needed adrenaline rush that is vital to survive. Snowboarding will always be a part of my life! Some people need internet time, others perhaps gaming system, or gyms; not I, I need snowboarding.

over n out.
TG

things

2008-12-12T13:48:00.000-08:00

my new thing withing the past 6 months or so I would say is to not buy new things. things. things. there are plenty of items out there everyone is looking for that are used/slightly used and wanting new homes. Sweaters, shoes, Christmas ornaments, tree stands, jackets, belts, dressers, watches, on and on... keeping these things out of the landfill is my motivation. some people have problems with wearing someone else's clothing and such, but not I. it is usually cheaper and it just feels good, to me, to have things passed from person to person. kind of like a hand me down. being the youngest of 5 siblings may very well be the reason for this trend of mine.

well I was walking in REI (one of my new places of employment) and saw an amazing pair of wool gloves. I noticed they were carefully hand crafted in Nepal or somewhere across the world. they were amazing. I wanted them. something inside me said, "surely you can make these yourself tyson." after the knitting spark was ignited, i sadly learned that gloves are extremely hard to knit. no big deal, I would still love to knit a hat or something, so Andrea and I accidentaly ended up at a local knitting shop and purchased some needles and 2 balls of yarn for my knitting adventure. let the knitting begin. with some help from Andrea, YouTube, and a book called The Knitting Bible I present you... drum roll please (Christmas Vacation style)...

The Hat

Crime Scene

2008-11-20T14:29:00.001-08:00

it was locked up just behind the car and sign.

All I can ask is Why!? (emphasis!)

2008-11-19T00:12:00.000-08:00

My 2008 REDLINE Conquest bike was stolen this evening, and my mind is blown away. All i can think about is who did this, why would they do it, when did they do it, did anybody see it happen, do they realize how much that bike meant to me, would i punch him/her in the face? (YES) It was my only means of getting around the city and i loved it. Maybe i was too attached to my bike, but i am having a hard time with this. I simply cannot believe this just happened tonight. I locked my bike up while at work, and thinking its a good spot since I am staring at it across the street all awhile i am working at the hotel. Low and behold i glance towards my bike and notice, not my bike but another bike. immediately thinking, my bike must have fallen over or this other bike rack user must have moved mine so he/she could get his/her bike on there too. taking a closer look, i notice my bike is not there at all. did i lock it up there? did i even ride my bike to work? did somebody play a trick on me? all things running through my head. well i ran across the busy street that is 4th Street to notice that my lock was on the ground and snipped right in two. my jaw/stomach dropped! I cold not believe it, what do i do now? I called the police. On the corner of 4th & Virginia just outside the Dahlia Lounge Restauruant, my bike was stolen between 5:00 and 7:30 pm on Tuesday evening the 18th of November. Thoughts will run through my head about my Conquest for a long time to come. Karma!

Bike, are your out there?
Regretfully your old owner

here we go...

2008-11-14T18:47:00.000-08:00

bringing you up to date from... the end of May when i moved from Colorado to Washington up until winter of '08. Many things have happened during this time frame, thus many pictures and not a whole lot of explanation, see previous post "man of few words".
Death Valley and Tim & Ann's Wedding in Sonoma, CA

Wedding, wine tasting, and packing up to drive the Coastal Highways

Drive thru tree, Paul Bunyan (he talked!), somewhere in Oregon

Oregon dunes, welcome to Washington party with Rainier beer, hiking in Leavenworth

More leavenworth and Lisa B's pool party place for summer relaxin'

Tracy is half an iron-man, my fu manchu while enjoying Lake Minnetonka, MN with the Franzens, team Ballgium represents at Mason Lake Beer Olympics

Seattle sunset, La Push beach camping w/ friends, sailing adventures with Lauren B visiting

Mt. Rainier sunrise on the way to the triathalon, swimming, and finish

my new waders for salmon research position, Tracy + Scott join us to hike Mt. Si., and pumpkin patch picking

carving with Rob + Claudia, Andrea and I hike halfway up Mt. Rainier to Camp Muir base camp. proudly drinking a Rainier Beer while on Rainier, it was given to us by our new friends we met while chillin (literally) at base camp

karaoke for Andrea's 30th celebration.

Vote.

2008-11-04T11:35:00.000-08:00

I voted today in the State of Washington.

Man of few words.

2008-10-22T13:05:00.000-07:00

So it has been a busy summer/fall. I will soon hopefully post a plethora of pictures to recap my new experiences in the Greater Seattle area. I may have lost my few followers, but if you are still out there and wondering of my whereabouts and adventures, I plead you to stay tuned. It has indeed been an incredible summer/fall!

Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington

2008-05-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

Driving the western states to California for Tim and Ann's Wedding, my brother and soon to be sister in law. Toby arrives in aspen to pick me up in a rental car and we start our great western adventure through the states. Stopping in Death Valley National Park, Sequoia National Park, and Kings Canyon National Park before we make it to Glen Ellen, California. Hang out with the family, which is going to be great since we are rarely all together these days. Then I drive up the west coast with Andrea and possibly my mother. Excitement!

Goodbye to Aspen hello Seattle.

leaving... sad

2008-05-16T22:50:00.001-07:00

As the day comes near, i begin to realize how special this place is. The past 2+ years have shaped me to be the man i am today. The love for the outdoors, the ecofriendlyism (not a world... until now), the work experience, the fun!, the snow, the learning of both who i am and what this place is all about, the partying, the $$$, the aspen culture, the tourists, the offseason, the 'i wont wake up early unless its a powder day,' and most of the the friends and relationshiops. Whenever i go somewhere in this town these days i take just a little bit longer to absorb everything. What it means to me and why it is special. Whether it is a park i rarely went to or the pub i frequently had beverages at after a day of snowboarding. Suddenly every little thing means a little bit more. Until that final day, the day of no more. The day where i ask myself 'will i ever come back here?' The day of will we ever cross path's again? It is all becoming very sad, but at the same time very exciting! New experiences. New places. New People. New job. New things! It is such weird place to be... very sad, yet very excited. I hope all those who have touched me know that i cherish their memories and relationships. I also hope they know that I feel the same way about them and will never forget the good times. These pictures are a BRIEF snapshot of my life in aspen. I will never forget this place!

They are in no specific order

Desert World

2008-05-06T15:35:00.001-07:00

Last day of work at The Sky Hotel, then I quickly packed my camping/backpacking gear and we headed out of town in the snowy coooooold weather --> one of the reasons we wanted to skip town for the desert. Mollie, Jeff, and myself set out for a 4 day trip into the Moab, UT area.

We first drove to the Colorado National Monument Park to spend our first night. Arrived in the dark to set up camp and relax as we have not been camping in a while. So nice to relax and forget about everything other than the moment. It was cold the first night, but felt nice to crawl into our bags. Awaken by the sun, we all amerged from our warm bags and began cleaning up so that we could check out this site a bit before we continued our drive to Arches National Park. Arches was amazing... like nothing I have ever seen. We embarked on Mollie's favorite hike into the Devils Garden and here are a few photos. All sorts of arches and amazing sandstone features. Several portions of the trail were all rock and we were allowed to play around and climb and walk where ever we wanted as long as we were not trampling vegetation and cryptobiotic soils.
AMAZING!

partition arch

Mollie & Jeff underneath landscape arch

Next stop was the town of Moab to get some information on camping and much anticipated putt-putt golf. Although this course was well below par as far as its condition, I excelled and was victorious. Prize=small fry at the nearby McDonalds. No hole-in-ones were awarded unfortunately. This place was seriously the most ghetto putt-putt i have seen. Seems more like it was a place to ride go carts and they just happen to have a putt-putt course set up that has not been worked on in the past 5 years.

After claiming the last campsite, we started a fire and cooked dinner (chicken and rice). Sleepytime. Slept in a bit more than planned b.c we were surrounded by canyon walls. Quickly gathered everything and prepared for our backpacking adventure. Arrived at the Canyonlands National Park Visitors Center to find my friends Austin & Rob! I guess it is a popular place to go for people in the Roaring Fork Valley. They did not have a reservation ahead of time so they just jumped in with our group. Apparently all of the good spots are reserved a few weeks in advance. Up to 7 people are allowed at each site, thus we combined for maximum adventure fun.

Austin Squeezes

Let the backpacking begin. We had to pack in all our water as there are no water sources. That makes for a heavy pack on the first day, but alas we all had high hopes of the adventure. Every step is simply awe inspring! This landscape is such a contrast to what we are used to seeing, and for me to what i grew up around. Hiking and hiking on we played in this canyon, sat and had a snack, discussed geological topics, and soaked it all in. We arrived at our campsite around 3:30 knowing we would have time to explore a bit more w/o our packs. In my opinion this was the climax of the backpacking trip. So much exploring and playing... seemed like endless amounts of fun. I kept thinking to myself, this is a gigantic playground for outdoor enthusiasts. We explored until dinner time and we were all thirsty. Heading back, we were all still in amazement of the landscape of rocks. Watched the sunset and then started cooking dinner, which turned out to be quite the surprise for mollie, jeff, and I. We bought a soup mix that made a half gallon of chicken noodle (or what we had thought was chicken noodle). After thinking about it, we wondered how there could be chicken in the tiny little package... turns out there was none, ha. It also said on the package "add more noodles if desired," thus we wondered if
there were enough noodles in the mysterious package. Finally, it was time to reveal this mystery. Turned out to be pretty much mostly broth with a few carrots, celery, and noodles. We did purchase a delicious loaf of bread to dip in the soup luckily for our hungers sake. After the dinner adventure we had the glow-in-the-dark frisbee adventure in our own little canyon. Evantually turned in for the night, which happened to be gorgeous. Woke up the next morning and pretty much cleaned up camp and were on our way back out via a different route. Again, such beautiful country to travel through and experience. By the time the last mile or so came though, most of us were ready to be back at the cars and out of our shoes or sandals. All together it was a great adventure, one that i will remember for years!

view of the sandstone wilderness

Sunset at from our camp

ladder on the trail

Offseason

2008-05-05T15:09:00.000-07:00

The mountains have closed (well maybe) and everybody has returned to their respective homes, other jobs, schools, and countries. Not many are left in town, but those who are love it. Quiet streets, a reduced selection of where to get lunch or dinner, bikes are coming out, walking to and from town, relaxing in the sun, poolside time if weather permits, and the feeling of knowing most everybody in town. It is a special feeling as I have never experienced it elsewhere in my life. Aspen is truly a resort town, people come here to work and visit only certain months of the year. Spring and Fall are NOT them, ha... it is seriously extremely quiet compared to the summer and winter! A welcome break from the busy seasons. Now onto the wonderful Rocky Mountain Spring Season, which has already brought us a decent snow storm on May 1 + 2. Enjoy the spring!

Season Ends.... finally (kinda)

2008-04-29T17:06:00.001-07:00

Last day of skiing Aspen Mountain and party at the Sky Hotel Patio... all good things

random powder day mid march

2008-04-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

Some powdery fun with Jesse & Jeremey on Aspen Mountain.

Fresh Cord

2008-04-16T15:25:00.001-07:00

Jeff (pictured) drives a snowcat for Aspen Highlands. He offered me an early trip up the mountain in order to get some fresh corduroy. Twas a beautiful day for it. We drove up to the Merry Go Round, a restaurant halfway up the mountain where jeff typically parks his cat for the day. Ate some breakfast and relaxed on the roof a bit before our earlybird adventure. We were able to get on the upper mountain lifts before anyone else, and thus ski/ride the untouched groomers a few times! It was amazingness. thanks jeff

A n' Friends visit & Bio Returns Home briefly

2008-04-02T18:44:00.000-07:00

a little behind on informing my friends and family, but this is about a trip over Presidents weekend, Feb. 15-18. Andrea and Lisa visit, Lisa who is commonly referred to as Diesel and now in the environmental world Biodiesel hence the Bio.

So andrea planned to visit a while back. Turned out her friends from back home (MN) who have a house in Snowmass were visiting as well. Plenty of good times were had... she arrived, eventually due to inclement weather, on Valentines Day Night. planned on having a date that night, but since she arrived late we just headed to the Sky for a drink and to relax. happened to be that friends there had extra tickets to the Galactic concert. It was so much fun! I had to work the next morning for 4 hours then had a break which is when i met up with andrea for some lunch and then headed back to work for another 4. Andrea met up with some/most of the friends who were coming to visit and they hung out at the hotel while I was working. when i finished at 8 we headed up to the Snowmass house. Had a few beverages, played some cards, caught up with old friends, learned about new ones, and just relaxed in the amazing house. pretty much did this all weekend until everyone had to leave. Some good days of snowboarding followed by hot tubbing were participated in. We had a delicious dinner prepared by ???? one night and headed to the Snowmass Club, thanks to the Ryan's, another night.

It was good to see andrea! we had a lot of fun spending time together and with friends, new and old. Also so much fun with Lisa, shreddin' up highlands just like last year... man! Lisa, this year is full of snow, but its still not the same w/o you.

Hut Trip

2008-03-18T21:24:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to do a hut trip since last year, when i was unable to go on one. This year JP took the initiative to get one going and reserved our spot at the Fritz Hut of the Benedict Huts. I was so excited... and we still had 1.5 months before we started the journey. The day finally came on February 26th as we took care of last minute packing and drove to the trail head which was just outside aspen city limits. The journey began on a beautiful sunny Colorado day.

This hut is not particularly known for its access to backcountry skiing so JP and I hauled a sled and an inner tube up the 5 mile trek in fresh snow we received two days prior. Others, Jeff, Mollie, and Zach, had and/or rented ski gear. JP nor I had the necessary ski gear so we snowshoed.

The climb was a bit more difficult than I had anticipated, but fun and exciting none the less. Cruising during some portions while struggling at others. It took somewhere around 5 hours before we arrived at the hut (pictured above). The last half mile before the hut was a brutal uphill battle that separated the team. As we met back up at the hut we all rejoiced and celebrated by relaxing. Getting to know the hut and all its amenities was the first task. Getting a fire going to warm up the hut and melt snow for water were among the first tasks. It such a good feeling being away from it all, no worries other than when we were going to eat and who was going to go outside to collect snow for melting. After settling in and grabbing a snack to replenish the many calories burned we headed outside to explore around the cabins. The bathroom, or toilet, was amazing (pictured right). Two large glass walls for one to ponder the vastness of the Rocky Mountains. Beautiful! There was so much snow we could practically walk onto the roof of the cabin, but there was another 5-6 feet of snow on the roof so we had to cut out steps. We wanted to watch the sunset from atop the roof to get the best view. We succeeded.

The pine marten pictured in the middle was a local and showed his face several times. Notes inside of the cabin made us aware of his nature of eating any food he can get his paws on, thus we had to take certain precautions when storing food in the cold room.

As you may imagine the sledding was a lot! of fun. we built kickers into the endless powder and had hours and hours of fun.

A hut trip or any variation of being in the middle of nowhere with a few good friends has become a new hobby. summer/winter, colorado/wisconsin, boys/girls... it does not matter, much fun will be had. I cannot wait for future trips into the wilderness!

Brothers

2008-02-29T20:41:00.000-08:00

Another visitor --> my brother Tom!

I knew his visit would be everything other than usual. we had so much fun together and time flew by between the boarding, spur of the moment trip to beaver creek, jumping off the roof into massive amounts of snow, aspen hockey games, beer, tubing/sliding/mattressing down buttermilk mtn., and poaching the hot tub at the molly gibson.

tom & JP showing off the massive amounts of snow and walking back from the hot tub... or 'hot tube' as the german liked to call it JP's superman pose i go for distance
tom flips

our friends kyle, val, and mollie (sp) made the trip up to aspen from denver to play for the evening+night and then head back the next day and ski at beaver creek-hence the random trip for tom and I. we grabbed some beverages to enjoy during the hockey game and then headed to Bentley's for some delicious burgers and other selections.

buttermilk adventure night pre-trip photo

Davimal & Jenimal

2008-02-01T18:19:00.001-08:00

2 of my wonderful friends, Dave and Jen, arrived in aspen for a 4 day visit. We created many memories in college... and as expected in Aspen. It was great being able to hang out like nothing has changed. I will miss you both until next time.

eating at the Cantina

skiing at highlands... they were able to experience ~6" of powder
dave
myself
jen
I drove them around and showed them a few sites in the area. this giant open field of snow was just yelling at us to jump in. so much powder=so soft landing and snow in every crevasse of your clothing.

Jen climbs 'Bob's Mountain elevation 15 ft.'

Whistler Birthday

2008-01-31T21:39:00.000-08:00

i managed to get some time off from the bellman life of pleasing guests and headed up to Whistler/Blackcomb in the British Columbia of Canada. This was to be my birthday trip, a trip to visit my favorite girl -Andrea- along with many other great friends, and my first time out of the country we like to call the United States. A big trip for me, and all done in 4 days +.

we all had much fun. Arrived in Seattle in the afternoon and headed straight from the airport to Whistler. With a little bit of traffic and a boarder crossing we made it there that night to crack a celebrational beer. Woke up the next morning to eat a wonderful family style breakfast and head out onto the mountain. It snowed a bit that night and kept snowing most of the morning, which made for great snow, but horrible visibility. could barely see 5 ft. in front of you at times. we all pushed through the rough conditions until it cleared up for a few more hours of skiing/boarding in the beautiful funshine. and of course we had to get some post skiing aka apres beers in the village.

back to the condo for some relaxation via hot tub and homemade dinner. sidestory, the hot tub is where i lost my fleece, or rather where someone stole my fleece. i left it there, or think i did, overnight and when i returned in the am to retrieve it..... nothing! end sidestory. we ate like kings this trip. chili, cornbread, and a tortolini artichoke concoction that night. then a little bit of apples to apples before a few decided to crash and call it a night while others stayed up and carped the diem.

and then... Blackcomb Mt. the next day! a few of us decided to ski today and a few did not. those of us who did had to brave the cold, ~10 degrees F. Sunny all day and very fun. unfortunately we did have to head back down to seattle after skiing nearly another full day. my time in Canada was over, for now. on the drive back south, 7 out of our crew of 11 stopped in Bellingham, WA from some dinner at the Boundary Bay Brewery, yum.

and then there is my sick time spent in seattle. little did i know that a little cough i had all weekend would turn into a much worse cough, slight fever, runny nose, and fatigue. just in time for my flight back to aspen. Andrea took me to the airport to find out that my flight had been delayed and thus i was going to miss my connection in Denver. United put me on a flight the following morning. This allowed andrea and I to hang out for one more day. since my illness would not allow for much, we decided to take a stroll around her local neighborhoods and parks. perfect timing for the sunset. then some delicious soup and OJ to battle my painful throat, thanks for all your help andrea!