As I wrap up another month in the life of DangerGirl, I realize that there are just too many things going on in the world and in my life to just pick one topic, so this post is going to be a jumbled mess of Winter activities. You have been forewarned 🙂
Without further ado, here’s what’s been happening.
THE GOOD
The good things that happened in February 2018 are many, and for that I am super thankful. There are months that pass us by where the heavy news and harsh happenings are the only adventures on the horizon.
But here……….
I GOT TO PUSH THE SNOW BUTTON!
Sorry for shouting. 🙂 My Jeep Renegade (that I super love), is equipped with what I like to call “Lady 4 Wheel Drive”. There is an “Auto” setting, which I always leave on, just in case something happens and my Jeep wants to take over wheel control.
There is also a spinny knob, with three settings “Mud, Sand and (my personal favorite) Snow”, those choices are what make it a Lady 4 Wheel Drive.
There are no options that you see on an ordinary 4 x 4, there is no 4 High and 4 Low for me.
Last week we had a freak snow storm and woke up to just over four inches on the road near our house. I am pleased to report that upon engaging the Snow Button I had no difficulty driving around town, there were no slips, slides or braking mishaps. It was as if there were no ice and snow anywhere.
I would like to relay to the Jeep folks (shout out to Tacoma Dodge as well), that I am extraordinarily happy with my purchase of the Jeep Renegade and my snow button adventure absolutely cements that deal. Kudos to both. The fancy orange links above will take you out to their respective websites for your research and shopping needs.
Then we went to…….
TAHUYA STATE FOREST!
Fun, fun, fun. The Tahuya State Forest Fores also receives high marks in February.
Those of you that know me, or that follow this blog, know that we are prone to adventures. One of our favorite kind of adventures is 4 Wheeling. For the past few years we have been of the Jeeper set, primarily running amuck in the Elbe Hills.
Like all activities, once you have conquered the world (we haven’t), you move onward and upward!
As you may have read before (and if you haven’t click here), My Rooster is the proud new owner of a CanAm Maverick SRX Turbo. And if you don’t know the language, it’s a high powered, super well built, very expensive side by side off highway vehicle (OHV). That’s right, it’s so fancy, it has it’s own acronym.
Though we were still welcomed in the RZR community….. there aren’t many Maverick’s out there, we only saw one other Maverick all day at Tahuya. You say it just like you read it.. Ta-who–ya! It’s so fun!
Anyway….. Last weekend we went to Tahuya on a 4×4 adventure with our wheeler friends, who are also biker friends, boater friends and just all around friends. I guess we run with folks who like vehicles, LOL.
We set out with an eclectic group of vehicles. A late 70’s Jeep (Maury), an early 90’s Toyota Pathfinder (Johnny), a newer Polaris RZR (Michelle and Greg) and the new Maverick (us). All of the vehicles did well. There are so many 4 x 4 trails at Tahuya that we could spend weeks out there. It was a challenging environment for the Jeep and the Pathfinder, both of which made it through the day unscathed and without the use of the winches, although we saw several groups with both under their belts that day.
The RZR and the Maverick did extraordinarily well. The both proved to be agile and quick through ice, turns, mud and challenging terrain. They both also proved to be much more adept at handling things faster. Halfway through the day we lost both of the regular vehicles, they couldn’t go nearly as fast. But as Michelle so gracefully said “at least they have each other”.
Tahuya also boasts a myriad of dirt bike and quad trails. I highly recommend this place for anyone that likes to go “Wheeling”. I bet we don’t see Elbe Hills ORV park for the remainder of the year. There is also camping available and it is very close to Belfair for any supplies needed or just some time out of the woods.
The one other thing I would like to mention, because it was super confusing to me, was that about 40% of the vehicles we saw at Tahuya were brand new jeeps and trucks. Why anyone would want to take their brand new street vehicle Wheeling is beyond me.
White Pass Ski Resort
While I have escaped the dreaded downhill skiing so far this year, there is much to be said about White Pass Ski Resort. It’s one of the forgotten resorts in our state, which usually means it’s not so crowded and the prices are a little lower, a bonus for anyone looking to ski.
We spent the weekend out at White Pass earlier this month doing one of our favorite activities. We went winter camping. Before you ask me, yes, we have reached the age where camping takes place in an RV. We have tents if you need a place to sleep, but we sleep in our bedroom in our little mobile one bedroom apartment. 🙂
At White Pass there is a dedicated parking lot for RV’s and campers. Its free to use. The people that stay in Lot C are affectionately referred to as “White Pass Trailer Trash“. Some of the best people you will ever meet are there.
I have promised to take some professional lessons this year and try to get up into the hills with My Rooster, and Matt and April (our skiing and motorcycle partners in crime), but I have managed to escape the threat so far.
My Rooster has gone on several day ski trips. We have spent just one weekend up at White Pass this year so far, the snow hasn’t really been ideal. There was a shortage of snow at first, then it was incredibly icy. Things are looking up now, there’s lots of fresh powder.
All I know is that I am ever so happy with snow shoeing, and at the White Pass Nordic Center, across the street from the main resort, there are miles upon miles of groomed Snow Shoe trails. There isn’t anything like the peace you feel out there, virtually alone with your thoughts, not barreling along at 110 miles an hour out of control (maybe that’s just me). And trust me it isn’t that cold when you are marching around.
2018 Winter Olympics
Oh how I love the Olympics! I am very much partial to the Summer Games, but I will absolutely watch the Winter games anytime. I am so proud of our athletes this year. 23 medals is nothing to sneeze at, especially since historically we don’t do that great in the Winter Olympics. We have watched a lot of it!
I am also completely tickled about the Russian Athletes being banned from the Olympics for state sponsored doping. It’s about time they got caught and punished.
As you likely know, athletes that could prove that they have not tested positive for doping in the past and did not test positive for doping in the present were allowed to participate under the Olympic flag as the Olympic Athletes of Russia.
Two Russian athletes were caught and charged with doping. I am super tickled that one of the two athletes was a Curler…… LOL.
Dumbass
In General
We are healthier since both of us are back in the gym several times a week, working on wealthy on a daily (weekday-ly) basis, and hoping against all hope that we will one day be wise 🙂
THe bad!
spammers
I have had an ever increasing amount of “user” registration, which is different from “subscriber” registration. I think people are trying to hack my site, to what end I don’t know.
I have also had a huge upsurge in Spam comments. You would think they would figure out that they never get on my page because I have my site set up so that all comments have to be approved by me prior to them appearing. It’s really irritating though to go through 150 comments each week, most of which are for auto insurance and payday loans 🙁
Winter
I’m very tired of being cold. Winter can suck it. I’m ready to start ripping up my garden, planting my greenhouse and generally getting to work on my outside beautification for 2018.
We are blessed that there really isn’t much negative to report.
The Ugly!
LOL! But really though, even our semi delusional leader seems to be doing a little better these days. Maybe he is smarter than he has been portraying himself over the past year. Or maybe someone just finally got him to listen and they got a hold and review button installed on his twitter account. 🙂