Varvel Family: January Adventures

Sunday, February 2, 2025

January Adventures

We were still a little bit in recovery mode at the beginning of January, but we started feeling a lot better, and started easing our way back into things. We had a very cold month, but it felt good to get outside and start running again.

Bonehead:

We always kick off the year with the Bonehead run on New Year's Day. A group of like minded crazies gather to run up Sunnyside toward Bone in the frigid temperatures. Mark and I only did a 10K this year, but it felt good! It was nice to meet up with the group again!

Bonehead

Cress Creek:

I have wonderful friends that help encourage me to get out and get some miles done. I did 8.5 miles around the Cress Creek area with these lovely ladies.

Ashlee-Chris-Rhonda-Tricia

Palisades:

Ashlee organized a group run up Palisades. We had a beautiful run up there while a big storm was raging in town. Everything was all frosty and looked so pretty!

frosty trees and bushes lined the whole trail.

The lower lake.

We saw a bull moose right past the bridge at the lower lake. Good thing we weren't going any farther, because he would have been tough to get by.

I love this trail in the winter so much!

Jenn got a picture of Me, Mark, and Steph running along the river.

My people!

I can't even begin to count the number of snow angels I've made on this trail over the years. 😁

Ta-da!

We saw two more moose on the way back down. It looked like a calendar scene!

The Butte:

I did an evening run with Ashlee and Ashley at the Butte. These ladies are out of my league right now, so my goal was just to keep them in my sights. I mostly did, but it kicked my butt! Running with them should whip my butt right back into shape.

We had lots of fun adventures in Florida too, but I put those in my vacation blog post.

Yeti Spaghetti:

We got back from Florida just in time to host the Yeti Spaghetti event at our barn. They switched it from Soda Springs this year, and it was nice to have it a lot closer. We had an awesome turn out! We ran up Little Kelly's, and then met back at our barn for a pot luck. It was so nice to meet in a heated space to eat this year, since we started in negative temperatures, and ended with low single digits. Some people had their families meet us at the barn when we were done running so the spouses and kiddos could see the animals. All the critters loved the attention, and Opal made her debut at the photo booth. My running friends were the trial run to see how the cow booth would go. We learned some things, made some good changes, and got Opal some great social practice in the process.

The Yeti Spaghetti crew!

It was a frigid, but beautiful day.

The after run gathering.

I sure love this running community of ours.

Jenn and Opal.

Rhonda and Opal.

Chris and Opal.

Jeff and Jill with Opal.

Women's Run:

I haven't been to a women's run in a few months, and I've missed them dearly. I finally made it back to one, and I had a great time. Nora set up a fun circuit for us at Freeman Park. It even included a station where we sled down the big hill, and ran back up. So stinking fun! Hopefully I'll start being able to go regularly again.

Man, I missed these ladies!

Snowshoe: Cold Springs

Joyce and I have tried for a few snowshoe outings this winter, but they have all been canceled due to weather. We finally got to go on one! We knew it was going to be a clear sky day, so we did Cold Springs. It was my third time snowshoeing this trail, and the first time we finally had clear skies and a beautiful Teton view! It was such a gorgeous day! The temperature was mild, the sun was shining, and the snow was sparkling. I loved it all! I met Joyce at the Broulims in Driggs, and when I pulled up, she was coming out of the store with a sled. She rolled it up, stuffed it in her pack, and carried it all the whole way so we could sled back down some of the hill. Stay tuned for what happened. 😂