Long lost Memorial Day camping pictures...

It was another rainy Memorial Day weekend this year, what a shocker eh? But what fun is it to sit at home dreaming of sunshine? So I went camping with Tanley and Jed... and his brother and some friends.




This was their "happy faces".




Tan and Jed call these timber tigers... Fierce.





This little guy was trying to stow away in my car in the morning... I'd be searching for dry ground too after all that rain. He was about to drown.




Super cute snail... if snails can be cute. I for one, am kinda grossed out by their slime trails.




Tan, Jed, and I decided not to brave the rain in our tents and we all slept in our cars. Noogie slept in the front seat of their car... Talk about cozy.






So in love after all these years... well, actually it's only been one year. Tan and Jed.




This is Fish Creek up off the Lochsa. Super nice trail heading up the crick.




And no, I'm not balding... That's the sun reflecting off my super shiny hair. I do have a normal hairline.




Jed is the badest biker I know... This is his second time down this stretch. The first time the bike road him down the hill... This time he dominated. Quick learner.

From Plywood to Herb Garden...

I'm trying my hand at a new craft...

This here is a beginner's beading kit I picked up at GoodWill. I thought the Appaloosa Museum could make their own kit to sell at the gift shop... So I gave it a try to see how hard it actually is to do beading. It's not hard, but it doesn't help to have pre-arthritic hands. I'm not sure what age of kids this would be appropriate for... Maybe 14+ year olds?

Mundy's the Amazing!

So here's a shot of the pea pod sitting at the shop after her window's got installed. How exciting!!! I'm just picking her up today to take her home and polish her up this week... Progress... Oh! and to the left edge of the picture you can see the perfect back door that Dave Mundy made for me... Super cool.

Oh Jasper how sweet thou art...

Let me introduce you to Jasper Sconce, the newest member of Retro Espresso. After being abandoned in Texas, his owners decided to post him on Craigslist for a new home. Thankfully, we found him.

He will be lighting the way to the front door for the baristas in the early mornings of winter when the sun isn't up yet... and in the evenings when the sun goes down early. We look forward to a long and faithful relationship.

My Chai - Coming soon to Retro Espresso!

Just so you all know, this is the best chai on the planet... except for maybe in India, but who's willing to drive that far for a cup?

I first found this delicious steaming organic nectar in Bend, Oregon. I spent the summer living with my best friend Tanley, working a graphic design internship, and a part time job at a coffee house, that served this chai. I was hooked from that day forward.

A few years later I found myself working a season down in Antarctica. While down there I bumped into a fellow chai lover (Brody you know I'm talking about you!), and told him all about it. And then low and behold guess what showed up in the mail for a Christmas present from my friend? Yup, you guess it, a well packaged bottle of My Chai. Holy smokes, that was the best present someone could get down on the coldest continent of the earth.

So now, present day, it's my turn to do the ordering! Finally!!! I've been waiting to open this espresso stand for years...

You're all gonna love this stuff.

Sugar's got a new floor!

So the preservation of the old floor became an unrealistic dream... So with the help of my parent's, we've installed a fresh subfloor and I've ordered some fancy pants linoleum to lay down before the cabinets go in. It's going to take a couple weeks for it to come into Moscow... But here's a sample of what it looks like:


It's called Herb Garden, how perfect is that???