Josh and Friends in Garmisch

My friend Josh from CO and three of his friends decided to make a stop in Garmisch before heading back to Italy for the rest of their trip. It was nice to have people my age at the house and showing people around Garmisch was fun as well so here is how their stop went and a few pictures.

Hollental Gorge

First day started with the plan that we were going to go on a relaxing bike ride around Garmisch but with one bike in need of a new tube we scrapped that plan and went on a hike that was suppose to be relaxing (sorry girls!). I miss judged how far it was up to the Hollental hutte through the gorge and it ended up being a lot longer and there were a few snow patches that my sister (wearing sandals) and I were not expecting. I think everyone loved the gorge itself but the hike got a little extensive. It was a good wake up anyways though!

The second day of their trip we walked through the haupstrasse in
the center of town checking out shops along the way and a small
farmers market that was just starting to close up as we got there.
After an hour or so on the hauptstrasse we continued over to the ski stadium to see where the Olympics were held and to hit up the luge run which is always a good time.  We kept on going into the Partenkirchen old city after the luge to see the old roman road that goes straight through the city and to check out some shops. On our way back to Garmisch I caught the train home to get my bike before heading to work leaving my sister and the group to walk into Garmisch.

At the Ski Stadium

I had work until 2400 and kept getting text messages throughout the night letting me know which bar the group was headed which was kinda scary because my sister was the one showing everyone the bars and she is not the best at directions but in the end it all worked out when we met on the hauptstrasse and headed into peaches around 1230. Three jagermeister- red bulls, a little dancing, and a creepy guy hitting on the girls and it started to be a good night! We left at closing around 3 and didn't get to sleep until quite a bit later. I don't have any pictures of this night but I do remember someone taking pictures. I'll have to get those!

The last days of their stay with us was a blur because I was always having to work and getting back to the house late. All and all I loved being able to just sit on the couch at night and talk with people who are my age and love to travel. When I get back to CO (sooner or later) I think it will be easy to connect back up with this group and feel like it was yesterday that this trip happened. I hope the rest of their trip goes great and hopefully they will come back and feel right at home here again!
-Owen

Olivia is in Garmisch!

Olivia has finally arrived in Garmisch after two very long rides in a pressurized capsule over the ocean and has arrived in Garmisch unscathed. On her first day in Garmisch I took her on a bike ride along the Loisach river where we found a place to lay down and sleep in the sun. After that we also found out that even city bike tires are burly enough to do creek crossings and that bike paths seem to go on for forever when your jet-legged from over 16 hours of travel. Good times were had and now she is asleep!
-Owen

Olivia with the Zugspitze behind

Kayaking the Loisach

I finally got out on the river with my new boat and had a great time! I met two guys at the takeout that were planning to paddle the upper Loisach and asked if I could join and they said that it would be okay. At the put in I was feeling a little tipsy in my new boat but after the first half of the river, two wet exits, and a lot of tips from the other kayakers I was feeling very good and flew through the class 4 part easier than the starting class 3 sections. It was a great day and I'm very happy with how my boat feels when on the river. I need to work on catching eddies faster and making deeper paddle strokes but that will come with time. Great day!
-Owen

The view from my boat on the Loisach

May update

May started with me getting hooked on kayaking due to a whitewater kayak course that was held here on the Loisach that I went to with Jeremy and a few other friends. After that I got a boat and all the gear for the sport which added up to a little bit of money but in the long run well worth it because after the initial purchase you don't need anything to get out on the river. Another deciding factor is that the Loisach is literally 20 minutes from my house (on a bike) so I think I will get tons of time on the water this summer!

Days after making that large purchase I decided that it would be hard for me to find another car for the price of putting a new engine in my old Subaru so I decided to drop the money to make my old car drivable again. Making the decision easier was the fact that the guy who is working on the car already has an engine that will fit into my car sitting on his lot so in a week or so I will have a car again! All and all I think these purchases are both good and well help me out in future adventures.

The car that will soon live on!

The new job is great and I like the people I'm working with and the hours couldn't be better if I had asked for them. I work 20 hours a week which is what I was working in Graf but here I work two 8 hour days and one 4 hour day instead of working 4 hours a day everyday of the week. This schedule is going to keep me free to do lots of stuff during the week and when ski season hits...you can only imagine!!

A little project that I'm working on right now is making a kids bike trailer into a bicycle trailer that I could put my kayak behind if I don't want to drive my car. I think that in the end it will become a cargo trailer for whatever we want to carry.

What I have so far

 I have seen many examples of what people have done to make these trailers great and I can't wait to see how mine turns out! Right now all I have is the frame so I'm currently searching for two 16in wheels and a hitch. After I get those two things I will have fun making it as creative as possible, maybe add some ski attachments for winter!!

-Owen