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Long Shadows of Butte, MT - After a long St. Patrick's Day in the historic mining town of Butte, the sun took it's time to set, casting shadows that went for blocks. In the distance, note the crowd of people still making the best of a great excuse to be out in the streets with an open container.
Your source for BuiltTour.com video clips.
Sunrise over the plains of South Dakota - off of I-90 in the middle of South Dakota, somewhere near the border of the Central/Mountain time-zones it's about as open, dark, and quiet as you could imagine. If it weren't for the passing big-rig every 10 minutes or so, you'd think you'd have stepped into a time-warp. Here is shot from a sunrise we were fortunate enough to catch.
Every so often it becomes necessary to say thank you to those that we cherish and those that are responsible for our safety. Today it's Jesse Raye's turn. On this beloved day Jesse Raye turned her 60,000th mile. This means that she has carried the Built Tour team safely from their start at 13,000 miles to their current standing at 60,000 miles and counting. For those of us who are not inclined in the ways of math and assumptions, Jesse Raye has carried the Built Tour team over 47,0000 miles in less than a year. Amazing. Thank you for the great times Jesse Raye. Happy Birthday.
Baxter and Molly are go-anywhere do-anything people. Their recent adventures include ice climbing, skiing, yurt-camping, 12-hour races, 50 mile rides, climbs up Rainier, Baldy, Olympus, trips to Jackson, Nepal, and many other places... not to mention they were married in 2006 as well! What a year.
How do you top that? How about an Everest summit attempt in 2007!
Baxter and Molly personify the adventurous spirit that lies within us all and the world truly is their 
playground. Check out their website (chasethefun.com - allow a minute to load.... it's worth it) and also keep up with updates from Baxter's Everest attempt on his blog at - ctfinnepal.blogspot.com.
This amazing couple will make a great addition to a solid MK ambassador line-up....
We'll keep you posted on the Everest Trip as well, so check back. Currently looking for a late May summit.
...so that must mean that 490 pictures are worth 490,000 words. Well, maybe not; but in any case be sure to check in at our flickr.com site where we post tons of the pics that don't make it to the blog. Amazing places and amazing pics. PLUS, new map feature let's you see exactly where the pictures were taken.
Most recent galleries worth checking out:
The Badlands
Mt. Rushmore
Big Sky
National Motorcycle Museum
Congrats to the Land Rover/Canndondale team who had a great weekend of racing in Sanford, NC at the Brick City Fat Tire Festival Cross
Country Race. The team took top honors with the Pro win and placed 4 in the top 10. Team member Jon Hamblin (pictured) took home the win after pusing to the front with two laps to go.
For anyone that does NOT know what a cross country race is, it's the grueling hybrid between long-distance cycling (like Lance Armstrong) and those crazy guys at the X-games, jumping over logs and off cliffs catching some wicked air in the process.
How does MK fit into this mix? Team Land Rover/Cannondale wears MK in their time off from the race course. This marks the first of several events coming up for the team this season and we wish them good luck in the remaing races.... hopefully much more successful news to post.
correction to previous post, brought to you by our friend Shannon.
All of the useless useful stuff that gets tossed your way isn't quite a dichotomous definition for the word schwag, but rather a clever acronym standing for the words "stuff we all get."
wow, where were the editors on that one?!?
The name itself sets a pretty ominous stage 
for what you'd expect to find at Badlands National Park in the lower west corner of South Dakota, and before the age of convenience, safety, sanitation, and large-scale search parties it was surely one of the most treacherous places to have to navigate through or live next to. But the 'Bad'-lands are really just another amazing natural occurrence and unique qualities of the good ol' USA.
... the old Land Rover is quickly approaching 63,000 miles, which means that in the last year (May 2006), it's driven more than 50,000 miles of wide-open road.
Question: How many miles of paved road in the US?
Answer: about 4,000,000
50,000 is 1% of 4,000,000 (actually, 1.25%, but who's really counting...) making it the longest 1% ever.
Even the most rock solid of things need changing every now and then. SO, the profile picture for the builttour.com page has changed for the first time since it's conception. Enjoy.
Pic info:
What? MK builttour.com sticker on Land Rover window
Where? the Bronx, NYC
When? July 2006
Who? Pic taken by the great Nahum Navas
Why? ...it's our job.
Kyle, 18, is a competitive rock climber that hails from the great state of Colorado. MKs newest, and youngest ambassador recently competed in a USA comp out in Los Alamos, NM placing 1st in his category and 1st overall. Well done, Kyle... first person on record to win a comp in a pair of MKs!
Check out more about Kyle on his Myspace page - HERE.
Apparently they not only stop fires, respond to emergencies, and save lives, in Anamosa, IA the firefighting squad also fights dragons! In all seriousness though, you guys are heroes, thanks.
Buddy, cool as he is, has been a huge burden in trying to always remember to get his bed, food, bowl, bone, leash, treats, toys, etc in every single place the Built Tour has been. Solution: Granite Gear's Ruff Rider dog pack. Now, the Buddy is a self-contained hauling unit. And it's about time. The jury is still out as to whether he actually likes it, but he really doesn't have a choice. He seems okay with the whole thing though.
Next? doggy MKs so he can really feel like a part of the team.
The question then becomes, how does Vibram launch a successful shoe/footwear line without getting in the way of their major clients?
Answer: Five Fingers.
You were born barefoot.
FiveFingers encourages you to walk that way.
The physical benefits of wearing these things are believable (i think), however the big setback is looking like a complete creeper in them (and having people glare at you). But, I suppose that at one point high-tops were pretty creepy looking too. And who would have thought that Crocs would have sold a billion dollars in strange looking sandals? And what about classy, rugged, comfortable khakis?
So, Vibram: completely lost your mind? OR geniuses as the front of a massive curve? Only time will tell. Best of luck!
A fact of life from growing up American is knocking back a can of frosty Root Beer on a hot summer's day. How many times, though, have you asked yourself exactly what is root beer? AND, bonus question: what do the initials A & W stand for?
Answer 1: root beer is... follow the link for a complete breakdown and historical context of this great soft drink.
Answer 2: 'A & W' stands for the founders of the drink, Roy ALLEN and Frank WRIGHT. (that is so much less exciting that ever imagined, sorry. The question was WAY better before the answer was known)
Supposedly soft drinks are not healthy for you and are often criticized by athletes and hardcore outdoor enthusiasts... but in this case, the nostalgia of Root Beer and the mystic behind the many quality rootbeer brands takes precedent (IBC, Barq's, Dad's, A&W, etc). Next time: health benefits of anti-oxidants (or other relevant 'healthy' information) and why your next pair of pants could make you a better person!
IF you went to our blog today at 4:42 PM (unless you are my mom)... congrats, you were the official 10,000th viewer of the Mountain Khakis Built for the Mountain Life tour blog (say that five times fast). Anyway, send us an email at mountainkhakis@gmail.com to claim your prize (unless you are my mom). No offense to the mom, but surely she accounts for over 25% of the total page views.... so thanks, mom. And thanks to the other 7,500 people that checked it out too. Now if we can multiply that figure by a couple of tens we'll have a legitimate online community going here.
But seriously, thanks for keeping up (ie, putting up) with us and our amazing (ie, boring) adventures.
Schwag: (Shoe – wag) a form of marketing paraphernalia used
by manufacturers to conveniently and effectively promote their brand and/or
product. Typically, schwag ends up in
the closet, in the giveaway bin, or even in the trash because let’s face it,
who really wants all this crap with corporate 
names on it anyway (besides the lovely floorstaff at your average outdoor shop)?
Thanks to
our friends at Paddler Magazine who unloaded on us some schwag we can really
use… and appreciate (heavy duty tie-downs). WAY better than a
pile of Coleman mini-lantern key chains, or plastic caribiners that wouldn’t hold sh%@. Cheers, guys, we hope you liked the shirts!
**NOTE: Tshirts, hats, lighters, shotglasses, mugs, throwing knives.... Schwag that are welcomed most of the time.
***Other common use of word Schwag.
25,000 of the nicest people speaking in Midwestern/Canadian
accents descend upon the Alliant Energy
Center for Rutabaga’s annual fest known widely as Canoecopia. Many come to share in the love of paddling –
purchasing gear, boats, guided trips, or listening to renowned speakers – while
many just come for the great sales you can’t find anywhere else. Wisconsinites may possibly be the nicest,
most unobtrusive people in the US,
and believe you-me, there are some people that emerge from the farthest
stretches of reality, but they come with a friendly smile and, often, an
interesting story. Check out a great timelapse photo album of this year's show HERE!
On the road again and ret-set ready to take the Northwest by storm. For a complete listing of where we'll be and when, check out the TravBuddy profile.
Unbelievable. Taking your love of snow and the outdoors to new heights.
LEFT - Temp = 35 below. Talk about getting cold feet!
BELOW - Six minutes under the ice in the North Pole... not human.
In case you missed it the first time...
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