Working remotely certainly has its advantages and I love the ability to sit in the comfort of my own home doing work I’m passionate about. That being said, I think it’s equally important to spend time together in meat space. There really is nothing like looking across the table at your co-workers while you try to flush out new ideas, make important decisions, or just share a meal. Not to mention, Washington is beautiful this time of the year.

The “JB Sprint 2019” got kicked off early Monday morning with the team arriving at the studio bright and early. Angela even brought us some amazing cake donuts so everyone could get their sugar fix. With mouths full of tasty donuts we went over our plan for the day, and intentions for the week. Without spilling the beans, we covered a lot in our short time together. Since you will all be seeing the results of our JB Sprint efforts filtering through the feeds soon, I’ll focus more here on the team-building time we spent together. In brief - our adventures were memorable!

First up, we hitched a ride on the ferry to Friday Harbor located on San Juan Island. Like most teams we have a weekly meeting - Mondays for us - but this Monday's meeting was a little different. This was our first time to have the entire team physically together during a meeting, which is awesome in itself, and the scenic backdrop made that experience even better.

After about an hour we pulled into Friday Harbor, disembarked, and walked over to the Cask & Schooner for lunch. While I can’t say it was a “traditional” English pub (we have experts among us!), it certainly seemed the part. Once we had all looked over the menu it was pretty obvious that the majority of us were going to have Fish and Chips (thick cut Fries, not Potato Chips). I personally thought the food was amazing, despite the service. After we finished up with lunch we walked down to the pier, took a few photos, had a few laughs, and waited on the ferry to arrive. Once back at the studio we wrapped up a few things then called it a day - a great first day together.

Our next outing would be Wednesday evening to Diablo Lake, a man-made lake in the North Cascade mountains. It was dark when we arrived, perfect to watch the Perseid meteor shower above us. A few of us managed to catch the meteor shower before the moon came out in full, and full it certainly was. In an area with zero light pollution the full moon was really incredibly striking, casting visible shadows in what should have been complete darkness. Here are some of Alex’s photos from the overlook. Once the moon rose we paired off and started doing some long exposure photography. This is where I basically lost myself for the rest of the evening, and after several wonderfully creative hours, it was time to pack up and head back to the hotel for a night's rest.

Our final outing would be on Friday, with the group splitting up a little. Angela took a group of us to visit the Big Four Ice Caves. This place was incredibly beautiful, and after a mile-long trek through the Washington forest we emerged right in front of the ice cave - basically Mother Nature’s air conditioning unit. I would say it was 2-3 degrees cooler standing directly in front of the cave entrance. While tempting, you’re encouraged not to go inside the ice caves; it has been known to have ice chunks break off, fall and crush people. Luckily Alex brought his drone to do the dangerous work of navigating within the ice cave, and gave us views we might not have otherwise seen. Check out his awesome drone footage:

Those who didn't join for the ice cave adventure were either recording in studio, or participating in our very own JB flash mob - a real social treat in spreading happiness. We may have Rick-rolled an entire grocery/department store..

Before long it was time to head back to the studio and record the final Friday Stream. While it was kind of sad to see the Friday Stream end, there really couldn’t have been a better send off. With everyone in the studio together for the first time, it was a great way to end the grand experiment that was the Friday Stream. After the show we tossed some meat (and veggies!) on the grill and finished out the evening sharing a feast and some great conversation.

Saturday morning came early, which meant it was time for the JB Sprint to start winding down. Joe left early that morning, followed by Ell shortly thereafter. For me that’s when it all started to sink in.. I knew the Sprint was coming to an end but I didn’t expect for it to happen so seemingly quickly. The rest of us took off to the Junk Yard to meet up with Chris, share a meal, and put the drones in the sky once more. As the daylight began to fade it was time for us to head back to the hotel one last time, pack up, and get a few hours of rest.

With Sunday here it was time for Alex and I to head back to the airport to begin our trips home. After getting through TSA we hung out in the lounge for a while just reflecting on the week. One thing was obvious, neither of us wanted to leave, and we both agreed that if we had another week together we could have accomplished even more. I think you really gain something by being together in the same physical place. Conversations and ideas seem to flow so much better when you’re in person, there's just nothing quite like it.

This was our very first “Sprint” together as a team, and I feel like we accomplished a lot. Some of these accomplishments weren’t even planned, and just organically grew out of us all being together in one place. I really cherish these moments I got to spend with my team, and I walk away from the Sprint with a new level of respect for each of them the more time we spend together. Within the next few weeks we’ll have a new show out in the wild, and I think it’s going to be one of the best shows Jupiter Broadcasting has ever created. A show I hope everyone will enjoy. Stay tuned..

For now, a few more photographs from our JB Sprint..

And, of course, a visit to the studio wouldn't be complete without a Levi..