Silver City is a small mountain town in Southeastern New Mexico. We had heard people saying that it is like Taos before it was "discovered". Of course, there is a bike shop in Silver City, and it's called Gila Hike & Bike. We stopped in to inquire about the mountain bike trails and ask where we could park our truck camper for the night. Earlier in the year, Silver City hosted a "Downhill" mountain bike rice. So, we were wanting to find someone who might want to do a "shuttle" up the mountain with us so we could sample the "DH" trails. A guy named Rohan said he might be able to get off work and shuttle with us the next day, but it didn't work out for him(and us). Next time!
The owner of the bike shop pointed us in the direction of the Gomez Peak trail for some cross-country riding, and he said we could park our camper overnight at the trailhead. There was a good bit of climbing and some "hike-a-bike" near the top due to the rocky terrain. But, once we got to the top it was all downhill from there! Cactus lined the trail and the top section was very "chunky" with one 4 foot drop thrown in for good measure.
The camping was in the tall pines just off of a dirt, forest service road. The temps got below freezing at night so, we didn't stay longer. Elevation was around 7,000 ft! Good thing we had recently been hiking and biking in Colorado. Natalie and I liked Silver City, but it's a little too small to consider it for a permanent location.
Cheers,
Trey
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
Oh happy day.
Hope that everyone had a great turkey day. Trey and I didn’t do much. I could have tried to bake a turkey in our convection oven but, why? So, I made Trey a turkey sandwich and me a turkey tostada. It was delish but I sure did miss the friends and fam. It’s just not the same.
I love how the TV channels are bombarded with special holiday shows. I got to watch Elf with Will Ferrell and Ice-skating. We are staying in Tucson at a RV camp. We plan to leave today and head toward the direction of Phoenix
Trey and I have been biking a lot and the only thing I can’t report is that the DH trails around here aren’t really DH because you have to UH to get to the DH. So, in my opinion isn’t that XC?
We hooked up with some locals and planned to shuttle a “DH” trail called La Milagrosa. Trey, rode his Demo 8. (Oops) All I have to say is he is the man, because we peddled a lot! And he had to stand and peddle the whole freaking time. (And he is now wondering why his knee has been hurting the last few days) Little did we know that the plan was to hook two other trails in before La Milagrosa. The only saving grace was the halfway point being in the camp area of where we dropped the camper. So, we could eat something. I’m pretty sure I would have had a total meltdown had it not been for that short little break. Some of you may be wondering if Trey traded out his Demo for the Ibis? To answer your question, no. We hadn’t yet made it to La Milagrosa. (The “DH” trail) So he stuck it out. It was a cool trail but would have been better lived with an all-mountain bike.
Hope everyone is well, thanks for reading and until next time. Hasta luego.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Free ride lives in Santa Fe
We are trying to get caught up on some of the videos that we have taken, so excuse the misplaced order of this one. Here is Trey hitting the trails in Santa Fe. Enjoy!
Friday, November 11, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
I like it here.
…So, we went to Texas New Mexico El Paso Texas New Mexico Rock City Silver City
Joey is feeling better by the way; poo is back to normal. Fortunately, the wind storm kept Joey from getting too skunked that night. He smells but not as bad as the first time he was skunked in Hoodriver , OR
Thanks again to our followers. It’s nice to know people care and are following the blog. I want to say hello to all the people we have met along the way. There are some really cool people out there doing the same thing we are. (They may be older and retired but they all say the same thing too us. “Do it while you are young.”)
Here are a few shots from Rock City
(Our connection is too slow; I will try and post pics when I post the videos…)
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Yep
We gave Joey a bath this morning with baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. Once it is applied you have to wait 10minutes. I set the timer on my phone…I also left my phone on the back of the camper. It wasn’t until we were well on our way to El Paso , Tx
Oh-boy...
We have been up for most of the night. The Southwest has been getting hammered with wind storms. Trey and I have given up on chasing good weather as the bad weather apparently has a leg up and over us.
It’s cool with me, I like the dramatic effects to our photographs, and I like that we have great stories to share with all of you. Here is a ditty from last night.
We knew from weather.com that we were in for another wind storm. Third night in a row. Joey has been sick and hasn’t eaten for two days. We think it could be from the wind shaking the camper all around, or he ate something gross yet again. Last night as Trey and I were trying to sleep, Joey started panting and shaking. Trey and I argued about the situation for a fruitless hot minute. We realized that arguing was a waste of time as always. Trey let him outside and the truth came out… literally. As Joey was expressing himself in a fowl kind of way, he saw something off in the distance, and his cute little doggy instincts kicked in as he was in mid- action. He took off… full sprint after something special in the dark. Then, Joey reappeared and flopped on the ground rubbing his face. Once again our sweet little booger had been skunked. Did I mention it is with 50mph wind gusts? Poor Joey got to sleep outside.
We had plans today…
Let me back track and start from the beginning…
Trey and I headed to Southern New Mexico in search of Carlsbad Caverns . We left White Sands and headed Southeast, Joey started not feeling well that night after our hike through the sands. Generally, we let Joey run around and be a dog…that day was no different.
The drive from White Sands to Carlsbad Caverns was only about 4hours but there is really nothing to see along the way. So, the drive is long. Once you get across the state its pretty flat, dry, and uninteresting. We started wondering if Carlsbad
We made it there gratefully but a little too late to see the caverns, so we set up camp and planned to go the next day (Saturday) and reserved a spot with a guide-only tour for Sunday. (The one we missed.L) (Today) (The one we should be doing right now.) Trey is currently at the store buying de-skunking stuff. Good times. Joey is still currently outside. (Sick and stinky)
Yesterday was amazing however. The caverns did not let us down and are completely worth the trip despite all that is going on right now. We are upset about missing the guided tour today but Joey, being our only son, must come first. We could stay another day and continue to explore the caves but more wind storms are to come tonight so we are going to continue South and head into Texas Texas
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Ojito Wilderness.
…after we left Santa Fe , NM
Santa Fe, NM
Hello people! We have left Denver New Mexico Santa Fe
Dominican Republic Family Vacation 2011 "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
Thinking of the Dominican Republic, what comes to mind are idyllic beaches, waterfalls, and lush tropical forests. It's true...the Dominican Republic does have all of that, and we did find some of it. But, getting there was the hard part. Our flight arrived at the airport near Santo Domingo. Natalie and I made it through customs and immigration without a problem, only to find out that my parent's flight was delayed a couple of hours. We had planned to meet them at the rental car desk and get on the road before dark. Our Villa on the Samana Peninsula was a 2 1/2 drive away and we had heard about the notoriously bad road/driving conditions. Darkness would only serve to make things worse.
My parents flight arrived and we loaded up the Ford Explorer with luggage as darkness fell. Stopping for gas, we asked the attendant for directions to the new 'autopisto-grande' that would quickly get us to the other side of the island where our Villa awaited. Did I mention that none of us speak Spainish...at all. The only thing I was somewhat sure of is that we needed to take a right turn somewhere toward the Samana Peninsula. And, of course, we passed right by it. No worries, we just needed to take the next exit off the highway. Turn around and head back to get on the correct road. 6 miles later, we were still on the wrong highway with no exit in sight. I felt like the "Grizwalds" from "Family Vacation in London" when they got stuck in the 'roundabout'. Finally, we found an exit and headed back towards the highway we wanted, only to discover that we needed to go down what looked like a drainage ditch into the ocean. Scary! Followed by a short drive down the wrong way on a 'one-way' and we made it. A stressful start to our so-called "relaxing vacation".
The 'New' highway to Samana was straight and in fair condition. However, cars were passing me going at least 30km over the speed limit. They passed on double lines and on curves. Motorcycles and mopeds were traveling on the shoulder while the oncoming cars flashed their lights at me constantly(even though my brights were not on). Never could figure that one out. Oh, and the new highway has some toll booths on it. The last one was not operational. But, there were a half dozen men in Army fatigues waving around M-16's gesturing for us to pull over and wanting me to get out of the car to open the back door. So, at gunpoint, in the middle of nowhere, and in total darkness, I had to open up some of our luggage for...what? Not sure, but it was a frightening experience. We definitely were not getting off to a good start and not liking the Dom.Rep.
Once we exited the highway and got on the secondary roads, things didn't get much better. Road conditions made Costa Rica and Mexico look like 'Beverly Hills 90210'. Did I mention is was Saturday night too. People were all over the roads and moto's whizzing around everywhere. Life must be tough for these people as they seemed to have a 'death wish' by stepping out in front of us and cutting us off with their moto's. Adding salt to our wounds, I went down a 'one-way' for a quarter mile and was finally stopped by the federales, yelled at to turn around. Then, we got totally lost and yelled at each other out of frustration with our situation. Tired, hungry, and irritable, we finally made it to our Villa only to discover that we needed 3 guards with shotguns and steel bars on all the doors and windows for our protection at night. WTF!
Anxious to experience some of the Dom.Rep. that the brochures advertise, we headed off to 'Salto del Limon' waterfall nearby. Our plan was to get some exercise by hiking the trail for about an hour to get to the falls. The most common way to get there is by horseback. So, we decided to support the local economy and 'eco-tourism' by going along with 'equine' tour option. The horses were small and looked frail to me. We each had a horse-guide that walked beside us as we ascended the rocky trail. Not the kind of horseback riding I'm use to. We made it to the falls only to discover it was a bit of a 'circus' atmosphere with all the other touristas from the several different tour operators in the area. My sister, her boyfriend, and Natalie were first in the water while I scouted around for the right angle to get good pictures. As soon as I got into the water, Natalie led me under the falls to an alcove where it was possible to sit on a rock ledge and enjoy the experience. She told me that a local had shown her the way under the falls only to try to kiss her once they got under there. She was really freaked out by it. I asked her to show me the 'dude' so I could give him a big kiss on the lips with my fist! Luckily, he wasn't anywhere to be found because It could've been an ugly scene. The horse guides hurrried us back to descend the trail back to their camp for lunch that was included in the price of the tour. We offered the horse guides a tip when we got back to the base camp and they argued that it was not enough money(even though it was more than 15% of the cost of the tour). We felt like they were way too pushy! It was a very uncomfortable experience. So much so, that we decided to 'get the hell out of there' and skip the lunch that was included. This really put a damper on our whole day.
The next day, we decided to drive a couple of hours to the small fishing town of Las Galleras where we hired a boat to take us to Playa Rincon. It's the beach that earned "2nd best beach in the World by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine". Our boat ride was 20 minutes to one of the nicest beaches I've been to. It was totally worth the trip and I highly recommend it! Pristine, white sand with rock outcroppings and coconut palms overhanging the beach. There was one restaurant/bar at the far end of the main beach where we ordered some ice cold 'Presidente' beers. I only wish we could have stayed longer for the sunset. Finally, we had a good day!
The exchange rate for 1 US dollar is about 38 Dominican Pesos. But, we found that food, drinks, and services are not as cheap as some other countries like Mexico and Costa Rica that we've been to. There's a 16% tax on all purchases and a 10% service charge at all restaurants. However, that service charge doesn't always make it to the actual servers. So, you're expected to tip your servers regardless. So the Dom.Rep. is not without some corruption as well.
One day we drove about a half hour down the road to Playa Bonita. It was a beautiful beach to swim and lounge under the palms. I purchased four coconuts from a local guy who sliced off the tops with a machete' so we could drink the milk and he chopped up the 'meat' for us to eat. Man, it was so good! The 'meat' of the coconut was especially good. I could eat one of those everyday for sure. That satisfied my fresh coconut quest.
Our last day in Dom.Rep, we booked a tour to Parque Nationale de Los Haitises. It's across the Samana Bay by boat. Our guide spoke very good English and was very knowledgeable about the flora, fauna, geology, and indigenous people. We explored caves to see stalagtites/stalagmites and Taino indian petroglyphs and rock carvings. The Mangrove Forest was huge! It was one of the coolest parts of the tour for me. We all had a good time on this tour.
The Dominican Republic is a place I'll never forget. For good and bad reasons. If nothing else, it was a good adventure, and we'll have good stories to tell. The best part was getting together with family and spending time together in a new place.
THE END.
-Trey.
My parents flight arrived and we loaded up the Ford Explorer with luggage as darkness fell. Stopping for gas, we asked the attendant for directions to the new 'autopisto-grande' that would quickly get us to the other side of the island where our Villa awaited. Did I mention that none of us speak Spainish...at all. The only thing I was somewhat sure of is that we needed to take a right turn somewhere toward the Samana Peninsula. And, of course, we passed right by it. No worries, we just needed to take the next exit off the highway. Turn around and head back to get on the correct road. 6 miles later, we were still on the wrong highway with no exit in sight. I felt like the "Grizwalds" from "Family Vacation in London" when they got stuck in the 'roundabout'. Finally, we found an exit and headed back towards the highway we wanted, only to discover that we needed to go down what looked like a drainage ditch into the ocean. Scary! Followed by a short drive down the wrong way on a 'one-way' and we made it. A stressful start to our so-called "relaxing vacation".
The 'New' highway to Samana was straight and in fair condition. However, cars were passing me going at least 30km over the speed limit. They passed on double lines and on curves. Motorcycles and mopeds were traveling on the shoulder while the oncoming cars flashed their lights at me constantly(even though my brights were not on). Never could figure that one out. Oh, and the new highway has some toll booths on it. The last one was not operational. But, there were a half dozen men in Army fatigues waving around M-16's gesturing for us to pull over and wanting me to get out of the car to open the back door. So, at gunpoint, in the middle of nowhere, and in total darkness, I had to open up some of our luggage for...what? Not sure, but it was a frightening experience. We definitely were not getting off to a good start and not liking the Dom.Rep.
Once we exited the highway and got on the secondary roads, things didn't get much better. Road conditions made Costa Rica and Mexico look like 'Beverly Hills 90210'. Did I mention is was Saturday night too. People were all over the roads and moto's whizzing around everywhere. Life must be tough for these people as they seemed to have a 'death wish' by stepping out in front of us and cutting us off with their moto's. Adding salt to our wounds, I went down a 'one-way' for a quarter mile and was finally stopped by the federales, yelled at to turn around. Then, we got totally lost and yelled at each other out of frustration with our situation. Tired, hungry, and irritable, we finally made it to our Villa only to discover that we needed 3 guards with shotguns and steel bars on all the doors and windows for our protection at night. WTF!
Anxious to experience some of the Dom.Rep. that the brochures advertise, we headed off to 'Salto del Limon' waterfall nearby. Our plan was to get some exercise by hiking the trail for about an hour to get to the falls. The most common way to get there is by horseback. So, we decided to support the local economy and 'eco-tourism' by going along with 'equine' tour option. The horses were small and looked frail to me. We each had a horse-guide that walked beside us as we ascended the rocky trail. Not the kind of horseback riding I'm use to. We made it to the falls only to discover it was a bit of a 'circus' atmosphere with all the other touristas from the several different tour operators in the area. My sister, her boyfriend, and Natalie were first in the water while I scouted around for the right angle to get good pictures. As soon as I got into the water, Natalie led me under the falls to an alcove where it was possible to sit on a rock ledge and enjoy the experience. She told me that a local had shown her the way under the falls only to try to kiss her once they got under there. She was really freaked out by it. I asked her to show me the 'dude' so I could give him a big kiss on the lips with my fist! Luckily, he wasn't anywhere to be found because It could've been an ugly scene. The horse guides hurrried us back to descend the trail back to their camp for lunch that was included in the price of the tour. We offered the horse guides a tip when we got back to the base camp and they argued that it was not enough money(even though it was more than 15% of the cost of the tour). We felt like they were way too pushy! It was a very uncomfortable experience. So much so, that we decided to 'get the hell out of there' and skip the lunch that was included. This really put a damper on our whole day.
The next day, we decided to drive a couple of hours to the small fishing town of Las Galleras where we hired a boat to take us to Playa Rincon. It's the beach that earned "2nd best beach in the World by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine". Our boat ride was 20 minutes to one of the nicest beaches I've been to. It was totally worth the trip and I highly recommend it! Pristine, white sand with rock outcroppings and coconut palms overhanging the beach. There was one restaurant/bar at the far end of the main beach where we ordered some ice cold 'Presidente' beers. I only wish we could have stayed longer for the sunset. Finally, we had a good day!
The exchange rate for 1 US dollar is about 38 Dominican Pesos. But, we found that food, drinks, and services are not as cheap as some other countries like Mexico and Costa Rica that we've been to. There's a 16% tax on all purchases and a 10% service charge at all restaurants. However, that service charge doesn't always make it to the actual servers. So, you're expected to tip your servers regardless. So the Dom.Rep. is not without some corruption as well.
One day we drove about a half hour down the road to Playa Bonita. It was a beautiful beach to swim and lounge under the palms. I purchased four coconuts from a local guy who sliced off the tops with a machete' so we could drink the milk and he chopped up the 'meat' for us to eat. Man, it was so good! The 'meat' of the coconut was especially good. I could eat one of those everyday for sure. That satisfied my fresh coconut quest.
Our last day in Dom.Rep, we booked a tour to Parque Nationale de Los Haitises. It's across the Samana Bay by boat. Our guide spoke very good English and was very knowledgeable about the flora, fauna, geology, and indigenous people. We explored caves to see stalagtites/stalagmites and Taino indian petroglyphs and rock carvings. The Mangrove Forest was huge! It was one of the coolest parts of the tour for me. We all had a good time on this tour.
The Dominican Republic is a place I'll never forget. For good and bad reasons. If nothing else, it was a good adventure, and we'll have good stories to tell. The best part was getting together with family and spending time together in a new place.
THE END.
-Trey.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Beautiful Colorado.
We have traveled and have seen some of the best sites in the beautiful state of Colorado Colorado Dominican Republic
These photos were taken on our drive from Gunnison to Aspen.
The next three photos are from Maroon Bell's in Aspen.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Correction.
Okay, so I can’t spell. What’s new with you? Trey is the champion speller in this family and is in charge of reviewing all my posts before posting but alas I got cocky and decided my dyslexic eyes were working just fine. Trey got a kick out of my few misspelling like “throught” and “marmet.” He pretended to be drinking tea and started talking with an English accent…”Throught history and time man has…” bla bla bla. Real funny.
So from here on out, so all know, I can’t spell, its no surprise. The good news is that it will look as it should be spelled minus extra “Ts” at the end of words, not sure what that is all about. If it drives you crazy, don’t worry you’ll sleep tonight and so will I.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Spud Lake
Southern Colorado
We have been all over the southern parts of Colorado
Once again I find myself with a million photos and stories to tell and very little time. But over the next week I should get things all caught up. I will tell you we have been to Durango
Just North of Durango.
Lake at TH of Crater Lake
views from the trail
