Libra²

Hearst Castle and Big Sur

2011-09-15T12:43:00.000-07:00

After packing up the vans, we left Lake Santa Margarita on a beautiful clear morning and headed up Highway 1. Through Morrow Bay and the small town of Harmony, we stopped off in Cambria for gas and supplies. This is where we would begin to experience what it was like to be a Tiger owner - especially an Astro Tiger owner. People want to know about the van, what it is, is it custom? One of my favorite things about traveling anywhere is getting to know people along the way. The Tiger is a great social tool!

I picked up some amazing day old bread, a baguette, and some granola from a little French bakery and we were on our way to Hearst Castle. I'll admit, I didn't know much about the place, but I love history and it was a highly recommended stop so I willingly volunteered to be a tourista for the day.

Hearst Castle was built by and for William Randolph Hearst with the help of his architect Julia Morgan. Hearst was a gazillionaire who loved art and as the story goes would purchase many random pieces, sometimes entire historic structures, and call Morgan up and say 'you need to incorporate this'. She must have been driven mad, but it seems their professional relationship in building the property never soured. The property was the home to many lavish Hollywood parties, and continues to be a small getaway for the Hearst family today. Hearst wanted his property to be turned into an art college after his death, but the California University system turned it down, so it was then donated to the state parks system which maintains it today.

We went on two small tours, the guest houses and the kitchen area, then roamed around the gardens and pools. What an amazing property. The Neptune pool is so beautiful and inviting...you can jump in if you want to pay the $600 fine. Apparently someone had already jumped in that day! One of the security guards told us about the Best Buddies Challenge, in which participants get to swim in the pool. I thought for sure it would be on my list next year, but it seems while everyone gets to participate in the BBQ at the Castle after the ride, only those who raise $4000 or more get to actually swim. I have a hard enough time raising money for the MS Bike Ride I do every year so swimming in the pool will just have to wait.

This place is beyond lavish, if you ever have a chance to go I recommend taking the tour. The kitchen was huge and the art was amazing. It would have been nice to just take an artwork tour of the place because you really had hardly any time to get the full experience.

After the Castle we continued up the PCH, stopping to check out the Elephant Seals. Some were lazily sleeping, while others were angry. They were pretty entertaining to watch. This was where we began to see a trend; the trend of the RV Rentals. Apparently there must be some ad running at the travel offices in Europe because all up and down this section of the PCH we ran into Germans, Italians, and Brits all in rental RV's. Scary.

Our destination for the day was Big Sur and the Riverside campground. We very slowly wound our way up the highway, enjoying the views and pulling in to camp near dusk.

Huntington to Lake Santa Margarita

2011-09-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

My intent was to update this blog as much as possible during our trip - obviously I failed miserably at that. Internet connections, hell even cell connections, happened rarely and when we did get them I either was just not motivated or was spending my time attempting to finish up homework for that week. Needless to say, we are finally back home and now I can fill you all in!

Monday morning came and brought with it no sense of urgency to get on the road. All of us had errands to run and last minute preparations to make. A wonderful breakfast was had, and soon morning became early afternoon. The lack of urgency was a direct result of half our party realizing we were leaving that day, and the other half thinking we weren't leaving until the next morning. When we all agreed that yes, we would still leave that day, things kicked into high-gear in hopes of beating the LA traffic north. We left late afternoon, with our hopes of skipping LA rush hour dashed, replaced by just hoping to make it to our destination for the evening - Lake Santa Margarita. A brief history of area: The lake was created by the building of Salinas Dam on the southern end of the Salinas River in 1941, and provides San Luis Obispo with some of its drinking water.

Fortunately, yes we did make it there, under the cover of darkness. We became lucky once again in that they had some open campsites, and our reservation for Tuesday night was then switched to Monday. We didn't really get a good glimpse of the area until the next morning because when we pulled into camp we were swarmed by massive amounts of small bugs. I think both Josh and I started having flashbacks of Colorado. We each stayed in our own vans - Bob and Diane in their 89 Roadtrek, and Josh and I in our Tiger - made dinner, held conversations through windows, and went to bed.

Tuesday morning brought sunshine, no bugs, but lots of heat. This would give Josh another chance to deploy our solar set-up after we moved to a better camp location. We had a great view of the lake and were surrounded by huge families of Acorn Woodpeckers, along with squirrels.

We had planned to go for a hike and do some geocaching, but the parents decided to go swimming with the heat, so Josh and I hopped on the bikes and went down to grab the clue to a different geocache. We found the clue and the resulting coordinates in no time, but spent probably close to an hour digging around in dead weeds and sharp bushes to no avail. Defeated, we headed back to camp and had our first close encounter with a deer for this trip. We couldn't believe how warm it was, and decided a swim did indeed sound good. No swimming is allowed in the lake since it is a municipal water source, so they built a swimming pool right next to it! It was small and crowded, but worth the 10 minute dip.

Afternoon turned to evening and we were all too beat to go on our hike, so we just enjoyed the lake; watching boaters, reading, and chatting. I attempted another backpacker oven meal, this time cheese pizza with basil. I think both Josh and I were very leery of how this would turn out, but once again the oven performed flawlessly and for camp pizza it was damn good! I can't recommend this oven enough for anyone who likes to camp.

West Coast Adventure Begins!

2011-08-14T22:44:00.000-07:00

We can't believe it, but here we are, finally at the beginning of our PCH adventure. After several weeks of modifications, maintenance and unexpected work on our Tiger, we are beginning our three week trip up the coast of California. We don't have much of a plan, other than a few reservations here and there and some areas in mind we'd like to see. Our adventure will end sometime after Labor Day weekend at the Strawberry Music Festival in Yosemite.

After a few technical hiccups with my IPhone, we eventually got underway this past Friday, leaving the heat of Phoenix for the perfect weather of Big Bear Lake, California. Our friend Linda who lives not far away in Forest Falls, was kind enough to go up Friday morning and grab a beautiful dispersed campsite south of the lake. By the time we arrived it was just past sunset, but we were happy to have made it after a trouble-free trip across the desert. One nice thing we are discovering about camping in the Tiger is there is virtually no set-up; just pull in to camp and park. Quite the difference from our experience in the roof top tent, spending a good amount of time setting up camp and kitchen areas. We had an easy dinner and swapped some Tiger comparisons before turning in for the evening.

Saturday brought a lazy day on the mountain, hanging around camp and going for short walks and some exploring. I had planned for us to hit up some mountain bike trails, but I think Josh and I were just happy spending a drama-free and lazy day out in mother nature. We went for some short hikes, discovering a great vista looking out to the lake. Naps were taken, books were read and I decided to try out my newest kitchen toy, the backpacker oven. I've had dreams of cornbread and pizzas while living on the road, and after reading through a few threads on EXPO, combined with my own research, I settled on the BEMCO Backpacker Oven. So far, I'm seriously impressed with this thing! It folds flat for easy storage, assembles in just a few moments and heats up on the stove rather quickly. It was able to maintain the temperature I needed, and I was pretty much able to set it, and forget it! My first attempt was banana bread which turned out beautifully and ended up being a hit around camp. I look forward to trying new experiments in baking as we continue on our journey.

Sunday morning brought a lazy time around camp. Again, thanks to the beauty of the Tiger, packing up was done in a snap. I just can't get over the difference in camping experience here. After stowing everything away, we headed out with Linda into town and had some amazing pizza at Maggio's. We were not left disappointed, as we had tried to eat at this place a few years ago over the Christmas break but it was so packed we couldn't get in. All of their food looked amazing, so if you are ever in Big Bear be sure to check it out. After stuffing ourselves we started down the mountain and into Forest Falls to hang out at Linda's house a bit. She took us up the road to see the falls, which were very nice and we were left wishing for more time to actually take the trail up; but we'd soon realized it was getting late in the day and we still had to make it in to our destination for the evening of Huntington Beach. After re-filling the Tiger with clean Forest Falls water, we bid Linda and Pepper farewell and continued in to the coast.

We are now sitting in beautiful Sunset Beach, just north of Huntington, enjoying great company and preparing to head north on the Pacific Coast Highway in the morning. No real plans, no real destination for Monday, just fun and looking to see what we can find.

Tiger Pride Prowl - Prescott

2011-07-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

It was almost an entire month after we had purchased our 'new' adventuremobile, the Tiger XL, that we were finally able to take it out. Sometimes life just happens, schedules change and things get in the way. We had a flawless trip back with it from Southern California, but that was all freeway, so we were excited to get it out off the beaten path somewhere, anywhere!

Ideas were thrown around like Williams, Payson, Sedona. We knew it was going to be a quick trip but we wanted to go somewhere with a bit nicer weather and scenery. As we went to bed Friday night we had decided on Payson, but as Saturday morning came we changed our minds to Prescott. We had a late start to the day but after figuring out a route we were off and headed up the I-17. Things were going great until we started the big hill climb out of the valley. I was expecting a little decline in power, but the Tiger seemed to almost cut in and out at very short bursts. This only happened a few times, so I didn't think much off it until we pulled off in Camp Verde and it died at the pump. We made a note of it, went in and grabbed lunch and sat in the Tiger with the motor running as we ate. Not so much as a peep. We cautiously continued on but things only got worse. As soon as we turned off onto our dirt road route the Tiger started to die intermittently. I was a bit freaked because it would happen while driving and I would lose all power including the steering. After about the third time of this we looked at our map and decided we had just too far to go on an unknown backcountry road. We turned around, I took a couple of shots to prove that we had, somewhat, made it off road, and we limped back to the highway. It died on us one more time and was stumbling terribly at stoplights before we finally made it to Auto Zone in Prescott Valley.

On the drive in to Auto Zone we were brainstorming as to what it could be. I'd had a very similar problem with the 4Runner a few years ago and it ended up being that the MAF was all gunked up. After a good cleaning of that and the throttle body its been running like a champ ever since, so we figured that was the issue, especially knowing that the previous owner had put one of those oiled K&N filters in. Low and behold, after buying cleaner, a Haynes manual, and Josh taking the entire thing apart we learned that this year Astro has no MAF! We were left scratching our heads. We cleaned everything up anyway and hoped for the best.

We decided that backcountry camping was probably not a good idea at this point, so we headed for the campgrounds at Lynx Lake. We found one open spot, a handicap spot which we could have stayed in but needed to be cleared out by 10am. That didn't sound very relaxing to us, and realizing we had no cash to pay anyway, we continued on down the road to some dispersed camping areas we knew about. Those were all packed too! We obviously picked the wrong weekend to go to Prescott. One highlight of this journey was that we were able to test out the Tiger on some rutted and washed out sections of road with some hill climbs and the suspension and Tiger did great...when the engine wasn't dying on us. We were impressed, at least with that part. With the sun setting, along with our moods, we decided to throw in the towel and head to the house Josh grew up in on Thumb Butte. With no one living there it was kind of like camping anyway, except we got to enjoy the back deck and beautiful sunset overlooking Prescott.

We explored the property a bit then settled in for dinner in the RV. This was our first cooking episode and everything worked well, thankfully. We enjoyed dinner and just relaxing inside, trying to decompress from the stress of the day. We both crawled up into the 'coffin', also known as the bed. Josh cut out and fitted a nice memory foam topper so it was super comfy, but having the ceiling so close took a bit of getting used to. Lucky for me, I'm able to sleep anywhere so I didn't really feel restricted at all during the night. Josh made sure to sleep on the open end to be more comfortable, but I'm not sure he is 100% sold on the sleeping quarters!

We woke up Sunday morning and had a lazy time, with a bit of coffee, some reading and even a little yoga. Josh tested out the shower in the RV which also went well, so another relief. We decided to at least try to enjoy downtown Prescott before returning home, so we enjoyed a very large breakfast at the Lone Spur, then walked across to the Courthouse where they were having a little fair. We certainly appreciated having a vehicle that could still fit in a normal parking space, because parking was at a premium this weekend. The fair was a fun way to get our minds off the worry of the Tiger; we bought some great pasta and kettle corn, enjoyed some people and dog watching, and I harassed Josh once again about why we can't move there! On the way back to Phoenix, the vehicle seemed to be less troublesome, but still a little stumbling here and there.

We returned home still worried and stressed and hoping an appointment at the dealer would solve our issues the following week. Our Pride Prowl didn't turn out to be so prideful. As of this posting we are still not 100% the van is fully functional. After dropping it at the dealer it was discovered that the new plug wires which had been installed last fall were put on incorrectly, and had worked their way off the plugs, causing the (also) new dist cap to burn out. Everything was replaced but we just haven't had another free weekend to get out with it. It's died in the driveway or had a hard time starting a couple of times so we continue to worry. We are hoping to get out on a Pride Prowl #2 before we leave for our big trip in August.

Overland Expo 2011

2011-07-16T22:28:00.000-07:00

For the third year in a row we had the Overland Expo on our calendars. Its a hard event not to go to even for a day because its so close and we have more and more friends from around the country coming in for it every year. Josh had to bail at the last moment this year because of an opportunity that came up with the R2 group, so I was left on my own to venture down and see what I could find.

I didn't make it down until about 2p on Saturday due to work, and stayed until about the same time Sunday, so here is a quick recap of my short visit:

-It was hot

-It was windy

-It was dusty

-Thanks to an Expo discount it was cheap

-Seeing friends, especially those who live far away, is always a blast

-I was reminded on this trip why I don't drink Tequila

-Even more cool stuff to see this year than ever before!

-Lots of angry people because of the conditions, I came home with a layer of dirt on everything

And on to the pics:

As you can see there were many cute dogs, cool vehicles, and shenanigans to be found. Unfortunately a lot of people were turned off by the heat with lack of shade and dusty conditions...some vendors even left Saturday night or very early Sunday morning because they couldn't take it anymore. As much as I enjoy having this event so close to us, I think we are all hoping the organizers see the light and move it to a better location. Northern Arizona beckons. I've spoken with many friends who came hundreds, or even thousands of miles to this event and have no intention of returning if it is once again in Amado. I hope even if it is, that they do, because we certainly enjoy their company!

MS Bike Roundup 2011!

2011-07-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

I was initially sad that another MS Bike Roundup was going to pass me by in 2011. Since I've taken the job as Clinic Supervisor at Phoenix College I'm often stuck working Saturdays when events like these come around. But in January just as the semester was starting, I realized that the current class had been overbooked for their clinic session by a couple of weeks, which would actually free me on Saturday! Plus I managed to drag Josh with me!

I was happy to help raise money for the MS Society again, and although Josh was not interested in riding he did volunteer for our local HAM Radio group who always run this event. Our friends Mike and Susan joined us from Tuscon as well so we had other people to camp with. My goal this year was to do anything better than I had done in 2009. That year I had ridden the Saturday only 35 mile course on a borrowed bike which was much to small for me. It was the slowest 35 miles of my life and by the end my right knee was in such pain I probably should have just been SAG'd in from the course. So my plan for 2011 was to do the minimal distances both days....should I mention I had my own bike this time, but it was a singlespeed? Also, that my back wheel had all but imploded just two days before the event so I was riding on a borrowed $500 wheel? (Thanks Slippery Pig).

We arrived late Friday night, found Mike and Susan in the park, set up camp and went to bed. Josh had a 5am wake-up call for the radio group and racers needed to be out by 8. After Josh headed out, Mike, Susan and I got our annual 'talking to' by the HAM sweep who didn't like that we weren't out on the course by 730a! I was stoked to have raised over $500 this year so I finally got my MS jersey, and off I went hoping to complete the 35 mile course by noon, which still would have been a few hours earlier than 2009! Just before I left there was a crazy guy doing the full mileage for the weekend on one of those giant joust bikes, which you can kind of see here.

It was a bit chilly but I was feeling good, and as I passed more and more people on several thousand dollar road bikes I felt even better. I guess that commuting on singlespeed was finally paying off. Of course I had to ding my singlespeed bell every time and over heard many say they wanted a bell too! Unfortunately Josh was stationed out on another part of the course that I wouldn't pass this day so I didn't see him until later in the evening. It seemed like forever getting to the first aid station, and this is where I would start to see the differences in the event this year...the snacks they had kind of sucked compared to 2009. No energy bars or gels like before, just stuff from Sam's Club who was the main sponsor. I was glad I had decided to carry my own stuff. Before I knew it I was cruising through rest stop two and arriving back at the main camp around 1030a! Plus it was more like 40 miles according to my cyclo computer. I had so much left in the day I didn't know what to do with myself. Oh wait, take a shower and get a massage? Yes please. Followed by lunch and a nap? Oh yes. When Josh got back we joined the festivities and dinner which was kind of sad compared to years past, and no vegetarian option for dinner this time around. We stayed up chatting for a bit and then it was off to bed to prepare for more riding on Sunday.

Sunday seemed to be a more quiet day, with a majority of people packing up to leave or have already gone. I was not feeling as good that morning, I think in part to just not getting enough fuel for dinner the night before. I would continue to feel that way the rest of the day riding. It was chilly and the wind was getting worse by the mile. I pushed and pushed on my little singlespeed, still passing a few but just not having the legs I did on Saturday. I made it to rest stop one and saw again that the mileage we were supposed to have for the day was different than what they had posted there. I had some snacks in hopes of regaining enough energy to make it to the second rest stop which was supposed to be where Josh was. The wind continued to be brutal, only enhancing the lovely smell of cow poo as I passed by the dairy farm. Finally in sight was rest stop two...but no Josh! I was so disappointed. By this time I was just ready for the ride to be over, so I motivated myself back on the bike and just about a mile later there was Josh stationed at the turn. After a hello, a smooch and his words of encouragement I made the turn and the last few miles back to base camp.

Overall I think we all had a good time, considering the organizational problems the event seemed to have at every turn this year. I did better than I could have expected considering I had really only been back on the bike a short while...I think it was the rear wheel!! Rumor has it that Bike MS 2012 will be returning to the old format of the MS 150 where you ride both days from a starting point to a finishing point, rather than the Round Up which is more of a 'choose your own adventure' from a base camp. Personally, I prefer the base camp scenario, so I'm not sure I'll participate again next year if they change it, but considering my summer goal is RAGBRAI 2012, it might be a good idea.

So Cal Desert Rendezvous

2011-07-11T18:52:00.000-07:00

March was a crazy event month for us, which is usually what happens when spring arrives in Arizona. The snowbirds are leaving, the weather is great and the desert is in bloom. We had three weekends in a row of activities, kicked off by meeting some of our Expedition Portal friends out at the first annual So Cal Desert Rendezvous.

The Rendezvous was mainly organized by our friend Dave, aka TACODOC, who was kind enough to take the lead on searching out an area, getting permits, dealing with the BLM and things of that nature. He picked a spot that was a perfect halfway point between those of us who live in the valley and the folks who lived in the LA area. We were hoping to drag a few more Arizona members out with us, but it just ended up being us and a new guy who we haven’t heard from since! Another local friend of ours, Zach, from Overland Gourmet did eventually make his way out to cook epic meals for everyone.

I had read on the internets (that was my first problem) that there was gas in Desert Center, so we neglected to stop in Blythe. In the gas-sucking FJ, this ended up being a mistake…when we reached Desert Center it was a ghost town! Luckily we ran into a random guy who told us there was gas at Chiraco Summit not too far away. We made it there on fumes, then backtracked our way back to the exit for the campsite.

When we arrived at the site it was in a beautiful spot next to the mountain and a small hill. Some friends of ours had already arrived and were saving spots near the back at the base of the mountain. This would prove to be a secluded, but miserable spot later on the next day. After setting up camp it was time for dinner, drinks and friends around the campfire. Dogs welcome too! The mingling went on well into the night, with Zach finally arriving around midnight...but he wasn't off to bed! This madman set up the Overland Gourmet kitchen and starting cooking a midnight snack for everyone! What a guy. Everyone was having a great time, some a bit too much as we had one small medical emergency after a young Marine took a spill on his motorized bicycle breaking his collarbone. Luckily we had lots of medical personnel around and he was able to sleep on it and drive himself out the following morning.

Saturday morning came with a flap, flap, flap on the RTT. After breakfast some went exploring, some went shooting, but I was happy to just relax with a book, or try to anyway. The wind became so bad by lunchtime we decided to eat in the cab just to escape it. Tents and toilet enclosures were blowing and flapping all around. I really couldn't take it anymore. Blame it on living in St. Johns, where the wind is regularly 50-90 mph, but I have no tolerance of the wind. Give me freezing rain, snow, heat with humidity and I'll hang out around the camp with you all day long; but the wind I just have no patience for.

After lunch, Josh went and joined in to the trail cleanup and I climbed back into the RTT to try and read. I came out and ventured over to the cleanup raffle they were having just as it ended. We took the time to tour and talk with people about their different set-ups as we had been growing less and less fond of the RTT.

About that time some folks from the BLM came by and said some of us were camping too far off the trail, even though the map submitted with the permit had listed the entire area. Those of us who were back by the mountain were too far and were asked to move, which I was more than happy to comply with and get the hell out of the wind tunnel. I also wasn't interested in getting our organizer in trouble or not being welcome to come back and use the area next year. After some grumbling and griping, we all moved eventually....some to the other side of the small hill which unfortunately split the camp a bit, and a few just went home rather than unpack everything again. We were able to move fairly easily by having me walk with the RTT ladder as Josh drove. Others just threw their whole tents in the back of the pickup!

As camp settled back down we had one more task to accomplish before the night and that was to fix a flat tire. Somehow, after having these MT/R's on for 30+k miles, we finally ended up with some damage: a rusty nail. Josh did his first tire puncture repair flawlessly and the tire held all the way back to Phoenix and beyond, no problem. After dinner we concluded the evening around a huge campfire with talk about the future of the space program, military stories, and continued amazing cooking from Zach.

As we said our goodbyes the next morning and broke camp, I think we both knew that the time had come to move on from the FJ, but we didn't know that it would go so quickly and this would be our last adventure with it. We had many, many great times with this vehicle and it was a project we both put our heart and souls into, but our adventures and needs had changed. Luckily for us, the vehicle went to someone who will use it and enjoy it and continue to take it many exciting places. Thanks for the memories R2FJ!!!

*Also a special thanks to our friend Linda who provided most of these pics. I had my camera with me but was not in a real snappy mood, so without her we would not have very many pictures to post here! Thanks Linda!!

Super Bowl Sunday - Hike!

2011-07-10T11:24:00.000-07:00

I can be a bit of a sports nut, but something that keeps that in check is the fact that we have no tv. Well, we have tv, but we don't have cable, satellite, or even rabbit ears. I didn't really care for the teams this year anyway, so why not go for a hike?

Honestly, we didn't even remember that it was Super Bowl Sunday until we were walking through the neighborhood to the trailhead and noticed how quiet it was, but how many cars were parked outside peoples homes. We hoped that would reflect a nice quiet day out on the trail. Our journey this day would include a loop of Mormon to National to Geronimo, another new trail we had not yet explored. We live just about in the middle of the Mormon and Geronimo trailheads so this makes for a convenient loop. Up we headed our usual steep hike to Mormon and across National. We were able to explore more of the west side of National this time, including the famous 'waterfall'. Feel free to google mountain biking the waterfall at South Mountain if you want more entertainment.

After the waterfall it was a comfortable walk on National, where we enjoyed the weather, the scenery and the peace and quiet. I think we only ran into 4 or 5 other hikers the entire day, which for a weekend is slim. As we got further west on the trail, Firebird Lake and the community of Ahwatukee peeked out from the other side of the park.

Soon we were at the Buena Vista parking lot and connecting up with Geronimo. This is another popular mountain biking trail but we didn't see a single one this day. Disappointing, as I love to watch those guys fly down the mountain. Again, google for more entertainment! Geronimo was a nice downhill section with enough stuff to keep it entertaining.

Unfortunately for us, we didn't realize that there was a turnoff we had missed somewhere. Soon we came upon this sign:

Generally, we are not ones to trespass, but with no map, no gps, and clearly not realizing that there was another turnoff, we kept going - all the time wondering how the Boy Scouts had gotten the property and they must have secured it before South Mountain became a park, etc, etc. After another half mile or so we found ourselves off the trail and smack dab in the middle of the Boy Scout camp! There were trail signs everywhere and we saw tire tracks so we weren't too worried.

After walking a ways back home, we became really confused when we found what seemed like a random trailhead sign for the Geronimo Trail next to a fence. Upon further investigation when we got back home was when we realized we had missed a turnoff somewhere and the trail actually goes around the camp. As of this date we have not yet been back to explore the correct trail.

Stats:

Hike - 6 miles

Episode III - Revenge of the Hiker

2011-07-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

It was time for me to head back up the mountain to accomplish the hike I'd set out to do before my heel was rubbed raw!

It was a beautiful day, and we decided on a loop of Mormon (24th Street) to National to Hidden Valley and back down Mormon. Hidden Valley was a small connector, but we'd heard good things about slots and huge rock formations. We did the usual huff-n-puff up 24th street and just a little past the top, Josh spotted some coyotes. Unfortunately they were gone before I could get my camera out or even seen them myself. After a short time on National we came to the sign for Hidden Valley. Being unfamiliar with the trail we weren't sure exactly where to go and quickly ended up back on National. Luckily we ran in to some kind folks who pointed the right direction. There was a cool slot called 'Fat Mans Pass" which we didn't realize was part of the trail and we ended up actually climbing over. Oh well, next time. Soon we were in this really cool valley with GIANT rocks all around - seriously a mini Moab or Sedona minus the red rock. A total playground for mountain bikers we agreed.

We made it down "Slide Rock" which we weren't sure was actually part of the trail either at the time. Navagation was a little confusing because you were either on giant slick rocks or in a wash with footprints going everywhere. Josh and I actually got split up for a time as he followed the trail one way, and I another. I finally heard him calling and retraced my footsteps, when I finally found the cave pass-thru which included some hiroglyphics and more fantastic rock formations.

When we left the cave area we soon found ourselves at the end of Hidden Valley and on our way back down the mountain. It was a short hike but a lot of fun, and a nice area to go back and explore.

Stats:

Hike - 3.91 miles

Bike-N-Hike

2011-07-10T11:07:00.000-07:00

I've started this new thing where once a week, usually on Wednesdays, I'll bike down the lovely paved canal by our house to the Beverly Canyon Trailhead at SoMo. After the Attack of the Shoe incident, I spent most of the next day at REI fretting over what new shoe to purchase. Did I want another set of Keens? Light hikers? Trail runners? I finally made a decision, but wanted to test them out first before hiking up up up the Mormon Trail again. So that Wednesday I hopped on the bike to try them out, and if things went well I'd continue on for a hike.

In short the ride was great. I made it down the canal to the trailhead without even thinking about my foot. I'd remembered there was actually a bike rack at this trailhead that the city had bothered to install, but when I pulled up it was a lot less secure looking than I initially thought. I forgot to bring my cable for my wheels, so all I had was my U-lock. There were some shady looking characters sitting in a car near the lot, but I wasn't ready to just ride back home either, so on went the lock and off I went to check out another new trail, Javelina.

I'd read a lot about this trail, mostly on the mountain bike forums. Its an easy but steady climb that eventually connects up with the National Trail, Ridgeline, and Mormon Loop so I was expecting it to be pretty busy even in the middle of the day. The new kicks and I set off, and soon I was passed by a female mountain biker zipping up the trail. After that I was alone for quite some time, and able to take in the solitude of this park in the middle of a huge city.

Just as I was thinking to myself this wouldn't be half bad to try the bike on, the trail got a little rough. What I would consider rough for my inexperienced single-speed self! I came upon a steep descent you can see a bit of here in this pic. I have no idea what this platform is either. Josh and I had seen it from above on our Beverly Canyon hike the week before, and had assumed it was some kind of training area. From this angle you can now see that its actually raised up....secret underground government bunker?

On I meandered enjoying the solitude and my ipod. There were a couple more rough sections of this trail but nothing too bad. I did keep looking at these uphill rocky sections though, wondering how I would get up them on the bike. Another biker came by and showed me: gears and shear force. I have a lot of practice and strength building ahead of me! I was alone on the trail the rest of the way; with a final steep and rocky descent I came to the intersection with Mormon Loop and was greeted by some hieroglyphs. I took a quick break and took the trail back to the parking lot. I ran into Josh running on the canal on the way home and really wished I had a bullhorn to chase him with, but instead I chose not to torture and let him finish his run.

Stats:

Bike - 7.91 miles

Hike - 3.66 miles

Monday Night Hikes

2011-07-10T10:56:00.000-07:00

Since moving down to south Phoenix, we have been trying to soak up as much of what South Mountain Park has to offer. With several trailheads within walking or biking distance to our house, and all the trails in the system connecting together, its really easy to map out something new and different for as long as you want to be out there. Lately we have been making it a tradition to do a hike every Monday. Usually Josh will join me if he doesn't have plans to run that night; because of early sunsets this time of year we regularly just hike up and down the Mormon Trail, which has become one of my favorite trails in the park so far. With the trailhead only about a quarter of a mile from our house, and the trail being just over a mile to the top, its perfect for a quick evening workout. It generally gets fairly busy after 430p, with lots of trail runners and the occasional brave mountain biker headed downhill.

The trail doesn't give you much time to warm up. Right from the beginning you start heading upwards, but the trail is wide with a few rocks to look out for. Winding up the mountain you soon find yourself at the first flat 'rest stop' area at about a quarter-mile. The view is great, but it only gets better from here!

This is why I love this trail:

Its not boring! This is just a small example of what lies ahead of you for the next 3/4 mile. Endless switchbacks, playing a mindgame with you, where around every corner you think you must be getting close to the top. Its as much a physical workout as it is mental. Lots of rockhopping and climbing huge steps. As you get near the top, the trail flattens again, followed by another short climb and soon you are there, at the intersection with the Mormon Loop Trail. You can see almost the entire valley from the White Tanks, to Four Peaks, Glendale to Gilbert. Sunsets are fantastic up here too!

But they say variety is the spice of life, so occasionally we change it up a bit and try out a new trail. Last week we went down to the Beverly Canyon Trail to check it out and see what it was like. The plan was to hike Beverly Canyon to where it intersected with Pima Canyon and go from there. Beverly was a nice trail, not too busy but not very challenging either. There were a couple of steep climbs, but the majority of our time was spent battling the sun that was right in our face. Before we knew it we were at the intersection with Pima, where we had a couple of options. We decided to try the Ridgeline trail which was supposed to hook up with Javelena, which would loop us right back to the Beverly Canyon Trailhead. The workout we were looking for was here! Ridgeline was a scramble straight up for probably half a mile. Lots of loose gravel and hard to get your footing. I would have enjoyed watching a mountain bike head up this route.

I didn't get too many pictures because I was too busy huffing and puffing my way up this climb. We reached a flat with an intersection where Ridgeline continued to the left and another trail headed off to the right, back towards Beverly Canyon. We assumed this was Javelina, and we assumed incorrectly. I have no idea what trail this was! There were a ton of people hiking it but when I checked the maps back at home it was not on there. The workout continued with steep ascents and descents. Soon we were back on Beverly Canyon and to the trailhead.

EPISODE II: Attack of the Shoe!

This past Monday I was solo on the trail, with the intent of working in a new loop to my usual jaunt up Mormon: Mormon > Hidden Valley > National > Mormon. I'd heard good things about Hidden Valley so I was excited to see something new. I was feeling pretty good when I got to the Mormon Trailhead, so I decided to book it and see how much time I could cut off my usual ascent. I was making a good push and got to the Mormon Loop sign in 40 mins, 5 mins shorter than usual. I took a quick water break and headed down the trail to Hidden Valley.

I was feeling pretty good until I got out of this cool little slalom area when suddenly I had a burning, stabbing pain in my right heel with every step. I pulled my shoe off and sure enough, my crazy hike to the top had caused a blister. Let me take this moment to say that I am a huge Keen shoe fan. I currently own 4 different pair of the shoes and they are great. However, due to a final strap blowout on my 6 year-old Newport H2's just the day before, I did this hike in my Arroyos which have never quite fit me correctly....I really wanted them at the time so I bought them anyway. I've never really worn them for hiking, always favoring my Newports. Now on this hike because of bad fitment I was in pain with every step. I also did not have any kind of first aid kit with me. so no bandage. I tried to press on, but I was defeated by the shoe. I reluctantly turned around and headed back down Mormon to home.

Day trip to Montana Mountain

2011-07-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

Josh's friend Chad has a 5th Gen. 4Runner that just got a lift, and he was looking to test it out. So this past Sunday we loaded up the FJ and went out to one of our favorite day-trips, Montana Mountain. This would also be a great trip to test out my new camera, the Heidi-proof Olympus Stylus Tough 8010. It had been a while since we were out at the Mountain, so we were really looking forward to the drive. Montana Mountain is a fairly easy (depending on weather conditions) but very scenic drive that starts just outside Florence Junction and loops around ending in Superior. We packed a lunch and headed out to meet Chad to begin our journey for the day.

The trail starts out on smooth dirt. Soon we came upon a couple of old 1st Gen 4Runners, who turned off into a sandy wash. The map looked like we might be able to take this alternative route up to the trail ahead, so we followed them, but we dead ended at a fence. There was a turn-off to the right but we decided to head back to the main trail and continue to follow the actual gps tracks we had. But not after checking out the hot new 4Runner, lift and tires. Soon we were back on the road and the scenery just got better and better. It was a beautiful day to be out.

We made a quick stop at a local cattle pin complete with windmill and lots of signs about what you should and should not be doing in the area. As we continued on, the road started to climb a little faster to the top of the mountain with lots of switchbacks, but still fairly tame. We came across several people out enjoying the day on their motorcycles and several tourists with plates from New York, Canada and Florida.

We made another rest stop at a pull off and I was able to capture Chad's first flex photos!! Go Chad!

And again with the amazing views.

We stopped for lunch on a beautiful overlook just before reaching the peak of Montana Mountain. It was a little windy but the view was great and we were ready for a break. After enjoying our lunch we continued to what would be the north side of the mountain making the loop to head back south and to Superior. The last time we were out here there had been a couple of icy patches on the trail because of the shadow from the mountains not allowing the sun to hit directly. Considering the weather we have had in the last month we were expecting to run into the same, maybe a little bit of snow. Soon we found it.

Not so bad, but then we hit our first icy section. I could not even get out of the truck to inspect it because the entire ground underneath me was frozen. No problem, we will carry on very slowly. Besides, this section of the trail is pretty short and it can't get any worse right? We figured just around the next corner would be clear. Well, it wasn't. Every corner we went around got worse and worse, more and more snow and ice. I was out trying to take pictures in a safe place in case one of the trucks lost control, and Josh and Chad were just taking it slow trying to not roll down the mountain.

When we thought it couldn't get worse we came across this section that was nothing but 4-5 inches of frozen ice. No snow anywhere to grab traction on. Josh tried in vain to break up as much as he could with the pulaski. At this point we had no other choice but to carry on. There was nowhere to turn around and even if we could there was no way we would get traction to go back on the trail which was now decending.

Finally, we made it! The trail began to take a turn south and more and more sunlight was hitting turning the snow and ice to slush and mud. We passed the two 1st gen 4Runners who were taking a break at an overlook...there must be a shortcut somewhere! The road became much more narrow as we decended down off the mountain on extremely tight switchbacks, but we were happy to be back on dry, dusty dirt. We took a quick detour to the cabin ruins, and soon we were popping out just outside Superior by what looked like a very old, but still running mining operation.

We have always wanted to try the supposedly awesome pizza joint in Superior, but we were all ready to head back home so thats another adventure that would just have to wait. All in all it was a great day - the weather was perfect, we avoided any disasters and I think Chad had a good first off-road experience in his new truck.

Hahaha Just Kidding.

2011-07-09T16:43:00.000-07:00

We lied. We don't know what we were thinking. We tried the Drupal kool-aid and found it was way too much work. We were no longer enjoying sharing our stories with everyone because we were too busy fixing a website that was constantly broken. So we are back. Look for continued updates soon!

No Mas

2011-01-10T14:22:00.000-08:00

We are no longer blogging on this site. We wanted more control, something simpler and cleaner. This blog will be left up for archival purposes because it will take too long to move everything over to the new site. Please visit us at www.twolibras.net for the latest updates. Thank you.

Overland Expo 2009

2010-04-07T22:01:00.000-07:00

April 2009 brought the first ever Overland Expo, and lucky for us it was close to home!

I was pretty interested in attending the first-ever Overland Expo, especially since it was just north of us in Prescott Valley, Az. I questioned the site chosen, but kept an open mind and headed north to enjoy mingling with other like-minded folks.

My friend Laurence joined me on the drive north in his Nissan Frontier. He had never taken the Senator Highway to Prescott before so we decided to take the dirt route. After picking up some last minute supplies in Prescott we heading in to the Fairgrounds and the Overland Expo. We checked out the cool new Adventure Trailer Teardrop, socialized and made camp for the night.
The following morning we woke up and, surprise! It was windy in Jackass Flats. I was happy to be sleeping in the truck. We packed up and wandered around the Expo talking with more friends and checking out some of the cool vehicles there.

Around noon we left to meetup with a group in Chino Valley to run Smiley Rock. This was the first big trail run I took the 4Runner on and it performed well! Good enough to pull that Nissan off a rock!

Our trip ended with a huge group campout and potluck near Potato Patch. We checked in quickly Sunday morning back at the Expo, grabbed lunch at the brewery in Prescott and returned to Phoenix.

DV Day Five - March 2009

2009-08-18T18:18:00.001-07:00

Saying goodbye to Death Valley.
We woke Friday to a windy morning. I had heard some tent flapping throughout the night but I generally sleep like a rock so I wasn't bothered much by it. Josh on the other had head every little thing and I thought for sure he was going to destroy the mish-mash windchimes hanging at the cabin!
We enjoyed some breakfast and did some exploring around the cabin now that it was light out. The views of the canyon were awesome and I can see why someone would want to live here like Russel did. The cabin itself looked like a shack with boards and corrugated steel hammered into place, but it was a perfect group cabin with several rooms, a fully stocked kitchen with icebox and even a solar shower. We signed the guestbook and decided to leave a can of veggie chili as payment for our stay. Spending the night at this cabin made us realize if it wasn't for the many volunteers who maintain this and other structures the Forest Service would just let them fall into nothingness.
Back on the road we headed back to the Geologist's Cabin to return the book Bob had lent us. He was long gone so we were able to spend some time there and it was clear this was the finest cabin of the bunch - and the most popular! I'm hoping on our next visit we get the chance to stay there.
Further down the trail we passed more wildflowers and varying landscapes. Suddenly a giant yellow square appeared from behind a rock - it was a sportsmobile - parked rather oddly between a rock wall and another boulder. It really would take some work to get this thing into this position, but after looking around and seeing the shades were up and it was locked up tight we carried on and hoped the people who belonged to it were ok and just out for a hike or something.
Soon we came upon another vehicle, but this time there was a person with it! A very nice BMW dual-sport and a friendly young man from Nevada who was sweating his ass off but having fun and enjoying the day regardless. Just around the corner from him was Warm Springs, an old mining camp from the 1940's. We were once again amazed by what we saw: the buildings were in great condition, surrounded by lush vegetation and a spring running down the hill. The main house even had a swimming pool with diving board! This was another area visitors were welcome to camp in.

After running around the springs for a bit we realized it was almost noon so we set out to finish the trail and find food. The remainder of the trail was smooth and fast; soon we were linked back up with the West Side Highway. We had planned to take the Harry Wade exit route out of the park but we'd had enough dirt - tired and ready to go home we aired up the tires and said goodbye to Death Valley.
We made our way to Shoshone, Ca and had lunch at the Crowbar. This place is awesome!! The food was excellent, we highly recommend the french fries!
We looked over the maps at lunch and decided we had enough time to split the trip up a bit and spend the night in Lake Havasu. We cut through the Mojave Preserve again, this time down a different road with a different view. Death Valley was certainly the most interesting and surprising place we have been in a long time if not ever, and I can't wait to go back and see all the things we missed!

DV Day Four - March 2009

2009-08-09T01:40:00.002-07:00

Snow in Death Valley and Helter Skelter!!

We had a decent nights sleep and woke up Thursday morning knowing our visit to DV was soon coming to an end. We took advantage of the showers at the campground, then went back across the street to the cafe for breakfast. After filling our bellies with grease we set out for the Wildrose campground with Linda and Pepper.
We had a few stops planned for the day, the first being Aguereberry Point which was chilly but had amazing views! Poor Linda had to stay behind because she didn't want to chance it down another dirt road and I don't blame her.

On our way back to meet her from the point, we also stopped by the Eureka Mine which was really cool. Many of the buildings were still there and in decent condition - its a shame the park service just doesn't take the time to maintain these areas anymore.
We left the mine after much exploration and picked up Linda again on the road to Wildrose. We were thinking about spending the night there but we arrived much earlier than we had planned. We fought the wind and stopped to have lunch at the campground, then wend down the road to checkout the Charcoal Kilns. These structures were truly awesome!! We still haven't seen the Coke Ovens in Arizona, but I have a feeling the Charcoal Kilns put them to shame. This is also where we saw snow in DV and it was close enough to stand in - madness!

At this point we had to say our goodbyes to Linda and Pepper. The Tiger just couldn't make it through rest of our journey and with so much more to see we had to move on. They ventured north back toward Stovepipe Wells to exit on the paved road south; we headed south toward Ballarat. We picked up a dirt road that was fast and smooth, running right next to the Panamint Range and into town. My intention was to run the Pleasant Canyon trail and camp halfway, but with the unknown steering issue on the truck we decided a 7-rated trail was probably not a good idea. We took some pictures as we entered Ballarat and I'm afraid to say we didn't really get out of the truck - we were too freaked out by the strange folk sitting on the porch of the General Store.
By this time it was about 330p and we had a ways to go before getting to the next planned camping spot. As we got further south, the road became more and more rough, slowing our pace a bit. We entered the canyon with its high, beautiful walls and spring flowers everywhere! Finally!! There were also some interesting mine remnants, including huge vehicles that had been left behind.

Eventually we made our way back into the park and soon found Barker Ranch. Josh was not too excited to be there at the old Manson Family home, but I had wanted to visit ever since reading Helter Skelter in high school...twisted I guess but I like history what can I say? A chill was certainly in the air and the area was really creepy. I had to work up a bit of courage to go inside, but Josh was content staying out. I read through the guestbook and signed it, took a few pictures and got the hell out of there. I still cannot believe this cabin was available for overnight stays, but it seems to get visitors. Just about a month or so after our visit, the cabin mysteriously burned down so I am grateful even more now that we got to see it.

When we were done getting our creep on we continued down Goler Canyon. It was getting pretty late at this point and we wanted to make it over Mengle Pass to find a place to camp. The trail became more and more rough, with large boulders and spotting was necessary at a couple of spots. Finally we made it to Mengles Grave, at the highest point on the trail, but didn't stay too long. The downhill portion of the trail was much like the uphill so I hopped out again to help Josh guide the FJ down.

Once we cleared the boulders we came down into a beautiful meadow and saw the first cabin, Stella's Place, far off on our left. Hoping to stay there for the night we looked through the binoculars and saw that a truck was already parked there. We moved on down the trail to the next cabin, the Geologist's, but that was taken too! We did notice there was another Fj parked there and a guy was standing ourside waving at us so we decided to stop in to see if it was someone we knew. It wasn't, but it was a pleasure to meet Bob who was a regular in DV and had a lot of information to share.

By this time it was almost dark and we needed to continue down the road to try and find another camp - but Bob told us about a third cabin we didn't see - Russel's Place. He wasn't sure if it was occupied or not but the sun was setting and the next camp was 10 miles away so we gave Russel's a shot. Bob sent us off with a fantastic data book he had put together with the promise we would return it to the Geologists Cabin on our way out the next day.
Russel's Place was hidden around a hillside rucked back into a small canyon and lucky us - it was empty! We had just enough light left to get a sense of our surroundings and set up the tent. Josh was a little creeped out by the cabin but I thought it was fantastic! We started a fire in a portable pit that had been left there, made dinner and settled in for the night.

DV Day Three - March 2009

2009-08-09T01:40:00.001-07:00

Off to the races at the Racetrack on Wednesday!

Wednesday would turn out to be another exciting day in the park! We woke up that morning with the plan of taking the Racetrack trail to Lippincot Mine and into Saline Valley to the hot springs. Linda had some friends staying there and I was very excited because I had wanted to spend some time there but I wasn't sure we could fit it in.

We packed up camp and headed north to make a quick detour to Scotty's Castle. It is unreal to think so long ago people paid $2 million to build this mansion in the desert. We didn't pay for the tour but did walk around the grounds and checked out the visitor's center which had a little museum.

Onward we went towards the Racetrack, first making a stop at the Ubehebe Crater. The crater was massive with black cinders all around. You could walk to the bottom but the grade was so steep it would have taken almost an hour to hike out so we skipped that. Josh had noticed the steering wheel was a little off on the truck and after closer inspection at the Crater it looked like part of the steering was bent into the boot on the passenger side. Luckily the truck wasn't shaking or pulling so we decided to carry on to the Racetrack.
After leaving the Crater the road turned to graded dirt. It was quite bouncy but nothing crazy we thought. Poor Linda and her Tiger RV were having a tough time though. We crawled a few miles at about 15 mph. About 5 miles in we decided to stop and air down the tires in hopes of making the ride smoother. At mile 6 one of Linda's rear tires shredded off the rim. Josh and Linda changed the tire and we decided it would be best to get her back to pavement since she was now without a spare. We followed her back to the Crater and she was off to Beatty,Nevada for a new tire. We agreed that there was no way her RV would make it to the hot springs without more issues so the plan changed to meeting back at Panimint Springs that evening.

Back down the Racetrack we went, and we were able to make up some time with increased speed. There wasn't much to look at for the first 2/3 of the trail but finally we made it to the famous Teakettle Junction.

Just a few more miles down the road we could finally see the Racetrack Playa and Grandstand coming into view. It was certainly an amazing site. We stopped about halfway down the playa and found some of the sailing stones, but were directed by some half-naked college kids that we needed to move further south to see the bigger rocks.
We drove to the very south end of the playa, parked and walked about 1/2 mile to where most of the rocks were. It was well worth it because we got to see quite a few of the sailing stones and got some great pictures.
Looking to the north you could see a mirage of water around the Grandstand, and although it was only in the 80's I could easily picture those tales of people crossing the desert on foot and what that must be like.
It was getting late in the day, around 430p as we got back in the truck to venture down the Lippincot Mine trail. This was the roughest-rated trail of our whole journey with an estimated time of 1.5 hours to complete so I was starting to get concerned about making it to camp in time in Panamint. The road ended up being a very narrow shelf road with less than zero room to pass but we wouldn't consider it overly rough. Lucky for us we didn't come upon a single vehicle and we were able to clear the trail in about half an hour.
We hit Saline Valley Road around 5pm and turned south again to get to Panamint Springs. This part of the trail was beautiful going through the valley with huge mountains. Just before reaching the highway we came upon a HUGE forest of Joshua Trees. We stopped for more pictures and to let Josh finally soak up some of his special trees.

From here it was paved all the way to Panamint Springs. Just as we were pulling into town, Linda called out on the radio. She too had just arrived and secured a campsite. We paid for a spot next to her - the campground was nothing to really write home about but they did have showers and internets, plus there was an excellent little cafe across the street. We set up camp and had dinner at the cafe and soon after I passed out after a long day in the sun.

Death Valley Day Two - March 2009

2009-08-09T01:39:00.001-07:00

We had so much happen on this day, it deserves its own post!!
Tuesday brought our second day in the park, and more adventure than one could possibly hope for! Our plan for the day was to check out a few more of the "touristy" spots, run two trails and meet up with the parentals in Stovepipe Wells to camp. I had also gotten an email from Linda who had managed to get her RV fixed and was heading to the park, so I directed her to Stovepipe as well.

So we were off, being responsible park visitors, we stopped in at the visitor center to pay for our pass and get some maps. A few folks were interested in the FJ but we didn't think too much about it. We left the center and headed down the road towards the Harmony Borax Works. Suddenly, we were pulled over by two Park Rangers who decided to read us the riot act. Unbeknownst to me just the day before when we were checking out the Artists Drive, some different Park Rangers had gone to the hotel to look for us. They had gotten reports that we had been driving off a designated road in the park, etc. The situation was taken care of at that time and considered closed.

Apparently these two didn't get the memo. In an attempt to make a long story short, these guys were pretty much looking to bust us on anything. First it was asking if we were running tours without a permit in the park because of the Sierra Expeditions stickers; then it was are we selling stuff out of the back of the truck...oh yes officer we just drove 9 hours to sell our only fridge that happens to be stocked with food. Finally he pulled Josh out of the car and told him that he didn't really pull him over for running that stop sign (which was the initial infraction), he pulled us over because of the supposed incident of driving off road the day before. After trying to drive the fact that we have 3 maps showing a road there through this guys head we finally showed him the maps. He finally decided that we had indeed followed the maps, but still chose to ticket us for running a stop sign, which he even said we didn't do. Thanks National Parks Service!!

Moving on from that drama, we continued on to Harmony Borax Works and tried to not let the incident ruin our day. There were lots of buildings, old equipment and a wagon all left from the Works, and we were beginning to realize just how much mining had gone on in Death Valley.

Next stop was the Salt Creek to see the pupfish. We were told we had just come at the right time to see this once-a-year event so we had to stop. Even in mid March the sun was intense walking down the little boardwalk next to this tiny creek. Many of the pupfish are endangered and are the only things to really adapt to this extra salty water. The pupfish only live for about a year, so many were busy doing it. **Warning Pupfish Porn**

Our next destination was Chloride Cliff on the northeastern side of the park. We were told that most of the wildflowers out at the time were through Mud Canyon so we took that route. There were certainly some pretty yellows and purples along the road, but nothing like I had been expecting. While we were stopped for pictures there was a callout to us on the radio - it was Tim and Danica! We were hoping to camp and run with them through DV but the timing wasn't quite right. Luckily though, they were about 5 miles behind us on the same road and also planning on running to Chloride Cliff, so we waited for them at the trailhead.

While we were waiting, we got another call over the radio, this time from bob and Diane. They were not feeling well, so they had decided to head home to Huntington. We were sorry to see them go, but it was a fun adventure with them anyway! Tim and Danica arrived and we went down the trail, which wasn't very exciting. There wasn't much left of the mining town Chloride City, but at the end of this spur we climbed up a steep hill and had the most amazing view of DV. Words cannot describe the area. We relaxed and had a late lunch, saw a Chuckwalla and soaked up the view.

The afternoon was carrying on so we headed down the mountain an into Beatty, Nv. Unfortunately Tim and Danica had to head to Tucson so they departed towards Vegas. Somewhere on this route we lost our R2 flag! After gassing up in Beatty, it was getting pretty late in the day but we really wanted to run Titus Canyon trail. Fortunately the late time meant not a lot of traffic. With the sun setting there were fantastic shadows on the hills and mountains. Then we entered the canyon and were surrounded by huge rock walls on both sides. An easy trail but one of the best in the park for sure.

As we exited the canyon Linda called to us on the radio - she was at the dunes at Stovepipe Wells and reported that the campground there totally sucked. Dispersed camping is VERY limited in the park, so we figured our best bet was to head about 35 miles up the road to the Mesquite Spring campground near Scotty's Castle. It was a much smaller campground but quiet and nice. We got a decent spot for both trucks, had some dinner and hung out by the fire for a while. Things didn't go as planned today, but it still worked out for the best!!

Mojave Preserve and DV Day One - March 2009

2009-08-09T01:19:00.001-07:00

We ventured through Mojave, drawing closer to the Valley of Death!
Our goal for Sunday was to hit up the hot springs in Tacopa. We may not have been able to run Mojave Road on this trip, but we did manage to at least cut through the preserve. The landscape was ever-changing; passing mountains, Joshua Tree forests, chloride lake bed flats, along with cinder and volcanic areas. As we came into Kelso Bob came over the CB to point out the old railroad building; they had just seen a program about it on tv so we decided to stop and check it out. The grounds were fantastic with nice little lunch spots and everything inside had been totally restored.
After lunch in the parking lot we continued on through Baker and to the hot springs. When we finally arrived the springs were actually mineral bath houses with old naked Asian ladies and men; the camping was in the pristine dirt lot next door. Bob paid his $7 for the shower but the rest of us decided to hold out for something else.

When we determined the camping spot sucked we took another look at the map and decided to take a shortcut to DV down a dirt road. It was a great decision because about 3-4 miles in we turned down a wash and camp upon a spot with a nice little fire ring, amazing views and lots of privacy. We settled in for dinner and some relaxation and looked forward to the next day into Death Valley.
Monday morning brought a beautiful sunrise over the mountains and revealed their multiple colors. After a nice pancake breakfast thanks to Diane we loaded up and drove north towards Death Valley. Our destination for the day was Furnace Creek via the West Side Highway. The drive in was beautiful and we made our first stop at the Ashford Mill ruins. Somewhere we had missed the turnoff for the West Side Highway so we backtracked until we found it. The road disappeared into a wash after about 1000 feet but we had 3 different maps telling us we were on the right track so we continued. We radioed to the Roadtrek about the conditions where we were, so Bob and Diane decided to stick to the paved road and we would meet up at Furnace Creek later.
The West Side Highway wasn't exciting at all. Most of the recorded stops on the side of the road were not there anymore or there wasn't much left to look at. The road did come out on the Devils Golf Course which made for some amazing pictures. Strange, rocky, salty and crusted areas on both sides of the road.

We met back up with pavement and stopped to check out the Gold Canyon area which was a really crowded hiking spot. We walked a little ways but decided to was too hot to attempt the whole thing without carrying water, so we returned to the truck to slather ourselves with sunscreen! We drove in to Furnace Creek with Bob and Diane not too far behind us. They decided to spend the night at the Furnace Creek Inn rather than camp, and were kind enough to get a room for us as well.

We had a great lunch at the Inn, and decided to return to the Artist's Drive area upon the recommendation of Bob and Diane. I'm glad we did because it was pretty stunning - many many different colors in the mountains. It really looked like an artist's pallet.I must have needed the rest because I passed out in the hotel for a good two hours! We had dinner at the steakhouse in town which was ok, but we still managed to stuff ourselves. After dinner it was back to the room for some internets and rest. I felt like we were cheating our adventure staying the night in a hotel, but it was really nice to catch up on the virtual world and take a shower!!

California Adventure - Joshua Tree National Park - March 2009

2009-04-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

Our Spring Break adventure began in Joshua Tree National Park...little did we know so did everyone else's!!
We arrived in Joshua Tree late Friday night, pulling into Jumbo Rocks Campground a little after 10pm. We weren't sure if we would find the rest of our party (our Cali friend Linda and Pepper, and Josh's parents Bob and Diane) after seeing the slew of vehicles, RV's and tour buses! After a little wandering around we found them and lucky for us they had managed to save us a spot. It was late and everyone was heading off to bed so we did as well.

We woke up Saturday morning and soon realized just how packed the campground really was. It was seriously like a city in the middle of the desert. After breakfast we all went for a little hike on the Skull Rock trail, then headed down a wash to play on the Jumbo Rocks. There were not many flowers in bloom but the area was very unique and beautiful anyway.

After our hike it was back to camp for lunch and an afternoon nap, but we were parked right next to the "college party" who did nothing but lay on their beach blankets drinking and screaming loudly all day right outside our tent. I was praying that they would at least be so drunk they would pass out early! We left the tent and went for another hike near the entrance to the campground which had even more amazing rocks. Walking through the campground you could really see just how large it was and how many people were seriously crammed in there.
Luckily Linda had a decent site away from most of the people so we congregated there to cook dinner and enjoy the campfire. A strong wind came through and wouldn't quit which almost made it unbearably cold. With full bellies and no more firewood we decided to turn in shortly after 10pm.

Sunday morning brought no wind and a beautiful weather after a comfortable night in the roof top tent. After some relaxing and a good cup of coffee we reviewed books and maps with Bob and Diane. Following our discussion we came to the conclusion that our goal for this trip was to see as much of Death Valley as possible, so we decided to skip doing the Mojave Road which was the next leg of our journey. We packed up camp and said our good-byes to Linda who wanted to join us but was having too many issues with her Tiger Camper. We were hoping to meet up with her a few days later in DV.

Hiking the Arizona Trail - Passage #5 - Day 2

2009-03-07T20:49:00.001-08:00

Our adventure continues in the Santa Ritas!
BRRRRR!!!! Friday night was a cold one! One of the coldest I've had camping in a while. Considering we were expecting 60's at night, I', glad I brought my sleeping bag that I almost left at home. I spent most of the night having convulsions from the sore muscles reacting to the chill. I think in total I got about 4-5 hours of sleep and maybe 2 hours of actual REM. I was positive Mike was sleeping soundly but I was relieved to find out he too suffered as much as I did!
After a 7am wake-up call thanks to some howling coyotes I crawled out of the tent and was happy to find that even with lack of sleep my body had managed to rest and I wasn't as sore as I expected to be. After a quick breakfast we packed up camp and headed to the summit of our trip. On the way up the hill we looked down and found a pond which probably would have made a better camping spot but there was no way we would have found it in the dark.
Mike and I trucked along the trail as the day got warmer and warmer. I noticed I was drinking a lot more water than I had the day before. Finally I spotted my first wildlife of the trip in the middle of the trail - a horny toad. We pressed on with the plan for lunch at the next highway crossing we came to. The trail was beautiful but the sun was getting more intense and I just couldn't seem to get enough water, and I ran out just short of our lunch stop. Mike wasn't far behind me with just about half left in his bottle. Just as we were coming down the hill to the highway we ran into our second human encounter - a solo backpacker coming up the trail. I was excited to stop and chat with him about where he was going and what his journey was all about but he just commented about the weather and kept on going.

We found a shady spot for lunch and relaxed for a while. Every car that passed on the road we wondered if they had any water! As we loaded up the packs a group with two dogs pulled up and parked on the road. Mike commented on them having water and I said the chances were probably good since they had dogs. He wandered over ahead of me, and lucky us! They donated two bottles of water to our cause. They bounded up the trail ahead of us with the dogs and we regained a decent pace on the trail. Soon we caught up with them again in a shady spot and they wanted to make sure we had enough food and asked about the Spot devices we were both wearing. We said our goodbyes and carried on to finish the trail.

The sun seemed to get more and more intense with every step I took. Soon I was down to the last half of my donated water and wondering how I would make it to the end. We estimated we had about 2 more miles to go, but Mike spotted a water tank on the map ahead of us so we pressed on to find it. It seemed to take forever but we finally came to the tank at the bottom of the hill. I ran all around it looking for someway to access the water but there was no spout! Then out of the corver of my eye I spotted a small water trough off to the side filled with not only water, but rocks, slime, creatures and dead bugs...perfect! I could finally test out the new Katadyn water filter we got for christmas! I set it up and it could not have worked better - the water was crystal clear and tasted great. We both sat there on the tub for a while filling, drinking and re-filling our bottles again along with having a snack until we were satisfied.
From there the trail was pretty much a straight shot out on a closed forest road to the highway and our meeting point. I felt rejuvenated and picked up my pace a bit. Mike spotted some deer bounding across the road in front of us - our second wildlife encounter! We made a left turn which was the wrong was to go and ended up hiking about half a mile of the next trail section. After seeing our mistake we turned around and finally we could see the road. We made our way over the barbed wire fence and collapsed next to the road to wait for Susan. We were tired, dirty and sunburned - but happy we survived our first section of the AZT!!!

Hiking the Arizona Trail - Passage #5 - Day 1

2009-03-06T14:27:00.001-08:00

Last weekend Heidi embarked on the journey of the Arizona Trail!
After a couple of years of dreaming to hike the Arizona Trail, I finally stepped foot on to it! I've always wanted to do a thru-hike, but with work, school, Disabled Explorers, and life in general taking a month to a month and a half off just isn't possible. So late last year I teamed up with my friend Mike (Tibaal89) to come up with a plan to thru-hike but do it in sections. We will do sections on weekends, hopefully one a month, with Josh joining us when he can. At this rate it will take us years to finish, but its better than not doing it at all!
We continued to postpone the start of this plan for a couple of months due to lack of gear, lack of money to buy gear, wanting to get in shape, etc. At the beginning of February I finally said enough is enough lets just do it! So we picked a date, did some research and put it on the calendar.

Now you may be wondering if this is our first journey on the AZT, why is this Passage #5? Well we planned on beginning at the beginning, but in our research we came upon this on the AZT website: "01/2009 - The AZT along the AZ/Mexico border continues to be heavily impacted by illegal border crossers and drug smugglers. Large accumulations of litter, trash, discarded clothing and new 'wildcat' trails are commonly encountered along the trail. Trail users may meet illegal border crossers and are advised to not hike alone in these areas. Also, overnight users are advised to camp away from the trail as far as possible." There have also been numerous news articles you may have seen reporting on the violence not only at the border but in southern Arizona in general.

Due to concerns with our safety we opted to start our journey closer to Tucson at Passage #5 - The Santa Rita Mountains. There are about eight passages in total to get through the Tucson area so our hope is that by the time we complete those maybe the border violence will have calmed down and we can go back south. So we set out on a Friday morning to the Santa Ritas from Mike's apartment in Tucson. Our plan was to both drive and leave a truck at the end point, but when we arrived to the parking area we were not too keen on leaving either of our vehicles; there was a giant fence with a Road Closed sign and far too many locks on the gate. At this point I was also encountering an odd problem with the 4Runner where it wouldn't stay running if I switched gears or came to a stop. Our day was not starting out well. After heading into Sonoita for gas and lunch, checking out the parking area and investigating the 4Runner it was almost 1pm. We decided to go ahead and continue with the trip anyway since we had come that far and elected to park both trucks at the trailhead and have Mikes wonderful girlfriend Susan come pick us up at the end (thanks again Susan!).
Finally we were officially on the trail! We couldn't believe it, we both had been wanting to start this trip for so long and we were finally there! Since we had started so late our goal for the day was to just make it to Kentucky Camp by dark and stay the night there leaving extra mileage for Saturday. The trail was really well maintained with great signage marking your way and these little informational posts along the route. We only ran into one other person, a mountain bike chick who rode past us.

(Photo by Tibaal89)

It must have been our excitement to be on the trail because we arrived at Kentucky Camp around 3pm...5 miles in an hour and a half! We opted to have some lunch there and take in the sites of the camp. I had no idea this place even existed and it is definitely one of the coolest places I've seen so far. Kentucky Camp is a ghost town and former mining camp which is now maintained by the US Forest Service and a volunteer group called the Friends of Kentucky Camp. These people have single-handedly resurrected the camp into a fantastic place to visit. There is even a "Bed and No Breakfast" house which anyone can rent for $50 a night and includes electricity, running water, furnishings, an outdoor grill, sink, fire ring, shower and outhouse! The main larger building of the camp is equally as nice with a kitchen (complete with fridge) dining room, sitting rooms with futons and a beautiful wrap-around porch with plenty of seating.

(Photo By Tibaal89)

After signing the registration book and enjoying lunch we decided that we had done so well on our way to Kentucky Camp we could certainly make it another 2 miles to the halfway point and set up camp long before dark. We were wrong. I don't know if it was the food, our physical ability or what, but those last 2 miles seemed to go on forever. They were no more difficult than what we had just hiked, in fact most of the hiking was done on a dirt road, but we were beat down by the time we arrived. Planning on being there with more than enough time to set up camp and relax before dark, we rolled in just as the sun was setting. To make matters worse the area was covered in cow and horse poo in every direction. After wandering looking for a clear spot we just decided to set up right next to the road which was poo-free. Fortunately since it was a dead-end road there was no traffic to be seen. As soon as the sun went behind the hills the temperature dropped rapidly. The only thing we could do was quickly make dinner and crawl into our tents in hopes of keeping warm through the night.

(Photo By Tibaal89)

El Camino Del Diablo - Day 3

2009-03-05T15:37:00.000-08:00

Sunday was Presidents Day and our last day on the trail!
After another restful night in the RTT we woke up to the sun making magic on the rocks around us. After a breakfast of Mike's ultimate omelet scramble thingy and pancakes in a can we set off to finish up El Camino.
We headed back towards the other end of the Tinajas Atlas mountains near the initial camping spot to the tanks. Now when Lance kept mentioning the tanks I was expecting to see the same kind of tanks we had been seeing all weekend - big, round, metal. But a short hike revealed these were natural tanks carved into the mountain, kind of stacked on top of each other and when there is enough rain they can hold thousands of gallons of water....green sludgy water but water nonetheless!
The rock carvings in this area were truly amazing and there were a lot of fun areas to play around in. We enjoyed the few more desert flowers that were in bloom, said goodbye to our new Expo friends and parted ways. The other group had a very long drive back to California ahead of them, so they left on the main road out. We went off on a little more exploring around the mountains before continuing our journey.

Rather than head around the mountains we went just north of the Tinajas Atlas Pass through another unnamed pass, which provided the most technical part of the entire trip. Although there wasn't anything we couldn't handle it was fun to finally drive on something that wasn't a straight and flat sand road!
After spending well over an hour going through this pass and taking lots of pictures it was back to the flat sandy road and through the laser range. We came upon another emergency box becon and some spent smoke shells obviously left over from a military training exercise. This is the most excitement we would see in the area however, so we continued down the road on our way to Yuma.

On our way out we saw many many off-shoots and trails to go explore, but with a long drive back to Phoenix and Tucson and work the next day we decided to save it for another trip. You could probably spend a week on the El Camino and not see everything, so I'm sure we will be making another trip down here soon.

El Camino Del Diablo - Day 2

2009-03-04T13:07:00.000-08:00

Sunday would prove to be our longest but most enjoyable day on the trail.It never ceases to amaze me how much longer we can sleep in in the roof top tent compared to a regular ground tent. The thing is like a cave! So needless to say we slept in until about 8am on day two, but awoke to another pleasant day of weather.
We had a quick breakfast, broke camp and hit the road a but ahead of our new Expo friends we had run into. Technically you are only supposed to have four trucks in each group so they stayed far enough back to look like a different group, but thanks to HAM radio we were able to stay in contact with them. Soon after hitting the road we came upon the Boarder Patrol camp out in the middle of nowhere, with lots of communication antennas, supplies and cool tanker trucks! We also had an 80's dance party going on in the truck so Josh enjoyed 'dancing across the sand' all day long!
After leaving the BP camp we came across a neat section of lava fields known as Pinacate, and stopped for some pictures and for the other group to catch up. We spotted a strange yellow vehicle off in the distance, possibly on the other side of the border. Binoculars broke out but even then we couldn't quite tell what it was.
Moving on down the road we settled in for lunch at Tule Wells which included a casita and the Boy Scouts monument on a hill above. The story goes that it was a group of Boy Scouts that worked with the different agencies to help create the wildlife preserve.
Here is where I tell you more about the tires the Border Patrol uses to drag the roads. My off road friends, please get your Congressman on speed dial! By the time we made it to Tule Wells we had seen so many of these tires, used as signs, stacked up at the camp, and chained together for dragging. Who cares you might say? Well all of these tires are Goodyear MT/R's and many many of them are BRAND NEW! For those of you who don't know these are quite expensive off road tires, costing over $200 each...and here they are your tax dollars at work....being used to drag through the desert! If we'd had more room we would have grabbed some to bring home with us since these are what we run on the FJ....shame on you Border Patrol! SHAME!!
After lunch and a little exploring of the area, our California friends decided they wanted to head into camp early to relax and have a little siesta, so we briefly parted ways. As they took off towards camp at the Tinajas Atlas mountains, we headed toward Christmas Pass, a short little seven mile jaunt to what would be a really cool camping spot for future runs. We all climbed up the hills a little bit, and Josh climbed up the mountain there and got some high-up pics.
Following our detour we decided to get to camp so we could relax and rest before it got too dark. However when we arrived at the camping spot the other group wasn't there! Luckily we could raise them on the HAM and they had gotten lost and ended up on another trail not too far from us. We decided to head over to their location and check out their spot to see how it compared..and we are glad we did! They ended up at the end of a dead-end trail totally surrounded by the mountains and secluded. Before setting up camp we explored all the way to the furthest end point of the trail, where of course our friend Mike managed to find the one rock he could crawl his truck over!

We settled in for some Indian food dinner around the campfire, followed by another great night of story telling, party lights, beer and good company. We ended up with enough wood to build a house so the race was on to burn it all, which we didn't. We figured it would still be there if we ever returned!

El Camino Del Diablo - Day 1

2009-02-24T22:30:00.000-08:00

On the morning of February 14th we embarked on a journey that we had been waiting for over a year to take: El Camino Del Diablo, the Devils Highway.
We left our home Saturday morning and met up with our friend Lance, and another friend PJ who was joining us on the trip as a reporter for a feature on Disabled Explorers. We headed west out of Phoenix and then south to the town of Ajo, which is the last place of civilization before entering the Devils Highway.
El Camino Del Diablo has a vast history which began with Coronado hearing of a juncture of two major rivers some three to four weeks travel to the west of Caborca. He dispatched one of his captains, Melchoir Diaz, to lead a side expedition to investigate the report; Diaz assembled his party and supplies and set out across the desert. The hardships they encountered prompted them to name the route "El Camino del Diablo." Father Kino, a Jesuit priest, undertook the next major exploration of the area late in the 17th century. He mapped the area and located most of the water stops. Juan Bautista de Anza led 200 colonists from Tubac, Arizona, across part of the trail in 1775 on his way to found the city of San Francisco.

The gold hungry 49er’s are also a part of this historic route, although not fairing as well as the Spanish before them. With water holes three to four days apart, they struggled to carry enough water for people and animals, and most often crossed during the summer, when temperatures climbed to 120 degrees plus.

Today the trail is used by two main groups: people like us who enjoy the outdoors via 4 wheel drive, and the Border Patrol who endlessly drive back and forth on the trail looking for illegal immigrants and drug runners. This trail also cuts through the Barry Goldwater Range east of Yuma, which is used as training grounds for both the US Air Force and Marines.
After leaving Ajo, we started the trail and soon discovered some remnants left by the 49ers. It was amazing to see what was almost an endless sea of rusty cans and other supplies left behind. We pulled off the trail into a wash to stop for a lunch break and stretch our legs. Then it was back on the trail to find our first camp of the night.

Not long back on the trail we had our first encounter with the Border Patrol. All I can say is I hope those guys get paid a lot because that must be a boring job. They do this thing called 'dragging' where they attach a bunch of tires (more about THAT later) together and drag them down the road behind their truck. Then they come back later on and see if there are any footprints on the road from where people may have crossed. Then they drag again, check again....you get the picture. This guy didn't want us messing up his pretty smooth road so he let us drive over his tires and pass.
Our next adventure involved coming upon old WW2 runway mats that the Border Patrol stuck in random areas of the road to help keep the dust down. If you weren't paying attention they had the ability of slicing and dicing your tires so we had to drive with caution.
After chatting with yet another Border Patrol agent we finally came across this signal box. Somewhat controversial these are placed in a couple of areas to help people in distress, mostly illegals. We had a great time talking about it and how the picture on the box makes it look like if you press the button you will be electrocuted!
Also included in this journey was a crossing into the Cabeza Prieta Wilderness area, which is the third largest national wildlife refuge in the lower 48 states. All sorts of animals call this refuge home including bats, desert bighorn sheep, coyotes, and desert tortoises....but we didnt' see any! We did however find some other animals we know, that of Mike and Tim who had already spent the night and staked out the best camping spot at Papago Wells.
It was good to get out of the truck and relax a little. Soon coming down the road we saw a big brown van followed by two other vehicles....amazingly we had just run into a group we knew from Expedition Portal who were also camping that evening in the same location. We all walked down to the well, which is actually one of the few places you can get water in the area. After checking out some of the small wildflowers that were in bloom we settled in for dinner and a good nights rest before hitting the trail again in the morning.

Four Peaks Pickup 2/7/09

2009-02-20T21:24:00.000-08:00

On a beautiful day northeast of Phoenix, we ventured out on our first trip of the year to Four Peaks for the second annual Four Peaks Pickup.
*Sigh* Too long...it has been too long! I apologize to everyone for our lack of posts. We haven't been sitting around doing nothing; quite the opposite in fact, which is the main reason for our lack of updates. So lets get on with it!

On a Friday evening a few weeks ago we left our home and headed east to meet up with some fine folks who were gathering for a good cause. The cause was the second annual Four Peaks Pickup, organized by our friend Tim Huber (SOAZ). We arrived after dark to find a large crowd had already gathered and were eating dinner and chatting around the campfire. We took both trucks out and Heidi was quite happy to find three more 4Runners parked for the overnight stay.

We awoke early the next morning, just as the sun was coming up, to BEEP BEEP BEEP....another giant dumpster was being dropped off for the event. It was a chilly morning, and rain had been predicted for the weekend. After finally crawling out of the tent, we had a quick breakfast and began helping with the set-up.

The event was really well organized with maps of all the clean-up areas, communications, medical station, a raffle with some awesome prizes, free lunch and donations going towards Karma Racer and Disabled Explorers. Now, if you have never been out to this area it is one of the most beautiful, yet at the same time, most disgusting places in Arizona. It is unfortunate we live amongst a society of disrespectful and dangerous people who think nothing about throwing that beer can out the window, or dragging the old tv set out to the desert to shoot up...and leaving it there. Luckily we had Hunter from Hunter Offroad out there with us that day, who also happens to be a Sheriff's Posse member, to get the people to stop shooting while we cleaned up after them.
I just couldn't believe the mess that was out there. The pictures we have just don't do it justice. We were only able to snap a few because we were too busy raking, shoveling and picking up after thoughtless fools. We even had some there at one of the clean up sites who just stood there an watched us for at least half an hour without even lifting a finger!

After loading up about 30 bags of trash and running around to check on other sites, we headed back to base camp to help unload and have lunch. AZFJ had a huge turnout, about 35 trucks which was quite impressive! It was great to relax in the beautiful weather and chat with new and old friends alike. The trash just kept pouring it; the three large dumpsters were filled to capacity and the Forest Service had to call in their trash truck to take care of what was left. Finally it was time for the raffle, and although we didn't win anything it was still fun to watch.

Thanks again to Tim, Danica and everyone else who pitched in for this amazing event. Not a drop of rain or cloud showed up; we could not have asked for more perfect weather. In the end, 500 people from all walks of life came together to haul away 20 tons of trash!! Woo hoo!

AAWL Walk to Save the Animals 2008

2008-11-24T09:14:00.000-08:00

Our Saturday went to the dogs when we decided to join in on the Arizona Animal Welfare League's Walk to Save the Animals! We had originally planned to participate in the Phoenix Summit Challenge this day, but when someone posted up about this event on AZFJ we decided our time and efforts would be put to better use helping out the doggies....plus Caesar could participate with us!
We headed to Tempe Town Lake in the morning not sure exactly what to expect since we'd never done an event like this before. When we arrived at the parking garage, there were people, cars and dogs everywhere! And it only got more crazy the closer we got to the registration booth! I'm not sure how many people we were expecting to see, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't anywhere near how many were actually there!
We stood in line and got registered, got our goodie bags and then waited for the walk to start. Thanks to everyone who donated to us we raised $335! We relaxed on the grass and looked at all the cool dogs that were there, watched some herding dog tricks, and then finally started the walk.

We set out with intentions of doing only the 3K since it was going to be a little warm that day and Caesar isn't exactly a spring chicken. We stopped to pose for a picture with Baxter the Bobcat who is the Arizona Diamondbacks mascot. As we walked along the lake dogs were stopping for swims, and the organizers had water bowls and cookie stations set up which Caesar rather enjoyed.
As we were nearing the end of the 3K section, we spotted a little disabled explorer! A 3-legged wiener dog was hopping along at an amazing pace, blowing right through the 3K section and on to the 5K. Not wanting to be outdone by this little guy, Caesar pressed on to complete the 5K all the way around the lake! When we finished and returned to the park he collapsed in victory for a moment, then wandered over to the Petco display for more free treats.

After finishing the race and checking out the booths, we all walked down to Bisonwiches for a well deserved victory lunch! This event was a great success with over 1500 people, over 650 dogs, and almost $100,000 raised!! Thanks again to all who donated to us!!

SEMA/Hump N Bump 2008 Day 4

2008-11-14T09:35:00.002-08:00

The groups plan for Sunday was to sleep in, enjoy the morning, then head out across the Arizona Strip to Tuweep...but mother nature had something else in mind!

(photo by Tibaal89)

I was enjoying my Sunday morning coming down, when I half woke up to "shit!", followed by "damn it!", followed by slamming truck doors. I was starting to wonder what was going on, but then silence came so I drifted off to sleep again. A few moments later I was again awakened to cussing, rustling, slamming truck doors, and people yelling "grab the tents and move them over here!"; "hurry and get stuff out of here!". My mind began wandering....was that storm predicted for the night finally moving in? Was there a fire? I peered out of my roof top tent fully expecting an alien invasion or some other major tragedy. The problem? The sprinklers on the grass where everyone had their tents decided to come on and hose everyone down. Good thing I was 10 feet up in the air, ha ha!
After the sprinkler crisis, it was a little hard going back to sleep so it was another 6am morning. We took our time and enjoyed some coffee and talked about plans for the day. Lance had lost is Spot the day before so he was going to re-run the trail and look for it before heading back to Phoenix. But remember that storm I mentioned? It finally decided to move in on us from all directions! First with the dust, then with the rain it was another scramble to pack up camp. We checked several weather reports for where we were headed and it was nothing but rain, snow and below 20 temps. We decided to throw in the towel and head back to Phoenix with Lance.

Robert, our friend in the 4 Runner, suggested we at least take the scenic route home and go through Lake Mead. We said goodbye to Hump N Bump and after a quick breakfast at the local sports bar we were finally on our way somewhere. As we entered the Lake Mead area, the sky finally cleared and and we got to see how beautiful the area was. We came across some roadies and swerved around, not thinking much of it but then there was another...and another...and a water station...and more bikers! Before we knew it we were in a video game of dodging road bikers and oncoming traffic!When I thought we were about home-free, Lance came over the radio and said "stopping for downed biker!" and out of the corner of my eye I saw a crumpled mass of something on the side of the road. We all pulled over and ran up to the guy. I have to say I was kind of excited as this was my first real-life EMT experience! I'm glad Lance was there though, being that he is a trauma nurse he had the goody bag and all the practice I didn't. The poor soul we encountered was Bob Beretta who had the misfortune of swerving to avoid someone in the road and ended up going off and smashing into a mile marker sign, flying about 30 feet beyond that and landing on a rock....ouch.

(photos by Tibaal89)

He had short-term memory loss and was pretty cut up, but considering he smashed into a pole at about 20 mph he looked good! We checked him out, got all the info out of him we could and waited for the ambulance to come and take over until the med-vac chopper could arrive and get him out of there. By the time the ambulance got there the chopper was right behind so it was a quick transfer and Bob was off to the hospital in Henderson. Hopefully he is now doing ok and will be racing his next triathlon soon!

(photos by Tibaal89)

After that, it was a long journey home, playing tag with the rainstorm, harassing the rent-a-cops at the Hoover Dam who wanted to inspect my truck again (he didn't like it much when I asked him who he worked for), eating random pasta dinner in Kingman and running into this guy who was on his way to South America on a dual-sport....in the rain....yeesh.

SEMA/Hump N Bump 2008 Day 3

2008-11-14T09:35:00.001-08:00

We woke up early Saturday morning to join the crowd at Hump N Bump for the days trail run. After an early breakfast and some more time spent setting up the Camping Lab display, I needed to figure out who I was going to ride with on the trail. Tim's passenger seat was already occupied by Mike who's truck couldn't make it for the run, and there was no way I was going to spend the day in the back seat of the FJ Cruiser. My other option was one of the organizers, Brian who also drove an FJ, but as I was making my way to his truck a seat opened up in a 4 Runner. Since I've never even sat in one of the newer 4 Runners, let alone been on a trail with one, I took that option and roade with Robert. Lance didn't want to drive his truck either, so he caught a ride in a nice 80 Series Land Cruiser. We were off to the Bowl Trail!
I think the final count on this run was 31 trucks, which was totally insane. Not only is this not great for the environment, but it made the trail seem twice as long as it should have been because we had so many people. The scenery was beautiful though in the Valley of Fire and this trail ended up being a ton of fun. I would love to go back and do it again someday with fewer people.
There were a few optionals along the way, mostly tackled by the Jeep people, including this crazy s-turn that nothing but a Jeep would have made it through anyway. Our lunch entertainment included watching 6 trucks go through here without a scratch.

Towards the end of the trail we came to a wash area that had some rough spots but was not optional. I was hopping in and out of the 4 Runner taking pictures, and just as I got back in so we could take off, we got stuck! Spinning tires, flying dirt, and moving nowhere I decided to hop back out and take more pictures. Strapping occurred from the rear, to no avail and after a couple of attempts they finally switched to the front and got him off the rock. I stayed behind to watch the next few trucks go through the same section, then caught a ride with Tim in the back of the FJ. After riding back there for only 10 minutes, I discovered the hell that it is riding in the back of the FJ for too long!

After several hours out on the trail we returned back to the fairgrounds around 330 to relax before the big raffle. Camping Lab was this years top sponsor, so I was able to answer a few questions about the set-up, and hear from people who really hoped to win our Roof Top Tent in the raffle. For the most part however, this just wasn't the overlanding crowd, so I'm not sure we will be coming back as vendors next year.

After a BBQ dinner and the raffle, we stayed up chatting around the campfire and enjoying some adult beverages. We talked about land use, and the importance of the 4WD community getting out and being active at trail clean-ups and meetings, and staying involved before the trails get shut down. I finally headed off to bed around midnight, and I know we were all looking forward to finally sleeping in a morning!

SEMA/Hump N Bump 2008 Day 2

2008-11-14T09:34:00.000-08:00

Day 2 was Friday and the last day of SEMA. After drinking far too much the night before and sleeping 6 crammed into a hotel room, 630am came mighty early!
We packed up the hotel room and checked out at near dawn, and after breakfast at McDonalds (I could feel my arteries hardening), we drove over to the Las Vegas Convention Center for our last day at the booth. I had a chance to walk around and see some more cars and trucks, but never did make it over to the North Hall.

We did have another day filled with a ton of people stopping by the booth, including quite a few disabled people who seemed happy that we were there. We made a lot of contacts and overall I would have to say it was a successful event. The show ended at 4:00 that day, and thus began the mad dash to get everything packed up and the display truck out of the building by 4:30...otherwise we would be trapped there for hours!
We finally escaped and not a moment too soon. We headed south of the strip where I was finally able to fulfill one of my promises of the trip: all you can eat sushi! We gorged ourselves at Todai, then rolled back out to the trucks heading 60 miles north to Logandale, NV and Hump N Bump 2008. We arrived at the fairgrounds, sourrounded by Jeeps and their angry owners, massive RV's, and very loud country music! We set up camp and after Lance showed Mike the engineer how to operate the Pico chair, we settled in around the campfire for a good nights sleep.

SEMA/Hump N Bump 2008 Day 1

2008-11-11T18:04:00.000-08:00

Disabled Explorers was lucky enough to get a booth at this years SEMA show, so it was off to Vegas again!
I met up with Tim and Mike from Tucson, and Lance's son Nathan Wednesday night after I got off work at the college to head out towards Vegas so we could be there early Thursday morning to help Lance with the Disabled Explorers Booth at SEMA. The initial plan was to drive as far as Burro Creek which is about 2.5 hours outside of Phoenix and camp the night, but we felt good enough to keep going so we continued on towards Kingman. By the time we arrived there it was just after midnight, so we all pitched in for a hotel room and crashed. It was cold and windy, and we figured we would be doing more than enough camping on this trip after the show was over.
After a Denny's breakfast we continued on towards Vegas. Just outside the Hoover Dam we were stopped at a checkpoint and my truck was inspected because of the roof top tent. As we were leaving I noticed the "cops" badge and patch looked odd and didn't seem like any official government agency. After the brief molestation of my civil rights we stopped at the dam for some dam pictures.
Finally around 10am we made it to Vegas! After circling to find a parking space for a while we made it in to the SEMA show. As you may well know there were cars and trucks everywhere, and I noticed quite a lot more off road vehicles than before. The Disabled Explorers Booth was inside the South Hall in a great location with lots of traffic. Lance was planning on not being at the booth much Friday, so he sent us out to look around and take pics.
Just down the booth from us was Baja Racks and Overland Journal, both which we have known for a while, along with Toyota, ARB, and a bunch of cool trucks.
By 5pm the show was over for the day so we headed to the hotel to drop off our stuff, and then to the SEMA Meet N Greet party at a house that was being rented by some of the vendors. We had a great time here just hanging out and chatting with everyone and finally meeting some people that we only knew through the boards.

NYC/DC Adventure Day 9

2008-10-31T23:47:00.000-07:00

Saturday was our last day in Washington DC so we had to make the most of it!
We hitched a ride in to DC with David as he was on his way to the boat show in Annapolis that day, so we were solo in our nations capitol. We had tickets to the White House and had to be there at a certain time so we rushed across the street only to find out there was a no bags, no cameras, no nothing policy! The rangers told us we had up to an hour and a half to report for our tour and the Natural history Museum was the closest place we could store our bags, so we were off! As we were leaving, they started shutting down streets and gates, and we heard a cop say it would probably only be like that for 20 minutes or so...obviously Bush was on the move. We hiked down, stored our stuff and hiked back only to find everything was still shut down. Ok, so we stood there for a while, watched a few high profile cars go in (I swear I saw the Secretary of the Treasury, still nothing. We decided to finally take a load off on a bench and over an hour later we were let back in. We get checked off the list, go through security and finally get into the White House. We were kind of wandering around and following the crowd when josh finally asked if we should be waiting for a tour guide, but oh no this was a self guided tour...of 4 rooms! We were in and out in 10 minutes! It was so lame! And I have no pictures! Moral of the story: don't tour the White House!

On to more exciting things of the day, we decided to walk back over to the International Spy Museum, and on our way we ran into Navy Day! It was the Navy's birthday and they had some fun stuff going on at the Navy Memorial so we decided to stop and check it out. It was awesome! They had a bunch of vehicles there, and we were able to chat with some of the Corpsmen and hear about all the cool gear they use in the field. I even got to try on about 30% of what they wear in the warzone. Not as heavy as I thought it was going to be, but it was only 30%! We also got there just in time to see the Drill Team perform and they were amazing! I don't know how people do that stuff. We grabbed some pizza for lunch then checked out the Navy robots there and got to talk to some SEALS who were showing off their diving gear and crazy guns, which Josh loved.

After Navy Day, we finally made it to the Spy Museum, and it was crowded! We waited at least a half hour to get in but it was pretty neat once we finally got there. The place was seriously huge and seemed to go on forever with actual spy equipment, spy stories, artifacts, lots of interactive stuff and went through all the way to modern day events. We highly recommend it!
When we were finished learning how to be spies, we went over to see some final monuments. We walked past the Washington Monument, the odd monument that it is, then along the reflecting pool visiting with more DC squirrels on our way to see the Vietnam Memorial. Maybe its the letters left by friends and family, maybe its the veterans still hanging out telling stories, but this memorial is probably the most moving in DC next to Arlington. We spent quite a bit of time here reading all the letters from random school kids and stories that were left by loved ones.
As the sun was setting we went to visit Mr. Lincoln, and sat on the steps with about a hundred other people enjoying the beautiful weather and reflecting on our last day of vacation. We met back up with David and saw one last monument before leaving DC: Albert Einstein.

Sunday came with not a lot of time to do much so before heading to the airport, so we slept in and enjoyed some local breakfast before driving out to BWI. On our way we stopped at the NSA to see if the museum was open, which it was not. We were followed by the men in black and monitored as we looked around the plane display. When they figured we weren't a threat or spies (if only they knew!) they decided to leave and we were on our way back to Phoenix.

NYC/DC Adventure Day 8

2008-10-31T21:49:00.000-07:00

Friday came with another full day in DC and lots to see!
Our day began back in DC at Representative Harry Mitchell's office in the Rayburn building, where we had to meet up for our tour of the Capitol. We were the first to arrive so we were able to look around his very spacious office and get to know him a little better by what he had there...including some interesting reading material. Unfortunately the Congressman was back in Arizona on the campaign trail so we didn't get to see him, but his office staff were very cool and friendly. Josh even got to see what it was like to be a Congressman for a day!

Off we went on our tour, which was lead by an intern. Luckily we had a pretty small group without a ton of small children, which we later found out the intern was very grateful for! He was able to tell us a lot of fun facts and knew all the history so the tour ended up being really great. We saw some interesting things like the giant ornate doors ordered for the building but were the wrong size so they were randomly stuck into a wall in the capitol, the rotunda, the original Supreme Court Chamber and the House Chamber in which you have to go through a massive amount of security just to see. We also got to experience the 'whisper' spots that I had been telling Josh about.

After the tour, we walked over to the Library of Congress which neither of us had been in before. It was a very beautiful building and I can only imagine how awesome it would be to go and do homework there everyday, and summon someone to go find the book you need. They even have internets!

Next it was over to the Supreme Court building where we were hoping to catch a debate since the court was actually in session. We were there too late though, as the actual hearings only happen in the mornings! There was this very strange character walking around though, obviously foreign and taking strange pictures and video so I decided to snap a picture of him...you know, just in case.

After the Supreme Court, David decided to take us on a little walking tour of some smaller monuments, but because they were setting up the capitol for Inauguration Day (already!)some were under construction and some we didn't get to see at all. We settled for the Grant Monument and as the day was drawing to a close decided to take the metro up to Arlington National Cemetery.

I agree with David when he says this should be the monuments to all the wars. He also mentioned how on Sundays you could come down and see funeral after funeral of the current Gulf War dead. I think its really too bad that this is not an image shown on television every day, but I digress. We headed up to the Kennedy's graves, which have also changed a lot since I was there last. I guess the Kennedy's own that entire part of the cemetery now, and there are nice water features and stone.

Then we went to visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (which is falling apart) and how lucky were we to get there just in time for the changing of the guard. Very, very cool ceremony.

After it was over the Sargent let us know that it was 5:00 and Arlington was now closed and a base of the US Army so we had to leave. We hopped on the metro and headed back to Virginia.

NYC/DC Adventure Day 7

2008-10-30T08:29:00.000-07:00

Thursday ended up being somewhat unplanned and impromptu, but we had a great time anyway!
We began the day with the tour of the archives which included the Magna Carta, Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, and other various written artifacts. On our way we passed by the first FDR Monument outside the archives, which by what David said was exactly what he wanted: "something no bigger than my desk". I guess that wasn't good enough for the rest of us!
Next it was off to the American History Museum, but when we got there it was still closed for remodeling! They apparently have been pushing the date for the re-opening back for a while, so we wandered next door to the Natural History Museum. This was a pretty interesting place but I think a better museum for kids than adults. They did have an awesome fish display, and I managed to find two living fossils!

Our next stop for the day was the old Post Office for some lunch and a quick tour of the bell tower. I cannot believe it but we had some really great 'fast food' sushi and Japanese food at the food court! The view from the bell tower was pretty good and a great free way to see DC from above.
Our final stop of the day was over to the International Spy Museum, but we got there just a little too late and they had already sold the last tickets for the day. The shop was still open though so we spent a good hour wandering through it and looking at all the neat things they had for sale. We even found a spy!

NYC/DC Adventure Day 6

2008-10-28T22:26:00.000-07:00

After a slow start to the morning, we decided that we wanted to see guns...lots of guns.

So off we ventured to Fairfax, Va to visit none other than the NRA Headquarters. I must say I never thought I would step foot in the NRA building, especially on a vacation, but I'm glad we did! Although I'm not sure they would have let us in if they knew we were vegetarian!
It was guns, guns, and more guns! And...lightsabers? Yes there was an original prop Luke lightsaber on display. I had no idea this qualified you for membership into the NRA. The museum we went through was actually really cool and a fantastic history on weapons and America. They had everything from a matchlock rifle that came over on the Mayflower, to Revolutionary War through Gulf War, old west, hunting, and police weapons. They even had a huge display of an actual working Coney Island target 'arcade'. I can't believe I'm saying this but if you are ever in Fairfax, go see the NRA museum!
After spending several quality hours with guns, we headed into DC to get in some monuments. Our first stop was the newer FDR monument, which has expanded even more since I was there last. They finally decided to add a statue of him in a *gasp* a wheelchair, along with lots of water features and a statue of his lovely Elanor. But we didn't care about any of that, we just wanted our picture with Fala!!

Our next stop was a quick one at the George Mason monument. For those of you who don't know, Mason refused to sign the United States Constitution, because it did not abolish the slave trade. Here, he and David ponder the meaning of life...or maybe whats for dinner.
Next it was off to the Jefferson Memorial, which is sinking, so its a good thing we fit it in. They have re-routed part of the sidewalk and edge of the monument because of its sinking into the tidal basin, so I'm curious to see what will happen to it! It's a beautiful monument.
We continued on around the tidal basin to the World War Two monument. I cannot put into words how spectacular this monument was! It was beautiful, and every aspect of it was well thought out, and its HUGE! Here you see Josh taking pride in his home state of Montana, where the only 'no' vote was cast for the US to enter WW2.
Unfortunately it was getting dark, and we ran out of sight-seeing time, so it was off to dinner and back to Alexandria to spend another evening poring over David's extensive book collection.

NYC/DC Adventure Day 5

2008-10-23T21:57:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning was an early rise and goodbye to New York City as we caught the train out of Penn Station on our way to Washington DC.

We arrived at Union Station in DC in the early afternoon, greeted by Josh's Uncle David who was kind enough to drive in and pick us up. We headed downstairs to the food court for lunch where we had 'fast' Indian Food...and it wasn't too bad! We didn't have a lot of time to see much this day, as all the museums had switched over to winter hours, but we did make it into the Air and Space Museum. We were once again very fortunate to have a wonderful tour guide in David, who really should be working at the museum for his retirement! We got some great history on the various rockets and planes, along with some inside stories on super spy stuff!

After the museum we headed to Alexandria and walked around the historic downtown, then had some great Thai food. The weather was chilly but otherwise beautiful, and as night fell we returned to Davids house to chat and relax for the night.

NYC/DC Adventure Day 4

2008-10-23T20:40:00.001-07:00

Monday finally brought a bit of sunshine, and our last full day in New York.
There were a lot of things we wanted to do or see so we headed out early, back downtown to catch the boat out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. There were a ton of people who had the same idea that day and strangely enough we kept running into people who were from Phoenix.
We arrived at Liberty Island and walked around. They are still letting you go into the base of the statue, but they only give out so many tickets a day and we didn't get any so we didn't get to go in. We took the obligatory 'we were here' shots, checked out the merch store and got back in line for the boat. We only spent about a half hour on the island, but we had read that you should expect 3-4 hours for the entire trip....we were about to find out why. We stood in line not long at all waiting for the next boat to arrive, but just as we were about to board they stopped the line because the boat was full. People were furious, but we were told there would be another boat in about 15 minuets. By that time the line had tripled and there must have been several hundred people waiting. We made it on to the next boat but not soon after they cut off the line again. We were on our way next to Ellis Island, where you could get off and tour around or stay and return to NY. As we pulled up we saw an even more monstrous line than the one before, so we decided to skip Ellis Island and just stay on the boat. All in all our journey was about 3 hours, but I can't imagine when we would have gotten back if we had stayed at Ellis Island!
After getting back it was time for lunch, so we caught the train up to Chinatown. We found a great vegetarian Chinese food place called Vegetarian Paradise, and it certainly was! After lunch we stopped by the Eastern States Buddhist Temple and couldn't resist going into one of the many Chinese bakeries we passed. Then it was over to Confucius Plaza for some enlightenment.
We decided since it was on the way we would hit up Kidrobot again and walk around NYU some more. We were hoping to meet up with Denny again for dinner, so we took the train back up to Time Square this time so we could see it at night.

We checked out some shops and found out Denny wasn't going to meet us, so we went over to the Empire State building just before it closed. It was a great time to go because it wasn't crowded at all and the view at night is spectacular. Not sure its worth the price, but amazing anyway.

By this time it was almost midnight and we hadn't eaten dinner, but this is New York! We finally found that hole in the wall pizza joint we had been looking for and enjoyed a late night bite before heading back to the hotel to pack for our train trip to DC.

NYC/DC Adventure Day 3

2008-10-22T10:09:00.000-07:00

Sunday brought #32 for Josh, a little overcast weather and another adventure through the city. We were left to our own devices this day and decided to head downtown to see what we could find.

We were both so exhausted from the previous two days we decided to sleep in a little. Once we got moving the plan was to take the train downtown and check out the Brooklyn Bridge, but when we left our hotel we walked right out into a street fair! The city had several blocks along Lexington Ave. shut down so we decided to see what it was about. We got some great smoothies for breakfast from a vendor, there was artwork, music, lots of food and various items for sale. We also saw some more great architecture.
We decided the bridge could wait and that it was time for some NY pizza, so we took the train back down to the Village and hit up Arturo's. The food was great and they had a little jazz duo of piano/bass playing while we ate. After lunch it was time to make the trek up the Brooklyn Bridge. It was crowded up there but the view was great and the weather perfect!

We then headed over to City Hall, had some very strange ice cream, and walked up to the the World Trade Center site. We were very happy to see that it is no longer just a big hole in the ground and actual progress is being made. You can actually see some buildings starting to form! They had huge posters up saying 2012, so its still another 4 years but at least it seems the bickering is over.

Looping around to the back we found ourselves by the Manhattan Yacht Club where a ton of people were out enjoying the afternoon walking, running, rollerblading and just relaxing by the water. We also saw the Stars and Stripes parked along the dock. We sat and enjoyed the scenery for a while then walked along the pier down to Battery Park.

We decided since it was free it might be fun to take the Staten Island Ferry to get some different views of the city. On the way back it was dark so we got some great views of NY all lit up and just as we were pulling in they were having some kind of fireworks display...for Josh's birthday of course!!

NYC/DC Adventure Day 2

2008-10-21T12:26:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the big 3-0 for Heidi! After some tasty yogurt/strawberry/banana/granola breakfast we were off to meet Fritz who was kind enough to spend his Saturday touring us around.

Our first stop was MOMA, but along the way Josh was taken by the amazing Gothic architecture of various churches and cathedrals we saw.

We headed in to MOMA which was crowded but interesting. They had an entire display of cool modern pre-fab homes and models which was quite interesting, including an entire metal house from the early 1950's. Probably wouldn't work too well in Phoenix, but it was neat. We saw some interesting photography and industrial design, including a helicopter hanging from the ceiling.

After MOMA it was back to the streets and our guided tour. It was really great having Fritz along, he knew so much about the city and we really got to see a lot. Along our way we passed by St. Patrick's and decided to go in and see more of the Gothic stylings of the church. We were very lucky to be there right when they were having a wedding so we were able to hear the unbelievable organ play and witness part of the ceremony.

Then we headed over to FAO Schwartz just to check out the largest toy store in the world, and the Big piano of course. Along the way we saw the strange underground Apple Cube store....those New Yorkers sure love their Apple stuff!

After checking out all the cool Harry Potter stuff, Fritz took us down to a skyway commuter that goes over to Roosevelt Island. Not much to see on the island itself, but for a Metro fare you get a great view of the city from above. Luckily there was a prayer booth for Josh to utilize before we got on the tram!

Then we headed down to the village to take a rest stop at a cool little beer garden. We snacked on some fried pickles, cucumbers, and french fries before continuing our tour through the city.
We hit up KidRobot for some birthday shopping and spent the rest of the evening wandering into and out of shops along NYU/Washington Square. As the night drew to a close we headed to what ended up being not very good Indian Food for dinner, then headed back to our hotel to recover from the days death march around the city!

NYC/DC Adventure Day 1

2008-10-21T11:30:00.000-07:00

For our 2008 Birthdays we decided it would be fun to change things up from our regular outdoor adventures, and head back east to NYC & DC!

Our adventure began by taking the red eye flight to NYC on a Thursday. This was our first experience flying Jet Blue and I have to say it was great! They didn't charge us extra for our bags, we had about 4 inches of extra leg room and satellite TV and radio the whole way there! The only downside was that neither of us got much, if any sleep on the plane so by the time we got to NY we were zombies.

We were hoping to check in to our hotel early, but the said to come back at 3pm, thus began our zombified adventure around the city. First things first....breakfast! The concierge at our hotel recommended a greasy spoon down the street and it was just what we needed. The food was great, and we were off on our next adventure to Central Park.

We decided to walk, and along the way we ran into Times Square, which is much cooler at night but still a sight to see at anytime. Finally we made it to the park, and I think we were both ready to take a nap on the grass. But the first of many NY squirrels were there to keep us entertained.

We made our way over to Strawberry Fields and relaxed on a bench, did some people-watching and reflected on the life of John Lennon and what a tragic loss it was. By this time it was around 1pm and we really needed sleep so we decided to head back to the hotel. On the way we passed the Dakota where Lennon was shot and Heidi was able to share some of her Beatle trivia with Josh, which always makes her happy!

We arrived back at the hotel to find our room was ready and not a moment too soon. We were planning on meeting Josh's friend Fritz for dinner that night, and then going to his other friend Denny's club so we really needed the rest! After about a 5 hour nap we headed to Grand Central Station to catch the train back over to Columbus Circle to meet up with Fritz and his girlfriend who took us to a wonderful vegetarian restaurant called Counter. The food was amazing! After dinner we strolled around the city for a bit a headed over to Denny's club. None of us were in the mood to party all night long, but we stayed for a few drinks and the boys spent some time catching up before we returned to The Roosevelt for a full nights sleep!

Lower Salt River Clean-up and HamFest!

2008-10-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

With a small break from school its time to finally catch up on the blogging! Let's begin with a little Saturday adventure back in September that consisted of some good deeds and geeky fun!
The morning started out in the east Valley at the lower Salt River, where the Forest Service was having their annual clean-up. After a month-long attempt to gather people from the off-road community for this service project, only Disabled Explorers showed up! We joined many other groups out there that day including a Boy Scout troop and Bank of America.
Lance even managed to get a little air time for DE! We hiked along for a bit on the east side of the river but didn't find much trash, so we crossed the bridge and headed to the west. Surprisingly, there wasn't much trash there either! Considering this is the largest public tubing area in Phoenix we expected to find all sorts of nasty things, but I guess the tubing company is doing a better job at keeping it clean these days. Each of us only came away with about 3/4 of a bag of trash!

It was a little on the hot side, but otherwise a beautiful clear day. After a couple hours of trash hunting it was time for lunch. Lucky for us the Forest Service was kind enough to provide it. They had a ton of good stuff from hot dogs, hamburgers, (veggie burgers too!), fresh fruit and veggies, cookies and about 40 different kind of drinks from water, to soda to power drinks. Thanks again to the Forest Service they did an amazing job putting on this event!
After chatting it up with some of the folks there and letting our Owl friend know we gave a hoot, it was off to the 2008 Ham Radio Convention where Josh was already spending his morning geeking out and playing with the knobs on $10,000 radios!

Photo By Tibaal89

Forest Service meeting with Disabled Explorers

2008-09-12T21:44:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Heidi ventured up to northeastern Arizona with the rest of the Disabled Explorers crew for an open house land meeting with the Forest Service. We thought it was important to take advantage of the only Friday meeting they had on the schedule to chat with them about the importance of keeping the off road trails open and accessible to the handicapped.
We started our journey Friday morning by meeting up with our newest member of the board, Corbin. We checked out his cool new camper and truck and headed out on the Beeline towards Payson. After reaching our first unofficial stop it was time for some Chinese buffet at Mandarin House. Well, the German chocolate cake was good!

We continued our journey through Heber and Show Low and were on the home stretch to Springerville when we ran into road construction. We weren't going to let that stop us though. Mike found a route down and around on a county road, and thinking we had out smarted the construction we tried to pull back on to the highway only to be stopped again and told we needed to wait for the pilot car. Again, we turned around and the adventure continued on some forest roads that looked like they hadn't seen a lot of action lately. Eventually we found our way to the Whiting Homestead and we were soon back on the road to Springerville!

We made it to the Forest Service office just in the nick of time! It really ended up working out great though because we were the only ones there and we had their full attention. The rangers and other employees were so excited to see us! They came walking out of the center as soon as we parked, so Lance proceeded to give them a tour of his truck and tell them what Disabled Explorers is all about. It really turned out to be a positive meeting for everyone, with the Forest Service giving us a lot of great information and understanding where we were coming from. We will be setting up a trail clean-up event with them sometime in the spring.

After our meeting and some pizza we headed out to camp the night at Hawley campground. It was a nice small campground, but I'm doubting it will be there for much longer, as there is now a very close, very busy road running right next to it with homes being built less that 100 yards away. Too bad, but there are a lot of other great camping areas to utilize in the White Mountains.

The next day we slept in, had some breakfast and were off on our long journey back to Phoenix. We decided to hit up some trails along the way near Payson, the first being the Black Canyon Trail. This was rated as a scenic 9/10 in the Backcountry Adventures Arizona book, but it really goes to show how peoples opinions can very.

It was a nice area and the day was beautiful, however I'm not sure the trail rating was justified. We came across some interesting areas though, including a small graveyard belonging to the Baca family. The gravestones looked pretty new but were all over 30 years old with most being from the late 1800's. After finishing up most of the trail it was time to stop for lunch next to the lake and enjoy the day.

After lunch we headed for trail #2 of the day, the beautiful Rim Trail just outside Payson. Not a hard trail by any means, however extremely scenic with great views from atop the Mogollon Rim. This was definitely a 9/10! At our first stop, Corbin decided to do some off roading of his own down some rock ledges. He almost made it, but got a pinch flat as he landed. No worries, Mike came to the rescue with his bike tire patch kit and we were on our way again.

The trail took about 3 hours to finish up, where we found some amazing campsites along the way. As the day wound to a close we headed back into Payson for dinner and then on to Phoenix to finish our adventure.

AZFJ Lake Party

2008-08-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

After taking the last month off since the FJ Summit, we finally decided it was time for another run. Our friend Lance organized an AZFJ Lake Party out at Saguaro Lake this past Saturday. It was hot, it was dusty, but it was fun!
We headed out Friday night to meet up with some other friends who were planning on camping the night at one of the lake coves. Neither Josh nor I had spent much time out at this lake before, let alone off-roading out there so it was all new to us. We arrived a little before 7p and found another lost soul, Tim from Tucson. Luckily we both had laptops in our trucks so he was able to give us his GPS coordinates so we could find him.

Our mission was to make it to the cove that Lance had picked out and we didn't think that would be a problem since we had the GPS coordinates for that as well. Boy, were we wrong. By this time it was dark and we just couldn't figure out how to get to where we needed to go. For anyone who has not been out to this area, picture the desert with nothing but ridges and sandy washes with tracks going everywhere! We couldn't see a thing down these ridges and didn't realize you had to drive very far north on a ridge, then turn and drive back south on another ridge, just to head in an east or west direction. Needless to say we were out there wandering for hours...but at least we were lost together! We finally managed to pick up Lance on the HAM radio, got directions to the cove and set up camp. By this time it was midnight and time for dinner. It was a comfortable night sleeping in the tent with the windows and doors open...until the sun came up!
We woke up Saturday morning at 6am to extremely loud rap music being played by one of the boats out on the lake. After they went away it was time for breakfast and to head back to the trail head to meet everyone else. We ended up with 7 trucks for the morning, having fun running around the ravines and washes. Then we headed back to camp for lunch, and truck talk. Just as we were packing up to leave, another 2 FJ's found us! We paused for the obligatory group picture then headed out for more play time around the area. After all day in 105 degrees +, we called it a day around 5pm and headed home.

Colorado Adventure Day 9

2008-07-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

Saturday was our last official day at the Summit. We were supposed to do a 745a Black Bear run, but we were pretty much just burned out by this point, and after hearing that the Trail Teams were leading the run and taking their sweet time, we decided to sleep in and spend the day hanging around the Summit HQ.

I'm left to wonder who actually went on that trail run because there were supposed to be about 5 AZFJ members who all ended up bailing out or not being able to attend. We thought about doing a mine tour that day or going up to Montrose to catch the new Batman flick, but when we went outside we discovered they were allowing all the vendors to set up there at the BW. The previous days we had been banished to this field across the street where we were blocked from being seen by the giant TRD truck, so we jumped on the opportunity and set up our Camping Lab stuff!
I was kind of bummed about being stuck there all day, but it ended up being a good thing. A lot of people had decided to skip out on trail runs so we were actually able to finally talk to people not only about the Camping Lab products but just chat in general. Later in the day our buddy Bob from California who has gotten into building off-road trailers brought one down and set it up with our display (he includes Camping Lab products as options with his trailers). Soon we had a whole team of people there helping us!
Finally people started arriving back from their trail runs and the place got packed. The massive dinner line formed but we just ordered a pizza since there weren't any options for us. Metal Tech did a great job sponsoring the dinner that night though, as all the food looked tasty and they went over the top by giving away free beer, which people love.
As it got closer to raffle time the dark clouds started rolling in but it didn't rain for long. We'd found out the previous day in Telluride after lunch that both of Mike's front shocks had basically imploded and were leaking. Come Saturday morning they were pretty much dead along with one of his rear shocks. He ended up working out a deal with All Pro who happened to have a complete set of Fox 2.5 suspension there with them. Paying no attention to the raffle, he and Josh were up until 3am putting the new suspension on.

As for the raffle, I was left to listen for the numbers through the crowd of 500+. It started out a little rough, but they finally got it together. Lance ended up winning a fuzzy hat, Jeff was left in charge of checking tickets for Kurt who won one of our awnings, and we won a Toytec lift.

Needless to say with the boys out there playing mechanic until 3am, we didn't make it up in time for the 645am group picture. We met up with Lance and Jeff and families, had some breakfast Sunday morning and then rolled out of town. We were sad to see Colorado go and spent the next 11 hours thinking of ways that we could all just turn off the road to Phoenix and keep going somewhere new. In the end that million dollar epiphany never came to us and responsibility won out. Until the next adventure.....

Colorado Adventure Day 8

2008-07-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

Friday morning ended up being another mad AZFJ run! Mike (Tibaal89) decided to join us with Jeff (Cactus Cruizer) as his co-pilot, and when we ended up with no trail leader showing up they took over the gunning spot for us. We stepped up as trail leaders for the day and subjected a group of 5 to a run up Imogene Pass.
After doing the monster run on Alpine Loop the day before, we were happy to be in a small group of people who had no interest in doing another 10 hour day. We headed out at 9am to probably the most beautiful trail we have ever been on. Imogene starts out right close to Ouray, so we didn't have to drive far to begin our journey.
After a few miles of pavement we finally began our climb through mountain shelf roads, wonderful mountain views and a few water crossings. The sun was out with only a few clouds in the sky, and we took our first break at what looked like an old cabin, next to a waterfall. Here we caught up with Shane 4x4 who puts together the FJC online magazine. He and his wife were out taking pictures that day, so maybe we will see our group published in the next issue!

Our climb continued up through fields of green sprinkled with wildflowers, combined with more slick rock. As we got higher, we started seeing less green and a lot more snow. We played tag all the way up with a couple of jeeps, and after a few little climbs we made it to the top!

The view was amazing, with no rain you could just start to see Telluride below us. At the top we came across another run-down structure, but the mailbox was in tact so we had to leave our mark!

One of the folks in our group started getting a little altitude sickness, so we sent them down the mountain to meet up with us later. We thought about camping at the top, but then we started getting hungry, so we decided to head into Telluride for lunch.
The way down became more and more interesting as we kept coming across hikers! They were everywhere! What is wrong with these people, don't they know how high it is up there? We also encountered a Jeep, a Suburban and a Titan who all decided they wanted to run the trail the wrong way that day. Eventually we got around them, caught up with our altitude-issue friends, and had some of the best Thai Food ever at Siam in Telluride. Seriously, go here.

After a long lunch break enjoying the sights and sounds of Telluride, we decided to head back to Ouray via Ophir Pass. As we began our trip back, the clouds once again rolled in and became gray. I guess we just couldn't escape one day without rain! Luckily Ophir was not a difficult nor long trail.

We made it back in the middle of a rain storm, around 4pm. Finally the clouds started to clear and just as quickly as the rain began it was gone again. We had enough time to socialize a bit and check out some more trucks before heading off to dinner with a few of the AZFJ crew to Billy Goats Gruff.