I'm back from vacation! It's a bit of a challenge to step away from my routine, especially when that routine involves eating and exercising (and tracking such things to ensure progress), but I managed to do it AND enjoy myself AND not worry about it!
Short story: I flew to Denver July 1st (buckle your seat belts, Denver has dreadful turbulence) and drove back home on the 17th. We mountain biked, hiked, camped, stayed with family, stayed at a B&B and sadly did not get to go river rafting. The river was raging and I was told I would not be a happy camper if I were submerged and getting pummeled with icy, class 4 rapids. Read on for the long story…
1st leg: Denver, CO, July 1st -5th. We stayed with a friend who was camping with us at the first spot, so most of our time was taken up with planning for the impending camping trip and the fourth of July. Denver is hot, and about 8,000’ higher in elevation than what I’m used to so breathing and exercising were quite challenging. Eating healthy was easy because our friend has a garden (hello, salad!) and we had quick access to numerous grocery stores. Exercise was more of a challenge due to the heat. We managed to squeeze in one early-morning mountain bike ride on the Green Mountains (burning around1500 calories), and one late night Fit Deck workout in which I was eaten alive by mosquitoes. We also hiked to the top of the Green Mountains on the 4th to watch fireworks across the city. On the last day we had the pleasure of experiencing a power outage in 90-degree heat, which obviously warrants a trip to the ice cream parlor, right?
2nd leg: Taylor Park, July 5th – 7th. Er, it was supposed to be Taylor Park, but you have to drive via a mountain pass to get up there and it was a dark, ominous sight. We decided to drive away from the storm clouds and ended up at Curecanti National Recreation Area in Gunnison, CO. Here we experienced our second power outage of the trip at the visitor’s center (is this trip cursed?) Curecanti has some primitive campsites along Soap Creek Road and I have to say out view was beautiful! Biking was only allowed along the main road, so we did a short ride (an hour or two) and later hiked along the lake.
Our campsite in Curecanti.
3rd leg: Mesa Verde National Park, July 7th - 10th. This was one of my favorite places to visit because it incorporated nature and culture, they offered self-guided tours, ranger-led tours, and the showers were free. The check-in clerk (yes, like a hotel) also tipped us off to Phil’s World, a fun house of mountain biking adventures…because there were no bike paths in the park. Alas. Oh, there might also be bears roaming around, so we should keep out food in the car. No bear boxes? OK…We drove out to Chapin Mesa, stopping at overlooks along the way and partaking in a few short hikes. We toured the Spruce Tree House, Cliff Palace, and hiked the Petroglyph Point Trail the full day we were there. On our way out of town we stopped at Phil’s World, which was far more technical than I was skilled, but it was fun to try the legendary course.
View of Cliff Palace
4th leg: Valley of the Gods, UT, July 10th - 12th. Another change of plans! I wanted to stop by the Four Corners, until I looked it up & saw it was $15 just to stand there. No pony rides, just $15 to exist in a certain spot! We managed to see Shiprock before the clouds obscured everything; what an amazing sight! Valley of the Gods is literally in the middle of nowhere, and the B&B was run on imported water, solar panels, windmills, and a vegetable oil powered truck. It was fantastic, and the best breakfasts I’ve ever had at a B&B. It was too hot to explore the valley, so we drove up the Moki Dugway and hiked Natural Bridges in Utah. Fun fact: We both forgot our wallets and ID’s that day so we had to rummage around the car for $6 in change to enter the park. The nearest town was Mexican Hat, so we had to visit the hat (a natural rock formation shaped like an upside down sombrero) and try some local food. I ordered trout for the first time and it was quite the substantial meal: 1/2 a trout, a salad, a baked potato, corn, and two pieces of toast. Why so many carbs? And why such weak beer in Utah? I tried a stout that was merely 4% ABV.
Our temporary abode at Valley of the Gods B&B
5th leg: North Rim Grand Canyon, July 12th - 15th. We drove through Monument Valley, but it was pouring rain so we couldn’t take any pictures. Thus far, it’s rained every single day of our trip! Running low on fuel, food and ice we had to stop in Page, AZ, the last big city before our descent into the canyon and the location of power outage # 3, right in the middle of our lunch break at a restaurant. We had to wait in town until the gasoline pumps came back on so we could fuel up and continue driving. I was surprised at how far one has to drive to get into the Grand Canyon, it’s world famous yet it takes at least an hour to get into the park. We stayed at the North Rim campground, the “quieter” side of the canyon that surprisingly houses a guest lodge, a bookstore, numerous gift shops, and a handful of places to eat.. I was a bit disappointed with the lack of biking trails…there was one, to be exact, about two miles in length. We hiked a 5-mile loop overlooking the canyons and almost got charged by some 8-point male deer. We also drove out to Cape Royal and Angel's Window and made a day of driving and doing short hikes along the route.
Jenny hiking along the Cape Royal trail at the Grand Canyon
6th leg: Mesa, AZ: July 15th - 17th. Indoor family time! It may be a dry heat, but it’s over 110 degrees and it feels like you’re opening an oven door every time you step outside. It dropped down to the 70s/80s around 2am, which was a bit too early to do any biking. So we went shooting, ate ice cream, played with the dogs, drank wine, ate pizza and watched The Fighter. And then we drove back to San Diego and thanked our lucky stars it’s only in the 70’s.
No comments:
Post a Comment