Double Trouble

Last summer our twin nieces came to visit us for two weeks. Here are some pictures:

Jessica and Jacqueline on the trolley

Jessica enjoyed the view

Fort Collins Trolley. Fort Collins was the smallest city in the country to have a municipal trolley system.

Jessica enjoys the water feature at Fossil Creek Park

Jacqueline loves to splash

Grilling Adventure

This summer's grilling adventure was to grill a whole Rockfish.

Before

After

WCT, Part 1: Return to Victoria

Back when I first started this blog, Dorinna and I took a trip to Victoria, British Columbia. We fell in love with the city, and it was one of the reasons why we signed up when Kevin approached us with the idea to hike the West Coast Trail.

The West Coast Trail is a 75 km (47 mile) backpacking route along temperate rainforest, sandstone cliffs, waterfalls, caves, sea arches, sea stacks and beaches. Kevin and Shirley were planning to visit Shirley’s family on the island, so Kevin added this hike to the end of that visit, and invited us along.

Dorinna and I started our trip on July 4, when we celebrated our patriotism by flying to Canada. Here are some photos from the flight:

Our first flight was from Denver to Seattle, flying past Mt. Rainier

Puddle-jumper from Seattle to Victoria

The Olympic Peninsula of Washington State

Aerial view of Victoria

When we arrived in Victoria, we discovered our luggage hadn’t. No matter, Horizon Airlines did a fantastic job of setting us up with toiletries for the night. By the time we were awake the next morning, our luggage had already been delivered to our B&B. The counter staff was extremely polite as well.

Still, we were a bit grouchy, and used this as an excuse to rent a Mustang GT. Black. Sacrifices must be made.

We stayed at the Robert Palmer House, a delightful Victorian B&B run by our English friends Ann and Derek. We stayed with them our last time in Victoria, and highly recommend staying here.

After checking in, and catching up on the gossip from our last visit, we headed out to explore the city...

Little Book Cliffs: Prologue

Here’s one from the archives, a trip from last year that I missed documenting. Set the WayBack Machine to May 2006, destination: “Little Book Cliffs”

On the drive home after our river trip through the desert , I began to ponder the possibilities of returning- and soon. The opportunity came less than a month later, during Memorial Day weekend. Kevin and Dorinna were in, of course, but we were also joined by our friend Kim. And, of course, our trusty canine companion, Sky.

Not really willing to drive all the way to Utah, we looked for closer destinations, and found one in the Book Cliffs. The Book Cliffs are a gigantic 200-mile long escarpment of sandstone that stretches across western Colorado and into Utah. It forms the northern wall of the Grand Valley of the Colorado River. The area we chose to hike was the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Area, a wild section of desert behind the escarpment. The area is set aside to protect one of the last remaining herds of wild horses in the United States. We didn’t choose it for the wild horses, however. We chose it because of what the wild horses imply- namely, water. The guidebook promised “trickling desert streams… Plunge pools and waterfalls frequent the canyons”. That sounded great to us.

So, late on Friday afternoon, the five of us jammed ourselves and our backpacks into Kevin’s Pimp Daddy Mobile. Unfortunately, the doors wouldn’t shut, so we had to pile out and repack everything a few more times. Everybody inhaled at the same time, and we were able to fit inside. We drove that night to Avon, where the 5 of us, all fundamentally cheapskates*, unpacked ourselves from the car, and repositioned ourselves into a single shared hotel room.

The next morning we repeated the exercise in reverse. We spent a great deal of time looking for outdoor stores in Glenwood Springs. We were all a bit nervous about the number and quantity of water containers that we had. Although there would be water on the trip, it wasn’t clear exactly when and where we would find it. “Best to be safe,” we said, loading up our packs with water.

The trailhead itself was remarkably easy to find. Most of the way through De Beque canyon, across the Colorado River, hulks a monstrous coal-fired power plant. Get off at that exit, drive past the plant, and the trailhead is just beyond.

Feeling fresh and energetic, we tied up our boots, picked up our packs-- and let the packs hit the ground with a grunt. We cursed the fact that water weighs eight pounds a gallon and that we each had much more than that, and tried again to pick up the packs. Staggering under the load, we climbed up the first steep ridge and were shocked to see…

(to be continued)

* When asked if she was a cheapskate, Sky merely panted in reply. I took that as a “yes.”

Kevin climbs the first hill. He will be disappointed if I don't point out that there are power lines behind him.

Defensive Bunker

Not quite ready to commit (but possibly ready to be committed), we've gotten in the habit of watching our friend's dogs when they travel. Bunny, Llama, and the gang find this quite troubling, as they are sometimes mistaken for chew toys. During one especially tense weekend, the gang built a defensive bunker to protect themselves.

Banzai Llama

Savage Run Wilderness

Kevin and I went backpacking last June to the Savage Run Wilderness in Wyoming. The weekend started off kind of rough, as the road to the trailhead was snow-covered and impassable. After digging out, we parked at the snowline, and trudged through snow and mud a few miles to the trailhead.
The hike itself was very pretty. After a short descent to a meadow, the trail followed Savage Run creek through a beautiful forest.

Avalanche Lily

Old-Timey photograph of Savage Run creek

Kevin, Sky, and Rich at "Camp Pinecone" (photo courtesy Kevin McNinch)

After setting up camp and taking a breather, we continued down the creek, scaring a family of deer out eating dinner. There was nothing particularly spectacular about this trip, but a solid 18 mile weekend with purposely heavy packs-- excellent training for the adventure still to come.

Albany, Wyoming

Finished Yard Project

I finally got around to taking some pictures of our yard project that we started last year and finished earlier this summer.

Slightly over half of the perennial garden is covered with pea gravel, and features heat-loving, drought-resistant plants:
The other area, partially shaded, is covered with mulch, and features plants that are just as drought-resistant, but with a lesser love of sunshine:

The new perennial garden complements the existing shrubbery area. A trail in between leads through the wildflower meadow and out to a small area of lawn. We'll put a bench out there just as soon as the shade trees grow tall enough.

Rodrigo y Gabriella Concert Review

Rodrigo y Gabriella are an interesting pair of musicians. They're Mexican, and they cut their teeth playing in Mexican heavy metal bands. But since then they've switched out to dual (and sometimes dueling) acoustic guitars. The metal roots are still visible, but are now overlain with what Rodrigo referred to as "crazy latin shit." Naturally, they first achieved commercial success in Ireland (huh?)

The concert started with the pair expressing some amazement at the venue. "I thought 'The Zoo' was some kind of club", Gabriella wondered. Nope- the Oregon Zoo holds outdoor lawn concerts. You stroll past sea lions, tigers, and monkeys on your way to your seat. They didn't appear to know what to think about the crowd. "We will have to be careful not to say fuck- there's children in the audience," Rodrigo started. They made it abundantly clear that whatever the audience might have expected, it was time for a rock concert.

As for the music, there are plenty of good guitar players. There are great guitar players- Rodrigo is one of these. There are even guitar players who you suspect might have done some business with Ol' Scratch at the road crossing outside of town. And then there's Gabriella, who is none of these things, but who is clearly a banshee straight from the Abyss itself. Human beings don't play the guitar like this. To say she "caresses" the strings, or "dances across them," is to ignore the speed and force with which her hands attack. Her fingers claw at the guitar in a blur, slapping the strings more than plucking them. At one point she played an interesting drum solo- interesting because she played it on a guitar-- rapping her fingers and palms against the body with an unholy stacatto rhythm, punctuated only occassionally with an almost disdainful sliding stroke of the neck strings.

Heads bobbing in classic Metal fashion, Rodrigo y Gabriella played their way through their own material, as well as covers of "Stairway to Heaven", Metallica, and Pink Floyd. At one point they even strayed from a latin beat to play the famous riff from "Smoke on the Water" before seamlessly sliding back into the latin groove. Video screens behind them allowed you to see the abuse they were inflicting on their instruments. We were a long way from the stage, but their energy was apparent throughout.

Portland was the second stop on their new concert tour. I definitely recommend seeing Rodrigo y Gabriella if visit your area. Get a seat near the stage, but be prepared to stand up and dance to their irresistibly wicked rhythms. And don't forget the holy water.