1st Genuine On-the-Road Post

For those of you worried that we had already suffered some horrible fate since you hadn't heard from us, you can relax now. We actually made it to Cancun without missing our flight, thanks to Jennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn26 and Josh. It took us a while to reassemble our bikes once back on solid ground, so we didn't leave the airport until about 7:00pm; incidentally, this was about the same time a fabulously fierce thunderstorm hit. Biking in a downpour amongst crazy Mexican traffic after a day of traveling and no sleep the night before isn't ideal, so we pulled into the first motel we found -- Las Cerezas.

It looked fantastic. We noticed as we pulled up that each room had its own garage (perfect for our soaking-wet bikes). The staff didn't speak any English, so we booked the room practising our very horrible Spanish. The fact that we had to choose between booking for 3 hours, 8 hours, or an entire night might have clued us in to the fact that this wasn't a "family" establishment. Nonetheless, we stayed, exhausted from our travels. It was a very nice room, complete with a TV, air-con, and an up-shower. That's right -- there was a nozzle on the floor as well as the wall. Each had its own faucet. Go figure. See Mike's pic below.



The next day we biked around Cancun and eventually found Manuel (whom we had contacted through Global Freeloaders). He put us up in his new Cancun home for the night after giving us a tour of the city and going out to eat with us. Today he invited us on a side trip to Playa del Carmen where he used to live until 2 weeks ago. He still has a home here (although he rents out part of it), as well as a fantastic restaurant called el Asadero. We spent the day exploring the beaches of Playa del Carmen, then ate at his restaurant tonight. Tomorrow we'll head back to Cancun, and then we will probably bike out of the city Monday morning.

So far so good. We've already learned a lot of new Spanish words (although our pronunciation and usage are dreadful), and we've tried some interesting beverages. Stay tuned for more travel updates!

New Feature!

Now you can track our progress with the newly added map feature. That's right, just click the "Travel Map" link to the left and you will be able to see where we've been. Become a global stalker today! It's fun and easy.

Pre-Gaming

So, with less than a week until we flee the country, Mike and I have been cramming in a few last-minute stateside trips.

For elaborate reasons I won't delve into, we set out on a road trip to Iowa City last week. But what's a 2000-mile drive without a few pit stops, right? Mike's really into canyoneering now (and I'm a huge fan, though less knowledgeable), so we took a side trip to Zion National Park in southwest Utah. Beautiful! The park has been on my list of places to visit since I moved to Arizona, so I was glad to get it checked off (although I'll certainly have to go back and see more sometime). We spent a few days camping in the area and completed a few of the canyons. Keyhole Canyon was short and sweet (alas, not sweet-smelling) and Pine Creek Canyon was a bit more dramatic with some rather long rappels. Since Mike hasn't had a chance to upload pics yet, I'll link you to some pics posted on the official Zion web site. The last rappel was a 100-ft.-long drop into a shallow pool of water -- quite breath-taking, especially considering the fact that the walls pull back into an enormous cavern about 10 ft. into the rappel leaving you to dangle on the rope in open air for the remaining 90 ft.

After our few days at Zion we set off on our long drive to Iowa . . . nothing much to say about that. Moving on . . .

Now we're in Iowa City hanging out with my family, spending most of our time eating, visiting, and preparing for our trip. I'll also spend an extra day with Kristen, doing fun wedding-prep things as Mike heads back to AZ early to finish packing up. I'm very excited for her big day in October, and I'm looking forward to seeing the whole fam then.

So -- to recap -- some pluses and minuses for the past week:

Picks

1. Home cookin' (soon to be missed, as we'll be eating rice and beans for every meal).
2. Our Spanish language teacher, Mr. Antonio-Banderas-sound-alike. Yo quiero estudiar espanol.
   
3. Super soft campsite sand
4. Panera, Culver's, and Steak-n-Shake -- mmmmmm!
5. Seeing the fam
6. Zion canyons with spectacular rappels

Pans

1. Rubbery, over-priced eggs at Bumbleberry's
2. Suicidal bunnies and one lucky deer
3. Getting stuck in a slot canyon (damn that "Fat Bastard's Revenge")
4. Nebraska
5. Smelly, icy-cold, green water that just couldn't be avoided
6. Gas prices

Next post, we'll be underway, so stay tuned!

P.S. Mike says, "dyhq;7=".

Less Than 2 Weeks!!

Panic time!! We now have less than 2 weeks until we leave, and it's going to be a struggle to get everything done. That's for me to fret about though, so let me fill you in, instead, on the fun things we've been doing amidst the chaotic packing.

Mike got me an early birthday present this week (my birthday's not until July 31st for those of you planning on putting a Cold Stone Creamery ice cream birthday cake on dry ice and shipping it to Nicaragua for me). He surprised me with tix to the John Mayer concert that was held here in the Valley on Wednesday night! :) Ben Folds opened, followed, of course, by John Mayer. I really enjoy his music, so this was a great birthday present -- good work, Mike!

I also had my last bartending shift at TGIFriday's this week. I'll miss a few people, and I hope they keep in touch via this blog, but all-in-all I'm glad to be done.

I've been rereading Harry Potters 5 & 6 since the 7th and final book is coming out on July 21st (1-4 have already been re-read to death). I'm concerned about obtaining an English-language copy in Central America, but I imagine I'll find one somewhere. If you wanna chat Harry Potter, I'll respond to comments. What are your predictions for book 7? Is Dumbledore really dead?!? Did you notice that I have the same birthday as Harry? Are you now so disgusted that you'll refuse to read my blog ever again? I promise to keep Harry Potter comments to a bare minimum -- I'm just babbling on since I'm not actually traveling yet. Trust me, this blog will feature plenty of beautiful pics taken by Mike and hopefully some amusing travel anecdotes as well.

Just trying to keep you on your toes and checking back! Until next time!

Playing Catch-Up

Long time no write. Oopsy. Since I last posted an update I've been cliff jumping at Gisela, partying in Vegas for my little sister's bachelorette party, and working hard. I've moved out of my apartment and am now a step closer to my travels. Mike and I have booked our plane tix to Cancun, where we'll be starting our adventure this summer. We leave Phoenix on June 28th. I'll be back to Iowa for a bit shortly before we take off until October. Mike may come with, but we'll see.

Mike's sister, Deb, visited for a few days earlier this week. She's off on her own adventure with her partner Dan later this week. They're spending the next 6 months in Kenya and India. I've linked to their blog since their travels are bound to be thrilling as well. Deb also introduced us to a web site called Global Freeloaders which may prove useful in the coming months. Essentially it's a site connecting travelers to local people willing to host them. We're looking into it as a way to cut costs and meet more interesting people.

Well, I'm busy, busy for the next month, so my posts may be few and far between until we actually make it out on the road, but I'll throw in a few pics of cliff jumping for now. TTFN!

Trip Archive -- Wired in Southeast Asia

Mike and I went cycling and scuba diving in southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam) last summer. I couldn't begin to fit all of our anecdotes and adventures into a single blog post, but I was reminded this evening of a few trip highlights. I thought I'd share.

Bangkok is a fascinating city. To say that it is "bustling" would be a gross understatement. Bangkok is the capital of Thailand, home of the king (we were there for his 60th anniversary festivities), and host to countless wats (Buddhist temples). One of our favorite features, however, was the wiring. Talk about haphazard.

The buses in Laos and Vietnam were a favorite as well. Who wouldn't like to ride on a bus shared by goats and praying mantises that constantly honks its horn and plays Thai music videos at maximum volume? And a 12 hour bus ride with one pee stop on some guy's lawn -- that's an adventure!

The plethora of bikes and mopeds is certainly notable in southeast Asia, but the things carried on them are what will really catch your eye. The bike on the left below features a wood-burning stove perfect for cooking and selling dumplings on the go, while the moped on the right sports a live pig in a cage. And all I was carrying was a tent, some clothes, and a few souvenirs...what a waste!

It's fun to remember travels past, so perhaps I will be posting more about this Asian adventure, but I'm done reminiscing for now.

Trip Archive -- Canyoneering the San Gabriels

Okay, since it's still a while until I take off on my trip this summer, I figure I'll post some past trip reviews in the meantime. This will be my "Trip Archive" series. My first featured trip is the one I took over Spring Break this year. I went to the San Gabriel Mountains with 5 of my friends for a week of canyoneering, rappelling, backpacking, and camping. Read on to experience my trip vicariously!

Mike, Josh, Sarah, Alexis, Amber, and I left the desert to travel 5 hours to the west in mid-March. We ended up in the San Gabriel Mountains, a range in the vicinity of San Bernardino, CA. Our plan was ambitious: we were going to embark on a 7-day/6-night tour of the mountains, hiking up thousands of feet only to rappel back down the beautiful waterfalls. Our goal was to cover approximately 25-30 miles, repeating the up and down process several times. Turns out that wasn't in the cards, but we did manage an epic trip, nonetheless.

The weather was great (75+ degrees and sunny!), our packs were heavy (50 lbs!), and we were ready to set out (yay!). Our first day was all uphill -- literally. We traveled approximately 7 miles and 3000 vertical feet, and the weather turned windy towards the top of the mountains. The first night we camped out up top near the enormous downed tree pictured to the left.

We spent the next 2 and 1/2 days trying to schlep our butts back down the mountain through a canyon. We were crawling over rocks in the creek and setting up rappels over waterfalls and treacherous drops, which is why it took so long. At the bottom of the canyon was a series of three waterfalls, known as Upper, Middle, and Lower Bonita Falls. We had to rappel over all three in order to reach the bottom. The first two rappels were only 60-80 ft. long, but the last was much closer to 160 ft.! This was a definite trip highlight.

The next several days entailed an epic failed attempt to crest another mountain (via a new canyon). From the bottom of Bonita Falls we began to traverse a decimated canyon trail. All manner of natural disasters must have plagued the area in recent years. There seemed to be evidence of forest fires, flash floods, and avalanches. We picked our way across miles of fallen trees, clearly burned and battered. Some of the trees still standing held boulders the size of ovens perched in their branches. This trail was particularly difficult to navigate, and I highly doubt we could have counted the number of bruises and cuts earned on that day without reaching triple digits. Highlights of the day included Sarah and Josh spotting a baby rattlesnake eating a toad, and all of us catching a black widow and a scorpion getting a little too cozy near our tents.

After a slightly paranoid night's sleep (no black widows in my sleeping bag, please!), we continued up the canyon. The canyon walls became steep, and the rock was quite crumbly. We were definitely wearing our helmets at times for fear of a skull crushing rock slide. There was evidence of massive avalanches -- we saw steel grates (originally designed to shore up the rocks along pathways and trails) twisted and contorted into the most bizarre positions. Eventually we came to a rock wall less than 400 ft. from the top of the mountain. Mike and Josh tried for hours to set up a climbing route so that we could continue on our way, but eventually we had to abandon the plan. They nearly caused an avalanche themselves, and we had to ditch one of our ropes to avoid worsening the situation. We resigned ourselves to a descent back through the same canyon and the forest of fallen trees -- but not before dark. We camped out and seriously considered wearing our helmets in our sleep.

The next day we continued, taking it kind of easy, enjoying one of our last days in the canyon. We camped out early in the only moderately grassy patch we could find. We built a campfire, ate well, and rested up for the final day of the trip.

Our 8th day without a shower dawned as beautiful as the rest, if a bit smellier. Our packs were a bit lighter (maybe only 40lbs.?), our cuts were scabbing over, and our tans were hard to distinguish from the dirt that covered our bodies -- sure signs that we'd spent an epic week away from civilization. We ate endless Mountain House meals (highly recommended); drank gallons of pumped and filtered water a day; and lived without cellphones, television, or Internet for a whole week. It was one of the neatest trips I've ever gone on, and I hope to go on several more. Bring it on, Mother Nature!