Check out the latest Big Bend pictures.   I will post more on our trip in a few days.

Update: Uploaded all the pictures to flickr.  Viewing them from flickr is way faster than from my website (photos section).  I still need to figure out why my webpage is loading so slowly.

Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted. Jen and I have been busy with that little thing called life, as I’m sure all of you are. It’s nice to get a chance to step away and go somewhere you’ve never been or re-visit an area that brings back great memories. One such area, the great American Southwest, which I love so much. The diversity of landscapes; mountains, rivers, deserts, mesas, blue skies, open plains, and the crisp dry air rejuvenates the soul. I remember the first time Jen and I met. One topic of our conversation was the time I spent in southwest Colorado(Durango) and just how awesome it was. Life felt simple then. Moving back to Texas was bittersweet, but returning to visit or possibly live there again has never been far from my mind. Not surprisingly, taking Jen there for her first time was something we both looked forward too.

Our plan before the trip was that we would stay in hotels some, and the rest of the time we would go camping. Thanks to good friends, we had most of the gear one would need to do some comfortable car-camping. Sleeping bags, tents, camel-backs, camping stove, rain gear, and even a blow up bed. We used none of it of course, because it was 20 below most nights we were there. But hey, at least we were prepared! I guess living in Texas for most of my life I tend to make silly assumptions that all the states are as warm as ours. Camping in Colorado in November? I don’t think so. Trust me, we won’t make that mistake next time.

We started our trip out with a little bad luck. Shortly after crossing the border into New Mexico on our way to Santa Fe, I heard a heavy vibrating sound coming from back of the car. Turned out I had been driving on extremely overdue tires for some months now. The tire was worn down the the steel radial. It was cold, but we slapped on the spare quickly and drove to Fort Sumner to evaluate our options. We said a little prayer and decided to press on toward Santa Fe a few hundred miles away. Thankfully we made it to Santa Fe just after midnight and got a good nights rest. In the morning, we snagged some new tires and then headed over to the Georgia’ Okeefe Museum in downtown Santa Fe. Her artwork is captivating, inspiring, and I definitely see why she loved the Southwest so much.

Our next stop was Durango, Colorado. If I had a choice of places to live, Durango would be high atop that list. So many things to see, so many outdoor activities to do, and a great sense of community and appreciation for their environment. We spent two great nights at the Econo Lodge, which I must say was quite cozy and met our needs just fine. Took Jen downtown on Main street for a much needed bite to eat and my personal favorite, Ska Brewery beer, brewed right in Durango. The next morning we took a hike up on Raider Ridge which overlooks Fort Lewis College and the rest of Durango. It was cold, but by the time we reached the top, it was well worth it. After that, we took a wonderfully scenic drive up Hwy 550 to Silverton. The sun was setting at 4:30pm, so driving winding mountain passes after dark wasn’t something we necessarily wanted to be doing. So we headed back to Durango for one more night before heading to another personal favorite, Mesa Verde National Park.

The ancestral Puebloans inhabited Mesa Verde and the surrounding four corners area from around 500AD to 1300AD. Mesa Verde’s claim to fame is most definitely their amazing cliff dwellings. Truly resilient people, the Anasazi mysteriously vanished from the mesa top and headed south near the end of 13th century. The cliff dwellings leave something to the imagination. Who were these people? How did they survive in such harsh environments? Why did the leave? I’ve read several books on the subject, and the Anasazi are one of the reasons I love the area so much.

After our visit, we headed north to Moab, Utah. My brother would love this place because most consider it the ‘Jeep capital of the world’. The earthy brown slick rock is the perfect place to ‘rock crawl’ and test the limits of man’s machines. However, we weren’t there to ‘rock crawl’, but rather to visit another great treasure, Arches National Park. Edward Abbey’s ‘Desert Solitaire’ first inspired me to visit this magnificent landscape in 2004. There’s no doubt why he loved it so much. Arches has over 2000 natural sandstone arches covering 119 square miles. We awoke to light snow falling, but that didn’t deter us from making it to the park. Fortunately it didn’t last long and we got to enjoy the rest of the day, albeit cold, with clear skies.

At this point, we were the farthest away from home on our trip. Time to head back. We had one last stop in northern New Mexico before concluding our vacation. I’ve heard of this place before, but never got a chance to make it out there. Chaco Culture National Historic Park is the cultural center to the ancestral Pueblo people. Gigantic pueblo ruins, petroglyphs, and the famous Sun Dagger, a celestial calendar of the ancient ones. I could spend weeks here; unfortunately we had about 5 hours. I’m going to have to come again to truly appreciate this awesome area and all it has to offer. If you intend on making the journey to Chaco Canyon, I highly advise a 4-wheel drive vehicle for the 13 miles of unpaved road leading into the park. You’ve been warned!

Well, that about does it. Our trip in a nutshell. What would a vacation be without any pictures you ask? Never fear, we have plenty of those(300 to be exact). I’ll be uploading them in groups as soon as I can. Hopefully, I’ll have most of them up by Christmas. Cheers!

Count another ACL festival down in the record books. As usual, it was grand ol’ time in Austin hanging with friends and hearing some of the best live music in Texas. Some highlights of the show included a giant fireball, Pete Yorn, Spoon, Muse, Arcade Fire, and Wilco to name a few. Many thanks to Carter and Karen for their generous hospitality and allowing us to stay with them throughout the weekend. Extra thanks to Carter for his ‘hawk eyes’ and spotting Jeff Tweedy from Wilco doing a little shopping on South Congress. He was even bold enough to request a picture, which Tweedy gladly obliged. You can check it out in the photos section. See ya’ll next year!

Could I be posting two times in one day? No way!

Well folks, I finally got around to editing/organizing/geotagging the rest of our Big Bend trip.  Flickr has a neat little feature that allows you to geotag(attach photos to a map) so you can see exactly where we took our pictures.  With a little help from Google Earth, most pictures are fairly close to their actual location.  A GPS enabled camera would come in handy for this task; unfortunately I don’t have one.  Also, some pictures have ‘notes’ providing more info.  Enjoy!
Big Bend Flickr Map : Gallery

Upload a picture and this will convert it into an Image Mosaic. I saw this on Digg a couple of weeks ago and tried it out with pretty neat results. Try it for yourself.

read more | digg story

Jen and I decided to take a semi-spontaneous weekend camping excursion to Queen Wilhelmina State Park in Arkansas. The park lies on Arkansas’s second highest mountain and has been dubbed the “Castle in the Sky” by the many visitors over the years. In order to get to the park, we drove along the “Talimena Scenic Drive” which is sprinkled with grand views and vistas that were absolutely breathtaking. To be completely honest, I had no idea that this part of the country was so beautiful and I felt as though I was in Colorado on more than one occasion. Once we got there, we setup camp and did a couple of small hikes in and around the park, took some photos, and lounged around the Lodge to admire the spectacular view. Overall, it was a great weekend and we recommend you check it out if ever in the eastern Arkansas area. Check out the photos.