Category: Blog Entries

More photos from Big Bear and Oak Glen >>

One of the things we wanted to do while out west was to go to a ski resort and take the lift to the top of the mountain with our bikes and ride down. With Bear Bear Mountain only an hour from Oak Glen where we were staying it was a perfect day trip.

;The drive there was amazing on highway 38. Wide open mountain vistas, cool rock outcroppings and roadside waterfalls. I was so excited to be high in the mountains. There is something about a rugged peak high up that makes me want to dream of hiking it to the top and looking out across the valleys below. And today I felt like I would get that chance again.

We arrived at the resort and loaded onto the lift and began the ascent to the top. The view of Big Bear Lake below was incredible. The anticipation to get riding in this great landscape was killing me! I was greeted with some disappointment when we got to the top of the mountain as I checked my camera bag and found no memory card anywhere (which became a blessing in disguise later).

The ride started off great, perfect blue skies, green trees all contrasted against big gray granite boulders. We rolled along, down a smooth rolling fire road. But to our dismay the trail turned uphill, for quite a bit. I remember thinking, “werent we at the top already? Shouldn’t we be going downhill soon?” And later I would realize that would be the most ironic statement I have made in some time.

The trail continued along, and turned downhill, not steep just fun. So far so good, Sharon is still smiling having fun and so am I. We hit a really nice singletrack winding through the woods, but most of it seemed uphill. “When do I get to downhill on something a little steep and technical?”. Well after getting back on a fireroad for a bit we hit the trail going back to the resort. It was overall a blast. But soomething was bugging me. I wanted to know what the expert section was like and I never got any photos up there. So I decided to go back up solo to tackle the expert section.

As I first got on my bike on the top I was excited. I began to take a fire road to get to the Upper Fall Line trail. I passed through a free ride section with stunts built by crazy unbreakable teenagers and almost killed myself trying one. I found the trail head and began going down, and I mean steeply down. I had not adjusted my seat for this descent and upon hitting a rock my front tire locked and I was sent over the handlebars. Landing on my helmet and rolled over to mt butt and skidded down the hill a few feet on my rear. I was fine, I had scrapes but was fine. I could not help laugh when I thought back to my statement of demanding to find a challenging downhill. Well I found it. After lowering my seat all the way I proceeded to dodge rocks as I descended down the gnarliest downhill i have ever ridden. I was worried I could not ride stuff like this anymore as I had no attempted a hill like this since West Virginia. Once I relaxed and got a feel for the hill I had a blast!

More photos from Big Bear and Oak Glen >>

Situated up in a valley in the San Bernardino Mtns Oak Glen proved to be a rough uphill climb for the Cruisemaster trudging along at 10-20 mph. Once we finally arrived at the top we were greeted with cool mountain air and a high altitude view that was stunning.

The first night was very foggy. Around 9:00 I went out to the jeep and noticed something big next to it. I bent down to see the outline against a street light. It hit me quick went I saw an outline of a furry head and round ears…BEAR! A BIG BEAR! It just looked at me and ambled back off into the fog. I was so close to him it scared the crap out of me. The following day we learned they roam around the park at night quite a bit. There were even sightings of mountain lions and numerous coyotes. The rest of the stay we never went out at night without everyone being together. To ease Sharon’s mind we loaded the dogs at night and drove them up to the well-lit clubhouse to go potty before bed.

This little town of Glen Oak is famous for its apple groves. We had apple cider, apple butter, apple jelly, apple crisp, apple syrup and we loved all of it.

A must eat is the breakfast at Laws Coffee Shop. The omelets are huge and so are the pancakes so come hungry. Other good finds are the Los Rios Ranch for cider and crisps along with La Mexicana for homemade tortillas.

Hiking at the conservancy trails was great. They were well kept and a perfect length with great varied terrain, streams, open meadow, sequoias, hills. It was a perfect time. Had some great cider and played with the puggles on the open grassy field. A diamond day.

Note to self: Check shoes for lizards before putting them on.

We visited all the shops up there in Oak Glen on memorial day, getting some souvenirs and stuffing our faces. We picked up some Granny Smith apple wine adding to our growing collection. The highlight of the day for Sharon was the petting zoo, and for I it was the staged old west gunfight. Good stuff 🙂

More photos from San Felipe >>

The purpose of this journey of ours is to explore new places and make new friends with people from all over. Our recent trip to the baja served both of these purposes perfectly.

Sharon wanted to visit an old friend of hers, Liza in San Diego. But as luck would have it Liza was not going to be in town as it was her and her friends annual camping trip down to San Felipe, Mexico in the Baja. And it just worked out right that we could join them.

Not wanting to venture into Mexico with the motor home we opted to drive the jeep and camp in a tent like all the others in the group. Ironically though we are full time campers that have no camping equipment and had to go buy stuff at Walmart, this would also be Sharon and I’s first real “roughing it” camping trip.

We all met up in the border town of Calexico and crossed into Mexico at Mexicali. This was Sharon’s first adventure in the country of Mexico so she was not sure what to expect and felt a little apprehensive about it all. It is so wild how Americanized the town of Mexicali was. It had all the major chain stores and restaurants of the U.S. such as Home Depot and Applebee’s. The drive down was littered with solo shoes all over but since we were caravaning in a foreign country not knowing where we were heading we decided it would not be good to get split up. The drive through the baja was very remote, felt like we were really on an adventure. I loved it.

The first time we stopped was at a little beer and ice store, it is tradition for them to get a photo of everyone in front of a big Corona six pack sign. We all drank a beer and then pushed forward. After around a 3 hour drive through a lunar-like landscape we arrived at the small beach town of San Felipe. Everyone was hungry so we stopped for a fish taco. This is where we formally introduced ourselves to the group. Names were said but went in one ear and another. I figured I would learn them better once we got to the campground. The fish tacos were good, we had a great patio table overlooking the water with a cool breeze coming through, complete with pushy streets merchants coming to our table trying to sell us over-priced crap probably made in China.

I saw an awesome Mexican cowboy boot when we entered town before so I convinced Sharon to go get the photo and we would find the campground on our own. We got momentarily lost, but found the caravan turning in as we backtracked. Perfect timing. The campground fee which was $20 last year had gone up to $35 blowing our budget for the trip. We decided to just do two nights to save money, plus we were not sure we would last three nights in a tent on a mexican beach. The group offered to all chip in so we could stay, and it was a really nice gesture but we fine with not staying the third night because we had a lot to do when we got back.

After getting set up at our beach side camp we got into relaxation mode and were excited to sleep under the stars that night as we were exhausted. What no one planned on was that a few sites down a Mexican fiesta was about to begin, complete with a generator powered karaoke sound system. Okay so picture this. Sharon and I laying in the tent with the sound of a mexican accented old man singing Born to be Wild as loud as possible. We felt like we were in hell. We wanted to sleep so bad, once we got accustomed to the sounds of La Bamba and New York, New York they started riding the dune buggy up and down the campground. It was a rumbling, rattling sound that hurt my head as it zipped just feet from our tent. It was not good. Once they stopped around 3 or 4 a.m. we passed out, only to be woken up by a Mexican Miltary helicopter thumping by twenty feet above us around 6, the dogs were now ready to get up. So day 2 of the trip started.

I must say this, it did get progressively better from this point. It was a gorgeous day out, clear skies and cool sea breeze. We played with the dogs in the water all day. Took the kayak for a paddle. Found a shore exposed by the extreme low tide. I caught a perch which we grilled that night and ate it along with great carne esada on tortillas. We had margaritas, good conversation and laughter around a big fire, all was good.

Our new friend Dana came across some ear plugs for us so we would be able to sleep through the Karaoke. But we almost did not really need them as they played the music softer and stopped around midnight. Best of all, no damn roaring dune buggy! We slept like rocks. The helicopter did come again but with the earplugs it was barely a low rumble.

That morning we had eggs with soy-ritso burritos as we packed up the gear and hung out until it was time to head out. We got to say goodbye to all of the great people we met. We felt privileged to be able to share in their outing. They made us feel like we were a real part of the group. The kids were probably the best looking and well behaved group of kids were have ever spent time with. We were very impressed. Sharon was so happy to see her friend Liza and her husband Scott, with their adorable little girl Ava.

The worst part of the trip was sitting in bumper to bumper traffic waiting to get over the border back home. There were vendors selling all kinds of crap walking through the cars non-stop. There were people pushing wheelchairs with disabled, a legless guy who was filthy and crawling down the middle of the street pushing cardboard under his hands to keep them from contacting the extremely hot asphalt. It was all a very hard scene to witness. And we were a captive audience stuck in time to see all the sadness parade by us for almost two hours.

Even through the mexican karaoke, screaming ATVs, searing hot sand, and two hour poverty gauntlet to get back to the USA it was an awesome weekend the we will always remember. We hope we can do it again with everyone. And thanks so much for the blanket, it is a treasured gift that will get a lot of use and help us remember the great times and friends we made in San Felipe.

Well it seemed to be hotter here than in Phoenix, but that may be just because summer is closing in. It was hovering around 100-105 range under clear skies for the entire time we spent there. Which sounds really hot, which it was, but it was bareable compared to the Florida and Louisiana heat we have been through.&

Our first impression of the area was, wow this is a wealthy place. Everywhere were golf courses, gated communities and fancy restaurants. But after spending some time there we met people of all walks of life. While some people were very nice and friendly, we got pompous vibe from a lot of people there. People seemed very engrossed with themselves.

Palm Canyon drive in Palm Springs was a destination we were excited to check out. We located the Hair of the Dog Pub that we read about on the internet and stopped in for a beer. It was an alright place, pretty common for a pub. Nothing stood out. It did have NewCastle on tap so it got kudos for that 🙂 The next stop was the Village Pub. It was not in a village and it was not a pub. It was more of a danceclub/pickup joint. Again they had newcastle on draft so I was happy. Overall Palm Canyon struck us as a place where attitude is everything and people are more into how they look instead of socializing and meeting new people. Which is great for some people as they love that environment but for us we felt a little out of our element.

Every Saturday there is a street fair in Palm Desert so we decided to check it out. Once again it was not what we expected. The prices were high, the merchandise was crappy Chinese made products. And the people were rude. Started to be a repeating theme for the area 🙁

But a refreshing thing happened at lunch. We ate at Health Nutz and met a great kid working there. He made us great sandwiches, with all organic and vegan ingredients. He was from Utah and aspires to open his own cafe in the style of one he visited in Utah. The cafe had no menu and no prices. You just come in and eat what you want and just pay whatever you think is fair. And it is no problem for someone down on his luck to come in and grab from the free food section. And all the food is healthy and organic. He said something very profound to us. “I want to just make enough money to be able to have myself and my dog eat healthier food and life a healthy lifestyle. Stuff means nothing to me, it is just is not important”. He was a good kid and we wish him all the best in whatever life throws at him. What a great lunch that day.

Note: A $12 bottle of maple syrup tastes no better than a $6 bottle 🙂

If you like beer and have never been to a Yard House establishment you must go to one at some point in your life. They have over 150 beers on tap and in some locations up to 250! The bartender was very nice and we spoke with a very nice englishman as well. I was in heaven I tried samples of almost a dozen beers. The highlight was the half Young’s Double Chocolate Stout with the other half being Framboise’. It was soooo good. More of a desert beer, but fabulous. I cant wait to get back there. Also the food was top-notch with 1/2 price happy hour appetizers!

Behind the Thousand Trails RV resort there is an abandoned desert road the leads to an incredible dune field. I discovered a gold mine for shoes along this road with 11 solo shoes on this small broken stretch of road. The dunes were a blast. The puggles ran and ran and ran, i believe looking for the water. They are so accustomed to having a beach that whenever they see sand they run for the water 🙂 No water to be found here.

And the blog would not be complete without a lowdown on the dogparks in Palm Springs. There were currently 3 in the area at the time we were there.

The first one we visited was the Civic Center park. It was not the biggest park, but what it lacked in size it made up for in personality. Misted covered benches were a plus. A small kiddie pool there made it okay to bring the dogs there before sundown. The other dogs were well-behaved and well-monitored by their owners. Jack did get in trouble as he got a little possessive over a frisbee with a jack russell puppy. Jack just had to let the puppy know his spot on the totem pole. He was not ever that mean, just was not about to lose his frisbee to a puppy 🙂 Overall this park was a well-kept park, very nice, friendly people. Just watch out for the park nazi with her dog Garbo, she is pretty nasty but she breaks the no smoking rule so she has no ground to stand on *LOL* If you meet a nice older british chap, tell him the gypsies from Florida they say hi. Make sure you ask him about his hitchhiker story.

The second park was nice, good grass and seating, but small. But hey at least the community gave the dogs somewhere nice to run off-leash. We never encountered more than two dogs there but it was close to where we were staying so we went a couple times.

The third park located in Palm Springs itself was a major disappointment. The park was physically nice, good size, nice grass, but the people were so self-absorbed and unfriendly. The only way they would talk to us is if they could talk about themselves. We did meet one lady who spoke with us and was not all about herself. But we did find it a little odd she did not own a dog and just goes there to pet other people’s dogs, but if you love dogs and can’t have one, it is a perfect place to go. In the short time we were in there, Jack was snapped at by 3 chihuahuas, 1 peekinese, 1 scotty, 1 besenji, 1 fox terrier, mounted by countless others. ALL without one owner saying a word to its dog, or barely even noticing it was going on. Aggressive behavior was just the norm I assume. It was all topped off when a stupid little Yorkie bit Sharon when she bent down to pet JAck and the owner never noticed. i had to eventually, after several tries to get the owner’s attention, yell “Who’s little sh** is this and could you please come get it!” Finally a little girlie guy owned up to it and came and got the snarling little Sh**. “He never acts like this, maybe its just you.” I decided I was too mad to really say anything because it would have gotten heated (I am still a little mad typing this) and he was not worth anymore of my time. We just left out of there, never to return again.

I have heard about Palm Springs being a pompous town filled with self-absorbed people and it did project that vibe. We did meet some very nice and interesting. However, sadly to say, they were the minority.

When we crested over the hill we saw the small town of Eherenberg sitting in a valley of green along side a beautiful clear river surrounded by the dry, rugged landscape of the Sonoran Desert. We were so happy to see green and water, the desert has started taking tis toll on the dogs. They were so excited to run in soft grass again and swim in cool water. The RV park we were at had sites that were right on the Colorado River. Its was such a nice retreat.

Across from the river was a small California town, Blythe. Blythe was a bit run down. It was a little rough around the edges so to say. We did have a nice chinese dinner in town one evening. It was pretty amazing that I did find five shoes in this tiny area within a couple of days being there.

We never ventured far from the RV park. It was a very nice park in which were staying for free as guests with the obligation to listen to their campground membership pitch to join Western Horizons. It was a nice deal and worth it for someone who does not have a Thousand Trails membership. The sales person was a hard seller, but we are professionals at “Vacation Ownership” presentations and got out without buying anything.

Note to self: Blogging is more fun with a margarita:)

The memorable part of this leg of the journey was the desert drive we took in the jeep. This road was recommended to us by one of our neighbors who spends months at a time in Ehrenberg and loves getting out into the desert. It was tough to get clear and precise directions from him though, he bobbed and weaved every time I tried to get exactly where to get on the road at talking about how cool it was and easy to get to…but WHERE IS IT?

Finally I halfway understood and halfway gave up on where to go. What I got was there was a dirt road by the Flying J to Cibola past the dump which leads to River Road to get back to Blythe. So we went to the flying J and looked for the tracks going to the dump. Nada. No tracks or dirt road. I asked the gas attendant where the road to Cibola was. She did not know. I remembered he said something about a dump, so I asked how to get to the dump. Again, she did not know. We were on our own. We headed down the only road we saw and it turned into a dirt road, that went by…wouldnt you know it, a dump! You were on the right road. It winded around and up and down and over dry creeks for quite a while. He never could tell us how far it was on this road until we met up with a fork in the road to go towards Cibola because “the desert is not a place to be measured in miles” he said.

Well everything started to blend in, and the miles kept going by and the sun kept setting and we were still heading away from Ehrenberg. I started to get nervous, we did have a full tank of gas but did not want to be out in the middle of the desert in total darkness. On top of that stress something started making a weird noise rattling under the Jeep after running over some bigger rocks and they hit the undercarriage pretty hard.

After another half hour or so we came the fork and headed to Cibola. It was still a dirt road, but in smooth shape. As we drove something in front of us was stirring up a heap of dust. We thought it was an ATV or something until we got closer and discovered it was a group of wild asses (a.k.a. donkeys 🙂 They were so cool just raoming about under the desert night sky. The rest of the drive was uneventful, we no longer heard a strange noise under the Jeep and we now on the promised paved River Road.

Note: Do not have windows down on a dusty desert road.

Our first outing to Scottsdale was to scout out the Mandala Tearoom which was to serve as our venue for the upcoming One Shoe Diaries exhibition. It was a great little tearoom/cafe that served an organic vegan menu selection so Sharon was in heaven. It was also had a nice outdoor patio on the sidewalk that was perfect for setting up our easels. We met the owner, Jennifer Miranda, that night for the first time and she was a very nice, and her mother was a good soul. She was very sweet and genuine, Sharon clicked with her quickly. On our way own we stopped at the Four Peaks brewpub for a pint. Their Kiltlifter Scottish Ale was very nice. The pub itself was not much of a pub, but a larger scale restaurant built around their microbrewery. I wish we had time to revisit for dinner as the food looked great!

The exhibition went pretty well, the traffic was very light as we were not on the main route of the Art Night event. But we still had a great time, we met some very interesting people. Some a little pretentious and pompous but mostly very nice and engaging. Our hosts, the Shoes That Fit volunteers Sharon and Stewart were really good people, they had several friends show up to support us, not so much with any donations but they did take time to come out and help make the night a success.

We did make friends with two young women who operate a gallery in Chandler, Arizona. They were so nice, we had a lot in common and felt a good connection with them. We are going to work out details so that we can return and exhibit the One Shoe Diaries at their gallery sometime this fall. We are very excited to exhibit and hang out with them again. They were good people.

Overall we generated a lot of interest in our story and built generated good exposure for our coffee table book, now I just have to create it! 🙂

More photos from Arizona >>

The second we got into our Destination of Mesa we were greeted with unwelcomeness. It could have been our older motorhome (1998) or the puggles, or the fact were under 55 years old, or all of the above. Whichever it was it was not right. The guard at the Encore RV Resort made us feel like such outsiders that once he showed us to our site we just kept driving and out the exit! They treated us like we had two heads. Never have I felt so uncomfortable and uneasy as in that old community where I guess if you are not there to check in and die you do not belong. AHHH now I feel better getting that out.

We found a place to stay in Apache Junction, Carefree Manor. We got a great deal and a great site, paved driveway, paved patio and level. The pool area was so nice, the pool hall was perfect. A little gem in a vast array of RV Parks located there. We met a very nice older gentleman, Mike was his name. We met up with him it seemed every afternoon in the pool. We chatted with him non-stop. He not only felt like the grandfather I always wanted, but I believe he and I could have become good friends. Hopefully we will cross paths with him again someday.

he dogs took some time to get used to the dirt of the desert as a potty area, but have become quite the desert dogs now, they are troopers. We found two dog parks that we went back and forth between. One had a great pond for dogs to swim and play with another “dry” area for them to play as well. The only thing was that the owners seemed to just not pick up after their dogs. Such a shame, a top notch park and they can not even have enough respect to keep it clean. The other park was very nice as well, it was quite large and they could roam free and they loved it. Jinjer’s fascination with Huskies continued, too bad it was not reciprocated 🙁 Big Jack even taught the pitbull and american bulldog that he was in charge.

We managed to get a hike in at the Lost Dutchman State Park one day, it was pretty hot ad it was only 8:00 a.m. it was a typical esert hike, prickly and rocky. It was a steady uphill that got a little much for Jack and Jinny so we decided to cut off some by crossing over a canyon and pick up the trail on its downhill section. The crossing was not so easy as the rocks were hurting the puggles feet so I had to carry them, Jinny in none arm and big Jack drapped across my shoulders. adding 70 pounds of dog to my load was more than I bargained for. I wore myself out getting them across. I took a good break and we headed back down. It was a beautiful hike through rugged desert mountain terrain complete with the majestic Saguaro Cactus everywhere. I loved it 🙂

A highlight I will always remember from this part of our journey was the drive out to Canyon Lake on the Apache Trail. We had just gotten back from a dog park and I wanted to go out for a beer. I remembered seeing a saloon at the Goldfield Ghosttown just a few miles down the road. Once we got there it was just about to close and they had no good beer, but I also read about a place called Tortilla Flat, another 10 miles down the road, had a local brew named Kiltlifter that we tried earlier in the trip and we really liked so we decided to head there. I thought for sure it would be still open. Just as we got going we saw a coyote walking through the desert and he stopped and looked at us. It was so stereotypical of a scene, picture perfect one could say. It was the start of an awesome little adventure. As we first headed out on the famous scenic Apache Trail it headed into some really rugged area, the sun was just starting to set, it was gorgeous out there. We drove in silence from the awe of it all. But once we rounded the bend at the summit of one hill we saw it. Canyon Lake. it was a natural sight that was as beautiful of a view as I had ever seen. Breath-taking. It was a desert mountain lake wedged between sheer cliffs and bluffs going up hundreds of feet. The sunset illuminated just enough to make the water look electric. The road winded in tight “S” turns for the entire length going over a couple one lane bridges along the way. After arriving at our destination of Tortilla Flat we were greeted with a closed sign 🙁 So we turned around. We were very low on gas at this point and I thought we would be able to get gas somewhere but there was nothing out there in the remote area of Superstition Wilderness.

Sharon asked me if we had enough to get back, i looked down, it was on the needle and we had 18 miles of mountainous driving to get back so i got stressed. I could not let her feel that though so i responded with a “yeah, no problem”. The next 18 miles seemed like 100 miles. I get more and more worried. What would I do if we did run out in the middle of the desert, at night, miles from civilization. I had to put it out of my mind, the incredible scenery did help though. After an eternity we made it back to town, but no before we saw an incredible glowing orange full moon rise over the Superstition Mountains. It was inspirational.

We got gas but were still extremely hungry. After deciding on pizza we stumbled upon Fat Man’s Pizza. A Chicago-style pizzeria. After getting our pizza I opened the box and “Wow, its beautiful” came out of my mouth without thought. It was a great looking pizza that tasted even better. It was a true find for us. It was a fitting end to a wonderful evening.

More photos from Las Cruces >>

Where to begin? I guess from the first arrival into the Coachlight Bob’s Inn and RV Park. Upon first site we were a little nervous to say the lest. It looked like a glorified truck stop with a lot of transient people staying there. Not a place we normally stay at. We parked and headed into the office as we had no choice but stay at least the first night, and we wanted to see Las Cruces and White Sands NP which meant a total of two nights. We figured we could just do what we have to do. A very “jolly” heavy-set man greeted us from behind the desk. He did play with us, he told us “Sorry we are full, no room at the Inn”. We were torn, was it a blessing or should we be angry? But before we figured it out, he told us he was just kidding. He must have seen the blank stare of confusion on our faces, because he apologized quickly. He was a really nice guy, helped us get acquainted with the area and find a Thai Restaurant for dinner, with a brewpub for afterwards 🙂

That first night we just stayed at the coach, not daring to venture out and leave the coach alone. The poor dogs finally found a little patch of grass in which to do their business as it had been nothing but rocks, pavement and prickly plants since Balmorhea. We did meet a very interesting fellow known just as Frog. He was a short stocky guy, probably around 45, scrappy beard and hair, a true biker. He had a trike he had built from cutting a blue 67’ Mustang in half and fusing it with the front of a motorcycle. It is something you must see to experience. Frog was very friendly and likable. He made us feel every comfortable with the RV Park. He was originally from Maine but has been livin’ in the desert since 73’. He invited us for a beer but we never got to take him up on his offer.

The next morning we got up very early to start a very adventurous day with the dogs along for the ride. The first stop, White Sands National Park. Well it was going to be except I let us run out of gas almost so we passed by it to go to a gas station which happened to be still 20 miles down the road! So we decided we would hit it on the way back, somewhat because the dogs were antsy to get it out and we heard from a sketchy source (Kevin) dogs were not allowed in the dunes. Even though we did not run out of gas, in hindsight leaving the car running with air on so I could photograph a shoe was not “efficient.”

So on to Cloudcroft. Cloudcroft is a small ski town in the Sacremento Mountains outside of Alamagorda at 9000’. It was a stark contrast from the desert, it was cloudy, cool and green. We ate lunch at Dan’s cafe, which we recommend. The hike we decided upon was the Osho Trail. A 25 mile loop just outside town in the Lincoln National Forest. It was a nice hike, a big climb in the beginning but overall just slightly rolling. We had a great view of the valley below with the White Sands dune field glistening in the desert sun. Jack and Jinjer were in heaven, they love trails like this. Wooded and a smooth dirt surface.

Now it was back to White Sands NP. We figured we were going to just look around at the visitor center until we found out we could bring dogs into the park! Like I said our source (Kevin) is somewhat unreliable. The puggles had a blast, running and playing in the dunes, we even broke the rules and let them run off leash. I believe Jinny kept looking for the Gulf of Mexico because in the dunes it looked just like being in Navarre Beach Florida. She eventually gave up and just wrestled with her brother for a bit. They wore themselves out. I managed to get some great pics there. Sharon and I too had fun and were getting worn out.

So it was back to The Coachlight in Las Cruces. We took showers, fed the dogs and headed out to dinner. We were going to the Thai restaurant Mix. Before we got there we took directions given to us by our shaky source (Kevin) and they proved to be “challenging”. After photographing a shoe, we found the restaurant but upon looking at the menu, we decided there was no way we were paying $16 for a curry dish! Luckily for us the Taste of India restaurant was right next door, it was fate we think, we believe we were meant to go in there.

The first take on it was the food smelled great and it was a nice place. The server we got, was so helpful and took a lot of pride in the place because as we came to find out later his father was the owner and he was the manager. The food lived up to its smell. It was wonderful, we had a sample platter of sorts with lots of different things to try. At the end of dinner he learned we were heading to Arizona and apparently the food coloring they use is only available in Arizona and the company does not ship. So he asked us to do a favor for them and grab some for them and bring it back. One problem though. We were not coming back 🙂 So we told them we would buy it and ship it back to them with the receipt and they mail us a check for reimbursement. They were excited they were not going to have to do the drive themselves. And when we went to pay our bill we were surprised they paid for our dinner! So we now have a mission to pick up some coloring in Arizona and ship it back.

We were ready by now for a good beer. On a tip from our absent-minded source (Kevin) we were to go to the High Desert Brewing Co. for a pint of their on-site brewed beer. Not to our surprise our dumb@$$ source (Kevin) gave us bunk directions but we eventually found it. This was a pub Kevin used to frequent when he attended New Mexico State years ago, and one I remembered I had been to when I visited him (which is a fun story in itself)

Note to all: When hiking, biking or doing anything athletic with Kevin have a camera ALWAYS ready! If you ever see us and have not heard the “Grab the Rope” story, ask me to tell you, it is a classic!

Back to the main story…We sat next to two older guys who were cracking us up with their banter. One was a big Israeli guy who is an art dealer from what we could discern and had a great Jewish sense of humor. The other a straight-laced cowboy type who has been around from his days as a trucker, and now a financial planner. They had been friends for a long time, they reminded us of the odd couple. The cowboy gave us a great quote. “Everyone in the desert is running from something, even if it is just the voices in their own heads.” The big guy called us “Semi-quasi flower children” upon hearing our story. It was a great time but we were exhausted and needed to get back to the puggles in the coach. What a DAY! There was more detail but my fingers are tired.

The following day before we departed we went to the market downtown and on a tip from a vender we first HAD to get some of Suzy’s asparagus before they were gone. So I found Suzy’s stand and got bunch. We got organic bread, and a hat for Nanny made from 30 Walmart plastic bags, what a great way to reuse them!

We got back, said bye to Frog and promised we would upload the photos of him and his “trike” to Walmart in town so he could get copies printed. On our way out of town we stopped at the ST. Clair vineyard and winery to sample wine. They had a wonderful port that was no as sweet as most, so gooood! But too expensive 🙁 We did get a Syrah and a Raspberry Champagne. Finally we were headed towards Arizona. We really enjoyed our time in New Mexico and met so many friendly people and saw so many cool things, we would love to return again. We must thank our long-distance tour guide Kevin, for being our “source”.

More pics from Balmorhea, TX >>

Driving from San Antonio we seemed to be passing into another world, the desert. Upon pulling into the tiny west Texas town of Balmorhea we were taken back a bit. It seemed like a nice place, small town feel but a little on the impoverished side. Lots of rusting vehicles and farm equipment. Houses that were kinda run down. The wind was roaring! I tried many times to secure the satellite to no avail, the wind won the battle. I was going to try again when I noticed that the park had free cable TV. It seemed oh so dry, no grass in site. We started to become a little unsure where we ended up, the puggles are not fond of pottying on rocks and dirt. The destination here was the Balmorhea State Park.

The state park was nice. Small but very nice. It is known as the Oasis in the Desert. This is because there is a huge spring that 22 MILLION gallons of water flow up from underground in the park. The spring was AMAZING! They walled it in so it is essentially now a fresh water pool, complete with big rocks, algae and fish. The water was a deep blue and turquoise. I compare it to being a fresh water reef. But it was too cold to venture into the waters the first day.

We went out for a hike the following day to Davis Mountains State Park, further up in elevation so the air temps were a perfect 80º. The trail we chose went from the State Park over the mountain and down into the National Historical Site, Fort Davis. It was a rough 5.5 miles. It went up and down rough over rough volcanic rock. It did get hot in the sunshine and there was little to no shade, but we stumbled upon a tiny cave formed by boulders and took refuge to cool the dogs off before continuing up the mountain. Eventually we made it but not before I had to carry Jinjer for the last half mile or so because the lava rock had made her paws hurt, she could barely walk on them. Jack’s were hurting him and we could tell but he was a trooper and trotted quickly back to the jeep, as if he just wanted to be done as quick as possible 🙂 On the way back we hit a nice bar and grill in Fort Davis, too bad we did not have time to hit the Vineyard in Marfa 21 miles further south.

After getting back we decided to hit the pool/spring. We had a nice woman lend her snorkel gear to us and it would not have been the same without it. It was breathtaking to get ina nd snorkel the blue waters which ranged from 3’ to 25’ and crystal clear! We saw tons of silver small fish, some catfish and turtles. Even a duck that swam underwater for us. It was an experience we will never forget and highly recommend it as a stop for anyone traveling west through Texas on I-10.

NOTE: Make sure to visit the cutest restaurant in Balmorhea, La Cuevo de Oso (The Bear Cave)

We did not actually stay in San Antonio but rather 30 miles or so west of it, at Medina Lake set deep in Texas Hill Country. This was our first true taste of being out west. Bandera a small town nearby hails itself as “the Cowboy Capital of the World”. We were disappointed as there were no rodeos going on while we were there. A little restaurant Texarita’s in Bandera was a neat little place to eat. Not the best food, but the atmosphere was great.

We hiked and biked Government Canyon, the biking was rough as it had some big hills, and the trails in the backcountry were too rocky for our liking. Overall it was a beautiful area to hike. There were both flat trails and as sated before, rugged trails.

The Riverwalk in San Antonio is one of our favorite spots so far. San Antonio’s Fiesta week was taking place while we were in town so it was a very lively fun time. Margarita’s and salsa were the menu for the day. As any tourist would do, we too went to the Alamo. If you have never been there it will be different than you think being set in the middle of downtown San Antonio. Sharon and I did the obligatory photo of us in front of the Alamo. There was a history tour starting right when we got there so we tagged along to listen.

The speech the guide gave was inspired and passionate, he seemed very educated on the Texas version of what happened and that bias was felt. It actually made us a little uncomfortable as we sat with various numbers of people with Mexican heritage. The way he made it seem like it was the good guys, the Texans, versus the bad guys, Mexicans. And he let it be known the good guys kicked the bad guy’s a**es eventually for the horrible acts they committed on our innocent brothers. I realize we were in Texas, but they could have toned it down a bit. The way he used the word Mexican was almost a racial slur. We came away feeling embarrassed for Americans and wondering what the real story was behind the Alamo and why it happened. It may have been Mexico’s arrogance, or maybe the Texans were essentially stealing land illegally, I dont know, but there was no reason to make the speech so slanted against the Mexicans as it was to be a factorial history lesson.