Stanley Canyon Trail

There are so many great hikes here,  it would be wrong not to partake. This is the first time we brought Kona with us and she loved the hiking but, surprisingly, wasn't a fan of the lake. Stanley Trail is a 4 mile trek through Pike National Forest.  At the beginning there were several portions with steep sides and slippery gravel but the trail was well marked. 

Once over the north side of the canyon, there's a beautiful flat meadow full of wild flowers, including Colorado's columbines.

One thing we've learned when hiking is to bring lots of water along. It sounds silly, but it seems like we never have enough. On our first hike with Teague, we brought two camel packs, Sean had one and I figured Teague and I could share the other...bad idea. It definitely wasn't enough for the both of us. Bring what you think you'll need, and then add more. Since the hike is a bit difficult and you really need both hands to climb, picnic baskets and any excess stuff is no bueno. I have started squirreling granola bars and pieces of candy in pockets, they're great for that energy burst needed when hiking back down.

The reservoir itself was really nice and apparently has lots of rainbow trout swimming about but the water is ice cold! Even on a hot sunny day after a difficult hike, it  was a stretch to get in. I think this is why Kona simultaneously jumped in and out. 

The best part about these hikes has been the electronics-free aspect. It is so freeing to unplug from work calls, texts and video games. 

Teague's vulcan mind meld attempt plus Sean and Kona.

The Royal Gorge

                          I rode in the gondola with this family. They were lovely.

Royal Gorge is in Cañon City, Colorado and is a pleasant little day trip. The bridge has recently been renovated due to the damage from the wildfires in 2013. The new and improved Royal Gorge is far less kitschy and they've added a lot of family options and quality food. It's sort of the Chipotle model of tourism. I've never been to a tourist stop which offered seared-to-order lunch entrees.

To get across the quarter mile gorge there are three options: the bridge, the gondola and the zip line. Most people ride the gondola over and walk back across the bridge. On the other side there's a kid's Playland, a theatre, museum and a sky coaster.

Naturally, we wanted to zip line across the gorge. Teague didn't meet the 100 lb weight requirement, so Sean and I took turns hanging out at the Playland bench while the other zipped. Instead of being harnessed in and sort of dangling like typical zip lines, we were strapped into canvas seats which were attached to the line. I have to say, it was pretty comfortable to go screaming across a 1200 foot gorge in a chair.

There's also the Royal Gorge railway train option, which rides down through the gorge and  offers specialty rides like a Murder Mystery ride and a Santa Express train. White water rafting in the Arkansas river is advertised too.  We'll definitely be back for at least one of those.

                       Sean (left) zip lined barefoot. I lost an earring.

Big horn sheep just hanging out.

The bridge.

Ambergris Caye, Belize

Before we arrived, I had already mispronounced the name of this island a bunch of  times. Apparently it's pronounced "Am-BUR-grease key", but the locals referred to it as the "AC". This small caye, which is 25 miles long, is the largest in Belize. Off its coast is the second largest barrier reef in the world. 

We flew to Ambergris Caye from the Belize City's municipal airport, which is even tinier than their international airport. The pilot was seated next to us in the lobby playing Angry Birds on his phone. When they began boarding the tiny 9 seat plane, he casually waited in line with the passengers, boarded and took the front seat. The entire flight was 15 minutes in length. 

Hol Chan Marine Reserve & Shark Alley are a mere 5 minute boat ride from San Pedro. The sea life and close proximity to the barrier reef is what makes this island a prime destination. On the day we went out, there were quite a few nurse sharks circling our boat. Though I knew they would be there (we did sign up for this) my first instinct was to yell "No way, Jose!" and run back to the hotel cartoon-style across the water. It just seems completely unnatural to want to jump into the water with sharks, even harmless sharks. But we did it...and I now know that my underwater scream is quite powerful.  The sharks were docile and really not at all interested in us humans. We also saw loads of vibrant tropical fish, sting rays and even a couple of barracuda. The world underneath that water was incredible.

We rented a golf cart for several days, but neither Sean nor I have much experience in driving them so we were baffled when the horn blared continuously as we drove. It was like we were in a clown car. We thought it was an alarm and were laughing at the thought of a golf cart alarm. Turns out, the horn is located next to the gas pedal...so that information really would have come in handy first thing.

The island is small and not very commercialized, which is kind of perfect. The only drawback was that the beaches are overwhelmed by sargassum, a thick smelly brown seaweed. It coats the shore and floats in shallow beach water, making swimming off the shore pretty nasty. Not a good destination if you plan on relaxing at the beach. They said that a dispersant used during the oil spill in 2010 has enhanced the growth of this stuff. All along the shore there were men shoveling the seaweed but making no progress. Several of the hotels did have long piers which spanned out past the wall of floating grossness and offered better swimming/snorkeling options.

                                                  Look mom, no seaweed!

There are plenty of hotel pools, too. Ours included a resident iguana. He walked back and forth along the waterfall of the pool, surprising new guests.

Ambergris Caye is family-friendly and offers fantastic scuba/snorkel opportunities, but If I were to plan another trip, I would try to stay instead on Caye Culker. In speaking with other guests we learned that Culker is just as close to the reef but is a bit more off the grid. There is also a snorkel with manatees opportunity there which sounds incredible.

We are a few weeks back in Colorado, and this trip seems a lifetime away. Belize is a fantastic destination. I'm hoping we can check out more of Central America in the future.

It's A Jungle Out There

Aside from enjoying the heck out of our tree house, we toured two sets of Mayan ruins, Xunantunich & Cahal Pech. To get to Xunantunich, we had to take a hand- cranked ferry across the Mopan river.

Xuantunich means "Stone Woman", named for a female ghost inhabiting the Castillo who wore a tattered white nightshirt and had red eyes. (Ghost...or new mom?) This set of ruins is located a half a mile from the Guatemalan border, which was visible from the top.

                           The town of Melchor de Mencos, Guatemala

A portion of the ruins was being excavated during our visit. Instead of using huge machines and equipment, there was a line of people passing stone down the sizable structure, bucket brigade-style. I don't know how they were able to do this day after day in the hot sun.

Side view of El Castillo pyramid

          Cahal Pech was the Beverly Hills of Belize, where the elite Mayan families lived.

                                  I tried to leave him as an offering.

Cahal Pech was smaller and had fewer people visiting. Teague was intrigued by the ball court remains and the idea that the match winner lived and the loser did not. Imagine being sacrificed for losing a game of Mario Kart 8. Yikes.

The remaining photos show more of our time at the lodge. It's such a cool place, I just have to share! 

They delivered tea and muffins at 6am, and we would watch the wildlife from our balcony until it was time for breakfast.

Our place even had an outdoor shower.

                          Collared Aracaris were living in the trees around our balcony.

Welcome to the jungle--Part 1

Our stay in the jungle was lovely. I don't want to go all Chris Harrison on you, but it was the most (insert ridiculously positive adjective here) stay ever. I think what really made the trip spectacular was that we stayed in a tree house. Yes! A flippin' tree house! That alone was worth the trip.

Our place had electricity but no a/c. No matter though, because it was screened in on all sides from floor to ceiling and there was always a breeze. Also absent were tvs, wi-fi, clocks and phones. Though we may have been little bummed about the lack of wi-fi, we settled into the all-day-adventure-eat-dinner-promptly-pass-out routine very quickly. The heat and activity is just exhausting. Hearing the jungle sounds all night was pretty incredible, too. In case you're wondering, the sound of coconuts falling through the thick leaves sounds just like a jaguar lunging at the screen next to the bed. Because that happens.

The lodge offered daily adventure excursions like touring ruins, rappelling, tubing, and cave exploring. On our first day, we chose to go on a 7 mile cave tubing trip. The tubing was in a warm crystal-clear river and took us through 5 different caves. 

Commando-style ride to the caves* 

Not digging the head lamps.

Headed into cave #3

The river is low this year so a couple sections were shallow with no current. This required a quick lift-the-tube-while-still-keeping-bum-inside-awkward-walk-through-rocks-to-deeper-river. Those pictures would have made fantastic Christmas card material.

We ended the tubing with a traditional Belizean lunch (which, from what I can gather is basically lots of rice and beans) and then went straight to the platforms for our zip lining. It was really fun. We have done this in several countries and it seems this one was the most safety conscious by far--they actually had age requirements! There were 7 separate lines through the jungle canopy, and the last two took us directly over the tubers in the river.

                                                  There he goes!

The lodge stay included family-style meals. Before each meal they assigned guests to random tables so that everyone had a chance to get to know one another. This typically makes me break out in a cold sweat because I am a "slow to warm up" kind of person. But, it was fun to hear where everyone was from and to talk about where they had been before/where they were going after their stay at the lodge. The dessert grabbing strategies were literally the topic of discussion at each daily adventure. For some reason, desserts weren't given to each table and there was never enough for everyone. The brownies one night almost caused a riot.

Aside from the day trips, they offered tours through their own botanical garden (with 400 species of orchids-wow!) as well as a Cheese House, where they made their own cheeses and a tour through the chocolate making process at a nearby chocolate factory. We weren't able to take the food tours but we did drink our weight in rum punch. When in Belize...

*Commando like the 80s movie, not "commando" like wearing no undies. Felt I should clarify.

Don't stop Belize-ing

The enticing thing about Belize, aside from the short flight from Dallas, is that it offers both diving/snorkel destinations and jungle adventures. After reading about an all-inclusive jungle lodge with tree house accommodations, cave tubing and zip lining, I knew we had to visit. Our trip time was split 50/50 surf and turf, with part of our visit in the jungle near Guatemala and the rest on the island of Ambergris Caye.

We arrived in Belize City with plans to explore all afternoon and then take the transfer to our jungle lodge the next morning. The city itself was disappointing. In fact, of all of the cities we've visited around the globe, I'd say Belize City is the most disappointing. Granted, it's really just used as a quick stop (flights and cruises) between the islands and the jungle, but as we drove through the downtown area in our taxi I was a bit hesitant to get out. Teague mentioned a distinct smell, like rotting seaweed, probably at least a million times.

Belize's official language is English, however, Spanish, Creole and Mayan are spoken.  Interestingly, there's also a large population of Mennonites whom we saw in horse-drawn buggies along the roadways. 

Despite the fishy aroma, we explored the area highlights (all two of them) and then walked along the seawall. We had hoped to visit the zoo, however, despite being listed as the #1 city attraction, it's actually located 30 miles outside of the city.

The next day, our first full day in Belize, we rode several hours through the countryside. The landscape began flat and green but soon became increasingly more tropical and mountainous. Also on the road was a cycle competition which included Belizean athletes, weekend warriors and lots of children. The race leader was so far ahead of the pack that he was actually texting while riding along the course. 

                      Much of the housing along the route was similar to this.

We arrived at the lodge and began our stay with a delicious rum punch (us) and a kiddie drink (Teague).  Que bueno!

Next post: Cave tubing, zip lining and showering with toucans. Oh my.

Colorado Roll

I've neglected my blog this summer because while the weather's nice, we're going to be outdoors! Teague has been really busy and I've been settling in to my recurring mom role as taxi driver. I have a feeling this will be my main title until Teague gets his driver's license. 

Kona is getting bigger by the day and is in a new set of puppy training courses. I now have a clicker and a fanny pack full of treats--yikes! She's really social (which I love) but also really hyper (which I don't love) so we're getting her there...dog treat by dog treat.

I've also been working quite a bit and really love my job. I can pick and choose my own hours which is particularly convenient, both for Teague's schedule and my sanity, during the summer.

School starts up again in just a few weeks, and we're really excited to hear about Teague's new teacher. And to join the PTA. I hear the one here is calm and normal. This is a welcome change from the one in Miami where one member "lost" $2,500 of the PTA's money and another emailed the entire board a client spreadsheet with his customer's credit card information and passcodes. Yeah, I'll stick to calm and normal.

With things starting to slow down, I plan to post more often and to add in highlights from some of the day trips we've taken recently. Stay tuned.

                      Teague's team "Tech Tigers" at STEM camp.

                                              Cousin time with Toby.

Great visit with super tall cousins Ryan and Caitlin. 

Swimming, swimming and more swimming.