June 2010
6 posts
Berlin
June 12
We have been in Berlin for the last few days and it is everything we’d been told to expect. This is a city I could see myself living in! It has a very hip feel to it, filled with parents pushing baby strollers while chatting on their cell phones, or cycling along with toddlers in tow to one of the hundreds of parks to choose from. Being a parent in Berlin seems to be something of...
Still rolling
June 2 Bacharach - Mainz, then train to Offenbach en Main, then bike to Burgel
Dist - 51.5 km Avg - 19 Mxs - 37.9
In order to keep on schedule we road until about noon and then took the train to Offenbach and finished with a quick ride to Burgel. But before we could hope on the train we had to find a town square where we could enjoy some tasty treats and our usual tea.
June 3 Burgel...
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The Bratwurst road....
The cycling in this country is amazing!
There are bike paths absolutely everywhere and they are all extremely well marked, to the point were you would have to try pretty hard to get lost. Most junctions are marked with signs indicating the next town in all directions. Then on the main trail there are small signs with a bike and an arrow helping you through towns and cities and tricky corners.
...
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On the road of life...
Sorry for the lack of updates but finding an Internet cafe once you have spent the day riding, then finding a hotel and a decent meal with veggies is not high on the list. We have visited a few beautiful castles, had some amazing food (in France) and rode our bikes down some of the best paths I have ever been on! Our days are typically around 50km on the bike, then a huge lunch and a nice day...
May 2010
4 posts
Germany 2010
Here we are again, on the road and loving life!
I am not for one second going to try to match the amazing blog that my wife kept up on our last adventure, but I thought I should at least try to get some pictures out to everyone that may be interested in following along.
I hope all is well with our friends and family back home and you enjoy reading along about our little adventure…….
...
Germany 2010
Just a few things to note before you start reading:
1. German keyboards are not like Canadian ones!
2. I have no idea how to use spellcheck on their computers.
3. I don´t claim to have Natalie´s writing finesse.
4. I have included our daily mileage when riding.
5. Enjoy!
Here are some updates from our adventure on two wheels so far….
We arrived in Germany May 20th and made our...
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And They Lived Happily Ever After
Hey everybody, we’re home! After putting 18,100 kms on our Westy, our travels have come to an end where we started off, in Calgary, Alberta.
We spent the last month in Manitoba, mostly in beautiful wooded lake country around Lac du Bonnet and Pinawa, with our respective families. We collected Kona and our belongings and chugged the last 1,300 kms from Winnipeg to Calgary with an incredibly...
March 2009
25 posts
Embarassing Moment
It is with some degree of shame that I must admit to having deliberately avoided writing about an incident on my first day of driving in the last four months.
The last three days of driving before arriving in Manitoba were very, very long days. As you can imagine, sitting strapped into a car seat 8+ hours a day will take its toll, both on a 3 year old and on her mom, who is trying to entertain...
WatchIn the first picture notice who’s hands are on the steering wheel!!??!!
The rest are pictures of the flooding on Interstate 29 as we neared the US/Canada border.
Driving Through Floods in North Dakota
Having left the good weather behind, we weren’t inclined to dawdle, so we made it to Fargo, North Dakota in a day and a half. We’d heard forecasts that Fargo would be hard hit by floods this year and that levels might exceed 1997 records. We’d read that the crest in Fargo was to occur tomorrow, however every time we stopped to check the news, the highways remained open, so we trudged on.
As we...
Winter Wreckage in Colorado Springs
This morning, we woke to snow. As we drove east from Pagosa Springs, we quickly realized that we’d have to go through a mountain pass, where the snow quickly turned to a small blizzard. We passed tractor trailers chaining up on the side of the road and visibility began to drop. The road was completely covered in snow so that it was difficult to make out the lanes. Dave crawled up the 8 miles...
WatchSome really tight friends of ours Tania(9), Reuben(11) and Daudi (Dad) met us in Pagosa Springs and treated us to a great day of hot soaking, pizza, ripstiking and laughs.
Then the next day a winter storm treated us to two broken bikes and a slightly dented Westy.
Pagosa Springs
Despite my excitement that we would soon be seeing Daudi, Reuben and Tania, I closed the door to our lovely adobe house this morning with a heavy heart. I have never been more at peace in someone else’s home. Perhaps it was the smell of ginger, mingled with incense; a smell I’ve always found so soothing but have been unable to replicate in my own home. Or perhaps it was Melody’s interior...
WatchSome shots of the things we got up to while visiting Toas, NM. We made some great friends there and they really invited us into their lives.
March 21-24, 2009 Taos, NM
We stopped in Santa Fe, New Mexico, this morning for a short visit. It is a pretty city, although compared to Mexico, everything looked a touch too sanitized. I felt as though we were walking through the backdrop of a Hollywood film.
After a quick lunch, we headed to Taos, New Mexico, to visit with friends we’d met in Sayulita. Taos more than made up for what Santa Fe lacked in character. ...
Somewhere in Arizona
We crossed the border at Nogales, AZ after a long day of driving. We left Bahia Kino at 10 am, stopped in Hermosillo to pick up our vehicle registration and went on to Magdalene, where we intended to stay the night. Unfortunately, the only “RV park” we found was the dusty parking lot of a hotel and they wanted $18 for the privilege of parking overnight. Unfortunately, expecting it would be...
WatchHere are some photos from our last time on the Mexican coast, in Bahia Kino. There are lots of pictures of Sienna in this one because I find she is changing so much right now into a little girl, and it fills me with mixed emotions. She is also reminding me a lot of a very young Barbara that I miss so much. Hope you enjoy the pictures.
Bahia Kino
We’ve spent the last two nights in Bahia Kino and have paid for 4 more. It’s a longer stay than the place would usually warrant, but these are special circumstances. For all those planning a long-term road trip, beware! Make sure that your passport (check), driver’s license (check), insurance (check) AND vehicle registration (oops) do not expire during the trip. We verified with Alberta...
Thoughts
We’re doing a longer drive today and I’m impressed at how low maintenance Sienna is becoming as she gets older. My job is more just to pull out toys and supplies as she goes through them, instead of holding her hand through each activity like I did at the start of the trip. It gives me the chance to actually do something for myself, like writing, which is a fun development. In the last three...
WatchHere are some photos of our ride back to El Fuerte and to another small town called Alamos. We made some great friends on this small trip and miss them all!
Alamos
We left El Fuerte early this morning after saying goodbye to our new friends and drove to Alamos, only a few hours away. The town was pretty and reminded me of a smaller and less restored version of San Miguel. We did a quick tour of the town on our bikes and saw most of what there was to see in about a half hour. The zocalo contains nicely landscaped gardens in the Plaza de Armas, facing which...
Divisadero
We were talked into taking a short tour this morning to Divisadero, where we would take the train back to El Fuerte. Along the way, we visited a number of scenic canyon lookouts, some tucked away in the pine forests and others located in more touristy settings, with glass walkouts and swinging bridges.
All of these were nice, but our favourite part of the tour was finding a small path which lead...
Return to Creel
Today, we experienced the second day of rain in our entire trip. The clouds hung low, obscuring most of the canyon below as we sped back up the narrow road out of the gorge. This time, we encountered many oncoming vehicles which occasionally resulted in an impasse on the narrow road, forcing our driver to reverse to a wider spot. Driving forward was bad enough, but in reverse, so very close to...
WatchSome photos of our tour we took to Batopilas in the bottom of Copper Canyon. The road to and back is the wildest road Natalie and I have ever been on. Look at the switchbacks in the photos to try to get a small sense of how wild it is. I would have loved to be the driver! :)
Batopilas
Twelve of us, including Jean, Rod and Alain, piled into a large tour van after a delicious breakfast of huevos Mexicana and headed to Batopilas, a town isolated deep within the canyon approximately 150 km away.
Our drive took us through pine and juniper forests and past a pretty little lake tucked away in a basin of rock. As we headed deeper into the canyon, we began to see evidence of...
WatchSome shots from our 8 hour train ride into the Copper Canyon. Some of the sites and friends we meet along the way.
Creel
We were heading into town to do some errands last night when we ran into Alain, a friend we’d made in La Penita. We directed him to our site and upon our return, discovered that he and another couple, Rod and Jean, had visited a tour company in town for information on the train route. What they shared with us convinced us to change our agenda. As a result, today, we took the El Secundo (second...
El Fuerte
We spent 3 nights in Teacapan, the last two in a villa with full kitchen because it was cheap and seemed like a good idea. The villas were part of the same campground and had a nice view of the ocean. We spotted a pod of dolphins just off the beach, jumping clear out of the water. There was an amazing resort-grade pool too, where we spent much of our hot days. I can’t say much about the town...
WatchPhotos from our last days at La Penita, Sayulita and Teacapan.
Starting the Return Trip
We left at 9am this morning after saying goodbye to an interesting group of three families we’d met the day before, from Taos Pueblo, New Mexico. Sienna had adopted their children on the beach and, as an upshot, we got to make new friends too. We spent a fun evening with them while the kids played together happily. It was great to have an uninterrupted adult conversation with people who were...
Sayulita Ocean Hazards
We had just met one of our neighbours, a young American couple who owned a clothing shop in town. We didn’t even get her name as she was in a hurry to finish mopping the floors before her boyfriend returned from his afternoon of surfing.
Barely 20 minutes later, we heard the sound of a door slam and a deep voice groaning loudly from inside the camper, followed by scurrying and her cries of “shit,...
From Guadalajara to Sayulita
March 1, 2009 Sayulita
After a bit of a struggle, I managed to convince Dave I was well enough to do the 45 minute drive to Sayulita. Sitting is still painful, so I spent the ride spread out on the floor like an invalid (or an “in-va-lid”, as I like to pronounce it, because I feel useless right now).
We found the Sayulita RV Park quite easily and were pleased with its great location on the...
February 2009
16 posts
WatchPhotos from Morelia
February 26, 2009 Morelia
Morning bus rides are really the easiest with Sienna. We were up at 6:30 and were at the bus station by 7:05. Our bus to Morelia left at 7:45 and took about 4 hours. Sienna did really well on the bus, despite having had very little sleep the night before. She’s been waking up from bad dreams for the last few nights, but it’s funny, even though we’re sleep deprived, her mood has been so good...
WatchPhotos from San Miguel de Allende
February 25, 2009 San Miguel de Allende – Taboada
This morning, we had a nice breakfast of pastries and coffee and headed out to La Gruta Balneario on a city bus. It is located 8 kms northwest of the city, near Santuario de Atotonilco. There we found several thermal pools of varying temperatures laid out amidst prettily landscaped grounds. Our favourite pool was fully enclosed within stone walls and provided access to a water passage leading...
February 24, 2009 San Miguel de Allende – East and...
Our second day in San Miguel was a bit quieter, but just as enjoyable as the first. Today, we climbed a hill at the East end of San Miguel to El Mirador, a nice vantage point above the city, to take in the view of the valley below. It was pretty, although not as spectacular as the view from above Guanajuato.
We walked on to the Parque Juarez at the South end of the city via El Chorro....
February 23, 2009 San Miguel de Allende...
We jumped on the bus after breakfast and headed to nearby San Miguel. As Dave and I disembark the bus, loaded down with our backpacks and our guidebook, we reminisce on our backpacking trip though Europe 12 years ago. It certainly adds a whole new flavour when towing along a 3 year old. What was merely adventure then is now much more nerve-racking, when combined with potty breaks (“Mommy, I...
WatchPhotos of Delores Hidalgo
February 22, 2009 Dolores Hidalgo
We woke up this morning feeling pretty rough after a tough night with a 3 year old (need I say more?) We hit our favourite breakfast place again and then climbed up to the Monumento al Pipila which provides a breath taking view of the city below. The wind was blowing hard up there and I instantly regretted my unwise wardrobe choice (a skirt). While I spent most of my time wrestling to keep from...
WatchPhotos from Guanajuato
Guanajuato
After a 10 hour bus ride, we arrived in Guanajuato late last night. We took a taxi to a hotel downtown and managed to get Sienna back to sleep without too much disruption. The bus itself was great. We took the first class bus line called Primera Plus, which has plush seats, air conditioning, movies (great if you understand Spanish) and two bathrooms. We managed to entertain Sienna pretty well...
WatchPhotos of La Penita and adventures near by.
La Peñita de Jaltembre
We have enjoyed the last two weeks in La Peñita. We did meet up with Marie and Ray and have shared a few dinners, a few beers and a few laughs, with most of our time split between their rented house perched atop a hill overlooking the ocean and our jungle terrace. This RV park has held a few nice surprises, the best of which has been the actual campsite. The tenting area is enclosed within a...
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