Vicenza Italy

Well as you can tell... Maggie is getting used to life in Italy. We like to call this one "Paparazzi Maggie". Lago di Garda. This lake is about 1 hour from Vicenza and has some amazing views and very cute surrounding villages. Mark is hoping to do some kite surfing on the lake in the spring!
Asiago Italy... the real deal. This cheese is soooo freaking good. We took a short trip to Asiago over the weekend and of course... brought back some cheese.

Venice Italy.

Pizza, Pizza, Pizza!!!

Munich, Germany

Tricia and I recently took a week trip to the Austrian alps. We stopped off in Munich on the way to Austria. What do you do in Germany.... DRINK BEER!

Largest Beer Garden in the world! Hofbrauhus, Munich.

Tricia and Matt's visit

Tricia Curl and Matt Crumbaker were married in July and decided to come visit us on while on their honeymoon :)

This is the two Tricias on the ferry to Cadiz ...

The happy couple in front of Plaza Espana in Vejer de la Frontera ...

Admiring the fountain ...

Mark celebrating making it across the river mouth to a beach in Donana. We rented Kayaks and paddled our way across the river (and a big shipping channel) to hang out on a nice beach across from San Lucar de Barrameda ...

Contemplating how to best set up our beach toys ...

Fun Fun Fun ...

Looking for birds ...

Loading up the truck ...

Matt enjoys a beer while floating in the piscina back at home ...

Summer Andalucia

Cadiz. This is Joe and Bridie Dillon (Tricia's Parents) standing by the water outside the "casco historico" Barbary Apes in Gibraltar....
The Med.
Looking up. La Linea de Concepcion in background.
The Rock.
Outside the Mesquita - Catedral in Codoba Spain. And yes... it was HOT.Soldiers statues.
Inside the Mesquita - Catedral, Cordoba Spain.
Picnicing in Grazalema (small mountains near our town). Amazing day!

Sierra Nevada

Mulhacen (2 Days in the Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada)

Spanish Sierra Nevadas. This mountain range hosts the highest peak in the entire Iberian peninsula (Mulhacen 3481 meters). Tricia, Maggie, and I set out for a 2 night pack trip from the highest village in Spain (Trevelez). It was an amazing trip.

Camp lounging.
Toward the summit.

Looking over the edge of the Mulhacen.
On the trail.

Camping at 3000 meters doesnt get any better than this. Canada de Siete Lagunas.
Above the clouds.
The Mulhacen.

Trevelez is known for thier cool air that cures the Ham (Jamon). I love this stuff.

Granada Espana

Alhambra, Granada Spain.

Granada, Espana.

Sierra de las Nieves, Magala Provience

In the mountains of the Las Nieves the locals used sites similar to this to store meat throughout the winter months and well into the spring to keep a fresh food supply. Old school freezer I suppose you could say, but not so "old school"... last used in 1931.
Summit: El Torrecilla (Highest Peak of Magala Province) Aprox. 5600ft.
Tricia summit... a little windy.
Looking south toward the Med.
Dorky me summit.

Spanish Sierra Nevada

Drinking a Sierra Nevada (the Chico type) in the Sierra Nevada's of Spain.

Spanish Sierras

We hiked with a French Couple and were successful in getting lost several times.

The highest pueblo in all of Spain. Trevelez
In any Spanish town you will find a gaggle of men sitting and talking. I'm sure they will be talking all week about taking a picture with a beautiful American lady.

Johnny Boy

Technorati Profile

A few more shots ...

Life in Spain

This is a quick picture of the outside of our new house. I know what you are thinking.... "a pool?" We will be living about 4 blocks from a beautiful beach. Needless to say we fee EXTREMELY lucky to have the opportunity to be living here in Southern Spain. We have several bedrooms for guests too... come on over!There is an amazing farmers/meat/seafood market in Jerez (largest city near us 20 minutes by car) with anything you could want. We need to start taking some cooking classes soon! Neither of us really know how to prepare fish. Everything is amazingly fresh and really fun... sort of have to be aggressive when ordering, and cant let the old women push you around (because they will).

Tricia isnt as excited as I about the fact that Spain is a major producer of olives. You can pretty much get any kind of olive you want. I LOVE it.

Seafood...

Squid

Tricia and Maggie in downtown El Puerto (our new home).

Maggie on her new beach. Ha. She loves being here also. She had a hard journey on the plane ride over. 22 hours total from San Francisco to Spain (including all connections) and no bathroom breaks. Needless to say her crate smelled horrible and she really needed to go # 2 when she arrived!

A view of the beach that is near our house. El Puerto.

We took a weekend trip to Sierra de Grazalema, a small mountain preserve 1.5 hours drive. It snows here in the winter! We are very excited that there are some good mountains near us. The natural preserve has some great hikes from village to village.

Grazelma. Many towns in this area have a very Muslim influence (white washed buildings) and exist on a route called "La Ruta de Los Pueblos Blancos" You can hike from one to the other. I cant wait to explore this area!

Mark on a vista near Sahara de la Sierra (Pueblo Blanco).

This is our rental that we have been driving (Chevy Matiz). It is a fun little car to drive, but not much on power. We are hoping to buy a little Honda or smaller European car soon. Maggie in the back seat... she pretty much lives in the car for now.

Baja California Mexico

Campsite for our first night in Baja ...

Waiting for the "Bufadora" to blow ...

Lista para la lucha libre ...

Not much swell but still fun to be had ...

Kite flying in Punta San Jose...

More fun with the kite ...

Baja ...

The wind was howling at "the wall" but it's never too cold to curl up with a good book...

Sunset

Stops along the ruta de vino ...

Nothing beats camping out at the Bibayoff winery/tasting room ...

Fishy Maggie....

First Tracks...

Oregon

On our return to CA, we decided to make a trip through Oregon's mid section and down the Pacific Coast. We spent 2 nights in the 3 sister's wilderness near Bend OR. Awesome backcountry!

The Kipuka (Hawaiian term for an area of land that was undisturbed by a lava flow around it) ... means "hairy hill". It is really cool to see from a bird's eye view how the lava flowed out of the mountain and around this little hill. Lucky little hill...

Cant remember the name of this peak? Mt. Washington?...

Our last couple of nights we spent on the Pacific Ocean. Our friend living in Eugene (Alison Hopcroft) told us about a cool area called Tahkenitch Creek in the Siuslaw National Forest. Tahkenitch is surrounded by the great sand dunes that line the OR coast. If you have a chance... hit this place up!

View toward the Pacific...

Dunes camp on Tahkenitch Creek...

Mark...

The creek...

Sand crack...

Fishy Maggie: We have become one of "those" kind of dog owners. I have never in my life met a dog lazy enough to sit through something like this. Maggie hits a new low of laziness...

Paul, Mark, and Maggie...

Tricia, Blue, and Maggie...

Idaho Bull Ridin

I never thought I would do this... I have become one of those guys.

Idaho Hot Springs

Traveling through Idaho, one has to take advantage of the many many many hot springs scattered throughout the state. Our first stop involuntarily (wrong turn on wrong Hwy) took us to some really cool hot springs in N. East Idaho.

The Bureau of Land Management maintains Sharky Hot Springs... Great views....

Off Hwy 93 we visited Goldbug Hot Springs. Situated in a high canyon 2 miles from the trail head, these cascading waterfalls were amazing! The pics below look like they're taken of a cold water river... but they're not...

Sacajawea Hot Springs. Maggie was not a fan, but these ranked probably # 2 out of all the hot springs we have visited this summer...

After 5 days in the mountains we came into Bosie ID to visit an few of Mark's friends from Wyoming. Needless to say we went to the bar...

Little bar love...

Bighorn Mountains 2

Mark headed up into the Bighorns on his final wilderness trip with some High School friends from Sheridan. The destination was Emerald Lake...

Tucker sorting out the route... Edelman Trail...

Cody Brantz ...

Tucker calling in the elk... and yes, the animals in the background are cows...

Golden Lake...

Golden Lake...

Good morning sunshine...

One of the smaller fish caught over the weekend. Tucker landed a 3 + lb cutthroat from Golden Lake later this day.

Survival in numbers. These conifers are sticking together in this harsh high alpine climate.

Emerald Lake. We were camped on the small bit of land separating the upper lake and lower (bigger) lake.

Emerald Lake...

Friends (Jay and Codi)...

Steve and Tucker tried out a new bivy sack straight out of the construction site...

Tucker, Mark, & Cody on the way out of the Cloud Peak Wilderness...

Nearly every night lightning lit up the mountain sky. Unfortunately one of the storms started a small fire that has turned into a big fire on the face of the mountain. Looking toward Bighorn Wyoming and the face of Little Goose Canyon.

Bighorn Mountains 1

We finally made our way to my home town (Sheridan Wyoming) and the foot of the Bighorn Mountains. We made several trips into the mountains doing everything from car camping to exploring the Cloud Peak Wilderness backcountry. I love this place...

The first stop was Medicine Wheel. Medicine Wheel is an amazing limestone wheel on the top of a plateau in the bighorn mountains. The Medicine Wheel measures 80 feet across, and consists of 28 rock spokes that radiate from the center. There are 6 carins that are scattered on the outside of the wheel's rim. It is said to date back to sometime between 1200-1700 AD. While little is known about the origins of the wheel it is definitely known to have been a sacred prayer sight for many Native Americans. The sight is still used for Native ceremonies and a fence surrounds the wheel where Native Americans have placed prayer clothes and other symbolic items. For more information check out: http://www.codywyomingnet.com/attractions/medicine_wheel.php or http://solar-center.stanford.edu/AO/bighorn.html.

Medicine Wheel...

Medicine Wheel...

Medicine Wheel ...

North Fork Tounge River. The fish are hook savvy because of the mandatory catch and release policy, but they sure get some size to them...

Tricia enjoying the mountain view...

Mark's Dad and little sister...

Mark and his Dad...

A separate trip into the Cloud Peak Wilderness. Looking back toward Sheridan over Geneva Pass. (11,000 ft)

Geneva Lake. We camped for 2 nights at the bottom of this canyon near the lake. The lake is chalked full of tiny Brook trout...

Snake River Runners

While in Jackson Wyoming Tricia decided that it was time to run some class III water. We met up with Emily (a friend from Sheridan) and had a great time paddling the Alpine Canyon section of the Snake River. With two solid swims under her belt, Tricia is on the hunt for a used rubber ducky for future river trips!
I dont know if it was a good idea to match up two goofs before running some big water?

Big Kahuna

Wyoming (Wind River Wilderness)

Our next stop was Pinedale Wyoming, a jumping off point to some of the most amazing wilderness in the Rocky Mountains. We visited Titcomb and Indian Basins, which both offered more than a dozen alpine lakes, dramatic backdrops of sweeping walls capped by slender spires and bold crags - including some of the highest peaks in Wyoming. We spent 5 days in the back country wilderness hiking over 34 miles total.

The Menu... (5 days)

Tricia on the trail day 1 (Titcomb Basin in background)

We were told that the bugs were "not that bad" this year. These unlucky few were dead on impact with the 25% deat spray.

Our camp (day 4) at Island Lake...

Sardines.... mmmmm..... (Titcomb Basin Camp)

Indian Basin...

Fremont & Jackson Peaks over looking Island Lake...

The guide book... (note the picture location for next photo)

It's cheesy I know... but I had to pose like the person on the cover (minus the 80's spandex)

Many of the high alpine lakes support healthy Golden Trout populations. Of all the fish caught we only kept 3.

Before....

and after...

We were so fortunate that the weather was in the 80's most days. High alpine swimming...
Leaving Titcomb Basin camp... (day 4)

Wyoming (Medicine Bow Mountains)

We made a trip through the Medicine Bow Mountains (Snowy Range) in Southern Wyoming. What struck us most about these mountains was the ease of accessibility to such a remote rugged landscape.

Mirror Lake

Medicine Bow Peak Hike (1249 ft)

A view from the top, if you look closely you can see our tent...

Marmot...

Hail Storm...

Our camp was a few miles off Hwy 130. Not much traffic here...

Ireland (Galway)

We spent the final two days in Galway with Tricia's Parents. Ireland is an amazing country...

Ireland (Aran Islands)

We finally made our way to Ireland where we met Tricia's Mom before jumping on a ferry to the Aran Islands. Tricia's mother was born on a small island off the coast of Galway Ireland called 'Inis Meian'. It is an amazing place that has a history dating back thousands of years. We stayed 8 days on the island with Tricia's Aunt Maurine who still lives on the island. The everyday language of the island is still Irish (Gaelic).

A photo of Temple Village. Aunt Maurine lives in the peach colored house on the left...

A view of the island. Over hundreds of years, the islanders have made soil from sand and seaweed to provide sustenance for their livestock. Can you imagine clearing all these fields and building these walls?

In the pub...

The islanders receive their freshwater through a desalination process that is powered by wind...

Tricia looking down into a very old rock hut...There are two cemeteries on the island (old and new). This temple, in the old cemetery, was built approximately in the 1200's...

Zoomed in on a stained glass window in the island's church...

Entering one of the islands battle forts. The foundations of these are pre-christian...
Don't drive your VW Beatle directly into the ocean...
This is Aunt Maurine. She cooks nearly everything in this coal burning stove. We ate like kings during our stay on the island. Needless to say, we'll be needing a workout when we return...

Island ladies...

Fresh lobster caught only hours earlier...

England

We have finally made our way to England. Ian, Mark's long time friend, was married on June 16th. Ian and his wife (Katrina) live in a small hamlett called Burlawn in Cornwall England. Burlawn is a lovely little place overlooking rolling hills of full pines in the Western part of England. It has been such a great visit here... sure beats the hussle and bussle of London.

In the pub the day before the wedding...

Typical English weather...

You know you're in England when you have a bucket of used tea bags sitting above your kitchen sink...

Ian and Katrinia's lab (Archie)...

English food isn't too bad...

They love their meat!
The Bride and Groom...

The site of the wedding was a very old English manor house built in 1592. Ian and his brother (Mark) pose outside.

The garden...

The Bridesmaids...

Lord McWilliams of the manor. "Yess... can I help you?"

Celtic Cross in the garden... notice the date.

Mark and Tricia at the wedding site...

Wyoming

After spending a week in the Idaho wilderness and enjoying our few days in Missoula we pushed on to my house in Sheridan Wyoming. Sheridan is in the Northern part of Wyoming at the base of the mountains. My dad's black lab just had a litter of 8 new puppies. There were 12 dogs total in the house (including our lazy lab Maggie), so needless to say it was a full house!

Big Horn Mountains, Sheridan Wyoming

Drive through Liquors... only in Wyoming

My step-mother (Helena) and little sister (Aline) watching Maggie be a freak...

Tricia with puppy

Pipeline Wave (Lochsa River ID)

This is a short video of an amazing play wave on the Lochsa River. The wave is termed "pipeline" because as it surges and crashes the lip comes over and looks like a very small version of an ocean wave. It was so much fun in a kayak, I had to take a try at surfing it with a boogie board. Reed is the guy that I accidental bump off in the beginning... sorry Reed!

Lochsa Falls

Class IV Rapid on the Lochsa River. This is a good "boat flipping" level.

Lochsa River Idaho

After spending a few days in Missoula Montana with the Hanks family, we headed up to one of the most beautiful rivers in the Northwest.... The Lochsa. With it's class IV rapids, beautiful green water, and sunny skies we sure had a hard time leaving. We spent a few nights on the river kayaking and camping. Our final night was spent after a 6 mile hike into Stanley Hot Springs. These natural hot springs were awesome... and totally primitive. We had no major wildlife spotting's though... :(

Putting on the river with the Hanks family...

Camping on the Lochsa River. This was an awesome campsite. Waking up to the sound of a rushing river is sweet....

We ran into a guy named Reed from Washington that had a few boogie boards. Needless to say from the picture, I had to try it out in one of the biggest waves on the Lochsa River... Pipeline.

Tricia on the trail to Stanley Hot Springs...

View from the Trail...

Mark pondering life...

Stanley Hot Springs... the reward after a long hike on a hot trail...

Portland

Mark and Matt take on the Clackmas ...

Tricia in the garden...

Deschutes River

While staying with Matt & Tricia in Portland Oregon, we took a weekend to spend some time fly fishing and camping on the Deschutes River. Luckily, everyone in the group caught fish... except Maggie. The central Oregon landscape is much different from the coastal areas.

Wildflowers...

Camp...

Tricia & Tricia...

A view of camp from up above. We were camped on the lower "river" right bend...

Mr. Matt...

Fly fishing class...

North Fork Umpqua River (OR)

After leaving Crater Lake National Park, we enjoyed spending a couple days on the banks of the Umpqua (Thunder Water) River. This was a perfect opportunity to unload the Kayak and get in some good class III stuff. The river has a light blue hue and is amazingly clear, deserving of it's "Wild & Scenic" designation.

Life is good for Mags...

The gear up...

The Launch...

Throwing a wave wheel...

Crater Lake

We researched the perfect trail, put on the sunscreen, got out the trekking poles, and were all set for a hike to one of the peaks surrounding the lake. Unfortunately, we seemed to have forgotten that it is still MAY and there is still snow in the mountains of Oregon. Ha~! Though no hiking... not a bad spot to have lunch.

The Snow...

The Lake...

Shasta

The raft trip was unfortunately canceled due to low flows - but that didn’t stop us from having a great weekend! Some friends came up to meet us in Shasta for camping, hiking and good times :)

Mark and Maggie on the trail...

Dog School 101 at the campground...

Tricia, Christine & Renee have fun on the trail...

Mt. Shasta

Michael and Maggie enjoying the view...

Smiling Kristen ...

Castle Crags ...

Another view of Mt. Shasta ...

Fortune Cookies... China Town

Ever wonder who the heck puts fortunes in fortune cookies?

Mark's Mom Comes to SF

Mark & His Mom

Obstacle # 1

When your radio, tac, and speedometer go out 156 miles into a 10,000 mile journey its either time to laugh or cry --- seeing that we happened to be in the beautiful coastal town of Half Moon Bay we chose to laugh. The alternator went out right as we pulled into town - luckily not too far from a great ocean side camp site and a NAPA Auto Parts. Now at least we know we have a good alternator :)

Assessing the damage...

Waiting for the part...

The fix...

Leaving Monterey

We had an fun farewell bbq at Del Monte Beach with friends on our last weekend in Monterey complete with a Dora Explorer Pinada.

Maggie's Spot

For those of you who don't know Maggie... she loves to sleep. We converted the extra cab of the truck to mag-cab.

The Truck

Our mode of transportation is our 1994 Toyota truck termed "time capsule" because of the small sleeping capsule compartment in the back. The truck has been on many adventures in its 12 years, and hopefully many more... knock on wood!

Got Cappuccino?

Swiss Night in Carmel