Summer Fun

After a long, hard summer in the caddyshak at Vaquero CC, it was time for some real fun. I threw my bike in Ghost, and we headed out to the Palo Duro Canyon for a night and a morning. It was some sweet biking, and I only had one wipeout. After stumbling across a fellow horned frog, I arrived at the canyon's main event, The Lighthouse Formation.

It was a little too steep for me to climb, so I climbed its neighbor and took in the views. All that hard work was worthy of a good, hearty snack, and fortunately I'm not allergic to tarantulas.

YUM YUM!

Then I said, "So long, Texas!" I crossed the border to see my New Mexican friend, Meg. She's way out in Gallup, which by the way is great place. The people in her neighborhood sleep with their front doors open 'cause it's so safe, and the weather's great. Neither of us went to church that week, so we thought we'd make up for it by making a pilgrimage to the mecca of Gallup, Church Rock. We brought her sick dog, Akaroa (It's KiwiFrench), along, too, hoping for some healing so I wouldn't have to wake up the next morning with her sneezing in my face.

So I said, "So long New Mexico. Here I come Colorado!" I'd never been to this mysterious land before, but doggone-it it's pretty. I met up with my friend Michael and his family in Durango, and we boarded a train to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere, where we headed for the Chicago Basin. And let me tell you, this place is like the Disneyland of Outdoors. Now, I've never been to Disneyland, but I think it has more rocks and waterfalls than Disney World, so I think I hit the nail on the head with that literary tool. I climbed my first 3 14-ers (14k ft.) ever. Now, though many of you out there think I'm an expert when it comes to mountains, I'm not quite there yet (Give it 443 more hours and 23 minutes). But, I must say, the mountains in New Zealand were pristine , but these things in Colorado were like Wild Monsters! They look they don't care whose in their way, they're gonna emerge from the earth and stake their claim whether you like it or not. In more understandable terms, they have big boulders. Anyways, it was an amazing time - Cheers to Haveman Family! Here are some pics...

Welcome to Colorado!

Man those Mtns are Tall!

All aboard!

The Haveman girls!

The beautiful Chicago Basin

Twin Lakes

Sunlight Pinnacles & Mount Windom

All Hail, The Domain of Wind!

Superhero Pose

Sunlight Pinnacles

The view from Mount Eolus

True Cliffhanger

We were trapped

Like I said, those mountains were tall!