Making Circles

When I was in Costa Rica this past winter, I had a chance to get into a kayak on the Pacuare river, and it was instant love. I paddled for less than an hour, but I was so hooked. As soon as I got home, I began researching ways to learn how to kayak, and lo and behold, there is kayaking less than an hour and a half from Philly…
So I went on a little kayaking trip this week. I took a 2 day class over on the Lehigh River with the Northeast PA Kayak School. These guys are great! My instructors, Tim and Paul, were fantastic. They were really thorough, patient, and most importantly fun. I’m already trying to figure out when I can get back out there for another day on the river… Kayaking seems a lot like mountain biking as far as finding a line to get past obstacles, but the added dimension of moving water makes for less control than mountain biking. I like that you cannot control the water, and you have to learn to read it to get where you want to go. Plus it’s fun to learn another completely new set of skills- Yay!

I’ll be back in Philly on the 31st, and will begin teaching a yoga for athletes class at the new studio Yoga on the Ridge on Mondays from 7-8:30pm. The first class is on June 2nd!

Steph caught me floating on the South rim at 5:30 this morning.

We got up at 4am to catch a bus out to a good lookout spot for sunrise this morning, and then we played around while waiting for the bus back…

On our way to Durango from Cortez, CO, we visited Mesa Verde today. We did a guided visit of Cliff Palace (below), the largest cliff dwelling in North America. Our ranger guide was great- he talked to us about the people who lived in the dwellings, their descendants who still frequent the dwellings, and some of their customs and beliefs. Yet another completely amazing place on our travels out West…

When we got to Durango, we stopped in a local bike shop, Hassle Free Sports, to have them ship our bikes back to Santa Barbara, and got to chatting about the local mountain bike scene. PJ, the gentleman who helped us, hooked us up with some rental bikes, and gave us a little rundown of some of the local trails. Tomorrow morning, Steph and I will check them out… This will be her first mountain bike ride ever! Very exciting stuff…

After checking out the hotel and restaurant situation in town, we will be driving to Pagosa Springs, CO. After that, the last stop will be Taos, NM, before we fly back to Santa Barbara on Friday to prep the trip starting May 4th…

Steph and I took a little detour to hike around Monument Valley since we were driving right by it. This place is really magical- It’s on a Navajo reservation, and has these mysterious-looking rock spires and plateaus. These little rock piles marked the trail we took…

We found a beautiful little flower on the ground

One of the plateaus…

Been hard at work driving all the routes for a XC trip I am guiding starting May 4th! It’s my first time out here, and it is so gorgeous!

Steph, my coguide, and I camped out at the Grand Canyon last night! woohoo!

I was just outside picking up trash in front of our house, when… lo and behold… I saw the first daffodil bulb had popped up!  The temperature may only be hovering around freezing, but spring is here, baby!

Yesterday, got up and helped the Philly MTB club and Friends of the Wissahickon groups do some trail work… Picked up trash and recyclables in the woods (man! there is a ton of trash out there!) Then I went for a lovely ride in the Wissahickon and got to see what the trail workers for doing on several of the trails- There were a lot of volunteers out! Spent the rest of the day with Tim…always a good thing.

Today, we slept in a bit, got up and made pancakes and egges for brunch, and then went to the Philly Art Museum to see the Frida Kahlo show- I don’t remember having ever seen any of her paintings in the flesh, so it was good- There were a lot of people though, so it was difficult to get close to the works. Most people had those headphone audio guides on, so everyone was moving around in that strange museum way, where they kind of ignore everyone else.

After that, Tim and I biked out to West Philly to Philadelphia Community Acupuncture for my first appointment there. That place is great! I highly recommend it. The two acupuncturists who work there are really good, and I’m looking forward to heading back there this week for my next session.

We walked to the nearby Ethiopian restaurant next, and had delicious vegetarian fare, then rode our bikes the hour or so back home… Nothing like a little bike ride across the city to digest large quantities of spongy bread as it slowly balloons in your belly.

…as the Ticos say in Costa Rica.  It literally means “Pure Life” and is used as a greeting and  just to say “life is good” or “cool”, among many other things…
I’ve been in Costa Rica for about a week so far- This country is amazing! In the last week, I did the following with my coguide, Liz: navigated across the city of San Jose at night (by car), drove up the side of a volcano, hiked to the base of a volcano and saw it erupt, saw a raccoon-like animal in the rain forest (turns out many Ticos own animals like this one and keep them like cats), saw some toucans, hiked 600 meters down a steep path to see a waterfall, went kayaking in the pacific, did some snorkeling around a coral reef, got coral rash for the first time, held a starfish in my hand, saw a pelican take a nose dive into the ocean and eat fish, got stranded on an organic farm for a night (this wins the most memorable experience award), drove through a small lake, saw lizards of various sizes, including a large iguana that ran across the road, and saw an armadillo. And that was just in a week!

The first trip we guide starts on Sunday- Looking forward to it!