Making Circles

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!