Warm water & white sand - Exuma Islands 11/12 - 22

It feels a bit like coming home. The Exumas have been our fall retreat for five years now. We consider other plans but find ourself drawn to the warmth and beauty of the area and to another adventure with our friends Steve and Rhonda.

This year it's a 8 day kayak camping trip in the Brigantine Island area. We based on this beach. Each day we headed out to explore a new area via kayak or snorkel.

Never know what you might find… Always one for recycling Kat found a new sign for our office. 

We had a nice mix of paddling and kayak sailing. 

As always the food was wonderful … Here Ronda teaches us to make real southern biscuits. 

The girls even got a little beach time between adventures. Apparently this pool had the perfect sand for scrubbing feet. 

 On our last day we tried out a new property that Steve and Rhonda are considering using for their lodge based trips. Pretty sweet place.

Timing is everything - Salida, Co 11/6 - 8

Good fortunate has smiled upon us again.

It could of happened at Cedar Mesa or in the Yukon but our fuel pump waited until we were two blocks from friends and great music to die. Our goal had been to meet our new friends Rick and Donna at the Roadhouse Bar in Buena Vista for open mic night. The tow truck driver gave us a lift and we arrived at the bar in a unique but fitting style. The Roadhouse building used to house the state road shop…

Tonight it housed musicians.  We rocked our car blues away. Didn't take long to forget the loss of our home on wheels. With good music and friends we settled into the Salida area while the Explorer got repaired. 

 From Salida we headed to Boulder to drop the car at Fowlers and catch a flight to Florida. This involved some repacking of clothing and gear. Rick serenaded us as we packed in his driveway. Packing doesn't get any better then this. 

Our luck continued with our time in Boulder with Barb, Jack, Tom and a big dog named Norm. The Fowlers sent us off in style . It was great to hike the property with Jack, healthy after a car accident. We're now Florida and the Bahamas bound. 

Waterfalls and red rock 11/2-5

Highway 12 leads us from canyon to mountain top with great stops along the way. The little Calf Creek hike was awesome warming us up after a chilly night.

A side trip down  the Burr trail lead to another cool slot canyon.

Arches and Moab provided us with good Utah send off. 

Into Colorado and back onto time with a trip to Mesa Verde National Park.

From here it was a quick trip to Durango. Pam and her husband Tom provided us with one of our best meals of the trip home cooked antipasto and pasta. A musical hike along the San Juan River helped work off the feast.

Deer Springs Ranch 10/29 - 11/1

A rainy night had us wondering if we'd be able to negotiate the red clay road to Tim and Michelle's Utah property. We made it and ended up having an excellent three days settling into a cozy cabin, meeting Tim's dad Will and Pat, hiking the property and checking out the surrounding area.

Lick Wash was far more spectacular then the name would imply. It was an interesting mix of canyon country and ponderosa pine. 

Good fun with friends in an engaging place.