Sunday, June 2, 2013
Friday, May 31, 2013
Road trip
Most spoiled dog in the whole world. Has her own personal fan and window shades in the truck.
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S™ III, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Silver City, New Mexico
Finally someplace new(er) than where we have been going in and around Fort Huachuca. We went to Silver City, NM with the new RV and tried out some of the mountain roads on the Motorcycle. Best roads I have been on since my last trip to the Alps. There was a road bike race going on in the city and we got to see some of it as well as visit the 'beer garden'. We also went to see the Gila Cliff Dwellings. Great area and beautiful country....
Sunday, January 20, 2013
2012
Yeah, yeah, those "year in review" blogs are supposed to be written on New Years Eve. Whatever ... we were busy playing Scrabble that day. Besides, we only write this so when we have a friendly disagreement about when something happened, whoever is right can use this entry as evidence. :)
First, some fun stats. In 2012, together we mountain biked 469 miles in 4 countries and 2 US states with a total elevation gain of 59,543 ft. We hiked 110 miles in Arizona with a total elevation gain of 28,515 ft. And Jen ran (Doug is too smart to run) 212 miles in 5 US states with a total elevation gain of 26,218 ft. Thanks to Garmin for those year-end reports that make us feel like studs (and those numbers don't count all the times I forgot to start the watch, or charge the watch the night before!).
January was our transition time of 2012. Jen got reacquainted with the good life after six mons in Afghanistan and we packed our shit for our 8th move in 5 years. Oh, and there was a great long weekend in Portland, Oregon with James, Brookes, Patrick, Kat and Pete (apologies for the lack of photos ... those glasses of wine are the last thing I remember.....).
February was our road trip to sunny Arizona and moving into our new house at Ft. Huachuca. Of course, settling in meant lots of beer, mountain biking, and a trip or three to In n Out (which took most of March, too!)
April started with a Pink Floyd tribute concert and a long weekend in Vegas, where we evenmanaged to get a few rides in and bond over sushi with James & Brookes. After Vegas, Doug tortured himself with another bike mechanic course in Portland (although judging by his pictures, it wasn't ALL painful...).
May was a month of road trips and beer (shocking, I know). The AmeriCAN Beer Festival (celebrating canned beer, of course) in Scottsdale was one of the best beer festivals we've ever been to (well, what Jen remembers anyway). By the way, planning to ride in 103 degree heat the day after a beer festival of that magnitude was a really really bad idea -- lesson learned. Jen turned 40-something two weeks later and the entire pack took her up to the swanky Phoenician resort in Phoenix. Even though Richie chased all the hotel bunnies, we didn't get kicked out.
June was a big travel month, too. We went to Maui, where we drank Mai Tais, went diving, and attempted to MTB, but got rained out by a "freak" storm (Norvell Luck was alive and well). After Maui, we made a pit stop in Seattle, where we caught a Seether and Nickelback concert and drank beer with the Seattle peeps. From there, Jen went straight to a work thing at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island while Patrick and Doug went on an epic motorcycle trip that included enough In n out to shorten both of their lives at least a decade (but they had fun!)
July and most of August were just too damned hot to do much of anything. At the end of August, we both went back to the East Coast again so Jen could attend a work thing at the JAG school in Charlottesville, VA. Jen's parents drove down to Virginia and spent some time hanging out with us in different brewpubs in Virginia.
September was easily the highlight of the year, with our epic trip to Asia. We were lucky to have Patrick come down to stay with the pups, so I don't think they even noticed we were gone for two weeks. We also expanded our toy collection to include a new motorcycle for Doug, so the rest of September was filled with long motorcycle rides all over Arizona with Patrick. Also in September, Jen competed for and earned her German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge (but got neither a trip to Germany, nor even a decent German beer out of the deal). Except for getting up at 0330 for a long ruck march in the dark, it was fun.
By October, Arizona was finally cooling off enough to enjoy being outside again. Jen ran the Bisbee 1000 (Doug was too smart) which was a crazy 4.5 mile "race" through the hilly streets of an old mining town -- and up 1000 stairs built into the sides of the hills. The good news was that it ended at the Old Bisbee Brewing Company! :) We were also happy to have James & Brookes come visit, and we took them horseback riding and to (of course) a brew festival in Tuscon (for which we inexplicably have no pictures....). Jen also got to go back to Virginia again for another work thing, but Doug stayed behind to do more motorcycle rides with Patrick. When she got back, Jen took a class to get her motorcycle license too (but Doug still won't let her drive the GoldWing).
In November, Jen went back to the East Coast again - this time to New Jersey to visit her parents. Pat went back to rainy Seattle after Thanksgiving (but left his motorcycle behind .... Jen's still trying to get up the courage to ride it!). After Thanksgiving, Doug taught a Land Navigation course for Jen's office -- 18 lawyers and not a single one got lost!!
December was our final road trip - back to rainy Seattle (where it rained the entire time of course). We were psyched to be able to celebrate the pending nuptials of our two good friends Katy & Kath and then spend some quality time drinking beer with James, Brookes, Patrick, Pete and Kat. After all of that, we happily spent the holidays close to home!
2012 also marked the longest time we've lived in any one place since we met .... and fear not, we are already restless. While it looks like the Army will keep us here until June 2014, we're keeping our ear to the ground for other opportunities. I mean really, you can only ride so many trails and drink so much beer in one state.....
First, some fun stats. In 2012, together we mountain biked 469 miles in 4 countries and 2 US states with a total elevation gain of 59,543 ft. We hiked 110 miles in Arizona with a total elevation gain of 28,515 ft. And Jen ran (Doug is too smart to run) 212 miles in 5 US states with a total elevation gain of 26,218 ft. Thanks to Garmin for those year-end reports that make us feel like studs (and those numbers don't count all the times I forgot to start the watch, or charge the watch the night before!).
January was our transition time of 2012. Jen got reacquainted with the good life after six mons in Afghanistan and we packed our shit for our 8th move in 5 years. Oh, and there was a great long weekend in Portland, Oregon with James, Brookes, Patrick, Kat and Pete (apologies for the lack of photos ... those glasses of wine are the last thing I remember.....).
February was our road trip to sunny Arizona and moving into our new house at Ft. Huachuca. Of course, settling in meant lots of beer, mountain biking, and a trip or three to In n Out (which took most of March, too!)
April started with a Pink Floyd tribute concert and a long weekend in Vegas, where we evenmanaged to get a few rides in and bond over sushi with James & Brookes. After Vegas, Doug tortured himself with another bike mechanic course in Portland (although judging by his pictures, it wasn't ALL painful...).
May was a month of road trips and beer (shocking, I know). The AmeriCAN Beer Festival (celebrating canned beer, of course) in Scottsdale was one of the best beer festivals we've ever been to (well, what Jen remembers anyway). By the way, planning to ride in 103 degree heat the day after a beer festival of that magnitude was a really really bad idea -- lesson learned. Jen turned 40-something two weeks later and the entire pack took her up to the swanky Phoenician resort in Phoenix. Even though Richie chased all the hotel bunnies, we didn't get kicked out.
June was a big travel month, too. We went to Maui, where we drank Mai Tais, went diving, and attempted to MTB, but got rained out by a "freak" storm (Norvell Luck was alive and well). After Maui, we made a pit stop in Seattle, where we caught a Seether and Nickelback concert and drank beer with the Seattle peeps. From there, Jen went straight to a work thing at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island while Patrick and Doug went on an epic motorcycle trip that included enough In n out to shorten both of their lives at least a decade (but they had fun!)
July and most of August were just too damned hot to do much of anything. At the end of August, we both went back to the East Coast again so Jen could attend a work thing at the JAG school in Charlottesville, VA. Jen's parents drove down to Virginia and spent some time hanging out with us in different brewpubs in Virginia.
September was easily the highlight of the year, with our epic trip to Asia. We were lucky to have Patrick come down to stay with the pups, so I don't think they even noticed we were gone for two weeks. We also expanded our toy collection to include a new motorcycle for Doug, so the rest of September was filled with long motorcycle rides all over Arizona with Patrick. Also in September, Jen competed for and earned her German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge (but got neither a trip to Germany, nor even a decent German beer out of the deal). Except for getting up at 0330 for a long ruck march in the dark, it was fun.
By October, Arizona was finally cooling off enough to enjoy being outside again. Jen ran the Bisbee 1000 (Doug was too smart) which was a crazy 4.5 mile "race" through the hilly streets of an old mining town -- and up 1000 stairs built into the sides of the hills. The good news was that it ended at the Old Bisbee Brewing Company! :) We were also happy to have James & Brookes come visit, and we took them horseback riding and to (of course) a brew festival in Tuscon (for which we inexplicably have no pictures....). Jen also got to go back to Virginia again for another work thing, but Doug stayed behind to do more motorcycle rides with Patrick. When she got back, Jen took a class to get her motorcycle license too (but Doug still won't let her drive the GoldWing).
In November, Jen went back to the East Coast again - this time to New Jersey to visit her parents. Pat went back to rainy Seattle after Thanksgiving (but left his motorcycle behind .... Jen's still trying to get up the courage to ride it!). After Thanksgiving, Doug taught a Land Navigation course for Jen's office -- 18 lawyers and not a single one got lost!!
December was our final road trip - back to rainy Seattle (where it rained the entire time of course). We were psyched to be able to celebrate the pending nuptials of our two good friends Katy & Kath and then spend some quality time drinking beer with James, Brookes, Patrick, Pete and Kat. After all of that, we happily spent the holidays close to home!
2012 also marked the longest time we've lived in any one place since we met .... and fear not, we are already restless. While it looks like the Army will keep us here until June 2014, we're keeping our ear to the ground for other opportunities. I mean really, you can only ride so many trails and drink so much beer in one state.....
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
Last stop: Tokyo
No offense, Japan, but after Bangkok, Singapore, and Hong Kong, you're a little ho-hum. But the food was good, the hotel was swanky (another free-night coupon) and of course, we managed to find another beer pub.
Beer communication????? Not sure.....
Beer communication????? Not sure.....
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Singapore - the city
This is a hotel - the top cruise-ship looking thing apparently has an Infiniti pool right at the edge. No free-night coupons for that one (yet) so we didn't get to check it out (yet)
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Post-MTB refreshment
Shocking, I know, but Doug managed to find us a brew pub AND and English pub within just a few meters of each other. Rehydrating is very important after mountain biking at the equator!
Yes, it's green. Not because it's Irish, but because it's infused with spirulina (which, according to the menu, is good for you and prevents AIDS infection).
Yes, it's green. Not because it's Irish, but because it's infused with spirulina (which, according to the menu, is good for you and prevents AIDS infection).
Singapore
She had to come all the way to Singapore, but Jen finally got her lychee martini (and it was almost as good as the ones in NYC back in the day...)
Singapore
Mountain biking in Singapore today. This equator shit sucks. Too damned hot. But the trail-side beer shack was a definite plus. How do we get Kingdom Trails to put something like that in?
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Phuket to Singapore
Said goodbye to Naka Island today and traveled to Singapore. This is by far the cleanest city on earth. The streets are cleaner than our house (less dog hair too). There's even a ban on chewing gum. No shit.
Goodbye Phuket.....
Hello Singapore!
The white lights you see snaking through the city are the lights for the Formula One race this weekend.
Goodbye Phuket.....
Hello Singapore!
The white lights you see snaking through the city are the lights for the Formula One race this weekend.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Phuket bike ride
Well it wasn't exactly a mountain bike ride, per se, but we were on (really uncomfortable) bikes, there was dirt and mud and wildlife, so it counts, damnit! (rode all of 3 miles into the fishing village, which is apparently the only other habitation on this island.)
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