Pooks Canyon

On Friday, rain looming, our family set out to go camping. It was the annual Palo Duro trip with my sister-in-law, Valerie, and her contingent. This year we added the Elder Bakers to the mix. Their recreational vehicle turned out to be a great source of refuge in the early squalls, and a continuous source of refuge for the camping-averse teens who were eventually forced out into the sunlight after elicit use of the bathroom. Jon and I scrambled to set up a tarp shanty, covering tents that had varying levels of water permeability. Note: a tarp under the tent just causes water to pool, only use tarps that are less than the footprint of your tent for ground cover. Eventually we had to give up on my pop-up tent from 1996, too wet. We had relegated aforementioned camping-averse teens to that tent, so they bailed to the relative comfort of Valerie and Richard’s living room sized nylon abode. Partially dry and mostly unslept, I emerged in the grey morning seeking coffee and oatmeal. The aban...

It all started with iPhone alarms going off at 6am. Yes, we're on vacation in Mexico... Jon Baker style! We sleepily pulled on our cycling finest and wandered, spandex-clad, toward the main drag in search of a taxi. In the dark. The full crew was Jon, my brother-in-law Richard, my nephew Robert, my dad and myself; we were on the first leg of a bike ride that was to include taxis, buses and even a boat. We arrived at BikeMex on Guerrero where Oscar, the proprietor, set us up with the necessities. Guide, check. Sandwiches, check. Helmet and Gloves, check. Several bikes in varying states of repair, check. In the dawn light we rode through the cobbled streets of Puerto Vallarta to a bus stop where Oscar attempted to deposit us on the next bus to El Tuito. After much exchange with the driver it was determined we would wait for the next bus. The wait was nearly an hour. Standing at a Mexican bus stop wearing spandex - when the working people are all getting on the bus to go t...

My niece, Jasmine, captured this image at Palo Duro Canyon a few weeks ago. Wow, Jazzie. Nice shot.

We went to Palo Duro Canyon with my sister-in-law and her family this weekend. Highlights included steep canyon climbs (on bikes), hiking, geocaching, avalanches, and turkey sex. We also played cards well into the warm nights... Hearts can take a very long time when you misread the rules and everyone trusts you know what you're talking about. We hiked to Sorenson Point, a nice rock outcropping that hovered largely in the view from our campground. A painter even set up her canvas on the edge of our site because of the nice vista. Once up there my brother-in-law, Richard, mentioned there was a nearby geocache. A search ensued and after about 15 minutes Jon found the cache. We took a slinky for the kids and left a wood carving Jon had done back at camp. Robert insisted on scaring the womenfolk by hovering dangerously near the edge. Val and Richard check out the scene. The carving on Jon's hat is the only record we have of it since he left it in the geocache. On the last ev...