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A Life Less Ordinary

Tag: scenery

Introduction to the New Year and the Colombian Mountains — Historic Barichara, Guane, Guadalupe & Las Gachas

March 23, 2023 / / 34 Comments

On New Year’s Eve, after exploring a few lesser-known towns and sights, Mark, Maya, and I arrived at campground Guiamaro to spend the New Year period with our friends Sheri and Jeff from Canada. But first, we had to navigate the narrow streets of historic Barichara, another one of Colombia’s 17 pueblos partrimonios, which stand out for their cultural heritage.

Driving into Barichara

While small for the US, Thirsty Bella is gigantic for Colombia’s town centers!

The area around Barichara, in the department of Santander, offers different places to camp in a peaceful environment, but we picked this official camping for its location – away from any settlement and along hiking trails to the center of town and another village called Guane – and its facilities; hot outdoor showers, a communal kitchen, and a washing machine. Of course, our ulterior motive was to escape any NYE fireworks for our stressed-out dog.

(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)

We snatched the best spot at Camping Guiamaro
The communal kitchen
Kitchen facilities – popular with backpackers and tent campers
Honor system for drinks, fresh bread, and laundry
The bathrooms are integrated into the landscape
Rustic, outdoor shower at the campground
Hanging otu with our friends Sheri and Jeff at the campground
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Agua Verde – A Remote Gem & Highlight in Baja California, Mexico

April 20, 2022 / / 67 Comments

In the beginning of February, Mark, Maya, and I spent ten days on a pebble beach near Agua Verde in Baja California, Mexico. During that time, we visited this small village with our friends Duwan and Greg, in their car. Waiting for a fish taco lunch at the town’s waterfront, we spotted a protected bay with anchored boats and a sandy beach through binoculars. We decided to stop there on the drive home. Within five minutes of setting foot on that white beach and gazing at the surrounding rock formations, Mark and I concluded: “Let’s stop here for a week on our drive back north.”

Agua Verde bay

So, a good six weeks later, after we explored more of the Baja California peninsula and rounded Cabo Este, we stocked up on water, propane, and food for another nine days off the beaten path. Our first night was spent at the end of the ten-mile paved stretch of road, which then turned into dirt for another 20 miles to Agua Verde.

(As always, hover over or click on the photos in galleries to read their captions.)

Sign at the entrance of the 30-mile road
Welcome back to the mountains!
Extra water to add to our tank later

The road in

Those last 30 kilometers (20 miles) of the Agua Verde road were rutted and potholed; some were steep and narrow, down a treacherous slope, where you hoped nobody arrived from the other side. This was the second time we attempted this route. Heading down and looking ahead, clouds of dust announced opposing traffic. Sometimes, I would jump out of the passenger seat to assess the situation. On the return trip, it was more difficult to see oncoming cars. We hoped they would see our dust cloud.

Heading down the hill
A steep descend
What do you mean no passing allowed?
Another sharp turn
A dust cloud tells another car is heading our way.
A truck heading our way!

At the bottom of the windy hill, the track was mostly flat but still in awful shape. The entire stretch of road, from Mex 1 (the main “highway” in Baja) to Agua Verde took us two hours and a half of being shaken. Despite our slow progress, car sickness still befell me. But it was worth it.

One-lane dirt road towards Agua Verde

Our campsite

After a last, steep descend, an empty beach opened up. We had encountered quite a bit of traffic on the drive, so we feared the place would be packed. Not so. A group of fishermen was camped for the night by the entrance of the beach and multiple sailboats peacefully swayed at anchor. We had our pick to park and chose a spot higher up. From here, we could see the protected bay on one side and the windier Sea of Cortez on the other side. Depending on shade, we moved our chairs around the camper.

First camping spot
Bedside view towards the Sea of Cortez
Bedside view towards the calm bay
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Snowy Encounter in Mystic, SD – An Artist’s Sanctuary in the Black Hills

November 24, 2021 / / 31 Comments

When Mark and I met Jon and Gail on a remote, gorgeous beach in Baja California, Mexico, this past spring, we hit it off immediately. Jon Crane is a renowned, accomplished, and outstanding painter and his lovely wife, Gail, had just published her book Mystic Travelers around the same time I released Plunge. The four of us had a lot to share – stories, food, drinks, and art.

Jon and Gail (who travel with their cat, Cosme) in front of their truck camper
Gail and Jon sign our copy of her book.
“Mystic Travelers” by Gail Crane

The couple spends half a year on the Baja peninsula in their truck camper and the other six months in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where they built an incredible home based on Jon’s vision and skills. Ever since I read about their place in Mystic and saw a photo of their unique house in Gail’s book, I’ve wanted to visit. So, when we found ourselves in the Badlands, two hours east of the Black Hills, we got in touch with our friends. Would they still be home mid-October or had they already left for Baja?

Exploring Badlands National Park with TT
Mark and Liesbet in the Badlands

We were in luck. Jon and Gail were still around for a couple of weeks and more than happy to see and host us. But there was one problem… They live in the middle of nowhere, deep into the black hills, and the first snowfall of the season had arrived when it rained in our neck of the woods. No worries. We’d amuse ourselves for a couple more days and assumed the snow would be melted when we ventured into the hills.

We stopped in Rapid City to do some shopping and say hi to a bunch of presidents.

(As always, hover over or click on images in galleries to read the captions.)

Mark looks for the president route on his phone.
President Barack Obama and one of his daughters
President George W. Bush
President Thomas Jefferson
President Franklin Roosevelt
President Harry Truman
President Martin Van Buren

Then, we left civilization and were greeted by this. Yikes.

Entering the Black Hills
What just happened?

Mark and I are warm-blooded humans. We don’t do well in cold weather and we certainly didn’t plan on seeing any of that white stuff when driving across the country, except, maybe, if and when crossing the mountain passes in Colorado!

The road condition deteriorated the further we drove.

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Getaway to the White Mountains

August 1, 2020 / / 62 Comments

New Hampshire’s attractive White Mountains are located 150 miles (241km) northeast of our current home base in Massachusetts. It takes a little over three hours to get there in our van (as opposed to 2.5 hours by car), since we stick to an average highway speed of 55-60mph (90km/h) in Zesty. This consumes less diesel, and we rarely have to pass anyone!

White Mountain National Forest was our destination this past week. It is huge, at 800,000 acres (which expand into Maine), attracts millions of visitors annually, and offers countless recreation possibilities, like 1,200 miles of hiking trails. When Mark and I returned from visiting people in Maine and Vermont in June, we drove through this stunning area and were impressed. We vowed to return for a proper immersion.

(Scroll over or click on images to read photo captions in the galleries.)

Just driving through the White Mountains – Mt. Washington
Quick stop last June – falls at a swimming hole
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Day Trips around Santa Fe, NM – Sandia Mountains, Albuquerque

September 24, 2017 / / 45 Comments

During the weekends, Mark and I always face a dilemma: do we take it slow and enjoy our precious time off relaxing, or do we take advantage of being in an incredible area and go sightseeing? Usually, we opt for a combination if the weather cooperates. So, this particular Sunday morning, we took our time getting up, making breakfast, packing lunch and storing the bed and the table in our camper. Then, around 10:30am or so, we backed out of our free campsite in the woods near Albuquerque, New Mexico, and drove the 20 minutes to the base of the Sandia Mountains. We anticipated a big hike and – once the wheels were rolling – were antsy to get started.

The plan: take the tramway to Sandia Crest and hike down for 10 miles. Usually, we don’t like spending money on things like ski lifts or trams when we can get to places on foot, so this proved a special, yet pricey occasion. It was Labor Day weekend, the weather was beautiful, and, apparently, we were not the only ones having a tram ride in mind. Our late start soon bit us in the butt. The line to buy tickets was immense and doubts about our grand plan almost made us abandon it. But, what was the alternative? Strolling around hot and busy Albuquerque? We had both looked forward to this hike in nature, so we hoped for the best. After an hour of waiting (luckily mostly in the shade), it was our turn to join 48 other visitors in the tram car.

The parking lot at the tramway is already pretty high.
Time to buy tickets, and wait in the long line! You can see the long cue outside.
Ready to board this tram car

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Living in a Winter Wonderland

February 13, 2016 / / 2 Comments

It started snowing about a week ago. The forecast predicted about an inch in Kent, CT, but when we woke up on Friday, everything was covered in a thick layer of snow, about five inches of it. Our fridge was empty and we had planned to go grocery shopping for the weekend, since we expected visitors on Saturday. Our low-to-the-ground Prius, however, was comfortably parked in the garage and not up to the task of driving over a relatively steep, long and submerged driveway. Luckily, the snow plow arrived early afternoon, so we could still set out to the stores of New Milford, about a half hour away. By the evening our fridge was sufficiently stocked again. We are a little more vigilant now, when snowfall is predicted.

Ice fishing in South Kent
Surrounded by snow
The snow plow came, then it snowed a bit more overnight. Mark loves the shoveling exercise and wants to make sure we can leave any time.
Snowy yard
Looks like perfect icing on a cake!
We keep the footpath to the front door shoveled. It is a very easy chore.

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