Category Archives: Travel

Hidden Canyon – Moab Mountain Biking

October 30, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

I came to Moab primarily for a photo workshop (more to come on that), but of course I brought my mountain bike. It’s Moab, after all (mountain bike mecca). These are just pocket camera pictures — but sometimes equipment quality is less important than LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. This is a place called “Hidden Canyon.” It’s about a one hour mountain bike ride (over tons of slickrock!) off the road, not too far from the Canyonlands airport. Maybe someday I’ll get a ‘real’ camera up there.

IMG_0523 Bike on Ledge Hidden Canyon Moab.jpg

(Actually, one of these pics — with more trees — is from a trail near downtown Moab). And: (1) Yes, that’s my bike; (2) Yes, I took that picture of myself; (3) Yes, Mother, I know I probably shouldn’t be an hour’s ride into the wilderness by myself.

Camping at Squaw Lake

September 27, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

I met my Dad in southern Colorado for a week of horseback riding and general goofing off. My brother-in-law Bill and a friend of his (Derald Glover) joined us for a camping trip to Squaw Lake. It rained and sleeted as we rode into the wilderness, but the weather cleared and we had a great time.

Oh: My dad is the one who looks like a cross between ME and a seventy-year-old version of the Marlboro man. The guy in the Colorado Rockies hat is Ted Dooley, a friend of my Dad’s who owns the outfitter where we got our horses for the ride into the mountains.

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Seattle (and Puyallup)

September 12, 2011 by Jeff C | 1 Comment

We had a fun little reunion in Seattle. Greg Cook (a friend since second grade or so) was my college roomate all three years. My last year of college, another good friend, Dondi Cupp, lived with us in an apartment in Norman. Dondi’s (incessant) claim to fame is that he was the drum major of the Pride of Oklahoma back when Greg and I were in band at OU. In fairness, he may have been the best ever in that role, but I’d never acknowledge that in his presence. (And yes, that’s his real Mom-given name.)

Greg and Dondi hadn’t seen each other since Dondi moved to the Seattle area in 1992. I learned recently that Greg’s band, Ricochet (more on them elsewhere) was performing at the Puyallup Fair (which is quite a big event: www.thefair.com ), just outside Seattle. So Greg and I both converged on Seattle and spent a few days with Dondi and his family. Within minutes, we were all happily making off-color jokes and insulting each other, just like old times. Great to catch up. And of course we went to the Puyallop Fair and Rodeo.

Dondi’s the guy with no hair. He promptly gave Greg the new nickname “Blackbeard” (thus the weekend was full of pirate jokes) for reasons the pictures will make obvious. His old nickname was “Fatty,” so… That’s me in the ridiculously-large black Stetson — feel free to laugh (I did). The guy in the straw hat is Heath, Greg’s and my childhood Vian buddy who is the lead singer/guitarist for Ricochet. Heath didn’t join us for most of the festivities — he was travelling instead in an RV with the rodeo clown from the Puyallop Rodeo (I swear I am not making this up).

Seattle was the furthest I’d ever flown myself. Greg hopped in N3738R and flew back with me. Icky weather spoiled our plans for an aerial sightseeing tour of the Pacific Northwest, but the silver lining was that it diverted us to an impromptu landing and overnight stay in Reno.

Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race 2011

August 15, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

First, you should know that less than a year ago, neither I nor any of my friends rode mountain bikes. And you should know that the Leadville 100 is perhaps the most “epic” mountain bike race in the U.S. Lance Armstrong won it a couple of years back. It’s a 100 miles, and it starts at 10,000 ft. elevation. And when I tried to ride just a portion of the course, there was a five-mile stretch during which I crashed (hard) three separate times (to say nothing of the thin-air climbs up bumpy trails).

There’s a lottery to get in, and Shane and Ned wound up getting “slots” in this year’s race; for better or worse (almost certainly better), I didn’t. They trained like crazy, especially Ned, who spent about six consecutive weekends in Colorado (ask him about the oxygen tent over his bed in Houston – no kidding). They both rocked it! At least I got to tag along, drive the chase car and take pictures.

Oh: And it all took place on my birthday. So I got a nice present from the gang — a Payday (candybar). Long story.

The Parkers in the Virgin Islands

July 31, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

I got to spend ten days or so in the Virgin Islands with my sister’s family (Jana and Bill Parker, and their ‘kids’ Tyler, Caitlin (in pink dress) and Grace. We stayed on St. Thomas and then St. Johnr. In the middle, we took a sailboat trip to Jost Van Dyke (one of the British Virgin Islands, which gave the Parker clan a chance to get a real stamp in their newly-minted passports).

These few pictures surely don’t do the place justice, but since most of our activities were water-based and my camera isn’t waterproof, there weren’t many pictures except for a few on the sailboat trip and an impromptu photo shoot the final night’s trip to dinner. The stranger is Captain “Hollywood” Joe, who owned the sailboat.