Monthly Archives: March 2013

Flashback to Puerto Rico: August 8, 2005 – Continued

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This is the continuation of the first Flashback post I started a while back. I would like to finish sharing this whole journal that we wrote on our honeymoon in 2005 before we leave to start our new Puerto Rico life adventure this fall.

Day 2: August, 8 2005, Continued

We left Old San Juan and a couple of American girls on the bus said they had just returned from the Bacardi rum tour, so we decided to go there. We got directions and were off to Cataño, the city it is in. This was our first experience with (Puerto Rican) freeway traffic -and it’s not really free. Crazier than before with everyone merging and driving in the emergency lane-  think I-25 rush hour times 2.

Bacardi

The Barcardi tour was ok, and they gave us free drinks. I tried the coconut rum and really liked it so I bought some. It was really a pretty short tour, so we were off on the road to our next destination by about 4:30.

We saw the the signs for the Arecibo Observatory and decided to take a detour from our way to check it out. It was like one lane traffic through the forest but with a line of cars that speed much faster than we would in the curvy mountains of Colorado. It was that curvy, but overgrown with vines hanging from the electric wires and tree branches that we try to grow as house plants hitting the cars.

100_1827
Driving through the interior jungles of Puerto Rico that make tunnels out of trees

Finally we got to the top where the observatory was and it was closed at about 6pm so we are planning to check it out Wednesday when it opens again. We drove back down the way we came and got a little lost and had to retrace our path. Finally after ever more curves, trees, chirping frogs and people standing in the doorways, we made it here to Casa Grande. We are just resting because we know tomorrow will be another busy day. We are going to try and avoid those toll roads if we can and see the Camuy Caves and Indian Ceremonial Park.

Relaxing in a hammock
Relaxed hanging out in a hammock at Casa Grande in Utuado, PR

…To be continued

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The Selling Continues: There Goes the Corvette

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We have been continuing to steadily sell our stuff.  Some has been easy to sell, some a bit harder.

This last weekend I sold my 1975 Corvette that I’ve had for 13 years.  I woke up and thought “Today is the day I sell my car”.  So I took some pictures and listed it on Craigslist.  It was sold that night!

Last_Vette
Picture of the Corvette the Night it Sold

It makes sense to sell it on a few levels.  First, it doesn’t make much sense to take it to PR.   Second, it would cost a lot to ship.  Third, the frame would most likely rust away quickly.  Fourth, it’s almost 40 years old.  Fifth, well the list goes on for a while….

corvette
On one of our first dates 13 or so years ago

I was pretty lucky with the car though.  I sold it for what I paid for it and I got to enjoy driving around in an old Corvette for many years.  Those memories will stay with me forever.   We took it on some of our first dates. Schnoodle rode in the cubby area. We took it on our wedding. I even got my first speeding ticket in it.

 

 

Corvette Hill

On the flip side, I don’t have to worry about it any longer.  It did leak just about everywhere it could leak from and I was always afraid that it was going to break and cost a lot of time / money to fix.  Now I don’t have to pay insurance and registration on another car too.  I no longer have those worries floating around in the back of my head which is nice.

Another big item, gone. And another step closer to Puerto Rico.

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Giant Windmills and the Pawnee Buttes

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Britton and I decided to take a day trip out to eastern Weld County to see one of the only landmarks that is out there: the Pawnee Buttes. We had visited before but it had been at least 10 years and we had never gone together.

Grover House
Grover Train Museum that looks like an old fashioned school house

Our first stop on the 70-80 mile trek from Greeley was the small town of Grover. Grover is not quite a ghost town, but pretty small, with only about 100 people. We stopped to check out some of the old abandoned houses there and decided they would make good settings for a creepy zombie or other horror movie.

Creepy House on the Prairie
Creepy House on the Prairie

Squirrel Thing
Weird/Cute Squirrel thing in the window

Tree framed in Door Frame
Desolate Prairie/mountain view from within the abandoned house

The whole time we were out we could imagine Native Americans traveling through and then the old west time of the 1800s trying to make it out on the dusty flatlands of Northeastern Colorado.

Long Dirt Road
This type of scene has not changed much in 200 years

However, one thing that has markedly changed the landscape is the wind power in the area. As we entered the Pawnee National Grasslands we were awed by these huge, gigantic windmills that looked like something out of a science fiction movie. I mean, we have seen them from a distance before, but never had we been right up underneath them. They were staggering as they swooped around and around gathering the wind that is so prevalent out there.

Field of Windmills
Some of the hundreds of windmills we saw

WIndmill in comparison to person
It is hard to explain in photos the size of these things. Here you can see Britton (who is over 6 feet tall) in the lower portion of the photo


Check it out in this video! I am the small being at the bottom.

Old Fashioned Windmill Windmill
Juxtaposition of the old and the new

Finally we made it to the trailhead of the Pawnee Buttes. From there it is about a 2 mile walk to the actual buttes themselves and we had to walk through pretty harsh terrain of spiky yucca plants and cactus.

Cropped Window Scene of Buttes
At the start of the hike to the buttes

Buttes and Windmills
The buttes with windmills in the background. Something that was not there the last time we had visited

Me and B at the Buttes
Me and B at the Buttes

Britton and the Butte
Britton conquering a strange new planet? No just northeastern Weld County

On the way back home we spotted this fence with cow skulls hanging from it. I thought it was cool and strange and definitely worth a photo since the light was just right:

Row of Cow Skulls

In sum, it was a fun day trip into the wilderness of the Colorado High Plains and I would recommend you try it, if you haven’t yet. And if you want to maximize your driving out to the middle of nowhere, also time it to go to the Grover Rodeo on Father’s Day weekend to see an old fashioned rodeo with real cowboys. Happy Trails!

 

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