adventure travel, mountain biking, arizona
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December, 2008:

5 of the Best Places to Mountain Bike in Phoenix, Ariz.

Dec 31st, 2008
by WanderingJustin.
7 comments

EDITOR’S NOTE (May 1, 2012): This post is really old. I will publish an update soon. Subscribe (it’s free) in the box to the right so you don’t miss it!
EDITOR’S NOTE PART II (May 11, 2012): UPDATED and cooler than ever.
I just recently ran into an old classmate at an ad hoc high school reunion. He’d moved from the area, and mentioned that he was getting more into mountain biking, but isn’t sure where to ride here. Naturally, I promised him some tips … and then I thought, “hey, maybe some other people besides Mitch would dig some advice!”
So here are 5 places in the metro Phoenix area where you can ride. Each will offer something different. These are in no particular order. I’ve linked each to my buddy at MTBikeAZ.com, who has produced some fine maps and profiles!

McDowell Mountain Regional Park: There is something for everyone here. The Competitive Loops host all sorts of races. You can choose from the Long Loop (about 9 miles), the Sport Loop and the Technical Loop (both about 3 miles). You can string them together for some uberloops. All require some skill to handle steep drops, breaking bumps, rocks and lots of loose nastiness. Speeds can run high. Leave your iPod at home … rattlesnakes love hanging out trailside, and your earbuds will mask their warning signal. And watch the trail closely – that big rock you’re zooming around just might be a desert tortoise! Also, the park offers a 15-mile loop called [...]

Tell me about it …

Dec 30th, 2008
by WanderingJustin.
No comments yet

So I’m a bit curious about you, the readers! What is your favorite travel souvenir, aside from photos?
I go for jerseys/shirts from local sports teams. It started off as soccer, when I snagged a Deportivo Saprissa shirt down in Costa Rica. Then, I got skunked in Belize … couldn’t find any local soccer shirts there, though they have a league and a national team.
Down in Australia, I switched to rugby since that was their thing. In Canada, I wanted to find a Vancouver Whitecaps shirt, but no luck there … and I will never, ever where a Vancouver Canucks jersey unless it is the only clothing and I’m shivering naked on a glacier.
I’d say my uber-cool Wallabies shirts shown below is my all-time favorite. It says Qantas on it as a bonus, and it even looks cool when being worn while rockin’ out!

Back from a small holiday hiatus

Dec 27th, 2008
by WanderingJustin.
2 comments

Well, I figured most of you would be far too focused on Christmas to worry about this ol’ travel blog. So I took a day off … at least from writing.
While most of you were drinking egg nog, opening presents and feasting, Sarah and I were laying our lives on the line for you at Arizona Snowbowl in Flagstaff, one of the two largest ski areas in Arizona. Yes, we have snow in Arizona!
Now, skiing purists will often turn their noses up at Snowbowl because it only has four lifts and a pretty limited number of runs. They will wax poetic about Sunrise, which is near Greer, Ariz. I admit that Sunrise has more more runs, and generally better runs.
However, Snowbowl is more than the sum of its runs and lifts. See, at Sunrise, there is really nothing up once the skiing is done. Snowbowl, though, is based in a college town rather than in the middle of nowhere. And you don’t have to drive as far to get there. You can get to a bunch of great food once you’re done skiing for the day, too. Better accommodations, less driving, better food, better atmosphere – yes, I prefer Snowbowl, especially for getting my ski legs on for the first bunch of runs for the season.
As for this trip … well, Snowbowl was in fine form. Seventeen new inches of beautiful powder! But it kept coming down, and it was a wee bit windy, so we had near whiteout conditions [...]

Some Blow-viation with Wandering Justin

Dec 19th, 2008
by WanderingJustin.
1 comment

Who wants to hear a little clip of my mimi didgeridoo? You, that’s who!
If you’re wondering, Sarah recorded this after we ripped all the carpet out of the downstairs to put in an acid-stained finish. It’s awesome … it’s gray here, but now it’s got a very cool stony-looking finish. Okay, let’s make with the didging!
Click here to see what the buzz is about!
I wish I could embed it, but WordPress is being vile. Anyone with tips should feel free to speak up!

Descending into the Abode of the Gods – Belize

Dec 18th, 2008
by WanderingJustin.
5 comments

From my January 2007 trip
And a quick note from Wandering Justin – even after touring the mighty Australian Outback, this day still holds its own as one of my greatest ever days traveling. Do NOT miss this if you go to Belize!
This is one of the best vacation days I’ve ever had. I knew it would be cool, because I enjoy caves in general. It’s hard for me to pass a hole in the ground without strapping a light to my noggin and diving in.
But the Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave, known as the ATM Cave, would surpass all my other underground adventures. I’ve been in bigger, more scenic caves before. But I’ve never been in one that contained an underground river and the most incredibly graphic, gruesome vestiges of the Mayan culture. Nor one that made just getting there such an adventure.
The day started at the Maya Walk Tours headquarters in San Ignacio. The place was jammed with people milling around, getting their gear, meeting their guides, etc. It was a scene of total chaos. Finally, they tossed us all in an Isuzu Trooper and some weird Toyota I’d never seen in the states before (though the model is ubiquitous in Belize). We bounced along for close to an hour, first on decent paved roads and then into jungle roads that got more rutted, slimy and muddy as we drove. Meanwhile, there was a steady drizzle falling.
Our driver/guide, another guy named Emile, was telling scatological stories about people freaking [...]

An Arizona “Believe it or Not”

Dec 17th, 2008
by WanderingJustin.
2 comments

Here’s something funny … as you drive south from Phoenix, Arizona actually gets cooler. You lose a few degrees in Tucson, and then as you head toward
Tombstone and Bisbee, things get even cooler. And rainy. Southern AZ, after all, is the state’s prime grape-growing region for those getting-more-famous Arizona wines. I’m not a big wine fan myself, but aficionados say good things. Personally, I’d rather make mead out of locally grown honey and some prickly pear fruits (thanks to Stash on that last hike for the clever idea).
Anyway, I’ve lived here nearly 30 years and never went to Tombstone and Bisbee until this past October. I can’t say either blew me away. There’s some great scenery in Bisbee, and Tombstone oozes Old West kitsch, which can be fun in
certain limited doses. This is where Wyatt Earp and his boys slugged it out during a bloody 30-second gunfight at the OK Corral. You can’t actually see the corral without paying an admission charge, which is really pretty lame.
Down in Bisbee, we walked around some of the shops, including one where some crazy guy picked up a bunch of cow bones and turned it into a radio-controlled contraption. We didn’t stick around for the tour of the Copper Queen mine, which might have actually been fun. Otherwise, Bisbee is mostly a bunch of touristy shops and some funky old buildings. The locals’ houses really took the
prize for individual coolness, though. The colors and decorations would drive just about any homeowners association stooge [...]

Wounded at Picket Post Mountain

Dec 16th, 2008
by WanderingJustin.
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Well, I managed to get my right hand all banged up while trying to climb Picket Post Mountain. I’ll save the details for when my hand is in better typing shape. Until then, here are a few photos of Sarah, the notorious Stash Kovac and me tackling Picket Post Mountain near Superior, Ariz., on the coldest day of the year so far.

Wandering Justin Goes North

Dec 15th, 2008
by WanderingJustin.
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A few years ago, I visited Seattle and uncovered a love of the Pacific Northwest that I didn’t know I had. And many people, including my longtime friend Big Frank, insisted that I’d like Vancouver even better.
With that in mind -and despite the fact that the Canucks NHL team had been my
Blackhawks’ playoff nemesis in the 80s- Sarah and I booked a trip that would give us a little taste of attractions in Vancouver, Whistler, Victoria and a side of Squamish.
I’ll get to all those at some point, but today’s focus is on the Lonsdale Quay area. This is a bit of a haul from the airport and will probably be a $50 cab ride. You could take buses, but that’s up to you.
I’m a very big fan of the Lonsdale Quay Hotel. Since it’s across a bay from Vancouver proper, it’s very reasonably priced. Three other things work in its advantage:
1. The SeaBus connects directly from there to downtown Vancouver, with easy access to all the fun that area. It’s also a nexus for bus transport.
2. The first few floors are an awesome marketplace. All the food you need, plus an extremely friendly coffee shop called Bean Around the World.
3. The staff is friendly and eager to help. And determined to be even better – for example, I filled out the customer comment card when we checked out. A few weeks later, the hotel’s GM sent a letter my way mentioning specific comments I had (an idea to stock [...]

Puerto Rico – Go or no?

Dec 12th, 2008
by WanderingJustin.
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I never really would’ve thought about going to Puerto Rico on my own. It just never occurred to me, especially since it’s harder to get to then a place like Costa Rica (which has all the jungle, more critters and, well, more on that later).
However, some of the wife’s family seems to love Puerto Rico. So much so that they decided to tie the knot there. They’re from New York, so I was and am amply glad they decided to enter the ranks of the blissfully wedded there rather than in Nueva York. That’s what led the wife and I through Houston on our way to San Juan.
Now, Puerto Rico is a US territory. That means a number of things. It’s not gonna be wild, woolly and/or adventurous. They’ll take dollars. You don’t need a passport. And your dollar isn’t gonna go that far. That was obvious from the word go when we tried to book hotel rooms. Heck, we got way better prices dollar-for-dollar nearly everywhere in Australia, with the possible exception of Darwin.
That’s not to say El Canario by the Sea isn’t cute and comfortable, because it certainly is. It’s even in the very fun and lively Condado district, which is surrounded by restaurants and even one of the ubiquitous Condom World stores.
But it’s not $150 a night nice, that’s for certain. Most of the immediate in-laws stayed there the first night, but decided to make the jump to a Hampton Inn in the Isla Verde neighborhood. That’s [...]

The dirt on Hopkins, Belize

Dec 11th, 2008
by WanderingJustin.
1 comment

Wanna get away from Starbucks? Traffic? Commercialism? Even ATMs?
Well, then, I’ve got a place for you. It’s called Hopkins, and it’s a town of about 1,000 people. And I’m serious about the ATM thing. Be sure you get some cash before you show up to Hopkins.
For reasonably priced accommodations, I’ll have to recommend Jungle Jeanie’s by the Sea. Jungle Jeanie is the wife half of the husband-and-wife ownership team. They are friendly and helpful, and have a big, wonderful pair of dogs that roam on patrol. Xena, the German shepherd, is especially active and entertaining, especially when Jeanie tries to get her to surf. They serve up meals there, and you can also hoof it into town to try some local places. There’s also a pricier place or two as you walk south along the road. Many of the resorts even have semi-private bits of beach that they meticulously comb of former flotsam.
I’ve gotta be honest: There’s not much to do in Hopkins. It can be hot as hell, even in January. There’s no nightlife. The beach isn’t even all that nice. But if you want to get away from the noise, the pollution and the nonsense, this is the place to do it. Local residents are friendly, and you’ll hear them speaking the really cool-sounding Garifuna language. It’s super-quiet.
So how do you get here? Chances are, you’re flying into Belize City. The best way to get there is to grab a Maya Air or Tropic Air flight
from Belize City [...]

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