Joe Hackman — Page 5

Adventure Day 25 – Road trip and World Cup Final at a Rest Stop

July 14, 2014 by Joe Hackman 3 Comments

Sunday we bid farewell to Southwest Utah, an area that had been very good to us. The weather was incredibly mild, the scenery was amazing, and the small towns along Highway 89 encouraged us to come back again and explore them. We might just have gotten lucky with the weather, but I am not complaining. One thing I really came to appreciate about Utah was the ever-present water. I love rivers and streams especially when they snake around the picturesque meadows.

Where our moving house/office has been so far.

Road Trip!

Our road trip to Grand Junction, Colorado was interesting. The first part of the trip on 89 north was amazing. Ever get that melancholy feeling when you depart a place that truly spoke to you? As we first pulled away I remember thinking to myself, should I be feeling sad right now? I was happy, content, and smiling, not regretting the neat things left behind and embracing the indelible memories. The weather continued to be amazing, with windows rolled down we rolled up 89 Northbound with smiles on our faces. The cool thing about 89 in Utah is nearly all of it has a river running adjacent or near it. I enjoyed watching that river grow and grow in size until it became a force to be reckoned with as we descended down to catch Highway 70 east.

A (poor) shot of the River we shared our journey with.

A shot of the River we shared our journey with.

70 East Bound was not quite as pleasant weather-wise, and little did I know that was pretty much how things were going to be in the near future (the benefit of being a day late writing this!). There was lots of great scenery, mostly canyon walls, washes, and massive mountains of sandstone.

Random View Stop while trying to catch the World Cup game.

Viva La World Cup, World Cup at a Rest Stop

While heading East Bound on 70 we had a bit of confusion over the time the World Cup game would start. This led to 2 false alarms where we stopped at rest/view areas and proceeded to get everything set up. Once we finally had that sorted, we determined that we had to stream the Argentina v Germany final on my laptop. I pulled out all the stops to deal with an over-heating inverter (can you say ice pack on top? Yes.) and lackluster 4G. My magic bag of tricks complete with a cell phone amplifier turned 1-2 bars of 4G into 4-5 bars of 4G service. So there we were huddled in front of the laptop watching the game…

Our World Cup Setup, don’t laugh, it worked. 🙂

We rooted for Argentina, supporting our South American friends. This of course did not help them as they valiantly held on but failed to find the magic needed to defeat the relentless German team. No tears were shed, perhaps that is one advantage of not having a real horse in the race. The let down is far less significant. 🙂

Mental Prep for re-settlement

One thing heavily on my mind right now is settling back in before the new school year. We are considering all of our options and determine if our “fail-safe” plan will be necessary. When we departed we decided to not let the issue of quickly deciding on what kind of a place we want. In hindsight I love that we did that, it was the right way to do this. There was no way we were going to find a place and still take this trip. Our fail-safe plan made it possible, no matter what we had a plan but we could change it. I’ve shared a lot that I am thinking in many ways about a simpler arrangement. After all, we’ve been living in an RV and we’re only closer as a family today as a result of it. Also, there are so many more things we want to do now, and if we are burdened excessively will they even be possible? After all the priorities are so simple right now, do we have enough water? Sunscreen? Did you charge the camera battery? Does the campsite have good 4G coverage? Oh, the simple things, how I love you.

Concluding with: Farewell Danville and Hello El Dorado Hills

Adventure Day 24 – The Path Less Travelled

July 12, 2014 by Joe Hackman Leave a Comment

Today we experienced a first for our entire trip. We hiked a 5-mile loop without seeing a single person. Perhaps the more amazing thing is that it was the best hike so far of the trip, and that’s a tall order considering where we’ve been. Yesterday I was saying how not planning too much is a good thing and in our case, we just lucked out, but we made that luck possible.

Hiking near Red Canyon National Park

The trail I was talking about starts about 500′ west of the Red Canyon Visitor Center. It ends in a campground 1/2 mile from the visitor center. The trail starts out flat and wooded, today it was gorgeous, probably low 70’s when we started.

Start of the Trail Castle Bridge/Golden Wall/Buckhorn

The entire area has beautiful features but it’s one of those trails the longer you walk the better it seems to get.

One of the earlier views.

Unlike some of the other trails, we didn’t see much wildlife, but what we did see we were lucky enough that it posed for a portrait.

Our furry friend, after posing scurried off to find a place to hide.

After hiking the flat area for a while we came to some switchbacks. After our ascent, we were rewarded with sweeping views limited only by mountains in the way in the distance. Along the way there was ample shade to take little breaks.

Sweeping views of the area.

After enjoying the view for a while, we hiked over the summit, only to be completely blown away with beauty on the other side.

More amazing hoodoos.

The trail continued along with some spectacular descents and ascents. Most of the trails were single track and there wasn’t an inch of trail that didn’t have a great view at this point.

More amazing formations laced with trees.

Then we discovered that the initial summit was one of several amazing vistas as we reached the top of several other ridgelines.

I asked my wife to take my picture, I didn’t want to forget this magical vista.

The remainder of the hike was rich with scenery and eventually, we found ourselves in the aforementioned campground. That brought us to the bike trail that led us back to our car. While we were walking alongside the highway we saw many cars that were probably headed to Bryce. I wonder how many of them will experience this special hike that we discovered? I hope more after reading this.

Thinking about

A friend of mine posted something on Facebook that said:

If you could spend a day with me, what would we do?

I absolutely love this concept, because while I’ll spend many days with my family and close friends, there are others that it is probably impractical for it to happen. However impractical it is a fun exercise so I shared it also on my wall and loved the responses I got there. If you haven’t had the chance to share your vision of what we’d do please do so. What will be nice is to see how many of these can actually end up happening, wouldn’t that be amazing? Let’s all dream, reach out, and experience something cool.

Next up: Adventure Day 25 – Road trip and World Cup Final at a Rest Stop

Adventure Day 23 – Zion National Park

July 11, 2014 by Joe Hackman 3 Comments

Today I made the reservation for one of the last RV parks we’ll stay at. The park is located in Grand Junction, Colorado. It is a hub that will allow me to visit customers in Denver and give the entire family access to Eastern Utah and Western Colorado. While finalizing the plans I realized that one week from tomorrow we’ll be back in California. We’ll be staying near Sacramento for a day or two before heading back into the bay area. This trip has flown by so fast, and I don’t want it to end. We do have a lot to do before the summer ends. Our reality dictates that it is unlikely we’ll be extending this particular adventure after we’ve attended a wedding for a close relative.

Zion National Park

I came into Zion as a complete newbie, I’ve only heard good things but I didn’t do a bit of research. When we first drove into the entrance area of the massive canyon I was immediately impressed with the scale. I was driving so it was hard to take in too much but as we drove further and further into the park I was shocked by how different it was from anything I’d seen. It had grand elements that rival Half Dome in Yosemite, but nearly everything about the park was unique and special. I can see now why so many people love this park and it was evident with crowds that exceeded what we saw even at the Grand Canyon earlier in our trip. After a quick walk around the museum, we settled on a trail to hike and headed out in search of parking.

Hiking the Watchman Trail

We opted to hike the Watchman Trail, the Watchman is the iconic peak in the southwestern corner of the park. It so happens that it is also the subject of a puzzle, more on that shortly. The elevation change isn’t too extreme but it’s enough to get your heart rate up and get a decent workout. I am not sure how it compares to other hikes visually in the park but the views were awesome from this trail. You start at the valley floor and trek through one canyon and up the far side via switchbacks. Once up to a higher elevation the trail meanders around eventually fully revealing the Watchman.

The Watchman with a bonus gnarly tree.

Before revealing the iconic Watchman, the trail brings you through a small oasis of sorts. The atmosphere of the environment changes from hot and dry to cool and inviting.

A mini Oasis complete with Cat-Tails, Chirping Birds, and Butterflies.

Zion was full of Magnificent views, we’ll be back.

What will tomorrow bring?

It’s critical to never plan too much on a trip like this. It’s the weekend so it’s dedicated family time and we’re not sure quite yet what our adventure will bring us tomorrow.

On a side note..

I really love all the encouragement and feedback I’ve gotten from so many of you on Facebook and elsewhere. The absolute best thing you can tell me is that my family’s adventure has inspired you to do something similar. This trip is so important for us, I believe it is one of many of our finest moments as a family. Here is another family endeavor, our newly acquired Zion Puzzle featuring the Watchman:

Zion Puzzle – the Watchman

Next up: Adventure Day 24 – The Path Less Travelled

Adventure Day 22 – Bryce Canyon and UTV Off Road Experience

July 10, 2014 by Joe Hackman 2 Comments

It’s hard to believe that in less than two weeks we’ll be back in the Bay Area for a wedding. This phase of our adventure will be over. We will have some work to do to get re-settled in… for now we’ll continue to enjoy our adventure, we can worry about that when the time comes.

General thoughts about Utah

Utah greeted us with green fields and pleasant weather. The abundant outdoor activities are evident quickly as we drove through the small towns along Highway 89. Since we’ve been here the AC on our RV has not been on. The air is clean, the water doesn’t have any funny odors and the opportunities for some of our favorite activities are abundant. There is no doubt Utah is a special place for people who love to hike, bike, off-road, and view breath-taking visual attractions. It is unanimous, so far this is our family favorite.

Bryce Canyon – Hiking the Hat Shop Trail

We arrived at Bryce Canyon this morning and my wife looked over the map as we drove into the park. It seemed like Bryce Point was the ideal starting point and we eventually decided to hike the Hat Shop Trail. The trail is named after the hoodoo’s that have “hats” balancing on top of them. Before we reached the trailhead we got a quick impression of how beautiful this park is:

View of Bryce Canyon from the Bryce Point trailhead.

Once we got onto the trail we quickly settled into a good pace and started to absorb all of the beauty around us. It wasn’t long before we were up close with an impressive array of hoodoos.

Some of the amazing hoodoos of Bryce.

During this trip, I’ve developed a thing for gnarly looking trees. I don’t know why I love them so much, perhaps they draw such a stark contrast against the beauty around them. Or maybe it’s just the fact that they are still there in spite of their obviously tough existence. One thing about Bryce is they have some impressive dead and half-dead trees.

One of the many gnarled trees I couldn’t resist photographing.

Our hike was about 2 miles down (easy) and 2 miles up (moderate) but we managed to make it back without event in spite of the inclement weather that rolled into the area.

See more of my Bryce photos on Flickr.

UTV Off Road Experience

On the way to Bryce, we saw a few places renting UTV’s. They are basically small off-road vehicles that seat 2-6 passengers if you’re not familiar with the term. We decided to give it a try and see what it’s like to hit the trails around here. The high light of the trip was some close-up encounters with the wildlife, the Utah Prairie dog in particular.

Utah Prairie Dog up close. They are no longer endangered, now threatened status.

The rental UTV was a little gutless and they had the governor set to restrict the vehicle to 28MPH. The suspension was surprisingly plush considering the beating it must get. It was a nice trial run, I think the entire family could easily see off-roading as a fun hobby.

Fun ride in a Yamaha UTV.

See more of my UTV Adventure photos on Flickr.

What’s Next

We head over to Zion tomorrow to take in more of the breathtaking scenery. Any hike recommendations on short notice for us? We tend to like the 4-6 mile moderate hikes best. No pressure or anything. 😉

Next up: Adventure Day 23 – Zion National Park

Adventure Day 18-21 – Last days in Arizona, 4G to the Rescue

July 9, 2014 by Joe Hackman 1 Comment

I started this entry sitting in a crowded McDonalds in Page, Arizona. Out the window in front of me was a thunderstorm about 10 miles away over the Arizona Desert. An occasional flash of lightning drew my eye from the computer screen. There were several different languages being spoken by the people around me. I sat wondering if that storm was headed my way. I’d ridden my Suzuki Bergman there, maybe it was time to go… or maybe not. I was waiting for a Flickr upload to complete and catching up on work and this blog. Then it became clear it was time to go, that nasty Thunderstorm was getting close. The sand was drifting and swirling across the highway. I bolted out of there to avoid getting stuck waiting for the storm to pass.

Tarnished Digital Nomad Credentials

The last week challenged my digital nomad credentials. My awesome signal amplifier setup couldn’t boost my data signal enough to be used for more than just very basic email use. The campground wifi was sporadic at best, working fine for a few minutes but usually not much better than my feeble 3G service, if at all. This resulted in the use of a McDonalds in Page, Arizona for a temporary work location. The same place I arrived promptly at work at about 8 AM on Monday and worked until the meter on my laptop battery was telling me it was time to find an outlet or go back to the RV park. What happened to that daily blog post? It’s been patiently waiting for me to get some decent connectivity and that finally happened, today, near Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. I have some great 4G service here, a little research and reading some reviews of RV Parks paid off! I talked about it in my last update, but planning more carefully really does make a difference.

Smoking fast Verizon 4G Near Bryce Canyon!

Here is a quick summary of the last four days:

Day 18 (July 6th) – Day Trip to Monument Valley, Hiking
Day 19 (July 7th) – Work Day, Family Relaxing Time, Game Night
Day 20 (July 8th) – Antelope Canyon Tour, Work
Day 21 (July 9th) – Packed up and left Lake Powell, Settled in near Bryce Canyon National Park

Things I’ve been thinking about

I’ve gotten bits of inspiration along the way and sometimes it’s just a desire to do something with certain people. One of my customers in Arizona wants to raft the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. I am going to follow up and suggest we plan a trip. Two of my buddies invited me to an annual ride to Mike’s Sky Rancho in Baja on dirt bikes. I am not sure if I am ready for it but I think having a dirt bike is in my future and so is spending time with them. I also have a friend who has an adventure grade bike. I am thinking it’d be fun to do a tour of some awesome places on two wheels with him. I am also feeling the call of Chicago, having missed the Genius Shared (out of the ashes of SOBCON) event and a chance to reconnect with some amazing people at that event last month. I am going to find an excuse to visit Chicago, soon.

I’ve also been thinking about what I “need”. We’re going to be seeking a new living arrangement when we return. The family all has lofty ideas, but I’ve been thinking more about what we really need. We’ve been living very well in a very small by home standards, 40′ RV for the last few weeks. No-one has suffered, if anything we’re closer as a family than ever before. I haven’t had to irrigate a bunch of grass and plants or pay a mortgage. I haven’t had to pay for any home maintenance. It’s nice living a simpler life.

Monument Valley

We got up early expecting a pretty long drive based on Google Directions estimate. We lucked out, this was a much shorter day trip than we expected. We had a great hike on the 3.2 mile Wild Cat trail. Luckily we had arrived early so it wasn’t too hot on the way out but wow on the way back the heat and deep sand started to wear on us. Definitely a great hike and well worth the time. We did see two groups of horses roaming free very close. I will add a photo once I update my Flickr. It’s a work in progress with my data situation presently.

Monument Valley Utah/Arizona

Game Night

The family’s mainstays – movie night, game night, are so much more fun on the road. They are a great way to release some of the inevitable tension that builds up being in close quarters. It’s an essential part of our wind-down and family bonding time.

Sorry time! Family game night.

Antelope Canyon is Amazing

We took a mid-day tour to Antelope Canyon, they say it’s the best time because the light shines down into the canyon during that tour. I’ve seen the pictures but being there was really incredible. One of the things our tour guide Cheryl mentioned was that the water that goes through the canyon starts 30 miles away. It comes down a huge wash and the canyon is a choke point. This causes the water to be forced into this small area. It’s hard to imagine what it must be like when it happens, but what is left is absolutely magical.

One of my Favorite Shots of Antelope Canyon

See all my Antelope Canyon Pictures here.

Goodbye Arizona, Hello Utah!

As I mentioned earlier we’re going to be in Utah for a while. I will be visiting customers in the Salt Lake area. I also got some great news, the shop foreman at one of my customers in Colorado cut a vacation short so I’ll be able to see them. We’ve only worked using phone and Email so this will be our first face to face. Here is a map of where our rolling home has been, it doesn’t include all the travel by car or the Bergman, though.

Map of our RV travels so far.

Next up: Adventure Day 22 – Bryce Canyon and UTV Off Road Experience

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