November is Estes Park

The elk were playing in the front yard of our cabin at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park:

Square Top Lakes in July

Lexey and I went up to Square Top Lakes back in July. What a great day!

More photos here.

Koura enjoying a swim:


Lexey and I with Koura at the upper lake:


The columbines were out:

Day trip from Denver to Leadville, back via Vail

Afternoon walk in Da Nang

From Hue, Stacia and I took a train back to Da Nang and then had a day there before our morning flight back to HCMC. In Da Nang we found a nice western-style restaurant where all the employees are deaf. The woman running the place is trying to build a deaf community in Da Nang. It was called "Bread of Life". From there we walked back to our hotel. This is roughly the route we took:


More photos here.

Chinese Chess along the river:


Nuoc Mia (pressed sugar cane drink):


Dog riding a motorbike:


View from our hotel at night:

Returning motorbikes in Hue

We rented our motorbikes in Hoi An and were dropping them off at 37 Ben Nghe in Hue. This should be hard, except there are at least 3 shops with that address... Eventually a guy came up to us from around the corner and asked if we were dropping off the bikes. We said yes and Stacia called the guy we rented it from to verify the drop-off man's name. And that was it. Weird.

The 3 shops:

Huế - The Imperial City

The Imperial City in Huế is a walled city with beautiful grounds. Stacia and I walked around inside it for a few hours.

More photos here.

Frangipani tree:


The Imperial City:


Art gallery in the Imperial City:

Churchyard photo spin

Stacia and I stopped in one of the "churchyards" to have a snack, put on sunscreen, and take some photos. Here is Stacia getting some photos:

Time Lapse: Driving from Lang Co to Hue

Stacia and I drove from Lang Co to Hue, Vietnam. Completely amazing drive. We started off on the major highway going over 2 passes. They were insane. The traffic was insane. After missing our turn onto the less traveled route, we turned around and found it. Once we were on that it was much smoother. There were incredible temples and "church yards" (graveyards) everywhere. Total moving time was about 3 hours, but it took us about 5. We stopped several times to take in the beauty and re-lather the sunscreen.


Map of the drive:

Exploring Lang Co and beyond

Lang Co was beautiful! Who knew it was going to be such a cool place. There was the floating seafood restaurant, there was the motorbike riding, there were churchyards, and there were temples.

This is the restaurant on the bridges:


Stacia passing:


Churchyards:


Temples:

Da Nang to Lang Co over Hai Van Pass

Stacia and I went over Hai Van Pass from Da Nang to Lang Co. I was a little worried about the weather, but it was great. There were incredible numbers of goats on the hillside of the pass and the view coming into Lang Co was beautiful. Lang Co is a tiny fishing town that is mostly skipped over by tourists who carry along to Hue. I am glad we didn't. Our hotel manager told of us of his favorite seafood place. It was in the lagoon and we had to drive our motorbikes out a long wooden bridge to get there.

More photos here.

Views on Hai Van Pass:


Lang Co on the way into town:


Lang Co's beach:


Seafood dinner:

Infusion: Grapefruit Mezcal

Last night I stopped by Argonaut to pick up some mezcal for the next infusion. This is with grapefruit. The sweet tangy-ness should play nicely with the smokey mezcal. It should be ready in 2 weeks.

Infusion: Limoncello #2

So, it is my rule that I don't do more than 1 infusion at a time. This is so that we are not drinking every day since it becomes very easy with such tasty treats. After my last extremely successful batch of homemade limoncello, Lexey suggested that this is something we should just keep on hand. Yes, it is that good. I just made another batch, but this is just one to keep around. This is an exception to the rule and so I can start another one. I already know what I am going to do. Now I need the alcohol.

Recipe:

• 10 lemons
• 2 cups sugar
• 750 ml vodka (60-80 proof)

Instructions:

1. Wash and juice the lemons. Set the juice aside (use for lemonade, dressings, water, etc...).
2. Stuff the sugar and the lemons into a 2 L mason jar.
3. Fill the jar with vodka.
4. Shake every day for 7 days.
5. Strain and drink!

Homemade Limoncello:

Timelapse: Non Nuoc back to Hoi An on motorbikes

Stacia and I arrived at Non Nuoc Beach Resort and suddenly realized that we did not have our passports. They let us check in with just photo copies of our passports and we headed back to Hoi An to pick them up. While back in Hoi An, I got new flip-flops tailored, yes tailored flip-flops.

The drive back to Hoi An and around town a bit at 20x real speed:

Motorbiking from Hoi An to Non Nuoc

Stacia and I rented motorbikes in Hoi An. They were $5/day and $30 to drop them off in Hue instead of back in Hoi An. Sounded like a great deal to us, so off we went. After checking out of the Phuoc An Hotel we took some back roads to Non Nuoc Beach (China Beach) at the southern end of Da Nang. When we got there we realized we had left our passports at the hotel in Hoi An and had to turn around and go back. Good thing it was only about 30 minutes away.

The 30 minute drive in 5 minutes:

Stacia's drive from school to home in Ho Chi Minh City

Sped up to 5x speed:

PhotoFriday: At Rest

Last week in Hoi An, Vietnam this woman was "at rest" napping in her cart:

Hoi An to Non Nuoc (China Beach)

Stacia and I rented motorbikes in Hoi An with the drop-off point in Huế, several hours to the north. The first day we drove to Non Nuoc and then we realized we had left our passports at the Phuoc An Hotel in Hoi An. Good thing it was on 30 minutes away. We drove back and had lunch with more 3000 dong beers and I had custom flip-flops tailored.

More photos here.

That morning we hit up a little restaurant for one of Hoi An's specialties, white rose dumplings:


Hitting the road up to Non Nuoc (China Beach), where the Americans first landed at the start of the war:


Hoi An has beautiful colors, many yellows. It is kinda like living in a Dr. Suess book:


Non Nuoc Beach (China Beach) with Marble Mountains in the background:

Hội An (會 安) - day 2 (diving)

The second day in Hội An (會 安) Stacia and I went out on a dive boat with Cham Island Diving out to hòn Tai Island in the Cham Islands. Stacia went snorkeling and I did 2 dives. The first one was pretty good. Visibility was low (only about 7 meters), and there was not much fish life, but some plant life. The second dive was very cloudy. Afterwards we had a great seafood lunch on a beach of Cham Island and took naps in hammocks. Not a bad time.

More photos here.

Heading down:


The sun came out a few times:


Blue starfish everywhere:

Hoi An - day 1

This morning, Stacia and I got up early and got on our flit to Da Nang. From there we took a taxi with a girl Stacia teaches with to Hoi An. Beautiful town. Tomorrow I am going diving.

More photos here.

Lady taking a nap in a wheel barrow:


Kid of a tailor playing with a baby bird abandoned by its mom:


Restaurant boat on the river:

Infusion: Limettacello

Since there are no proper lemons in Vietnam (or at least hard to come by), I substituted limes in my next infusion. In honor of Stacia heading to Italy to teach for the next few years I announce: Limettacello. It should be ready to drink by the time we get back from our trip to Da Nang and the surrounding area.

Vietnam: Day 1 (HCMC Aventures)

Stacia picked me up late last night at the airport. By the time we got to bed it was about 2am. I managed to sleep until about 4:30am and then I was up for good. About 7am Stacia rolled out of bed and we hit the road for the day.

More photos here.

First things first. Trip to the grocery store for some random items, then the cafe for a cà phê sữa đá. The chicken restaurant which used to be at the corner is now a cafe. Perfect.


Next was a trip to the fabric stores and the tailor. We found some good fabrics and got some excellent items all setup with Dung (pronounced Yoon).




Soup lady was next on the agenda. Mmm...




Stacia arranged for us to have dinner with her friend, Jen. We went to a little pho place down the street. Good stuff.

Infusion: Homemade Limoncello

And for my next trick... homemade limoncello. Should be ready in about a week:

Rippers of Blue Sky Basin

Dan and I spent all day on Sunday in Blue Sky Basin with the GoPro. Here is the little video pooped out my iMovie:

Vail with Dan

Dan and I rode Vail. It was surprisingly cold and the snow was surprisingly deep. We even did a little sausage grilling up at Belle's Camp in Blue Sky Basin.

More photos here.

Crazy clouds on the horizon from the top of Floyd Hill:


Nice conditions in Blue Sky Basin:


Dan coming up behind me on our way into Northwoods:

Powder Day at Vail - Ptarmigan Ridge 360

We had no idea the conditions would be so good at Vail. Jodie, Dan, and I went up for the day and my legs are still a little sore. Ptarmigan Ridge was excellent:

Snowshoeing Howelson Park

So, stuck in Steamboat Springs for an extra night due to the snow... Life is so hard! Snowshoeing time at Howelson Park. It cleared up nicely and became a beautiful late afternoon.

At the top of our short snowshoe trip:


View of Steamboat from Howelson Park:


Lexey swinging with snowshoes: