Cabin Fever

Last weekend we were lucky enough to be invited to Leo and Andrea's cabin near Cuenca, and we had an excellent time. Check it out:

It doesn't get any better then this! The cabin is a hand built, stone home with 4 bedrooms, on 15 acres in the Andes Mtns with a garden, river and trails. Dreamy!

The cabin is only 6 k away from Cajas National Park.

D pulling a rock star move on top of this slide in Cuenca

Good times with friends- Andrea, Jeremy, Eddie and Rocky (the dogs).

Cold weather, a fire and s'mores

After crossing the river, Jeremy and I found a trail that took us along the hill side to this vantage point:

D spending the afternoon at the river

After our hike, we came back to the house and gardened with a local family who came over to help us out.

It was an amazing trip, full of great adventures and friends. Thanks again Andrea and Leo.

Mindo, Ecuador

Mindo, another adventure playground in the cloud forests of Ecuador. Our good friend, Jeremy (also known as Golden Wolf- long story that includes a hat with wolves embroidered in gold and late night howling), joined us on the trip, which was full of hiking, zip-lines, butterfly gardens, bird watching, riding on top of chivas, in the back of trucks, eating and reading. Check it out:

Yes, that's D in the restaurant of our hotel, doing what she does best, reading.

The hammock and view from our balcony made it hard to even leave the hostal

I'll take any friend I can get

One thing I love about Ecuador is all the cable cars. They never get old. We took this cable car across the canyon to get to the trails and waterfalls. No release forms needed and you had the choice to stand on the ledge outside of the cart. D nixed that idea.

We were lucky enough to have the trail and waterfall to ourselves.

Now, that's a fun crew!

The next day, Jeremy and I did the zip-lines, which was 13 lines zig-zagging across multiple hill sides. The views were beautiful as we floated over the tree canopy.

Legs up, head back and press down on the cable with leather glove to stop. Only one of the guys in our group wasn't able to stop in time and ran into the tree. It was padded.

After the zip-lines, we dragged D away from her book and went to the butterfly garden.

Living the good life!

A New Look

Or is it an old look that is new again? It's been 1 year to the month since my last hair cut. Check it out:

She still loves me! After taking a vote with the 6th grade class, 16 of the 17 kids liked the long hair better. I think the other was a sympathy vote.

Cotopaxi-Quilotoa Ecuador

Last weekend we took advantage of our first three day vacation and flew to Quito for another mountain biking adventure in the Andes Mountains. We had 7 great friends join us for the two day adventure and we were able to experience some amazing places in this beautiful country. Check it out:

The adventure started at the top of Mount Cotopaxi, over 15,000 ft and the tallest active volcano in the world. Seriously, that's high.

Little D rocking the moonscape

All together we had a group of 16 riding through this wild landscape

No, those aren't shorts left behind by the last guest at this sketchy hostel, they were there to cover the vent. Classy! We had a group of 5 in 1 room, the bathroom door wouldn't stay closed and there was no shower curtain. Needless to say, we all got an extra 10 minutes of sleep by not showering. Classic.

Much of day 2 was riding through farmland as we descended back into a small market town. Having a chance to see the everyday life of the farmers was a personal favorite, that and having some of the little village kids along the way throw rocks at us. They were all smiles and waves just until you were about to pass them and then, whamooo! "Welcome to my village". Cute kids.

The Saturday market was full of all the usual Ecuadorian offerings: clothes, art, unidentifiable food, stray dogs and wonderful people.

Laguna Quilotoa was the main destination for us this trip. It is a spectacular crater lake within the Andes Mountains. We woke up early and hiked near the crater rim as the sun was rising.

Now that's pretty

Yep, that's the real deal........guinea pig! Check out the 3 little piggies in the background.

It tasted a lot like an old leather hiking boot seasoned with garlic, onions and mystery juices. D-licious.

Still living the good life!

August Adventures

August flew by here at the Richert Ranch as we had to pull a 180 and focus on showing up to work. To keep things exciting, we have a few new things going down to help tie us over until our first vacation time in October. Check it out:

Every Tuesday night our new Bike Posse heads into the hills for some evening adventures and good old fashion hell raising.

View from the trail looking back down towards our neighborhood

This creepy crawler kept things exciting by taking over the trail

Bike Posse special edition: Saturday Summit Ride

Thats right folks, I've been planting..........and stuff is a growing. First time ever! The Richert Ranch now has some Squash in the works along with............

.....Onions......

......and peppers..........

........but the ants have a different plan for my pepper plants. They seem to like everything I do.

A Morning Out

We were on the trail by 7am

These next few photos were taken from the taxi while on our way to the Bahia (Black Market). This guy was taking advantage of "backrow seating" and probably feeling a little thirsty.

Danielle is having a hard time choosing which pirated DVD to buy. It can be tough decision due to the "organization" of this DVD shop. After a little hunting, we found the Seinfeld at the bottom of the pile on the floor. No problem, I picked up the stack while D swiped the series. One of the reasons that we choose this DVD shop is because they have a great return policy. Yes, you heard that right. An illegal, pirated DVD shop with a return policy. If you don't like it, return the DVD and get a new one. All this for only $1 per disc.

Obviously, we don't have a problem with the ethics of buying pirated goods.

Back At It

Welcome back to SPORK my amigo's! It's been a great summer and a much needed break with family, friends and all things American. We enjoyed every minute we were able to spend with all of you. We are so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends.

Today was our first day back in Guayaquil and I was quickly reminded what I was missing. Before I continue, I first need to remind you why I was most looking forward to coming back to Ecuador. Many of you asked this question and my response was always, "the daily adventure's." I knew this was the answer, but, when I thought about it, I couldn't really say WHAT the daily adventures were.......until today.

We get to our apartment at midnight and find that there is no running water. Not ideal for going to the bathroom, showering, cooking and washing dishes, but not all that big of an Ecuatrocity. How does it get fixed? My friend Paul comes over with a drill, axe, hammer and a desire to destroy things, which is great. We first needed to break into the locked, steel door to the outside room with the water pump. After drilling into the lock and punching it out with the hammer, we're in. At the time, this seemed perfectly normal until I was thinking about it after we had broken in and repaired the water pump. This wasn't normal by any other standards. The thought of calling a locksmith never was an option. Why would we do that when we had the tools to break in for free? After being back for less than 12 hours, this is the first example of "daily adventures" and it feels great to be back.