Going For A Walk: Kemah, Texas

Scott and I spent a week in the Kemah area in Texas and the weather pretty much sucked every day. For some reason, I thought Texas was supposed to be warm during the winter. I couldn't have been more wrong. We used our heater every night and I had to wear two pairs of socks every day just to make sure I didn't get frostbite. Okay, perhaps I exaggerate just a little bit, but it was unseasonably and unreasonably cold, rainy, foggy, windy and just downright unpleasant at times. Fortunately, the sun broke through the clouds one afternoon and we went for a little walk in Kemah. 

The brightly colored rides on the boardwalk would almost have you believe it was a beautiful, sunny day. That is until you notice everyone is wearing hats and scarves. 

Kemah is a small town in the greater Houston area on the Galveston Bay. It was originally a fishing town, but now caters to the tourist crowd. The Kemah Boardwalk is what draws them in. Amusement rides, restaurants, bars, boat rides and souvenir shops. The usual suspects. 

Like this place - Landry's Seafood restaurant. I'm not sure if it was an old movie theater that they turned into a restaurant, but I like the sign out front. We didn't eat there, but the almond crusted mahi mahi sure sounded good.

The sun went back behind the clouds not too long into our walk. I thought it might be fun to ride on the old wooden roller coaster on the boardwalk, but somehow roller coasters, scarves, hats and gloves don't seem to go together. My sister and I used to love riding on the old wooden roller coaster at Cedar Point in Ohio every summer. But of course, it was summer when we went there - shorts, t-shirts and sunglasses. Not scarves, hats and gloves. Oh well, maybe next time.

Anyone fancy an Icee on a cold winter day in Texas?

Wow, I keep complaining about the weather. I'm even getting tired of listening to myself talk about it. Let's look at a picture of the piers in Kemah instead. A very good distraction.

Hopefully, the weather and my mood will improve next time you stop by our little corner of the blogosphere. Until next time, keep warm and dry. 

PS For those of you in New Zealand, please stop posting pictures of how wonderful it is to be out and about in the warm temperatures, playing and frolicking among the pohutukawa trees on the beaches. It's just plain depressing! 

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We went for a chilly walk in Kemah, TX on 3 January 2015.

Life In Texas Lately

After picking up our new 13' Scamp travel trailer in Minnesota in mid-December, we hit the road again and headed down South towards Texas to begin looking for our next sailboat. Here's what life has been like lately for us in Lone Star State.

The best thing about our time in Texas has to be our Scamp travel trailer, or Scamper, as we like to call her. Scamper is our new full-time home while we're on the road. With approximately 65 sq ft/6 sq mtrs of living space, this is some real tiny house living! Whenever the weather is nice, we've been enjoying expanding our living space outdoors. Although she is small, Scamper is adorable. I'll have to do a post at some point so you all can "meet" Scamper and see what she looks like inside.

Along the way, we've visited a few more National Park Service properties including three national parks - Big Bend in southwestern Texas along the Mexican border (amazing night skies and a meteor shower!), Guadalupe Mountains in northwestern Texas near the New Mexico border (our first experience "camping" in a parking lot) and nearby Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico (if you didn't know better, you would think you were on another planet). We also added a National Seashore to our list (that's Padre Island National Seashore in the picture above), as well as spent a night at a campground in the Amistad National Recreation Area - both of which are in Texas. Wow, this is one amazingly beautiful and diverse country!

As we were in Big Bend National Park over Christmas, we decided to pop across the Rio Grande River (by rowboat) to have lunch in Boquillas, Mexico. While we were there, we saw Santa handing out presents to the kids. So cute! After a few hours in Mexico, we headed back across the river to the States and had our traditional Christmas curry and screening of Monty Python's Life of Brian. It ranks right up there as one of the most interesting Christmases we've had - Mexican food in Mexico for lunch, followed by Indian food at a campground in Texas.

We're currently hanging out in southeastern Texas near Kemah on the Galveston Bay. The Kemah area is a perfect place to kick off our quest for our next sailboat - it is one of the largest boating centers in the States. We spent New Year's Eve day poking around some of the marinas and drooling over the sailboats. While there doesn't seem to be a lot of sailboats for sale in the area that meet our requirements, there are a few that I think we'll have a look at next week. (If you're interested, you can find a list of posts about what we're looking for in terms of our next sailboat here.)

Our laptop decided to stop working at the beginning of December which caused me to suffer from serious internet/blogging/social media withdrawal. While we do have an iPad, it just isn't the same thing as using our laptop. I was all set to cave in and buy a new computer when Scott suggested we try fixing it ourselves. We suspected that the issue was with the fan, so we ordered a replacement one for around $50. It arrived this week and, armed with some tiny screwdrivers, Scott took apart the laptop, disconnected all sorts of scary looking things and replaced the fan. Presto - problem solved! And, more importantly, a lot of money saved by not buying a new laptop. We're back in business! You should see us back to our regular blogging schedule - of course, provided we can get internet access while on the road.

That's what life has been like for us lately in Texas. What's been happening where you are?

Linked up with Bonnie Rose for Travel Tuesday.

The Year In Review - 2014

2014 has been a pretty big year for us. Full of travel, work and taking care of family. We realized our dream of living on a sailboat full-time, we spent time with family, we got to explore parts of the States we had never seen before, we bought a camper and we set off in search of our next sailboat. I wonder what 2015 will bring!

Here are some of the highlights from last year...

1 - We lived and sailed on our boat in New Zealand.

Anchored out at Peachgrove Bay, Mercury Islands, New Zealand

In December 2013, we became full-time cruisers in New Zealand and moved onto our Raven 26 sailboat. We had a great time living and sailing on her during the first part of 2014. We sailed 1,290 nautical miles over four months and learned heaps about ourselves, sailing, living on a boat full-time and what we're looking for in our next boat.

You can find links to our sailing adventures in New Zealand here. If you want to know more about how we became full-time cruisers, check this post out. If you're curious what we learned on our shake down cruise, click here.

2 - We sold our sailboat.

Rainbows End - our little Raven 26

We always knew our Raven 26 was a "for now" boat and not our "forever" boat. So after our time cruising in New Zealand, it was time to sell her. A truly bittersweet moment - read more about it here.

3 - We took a little road trip in New Zealand. 

Hahei Beach, Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand

Boats are great, but they do limit what you can see somewhat. So after we sold our boat, it was time for a road trip on the North Island of New Zealand! Click here to see what we got up to.

4 - Scott headed back to Scotland for work.

An Iron Age crouched burial from a site in England that Scott worked on. 

Scott is an archaeologist based out of Scotland. So from time to time, he has to head back to the UK to take care of work. He's hoping to wind his business down so that we can enjoy traveling by boat and camper over the next few years without work getting in the way.

5 - I did some work in New Zealand.

Setting an alarm clock. Sure fire sign that you're a worker bee.

Sadly, we haven't won the lottery, so we have to work from time to time to fund our travel adventures. While Scott was in Scotland, I did some contract work in New Zealand for a friend. After cruising on a sailboat, it sure was a shock to the system to have to get up every day and go toil in an office. You can read about the differences between cruising and working here.

6 - We stopped working and headed to the States to take care of some family stuff.

Panhandle Marina, North Idaho

Some family stuff came up, so we both headed back to Idaho to spend some time there with Scott's father. One of the hardest things about being an expat is being away from family, especially when the big stuff comes up. Luckily, we had the flexibility to change our plans and spend time where it was important. Scott even managed to sail on other people's boats while he was there which made for one happy little camper. He gets a little stir crazy when he is away from the water for too long :-)

7 - We did a crazy road trip from Portland, Oregon to Ray, North Dakota. 

Blue Mesa badlands at the Petrified Forest National Park

We needed to get from Oregon to North Dakota towards the end of this year. But instead of driving along a relatively straight line, we drove south to California then over to the southwest before heading back up north. Along the way, we visited 15 National Parks, 1 National Preserve, 1 National Historic Site, 2 National Historical Memorials and 3 State Parks!

You can find links to posts from our road trip on our USA page.

8 - We got seduced by tiny campers.

A Scamp travel trailer that we saw in Yosemite.

We got seduced by tiny campers and we ended up buying one! Camping in a tent is great when the weather is nice, but let me tell you, middle age, sleeping on the ground and nasty weather don't really mix all that well. So we picked up a 13 foot Scamp in Minnesota. She's adorable!

9 - We headed off on another crazy road trip in search of our next sailboat.

What will our next sailboat look like?

We're back out on the road heading down south towards Texas in search of warmer weather and a new-to-us sailboat. We're planning on making our way eastwards over to Florida and then up the East Coast. Want to help us find a sailboat or just say hi? Keep an eye on the blog and Facebook to see where we're heading to next! We'd love to meet you - drop us an email, leave us a comment or fill out the contact form on the right hand side of the blog. 

What were your highlights of 2014 and what are you looking forward to in 2015?

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Happy Holidays

Whatever holiday you celebrate during this festive season, we hope it is a happy one! We'll be having our traditional Christmas curry today (you can find the recipe here), along with our annual screening of Monty Python's Life of Brian. You can't get more festive than that!


Thank you Graphics Fairy for this wonderful image.

Hello Scamper!

After our road trip from Portland Oregon to Ray North Dakota, I've learned an important lesson. Middle age, winter weather and sleeping in a tent don't mix. After seeing so many adorable tiny campers, we decided to get one too. Meet Scamper, our 13' Scamp travel trailer! 

We picked her up in Minnesota last week. Brrrr! With more snow on the way, we drove a lot of miles to outrun the latest winter storm and are now in Texas to begin the next phase of our road trip - the search for our next sailboat! We're going to start off looking in the Houston area and then make our way eastwards over to Florida and up the East Coast. 

Keep an eye out for Scamper and us on the road and say hi!

Also, apologies in advance - posting and responding to comments etc. may be intermittent. Our computer is still broken and finding an internet connection isn't always easy!

Going For A Walk With Potato Chips: The Kaibab Trail {Grand Canyon National Park}

When we were at the Grand Canyon, Scott and I walked on part of the Kaibab Trail on both the North and South Rims. At first, when Scott suggested we go for a walk "below the rim" on the Kaibab Trail, I thought he said the Kebab Trail. Turns out I misheard him. Which is a shame, as the Kebab Trail is wonderful. It's a short hike along flat terrain and, if you find yourself getting tired, there is a moving sidewalk you can hop on and off as needed. At the end of the trail, a man dressed in a bright green apron emblazoned with "Mr Kebab" on it, smiles at you and hands you a lamb kebab wrapped in pita bread complete with hummous, sliced onion, tomato and feta cheese. Delicious.

Turns out the Kaibab Trail is a completely different proposition. The trail is anything but flat, you work up a sweat and you're at a very high elevation which makes it hard to catch your breath. Which is why the National Park Service advises that you take salty snacks with you and eat them constantly. Finally, someone has exercise advice that makes sense - they're basically telling you that hiking and eating potato chips go hand in hand. The Kaibab Trail was sounding almost as good as the Kebab Trail!

North Kaibab Trail & Polar Bear Spotting

Do you want to go for a guilt-free walk while eating potato chips, then check out the Kaibab Trail. We started off on the North Kaibab Trail - described as the least visited, but most difficult of the three maintained Grand Canyon trails. You start off 1,000 feet higher than any of the South Rim trails - that's your first clue as to why it is hard. If you're really keen, you can hike all the way down to the Colorado River, but that's 14 miles long with an elevation change of 5,761 feet. Sound almost doable when you're going downhill, but as they warn you, "going downhill is optional, coming back up is mandatory." Needless to say, we just opted to do a small portion of the trail, from the trail head to the Supai Tunnel. A measly 1.7 miles one way and elevation change of only 1,441 feet. 

Sounds easy enough, but going down is always the easy part. I skipped down the trail bundled up in a fleece, hat and mittens while clutching a bag of potato chips.

 We made a brief stop at Coconino Point where we spotted some polar bears. 

After offering the polar bears a few potato chips, I continued skipping down the trail. We met a few people coming up the trail. They all seemed to be sweating and more than a little out of breath. I started to worry a little about the return trip, but quickly put it out of my mind as I had some more potato chips and took in the views.

Finally, we got to the Supai Tunnel. It is pretty much as advertised - a tunnel. After a quick peek through the tunnel, we turned around and headed back up.

And that's when I ran out of potato chips. Walking back up 1,441 feet is such a drag without potato chips. I stopped a lot to catch my breath. And I mean a lot! But I made it. I looked around for Mr Kebab at the trail head for my lamb kebab, but he was nowhere to be found. Very disappointing.

South Kaibab Trail & Mule Spotting

A day or so later, we decided to "go below the rim" again on the South Rim. But this time, it was much, much easier. Four reasons - we started off at a lower elevation, it was a pretty short hike, the elevation change was much smaller and the mule trains were a great excuse to stop and catch your breath. 

We started off at 7,260 feet and hiked down only 0.9 mile to Ooh Aah Point (elevation of 6,660 feet). I thought the views were much better on this portion of the Kaibab Trail, although there were a lot more people on the trail.

The mule trains were so much fun to watch. They use mules to transport supplies, baggage and people up and down from the canyon bottom. The trail is kind of small, so when the mule trains come by, you have to step off on the uphill side and wait for the mules to pass by.

It wasn't long before we made it down to Ooh Aah Point. We spent a few minutes "oohing" and "aahing" before heading back up. I only had to stop a couple of times to catch my breath!

Still no sign of Mr Kebab, but it turns out you can get a really mean baked enchilada pie at the Bright Angel Lodge restaurant. Almost makes you forget about how delicious lamb kebabs are. Almost.

We walked the Kaibab Trail while eating plenty of salty snacks on 9 and 11 November 2014.

Okay Grand Canyon, You've Redeemed Yourself

The Grand Canyon really disappointed me when I first saw it. I'm not sure what was wrong with me - tiredness, insufficient supply of chocolate chip cookies or just plain grumpiness? Fortunately, the place redeemed itself by Day 2. Which is a good thing, otherwise I was going to have to write some sort of complaint letter to the National Park Service. 

Of course, I'm kidding, but did you know people actually try to demand their money back if they don't get a great view of the canyon due to cloud cover, rain etc.? I think these are the same people who think it is okay to run screaming up to an elk and stick their cell phone in its face in order to get a selfie. Or the people who think the signs saying "stay on the path" don't apply to them. It is probably a good thing we visited the Grand Canyon during the off-season when the park was less crowded. If there had been too many more obnoxious and inconsiderate people around, I think I might have snapped.

Gosh, I'm a little cranky, aren't I? Hang on while I go grab my emergency chocolate bar and find some kittens to play with.

{pause for a snack break - go ahead fix yourself one too}

Ok, I'm back. Things are much better now. So here's what we got up to during the rest of our time at the Grand Canyon.

1 - We went back to the North Rim after a night boondocking in the Kaibab National Forest. (Boondocking = Free Camping = More Money For Chocolate)

2 - We took in the morning views at Bright Angel Point, Scott made scrumptious breakfast burritos for us and then we went for a scenic drive to Imperial Point. Finally, I had one of those "wow" moments that everyone talks about. My belly was full. That might have helped.

3 - We hiked "below the rim" on the Kaibab Trail. Not to be confused with the Kebab Trail. Completely different things. One involves lamb kebabs, the other involves shortness of breath from the altitude. More on that on Wednesday. I bet you can't wait :-)

4 - We called it a day and headed on out towards the South Rim. It is a super long drive between the North Rim and South Rim so we stopped for the night at the Cameron Trading Post in the Navajo Nation. If you ever go there, word of warning, the Navajo Tacos are bigger than your head. Share one. Or if you plan on eating the whole thing yourself, make sure your jeans have plenty of stretch in them. Better yet, wear sweat pants.

5 - The next day we headed to the South Rim. We took Highway 64 into the park. Wonderful scenic drive. Some more "wow" moments. Some great walks along the rim.

6 - We decided to splurge a little and stayed at the historic Bright Angel Lodge in the park. So nice to be right there on the edge of the canyon and even better once all the day trippers cleared out that night. Scott had an amazing baked enchillada pie at the restaurant there. I wished I had ordered one too. Don't you hate it when someone else's meal is better than yours?

7 - We woke up early the next day and took the shuttle bus out to some of the viewpoints towards Hermits Rest. One of our shuttle bus drivers said he saw a bobcat earlier. Another bus driver said the other driver was old and blind and that they were really feral cats. I'm not sure bus drivers should be telling people that their colleagues can't see very well. Doesn't really inspire confidence in the whole letting someone else drive you around thing. Just a thought.

8 - We hiked some more of the Kaibab Trail on the North Rim side. Still no lamb kebabs.

9 - Got up our courage and took another shuttle out to Yaki Point. More views, more walking. 

10 - Said goodbye to the Grand Canyon. It really did redeem itself in the end. I got my "wow" moments. Who knows, I might even come back one day.

And now a note about computers. Or a rant really. Why can't they last longer than three years without imploding? I've had to type this on our iPad without a keyboard and I can't access any of the great pictures of the Grand Canyon that Scott took. okay, rant over. 

See you next time for an exciting post about lamb kebabs and hiking. 

(Exciting might be misleading. It will be more along the lines of a so-so post. But at least there will be pictures as I wrote it before the computer implosion.)

We visited the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on 8-9 November 2014 and the South Rim on 10-11 November 2014.