Cycling pics

Jacques went cycling with our Mountainbike club a little while ago.

Again one of their favourite routes is Hurkey Creek in Idylwild.


This is NOT Jacques holding the snake. I'm acutally surprised that he stood close enought to take the photo.

This photo was during a road race in Borego Springs. Desert all around.

And to top it all, we had one hell of a wind on this stretch.

The end of the race!

Santa Ynez Half Marathon

A few months ago we drove up for the Santa Ynez Half Marathon.
We camped in Solvang, which was where the race ended.
A shuttle took us up to Santa Ynez to the beginning of the race.



We remember this campsite well.
It's where we stayed 4 years ago when we first came to the US to write my exam.



Having breakfast in the chilly morning air.

Nothing better than camping!

Since it's such a nice drive to Solvang,we decided to go in the honda and put the top down.

However - it was quite a squeeze to fit everything into that little boot.

Since we had a few days before the race, we did a few hikes and some driving around exploring the area.

Solvang is a little Danish village.

Hans Christian Anderson lived here and all the houses are in the Danish style.

It's quite a cute little place.

Unknowing to us, when we went driving around, we covered a lot of the half marathon route.

This was part of it, through the vineyards of Santa Ynez.

Breathtaking.

It almost felt like being back in Stellenbosch.

The piece of the race that ran through this hills is called "the corkscrew" and it's PRETTY steep!

Luckily it was beautiful enough to take one's attention away of being tired.

By accident we found this little Painted cave - what a stunning drive through the forest to get here.

Wildlife around the home

Wonder has discovered her new sleeping place.

Or is she having a bath?

Quite happy and content! Isn't she gorgoeous?

Lately we've noticed Banggattie sitting out by the gate staring into the garden. Then we discovered she's made buddies with this baby wabbit.

I bet our kitties are thinking:

Wow this cat has big ears!

These were our latest visitors, but they're now off for the summer.

The male duck - I call him Donald, used to wait for me every morning after my run for his mielies.


If I didnt come, he'd quack at the sliding door to get my attention.




























They must have liked us, because the whole family came to visit.

This is a road runner sitting on our chair. He kept staring at us inside and making that funny noise.

These guys are pretty fast!

Mountain Biking Hurkey Creek June 07

Funny how we start Mountainbiking a lot when the weather becomes worse. By that I mean unbearably hot.

To try and escape the over 100F temperatures here in Palm Springs, we drive to Hurkey Creek in Idylwilld.

There's Clark who came out with us for a ride.

Clark attacking the torterous uphill.

That would be me - pretty out of breath.

This is one heck of a hill, though it doesn't look it from here.

Still going up.

Obviously Jacques always finished the hills first, since he's the one taking the photos. He's just like a little energizer bunny on the uphills.

Jacques in action.

Clark preparing for a pretty technical downhill....

Oops - like that didn't happen to any of us!

At least he didn't get any bruises unlike me!

(However - I did manage to escape Jacques taking a photo (evidence) of my glitches...)

This is a really cool piece down this rock. Looks a bit steeper in real life.

Whoopla - here we go...

Hmmmm - so whose going down first?

Me and my beloved Stumpjumper - love that bike.

Taking a breather...

Victory - Finally ontop!

Zion - Campground

We camped in the South Campground on our trip to Zion. The campground is very close to the Visitors Center, from which the shuttle-bus leaves.

This was the view we had - How about that!




Busy making breakfast before we head out for one of our hikes.

Another view from a hiking trail that starts from our campground.

Do you see the flattish rock on the right with the red running down the rock - That's the "altar of sacrifice".

And this was our "bath facility" in the Virgin river. The campground didn't have showers so everybody takes a dip in the River to freshen up.

It's like a natural jaccuzzi.