Shopping and snorkeling to the South Reef, August 24, 2010

Ken couldn't stand the thought of being camera-less for the rest of the trip and Laura and Ian wanted to go jewelry/cigar shopping, so we headed to downtown. Ken picked up a waterproof Olympus 6020 and came back to the condo for some snorkeling.

Snorkling at Cemetery Beach, August 23, 2010

While the snorkeling at our resort was a lot of fun, we drove a few miles up 7-mile beach to snorkel at the Cemetery beach reef. Shortly after wading into the water, tragedy struck --Ken's waterproof Olympus 1030 leaked and filled with water. Anja worked the rest of the night. Laura, Ian, and Ken went and explored more of the snorkeling area outside the condo and then hit up the happy hour nachos and margaritas at the Stinger at Comfort Suites next door. Its a rough life swimming in the ocean and hanging in the pool. :)

Snorkling outside of the Condo, August 22, 2010

The first thing we did today was drive back to the airport for Laura's bag. Ian and Ken went along with Laura to make sure she drove on the left side of the road, and we left Anja at the condo to work. Luckily Laura's bag was at the airport and we were able to return the other bag. We got back to the condo with plenty of time. Anja and Laura had come to the Caymans together twice before with Laura parents. This trip was their first without Laura's parents, and they were excited to be back here together!
That is the look of trouble!
Anja is excited to be back in the warm and crystal clear water.
Laura and Ian are excited to be here too!
Stingrays are cool!
Ken snorkling
We took these pictures from the reef just outside the condo -- about a 5 minute walk and 10 minute swim!

Fly to Grand Cayman Island August 21, 2010

We are off to the Cayman Islands!!! Our travel day started with a 4 am wakeup call in Littleton; followed by a flight from Denver to Maimi. We had a 6 hour layover in Miami so Anja setup to work in a bar in the middle of the airport. Since she would get kicked out if she wasn't a customer, Ken, Ian and Laura took turns being customers. :)

Laura's turn to secure Anja's table.
Laura's mom advised us that alcohol (along with everything else) was expensive in the Caymans, so we stopped by the duty free shop in Miami. They were giving away free Bacardi and Coke!! Free booze!!
We got to the to the Caymans and through customs just fine. On the way to the condo we stopped at Foster's for a few groceries. When we arrived at the condo, Laura discovered she had the wrong suitcase which she swore looked just like hers. Back to the airport tomorrow.

Boulder - August 18-20, 2010

We spent three days in Boulder. Anja mostly worked while Ken packed for the Caymans. Ken also helped his brother on some house projects and coordinated with his parent's house sitter to get them moved in. Since Anja was going to have to work in the Caymans, we went monitor shopping at Best Buy and bought a 20" LG LED LCD E2050T. At only 5.3 lbs it makes a great travel monitor. We found that both the monitor and Anja's laptop fit in one of her old laptop bags.


Friday night we headed down to Littleton and slept at Laura's parent's house. Thanks Cathy and John for putting us up for the night, taking us to the airport, and using your time share in the Caymans!

Depart Jackson - August 17, 2010

We had a great time staying at Lane's. Spending time with him, trying out his bikes (he has 9 Rands bikes!) and exploring Jackson. Anja wished she could stay longer, but we had to get back in time for her to work before we headed to the Caymans on August 21. Before leaving we took a few pictures around/in Lane's place. One of the coolest things about Lane's house is that it was built in the early 1900's and designed to generate the first electricity in Jackson! Below the basement is a small hydroelectric plant that at one time had tapped into the power of the adjacent creek. Lane showed us how to get down there and we took a few photos. As we headed out of town we grabbed lunch with Lane and hit the road. Ken drove straight to Boulder, and we arrived at about 2 am.

Jackson Climbing - August 16, 2010

We went climbing with Lane and Rob up at a secret limestone cliff. To get there we had to start with a mountain bike ride to the edge of the wilderness boundary where biking is not allowed. So we locked our bikes to a tree and hiked in to get to the limestone cliff. The left size of the cliff was larger but seemed chossy so we went for the upper right which was about 20 ft tall. We scrambled to the top and setup topropes on two climbs.




The left climb was really dirty and although the holds looked good most were not very possitive. It was probably about 5.10b. The right climb was harder and more loose. Ken went first and tore off a bunch of holds and hangdogged his way to the top. Anja went next and halfway up highstepped and cranked off a hold. POP!! She fell and knocked her shin on the very sharp limestone. She looked down and her leg was bleeding. Ken lowered her to the ground and looked at her wound.

Here is the video: (fast forward to about the 3:50 mark and watch from there)
http://www.youtube.com/user/DFcycling#p/a/u/0/HVuNaQyxS_g

It was a puncture wound about the size of the tip of Ken's pinky finger. Anja rested for a minute and Lane gave it a shot. Ken discouraged Anja from climbing again to no avail. Neither Ken or Anja did the route on toprope cleanly so we estimate if must be about 5.10c or harder.




We headed back to Lane's and Anja was feeling ok so we went about trying to irrigate the wound so Ken go the syringe from the med kit and started to irrigate with a iodine solution by filling the syringe and then spraying the liquid into the wound. Once Ken got to full pressure Anja would shake and squirm and almost scream. After a few attempts it Ken was getting a little grossed out by the white puss in the wound so we gave Donna a call and asked what she thought about the wound. After the call Ken and Anja discussed and settled on taking Anja to the Urgent Care.

At the Urgent Care Anja was laughing with the doctor because Lane had just been in the week before for a concussion he got biking. The doc said "What are you kids up to!". They cleaned the wound, gave her a tetanus shot, and 3 stitches.


After Urgent Care we went out to dinner with Lane, Rob, Em and Matt.

UPDATE: Anja is all ok.

Jackson Road Ride - August 15, 2010

Our second day in Jackson and Lane had the day off so we went on a 40+ mile bike ride to Jenny Lake and back. Lane had enough Rans road bikes for all of us. Lane's good friend Rob also joined us and can be created with most of the great pictures from the day. Thanks Rob!
Anja cruis'n
Rolling north from Jackson
Relaxing eating lunch
Jenny Lake and our lunch spot
Ken, Anja, and Lane at Jenny Lake
Lane on the Jenny Lake Boulders
Rob on the Jenny Lake Boulders
Anja hanging out on the Jenny Lake Boulders
On the Rans
Grand Teton
Lane, Anja, and Ken all on Rans bikes
Nice views from the trail
Looking at the GPS track from the day.
Bike ride: Jackson to Jenny Lake at EveryTrail
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