Dos Cabezas and Trifecta Challenge

We took our first trip out to Dos Cabezas after hearing about it from the HALT folks.  We drove out on Saturday morning and met up in Ocotillo.  Then we headed on the dirt road through the wind farm, then following the tracks northward.  We hit a couple dicey spots but made it to a nice camping spot.  After lunch, we hiked out the find the elusive Cave of the Blue Sun.  It was a good cross country experience except for all the cholla.  The scouts built a nice fire and we had some skits before go to be early (winter does that too you).
On the drive back home, the scouts agreed to do the A16 Trifecta Challenge.  So we took pictures in Ocotillo for the desert portion.  We then drove up to Mt. Laguna and thankfully found enough patches of snow for a snowball fight.  Lastly, we stopped at Moonlight Beach for the last leg.  Southern California is one of the few places in the world you can do this!  I was finisher #29.

Camping near the tracks

Waiting for a train!

Boulder cave

Cave of the Blue Sun

Sunrise in the Desert

Gumshoe Krebs

Brian Krebs does some great detective work trying to find who DDOS'ed his site.  A must read.

Battle of Hiking Guidebooks

The Reader has a good article on the "battle" between local hiking guidebooks.  Schad has been go-to book for over 15 years now.  I was super elated to hear that Scott Turner will writing a new edition (whose release will be like Christmas in February)!  Due to that, I didn't consider buying "Coast to Cactus" but I think I will now.  By the way, that hike picture from Florida Canyon is not my idea of good hiking.

2016 Family Reunion Cruise

We had our somewhat regular family reunion event the week between Christmas and New Year.  This was another Carnival cruise but leaving from Port Canaveral.  Also, my side of the family crashed it so had lots of people on the boat!
After leaving port, we had a day as sea.  It was quite rough going but I didn't get sick like some.  The first port was Grand Turk.  Grand Turk is a tiny island that is basically a big beach.  We didn't do an excursion but hiked around.  We found some cool shells but the boat didn't let us bring them on board.
The second port was in the Dominican Republic.  We had an excursion planning at the waterfalls of Damajagua with Iguana Mama.  It was awesome.  We hiked a few miles into the jungle and then followed the river jumping down cliffs and sliding down waterfalls.  Highly recommended.
The next day we spent getting back to port.  Overall, it was fun but the amenities like food and the entertainment seemed a notch below previous cruises.
After departing, we hit Kennedy Space Center which was great.  I am not a big space fanatic but loved the older rockets like the Saturn V.
Lastly, we drove up to Blue Springs State Park to see manatees.  They spend the winter there due to the warmer waters.  It was pretty interesting and well worth the drive.

Blue Springs State Park

Business End of a Saturn V at Kennedy Space Center

Kennedy Space Center

Grand Turk and John Glenn

No Loafing!

Hiking on Grand Turk

Columbus Was Here

Dominican Republic

End of the Line at Grand Turk

Docked at Grand Turk

The Docks

Clan Takes Over Deck 5

Books

• I Wanna Go Back: Stories of the Philmont Rangers by Warren Smith
• The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming
• Syria: A History of the Last Hundred Years by John McHugo
• A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke by James Horn
• The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull and the Battle of Little Bighorn by Nathanial Philbrick
• Shattered Air: A True Account of Catastrophe and Courage on Yosemite's Half Dome by Bob Madgic
• The Romanovs: 1613 - 1918 by Simon Sebag Montefiore
• Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World by Roger Crowley