Almost Gypsy Soul

"Does everyone in Star Valley fly or do I just only know pilots in Star Valley because you are all friends?" "Well, it might be your circle of friends, but there are quite a few pilots in the Valley too" When I went up to visit some friends in Star Valley a couple of weekends ago, I was excited because my Wingman had, well....gotten his wings. I was so hoping I could talk him into going flying and it turns out that is an easy one! On the ground selfies Time got away from us and we were nearly late for our overnight horseback camping trip departure. Luckily our crew waited for us! Looking over into Grey's River Life at 10,000 feet

Rock Springs and Green River have a summer run series each year, every Monday evening. And since Colorado Transplant Friend is in charge of half of those races, I go.....and for Popsicles. ok, ok I go for Popsicles. They usually have a 5K route and a mini mile route. Of course, each run has a theme because themes are just more fun than running with no theme. This year's series was: Storybook Run (no pictures taken) Zombie Run (didn't attend) Mustache Dash (didn't attend) Color Run Twinkie Trot Slip N' Slide Run (no pictures taken) Watermelon Walk Poker Run (didn't attend) Glow Run (didn't attend) I didn't get to attend as many this year as I have in the past because this is what my summer life looks like every month ends up looking like this Little Boys showing off their muscles after the Color Run Watermelon Walk 5K Little Boy and I after the Twinkie Trot Mini Mile. He ran the whole thing in 12:50.

One of my goals for 2016 was to get more involved in my community. A new friend from spin class had been bugging me about coming to the mountain bike club meetings for a while and I finally caved. And I'm glad that I did. The Sweetwater Mountain Bike Association (SMBA) is a great bunch of guys and a hidden gem of a trail system in Green River, WY. Wilkins Peak was even voted on the 2016 Best Mountain Bike Trails by Singletracks.com. Trail maintenance on Brent and Mike's Each year the club puts on a Trail Days to introduce people to the Wilkins Peak Trail System and mountain biking. The club, along with sponsors, offers a free pancake breakfast, guided rides on the trail system, night ride and raffles/giveaways. This year we were even able to raffle off a brand new Trek mountain bike with the support of Bike & Trike in Rock Springs. The event was attended by approximately 100 people, the most we've ever had. Trek bike raffle winner Logan (L) with President

Quito is a diamond in the rough, a pleasant surprise. I'll be honest after Peru, Inca Trail, Machu Picchu and the Galapagos, I really wasn't overflowing with excitement about Quito. I mean a city is a city right? Wrong. I loved Quito and was left wanting more days in Ecuador! Quito is the capital city, high in the Andes mountains at an elevation of 9,350 feet. Quito is home to approximately 2.7 million people and is known as the cultural capital of Latin America. It's mix of colonial and modern architecture. Its also home to the newest international airport in Latin America. Ecuador is known for its rose exports, which I was very disappointed to not visit a rose farm. A dozen "reject" roses can be bought for a couple of bucks around the city. Other exports include petroleum, bananas, shrimp, coffee, cocoa and fish. The American dollar is the official currency so that was nice! I know how much those are worth! Overlooking Quito from Panecillo Mirador W

I'm not sure that they call the Galapagos Islands a wonder of the world, but to this girl well, I think I'll refer to them as a wonder of the world. Day 1 was clear full of anticipation. If you don't know what anticipation really feels like google Galapagos Island pictures. Anticipation grew (or turned to anxiety) as we stood in line to board our ship, the Galapagos Legend, and realized that we were the youngest people on our ship.....by 20+ years. Note to self....ask your travel agent the average age of travelers on your ship. I was shocked by the vegetation of the islands....or should I say lack of vegetation. I didn't realize how dry and deserty most of the Galapagos really is. The afternoon we took an introductory dinghy ride to view wildlife in the mangroves on the north shore of Santa Cruz Island. We saw lots of blue footed boobies and other sea birds. A few turtles and stingrays. Galapagos Legend, largest ship in the Galapagos fleet Infamou

Because I can't pronounce most of the names that I learned nor even begin to retain all the information that I learned on my hike, I'll likely be letting the pictures do the talking for me. The hike to Machu Picchu was amazing, with a capital A! I often found myself thinking that if people don't believe there is a God, then they should come here! And I love our porters, I thought that a lot too! We opted for the 4-day Classic Inca Trail hike. All hikers are required to be guided by a professional company. We chose to hike with Condor Travel and Paul. Paul gave us the advice of not focusing on the destination, but to instead enjoy the journey. He couldn't have been more right.  I can't give a higher recommendation to both Paul and the company. Paul was friendly, knowledgeable, patient, funny and spoke very good English. We followed the same itinerary shown in the picture above, even though yours truly didn't make the picture above....that credit goes to  A