NV Camping 2013: Day 1 (Bonus - Skull Jackpot aka Ranchers need to find a better way to deal with wildlife aka people who shoot dogs are douchebags aka I will take the skulls nonetheless)

NV Camping 2013: Day 1

Met up with Tom for 3 days of fun in the wide open expanses of the Nevada desert.  There is nothing like camping in the middle of nowhere.  It is simply put, the way it should be. Campgrounds are nothing more than a bunch of unrelated people sleeping outside together. To me, camping means getting away from all of that and then going a little further away just to make sure.

Tom drove up from Vegas, and I drove down and met him off of hwy 361 at a predetermined location, which turned out to yield one of the largest skull hauls ever (more on that in the bonus post next). Here I am with my 90 Trooper and the skull pile.

A day trip to Genoa/Minden/Gardnerville...

So last Sunday we took a day and drove down to Genoa to check it out.  Here are a few photos.

Eating lunch...

Memorial Day Weekend in Mendocino/Fort Bragg

For the three day weekend we took the pups and headed northwest to one of our favorite spots in California: The Mendocino Coast.

Car Spotting in Costa Rica

One of my favorite things about Costa Rica, is there seemed to be an extreme abundance of "expedition ready" 4x4s.  Never in my life have I seen more Land Rovers, Land Cruisers, and Isuzu Troopers assembled in one place, not to mention a whole boat load of other misc 4x4s that all appeared to be on an expedition of their own.  And Jeeps seemed to be the extreme minority.  In short, if you want to see some cool SUVs and 4x4s of all makes and vintages, visit Costa Rica.

This little go-cart is a 2013 Suzuki Jimny, and it was what I rented for the week.  Basically, a modern Samurai, this little lawn mower is great on gas and will get you just about anywhere. I wish they sold them in the USA. I would buy one without question as a daily driver.

Costa Rica Wildlife

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Costa Rica, is the incredible amount of wildlife one can see, with very little effort. If I ever go back, I would go back and focus on seeing as much as I could, despite the horrendous discomfort of the climate.  We visited two parks while we were there, and did some hikes along the beach.  Here are some of the highlights.

The icon of Costa Rica, the red-eyed tree frog.  Some of the photos here were taken at a small "zoo" if you will, for native herps of Costa Rica. According to our guide at the little "Neofauna" park, these frogs are fairly elusive and not easy to find in the wild without considerable time and effort.

Costa Rica - One week in a sweltering hot sweat box

So we spent last week, both Linda's and Tom's birthdays, in Costa Rica. It was a much needed vacation from the norm, that ultimately makes you appreciate your version of normal a little bit more. It's all too easy to get sick, tired and bored of your normal day-to-day routine, until you break out from it and spend some time in another country where the norm is much, much different than you are used to.  In my case, I speak mainly of weather, and more acutely of stinking hot, humid, thick, cut-the-air-with-a-knife, jungle weather.

Marriot Los Suenos, our nice, clean, uber-expensive resort