Victoria to Belize City

On Dec 13 we left Victoria for a family vacation in Belize and Guatemala.

We left home Friday night, flying at 7:30pm to Calgary. We snoozed a little on this flight and then curled up on the airport floor with blankets for some more rest. Our next plane left Calgary at 1am for Toronto. We all slept well on this flight and arrived in Toronto at 7am. Ava and Daddy slept some more while Rachel and I explored the Toronto airport and found us some breakfast.

We left Toronto at 10am and flew to Belize City. Seeing the warm beaches of Texas, then Mexico, and then Belize out the window was very exciting. I was already very proud of our girls and how well they had done with these three flights and yucky itinerary.

We landed and got in line for customs arrival. Rachel was relieved to go to the bathroom and see a normal, clean, flushing toilet in the airport except we put the toilet paper in the waste basket instead of in the toilet itself. We received our passport entry stamps, found our luggage, and changed into some lighter clothing.

Getting a taxi at the airport was easy. There was an official taxi stand with a standard rate paid to the taxi organizer, and we were led to a car in the taxi line with a friendly driver.

We had pre-booked an Airbnb apartment for the night in a nicer part of the city. Belize City doesn't have a great reputation and our hope was to get safely into and out of the city as easily as possible.

We arrived easily enough at the apartment and our host graciously welcomed us. The apartment was the upper floor of a home and had a large kitchen, two bedrooms, one bathroom, a fenced yard and a guard dog. One bedroom had A/C but the rest of the apartment was quite warm. We found a supermarket around the corner to buy some supplies for dinner and breakfast, and then stayed put indoors. We made pasta for dinner and slept without issue, other than the heat.

The next morning we woke up, had breakfast, and made our way to the bus station. We were not sure how to use our phone to call a taxi, and we were in a small residential neighborhood, so we decided to walk. After two blocks a car pulled up and offered us a taxi ride... we weren't sure how to tell if it was a real taxi or not, but the ride sounded appealing and the man seemed friendly with a clean car.

The girls looked at us like we were crazy -- getting into a stranger's car on the side of the road -- but we explained that was how taxis worked. It turns out you can tell which cars are legitimate taxis -- all registered taxi drivers have a green license plate -- but we didn't know that yet. Anyway, this ride worked out just fine and we strode into the bus station after just a few minutes.

We asked around to figure out which bus would be going to San Ignacio and how we bought tickets. Turns out you just pay on the bus after you sit down and that the conductor will come round and collect money and has lots of change. While we waited we played cards and met a couple of locals and other travelers.

Getting on the bus was a fun adventure. The bus pulled in and then a LOT of people appeared ready to board. The front and back doors of the old school bus opened and people pushed and rushed on, trying to get a seat. We ran to the back of the bus, shoved our kids up and asked them to find a seat while we made sure our bags got on. We ended up sharing the back of the bus with other tourists from all over the place. Ava sat on Jason's lap and Rachel sat on mine. Some people were three to a seat as technically they didn't want people standing for the trip, but there were too many people to sit two to a seat and everyone jammed in to make it work.

It was a relief from the heat when we got on the faster moving highway with the windows open and a nice breeze. It was about 1.5 hours to Belmopan and then another 1.5 hours to San Ignacio. When we arrived and got out of the bus, we were very happy to stretch our legs and find some lunch.

Turns out that near the bus station there was a great cafe that served us pancakes and burgers! Perfect.

Happy Holidays

The Mojo Holiday letter 2019

Happy Holidays! We hope this finds you well, and that your year has been full of love, peace, and adventure. It’s a lovely time to reflect on the year and be thankful.

Ava turned 6 years old in July. She is now in Grade 1 and enjoys art, reading, music, writing, playing Lego, gymnastics, swimming, gardens, skiing, and anything to do with cats. She was excited to be in the musical “Aristocats” this summer, and has created an art studio in her room, complete with a regular craft club. She is growing very tall and has lost 4 teeth.

Rachel turned 9 years old in October, which means that she no longer needs to use a booster seat in the car! This is a big deal when you turn 9. She is an orange belt in karate, climbing 5.9 routes in the gym, and has opened the Cloverpage Library in her room. She also loves learning, writing, science, reading, drawing, skiing, camping, animals, and exploring. She is turning into quite a remarkable ‘tween’ and we are very proud of the leader she is in Grade 4.

We acquired a new member of the family in May. A kitten we named “Mystery” came to our family, bringing with her endless sweet snuggles and soft purrs.

Meggan continues work as a physiotherapist at an outpatient orthopedic and women’s health clinic. She took several courses this year learning about visceral manipulation and is currently going through a fellowship training on spinal manipulation, which will be a big process for many more months. She has worked this year to find better work / life balance and has enjoyed running, skiing, hiking, playing field hockey and board games, and doing puzzles. In January, she will also add ‘teacher’ to her skill set, teaching a functional anatomy class at a local massage college.

Jason continued at Power To Be as the Community Programs Coordinator. In May, he earned his Master’s in Organizational Leadership from the University of Colorado and has been pushing his workplace to improve employee training, leadership development, and sustainability. Jason was excited to return to longer trail adventures this year, completing a 35-mile run through North Cascades National Park in August with a friend, and the local Finlayson Arm 55km in September. He also enjoys skiing, rock climbing, and networking with other innovative leaders in the city.

We took on many local adventures this year. We spent many winter weekends skiing at our closest ski mountain, and then went to California in March to visit family and nearby amusement parks. In April-July we had a lot of excellent local camping trips in the nearby islands and parks, including a 2-night backpacking trip where Rachel and Jason summitted a larger mountain called Mt. Albert Edward after hiking for 3 hours in dense fog.

Meggan turned 40 in April, and to celebrate she took on an ambitious project in Colorado. The whole family, plus her mom and one brother, helped her complete some missing sections of the Colorado Trail on foot, with the girls assisting and traveling around the state in an RV. It was a successful trip with beautiful scenery, big mountains, wildlife, and crazy weather – just what she had hoped for!

We haven’t had as many trips this fall because we are about to embark on a two-week adventure. All four of us are going to Belize and Guatemala shortly to backpack around and explore Mayan ruins, jungle and beaches for our holiday celebration. Thanks in advance for your kind wishes of good health and fun while on this journey!

We wish you all the best and hope that we get to see you for fun, hugs and games in 2020!

Colorado Trip Plans

(Written by Meggan)


I'm writing this post in response to so many people trying to understand our Colorado Trip plans coming up... and it's a complicated story of many logistics...

As many of you know, I've been trying to complete all of the Colorado Trail in sections. I've hiked quite a bit of it here and there. I've run some parts. I've skied a little bit and mountain biked a little bit. Some parts I've gone East to West and less often I've gone West to East. My goal is to eventually complete all the sections, one way or another.  Of course this is not the same thing whatsoever as through-hiking it, which would be a super cool experience. But since I can't see that happening in my life any time soon, doing little bits at a time is what I'm doing.

I turned 40 in April. And the thing I wanted the very most to celebrate my 40th birthday was support for my CO trail project. When we moved from Colorado to Canada in 2018, things happened very quickly and somewhat unexpectedly. The Colorado Trail project was left in a state of disorganization, with some annoying sections of uncompleted trail here and there.

So our upcoming vacation has turned into a crazy logistical scramble that is sure to allow for some amazing adventures. Parts of it are still coming together, and I'm hoping that snow will continue to melt and all things will get organized. I'm hoping to try and get over 125 miles (200km) done in the two weeks that I'm there, and take a physical therapy course so that I can call it a business trip ;)

Of course we hope to see as many people as possible when we visit, but the real focus of this trip is the trail project. At least it is for me. The focus of the trip for my kids is to see friends in Crested Butte. But we would love to see you if we can. If you see a day that you think you could come and join in for a part of the hike, please do!!! We would love the company.

My mom, my brother Jeff, my kids and my husband Jason have all come on board to assist with this summer's adventure. Many of the remaining sections are annoying logistically... so my mom offered to be my driver and shuttle me from one trailhead to another. The girls will have to come along and hang out with my mom while I hike/run. Jason can only get one week off, so my brother will join me on the hiking/running parts of the trail for week one, and then Jason will join me for week two.  

It turns out it's not easy to find a campervan with 5 seat belts. There were three options, and it's not too much additional cost to go with a real 25' RV that has an on-board bathroom and shower!  So we are renting this really awesome souped up fancy RV that my mom and I are quite excited about.
https://www.cruiseamerica.com/rv-rentals/our-vehicles/standard-rv
We hope to succeed in driving it in/out Denver and from place to place!

So below is the plan. I've marked difficult logistics with * that are still coming together.

Another interesting question is how fit we are and how our bodies will cope. I feel like I'm in pretty good shape. I can run 20km poorly and easily run 12km of hard trails with climbs and descents. I haven't put in as much mileage in July as I had hoped. Jeff is a good runner, and is putting in a good July. Jason is ... well, super human even despite his badly broken leg 2 years ago. But we all live at sea level with very little opportunity to get to any altitude to practice...


Part 1: The Meggan/Jeff stage race, Front Range to Gunnison (approx 85 miles)

Day 1
Meggan, Jeff, Rachel, Ava, and Nana all fly into Denver and land late at night.
Stay with friends.


Day 2
Morning zoo, nature museum or rec center visit. Anyone want to join us for this?
After lunch get campervan, drive to Twin Lakes, CO via Summit County for supplies.

Day 3
Meet with friend and hike 11.6 miles of Collegiate West 1 section, up an over Hope Pass.
Nana and campervan offer shuttle.
Drive to St. Elmo area for the night.

Day 4
Hike from St Elmo to Hancock (CW 4) approx 14 miles
*No idea what the road is like to run from St. Elmo to the CO trail start on Tincup Pass road.

Day 5

Hancock trailhead to Monarch Pass (CW 4/5) 18.3 miles

Nana and girls shuttle around possibly via Mt. Princeton Hot Springs and then via Salida to stock up on groceries and meet us at Monarch Pass. Sleep near Sargeants somewhere.

Day 6

28 miles of trail to be covered from the Tank 7 trailhead near Sargeants to CO-114 intersection

*A huge day. Hopefully Jeff and I are fit enough and can get used to the altitude to do this day. Plan B is that we do part of the 28 miles today and the next part on Aug 7, staying in campervan in between parts.

Day 7

Hopefully tag off an extra 13 miles in the agricultural no-mans land near CO-114/Saguache Park Road, unless Plan B is needed from Aug 6.

If Plan B, then Jason and I will do it as we come back this way going East.

Drive to Gunnison for the night.

Part Two: Crested Butte down time

Day 8

Uncle Jeff takes the bus from Gunnison, flies out of Denver, and goes home to recover.

Meggan, Nana and girls head to Crested Butte. 
*Stay somewhere with campervan??

Day 9

Girls have an art camp for the day in Crested Butte
Laundry day.

Jason arrives in Gunnison at 5pm.

Whole campervan and Jason drive through Lake City to Spring Creek Pass. 

Part 3: Meggan and Jason backpack Spring Creek Pass to CO-114 area (approx 44 trail miles) going East

Day 10

Jason and Meggan leave campervan early and start their hike (20 miles to San Luis saddle)

Nana and girls back to Crested Butte - stay at hotel.

*Nana has to entertain girls alone all day long. Anyone want to hang with the kids that afternoon?

Day 11

Meggan and Jason hike San Luis Peak + to mile 7.0 segment 19 (peak+ 14.3 miles)

Nana stays in Crested Butte with girls at Elevation hotel.

*Nana has to entertain girls alone all day long. Anyone want to help my mom out with the kids that day?

Day 12

Meggan and Jason hike (possibly as short as 7 miles or 20.8 miles if Plan B ahead).

Ava has plans to play with friends. Hoping Rachel will also be able to play with friends.
Nana to drive girls and campervan out of CB this day.

Nana and girls come pick up Meggan and Jason near CO-114 area.
Possibly drive toward Breckenridge... plans for the evening to be confirmed.

Part 4: Denver / Front Range area and Meggan takes a PT course

Day 13

Campervan group drives from CO-114 to Front Range.
This whole day and where we will be, where we will stay to be confirmed.
Anyone in Front Range willing to have us park our camper at their house for the night?

Day 14

To Denver area. Return camper van.
Hope to see friends in the Front Range but not sure who/how/when.

Stay with friends in Denver and take over their house for the night.

Day 15

Nana, girls, Jason fly out of Denver airport after lunch.

Meggan has a PT course in Centennial.

Day 16

Jason returns to work, kids go to camp in Victoria, Nana sleeps in her own bed :)

Meggan has a PT course in Centennial.

Day 17

Meggan has a PT course in Centennial.

Day 18

Meggan has a PT course in Centennial, then flies home in the evening, arriving home really late.

So... after all of this is said and done, will I be done the trail?

No.

I will have two bigger chunks left to complete:

1) Kenosha Pass to Leadville Fish Hatchery (Section 6-10) with plans to do this in 2020 early summer with friends who are through-hiking

2) The last 74 miles of trail when heading West (Sections 24-28). This will be my last section and I plan to fly into Durango, catch the train toward Silverton, and then start from the train stop near Molas Pass and hike back to Durango.  

Who's with me ?!?!