Aguas Calientes

We have just finished our trek to Aguas Calientes, where we will catch a bus to Machu Pichu tomorrow. The trek was very hard, but incredibly beautiful. Our highest pass was just shy of 15,300´ in elevation. It was very cold there, and we saw several glaciers. Then we dropped into a jungle, with monkeys, ant-eaters and parrots. We ate like kings, thanks to our cook Mannuel and our Porter, Walter. They have been very nice, and have worried over us constantly. Our guide, Alvero, is fantastic and also takes very good care of us. Most of the people in the other companies don´t carry their packs-- probably 75% of them paid for extra horses to carry their gear, and on the hardest pass, many rode the horses. Luckily, it was only Travis and I in our group. The guide said there are usually 12-25 people, so it´s been nice to have a private tour. We´re pretty sore now, but it was such a fantastic experience. I can´t wait to upload the pictures, you´ll then be able to understand. We were just in awe the whole trip.

There are hundreds of dogs here. Every house has them, and they are everywhere in the streets. Very friendly though. Just lots of animals in general. I had a cat sleeping in my lap during dinner last night, and we´ve seen pigs, chickens, horses, cows and anything else everywhere in the Andes.

We´re hoping to see llamas in Machu Pichu tomorrow. We saw a few babies in Cuzco during a parade, which were very cute. No one celebrates like South America. The parades and costumes are unbelievable, such a clash of color and brilliance against the primitive adobe houses and cement buildings.

Neither of us have gotten sick yet, thankfully. We´ve been very careful about the water and food, and are having a wonderful time. Many have commented on our blue eyes and how tall Travis is and how blonde I am. They think I am sick, because my cheeks are so pink. The people are beautiful here.

Lima

(To catch up with our South America trip, I will post the emails I sent home during our adventures. I'm horribly sorry for any of those who were not included in the first emails.)

Benvidos au Peru! Just to send out a quick update to all, we arrived in the Lima airport late last night. We will be shortly exploring MiraFlores, the section of Lima we´re staying in, which is one street away from the ocean. There are beautiful sea cliffs and flowers everywhere, it is one of the nicer parts of town.

Today at 1 we fly to Cuzco, and will be starting our trek to Machu Pichu tomorrow morning (Sunday.) I am just blown away at Trav´s Spanish. I think he is the coolest person in the whole world, and admire his ability very much. The roads last night were very scary. Little to no regard is paid to vehicle or road safety, and I was white-knuckled the whole way.

The immersion of American culture is sad to see. I recognize add campaigns and restaurants and businesses everywhere. Chilis, Burger King, KFC, MCDonalds of course, CineMark... The city is so beautiful and different, and has the big non-signs of America glaring at us still.

Lima is a very hot, muggy place. It is a giant of a city, with a constant cloud of smog hovering above it. However, we went to sleep last night with a cool breeze and clean teeth and woke to a breakfast of fresh bread and hot water.

We are doing wonderfully.

Santa Cruz

So we will be catching up on some old trips, just in case anyone got missed in our email rounds, which we're horribly sorry for.

We got to go to Santa Cruz, California April 4-7. We had a wonderful trip, full of sunshine and college hippies. We stayed with Seth and Teresa (who guide for Cascade also) and they are both going to school at UCSanta Cruz. Their little house holds 5 other people who pay rent, and lots of others (like us) who just show up and rotate the couch. They park their cars on the lawn and get calls from unhappy neighbors concerning the drysuits, surfboards, kayaks and various other gear littering the yard.

While we were there, we rode the nation's 6th oldest roller coaster on the boardwalk, bouldered and top-roped at Castle Rock State Park (in the redwood forest)and surfed at Cowells Cove. The last day, we drove to Monterey and went to the aquarium and bought fresh taffy along Cannery Row (Steinbeck's favorite place, he wrote several books which featured it.)

We had a great time, and have all the pictures posted in our albums for your viewing pleasure.

Holi

Spring is a beautiful season. The days are growing longer and warmer, the trees and plants are blossoming, and thousands of young people are throwing colored powder at each other. Yes spring is the time for Holi, the festival of colors that is celebrated in India or at a Hare Krishna temple in Spanish Fork, UT.

On the 28th of March Rette and I as well as our brother Quinn and Wes set out to join in all the fun. Unfortunately the popularity of this celebration has grown and coupled with the pleasant weather and small traffic capacity of the rural roads we missed out on the good times.

At least we did manage to catch it last year so we can still share some of our photos with you.

Here's Rette in front of the temple it's quite a beautiful building out in the middle of nowhere.

The temple also has a large collection of llamas and some other animals. Normally you would think that this would for the purpose of having a large supply of llama meet, but I don't think that they eat them.

To celebrate you buy your bags of colored chalk and you have to wait till someone lights fire to this effigy of a witch before you start decorating your friends. I'd tell you the signifigance of this but I don't remember it so well and I'd probably tell it wrong, plus I'm feeling lazy and I don't want to look it up. But believe me it has some importance, especially because it starts off the chalk throwing.

Afterwards you end up looking like some of my buddies.

Or like Rette and myself. If there is a Hare Krishna temple near you keep this in mind for next spring, it's a really good time.

Antelopes and Islands

Just off of the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake is a little gem of a state park known as Antelope Island. Even though the lake may not smell great and the island isn't much more than 15 mile long ridge that comes out of the lake I'm always impressed with how pretty the views are from the island.

Rette and I have been out there a couple of times and just recently went for a hike up to the top of the island in preperation for all the walking we'll be doing in South America.

Despite the islands namesake the most notable habitant is the mighty buffalo. There is a herd of about 500 of them kept on the island. They're easier to catch with a camera as they are larger and not as swift as antelope.

Rette and I and our friends Petra and Andy set off on the trail for Frary Peak, the top of the island. On the way up we ecountered a couple of grazing buffalo. Rette had brought her parafoil kite and we decided that this was a great spot for kite flying.

We thought that the location was great and the buffalo were probably enjoying the show because no one had ever flow a kite for them before. A fellow hiker however didn't agree with our location or activity and was very concerned that we would spook the buffalo and cause them to charge us. I tried to be polite to the man but I thought he was being a bit paranoid. We were quite a ways off and wouldn't a spoked buffalo run away from you and not towards you?

Maybe my time in Alaska being around large bears with large teeth and claws made me less worried about large animals with horns. Anayways we continued on to the top stampede free and even made it back down to our car.

Which looked like this. Those are brine flies plastered all over the bumper, the windshield was even worse. They hatch in the spring on the Salt Lake and luckily they hang out down by the water so they didn't bother us on the trail. I'd just think twice about riding a motorcycle or bicycle out to the island while smiling.


I do think that the buffalo and the antelopes appreciated us flying a brightly colored kite over their island. Even if some people thought we were stupid.

Fun on Wheels

Recently some members of the group Breaksk8 came to Salt Lake to do a performance at a skating rink. Rette and I decided that this was a good oppurunity to work on our own skating skills.

As you can see Rette was a little dissapointed because she had to wear the child skates. None of the adult sizes would fit her. I also want to point out that I am wearing the wristband and headband that were chosen for me by my nephew. I think that they make great skating accesories.

My nephew told me that the wrist band serves to protect from injury and enhance skills, and I think that it's true. I managed to impress one of the guys from breaksk8, that's him in the background watching me spin on my hand. Rette on the other hand didn't need a wristband to impress.

I must say that breaksk8 was a lot of fun to watch. The moves that they do are hard enough with the proper footwear, not to mention roller skates. As I found out dancing on roller skates is not as easy as they make it look, even if you know how to dance well.

Everyone had a great time, especially James on the left there.

Green Resolution

For Christmas, Travis got me a book called "Farewell, My Subaru" by Doug Fine, which records his efforts to reduce his carbon footprint. A former journalist, he quits his job and moves to a remote New Mexico ranch and tries to live locally.

This has inspired my new-year's resolution of taking my habits to a darker shade of green. Hopefully, I too will have a few good tips and updates as my efforts unfold month-to-month.

A movement against plastic shopping bags has created a small amount of awareness. However, even in eliminating the mode of transportation for food, we are still faced with a problem. (Even if the horrible feeling of plastic bags digging into your fingers is solved.)

(FACT: Sea turtles are one of many animals who ingest plastic bags thinking they are eating a jelly fish. After the animal dies, the plastic bag will remain even after the body has decomposed.)











A box of cereal will have a cardboard box and a plastic bag to keep things fresh. A bag of Reeces Peanut-butter Cups has the outside plastic bag, a wrapper around each candy, a cardboard platform, and a final piece of waxpaper. Even to make dinner, (let's say fajitas,) there will be a plastic bag from the tortillas, a plastic container from the sour cream, a glass bottle from the salsa, plastic bags that brought home the onion, peppers and tomatoes and a foil wrapper from the seasonings.

In short, we all know that trash adds up fast. And nowhere faster than the kitchen.

So taking the plastic bag effort a little further, I have made smaller bags for bulk foods and produce. On a routine trip to the store today, I bought flour, quinoa, rice, granola and dried chickpeas in bulk. All of which would have come in paper, plastic or tin. I also brought home apples, lettuce, mangos and mushrooms in my new bags as well.

I still brought home a fair amount of packaging that will be thrown away, but hopefully over the course of my new bags, it will add up. I figure today, I eliminated 10 plastic bags, 1 paper bag, 2 cardboard boxes, 1 styrofoam container and at least 12 tin cans. It's a start, anyways.

The bags were very easy to make. My sewing machine is old: it was made somewhere between 1930-1950. Needless to say, its stitching capability is limited to a single, straight forward stitch. I didn't rely on a pattern to cut the fabric, (I chose batiks since the weave is tighter than other types,) and just eyed the size as I cut based on the quantities I normally buy. Using a fold as the bottom, I hemmed the tops of the bags to prevent fraying and then stitched the sides of the bags, being sure to double-stitch the corners for reinforcement. And that's it.

Tip: get your resuable bags as souvenirs from trips, or make them yourself from favorite old tee-shirts. They will remind you of your fun adventures every time you use them.

Hopefully this simple step will cascade into others I can share. But if anyone else hears of daily improvements, please send them my way. They will be greatly appreciated.