El camino inka a Macchu Picchu

On Thursday, Kari and I started on a 4-day trek to Macchu Picchu. The trek started at about 10,000 feet. The altitude was no problem, since we had been staying at over 11,000 feet in Cusco for several days. The second day was especially gruelling. We climbed 2 passes, including the one below, at 13,828 feet. The views were incredible. Note the hat and gloves. Hmmm... summer in North America means winter in the Andes.We went 45 km, over 3 passes, ultimately ending in Macchu Picchu. The trail was built by Incas several hundred years ago to thwart gringos like us from enterring their sacred area. Our trekking group consisted of Kari and me, two women from Belgium, and a newlywed couple from Ireland. We were a fast, fit, group, and got to Macchu Picchu in 3 days instead of the targeted 4... giving us a 4th day to go back through Macchu Picchu at a more leisurely pace.

The view above is from the Sun Gate descending into Macchu Picchu on day 3. Note the shorts here. We started in a cold desert-like mountain environment, and ended in relatively warm jungle mountains.

We have hundreds more pictures. We will post more of the trek when we get to the land of faster internet connections.

Love,

Ryan and Kari

In Peru

We are in Peru. Our flight was very smooth and shorter than most international flights. We were greeted at the airport and went to the home of Celso and Vera. They were very welcoming. On Saturday afternoon, Luz took us for a tour around Lima. The taxis are definitely the most exciting part of Lima. We'll have to get a video and send it along. We were there for Sunday morning meeting--about 40 people. On Sunday, we went to the afternoon meeting at the home of Jose and Griselda. Afternoon meeting starts at 1pm, so was a mad dash to eat lunch, pack and get across town for the next meeting.
Lima was cloudy and COLD the whole time we were there.
Monday we arrived in Cusco, greeted at the airport by Alfonso and Pedro and the sun. Beautiful warm sun. We could finally take off some of our long underwear. They toured us around the city yesterday. Today we took a tour of the Sacred Valley. Lots of ruins and many answers of "No, gracias" to all the requests to buy any number of trinkets.
Lunch was interesting today. Trying to find a restaurant suggested in the guidebook, I was overconfident of the wrong address and ended up in a very small, interesting restaurant. We might pay for that mistake for the next few days, and we missed playing ping pong while waiting for our food (as we re-read the information about the first restuarnat in the guidebook :-( while eating at our dubious eatery).
We have learned thus far:
1. taxi drivers are crazy
2. a honk means move or get your feet/body run over
3. our hotel is nice, but could benefit from a heater
4. the altitude in cusco is 12,000 ft. and the air is a little thin. it is beautiful during the day and a WEE bit cold during the nights. (see no. 3).
5. we look way out of place and will be approached by each vendor on the street.
6. the welcome from the friends is overwhelming.

(Sorry, no pictures yet.)

Much Ado About Beans

On Tuesday, I threw some beans on the stove while I was running off to work, leaving a cute sign for Ryan to turn them off when he left for work. He worked from home, and forgot until he started sniffing a strange smell in the air. Burned, charred beans. He said he went downstairs and found it smoky.
Now, we are trying to get the smell out. It smells to me like we have come off of a smoking binge. We have ionizers going, baking soda and vinegar out...hoping all traces go away soon.
(Ryan did point out we could also have cool volcanos all over our house with the baking soda and vinegar!)
Any hints?

Garden News

My corn really is high as an elephant's eye.

And I decided to do something about part of our weed patch in the front beds. I was drawn into a local nursery and loved all the bright colors. I'm crossing my fingers these are all clay-loving plants.

I Made It...

Greetings from Silverton, Colorado!

Memorial day weekend we were out to Durango

for a little bike race for Ryan. Alyssa and I made it past the

cutoff and over the mountain with the kiddos in the back

showing a little brotherly love.

He did the Durango-Silverton Iron Horse citizens race

(timed only by the individual bikers) in 4 hours and 29 minutes.

Excellent for this flatlander. :-)

He was glad to bike with Ron and glad he made it over the mountain!

We watched Barry in a criterion in downtown Durango on Sunday. These guys are flying.

You can see Barry on the front row at the starting line in a blue jersey.

Someone said this looks like Ryan and me. She looks interested in the criterion.

Sunday night we went out to the Bar-D for the dinner and music. Brae loved the train.

Happy Dance

One more school year is over. I can't believe how fast it has gone. Seems like it shouldn't be summer, yet.
Ryan bikes on Saturday. He's looking forward to it. Says he'll finish in one hour since that's how long each training session has been. We'll post pics of him crossing the finish line.
Summer previews: Peru and the new Harry Potter...
What are your summer plans?

Countdown

I have only 10 more days of work in this school year and only 9 more days when the kids are there. This is my usual yearly countdown.
What do you countdown to?