peru - cusco

It all started out beautifully.  We purchased tickets from the Cruz del Sur...the "fanciest" buses in Peru for our 15 hour journey from Nazca to Cusco.  In a double decker bus, we were going to be on the first level with about ten other passengers, a bathroom, plus movies and meals included.  Guy and I weren´t able to get seats together, but figured it wasn´t a big deal.  When we boarded our executive accomodations at eight o´clock, I was excited to see how plush everything really was!  I was offered my dinner right away, as the other passengers had already boarded, watching a movie, fully reclined in their leather seats.  As I ate my surprisingly delicious dinner, I thought, this really isn´t going to be bad! 

A few hours passed, and I realized my stomach was starting to churn.  The lights were all out, and I was having a heck of a time getting comfortable and falling asleep.  The journey from Nazca to Cusco is known to be a bit tumultuous, due to the fact that the altitude rises so drastically, not to mention the CONSTANT hair pin turns the bus takes through the mountains.  I realized I was having a harder time breathing, and realized that altitude (and motion) sickness were starting to hit me.  All I thought was...I have 13 more hours of this.  Panic.  As I tried to soothe myself and calm down, I decided I better scope out the bathroom situation, just in case.  By "scoping out," I hadn´t intended on walking in on the man across the aisle from me.  Oops.  Oh well, I´d only have to sit next to him for another 13 hours too.  Sweet humiliation.  When I returned to my seat, the woman across the aisle from me (luckily I had a single seat by myself) was hypervenilating.  I guess altitude sickness was hitting her too! 

As soon as I got comfortable and just started drifting off, I woke up with a start.  I grabbed the door and "ran" (as much as you can on a bus) to the bathroom.  A lot happened in there.  My hands ended up in places I would never have dreamed, (as I am such a germ-a-phobe), but the bus was throwing me in every direction as we scaled the mountainside, I had to keep myself from falling into the toilet or on the floor.  So when I finally retreated back to my seat many minutes later, a line had formed behind me.  I sat in my seat worrying about what I would do if the bathroom was occupied should I need to return.  I frantically pushed the button for the stewardess (or whatever the bus equivalent would be) to come to my rescue, but she never appeared.  Finally, several minutes later, she peeked her head in to attend to the lady next to me and I practically mauled her to get me some mate de coca, or coca tea.  Drinking coca tea or chewing on coca leaves in the local remedy for altitude sickness. 

As I sat in my seat, praying for death, the woman next to me brought my sickness to a whole new level.  She began to get sick.  In her seat.  Next to me.  A lot.  I proceeded to do the only thing I could think of to keep myself from losing it...put on my headphones and shove them into my ears.  There was one music station available on the bus, and it was terrible karaoke equivalent songs being song by a latina woman who thought she should over-pronounce every word.  Not to mention the songs playing were "Rock With You" by Michael Jackson and "Glory of Love" from the Karate Kid movie.  There was no where to escape.  I looked behind me to see what Guy was doing, and there he was, sawing logs, fast asleep.  Of course. 

So there I was, hour after sleepless hour, feeling as if I was on the worst rollercoaster ride of my life, just waiting for it all to end!  When the sun finally appeared, I made another trip to the bathroom, this time getting thrown into the back wall from the force of the bus turning, only to look up and see cows out the window for a brief moment. What a weird night.

When we FINALLY got off, 15 hours later, I felt as though I was still on the bus.  Guy got us on a taxi and to our hostel in no time flat, where I spent the next several hours doing nothing but drinking coca tea and chewing coca leaves and feeling very miserable. 

Fast forwarding a bit, (a few days later) I have, I believe, completely recovered and am quite grateful for that!  Once I finally was able to emerge from our hostel (which I love to death), I was able to walk the city with Guy and see that Cusco is a very charming city, by far the most charming in Peru thus far.  The mountainside views are stunning, the colonial style buildings beautiful, with cobblestone streets and the most impressive Plaza de Armas with incredible views in every direction.  Of course, we have been hounded more than ever in Cusco, with people wanting us to buy their wares, shine our shoes, visit their restaurants, take their tours, and take photos with them.  But these people are just trying to get by and performing their occupations, and its just part of the whole experience that has to be accepted, or you´ll go crazy.  I did succomb to one, however...the native women and children dress in their traditional clothing, often with baby goats and llamas, and offer to take pictures with you (for a price of course).  I couldn´t resist cute children and animals...so here you go!

As much as my experience in Cusco has been a bit tainted by illness, it is a quite stunning city, and the perfect place to get used to the altitude before heading to Machu Picchu!

sandboarding

Heading down the smallest hill

peru - huacachina & nazca

Wednesday morning I woke up feeling terrible.  My body hurt and my stomach was churning.  Our plan was to go to Huacachina first thing and go for a dune buggy ride and sandboarding extravaganza.  I was in no condition to do either item.  After several trips to el baño, I said I wanted to take the one hour bus trip to the desert city and see if I felt better by afternoon.  It was a bit nerve wracking sitting o a bus with no bathroom, but we made it to our destination problem free, while I distracted myself watching an español Steve Carrell in "Bruce Almighty." 

When we arrived in town, we had no specific locale in mind where we would be staying, but our taxi driver recommended a popular hostel.  Upon checking in we realized this was a party hotel which made me nervous considering I wasn´t feeling well at all!  The receptionist showed us to our modest room and shared bathrooms.  She explained that the water wouldn´t be working for a few hours (we also discovered at night there was no light in the bathroom either).  So yes, you guess it, I was running back and forth to a bathroom with no water in it for several hours.  Ahh...this is the life!  It was a miserable day and Guy was going stir crazy.  He ended up walking up a giant dune next to our hostel while I rested.  As nighttime approached I feared for an all night party extravaganza, but luckily the only noise we experienced was music pumping in the distance (which I luckily slept through).  Huacachina is a quite small desert town with one main attraction - sand dunes...for buggy rides and sandboarding.  All of the hostels are said to have ¨dimly lit pools¨which adventure sport seekers sit around all night and party.  I´m guessing that´s more of the summer season experience, which we are obviously not here for.  By late evening I was feeling a bit better so we grabbed a bite to eat and walked around the one lake in the middle of town.  The picture you see here is of our hostel.  The one above is of the whole town.

The next morning I was feeling much better and excited to get to the reason we came to Huacachina.  We started off the morning by going to breakfast at a place called "Bananas", which was a little piece of paradise for me.  We had lots of freshly cut veggies, fruit and juice, rolls with jam and tea.  With hammocks strewn across the yard, places to lounge, mellow Jack Johnson music playing, funny little dogs running around, and the sun shining, it felt like it was going to be a good day.  We hung around the pool before heading out on our desert adventure. 

A throng of people gathered in front of our hostel late afternoon while several dune buggies pulled up to pack us all in.  Eight of us fit into our vehicle, including the driver, and Guy sat in the front with him, while I was in the back with two Australian boys (who, I found out, were also on a year long journey!).  After strapping ourselves in, we zipped off, and I was certain we were in for a wild ride.  If the taxi drivers were any indication of craziness, the dune buggy drivers were in a whole new class of psychotic!  I braced myself with all four limbs as we headed straight to the dunes at a blinding speed.  With all the climbing, twisting and twirling, it felt like we were on a rollercoaster with no tracks.  Of course it was a bit rough and lots of sand flying everywhere (including my mouth), but it was so much fun!

We arrrived at our first stop to take photos, and it was spectacular.  Mountains of dunes, carefully smoothed into beautiful shapes by the desert winds, sometimes punctuated by footprints or carved by previous boarders.  We jumped back into our wild machine for a trip to our second stop where we would try our hand at sand boarding.  There were two methods...strap your feet onto the board, or lay on it and descend face first.  Guy chose the first option and I the second.  It was quite entertaining watching our very international group attempt this task.  Even the Aussie boys who had a lot of snow boarding experience intially struggled because the texture of the sand is so different.  I´m pretty certain it was everyone´s first experience anyways.  It was pretty intimidating on the first run, but was exhilerating and very fun.

We gradually worked up to larger dunes, and then arrived at the final ¨hill¨which as we approached, weren´t able to see...just a few faces looking quite serious and mouthing, "oh no!"  It was very steep and VERY gigantic.  A few brave souls went down after several minutes.  Then Guy started down and I was too afraid to watch.  Of course he made it down fine.  There were five of us standing there debating if we could be brave enough to go face first on such a hill, since no one had yet to try that method.  Several people simply walked down the hill.  Finally a man went down face first, and gave the other 4 of us the courage to go for it.  I was terrified as I laid on my board, unable to see the bottom...the hill looking as if it went back into itself  because it was so steep!  But I took a deep breath and pushed myself off, dragging my feet behind me (the entire time I might add) to slow my racing speed.  Of course I ate some sand and bruised my forearms and hips, but it was quite a thrilling ride!

From there we headed back to our buggy to return to the hostel.  Our driver took us to a spectacular view of the sunset before zipping us back.  If you ever get a chance to go sand boarding, I highly recommend it!  This was definitely my favorite experience so far. 

That evening we headed out to get some dinner and I tried the country´s most famous dish...ceviche.  Ceviche is fresh fish marinated (or ¨cooked¨) in a sauce of lime juice and sliced onions.  It really was quite delicious, but I couldn´t finish it because the serving size was huge, and really, I didn´t want to overdo my raw fish intake!

From Huacachina we took a two hour bus ride to Nazca.  Though we are here for just over a day, we´ve been able to experience some interesting things.  Our hostel is run by a very nice family who made us breakfast, offered us the quietest accomodations we´ve had thus far, and organized a short tour for us today.  Our nice tour guide Adrien (sp?) picked us up to take us to look at the¨"Nazca Lines," ancient geoglyphs created by the Nazca people hundreds of years ago.  Etched into the desert ground, many figures can be found across the land including hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, fish, sharks or orcas, llamas, and lizards...each form created using a single line.  While some people choose to fly over the desert to get the most dramatic view, we chose to go with our guide for the "economical" views, one on a hill and one on a short tower.  It was interesting to see and our guide was full of information, but our view wasn´t terribly impressive.  We then went to a museum made it honor of a German woman who spent many of her years studying and preserving the lines.  On the way back we were stopped in traffic for what seemed like an eternity due to an accident, but couldn´t do much about it considering there is only one main road!  We made it back safely though, and now spending a few hours in an internet cafe before getting onto our Cruz Del Sur bus for a 15 hour ride to Cusco.  Next up...Machu Picchu!

peru - pisco

From Lima we took a 3-4 hour bus ride, which went very smoothly, to Pisco, Peru.  Upon arriving in the musch smaller city, we were surrounded by taxi drivers, one holding the sign reading ¨Guy Still.¨ We were surprised that our hotel apparently set us up, but made our transfer very simple.  Our hotel here is very nice and quite new, due to the recent earthquake in 2007.  Parts of the city are still in shambles, with buildings half standing, never re-built.  The main plaza is where everything to see in the city is, which isn´t much.  But, like in Lima, the city is so charming at night, with families walking the dirt roads and food vendors selling dinner and treats.  Mototaxis fill the streets here, which look like a hybrid between a small car and a motorcycle.  Stray dogs roam around town, and every one I´ve encountered is quite friendly.  As much as I´d like to pet and make friends with one, I of course resist the urge. 

The main reason to visit Pisco (besides contributing our tourist dollars to rebuild the ciy) is to visit the Paracas Reserve and the Ballestas Islands.  We went as part of a tour, including about 20 other "English speakers," though we were the only Americans and it seemed as though others spoke only limited English.  There were several French people in our group, as well as Brazilians, other South Americans and Europeans.  We started off by going to the Ballestas Islands via boat.  About a half an hour offshore, we reached the islands which are also referred to as the ¨Guano Islands¨ (due to the amount of birds leaving behind their droppings) or ¨Poor Man´s Galapogos¨ (since many of the animals that can be viewed there are also here).  The islands were absolutely covered with a mass of birds including pelicans, penguins, tern, boobies and cormorants.  We also saw sea lions and dolphins swimming around our boat.  The waves were really high and rocky, but our driver still got really close to the island so we could have an upclose view.
I felt a bit seasick from the waves, but got over it during the smooth ride back to shore where I fell asleep.

The second part of our tour included a bus ride through the Paracas Reserve, where we got out several times to take pictures of flamingos, the gorgeous ocean and stunning cliff views.  We ended the tour by stopping for lunch where we were bombarded by restauranteurs wanting us to go to their place of business.  We chose the one with the ¨best deal,¨ but were promptly given a much more expensive menu.  Luckily, Guy was able to ask for the bargain menu they offered us originally, and we enjoyed a typical Peruvian with an incredible view of the ocean.  I jumped a mile when a seagull dove down to our table to pick up a leftover chicken bone!  We laughed, as did the French girls next to us, and this concluded our day long tour.  Guy will undoubtedly describe the "financial" aspect of our day, as we noticed we were kind nickel and dimed throughout the day, but considering how cheap this type of day would cost in the U.S., I thought it was well worth it!

Last night we were very American and decided to indulge in a little pizza, which was very cheap and very good.  As we were walking around last night, I decided to try "emoliente," a traditional Peruvian drink sold by many street vendors which is very popular.  Its served hot, and has a thick consistency but tastes like a cross between tea and apple cider.  It was very delicious and is supposed to be full of lots of healing properties.  Too bad we don´t have it in Minnesota!

We´re spending our second day here planning and figuring out what our next move will be, and decided it will be a trip to Huacachina where Guy has indulged my idea of going sandboarding in the desert.  I think it will be an amazing adventure!

peru - lima

Well, the aventure has begun!  Tuesday afternoon when my parents drove ma dn Guy to the airport, my nerves were in full force, and was so hard to think of being away from friends and family for 8 months.  There was little time to dwell on such thoughts though, since we needed to get to our flight.  We set off for Chicago, followed by another short flight to Miami overnight before heading onto the longer 6 hours flight to Lima.  We got onto our first flight at 230 pm and boarded for Lima at 1030pm, so we were both tired and ready to sleep...but unfortunately neither of us got a wink of it.  We groggily exited the plane at 430 am, only to be greeted by a MASS of cab drivers and cab companies offering drive us.  At that moment I suddenly felt as though my skin got whiter, my pack grew to the size of an elephant, and that I had a neon sign over my head flashing "American."  Thanks to Guy´s Spanish speaking skills, we were soon with our cab driver on our way out of the airport and on towards our our hostel in Barranco, a neighborhood in Lima.  I had read that Peruvian taxi drivers were a bit insane in the driving department, and this man did not disappoint!  As we raced down the road, lines were only suggestions, and it was immediately clear that pedestrians do NOT have the right of way! 

We soon arrived at our hostel, which was not labeled as such and simply looked a like a house on a busy street.  There was a gate with an electric fence on top (as is common here) that was locked, and no buzzer to call on.  Luckily our taxi driver was very gracious and called the owner for us, who stumbled out bleary eyed and welcomed us in.  We were eager to get in and sleep, which we were able to do (and I use the word sleep very loosely) for about 6 hours.  While "sleeping" we were introduced to the insane world of honking, which occurs constantly on the streets of Peru.  Tax and bus drivers are especially bad, and honk to alert pedestrains that they are available to give you a lift, or to alert other drivers they want you to move, or...really for no apparent reason at all.  Since we didn't realize we had an open window that morning, we were constantly being woken up to these blasts.  In the short times I did sleep, I had some seriously insane dreams that included lots of Spanish, my sister living in the hostel with me and Guy, as well as the most horrifying part - my feet growing huge black fungus on them as well as...TEETH.  I hope it wasn't a premonition, and perhaps just a warning on foot hygiene in the coming days. 

Anyways, our hostel is clean and comfortable, with a common room with one computer, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and a kitchen.  Its located on a busy street with lots of places to eat and little convenience shops.  When we woke up from our restless naps, we decided to head out and take a look at our neighborhood, and get something to eat.  We walked towards the ocean a few blocks away to take a peak at the view before heading back to a place down the street for some sout and a chicken and rice dish.  We struggled to figure out the menu, but the food was delicious and we were starving.  I knew before we came to South America that my Spanish is almost non-existent, but realized how incredibly non-existent it really is!  I think my biggest road block with myself on this trip is going to be patience with myself on learning a new language.  I am on one hand so grateful that Guy can communicate for both of us, but also feel a bit helpless at the present time.  Its hard for me to have to completely depend on someone else, and I'm used to being independent and so bent on taking care of myself.  I guess this a good time to both let go of that a little and also to learn some Spanish.  :)

That afternoon we also headed to the charming neighborhood of Miraflores where we visited Parque Kennedy, or as I dubbed it "cat park" where several stray cats seemed to make their home.  Here we saw some people selling their crafts, as well as ate some very interesting dessert type item a bit like rice pudding with a thick red fruity sauce.  It was nice and warm and we a bit chilly.  The weather here is perfect for me right now since its winter here, reaching lows of 55 degrees and the days feel like nice Minnesota fall days.  That night we headed out once more to a restaurant called Tio Mario, where our hostel owner suggested we go for some authetic Peruvian food.  We had skewered meat, potatoes and some of the most giant corn kernels I've ever witnessed on a cob.  They were seriously the size of a thumb nail.  As we sauntered back to our hostel, we saw that the streets come to life a second time.  Street vendors come out with snacks, desserts, cocktails, hot drinks and wares to sell.  After a full day we were ready to hit the hay, this time for some actual sleep, which we were successful at doing this round.

Thursday we headed to central Lima to check out the sights.  After Guy got brave and hailed a tax (this driver crazier than the first), we strolled through Plaza Mayor and Plaza San Martin, both beautiful parks surrounded by beautiful buildings.  We also went to San Francisco Church, where we got a tour of the building and catacombs.  Our guide gave us a tour in English (it was his first tour!) and while his accent was thick, he did a great job and it was very interesting...beautiful artwork and lots of...bones in the catacombs.  A bit creepy but cool. 

One hilarious event that occurred was while we were standing in front of the Palacio del Gobierno (the Presidential Palace) waiting for the changing of the guards.  Several school groups were gathered waiting to watch as well as other locals and some tourists.  A few children were particularly interested in us and asked if we were Americans.  They brought more friends daring them to ask us different things and smiling shyly.  Before we knew it, a woman was taking our picture with several children posed beside us.  As I was taking pictures of the guards, I turned around to see Guy signing "autographs" for the children, which became more children, and then gobs of kids.  He joked that with his blond hair he must be "muy exotico" which made me laugh all day.  Pretty shortly after, the kids came after me.  I felt pretty obnoxious as the crowd looked at our new papazzi, but the children seemed so excited how could you say no?  I asked Guy if he was tired already from his paparazzi following him.  Its so hard being famous. 

We got more adventurous and ventured through the bus system, which is way nicer than Minneapolis, and went out for pizza at Tio Dans where we had our first sips of Inca Cola, a yellowish pop that is THE thing to drink here and tastes exactly like bubblegum.  We then went down the street to the bakery we had gotten some delicious pastries from that morning, to drool over their huge dessert counter.  We split some lemon meringue pie (with 5 inches of meringue) and a cream filled donut.  When we returned to our hostel, we were greeted by one of the other guests, "Nacho" (as he likes to be called) from Argentina, and his friend Rudy from Peru, and asked to join them for drinks.  We obliged.  We had a lot of fun hanging out with them and found out Nacho loves American heavy metal and grunge music from the 90s and is a lawyer, and Rudy an economist who is half French and lived in France for 10 years.  We were later joined by another girl who stays at the hostel from California who teaches English locally.  We had a great time chatting in English and talking about everything from music to politics. 

Friday we had a bit of a lazy day, which started with yummy empanadas for lunch, and then we decided to purchase bus tickets to our next destination, Pisco.  We then headed to Modern Art Museum which turned out to be a bit disturbing.  Very weird art, most of which was from an American (U.S.) man, and very little from Peru itself.  I kind of feel like it was more fuel for nightmares and weird dreams than anything!  Oh well, they can't all be winners.  We were back in central Lima, where we went to try to find the Sports Bar of Guy's co-worker's-wife's-father (whew), which we did.  That was enough for one day, so we headed back early and decided to get some more sleep.

That brings us to today...where we headed out to the National Museum.  MUCH better than the prior days museum.  Lots of Indigenous art, including mostly paintings and pots.  We also saw a photo exhibit on a large internal conflict that occurred in Peru between 1980-2000, killing nearly 70,000 people.  I was oblivious about this piece of history, and was very sobering to look through and see what occurred in the country's recent history. 

Believe it or not, from there, we unfortunately went to McDonalds.  I was horrified to go there, but we were both starving, on a busy street, and saw nothing other than Burger King or KFC for blocks.  So I ordered my McPollo and dealt with it.  It tasted exactly like McDonalds.

Our final visit was to Huaca Pucllana, and ancient archeological sight containing a large pyramid-like structure as well as a plaza that was important ceremonial place for the people of Lima.  It was very interesting, and made me more excited for our upcoming excursion to Macchu Picchu.

We are currently at an internet cafe down the street from our hostel in Barranco.  We are just finishing up and heading out to dinner shortly.  I think that Lima was a great South American city to get out adventure started.  While the smell of exhaust and cologne fill the air, overcast skies a bit dreary, noisy honking horns give me a headache and I have to pray for my life everytime I leave the curb to cross the street (so a car doesn't run me over)...wait, where was I going with this?  The people of Lima have been very kind to us gringos, and the wonderful food, beautiful parks and buildings, interesting sites and charming nightlife make Lima a great place to visit.

I'm sorry if this blog has been lengthly, rambling, or just not grammatically correct.  I feel like its been a race to get it done via internet-cafe, and certainly not my best work.  If you've made it this far, thanks for reading!

the re-launch

Can I be honest for a minute?  I feel kind of bad about my blog sometimes.  At times, when I go back and read what I've written I feel like it comes off as "ooo, look at everything we've done, aren't we privileged?!"  Of course that isn't my intent, but that's what I fear is being presented sometimes.  I feel so fortunate to be able to be doing this traveling, and know that its something not everyone is able to do due to finances, family, or other factors. 

The other reason its hard for me to write is because I am by nature a more private person.  Even though my entries are mostly a record of our trip, its a little bit of a stretch for me to have my life, decisions, and relationship out on the table for all (even if its a handful of people reading this!) to see.  Its hard to know how personal to get on a blog.  Of course there are times I feel like my blog entries are too IM-personal, and other times I'd like to go on a rant about something regarding me and Guy and our relationship, but I think there are certain boundaries that just shouldn't be crossed, and certain things should remain private.  This trip has certainly solicited more opinions and comments on my life than I have ever experienced before, and that's hard for me too.  Everything from "What an amazing opportunity!" to "I can't believe you would do this!" to the bold - "How can you afford to do that?"  But, I ultimately know that I have to make decisions for me, and I'm the one who has to live with them. 

So, I don't mean to sound crabby in this blog, I just needed a moment to express those feelings.  :)  I do enjoy the fact that I have a written record of all of our travels, and am amazed that people want to read it!  I'm not sure how frequent our internet access will be as we head overseas, but plan to keep writing when I can.

I was amazed when I reviewed my photos from our U.S. "tour" the other night for the first time and was overwhelmed by the amount of stuff we saw in a relatively short time frame.  Living out of a van for 3-1/2 months was definitely a crash course for our relationship, and there were plenty of ups and downs.  Overall, I feel like the trip was a success, and don't regret going one bit.  As many know, we came back home uncertain of the future, but have decided to continue on with our international "portion" as planned, and hopefully have learned some lessons on traveling together!

We have both spent the past few weeks trying to figure out how to pack for 8 months - including gear for every climate - while keeping it light enough to carry (as well as a carry-on).  I've spent many hours just staring at all of my stuff, wondering how many pairs of underwear I'll really need, what toiletries are absolutely essential, and that the definition of cosmetics now means a tube of chapstick.  My pack weighs 25 pounds, which doesn't sound like much, but may feel heavier when trekking through a jungle!  The item I am mourning over that I won't be bringing is my beloved camera, which I have decided to leave at home, due to its size and weight.  Guy and I are going to practice our sharing skills and both use his camera.  Since we both love taking pictures, this could prove to be interesting...  ;-)

This week has been interesting, since I have gone from feeling complete peace about leaving to now...feeling a bit frantic and unprepared!  But as I learned from our first round of travels, there's no way to fully prepare, and its best just to dive in.  Its been wonderful catching up with friends in this short interlude, but there are certainly people I wish I could've seen that I didn't get a chance to connect with before heading out. In just over 24 hours we will be heading out and traveling oversees for the next 8 months.  Where will we be traveling, you ask?  Well, here's our itinerary:

August 17th                Departing for Lima, Peru, where we will spend a month traveling the country.
Mid-Sept - Mid-Oct  Bolivia
Mid-Oct - Mid-Nov  Agentina
November 10th          Depart for Johannesburg, South Africa
November 17th          Depart for Capetown, South Africa
Nov 17 - Feb 2         Travel overland from South Africa to Nairobi, Kenya
February 2nd             Depart for Cairo, Egypt
February 7th              Depart for Athens, Greece
February 16th            Depart for Istanbul, Turkey
Mid-Feb - Apr 10     Travel overland through Eastern Europe
April 10th                  Depart for London, UK
April 14th                  Depart for...home

the rundown (usa)

Total miles driven: 19,000

Number of states we were in: If I counted correctly, 30 + Canada

Where we slept: Neighborhood streets, campsites, RV parks, relatives and friends, strangers' homes (couchsurfing), motels, rest stops, national forests, Walmart parking lots

Most days without a shower: Three

Top ten favorite cities we visited (in no particular order): St. Louis, Albuquerque, San Diego, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Memphis, Savannah, Washington D.C., Philadelphia

Least favorite cities: Tulsa, Oklahoma; Pierre SD; Niagara, NY

Most valuable travel item: Dr. Bronner’s soap: dish soap, laundry detergent and bath soap in one! Biodegradable, fair trade, all natural, smells good, works great.

Most amusing travel item: Camp showers. Always produced laughter, and was pretty effective!

Favorite moment: Michael Franti concert in Louisville followed by fireworks 4th of July with Guy & Barbie

Most miserable moment: Experiencing heat exhaustion through a terrible sunburn coupled with heat indexes of 107 and sleeping in a tent

Top 5 meals:
1. Mrs. Wilkes, soul food extravaganza - Savannah, GA
2. Frontier, huevos rancheros - Albuquerque, NM
3. Interstate BBQ, BBQ platter for 2 - Memphis, TN
4. Los Sombreros, chicken mole - Phoenix, AZ
5. The Shack, $2 fish tacos - San Diego, CA

Worst meal: KFC, Guy had the “ Double down” sandwich, two chicken patties (acting as the bread) sandwiching bacon and cheese. I gagged as I watched him eat it.

Best dessert:
1. Little Dipper, coffee-chip chocolate dipped ice cream - Missoula, MN
2. Interstate BBQ, sweet potato pie - Memphis, TN
3. Crumbs Cupcakes, Los Angeles, CA
4. Fourway, lemon meringue pie - Memphis, TN
5. Rita’s, pineapple gelati - Philadelphia, PA

Nicest accomodations handed to us on a silver platter: David & Larry’s house in Palm Springs, Traveller’s Rest cabin in Darby, MT

Worst accomodations: Swiss Cottage Inn - Niagara, NY. Gross. I considered sleeping in the van.

Biggest “oops” moment: Realizing I left my driver’s license and check card at home several days into the trip!

Most ferocious animal encounter: Attack goose guarding the men’s bathroom in Carthage, MO. Or maybe the alligator in Charleston that jumped out of the water several feet…from my feet.

Most talented animals: Peabody Ducks, Memphis

Scariest bathroom experience: Walnut Creek Park, Oklahoma - dive bombed by a plethora of gigantic bugs while attempting to bathe under a trickle of water

Most surprising thing I learned about my travel partner: He’s very meticulous and well…he’s type A.

Most appreciated traits discovered about my travel partner: He’s well-planned, thrifty and clean!

Biggest relationship saver: Season 5 of The Office

Creepiest line: When an old Texan man told Guy he “had a pretty daughter.”

Favorite Route 66 roadside attraction: Cadillac Ranch

Kindest stranger: Bob, our couchsurfing host in Albuquerque - who gave us a copy of his house key before we even met him!

Most memorable stranger: The Cat Whisperer in Seattle

Solemn moments: Oklahoma City National Memorial, Big Hole National Monument, Unity Church in Bozeman, the site of MLK Jr's assasination at the Lorraine Hotel

National Parks and Natural Wonders we visited: Petroglyphs National Park, Petrified Forest National Park, Grand Canyon, Sabino Canyon, Joshua Tree National Park, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Redwood National Forest, Mt. St. Helens, Devil’s Tower, Black Hills National Forest, Wind Cave National Park, Badlands, Niagara Falls, Mammoth Cave

Favorite: Grand Canyon

Favorite stretch of drive: Pacific Coast Highway

Fun places we went: Desert Musuem, San Diego Zoo, Gateway Arch, taping of The Tonight Show, Hollywood, Rodeo Drive, Santa Monica Pier, Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf & Golden Gate Park in San Fran, Pike Place Mark in Seattle, Bozeman Hot Springs, Deadwood, Mount Rushmore, Wall Drug, Beale Street, Sun Studio Memphis, Tybee Island, Magnolia Plantation, Maker’s Mark Distillery, Utz Chip Factory

Most interesting historic sites: Civil Rights Museum (Memphis) Selma to Montgomery March Route, Fort Pulaski, Library of Congress, U.S. Capitol, Supreme Court, Smithsonian Museums, DC Monuments & Memorials, Gettysburg Visitor Center & Park, Independence Hall/Philadelphia Historic District

Problems with the van: Leaky windshield, one flat tire, dented by a pole one day before leaving, stench inducing water spill

Star Sightings: Julia Louis Dreyfus, Eric McCormack, Larry David, Jason Alexander

Best beach: East beach, Santa Barbara, CA

Best rest stops: Texas. Free wi-fi, granite countertops, automatic sinks & flushing toilets

Worst rest stops: Washington. Dirty, basic. Depressingly full of homeless folks

Most physically challenging moment: Mountain biking with my aunt and uncle in Montana

Most unexpected moment: Throwing maggoty deer hides into the river on Standing Rock Reservation

Biggest learning opportunity/most humbling experience: The Natural Law Instutite, SD

Biggest life lesson learned: Finally feel like I know how to live day by day, and be in the moment

pennsylvania

Pennsylvania happened in two parts.

The first - Gettysburg. We went to Gettysburg after leaving Kentucky but before Washington D.C. We decided to stay at a KOA right in Gettysburg, and the campground to me had a bit of a 1960’s family summer vacation vibe to it that I really liked. They had movie nights and lawn games and a swimming pool, and the place was pretty filled up. Since the anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg happened a few days prior (along with July 4th), it was still bustling.

After settling into our campground, we headed to the visitor center the next day for a day filled with all things Gettysburg. First we headed to the National Cemetary for a brief and somewhat gruesome tour. Here we learned about the disgusting truth of what happened to those who died in the battle, of which I will not go into detail here. We saw the scores of unnamed soldiers/unmarked graves and discovered the approximate site of Lincoln’s famous speech, the Gettysburg Address. The Gettysburg visitor center was very impressive, and I think probably the most state of the art of all of the National Park centers we encountered. The first thing we did was watch an excellent short film done by the History Channel, narrated by Morgan Freeman. From there we viewed the Gettysburg Cyclorama, a 360 degree painting from the late 19th century of the battle scene, enhanced with three-dimensional scenery, lights and narration.  http://www.nps.gov/gett/historyculture/gettysburg-cyclorama.htm

From there we went to the museum portion of the building, which houses an amazing collection of uniforms, artillery, artifacts and tools from the battle. Seeing the Civil War presented in this real life manner definitely made it feel relevant and interesting to me. We had planned on taking a two hour walk through one of the battlefields, but when we realized we had only seen a ¼ of the museum by the time we needed to leave, we decided to stay and finish looking.

The next day we decided to take a self-guided driving tour through the battlefields, which given the heat we were experiencing, was probably good. It was amazing to see the amount of monuments throughout our tour. At first they seemed quite impressive and majestic. Then we took note of how many there were. Then we got kind of cynical about them and almost found them humorous because it was kind of overkill.

Maybe we had just too much war, and needed something a little lighter, but Guy then took us to the Utz Chip Factory, for a self-guided tour ending with a free sample of their potato chips. After tasting how delicious they are, we of course had to head to their store to get a handful of their 30 cent sample bags. Honey BBQ is definitely my favorite.

Part two of Pennsylvania…Philadelphia. This was our final stop after Washington D.C. before coming back home to Minnesota. Highlights of Philly include: a visit to the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall (where both the Constitution and Declaration of Independence were signed), Rittenhouse Square Park, walking down South Street, cheesesteaks, pineapple gelati at Rita‘s, and driving through one of my best friends old Philly neighborhood.

washington dc

I think its safe to say that it was a bit overwhelming the amount of sightseeing we did in D.C.! The sheer volume of walking we did was not matched in any other place we visited in the U.S. We were very lucky to have stayed with Guy’s Peace Corp friend, Lindsey, and her boyfriend Will during our stay in D.C. They helped us navigate public transportation, made us delicious meals (Lindsey even packed us lunch!), and were overall very wonderful hosts.

The first day in the city we hit the Library of Congress, the Capitol and the Supreme Court. The sheer size of the buildings in D.C. is quite impressive, and the architecture of these buildings was quite stunning. I was pretty frustrated during our tour of the Library since I have trouble hearing and missed most of what was said. Despite that, the incredible artistic design kept me plenty occupied as I snapped dozens of photos of the beautiful interior. The U.S. Capitol was next on our list, and was as busy as I’m sure it ever is. We were one of many tour groups going through the building for a quite brief, but interesting look at (part of) the structure. I was relieved as we were all handed headsets so we’d be able to hear our guide loud and clear! At this point we raced over to the Supreme Court, so we’d be able to take a quick look through it before it closed for the day. Having never been to D.C., I was quite awestruck standing if front of these buildings, and thinking about the historical and present day significance these places hold for not only Americans, but people all around the world!

The next day in D.C. was devoted solely to the Smithsonian Museums. One could certainly spend an entire day (or couple of days) in any one museum. We decided since we might want to see different places at different paces, we should split up for the afternoon. With about 3-½ hours, I knew I wanted to look at 3 museums, and gave myself an hour at each (they‘re all free, after all!). I raced over to the Air and Space Museum first, to see things such as the Wright Brothers plane, Neil Armstrong’s space suit, and the hilarious flight attendant uniforms worn in the 60’s. From there, I headed to the Natural History Museum. On the way over, I walked through the Sculpture Garden, which was very nice, but made me realize the one we have in Minnesota is pretty nice too!

In the Natural History Museum I got to get a close up look at the hope diamond (amongst many other amazing jewels), an extensive collection of dinosaur bones, and real “stuffed animals” that actually didn’t creep me out! At this point I was actually right on my self-imposed schedule, and (amazingly) saw the majority of each museum. I’m sure I looked like a crazy-woman running through each building, but having only myself (vs. another person with me or a stroller) made it easier to go on the fly!

The final museum was probably my favorite: American History. Dorothy’s ruby slippers, Abraham Lincoln’s hat and all of the first lady’s dresses can be found in this museum. I definitely could’ve spent more time here (well, all of them really), and may have “accidentally” cut in line to catch a glimpse of the ruby slippers and Fonzie’s jacket, but I looked really quickly and got out as fast as I could…



When Guy and I met up to compare notes, we both went to the Natural and American History Museums, and Guy also went to African Art, which he liked quite a bit. We were definitely both exhausted, and ready to relax a bit! The night before we had met up with a few other Peace Corps friends, and met up again with them for dinner. We went to Ray’s Hell Burger, where Obama recently dined. The burgers were huge, but really scrumptious, and we walked to a gelato place where we squeezed in a bite of dessert.

Our final day in D.C. we spent traipsing across the Mall looking at all of the Monuments: Washington (only from the outside, we learned you have to reserve tickets months in advance ), Lincoln, WWII, Korean, Vietnam and a few smaller ones along the path. We finished the day at the White House (again, just outside), where we sat on a bench in the park across the street and just relaxed for awhile. There were a few protestors that threatened to ruin my experience, but Guy let me rant and rave for a bit to help me feel better about the weirdos out there. The police must be annoyed, amused or callous on a daily basis by the circus of freaks that pass by…

The magnanimous scale of D.C. was certainly a lot of absorb in a few days (but isn’t the whole trip?). The best thing about D.C…so much is free!

kentucky

When we left Charleston and headed towards Kentucky, we experienced a bit of a reprieve from the oppressive heat! I was so excited to be able to make a stop on our way through Kentucky to meet up with one of my good friends from high school, Laura. Laura recently had a baby boy, so it was fun to be able to meet the third addition to the family, as well as see how much her other two have grown! It was so wonderful catching up and just hanging out with her family.

The next day we continued towards Bardstown, Kentucky, where Guy’s niece Barbie lives with her sister and her sister’s family. Before meeting up with Barbie, we decided to embark on a tour of a local bourbon distillery (since this is the bourbon capital of the world) at Maker’s Mark. It was a charming place, and we learned all about the process of turning grains into bourbon. We were a bit surprised when we were standing in front of the giant tubs of “mash” and the tour guide told us to stick our fingers into it to get a beer-esque flavor sample. It all seemed so unsanitary until we realized that the mixture would be heated to very high temperatures after our “infestation.” At the end of the tour we got to sample the classic bourbon, mint julep and some delicious bourbon chocolates.

From there we met up with Barbie, who gave us a tour around the town, including her church where she would be teaching VBS that night. She also scored us some free tickets for a musical playing that evening held at the amphitheater in My Old Kentucky Home State Park. It was a beautiful evening, and great watching the show under the stars. The topic was a bit odd for a musical; “Floyd Collins” is a true story about a local spelunker who got trapped in a cave and eventually died while the community attempted to rescue him. Despite the non-traditional theme, the production was very well done - apparently college students from around the country come to perform at this venue, and they were all quite talented.

Friday we did some exploring of the city of Bardstown, including Old Bardstown Village, the Civil War Museum, and the War Memorial Museum. We were quite impressed with the amount of historical information and artifacts at these places, especially considering the size of Bardstown. After a sobering afternoon looking at all things war-related, we went out to eat at a fabulous Mexican restaurant with the rest of the fam.

Saturday we took a short drive to Mammoth Cave, the longest known cave in the world. We were lucky to get tickets for a tour, since the place was PACKED and we snatched up the last three tickets for the final tour of the day. We were all looking forward to the cool relief of the cave due to the steamy weather that day. When it was finally time to take the tour, the ranger proceeded to scare me half to death through all of his “warnings.” I think it’s the closest I‘ve been to having a panic attack in years. He began by telling us how long it would take for someone to reach us if we got injured in the cave since we were in the middle of nowhere. Then he asked us to consider if we were claustrophic, which I’m not, but as he continued to describe the cave I began to feel that I was. That, coupled with the fact that the tour had been oversold by dozens more people than normal made me feel like the walls were closing in. “Fat man’s misery” he bellowed “is a passage that is only 18” wide and goes on several hundred feet.” “Directly following that is tall man‘s misery which is 3 ft high.“ As he was describing all of this I had flashbacks to the Floyd Collins performance from the night before and saw my life pass before my eyes. Had Guy not purchased us all tickets and were we not at the entrance of the cave, I’m not convinced I would’ve gone through the cave experience. Once we walked into the cave, though, I actually started to calm down. It was a very fascinating experience, and most of the cave “rooms” were quite large. Even the “miseries” were not as bad as the ranger described at all (his rather portly size should have cued me in that I would be able to navigate them just fine). The tour lasted a few hours and Barbie suggested having dinner at a very popular American establishment that I had never experienced: Sonic. My experience = yum.

Sunday was the 4th of July, and we had a day packed full of activity. We started out the day at church, full of patriotism and politics (the “other side”), but had fun watching Barbie play the drums in their band. From there, we went back to Barbie’s home where her sister Arneida and Arneida’s husband prepared a delicious BBQ for us to stuff our faces with. Later, Arneida, her daughter Rachel, Barbie and I went for a girls only trip to watch the latest “Twilight” movie, of which we thoroughly dissected afterwards. Barbie, Guy and I then headed to Waterfront Park in Louisville to spend an evening full of music. The three of us had a blast watching Arrested Development and Michael Franti take the stage followed by an incredible fireworks display. Michael Franti shared a really positive message, got the crowd involved and had everybody dancing. He even invited tons of kids to come dance on stage just as the fireworks started. The evening was definitely my favorite part of our trip…very memorable and meaningful to me.

It was hard to the leave the next day, and was an emotional goodbye. We made lots of wonderful memories in Kentucky, though, with an exceptional young lady.