We had our ward Christmas party last week and I have to say it was one of the best I have every been to. First of all they had everyone dress-up, which is a little unnerving because I never know if anyone is going to dress up or not. But most of the people dress up, there were even a couple of people in tuxs and formals. The food was really good, the decorations were some of the best I have seen and they had dancing and singing after the dinner. The kids all had a great time, especially Tenny. All the girls were flocking to him and asking him to dance. He really was the life of the party. They did square dancing and waltzes, line dancing and of course the chicken dance. Then Santa came and all the kids got to sit on his lap and he gave them a bag of candy.
Our house here in San Angelo has two large pecan trees out in front. Ever since we moved here the kids have been going out in the yard, picking up the pecans and throwing them at each other.
A couple of days ago I told them to pick up all the pecans so they would not break the lawn mower. Once they were all picked up I saw they had a huge heavy bag of pecans gathered up. I called a pecan plant here in town and asked them if they bought pecans. They said they did, so the kids took all of their pecans in and sold 14lbs for $9. It wasn't bad for about 20 minutes worth of work.
Now they are determined to get all of the pecans out of the trees and sell them all. The already have plans for what they will do with the money they make. Just like Hobbes (the tiger not the philosopher) said, "There are treasures everywhere."
If you look on a map for San Angelo you will probably have to look a couple of times because it is not easy to find. Their claim to fame is the fort used as an outpost for the buffalo soldiers in the 1860s and 1870s. Besides that there is not a lot going on out here and not for several miles around.
That being said I actually think the city is quite nice. The town is a good size, around 100,000 people. It is humid but not anymore than most U.S. cities, it is certainly not Houston or Alabama humid. There is a really great river walk and probably the best park I have ever seen (better that the huge one at Wright Patt). We found a house we are going to move into in a couple of weeks, there were very few to choose from.
The house is about 2 miles from Lake Nasworthy, which we have already been to about a half dozen times. It is such a fun little lake. The best part is that the AF rents boats on the lake and they are so inexpensive. They are brand new '07 Bayliners for $10/hr + gas. I am going to sound like Dad here but it almost senseless to buy a boat especially when they are that cheap. We went out last Saturday for almost 3 hrs and it cost us $35 total. If we did that 8 times during the month, which we might since it is so close, it would only be $280. We don't have to pay for maintenance, the boat slip or winterizing or anything. Tally absolutely loved tubbin, he went so much on Saturday that Sun morn he thought his arm was going to fall off it hurt so bad.
Also, thanks to everyone who called Truman on his birthday. It was a very unusual birthday as we were in the hotel. The hotel we were was quite nice and it had a large breakfast area. We went out the night before and decorated it all up so when he came out to breakfast everybody could see it was his birthday. We went to Chili's that night for dinner and he got to have his own kids meal instead of sharing with the other kids. That night we went to see Ratatouille and everybody enjoyed that again.
Wow, what a great adventure! Just some quick thoughts about China in general.
I thought it would feel a lot more crowded. Besides the freeways and subways at rush-hour, I never felt over crowded. Even the sites like the Great Wall and Forbidden City were very manageable.
Things in Beijing were very modern. Xi'an looked a little more primitive but only slightly. There wasn't any thing that we wanted in Beijing that we couldn't find.
The pollution in Beijing is horrible. Some days the visibility was less than a mile in the city because of the smog. This is really too bad because it is a very aesthetically pleasing city with the mix of old and new Chinese art and architecture.
When things are so inexpensive it is hard to control you spending. It seems like you are spending very little but it all adds up eventually.
Comments on the last trip were less yak-yak and more pictures so here we go.
Day 1: 26 hours, 4 movies, 3 dinners and 9440 miles
Day 2: Ti'an Anmen Square & The Forbidden City & several people taking pictures of our kids
...so in a real effort for speed and efficiency (for me and for you), I will just post a couple of more things below and if there are in questions you can put them in the comments and I will update the post. First is the list of our favorite things on the trip. Finally, if a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is 164 in video format worth. I don't know but it must be a lot.
1.Truman 2.Tally 3. Chlöe 4.Mom 5.Dad Favorite China experience 1.Train 2.speaking Chinese 3.motorcycle taxi 4.Peking Acrobats 5.Massage Favorite Dinner 1.BYU teachers Dinner 2.same 3.same 4.same 5.same Favorite restaurant 1.Annie's 2.Annie's 3.Annie's 4.Din Tia Fung 5.Din Tia Fung Favorite treat 1.Steamed bean dumpling 2.same 3.same 4.Steamed sponge cake 5. egg pancake Most Beautiful thing in China 1. Flowers 2. Summer Palace 3. Lama Temple 4. Longqing Gorge 5. Longqing Gorge Disappointment 1.walking 2. People smoking 3. nothing 4. pollution 5. Tian Anmen Square Unexpected fun thing 1.Happy Valley 2. Train ride 3. Roller Coaster 4. Temple of Heaven 5. Lama Temple Buddha Favorite mode of trans 1.Electric boat 2. 1st Class train 3. motorcycle taxi 4. Coleman's car 5. 1st Class train Best purchase 1.splat egg 2. Kite 3. Ming Ming 4. present 5. present Coolest thing 1.Cave of Wonders 2. Watching Bungee Jumper 3. Terracotta Warriors 4. Orphanage 5. Longqing Gorge Favorite Ride at Hap Val 1.Banana boat ride 2. Train Roller Coaster 3. Flying Roller Coaster 4. Boinging car 5. Apollo's wheel Favorite person met in Beijing 1.Andrew 2. Melanie 3. Ying Nan 4. Ying Nan/baby in orphanage 5. Elder Shipley Funniest thing 1.The Karate show 2. Tally impersonating Mom 3. Truman in Pinocchio 4. Elder Shipley's tooth 5. Tally impersonating Mom
We decided to do things a little bit different this year for a couple of reasons. First, because it was the tenth anniversary of being away from Dayner. Second, I wanted to do something the kids would remember. Rose and I kind of came of with the idea at the same time together, which to me always means it is probably meant to be.
We arrived at the base of Sandia about 5:40 and I wanted to get the 5:45 flight but as we got into the loading/ticket area I saw it was quite full and we wouldn't make it. We had to wait for the 6:05, which wasn't bad because the kids were excited to watch the tram travel up the mountain.
We were first to get on the tram so we got the front of the car. We were quite a sight with four kids running around and six fully inflated balloons. Rose was very excited about it until we got to the first tower. As it bumped and swayed for the next few seconds she got the "serious" look on her face. The next part was a traveling over the canyon which meant we were about 1000 ft in the air. The whole time she was very conscience that I wanted this to be special and didn't say much even though I could see she was scared.
The top of the peak was chilly but surprizingly not very windy...perfect for a balloon launch. We got everyone together and went to the edge of the observation area. The skies were overcast and stormy in the distance. The sun was setting behind it all like the peace at the end of all turbulance. We all took a turn saying something to Dayne and then on the count of three we all launch our balloons. We all stood there taking a minute to watch them travel with the wind into the west.
The whole thing worked very well and it was a very fitting tribute. With all of the family spanning the globe and thousands of miles apart hopefully Dayne was able record us at each of our locations to share it with us.
Quickly a couple more thoughts...
Then as it was, then again it will be Though the course may change sometimes Rivers always reach the sea Changes fills my time, but that's all right with me In the midst I think of you And how it used to be
Turn the eyes and I sparkle Senses growing keen Tasting joy along the way softens the dolor in between. A moment ago I had come apart trying to understand it all and trying to find a place to catch me when I fall
Waking to find the sun of a brand new dawn, I look around and realize it’s Already ten years gone
And in the words of Tennyson..
Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean, Tears from the depth of some divine despair Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes, In looking on the happy Autumn-fields, And thinking of the days that are no more.
Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns The earliest pipe of half-awakened birds To dying ears, when unto dying eyes The casement slowly grows a glimmering square; So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.
The whole trip in South America, even the contretemps airline adventures, was such an amazing experience. Actually, I think trouble getting to Peru made me appreciate the whole trip even more, it definitely made it more memorable. If George Bailey is willing to work his way to Europe on a cattle boat, I am sure I can spend an extra day in Atlanta.
The first day was maddening to say the least. It really wouldn't have been so bad if wasn't for the luggage debacle. I checked my big backpack because I thought it would be to big to carry-on the plane. Well, that might have been the biggest mistake of the trip. I went to go get my backpack and it took 5, yes five, hours to get my bag back.
The next day was kinda fun looking for alternate routes to Peru. It was just like an episode of the amazing race. We found the best route through Bogota, Columbia and we were on our way. Another cool thing about diverting our route was we got to spend a whole day in Bogota. We got to sit in first class down to Columbia which was cool because I don't think Dad had got to go on a long overseas trip in first class.
When we arrived in Bogota it was getting late, at least later than I would want to be out roaming around one of the largest drug producing countries in the world without a clue of where we were going and no ability to speak the language. So we got in and saw the hordes of taxi drivers outside. We brushed off several of them but then as we were looking for the ATM (máquina del banco) one guy approached us and asked if we needed to get money. He showed us were it was and politely waited for us, then asked if he could be our taxi. He seemed like such an honest chap, we negotiated a price and headed for the hotel.
Everything in Columbia worked out very well. The hotel was actually really amazing. The sights were interesting. I think we saw just about all of the "cultural" sights that I really cared to see in Bogota (the monetary on the hill, the Botero museum, and the transvestite hookers). After a full day of all this we were off to Lima, by way of Quito. One note about the flight, the flight from Quito to Lima was about 1hr 45 min. On this flight they showed a movie, Stranger than Fiction, a fine movie but a movie that lasts 1hr and 55 min. Right at the climax of the movie, the flight landed and they stopped it. I had to go through Peru for 7 days wondering what happened to Harold Crick.
The first day in Lima was pretty much a blur. The thing we learned today is that in Peru, the time printed on a ticket is more of a ballpark rather than an exact time. In way, we got on the flight to Cusco fairly uneventfully. The flight to Cusco was really quite amazing passing by a couple of 20K peaks that you could almost reach out and touch. When we got to Cusco one of the first thing that struck me was the size of the city. It was nestle in between several mountains so there wasn't a ton of room to spread out but the city seemed to go on for quite some time.
We decided to make up for a little lost time and go out exploring. We hired a taxi driver for $20 for the whole day to drive us all around the local ruins. The largest, Saksayhuaman, provided a great first look at Inkan architecture as well as a magnificent view of the city below. We traveled through several other ruins and ended up in Pisac where our taxi driver took us down town to the market to get some lunch. We ate at a stand run by a little old woman who gave us a three course meal (soup, veggies and chicken) for three people all for about $1.40. It was a ton of food and a little "exotic" tasting for the first real day.
The next day we hit the Urubamba river or maybe it hit us, I couldn't tell which. The morning started out a bit chilly, which made us a bit leery about getting wet and speeding through a canyon. By the time we got to the river the sun was out and it was getting warmer. This was nice because when we walked down to the river we did not start on the beach or a nice calm section of the river. We were in the middle of a class 4 rapid that was moving rather quickly. The river was fun and our guide Javier was very talkative with good info about the area. By the time we got to the end of the run the rains had formed again and it was getting cold. I could not wait to get on the bus and start warming up even though I don't thing the bus had a heater. We made it back to the raft house and they had hot showers and a sauna. That was really nice! Then we got cleaned up and had a late lunch (I was starving by this point.) Overall it was a good time.
On the Inka Trail
Now we get into the meat of the trip on the Inka Trail. Since 2001 the trail has been quite regulated by the Peruvian government. So while each tour group is a bit different the hike is virtually the same with each one. They are all right around four days with the same camping spots along the trail.
Day 1: The First Steps The bus picked us up first at 7am and then made its way through the narrow streets of Cusco to gather the rest of the group. By 8:00am we were on our way. We stooped at km 82 on the road to Agua Calientes, here the group got out and made preparations for the journey. As everyone got things together the first thing I noticed was my bag was considerably larger than any of the other travelers. I wondered if this was lack of planning on their part or lack of efficiency on my part. After a brief check in with the government control, we were on our way.
The trail was beautiful - verdant green with snow-capped peaks in the background. You could hear the rush of the river below me. As you would descend in and out of clouds, the mist helped to keep you cool. The only uphill stretch of the day was short -- about 30 minutes -- but very steep. During the first day, we traveled through several small Peruvian villages that were dotted along the trail. The houses were mainly an adobe material the interesting thing was there was almost nothing inside each of them. You could see there were a few mats to use as beds and table with chairs but not much else. It was a sobering reminder of the vast economic disparity between Peru and America.
We were only 2 miles and about 2.5 hours in the trail when we stopped for lunch. This was our first experience with our amazing trail chef. The porters quickly set up a couple of small tents, one for cooking and one for dinning. Each meal was at least 3 courses with soup, vegetables and then a meat or pasta dish. Some of the meals would have dessert as well. This was amazing to me considering how much we paid for the whole trek. The other astounding thing was as soon as we were all done with lunch we started to mosey back down the trail. Within 30 min, the porters would come running past you on their way to the next camp. By the time we got there all of our individual tents were set up and afternoon tea was ready. It was truly incredible to watch these little 5 foot porters move up and down the trail.
Day 2: Stairway to Heaven
The second day is the hardest day of trek. It is almost exclusively uphill and includes the climb over the 15500 foot, ominously-named Dead Woman's Pass. The day started out somewhat easy. We were going up but just a standard up hill through the rain forest. The guides kept saying pace yourselves, this is going to be very difficult today. I thought how difficult can it be. We traveled for about 2.5 hours and then came to a large resting spot and the last place to purchase water on the trail. Everyone rested but felt fairly confident in their ability to make it
Then came the really hard part: the climb to Dead Woman's Pass. I could see it as I rounded the corner from the last resting spot. It was almost straight up. We began trudging up the 1000 year trail. It was a long arduous climb, I tried to just focus on the stairs in front of me. Halfway to the top, icy rain began to pour down intermittently. It was along this portion that Dad realized that he was 61 years old.
Reading stories and watching documentaries about people climbing Mt Everest I have often heard about those that get 100 -200 meters from the top and just can't make it. I thought "How can that be? How can you be so close and not realize your goal?" This was the closes I have been to that. As we neared the top I would hike for about 5 minutes then stop and look at the top to get my bearings. It seemed every time I looked I was no closer than the previous. Dad had to rest after ever dozen steps or so and he was breathing very deep and laboriously. I thought that we would not make the top. But as the saying goes "Slow and steady wins the race" and we eventually made it to the top. That was a great feeling to be at the top and look at what you had just conquered.
Ironically, going down was as much if not more difficult for me to traverse. After using all of my strength to get down the mountain, trying to steady myself down the shear steps on the back side was quite a chore. Also, at that point Dad's body gave out and we just had to get him to the camp and put him to bed. At the end of the day, everyone felt it was very difficult but very rewarding.
Day 3: Clear Skies Ahead
All through the night the rain came down continuously. I woke up about 5:45, an hour before breakfast, and thought, "I hope it is not going to rain all day." We prepared our camp stuff and got everything ready for that days activities while listening the rhythmic percussion on the tent's rain fly. As soon as we got everything together and made our way out of the tent, the rain stopped. The rain was done for the rest of the hike, which was really great.
We started the day staring up at a mile-long staircase over the next peak. It was nowhere near as bad as the previous day, partly because there was some ruins along the way that we stopped to wander through and partly because Dad hired a porter for the day and didn't have to haul anything up the mountain.
The whole day was simply beautiful. The hike was a good mix of stairs and flat ground winding through the snow-capped mountains all around. This brings up an interesting point. Upon getting home and inspecting the pictures from the hike they don't even come close to reproducing the view of the surroundings on the trail. The mountains were so grand and the views were so vast that the pictures don't convey the same feelings.
Day 3 ended at a more established camping spot. There was a cafeteria that mostly served as a bar for everyone to get beers. There was a hot shower for 5 soles or a cold one for free. Since I did not have 5 soles and they actually looked just about equal, I went with the cold. That night we had a celebration of sorts, sitting in the dining room eating a huge meal. The last thing we did that night was invite in all of the porters and the chef and give them a standing ovation and a bunch of money we had collected. When I was thinking about it, the amount we collected divided among the 13 porters would end up being about $20 a piece for 4 days of fairly exhausting work.
Day 4: Meeting the Old Mountain
The day started early, getting up at 0400, to try to bet the sunrise to Machu Picchu. Talking to the guides they said it is about a 50/50 chance to see the site through the Gate of the Sun at sunrise because often it is cloudy first thing in the morning. We rushed over the last 2 hours of the hike (with some very difficult parts like stairs that literally were at an 80% grade for about 50 feet) in the darkness but the odds were not in our favor. It was ok though, we were able to see the clouds lift up like a big, slow curtain revealing the goal of our trek.
Once we got down to Machu Picchu we all rested for about an hour, then had a very detailed guided tour of the site. It was amazing to see what these ancient people had built and in an inhospitable location. The the hike was capped off by one last big hike up Wayna Pichhu, the peak the towers over Machu. I know Dad was not really keen on doing it, actually I wasn't either. Looking up another 1000 feet and motivating start climbing was difficult. I think we were both glad we did as it gave some of the best views of the area and made you feel like you were on top of the world.
I am always amazing when I get to visit someplace that I have seen in so many pictures and on TV. It is almost surreal thinking that you are actually there. I felt that way in Russia and then again in Italy, the first two big foreign trips I did. It is not until you get back that you really appreciate the experience. Especially something like this where the hiking was very taxing and sometimes in the moment the appreciation was lost a bit.
The rest of the trip paled in comparison. We got back to Cusco that night and barely made our flight to Lima the next morning (they changed the flight time without telling most of the people on the flight). We spent the next day in Lima resting and recuperating, watching paragliders along the beach in Miraflores. Then we made the trip back to the USA with a few hiccups, Santiago being a 12 hour continuous hiccup, retrospectively not much to worry about. All in all, another amazing trip complete...........how lucky are we!
The kids all had a great time, especially Tenny. All the girls were flocking to him and asking him to dance. He really was the life of the party. They did square dancing and waltzes, line dancing and of course
the chicken dance. Then Santa came and all the kids got to sit on his lap and he gave them a bag of candy.
..
Now we get into the meat of the trip on the Inka Trail. Since 2001 the trail has been quite regulated by the Peruvian government. So while each tour group is a bit different the hike is virtually the same with each one. They are all right around four days with the same camping spots along the trail.
