Another Christmas in Quebec City (aka, M. leaves the USA)

Almost a year ago I asked M if he would join me at my company's Christmas party in 2015. At that time, he didn't have a passport and was vehemently opposed to airplanes. True to his word, we touched down in Quebec together last Saturday. That left Sunday to explore the walled city before I had to go to work on Monday. (Apologies for the poor photo quality. All were taken on our phones!)

First Quebecois breakfast: Crepe! (we went back 2 more times...)

Bluer than blue (Puno)

I woke up in a reclined armchair as we rolled down the pre-morning streets of Puno. We had driven through the night, finally coming down the hill to Lake Titicaca. Our hostel owner didn't have our room ready, but he offered us a spot to crash on the couch, a rather good breakfast, and a place on a tour that left at 8am.  We piled on all the warm cloths we had and sleepily walked  down the quay to the waiting lines of boats. Pulling out of the marina, we cut slowly into the bay.

Our first glimpse of the floating islands

The first stop was at one of the Uros floating islands. The islanders have lived for thousands of years on these structures made of blocks of reed root covered in reed bundles and topped by reed houses. Most of the men and boys were out fishing and harvesting reeds with long, scythe-like poles. The elected "mayor" of the island greeted us with the women and girls, who showed off their embroidery and method of island building.

After a ride  on  a long, low reed boat we re-boarded our motorboat and went to the long rocky island of Taquile. Here, the men wear black pants with billowing white shirts and black vests in the Spanish colonial style. These are belted with colourful woven sashes and "Inca" hats with patterns that indicate status. A bag of cocoa leaves is tucked into the sash. The leaves are traded with friends as a  form of greeting when they meet on the paths. The women wear tasseled shawls, colourful for the girls and black with bright tasseled for the married women.

Hiking up the island.
It was so cold, I wore  a touque I had bought as a gift!

Both the men and women of Taquile weave and knit. A market in the main  square  sells their wares. 

We broke for lunch at a house on  the south end of the island. Our view extended over the huge lake, south  towards the high  mountains of Bolivia. We were served a delicious quinoa soup and a trout or tortilla  (omlette) on rice. 

Bolivia's Cordierra Real mountains on  the horizon.
They are over 20,000 ft  tall

Our companions came from Slovakia, Germany, South  Africa, and Catalunia

Quinoa soup

We finally re-boarded our boat and bucked a rough  headwind on  a zig-zagging course  back to Puno. Several of us sat on the deck, trading travel stories  and  discussing Basque/Catalunian/Spanish politics. Those of us who  were staying at the same hostel resolved to meet for dinner, where we  enjoyed another few hours of conversation (with the obligatory questions  about why Americans love guns) and delicious  Alpaca and Cuy.

No Jumping Allowed!! (Machu Picchu)

The one that everyone asks about when you go to Peru: Did you visit Machu Picchu? Of course we did!

"We leave when the bus is full," and other travelling lessons

One of the first things I noticed about Peru wasn't its architecture, or its food, or its smell. It was the traffic. At 8pm it was worse than downtown Paris, with even less space to maneuver. Peruvians don't drive exclusively with their horns, but they could not drive without them, either. Besides the constant beeps and beep-beeps (there is a difference), we also had to be wary of "unofficial" taxis, stoplight robbery, and getting on a Colectivo that was leaving soon(ish). It took us a little while to figure the system out.

official taxi, or "pirate" cab? (photo by Jone)

Cusco and Really Big Rocks

After a terrifying drop down to sea level (think switchbacks on a narrow road in the front seats of a double-decker tour bus), we finally arrived in Lima. A short overnight there and we were back at the airport for our next destination: Cusco!

Huaraz high

We were more than ready to get out of the big city after our first day there. Luke had recommended that we dodge the regular tourist route and visit Huaraz, a maintain adventure town in the middle of the Cordilleras Blanca. Our overnight bus turned into the sleepy town just as dawn was coming up over the snow capped peaks of the razor sharp Cordilleras. 

Barrios de Lima

Peru!! Jone and I are finally on our trip... And finally bought a camera cable so we can share more than just the photos from her phone. 

Photo by Jone

Sleeping (?) in Airports

I'm finally en-route to Lima, Peru, where Jone is waiting for me. Already I've learned that even modern air travel in central America has its own flavor. Not so much "hurry up and wait," as just "wait." I'm in the San Salvador airport, sandwiched between a cluster of people on their cell phones and a mob of name-tagged LDS missionaries sipping coke and munching snacks. The only flight from here to Lima leaves in about 7 hours. My flight from San Francisco to here left at 1:25am. To get through the day, I figured I needed to sleep while I could. A good decision, as it turns out the San Salvador airport is a little cramped. Here's the solution I came up with at SFO:

It took a little while to find somewhere quiet but public. My pillow tucked neatly into the hood of my coat, with everything important underneath. An alarm to make sure I didn't miss my flight, and ear plugs to block out the frequent announcements. Not bad for an hour of the 1.5 hours I hoped to sleep through!

Old (and new) Sacramento

Teaching a class in Sacramento sounded like fun, at least when my co-worker called ans asked if I would take it. After all, Siemens is one of the companies I seriously considered persuing a career with (filed under:incomplete applications). I snagged a direct flight that arrived in the early afternoon. Not sure what to do with the rest of my day, I contemplated road tripping to Tahoe or San Francisco. Between traffic and wildfires both options seemed like a stretch, so I settled for wandering into downtown Sac.

Weekend Wanderings

August is a great time to hike in the Pacific NorthWest. We've fit  a couple adventures in the last few weeks...

Guemes Channel Sunset

Rental Review: Fiat 500

In travelling for work, I get the opportunity to drive many different makes and models of rental cars. Sometimes they're boring (Hyundai Elantra),  sometimes they're frustrating (the seats don't  fold  down in a VW Passat: Wolfsburg edition. Don't leave your keys in the trunk!), sometimes they're pigs (Chevy Captiva), and sometimes they're trippy (Nissan Altima with CVTransmission). It's about  time I started doing reviews ;)

Today, I give you the Fiat 500

I-15 (Mormon Alley)

I have had back-to-back weeks of training, which has meant back-to-back weeks of travel. I had a few days of R&R before flying out to Salt Lake City and immediately driving north along I-15 to Blackfoot, ID.

Good evening, Pocatello!

Not-Quite-Bavaria

I have a bad habit of seeking out any part of a state that claims to resemble Germany. There was the infamous Oktoberfest road trip to Helen, GA two years ago, and those first and second visits to München last year. Any town that claims to resemble Germay - or the American vision of Germany - is a potential target. So, yesterday I found myself driving north to Frankenmuth, Germany.

Photo from a Frankenmuth advertisement site

le Citadelle de Quebec

In my previous 3 trips to Quebec City, I have never had a chance to visit the "castle" at the top of the town. Two weeks ago, I took the Saturday before the party to wander the Plains of Abraham and learn a little more about the active fortification.

a sunny Sunday on Lake Union

 Emily asked a few weeks ago if I could pick her up at the airport on Sunday. It was the perfect excuse to spend a sunny day neighborhood-hopping in the Emerald city.

Our first stop was the Center for Wooden Boats, where we snagged a beautiful little lapstrake skiff and rowed up wind onto Lake Union.

Skillfully maneuvering us out of the harbor

Coasting back to town with a tail wind

Fun times in Hockeytown

I've heard the Quebecers say that "Calling Detroit 'hockeytown' is like calling Montreal 'motor city'." Detroit disagrees.

the Sugar Bush

I've been to London, Ontario a few times. Yank Thank freshman year, last October... It's a neat little city. I got to stay with Erika for two nights this time, which left us a little more time to explore. I really like travelling with friends who are foodies and locavores, and Erika is one of the best. A pastry chef who's lived in London her entire life and is a regular visitor to the farmer's market. Saturday we went for a late breakfast at the Root Cellar, where I had eggs-in-squash on kale (!). We met up with two of Erika's friends and headed to a visit to the (year round!) farmer's market, and then headed to a Sugar Bush!

Yes, that's a coyote on my head. He's really warm!

Mt Constitution Hike

I try to put up a blog post within a week of an adventure or event, so this is rather late...

Winter in the PNW has been unusually warm and sunny this year. So warm and sunny, in fact, that M and I decided to go on our first hiking adventure back in February. He has spent several weeks in the past year working on Orcas, coming back every time with stories of hiking/running around Moran state Park. A sunny Valentine's Day weekend was the perfect excuse to go explore the lakes, trails, and mountain on the east side of the island.

Sunshine in the San Juans

 Despite my long silence, I really have been adventuring in the past several weeks! Getting 2 weeks off from work was wonderful. The first was taken over by Christmas and a nasty head cold. The second week, I was lucky enough to be visited by friends from Sweden! Russ and Josefin invited Maria and I over for dinner when I was in Göteborg this summer. They were in the area for Christmas with Russ's family, so we took a day to explore the San Juan Islands.

Me and Josefin, Mt Baker behind us