Category Archives: Words

Hey everyone!

This is the new version of 00ff00. I’ve combined diary.00ff00.com and the old 00ff00.com together, as well as added a bunch of new stuff. Let me know what you think!

We arrived in Southwick MA around 3am last night. Yesterday we went through London, Paris and Amsterdam (Ohio and New York). We’re currently driving to Mel and Anne’s house, after dropping off Katie. She seemed very happy to be home again, though not so excited about starting school next week.

We should be going home to NYC tomorrow. I’m excited for some real food again. Where should we eat first?

I’ll put some photos up when I get home and unpack everything.

The drive through Colorado was very beautiful. The mountains are huge, and being at that high of an elevation is exciting. It’s fun to drive to the top of a mountain and back down again. It’s also neat to be able to look over the side of the road and see a valley a half mile below!

Once we reached Denver our drive started to suck. See, Denver’s at the base of the Rockies, so once we got there, it was pretty much flat from there on. About an hour later we were in boring flat corn and wheat fields. That lasted until tonight.

We stopped somewhere in Kansas for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. The owner was so freaked out by us asking for tea and chopsticks, that he asked us where we were from. It was strange, when I later asked him where he was from, he told me Washington. I pressed, recognizing the fact that he was speaking Mandarin to one of the employees. I said, “What part of Washington?” He replied with “Northern Washington, but not Seattle.” I said, “Oh, near Vancouver?” and he said, “Yes, in Vancouver.” I was so shocked that he was afraid to say that he lived in Canada, that I didn’t even bother to ask what part of China he was from. Yikes! What would make this nice family from China move there? I can’t imagine what prejudices they’ve had to put up with to be afraid to say where they were from.

Anyway, we got the heck out of there as quickly as possible and camped overnight about 30 minutes from the border between Kansas and Missouri. There were a million cool bugs at the campsite, ranging from huge cicadas, crazy spiders with round pill-like bodies, huge grasshoppers the size of my hand and a ton of other random bugs. We took outside showers amongst the bugs and went to sleep. I awoke at about 4am and saw a huge deer grazing a few feet away from the tent.

Today we drove and drove and drove. More corn and wheat and corn and wheat and corn and cows. Did I mention the corn?

We’re now in Illinois. Or is it Indiana? No, definitely Illinois. We should be home tomorrow or the next day. I’ll add more photos when I get home!

We arrived at Bryce Canyon about 3 hours before the sun went down, providing excellent light for photographs and viewing. Bryce is a really amazing place — huge pillars carved from stone, standing very close together. We checked out a few viewpoints and set up camp in the park for the night.

The next morning we hiked down about a mile into the canyon to get a better view. We took much needed showers (the desert dust just sticks to you) and then headed out towards Arches National Park.

Arches is pretty much the other side of the state, so we spent about 5 or 6 hours driving through ever changing desert wasteland. One hour we were on the moon, with pure white rock and sand dunes. The next was Mars, with orange and red rocks, cliffs and canyons. Later the ground was yellow and flat, with scrappy bushes and dead grass. It was a hot drive — the temperature was about 100 all day. It’s way too hot in the desert to mess with the air conditioner, so we used our natural cooling method and drank tons of water. We’ve been filling up our 3 gallon water jugs about once a day, and going through all that water. Imagine drinking a whole gallon of water a day and not going to the bathroom! That’s how hot and dry it is. Because you sweat so much, and it evaporates so quickly, your skin becomes very salty. You can taste it when you lick your lips.

We drove through Capitol Reef and Grand Escalante National Parks on the way to Arches. We saw some 1,000 (est) year old petroglyphs in Capitol Reef, which was pretty neat.

Thunderstorms are an entirely different thing out here in the desert. Well, first of all, since it rarely rains in the desert, when it does, the ground can’t absorb it quickly enough, and it runs off into the canyons and creates flash floods. We had to be very careful when exploring the canyons to watch the weather. Rain you say? Strangely enough, it’s rained every day so far in the desert. We must be very lucky. Or maybe it’s the super short rainy season.. I’m not sure. It’s defiantly made the desert more bearable. We look forward to the rainstorms, and try to catch up with them while driving. You can see them from miles and miles away because it’s so flat. I think the lack of humidity in the air also provides better visibility. Another thing which is different about the thunderstorms in the desert — there are no trees. You are the tallest thing around. So when a thunderstorm is near, there is a very good chance of getting struck by lightning. You have to stay in the car — no playing in the rain! It’s a bit scary to be out so vulnerable like that, watching lightning strike all around you.

We reached Arches about an hour before sunset, and did the 1.5 mile hike up to the Delicate Arch. That’s the famous arch which you may or may not have seen — it’s on most of the Utah license plates. The walk was cool — through a desert trail, then onto a huge rock, which must have been a mile long itself. At the top was the arch, bigger and more awesome than I had imagined. We waited there until it was almost pitch black, and walked back on the trail by starlight. The stars were the most impressive that we’ve seen so far. There was very little (no) light pollution, and the milky way was so bright. We were able to find a few constellations, and watch the heat lightning on the horizon. We laid on the car for a while watching the stars before driving to a campground to camp. We chose a nice shady spot to set up camp.

The next day we drove into Moab (mow-ab) to have some breakfast and ice cream. Around noon we left to drive more through the desert and into Colorado. We finally reached the mountains around 4:00 — and the temperature was much more reasonable — in the 80′s. We drove all the way into Aspen and had some dinner. We spent an hour or so walking around downtown, and then drove out and camped at the Maroon Bells. The Maroon Bells are some big mountains with a nice lake at the base. The lake was probably 40 degrees, and the temp outside was about 65. We made a fire for no good reason at all, other than entertainment. Then we went to sleep. It was a bit chilly!

We woke up this morning and it was probably 40 degrees out, for I could see my breath. We broke down camp and drove. We stopped at the continental divide, along Independence Pass, at elevation of 10,095 feet. We could see snow just around the corner. It was Tundra — too high and windy for trees to grow. Neat. I remember stopping there when I was younger with my brother. He used to live in Aspen.

We continued to Leadville and had lunch. I think this town has changed a lot since I’ve been here last. I remember it being a bit more ‘Wild West’ — now it’s more more ‘hippy’. I had a veggie burger while listening to the Grateful Dead loudly on the speakers.

We’re now driving East on rt. 70, almost in Denver. We will drive today until we get tired, probably stopping for the night in Kansas (yay, corn). We’re pretty much driving back straight from here to Massachusetts, nothing exciting left on the itinerary. I’ll post photos when I can.

We left Nevada, and drove to Arizona, then into Utah. We stopped at a small town, St. George, and had some Mexican food. We felt that we had entered Mormon country as soon as we got into the restaurant. Everyone was very friendly, cleanly dressed, and white. It seems like they spend more time on appearance than others… for they all seemed very well kept, and very few were overweight. The Mexican food we ate was excellent.

We continued on to Zion National Park, and set up camp there. We then hung out for the rest of the day in the canyon valley and then went to sleep. The next morning we took the park tour on the bus. Zion has started a bus service around the canyon, to lower the traffic and pollution, and it seems to be very efficient. We stopped at the last stop on the bus, and took a walk for a few miles up a trail and down the river, at the bottom of a narrow canyon. The trail itself was the river, and it was very interesting to walk down. There were many other people on the trail, and it was clear who has good balance and who doesn’t.

After Zion, we drove south to Arizona to see the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon has two viewing points, only 10 miles across from each other, but over 4 hours of driving distance between them. We’ve had different suggestions as to which is the best to view the canyon (about equal for both sides), but the guidebook’s mention of the North Rim’s 90% less visitors than the South’s, and the less driving was a good reason for us. We crossed the desert and into the mountains, with tons of Ponderosa Pines, and much much cooler. We reached the canyon around an hour before sunset, perfect for viewing. The light was beautiful, as the sun was setting, the colors changed and the tips of the peaks were glowing. We drove about 20 miles away to camp high up in the forest, where it was cold! (A welcome relief from the heat).

Today we spent the day checking out the Navajo reservation, and trying to see this tiny canyon called Antelope. Unfortunately, the Navajos wanted to charge us something like $60 to see the canyon, so we decided against going. It was too bad too, because I’ve seen some beautiful photos of that canyon, and really wanted to try my luck at getting a nice photograph. I did get to hear some Navajo language spoken, and that was very cool.

We left Arizona and are now back in Utah again. We’re driving north to Bryce Canyon now, with about 2 hours of light left.

We left Washington on the 10th, and drove to Portland, Oregon. Our friends Susank and Erik live there, and we stayed with them. They took us out for a yummy dinner and suggested a great breakfast place too. Portland is a nice city. It’s very green, and clean. The weather seems to be great, and the people were friendly.

We left the next day for the coast, and stopped in the forest on the way. I was very excited to see the super mossy bright green forests of the Pacific NW, and it was just as nice as expected. The forests there get enough rainfall to classify them as rainforests. The little spot that we stopped at was very lush and full of big ferns and moss. There was also a crystal clear river flowing through it.

We reached the coast, and spent the rest of the day on Cannon Beach. What a beatiful area! Huge rocks sticking out of the sea, with misty rainforest mountains behind you. It was just like Hawai’i, or Barbados, yet colder. Pippin and Katie went swimming in the water with all their clothes on, and I was stranded on the beach holding the cameras and cellphones! The water is much warmer than the Northern Atlantic.

We slept overnight at the beach, then drove down rt. 101 (the coastal highway) for a few hours, checking out the scenery. We then drove inland to check out Eugene. The guidebook mentioned that Eugene was a town where the residents have not yet realized that the 60s have passed.. We found that it was mainly annoying hippy kids asking for change — nothing radical there. We had lunch at a Thai restaurant who’s owner misses Thailand — I don’t blame her!

some hydrangea for my dad.

We left and drove south into California, and slept overnight about 1/4 of the way down the state, around Chico. We stayed in a state park campground. They had secret codes for the bathrooms, which they neglected to tell us. They started cutting down the grass at around 8:30am, a few feet from our tents, and they ran a super loud generator all night. Yuck.

The next day was spent driving and driving. We made it to Yosemite around dusk, and decided to brave the bears and camp overnight. All along we’ve been camping in “Bear Country”, but it hasn’t been a problem. We sometimes see various signs suggesting to keep your food in your car, etc, but nothing too stressful. When we entered the park we received strict instructions on bears, with graphic photos of bears sitting on cars! We met a friendly couple from South Carolina who showed us a place to set up camp, and shared the bear proof metal food box that the campground provided with us. (I think we essentially shared their space.) They told us how the night before a bear had visited them at camp three times, and had stolen their trail mix! They also showed us the hole it had torn into their bag looking for food. Needless to say, I slept a bit lightly! (Actually, I would have slept fine, but I was having a bit of elevation sickness, and was freezing — it was about 40 degrees out.)

We awoke to a beautiful forest, with super tall pines and large granite rocks. There was a tiny little stream which was nearby. We saw a deer, but the bear never showed up. I was looking forward to it too! We’re sad that we didn’t get to see a bear in either Yellowstone or Yosemite. Maybe in Colorado?

We drove to Mariposa Grove, where the Giant Sequoias are. These trees are BIG! We saw the “Grizzly Giant” — the largest tree in the park, which they estimate to be over 1,800 years old. We also got to walk through a tree. I found it interesting that the pine cones take 2-3 years just to grow, and can take anywhere between 20-30 years just to fall off a tree. Wow.

The rest of the day was spent driving through the park, over the mountains and into the desert. We reached Death Valley around nightfall. I sympathize with the emigrants who crossed this desert on covered wagons! I know now why it’s called Death Valley. It took us about 3 hours to cross it, and we went down to sea level from about 5,000 feet. The temperature rose and rose, the closer to the bottom. The peak temperature was 109F, at around 11:30pm! I’m glad we got there at night, I can’t imagine what it would be like around 1pm. The air was so hot and so dry. We left the vents on in the car (no A/C), and it actually felt like the heat was on, coming out of the vents. Same super dry heat. We opened the windows and the sunroof (nice stars!) and experimented with getting our hands wet and seeing how long it would take to dry. (less than 10 seconds.) We kept drinking water and went through more than a gallon in those three hours.

We kept driving past yucca mountain and area 51, and reached Las Vegas around midnight. We drove down the strip to show Katie, and tried to find a hotel. 2 hours later, disgusted with the place, we slept in the car about 50 miles away on an Indian Reservation, which is where we are now. They were very friendly to us too. Las Vegas is disgusting, and I am reminded why I hate the place so much. Please remind me to never go there again.

Today we will see the Grand Canyon. I can’t wait! I will add some photos soon. Hope everyone survived the blackout!

We spent the day yesterday in downtown Seattle, checking out the aquarium and waterfront area. I have fond memories of the aquarium from a visit to the area in my early teens, and wanted to see it again and bring Katie along. The aquarium is unique in that you can touch many things, from starfish to sea anemonies. I always like to touch stuff like that, and Katie did too.

We stopped so Pippin could have some fish and chips. Katie was a bit afraid to try them, and offered up a “I’m not hungry” protest. We bought her some anyway, and the “not hungry” Katie inhaled the entire order. We had fun feeding the seagulls the chips. Today she suggested we drive back into Seattle for some more fried fish.

We checked out the gay district, which was pretty small, but cute. It seems like the people in Seattle are very young, and kind of suburban. There’s no “edge” here.

Today we had breakfast at a local restaurant, and went to Pippin’s stepfather’s house to swim in his pool. Pippin’s stepfather works for Microsoft, hence the Redmond address. This ensures lively Linux conversations at the dinner table.

Tomorrow we will make our way down to Portland, and check out the cool stuff in Oregon. We have a huge list of what’s cool there, and we’ll see how much we can squeeze into the limited time we have.

We left Yellowstone and drove north into Montana. We had dinner in Bozeman, and drove another hour or two west. There were crazy thunder and lightning storms, with bolts of lighting stronger and brighter than I’ve ever seen before. It was really dark too — a strong storm.

We drove maybe 25 miles off the highway to some state park, apparently one of the camps on the original Lewis and Clark expedition. It was a very long twisty ride over some mountains in the pitch black. It took us about 30 minutes, and I think we saw two other cars. At the end, we were so freaked out by the lack of people that we almost chickened out and didn’t camp there. We finally found the camping area, and set up. The storm had blown over, and we saw the clearest sky… It was huge.

We woke up the next day and drove straight to Missoula, where we had lunch at a little cafe before driving straight on to Seattle.

I think the biggest surprise on this trip so far was Montana. We expected it to be a bit more conservative — like Wyoming, but it turned out to be more relaxed. We saw two very “college” like towns, and it seems as though there is a decent mix of ideas there.

We drove through the Rockies in Idaho, and they were beautiful. Very nice mountains with high pine trees, very green. We reached the other side of the mountains right around Washington State, and hit desert. It was very dry and boring all the way to the mountains right before Seattle area. That part of the drive was neat though — to go from desert to near rainforest in less than an hour.

We surprised Cyprienne and Haeley (Pippin’s mother and brother) by showing up unannounced. They knew we were on a road trip, but had no idea that we’d be stopping by. We parked down the street from their house, and started chatting with Cyprienne online. I typed “ding dong” and Katie ran up and rang the doorbell. They were pretty surprised!

Today we saw Cyprienne’s work, and then checked out Snoqualamie falls. Apparently I went there when I was younger, but I only vaguely remember it.

We ate dinner at a Thai restaurant in Seattle. Tomorrow we plan to check out the city a bit.

Today we went to Yellowstone National Park. We got into the park around 9am, and stayed for about 12 hours.

We went in the East entrance, and checked out the giant lake first. Then we went straight for the weird thermal area with the geysers. On the way there we saw two bison.

They were blocking the road.

We then got to “Old Faithful”, the geyser which erupts every 1.5 hours.

Then we went and saw a few more geysers, some boiling mud, and some hot springs.

There was a bird there

then we saw some elk.

there were a lot of scorched trees from the big fire 10 or so years ago.

and here are some views:

A lot has happened since the last update. We left Northern Minnesota and drove south to Minneapolis. We spent about an hour in the Mall of America — the biggest shopping mall in this country. A shrine to consumerism. It’s pretty large, we figured it to be about the same distance as walking from the Village to Midtown in NY (for those of you who know the city).

We left the mall around 9pm and drove out. We heard a strange noise around 11pm, and it turned out that our tire was flat, and had lost a bit of rubber. We pulled over and put the spare on — first problem with the car (and hopefully last). It’s great, our ride is much smoother now — I think the tire was on it’s way out for a while, and had been shaking the car a bit. We camped that night in a campground in Minnesota, near the border of South Dakota. There were rv’s at the campground, and the majority of them had huge satellite dishes… is that still considered camping?

The next morning (Saturday) we got up early and drove to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Sioux Falls is the biggest city in South Dakota, and it’s pretty small. We spent the majority of the morning and early afternoon there doing car stuff — topping off the liquids, getting a new tire for the other wheel (and putting that old tire in the back as the spare), etc. We then drove west until we reached the Badlands.

We set up camp in a state park campground, right in the middle of the Badlands National Park. We then left to try to find some food. We were told to go into the town (6 buildings), that the bar there had pizzas. We went in, and it was right out of movie. Everyone turned around and stared at us, while the jukebox was playing country music. The 5 people in the bar were very friendly to us, even offering us their pizza. We asked the bartender if he had some pizza, and he only had three meat pizzas left. He then suggested we try the other bar. After the rest of the patrons contributed directions, we went to the next bar, the Wagonwheel. Again, smoky with loud country music playing. The weathered cowboy behind the counter was very friendly to us and prepared us a cheese pizza to order, and we were very thankful that we didn’t have to starve.

Today we woke up and spent about 2 hours checking out the Badlands. The Badlands is what I would think the Moon, or maybe Mars would look like. Instead of a pitiful description, check out the photos below. We climbed to the top of one of the high peaks and got an amazing view from the top. I ended up doing the majority of it barefoot, because it was steep and dusty.

We left the Badlands, and went to Wall Drug for breakfast. This place was recommended to us by a handful of people before our trip. The signs started in South Dakota, saying things like “Only 355 miles to Wall Drug”. They have about 1/2 of the billboards in the state of South Dakota, and they all say some pretty funny things. The store itself was massive, and full of a bunch of junk to buy. We had a good breakfast, and checked out the “photo gallery” of Native American and Western style photos. Very interesting.

We left Wall, and continued on our way to the Black Hills. There is a huge motorcycle rally going on in Sturgis, one of the small towns in the Black Hills. Ever since we arrived in South Dakota, we started seeing tons and tons of bikers. By the time we got west to Wall, it was packed. The entire parking lot of Wall Drug was full of bikes — I’ve never seen so many in one place. We drove west to the Black Hills and our first stop was Mt. Rushmore. Instead of spending $8 to park our car, we drove slowly around it and took some photos. We kept driving and then stopped in a town called Custer which looked like it was right out of a wild west movie. We had some food there. We checked out the town, and decided to get out of the Black Hills, instead of spending more time there. There were just too many bikers — way too crowded — to enjoy it.

We drove west and happened to drive by the cave that was recommended by the guide book — Jewel Cave. We decided to stop and check it out. We took a 1.5 hour tour underground in this cave, which is the 3rd biggest cave in the world. It could be the first, but they haven’t explored the full cave yet, so at this time, it ranks 3rd. The majority of the inside of this cave is covered in nail head crystals, which is very neat. It’s like standing inside a massive geode.

We left the cave, and drove west to Wyoming, and camped overnight at the Bighorn National Cloud Wilderness. We awoke this morning to a beautiful view of snow covered mountains and very tall thin pine trees.

We are now on our way to Cody, Wyoming, where there is a great nightly rodeo that Pippin saw the last time he was here. This is where Pippin’s father is from, and he brought Pippin here when he was younger. After the rodeo, we’ll head west to Yellowstone.

Today we spent the majority of the day at the cabin, lighting off fireworks and shooting guns. (yee haw). I saw my first Bald Eagle today, which was very cool. It was sitting on a tree, right outside the window of the cabin. When we walked out the door, it flew across the lake. I got a good look at it through the binoculars. What a cool bird! It flew away, and we got to see how impressive the wings are. A few minutes later two osprey flew over the lake — I figured out what they were by looking at the bird book at the cabin.

We went to the county fair in the evening. We checked out the animals in cages, the horses, and the petting zoo. We then got Katie an all-access arm band and she rode on a ton of the rides. We had fun screaming at her whenever she’d go by. I think this might have embarrassed her a bit. :)

Karl woke us up right after we had fallen asleep to see the Northern Lights. They were really bright in the sky, flashing and licking up like flames. I’ve never seen them before, and it was really amazing. We stood at the end of the dock until we froze watching them. And to top it off, there was a bit of a meteor shower, so we got to see a few bright streaks across the sky. I think seeing the night sky like this was one of my main drives to take this trip. I remember seeing the big bright sky while in Colorado when I was younger, and actually seeing the Milky Way for the first time. The sky here is so much nicer than in the Northeast.

I really enjoyed the whole sauna-lake-sauna-lake-sauna-lake events.. and I think I’ll miss that a lot. My skin feels so soft and smooth, I don’t think it’s ever felt so nice. I wish I could have a lake and sauna in NY. Or maybe just a cabin in the woods in Minnesota

We’re up in Northern Minnesota now, hanging out at Karl’s family’s cabin. They have a house in downtown Hibbing, and this cabin is about 30 minutes away, on their own lake. They own most of the land around, and it’s very remote. The stars are very visible here, and apparently you can see the Northern Lights sometimes.

Their lake is full of life. There are frogs and fish and lily pads everywhere. I saw a turtle jump off a log while canoeing, and the water is so clear you can see the fish.

We’re lighting the fireworks that we bought in Illinois off the dock at the moment. The dog is going nuts, and we had to lock him in the cabin.

Karl’s family is originally from Finland, and they are very into their sauna. (Pronounced “sow-nah” here, not “saw-nuh”.) Last night we spent about two hours jumping from the sauna into the lake, then back into the sauna again. You spend about 10 minutes in the sauna, at about 170 degrees, dumping water onto the coals. When you feel like you’re about to pass out, you run out of the sauna, across the yard, and jump off the dock into the lake. When you feel cold (The water is warm), you then go back into the sauna again. Tonight we will go out again. It’s fun to swim in the dark.

karl’s family’s lake.

katie with one of the frogs she caught

I haven’t updated in a few days, because those days were pretty boring. They pretty much consisted of us driving out here, with a two hour stop in Niagra Falls. We left my dad’s place around 11am on the 27th, and drove straight out rt. 90. We got to Niagra Falls around 6pm, and checked them out. We went across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada to get a good view of the falls.

After we left Niagra, we continued to drive west on 90. We figured we’d stop in Pennsylvania and camp overnight. We continued to drive, and managed to hit Ohio before getting tired. We searched for a campground, found one, and it was closed. We were very close to Cleveland, and it was pretty populated. By the time we passed Cleveland, we were so tired that we stayed at a hotel instead of bothering to look for a camp. We left early in the morning on the 28th, and drove through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, stopping once to pick up fireworks in Illinois.

ohio. or maybe pennsylvania. or it could have been indiana.

katie at the fireworks store.

chicago

We made it to Wisconsin that day, and stopped in Madison for dinner. We ate some yummy burritos and had some coffee that was full of a *lot* of caffeine. We made it to the Black River Forest or something that night and camped in a state forest campground. The site was really nice, and in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, I was so wired from the coffee that I didn’t sleep at all, which kinda sucked. But it was nice anyway. I watched the sun come up, and slowly fill the forest with light. When I got out of the tent, after the sun had risen, a pair of rabbits hopped away from where they were sitting, a few feet from the tent. When we left, steam was rising from the lake nearby, and it was really beautiful with the early morning sun.

madison, wisconsin

the lake in the morning.

We drove on until we reached Hibbing, at around noon. We spent the day and night at the cabin at the lake. We made some Thai food for dinner, and a ton of people came over.

hibbing, minnesota

lightning from karl’s cabin

It’s very nice and peaceful here, a great place for a summer home. The people are incredibly friendly too.

Finally we are off. First stop is borrowing a tent from AJ and Mandy, then we will spend the night at my father’s place about 2 hours west of here. Not too much to cover the first day, but at least we get to leave!

{This was an email I sent out to my contacts when I returned from South America in 2003}

Most of you don’t actually know that I was gone in the first place. I’ve just arrived home from a three week expedition to South America, and got a chance to see both Ecuador and Peru.

My father was doing business in Ecuador, so I was lucky enough to accompany him, providing companionship, photography and inadequate translation services. We spent a week in Ecuador and then flew to Peru and met Pippin at the airport. The three of us then checked out Cusco (the center of the Incan empire) and Machu Picchu. After a week, Dad went home and Pippin and I went on to the Amazon rainforest.

A few things we learned: The Incans were far more advanced architecturally than the Spanish. Their structures have survived numerous earthquakes, while the Spanish churches have been rebuilt many times. And all this without the use of any sort of bonding material like concrete. Their rocks were stacked, and shaped in such a way to fit together like puzzle pieces, with nothing but fine sand in between to allow for movement during a quake.

Their celestial skills impressed me, and they were keen enough to know that there are two norths — true north and magnetic north! They leveled tops of mountains and brought rocks the size of our apartment from valleys away — using their own strength. They didn’t have access to large animals like cows and horses until the Spanish brought them.

While the Spanish were greatly inferior architects, they did have superior firepower. They managed to ruin almost everything Incan and convert everyone to Christianity, losing all previous knowledge. The Incans did not have a written language, so there is nothing left to learn from, other than their structures and the writings of the Spanish. The language itself did survive hundreds of years of being banned under Spanish rule, and people in rural areas still do speak Quechua.

I got a chance to cross the Equator again. I actually got the chance to stand on a painted line directly on latitude zero. I played on it a bit, jumping from the northern hemisphere to the southern, and putting one foot on one side, and the other on the other side.

We went to many outside markets, and bought a few local crafts. The weaving is exceptional, using mainly llama and alpaca wool.

We saw many volcanoes. My dad and I stayed in a town called Baños at the base of one which was active. It was strange to go to sleep, knowing that any day now the town may be covered in lava and ash like Pompeii. note: the volcano erupted in August of 2006. not sure if Baños is even there anymore.

Another thing I learned: If you are lost in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, there is no way you’re getting out. There is a reason why they call it ‘The Green Inferno’. It’s huge, it’s hot, and if you got lost, kiss your mosquito bitten ass goodbye.

The rainforest is the harshest place to be alive that I’ve seen. If you’re a plant, good luck trying to get what you need. The soil’s not very deep, and prone to complete flooding. The light is limited, due to the sheer amount of leaves that have beat you to the light overhead. The nutrients are scarce because the other plants are already making use of them to create their leaves and other bits. And, if that’s not enough, everything else either wants to eat you or make a nest out of you.

It’s great to see the adaptations that various living things have made in the jungle. There were leaves which were brown while young, possibly to resemble dead leaves, so bugs would leave them alone. There were trees which have a paper thin outer bark, which sheds frequently, so vines and creeping plants don’t climb and choke it. There are other trees with spikes 3-4″ long coming out, so animals don’t climb or push over the tree for it’s fruit. There are trees which ‘walk’ by moving their roots and leaning towards the light. There are others which grow entirely around another tree, using it as an easy quick way to get to the source of light, and cover it completely.

The bugs are insane, really neat looking. I saw butterflies with clear wings, strange shiny green beetles, stick bugs, and so many different ants that I can’t even tell you how many species. They have ants who not only bite you, but also sting you at the same time! They are called ‘bullet ants’ because apparently when they do this, it feels like you’ve been shot.

There are so many different sounds in the jungle. It seems as though everything has it’s own noise. Each bird and bug and monkey and whatever else has a distinct sound, and they all seem to be making it the whole time. We woke up to howler monkeys. They have that name for a reason. The sound is similar to wind whipping through cracks, that spooky oooooooohhh sound of ‘ghosts’. Really weird way to get up in the morning. There was this really strange bird that sounds like someone was playing an xylophone. The macaws and parrots were very loud.

We got a chance to see the largest eagle in the world, the Harpey Eagle with a wingspan of 7-8 feet. We also got to see the largest otters, the Giant River Otters (6 feet long), and the largest rodent, the Capyberra. Have you noticed a pattern? *Everything* is bigger there, the trees, the bugs and the animals.

The air was thick, and smelled very musty and earthy. Pippin commented that it smelled like, “somebody threw a bunch of plants into a blender.”

I have four separate pages of photos, about 100 photos in total.
Here they are:

Ecuador
Cusco, Peru
The Sacred Valley of the Incas & Machu Picchu, Peru
Rio Tambopata, Amazon Basin, Peru

Enjoy!
/Cee

PS: Many people have asked about the anti-American sentiments overseas, so I will answer your questions.

The South Americans, like the rest of the world, are upset about the war and the current state of United States politics. People everywhere were friendly, but as soon as we told people we were from the States, many found a way to quickly, (and politely) finish the conversation.

The graffiti painted everywhere, and the protests in the streets told of people’s opinions. It’s amazing to see people so involved in politics which don’t affect them in any way. I can’t imagine the average American being so active about another country’s problems.

Every traveler we met from other parts of the world were wary of us. Only after we explained that we were, in fact, against the war, did they warm up and ask us what was going on. I had heard reports from other travelers about going abroad (Mexico, Europe and even Canada) and the anti-American sentiments overseas, but I was a bit unprepared for it. When we were in Asia, people were still very warm due to 9/11, but now there is no more sympathy. I am fearful now to be back in the country, knowing that so many people around the world hate us, more than ever before.