I have a test today. So I preformed a ritual I've perfected since my early days in high school:

1. Determine the amount of time you'd like to study for the exam. (In this case 5 hours).

2. While avoiding, determine the amount of time you really need to squeek by (2.5 hours)

3. Self-handicap by leaving notes somewhere inconvenient (at work). Delay in finding notes (stopping by Matt and Stephanie's for social hour and dropping off wedding gift). Finally bring notes back, and proceed to exercise, eat and clean, before going to bed early without studying.

4. Set alarm to an absurdly early hour (4 a.m.) in the morning to maximize the full (5 hour) study time.

5. Hit snooze until you get to the bare minimum study time (6:00 a.m.)

6. Take an long shower, decide you'll study better at work (7:00 a.m.).

7. Procrastinate by responding to e-mail, doing actual test-unrelated work, etc.

8. Finally begin brief (1.5 hour) study period.

Hope to hell that you don't fail the test.

In college, I did the same thing, but instead of work, I usually went flying or to the newspaper office. Same effect, but probably more enjoyable. When oh when will I ever get to graduate?

Another busy day. I did take time to watch Space Ship One successfully its first flight enroute to winning the X-Prize (Its actually the second manned suborbital flight of the vehicle). There was a scary moment there, when it rolled (nearly 40 times according to the news) and looked like it was tumbling. I guess that's the nature of barnstorming, but it looked pretty serious -- they aren't having too much luck with the control system, I think. The pilot turned the engines off and stabilized it and completed the flight. I still worry about a major disaster curtailing the recent growth of small private enterprise pushing into space. The public can be pretty risk adverse about these things - but without risk, the endeavour isn't worth accomplishing. I'd also like to report that the NASA Administrator used the same quote I have on my web page in his congratulatory speech - Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.

Anyway, I'll use this as another opportunity to express my opinion that pilots rock. A lot of engineers are all about using automated flight systems to control space vehicles. They say it will make it simple, and operations easier. And, in a lot of cases, these systems are actually necessary because the controls are so complicated and counterintuitive and the vehicles are so unstable at high velocity. Personally, I think if you can make a vehicle that is simple enough to be flown by one or two pilots and ditch the automated systems all together and just rely on the pilot -- well, that's perfect. That's a simple system, not one with an advanced autopilot. I wonder if Space Ship One would've survived this flight without pilot control.

Tonight: Massive cram session for my test tomorrow.


And, the funniest e-mail I received this morning:


Since one of our DM'ers sent me this notice about the "smoking grass" across the street, I thought I'd let you know what I know.



I called Security Dispatch last Wed-Thurs to report the "grass on fire", because I saw the same thing myself that morning. I met the Security/Fire Marshalls there--as well as BGfrom the EOC--and they assured me that the fire was not burning--it was just steam coming out of the ground--maybe from a broken steam pipe which they said they were going to check out. I guess they were prompted to rope off the area for now to keep people out of that area. I'm sure that the grass will never grow back as long as they don't change anything. But they assured me it was not fire--just steam.

Yet another busy day. I like being busy at work, it makes me happy. I got to help out briefing an astronaut crew. That was cool. Astronauts are cool (well, at least the limited few I've met). Ok, now I've got that out of my system.

Last night, we had dinner at Mely's. Then I cleaned out my closet. As it turns out, it really does take visitors to force me to organize my life. How things get so disorganized so fast, I don't know. Tomorrow my new bed frame arrives - yeah!

Sarah's going to joing the Peace Corps. No, not really. But this is how rumors get started and her response to that cracked me up!

Well, back to the ExPOC, then onto class. Let's hear it for busy days.

You should read the saga I posted late in the day Friday (late because I'm actually busy at work right now). The end result is that yes, I did decide to get my ear pierced. (Yes, Jen M, ear, singular) The top cartiledge area of my left ear. Why? I don't know. Because I could. And Cari bought me Long Island ice teas for my pain. You can see my hesitant expression here moments before she punctured my ear.

Kelly weighed in with this response: I had a conversation at tim horton's this morning. Well actually, I was asked my opinion on an argument a dad and his 15-16 year old daughter were having. She wanted to pierce through the bottom of her chin, get a tongue ring, and attach the two. Might I suggest that? They would probably have to put you to sleep for something that big. It might help.

The rest of the weekend was kind of a blur of busy, mostly pointless, errands. I will say, getting an oil on canvas framed is mucho cheap. Yeah for that!


I also have to say, I'm totally inthralled with Jack and Bobby. Its about two brothers and their awesome mom in high school, one of whom is going to be President in 2049 called "The Great Believer". Anyway, it flashes back between their story and commentators from 2049 who worked for the President. I highly recommend.

I love swimming at night. That's what I did last night. Its so spooky and peaceful and surreal. I really should go swimming more often than once a week (if I'm lucky).



This weekend I have the following planned: buy a new bed, mow the lawn, go to make pottery for a pseudo-girls night, find someone to finish my molding in the house.


Ok, so the past two days, I've been involved in a continuing dialog with Cari, et al. about permanent body changes. Though I don't want to relieve the entire dialog, well, here, I'll summarize:



Wednesday night


Cari: What do you think of me getting a tattoo?

Becca: That's crazy! Its so permanent.

Nick: Well, from a guy's perspective [giggle at Nick being a guy], tattoos on the small of your back or ankle can be really sex. But think about it when you're 80 and all wrinkly!! Yuck!

Becca: I agree. Too permanent. If you need to make a statement do something else. Why do you want one anyway?

Cari: I just always wanted one. Maybe a fairy. Except Brittany Spears got a fairy. So maybe a unicorn.

Becca: How 'bout an extra ear piercing instead. That's less extreme/permanent. I always wanted an ear cuff.

Cari: Ooh, that would be fun. Let's do that!

Becca: But its the most painful piercing there is [grimacing]. I just don't think its for me!

Cari: Let's do it! Let's do it! Let's do it!

Becca: I'd have to be REALLY drunk for something like that!


Thursday


Cari: [e-mail] I have an idea, I'll take you out for lunch and get you liquored up, and then we'll go pierce our ears.

Becca: Pretend that Cari didn't send that e-mail.


Friday


Becca: [Tells Sarah the whole story and talk more about Cari's French wild side]

Sarah: You couldn't take the pain. But if you go, I want to go to because I'll laugh.

Becca: I'm not getting my ear pierced! It was a casual statement. I'm too old (and prudish) for random piercings!

Gavin: You're not too old. That's a stupid reason.

Kelly: [e-mail] The earring that I got in the top of my ear did not hurt at all. I even slept on that side the first night. Also, I am not "an android with no actual capacity to feel physical pain." And, I wasn't asked to send you this.


I guess you'll find out on Monday if there's enough alcohol in the world to convince me to get a piercing. And this all starting with Cari's ridiculous notion of a tattoo. Which she's going to probably get anyway.

Ok. In a bizarre twist of nature, Ivan is coming for Houston. You know, the Hurricane that hit Florida and headed up to Pennsylvania TWO WEEKS AGO? Yeah, that one. It spawned a baby tropical system in the Gulf, which has become a not-so-baby tropical storm. (Aside: Yes, mother's are always right, even when you make fun of them and tell them this is impossible.)

I don't know what else to say except put the text of the National Hurricane Center's discussion page from yesterday:


AFTER CONSIDERABLE AND SOMETIMES ANIMATED IN-HOUSE DISCUSSION OF THE DEMISE OF IVAN...IN THE MIDST OF A LOW-PRESSURE AND SURFACE FRONTAL SYSTEM OVER THE EASTERN UNITED STATES...THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER HAS DECIDED TO CALL THE TROPICAL CYCLONE NOW OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO TROPICAL DEPRESSION IVAN. WHILE DEBATE WILL SURELY CONTINUE HERE AND ELSEWHERE...THIS DECISION WAS BASED PRIMARILY ON THE REASONABLE CONTINUITY OBSERVED IN THE ANALYSIS OF THE SURFACE AND LOW-LEVEL CIRCULATION.

One of the managers sent out a very brief e-mail to the division reminding us that Rain-X on your windshield can help with the heavy rain expected by Ivan. Some smart aleck replied to the whole division with the following:

"Hi, I'm R.G. You may remember me from such films as, The Longest Day: DM Budget Meeting, and Castaway: The Story of X-38. I'm here as a representative of Swift Boat Vets for Clear Windshields (SBVCW). We at SBVCW know the importance of being able to see clearly during heavy rainstorms. Back in 1967, Sen Kerry was leading our boat on a river patrol through a monsoon and was able to capture 32 divisions of Viet Cong due to his ability to see clearly through the windshield. Unfortunatley, in the heat of battle, he sustained wounds from shell fragments (albeit, egg shell fragments from his breakfast). He was honored with the Purple Heart and a lifetime supply of Rain-X. Rain-X, the only windshield product endorsed by R.G. and the SBVCW."

I am so very tired. I am looking forward to going home tonight and doing nothing. Yep yep.

I'm not even going to talk about class last night and how I got in trouble and how my school is totally not set up for a part-time student. Grumble.

As an amateur reviewer... Hair last night was very good. It wasn't quite what I was expecting (I expected more of a plot) and I can certainly see how it caused a stir in 1968. The local newspaper described it as a "period piece" rather than social criticism. Certainly its messages of "free love" and "drugs are fun" were pretty much lost on me. I'd probably have been a big prude in the 60's too. Its messages about war and protesting are a little more relevent. It was too late at night for me to sort out all the symbolism in the choreography. There was obviously symbolism, but I would've had to think to hard to figure out its meanings.

The people sitting around us in the theatre were all old. And they were getting really nostalgic. Actually, the older man sitting next to me was really upset with the first act. He kept muttering to his wife things along the lines of "damn hippies." They didn't return after intermission (I ask what they thought the musical would be about?) There were some brassy old dames in front of us who were awesome. At the end of the first act - right after the nude scene (as it turns out they did include it) - one of them declared, fairly vocally, "That was it? I barely got a good look! It was way too dark. They need to turn the lights up!"

Since I'm reviewing things, I also must highly recommend Reading Lolita in Tehran. I'm not actually finished with it yet, but so far, its one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. The author, an English literature professor, describes books as an almost sensual experience, in the same way she describes tea and pastries with good friends, or strolls in the park with her "magician." Maybe I relate even more, because some of the books she centers her memoir around are some of my favorites (I just finished the Gastby section, and that's one of my all-time favorites). I've felt that way about books before, and I've never seen those feelings expressed so elequontly and perfectly. Its a must read.

Not much to say today. I'm doing a new thing at work that should occupy me for about a day. I'm still sleepy from the weekend. I had Mely's for the third time in 5 days last night, I should really cut myself off.

Tonight, I have class, and then I'm going to see Hair. They cut the naked scene out, which disappoints me. I mean, not that I go to the theatre just to see naked people, but its part of what Hair is known for. Plus, I'd like to think that even though it was censored as "risque" back in the day, modern America could handle it. I mean, we watch naked people on t.v., why not in real life?

A little humor in Kerry-bashing. Football Fans for Truth.

And the Kerry-Letterman Top 10 Bush Tax Code Revisions:

10. No estate tax for families with at least two U.S. presidents.

9. W-2 Form is now Dubya-2 Form.

8. Under the simplified tax code, your refund check goes directly to Halliburton.

7. The reduced earned income tax credit is so unfair, it just makes me want to tear out my lustrous, finely groomed hair.

6. Attorney General (John) Ashcroft gets to write off the entire U.S. Constitution.

5. Texas Rangers can take a business loss for trading Sammy Sosa.

4. Eliminate all income taxes; just ask Teresa (Heinz Kerry) to cover the whole damn thing.

3. Cheney can claim Bush as a dependent.

2. Hundred-dollar penalty if you pronounce it "nuclear" instead of "nucular."

1. George W. Bush gets a deduction for mortgaging our entire future.

I just got from the weekend in Kansas City. You know, the vacation destination of the century. I'll write more details later. Until then, you can read up on Sarah and Jo's blogs. Also, Sarah posted her pictures here.


The highlights:



1. Staying in a hotel that was also a shopping mall. Not a boring, stupid mall. But an awesome mall with a Crayola store and the coolest toy store ever and a day spa to get my hair and nails done. Seriously, we arrived Friday night and did not leave the mall until Saturday night for Matt's wedding.



2. Matt and Stephanie's wedding. It was the first non-family wedding I've ever been too. As it turns out, without a full Mass, weddings can be really short and sweet. Basically string quartet plays, girl walks down isle, ceremony follows: "Will you, will you... dad gives away... love, honor, cherish... kiss the bride", wham bam, 15 minutes it was over.



3. The reception. Lots of dancing, some wine drinking, some more dancing, and yummy spinach dip and wedding cake, some more dancing. The DJ had to kick us all out at midnight because of blue laws. Bizarre.



4. Swooning. Why swooning? We had an entire Major League Soccer team staying on our floor at the hotel. I mean, seriously, lots of really sexy, really good soccer players.



Now, for a little "How To"...if you want to get him:

into your hotel room in the middle of the night, follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Go to Nick and Jo's hotel room and swing the door wide open (their room was across the hall, rather than next to, his door).

Step 2: Primp for a wedding, giggling and talking really loudly by the mirror by the wide open door.

Step 3: Flirt with his Dad as he comes by.

Step 4: Yell through the door "Good luck on the game" as you leave for the wedding.

Step 5: Spend all wedding talking about cute soccer players during all breaks in dancing. Check game score using t-mobile phone.

Step 6: Rush back to the hotel, thinking the team would win the game and be partying.

Step 7: Be surprised when all is quiet at hotel. Put ear to soccer players' door and hear them talking quietly inside.

Step 8: When it becomes apparent that players aren't leaving the room, slide a note under the door congratulating them on win.

Step 9: Have Nick exchange a few words with players, feel very stupid when you find out they actually lost.

Step 10: Go to bed, giving up on soccer players. Put on pajamas.

Step 11: Be very surprised when soccer player calls you and ask where the party is. You offer to have a pajama party. No joke.

Step 12: Soccer player arrives in room.

The crazy thing was, our conversation was very odd. We would ask him some question about what its like to be a globetrotting soccer star ("So what do you during the off-season?" "Um, practice for the National Team, hang out."... "Have you ever met M.H.?" "She's cool. Really ripped."). Then, he would ask us about the space shuttle ("I know lots of people work at NASA, so I'm sure you get this a lot, but you're not actually rocket scientists are you?" "Um, yeah [shy smile]... we are." ... "What do you need to figure out about how the space shuttle flies?" "Well, entering the atmosphere is really fast and really hot, so you have to plan your entry really carefully...").

Besides shop talk, there's was obviously also flirtation involved. But it was just random shooting the breeze for two hours ("Would you rather walk on the moon or spend the night with a person of your choice?"). I think Sarah was the only one who actually realized how famous he was while we were talking. Jo and I were just enamoured by the exotic-ness of someone who was an athlete and not a nerdy engineer sitting in our room without his shirt on. Now that I actually look it up on the Internet, I realize I might as well been having a conversation with Michael Jordan or David Beckham. Well, maybe not that much of a star, but pretty close to the top of his game. And I guess he probably doesn't get the chance to have conversations with girl-rocket scientists a lot, so maybe it was even. Though we don't get paid nearly as well.

I'm off to Kansas City for Matt & Stephanie's wedding this afternoon. This will actually be the second time I've been through K.C. The first was when I flew there, only to drive 3 hours for the High School National Championship debate tournament in Topeka. I have fond memories of Topeka (not just because of my fancy trophy either) - we kept asking people what they did for fun in Topeka, and they all said "Oh, we go to Kansas City." Bizarre. Also, to betray my stunning lack of knowledge of world geography, I didn't know until we arrived at the airport that Kansas City was in fact in Missouri.

The Iraq War hit a little closer to home this week. Recently, I had the discussion that it was only a matter of time before most of us would know someone who was injured or killed in the fighting. Then, I got an e-mail telling me that an aquaintance from Georgia Tech was killed by hostile fire on Wednesday. I feel funny reacting so strongly, since I didn't really know him well. Most of my friends knew him because he was Georgia Tech's undergraduate student body president. I knew him because he escorted me during the weekend of Field Training Exercises with the Army ROTC. I was there observing as a reporter for the Technique - he taught me how to use night vision goggles and shoot an M-16. I asked him and the other ROTC students about their aspirations and their fears and their reasons for joining the Army. I didn't print too many of their responses because they seemed too personal to be public. Its a sad day whenever someone's life is cut short by violence. And a little shocking when a member of your generation is that victim.

I had a sim all morning. Nothing exciting happened except I was left pretty much on my own for several hours (yeah for responsibility).

Now its of to class. Not as stressful as usual, since I actually got nearly an 8 hour day in at work today because of the early morning wake up call for the sim.

Tomorrow, I'm off to Kansas City, the vacation destination of the century.

My big excitement for today: Matlab Release 14. My life is so boring that I spent over 30 minutes marveling at its new and upgraded features. Particularly exciting were neat "new" ways to interact with figures. It also has a "cell mode" that in all likelihood will simply serve to keep me from annoying Gavin by providing an alternative to me continuously cutting and pasting snipets of code into a command window.

Ok, how pitiful is my professional life?

I did get to show off some cool pictures of airfields earlier. Hao Atoll has new meaning after reading Sex Lives of Cannibals and its jokes about life on an atoll. (Def: atoll = a coral island consisting of a reef surrounding a lagoon).

Last night work + school + shopping + cheesecake factory = boring + exhausting + unproductive + yummy.

I am such a geek.

Jo is my favorite person on the planet right now. She just gave me a whole bag of cheese-its to satiate my bizarre salt craving I've been having all afternoon. Yeh Jo!


Do I need this t-shirt?

A picture from lego night:




Nick says I look like a "bad ass" in the picture. That makes me laugh.



Here's Jen's trip report from Longs Peak. I swear, I am going to buy myself a domain and post the Peru pictures and write a good trip report from Peru and convince Sarah to redesign my blog SOON. Promise promise.



I am dragging this morning.

I dragged my ass out of bed to go running. Then I dragged myself to work (I was hoping to get in by 7:30, but didn't get in until 8, sigh). Then there was a freak rain shower and I had my roof down, so I had to dragged it up in a gas station. (Ok, so I should've seen it coming, it was beautiful in League City, but by the time I crossed the Kemah Bridge, the road was wet and the clouds were looking less fluffy and more ominous). Now I'm dragging my feet about getting started for the day -- I waste so much time when I don't have much to do. And I don't have much to do.

I had weird dreams last night, but I can't remember most of them. I did have the re-occuring traveling mass-transit chaos dream that I get once a week or so and the being sent to jail for a crime I may have committed dream that I get once a month. I think I dreamt a lot.

Even Apache was dragging. I had to practically coax her outside this morning.

Today will be long. Leave for class after 3. After class, I'm going to the Galleria to shop for a dress to wear to Matt & Steph's wedding (I swear, even if I was the bride, I probably would've waited until the last minute...). Then maybe dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Back home, sleep, repeat.

Looks like Hurricane Ivan will miss us (I know, no big surprise there). I am still concerned about how every forecast update shifts its path further west, though.

Did I really just get back from vacation? I feel like I need another one already.

4 p.m. Update: Ok, I'm totally paranoid, but there's a non-zero chance of Ivan coming to Houston. Category 5 is scary. See here, slightly less than 10% chance is will end up near here. Ug!

Well, I basically did nothing all weekend. Went to Matt & Steph's very hot hot-tub. Slept in both days. Did the Lego party thing (and Nick cooked a VERY yummy dinner). Did some lawn work. Bought some new clothes (still don't have a dress though). Bought Sex Lives of Cannibals, the hillarious book that Aunt Nancy let me read in Peru but I didn't get to finish (I also got Reading Lolita in Tehran because I should be done with Sex Lives really fast). Never got around to doing the Peru trip report (oh well). Took the dogs on a walk. Got a little worried about the continued westward movement of Ivan (a little rain, wind, and destruction of a category 1 or 2 hurricane in Houston might be a nice meteorological diversion from the real world, but a cat 5 hit just scares the living daylights out of me -- the whole city would be under water!) Went grocery shopping. Had a goodbye dinner for Chris, who is off to Stanford for the year (making him yet one more person who will both start and finish his masters degree while I'm still working on mine). That's about it.

Gun rant

Today, by filling out some paperwork, you can once again buy an Uzi, AK-47, or one of several other semi-automatic weapons.

Just for reference, a semi-automatic rifle is defined by meeting two of the following characteristics: Folding or telescoping stock; Protruding pistol grip; Bayonet mount; Flash suppressor or threaded barrel to attach one; Grenade launcher

A semi-automatic pistol is defined by meeting two of the following characteristics: Magazine outside grip; Threaded barrel; Barrel shroud; Unloaded weight of 50 ounces or more; Semiautomatic version of automatic weapon.

These really sound like great things for "hobbiests" to collect.

The problem is, sounds like the weapons ban didn't really ban much anyway, so its not really such a tragedy that its expiring. It grandfathered in existing Uzi's and AK-47's (etc.), so you could still get a "used" one. It had so many exceptions that it was very easy to get a modified version of the same guns.

I'm always so torn when it comes to gun control. It freaks me out that anyone and their brother can buy a grenade launcher. Then you read the text of the Second Amendment: A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. It seems pretty clear here that the framers had in mind that people should be able to bear arms for the express purpose of "securing freedom", otherwise known as overthrowing the government. Or does "well-regulated militia" just mean the National Guard? Or does "well-regulated" give the government enough license to at least ban certain types of guns or heavily restrict who can get licenses to hold them? At the very least, you'd have to accept the basic premise that you'd have to eliminate/amend the second amendment for a comprehensive ban on weapons (an idea I wouldn't be entirely opposed to).

Personally, I would be happy with guns being legal if it was at least as difficult to posess a gun as it is to get a pilots' license. Filling out some forms and taking a short test is just not enough to protect people from the crazies.

This is an interesting perspective on the issue.

Following the lead of others, I've updated my visited countries list (no, I didn't include Panama, because, I guess an airport stop doesn't really count). I've been to 21 countries, only 9% of the world!

create your own visited country map

Its going to be a long day today. To complete my week, I have to work over 10 hours today, which I don't think is going to happen. Guess I'll have to use some vacation time to make up the difference. The thing that bugs me is that next week is going to be REALLY busy, and here I am struggling to get time in this week. Oh well.

No exciting plans for the weekend: party at Matt & Steph's new house tonight, party at my house (Nick is having a lego construction party) tomorrow night, some sleeping and life-organizing, and buying a dress for Matt & Steph's wedding. That about sums it up.

I'm actually not feeling so hot right now. I stay healthy all the way through Peru, and now its almost like this stupid American food is making me occasionally sick to my stomach. Bizarre.

I am not nearly as excited as Irwin about the fall season (probably because I don't watch as much t.v.). But I was *very* entertained by the Apprentice last night, and then the pilot for "Medical Investigations." Though, too bad that show probably won't last, with its Friday night at 10 pm timeslot. Oh well.

Sarah posted her pictures here. They can also be viewed (as a rather long) slideshow here.

I promise, this weekend, I'm going to get around to posting pictures and writing a trip report. Until then, you'll just have to "make do" with Sarah's 500+ photos and the few I posted over the last couple of days!

Things are surreal right now. Last week at this time, I was on a train to Machu Picchu. Two weeks ago this time, I hadn't even left for Peru. This morning I was in Starbucks. Two years ago, I was roadtripping in Scotland. Three years ago, I was in Switzerland watching the "Flugtag." You'd think I'd be satisfied with the amount of "adventure" in my life. But I'm not. Whenever I feel like this, I think to myself "must start flying again." Random trips to random airports always quenched my need for a random adventure. But then life gets in the way. But I think its that time to start again. I just need to save up a little bit o'cash. Ah, Peru.

In other news, Ivan is headed strait to Mom's house, making it hurricane #2 for the week. Guess power will be out for a bit longer than expected. This all makes you wonder if they even know a hurricane is coming, what with no t.v. and internet and all. Mom seems more preoccupied with chasing down ice trucks at the moment.

Ok, I have much to accomplish today before heading out for class.

Sarah will post some pictures of the Inca Trail here hopefully sometime today.

Ah Peru. Went through 113 e-mails when I got into work. I probably would've had more, but my mailbox exceeded its size limit. In between e-mails, I managed to relive a lot of the trip while showing pictures to co-workers. It was an awesome trip. I skipped work yesterday to mow my lawn and do my laundry from the trip -- what a waste of hooky-playing. I literally had to drag myself to class. Ah Peru.

Ok, more pictures today:

The required "human sacrifice" photo:

We saw this band hiking up the mountain on the Inca Trail with their instruments. They had two performances that night on the mountain. Check out the enormous HARP one of the guys was carryinig up the mountain on his back!

Machu Picchu and Me.

River rafting.

The end of the Inca Trail, everyone together again.

Another group shot.

I'm back!!

Peru was awesome! The Andes were incredible! Machu Picchu was spectactular! I'll, of course, do a way more thorough trip report, but here are the details in brief:

Friday, Aug 27: Arrive in Lima. Tired, happy.

Saturday: Transfer to Cusco (old capital of Inca empire, altitude 11,000 ft). Wander around the Plaza de Armas, enjoy our fabulous hotel, see Incan walls, still standing as the foundations to lots of buildings (awesome engineers!).

Sunday: In the morning, head to the Pisac market, go on massive shopping spree.

In the afternoon, head to the Temple of the Sun (now a Chruch), the Spanish cathedral, and the ruins of Sacsaywaman(pronounced scarily close to "Sexy Women"), , and Tambo Machay. I ate alpaca for dinner, yum!

Monday: White water rafting. No digital pictures from me, but I have some great film ones to post later.

Tuesday: 4 a.m., start heading out to KM 82, the beginning of the Inca Trail. Hike 4+ miles, up 1000 feet, and Jen is too sick to continue. End up camped out in a random village to escort Jen down. Everyone else goes up.

Wednesday: Hike back the way we came, end up tracking down Karen's hotel in Urbumba. It has a ranch, tennis court, spa, pool. You know, all the necessities of life. We have a two-story bungalow to ourselves.

Thursday: Karen, Jen and I head to Machu Picchu the easy way - by train. Beautiful ride suddenly makes me a little sad about not doing the trail. Guess I'll have to go back to Peru.

Friday: Another gosh-darned early morning, as Jen, Karen and I hike back up the end part of the Inca trail toward the Sun Gate to meet the rest of the group as the come off the trail. Success! Have pizza for dinner, because it appears to be the only type of resteraunt in the whole town. Also find out a hurricane is bearing down on my mom's house (follow-up: the eye passed barely to the north of her, she still doesn't have electricity).

Saturday: Back to Machu Picchu to climb Huayna Picchu (tall mountain in background of all the pictures). Yet another beautiful view.

Sunday: Fly back to Lima. Sad to leave enormous Andes. Wander around town, see cathedral, president's house, Congress, and Inquisition Museum. Have dinner on the Pacific ocean. Yummy!

Monday: Come home. Even more sad. Passed through Panama. Happy dogs. Dinner at Mely's. Decide to skip work on Tuesday. Geesh, I'm such a slacker.