Ecuador with New Community Project

Its been so long since I was in Ecuador. I feel bad, but I want to write this all down someplace. I barely remember all the details, and I'm not sure the best way to go about writing this. I think I'm just going to use the pictures that I posted on facebook and hope that I can remember all the details that go along with it.

Generally speaking, the trip was great. I learned and saw a lot. I saw a beautiful country with lots of problems. They are trying to figure out how to deal with this world where oil will make you big bucks and may help pull your country out of poverty, but they know they have a beautiful resource sitting above all that oil. Nobody pays your country to preserve the rain forest. Letting the rainforest-and the people and animals that live in it- be - doesn't allow for investment in roads, schools, and medical clinics. And without an educated and healthy population - the country and its people will never be able to pull itself out of poverty and minimal-wage jobs.

The Beauty

An Anaconda sitting on a log. The native people believe that the world was created by an Anaconda and an eagle. The anaconda created the water and the land and the eagle created the sky. We saw both an eagle and an Anaconda within a matter of moments out on the river.

I caught a piranha!

The People

Victorianio and his wife. They are some of the oldest community leaders. he told us that the medical problems the community was facing - particularly the children - was his top priority. He passed away a couple weeks after this photo was taken.

Dielo was our guide. He is a shaman - a spiritual leader. He knew so much. He has experienced so much. I wish I could spend more time with him, learning everything he knows.

The Oil

On our way into the rainforest, we saw some trees on their way out. 

We stopped at an oil pit. This is where all the chemicals from the oil separation process end up. Its a large , un-lined pit. These chemicals seep into the ground and certainly end up in the towns drinking and washing water. 

Texaco-Chevaron has been involved in a 20 year lawsuit over an oil spill. They still haven't given a dime to the Ecuadorian people. There was lots of grafiti along this oil pipeline.

I could give all kinds of specific stories about what I learned. If you want to know more, let me know, I'd be happy to tell you all about it. But the overall point is that environmental issues like the rainforest are incredibly important, but so much more complicated than I ever thought possible. If you were to choose between destroying the rainforest and making enough money to feed your family, what would you choose? Would there even be a choice? 

Grand Tetons

Ahhhh this is so delayed, I'd blame work - but it's more just that I'm really lazy.
Ok so we drove straight south from Yellowstone to the Tetons. We were planning on camping at a few different locations, but then decided that since the park was relatively empty, we would head to a campground in the center of the park which was very popular and just stay there for all 3 nights that we were in the Tetons.
Day 1
We set up camp at Jenny Lake Campground around noon. We made some sandwiches for lunch and then went up to Colter Bay and rented a canoe for two hours. Jackson lake is at the base of Mt. Moran and very very pretty. We had 2 hours to paddle around and it was a great alternative to just walking. Although, I think Chris wishes I did more paddling and less picture taking. Other fun addition to this trip was that we didn't bring a time-telling device. Since we had the canoe for a minimum of 2 hours and we didn't want to pay for much more, this was a bit of problem. Amazingly, we guessed right and were gone for 2 hours and 5 minutes!

After the canoeing Chris wanted to do this hike along the lake. It was completely flat and had some ways to cut it short, but if you did the whole hike it was over 9 miles. It was 3pm and sunny when we started. The hike wandered along the lake and through the trees. But there were little tiny mosquitos that were so obnoxious and followed us everywhere. We kept going and once we were about 4 miles out a storm came over the mountains. The temperature dropped like 20 degrees and we were hit by crazy winds. We were a little concerned that trees might fall on us. It made the view a little less enjoyable. But we made it out the point, took a quick break, then headed back to the car.

How pretty and relaxing!

Not quite as nice with the wind blowing. 

Day 2

On the second day we decided to do cascade canyon. The trail head starts across the lake from our campground (Jenny Lake). You can either walk 2 miles around the lake or take a boat across to shave off some time. Since this was going to be a more strenuous hike we decided to shell out the cash and take the boat (well worth it!). The hike starts with a pretty steep climb up to a waterfall and then higher up to inspiration point which looks across Jenny Lake. Then you head back away from the lake and through a canyon which goes right in between 2 mountains. It was beautiful! Added fun because there had just recently been an avalanche so we got to hike over some pretty solid snow. Snow ball fight in June anyone?

It was a really nice hike. A little long but not too steep. Once you got into the canyon it was just a gradual increase. We didn't see any fabulous wildlife, there was supposedly a moose but I never saw it.  I did get the most exciting injury of the trip on this hike though. We were walking over a small patch of snow (the hike that was in the shade still had snow) and when I put my right foot on the snow it gave way under my weight and as I fell down my shin scrapped against a rock and I had 3 big ugly scratches on my leg. We got to break out the first aid kit and Chris pretended that he was already a doctor and tole me what to do. But now every time I see those scars I get to remember this trip - that's a great souvenir isn't it? After we were done we were tired and decided to go out to eat. We went to a restaurant and just ate in the bar. We had a giant stack of nachos (so much nacho and so good!) plus some spinach and artichoke dip. And then delicious drinks. I had a blackberry margarita and Chris had some beers. Best thing ever to not have to cook =)

Day 3

We decided to take a break from the major hiking and do some drives. We drove along snake river. One cool thing was a bunch of old buildings which were beautiful with the mountains in the background. There was also this old house which had been turned into a general store including fresh wood-oven baked cookies (they weren't ready yet when we were there, but how awesome is that?!)

We also had one of our best wildlife encounters at no place other than Moose Visitors Center. The moose was right outside and maybe just 20 feet from the sidewalk. At first he was hidden behind trees but then he came out right in the open. 

After that we did a short 4 mile hike to Bradley/Taggert lakes. This hike wasn't all that exciting, the lakes weren't that pretty and it was a little cold. Maybe we had just been spoiled by the beautiful hike the day before.

Day 4

On our last day and our way out of the park we decided to do one last hike around Phelp's Lake. We got an early start because we really wanted to do this hike early in the morning, and that was a fantastic decision. The lake was beautiful and just at the base of a mountain. They sun was perfect and reflected the mountain and canyon into the perfectly still lake. It was incredible... Perfect end to a fabulous trip

After we left the tetons we drove down to Laramie, WY and then on to Denver to tour 3 breweries (New Belgium, Left Hand, and Avery). We got dinner with a good friend in Denver and then stayed the night there before driving alllll they way back to Batavia the next day. I was going to write a blog about the brewery tours because they were so much fun, but its been so long that I don't remember enough of the details to have much to say :(

Guess that means I'll just have to go back!!

Yellowstone: the world's first national park

Yellowstone is such a unique place. I wouldn't say it was the prettiest place I've ever been (although don't get me wrong, it is pretty), but it does have an incredible amount of thermal features and wildlife. It is one of those places that you have to go at some point in your life, but I don't feel the need to go back for awhile.
I think the easiest way is to just go by day so that I remember everything we did.

Day 1:
We drove into the park through the west entrance, which was very scenic. We picked up groceries and firewood in Cody (which was a good idea, so much cheaper than inside the park!) The first night we got into the park around 6 and to our campsite on the shore of Yellowstone Lake around 7. We saw a big-horned ram on our way into the park!

Day 2:
We headed toward yellowstone canyon, which was just awesome. Huge waterfalls and beautifully colored rock walls. We ended up hiking down one rim around to the other and back again. It was probably close to a 5 hour walk, and after we were exhausted. I would say that there were some parts of the hike we could have skipped, but it was nice to not just drive from overlook to overlook.

After we hiked we ate a quick lunch and stopped to take a shower and then just headed over to our next campsite at Madison. The Madison campsite was not as nice as the bridge bay campsite by the lake. However, it was very conveniently located. 

Day 3: We drove north to mammoth hot springs which are where boiling water comes out of the earth and colors the rocks and creates interesting formations due to the minerals in the water. Before we explored the rocks we did a hike called beaver creek trail. It was okay, supposed to see some wildlife and we didn't see much, but did get some nice views of the hills. It would have been better if it hadn't started to rain when we were about 20 minutes away from the end. It was a cold rain and I had to pee. Hiking with a guy that can just pee wherever he wants is really frustrating...

After the hike we explored the hot springs. It was interesting, but not my favorite. After that we stopped to eat at a nice lunch spot and on our way back south we passed a ton of cars on the side of the road. They were all stopped to look at a grizzly and her two cubs in the field. It was a great bear interaction. They were close enough that you were in awe of their size, but far enough away that it wasn't scary. 

We also stopped at norris which is a geyser basin, with lots of mud pots and hot springs. It was again - okay - not my favorite. 

Day 4: Old Faithful! of course we had to go to old faithful. Our start was delayed by having to wait for a herd of bison to cross the road - it took forever! We made it to old faithful area and realized we were just in time to see Castle erupt - it was awesome. Huge and came with a lot of steam. Right before it started, Chris realized he had dropped his phone somewhere, which became a bit of a distraction - needless to say. We then had to go back to the visitors center and ask if they had his phone. They didn't, but said that it just might not have been turned in yet, and to check back later. It was made more difficult because my phone didn't get good service, so we couldn't call it. 

We decided to not let it ruin the day and went ahead and saw the next Geyser, Daisy, erupt. Then we walked through the boardwalk and were trying to get back to old faithful in time to see it, but we didn't get as close as we planned, because we found out another geyser which isn't regular was about to erupt. So we stopped at a place we could see both old faithful and beehive and got to see them both erupt at the same time. It was a little overwhelming, trying to get photos of both at once!

Then we stopped at a gift shop because we wanted to get some beers to have with lunch ( I wanted my old faithful ale at old faithful!) but the gift shop was in complete disarray and we had to wait in line for like 30 minutes before we were finally checked out. So frustrating, because everything was on a tight schedule. We headed back to the car to make lunch and chris went to go check on his phone. He came back and told me that a park ranger had his phone at the old faithful inn and he was going to go get it. That was such a relief, so I finished our sandwiches and met up with him. We ate as we bustled over to the next geyser. There were two geysers that were going to go off close to each other. Giant geyser and riverside geyser. We decided to go watch riverside (since it was supposed to go first) - but it wasn't that impressive because the wind was blowing it away from the river. While it was going off, Giant erupted so we missed it. I think Chris was disappointed, but overall we got to see a lot of geysers that day. 

Then we had to wait and see old faithful go off. I was cranky because of the heat, so I stayed in the visitors center to cool off, while Chris went to get some gas. We were able to get a good seat for old faithful, and it is just amazing. I'm so glad we waited to see it go off. 

We were tired and decided to go see some of the other themal spots around old faithful. We saw some cool hot spring pools. We also hit up west thumb, which is a region of hot springs and mud pools right next to yellowstone lake. This was beautiful, probably the best thermal area in yellowstone besides old faithful. 

That night we went out at dusk to look for wildlife. We "just" saw a herd of deer and some bison, but we saw a beautiful full moon right next to beautiful mountains. Just incredible in person, and something that a camera really can't capture, but we sure did try. 

Day 5: We woke up and headed out of the park and down to Grand Teton National Park. More on that later!

To see the links to all of my travels click here.

What on earth is in South Dakota

Observations about South Dakota in random order

1. South Dakota is very windy. The first night we were there I couldn't fall asleep because I was just listening to the wind whip through the trees and I was terrified our tent would fall over or our wind flap would blow away. I ended up getting up at like 3 am to take it down because I couldn't sleep.
2. South Dakota is very empty. Very straight roads with nothing as far as you can see (occasionally a dinosaur skeleton)

   3.  The Badlands are really cool and totally worth a stop on your way through.

  4.  It is a lot more fun to leave the trail and explore. We were hiking through the rock formations, and lost the path, which was great because then we just got to explore. We ended up wandering up a valley up to the top which had a great view of everything. We even saw a couple deer hiding in the shade of a tree or two.

  5.  Bison are really not scared of cars and also enjoy staying at the campsite. In the picture right below you can see the bathroom of the campsite and in the second one you can even see a camper. The bison were up there wandering. It scared me but not as much as it scared Chris who didn't even want to drive by these guys. 

  6.  Mt. Rushmore is of course a must see, but there isn't much to do there besides take photos of it. Hence why I ended up with about 200 photos of it.

Overall, this was a great addition to the trip - but not worth a trip on its own, because the highlight was the national parks that we were headed to.

Those later. Read about yellowstone here

Better Late than Never?

I know, its been nearly 2 months since I wrote a blog. It's terrible, but to be fair, I've been super busy living - which means I have a TON of stuff that I want to write about and just haven't had the time or desire to write it all done.
So what all have I been doing since graduation in May? Well, I had a week at home where I was unpacking and organizing all my stuff and packing to get ready for Chris and my road trip. Then Chris and I left for our road trip. We traveled from Batavia to South Dakota and hit up the badlands and Mt. Rushmore. Then we headed into Wyoming and stopped at Devils Tower and then headed into Yellowstone. We were in Yellowstone for 4 nights and 3 days before we drove south into Grand Teton National Park. We were there for 3 nights and about 4 days before we drove south to Denver and did a quick brewery tour (New Belgium, Left Hand, and Avery) and the next day drove back home. Great very long trip with lots of details to come.

We got home on Sunday at like 1am and my mother and I left for the Amazon on Tuesday morning. We were in Ecuador for 9 days and spent 4 days in the jungle - observing the amazing wildlife and learning about a lot of the issues that the native people are facing as they try to make a living without destroying the rainforest.

When we got back we took a short 2 day trip up to Michigan for my cousin's high school graduation open house and also got to see my grandfather who has been very weak for awhile. We saw him saturday evening and he could barely keep his eyes open, it was very sad. Sunday morning he was doing better and was able to have a conversation with us and even made a couple jokes.

After we got back, I headed down to Lexington to help Chris move into his condo and help him decorate it. It was a great trip and nice to explore Lexington a little more. It also meant I got to see dear little Daisy.
Came back from Lexington on July 2nd in time to hang out with our Australian friend, James, who has been traveling around the US for the last couple months. We had a lovely 4th (although it was a little tamer than the celebrations I have had the last few years).

Then, on July 5th, we learned that my grandfather passed away. It was of course sad, but I know that he was so unhappy in the nursing home, and it is nice to know that he is in a much happier place. We were able to rush and get everything together and were able to have the funeral this weekend, which allowed us to race back home Sunday evening so I could start my first day of orientation of the new job bright and early on Monday morning.

A little bit of a crazy month and half isn't it?

So here are the blogs that I want to write over the next few weeks - I'll link them here once I actually write them all down.

• Badlands and Mt. Rushmore
• Yellowstone
• Grand Tetons
• Ecuador 
• Starting the job

On to the next one

Returned from the last vacation tired and a little dirty, but with lots of wonderful photos like these ones

I'd share more about the trip but I've been busy unpacking and re-packing for the next trip to Ecuador and the Amazon. So updates will come a plenty when I return. Until then, hope everyone is enjoying their summers!

Graduation and post-grad vacation plans

Last weekend was graduation! It was a great time to spend with family, and I'm sooo happy to officially have both degrees now. YAY for no longer having to explain to people how I'm a graduate student, but don't technically have my bachelors degree yet!!

I posted photos of the day on facebook, but I had to include this one of me and Ms. Daisy, after all 90% of this blog is about her...

I'm now back home, and actually unpacked at home for the first time in years! (I haven't been at home for longer than a week or so in sooo long it is ridiculous)

But even though school is over and my apartment has been packed up, driven up to Batavia, and then unpacked here... I still am super busy because I'm busy planning this...

In case you can't tell, that is a 3000 mile roundtrip plan from Chicago to the Badlands to Mt. Rushmore to Yellowstone Natl Park to Grand Teton Natl Park to Denver back to Chicago. 

Chris and I leave on our roadtrip and camping extravaganza on Monday and I have discovered that trips taken without your parents require a lot of planning. I have also discovered that I really really like planning all these trips. Heck - I might even write a blog about all the planning - although I doubt I'll have time.

On a positive note, Daisy is staying at home with my and my parents and our elderdog, Sydney, until Chris and I get back from the trip and Chris takes Daisy home with him. Daisy and Sydney are doing great together! Daisy is actually showing submissive behavior towards Syd - something I didn't know if I would ever see. So proud of her. I know that all of this is confusing for her, but I know that my parents will take good care of her while we are gone. And I think she will love the backyard of Chris' new home.