And then there was Peru, Day 1 & 2

So, expect a few updates from us here and there while we are traveling abroad, but sadly pics and videos are not on the menu. What has happened in the last few days?

We flew to Lima Peru, from Denver to Dallas-Ft Worth to Miama to Lima. Arriving at 4:30am, we took a cab to where we were slated to stay the next night. The airport is 20km or so from Miraflores (the ¨tourist district¨), and the ride at 5am on a Sunday night was quite a site. Basically, it looked like the abandoned ruins of a once giant metropolis. No cars. No lights. Shantys built on top of each other. We later learned that some of what looked like destruction was actually construction...it just has the tendency to look like a bombed out schell of a building while being built.

The place we were staying ended up being nothing more than a guys house with a few rooms/beds for rent. Don´t get me wrong, it was a decent place, and the proprietor was SUPER nice and helpful...but it did make us wonder how this place got to be number 4 on B&B´s/Inns in all of Lima...and you could book with Travelocity?!?

Anyway, the place was dead at 5 am, so we went to nearby Lion Backpackers, which was kind of gross, but at least a place to sleep until it was daytime again. We slept for a few hours and then went back to our B&B (Tradiciones was the name), and found out that it was full, despite the reservation.

We spent the day wandering around Miraflores, which is basically the nicest part of Lima, but is not a place worth going out of your way to visit. We had an awesome lunch of ceviche, which is the local (Peruvian) specialty of raw fish (whitefish, I believe) marinated in lemon/lime juice. Highly recommended!

Our walk took us to the ocean, which sits 200 or so feet below some perilous cliffs, that are basically just hardened mud with a few stones in them. Angelo, our host, said that it hasn´t truly rained there in 2000 years (just a sprinkle here and there). That´s a good thing, because a lot of infrastructure would be sent sliding into the ocean. There is decent beack all along the coast, but you´re not supposed to swim in/near Lima, due to pollution...plus the water is freezing. There were a few hearty surfers out there.

After a quick stroll through Parque al Amor, where numerous couples were full on making out (clothes on, of course)...perhaps it was the giant sculpture of a man and woman in passionate embrace that set the tone?

We strolled back through downtown Miraflores, which surrounds Kennedy Park. Nothing special of note, but there were a LOT of people out and about. Milling. Looking at the photography exhibit. Snacking. Etc.

We got back to B&B Tradiciones, and luckily they had space for us (there was a backup plan), and we ended up getting dinner from an enormous supermarket nearby.

Okay, so I´ve been doing this too step by step, so I´ll speed it up.

The next day we went for a run down by the ocean, which had mixed results. There were cars going by fairly often, but at least we didn´t have to wait at streetlights. This is a good time to mention that it´s basically first come, first serve in terms of traffic. Whoever gets their nose out there first gets to go, and while there are walk signals, you certainly don´t get the kind of space from cars you´d like, they speed on by the second you´re out of their path.

Also, on side streets, cars honk twice politely to announce that they´re speeding through, and other cars should make way. Of course, it´s very similar to the honk that every taxi driver gives when they see us walking (assuming that the tourists need a ride somewhere). So basically, we´re getting honked at all the time.

We looked for a lunch place that we had seen in our Lonely Planet, but could not find it. The two books we had gave different addresses, as well as a location on a map that was also wrong, so we ended up at Tropical. Asking for a menu, she pointed to the tiny 2 inch by 2 inch scraps of paper on the table that listed the lunch menu. Choose one of these 5 appetizers, one of the 5 mains, and you get juice and desert. It was $3. The food wasn´t fantastic, but you can´t really argue with prices like that!

In the afternoon, we went downtown (taking a cab, and becoming best friends with the driver who gave us his cell phone number so we could call him and get a tour of some of the outlying cities when we returned from Cuzco) to what we determined was basically the only really scenic view in Lima, Plaza Mayor. Flanked by important (gov´t, cathedral, etc) buildings on all sides, it´s a great little plaza. But, after about 3 minutes, you want to wander along. A little girl came up to us, trying to sell these colorful little string people. We had already been conned into buying some the day before, so we were´t falling for it. I talked to her a bit in spanish, and learned that she does this every day, which made me sad. Her brother? excitedly told us that he knew the english word for Monkey!, which Janet and I found pretty amusing.

The Museo de la Inquisition was next (Museum of the Inquisition....pretty close to english right?). We didn´t want to wait an hour for the English tour, so we took the spanish one, and after each room I translated to Janet what I picked up. The cool part was that the museum was actually in the official headquarters for the inquisition of all South America...which unfortunately gave us some pretty lofty expectations. I think in the end, they just recreated many of the things as best they could.

The downtown is pretty giagantic and dirty...so much noise, people and pollution. We wandered a bit, looking for the art museum (but forgot our book with the map), and not even the guy who sold tourist maps could help us (he actually had never even heard of the National Art Museum, even though it turned out to be less than a half a mile away...and closed on Mondays).

We took a cab back and ended up once again wandering aimlessly looking for a restaurant that didn´t seem to exist. We finally found it, only to learn that sadly tonight, all they had was spaghetti?!? So we ate Korean?!? Which was quite tasty, except that we forgot about all the appetizers and free soup they bring you, and overordered.

Next stop, Cuzco (where all the tourists go).

We made it!

Running out the door right now for Peru...if we can't update from abroad, look forward to the juicy details of our trip when we return!

Day 11: Hot Springs to Estes Park, CO

Even though we wouldn't be arriving at our new apartment today, it still felt like the last day of our trip. We woke up early and went back into town at 7ish. Lo and behold, we could only find 1 place that was open at that hour, and it appeared that we were the only "outsiders" eating at the time. Everyone else seemed to know each other.

But what did we care, our total bill was: $8.06. Coffee, toast, 1 scrambled egg, 2 scrambed eggs, oatmeal, 1 pancake, 1 blueberry muffin. And oh, the pancake was 9 or 10 inches across. Ridiculous.

We immediately drove north 5 or 10 miles to Wind Cave State Park for a tour of Wind Cave, the 4th longest cave in the world (129 miles of explored passageways). The 3rd largest is right nearby, and the largest is in Kentucky I believe.

To my delight, there was a giant display about the black footed ferret. This awesome creature of the wild was thought to be extinct in the late 1970's, but a group was discovered and many have been bred in captivity. Long story short, they are making a comeback, and primarily live in prairie dog colonies in South Dakota and Wyoming (including this very state park!). Not sure how that works exactly since 90% of their diet is prairie dogs, but the information was a little fuzzy regarding that. I didn't see any in the wild (they are nocturnal), but I can assure you they are super cute.

Anyway, we were on the first tour of the morning, and well, as expected, it was pretty dark in there so these videos may not be worth much:



Sorry about the quiet audio, it was like a library in there! It's me saying something to the effect of: "This is boxwork. 90% of the worlds boxwork is inside this cave. It's formed when calcite seeps into the cracks in limestone, and then the limestone is slowly eroded away from acid in the water (it's not actually a wet cave, but it's just groundwater seeping through) leaving the calcite."



The cave was fairly small and narrow for the most part, with occasionally larger rooms like the one shown above. They have a 4 hour tour where you have headlamps and kneepads and you get to crawl around without floodlights placed every few feet, but sadly we didn't have time for that. So the tour we were on was basically along concrete steps and a pathway, taking away some of the experience. We'll definitely do the other next time we are there!

All and all, definitely worth it, but sadly you take an elevator to get out! :-(

We were in Wyoming before you knew it (problem with the Welcome to Wyoming video). We stopped for lunch in Cheyenne. Not much to say about that. Cute, tiny downtown.

Janet took over the driving duties and led us into our final state...Colorado! Grr...problem with the Colorado video.

I was amazed that we didn't really see the mountains at all in Wyoming, just flatness, but almost as soon as we entered Colorado, we could see the distant Rocky Mountains, beckoning us. A little ahead of schedule, we decided to surprise our friend Kelly in Estes Park. She works at the renowned RiverSong Bed and Breakfast Inn and greeted the door as though we were any other guests...followed by a momentary second or two of computing who we actually were, and then was super surprised and happy to see us!

Coincidentally, our friend Mary from Boston was also visiting her at that very moment:


I forgot to mention the drive into Estes Park from Longmont...completely amazing. Janet and I couldn't stop looking at each other like "this is where we live...!?!?". Steep, mountainous canyon walls on either side of the windy road as it wound alongside the river. And when you get to Estes Park, there is a curtain of giant mountains framing the distant Rocky Mountain National Park with it's snowy covered goodness.

The RiverSong is at the end of a dirt road, alongside a creek. It smells like pine trees. Here is the view from atop the rocks across the street (actually taken the next morning):



The night ended with all of us (including Kelly's bf Christopher and his co-worker Bo) sitting around chatting, eating cheese (some of us), drinking wine (some of us) with the doors and windows open, because well...that's how they do it in Colorado.

Those Crazy Wyomingers

If you ever go to this place, order this thing as your dessert.

Those Crazy South Dakotans

Redefining Fast Food:

Day 10: Minneapolis to The Badlands, SD

We had intended to get up at 6am, but for some reason Janet's watch did not alert us (perhaps a consequence of setting it in the dark?), so we got up a bit late. But not too late for Blake's famous waffles:



Today was driving across Minnesota and almost all the way across South Dakota. It forces you to find amusement in just about anything:



So, aside from that, the main scenery was:





As we entered on South Dakota, we came up with a few other things we're excited about in Colorado:





Time flew by somehow (partially because we entered Mountain Time) and we were at Badlands National Park. After advice from the lady at the entrance booth, we took the short hike along the Notch Trail. The only semi-craziness was the part where you had to climb this shaky ladder:



The funny part actually, was waiting for other people to come down before we went up. The very bottom of the ladder is almost horizontal, but you don't necessarily notice as you're climbing down. So the people before us were taking FOREVER and spending 10 seconds on each rung. When they reached the bottom, and finally stood up, they had this sheepish look like: "oh, I should have just stood up and walked down instead of crawling backwards like I was clinging to it for dear life".

We reached the lookout:



And a little panorama of the hike back down the Notch Trail:



Before we drove away from the main parking lot on the Eastern edge of the park, we took one last look out "The Window":



As you drive west through the park, it seems like you come to the end of the "good stuff" in terms of scenery, but it keeps getting more amazing...and greener?!?



The park itself is pretty awesome to see, although, it's probably a 1 day, drive through (with a short hike or two) type of place. Unless, you go camping on your own. You can camp anywhere as long as you are a certain distance of the road. It would be pretty cool to just head out and camp on a distant grassy plateau.

The park is split up into two different pieces, and Ryan thought: "what a great idea, let's drive to the other side", not realizing that much of the drive was on a gravel road. So at the midway point, we reached the town of Scenic, South Dakota, which looks like this:



Yes, that's the entire town.

And in our continuing animal coverage, here are some of the other inhabitants:



The sheep were a little skittish, and those calves where very standoffish...stomping the ground and trying to protect the sheep.

So beyond Scenic, we entered the other half of the park, which was almost all gravel road. Still scenic, but perhaps not as much so. After finally getting out of the park, we were essentially locked into another 25 miles on gravel road. So yes, in South Dakota they do put gravel roads on the map apparently. This road was listed on my map that shows the entire state on one page!

We got into Hot Springs (setting for the movie Crazy Horse) at dinner time, and hit up the hopping looking All-Star Grill. The food was decent, but they were very backed up and the food took a long time. Thankfully, in the shadow of two Brett Favre posters, we were able to watch freestyling Monster Trucks on TV. To make it up to us, Janet's beer was free. Our total bill was $16.

One of the waitresses told us about a good nearby campground, which we amazingly found in the darkness (after a mile or so down a gravel road with numerous unlabeled turnoffs). And promptly set up the tent and immediately fell asleep.

Total Distance Traveled: 661 miles!

Day 9: Minneapolis - Part 2

We had a brief 30 minute window for recovery, and then we were off to downtown. We took a bus down to the Nicollet Mall, an outdoor pedestrian mall in the heart of downtown (makes a lot of sense in place like Minneapolis where it's freezing most of the year, right?).

With some time to kill waiting for the Brewers / Twins game to start, we explored Mill Ruins Park, on the bank of the Mississippi River:





Very cool. Like many cities, Minneapolis has recently renovated, restored, and rebuilt in previously decaying industrial areas, and the results are some great mixed-use developments with easy access to just about everything.

The Brewers game was quite a treat. Even though I hadn't heard many good things about the Metrodome, what really made it a good time was that nearly half the stadium was filled with Brewers fans (this was the highest total attendance all season except for opening night). We were in the bleachers amongst some fun-loving Brewer fans:



This went on all night (it helped that the Brewers were dominating). Notice how towards the end of the video the Twins fans are trying to boo down the chants? Also, I got a great clip of Bill Hall doubling with the bases loaded in the third inning:



I lost track of the number of high-fives given somewhere around the second inning.

Although most of the jawing between fans was in good fun, at one point a Twins fan walked up to one of the guys in front of us, took the dude's hat off, and threw it to the ground. A fight almost broke out, and in fact, I think a punch was thrown. Security was on it pretty quickly. No one got thrown out until the guy right in front of us (who wasn't involved) started chanting "Sit Back Down" and was immediately tossed?!? He reappeared (to thunderous applause) a half an inning later, telling us that security thought he was chanting: "Suck my #$%@".

One other noteworthy item in rivalry...at some point a female Twins fan came down and sat with one of the Brewers fans for a while, chatting and flirting with him. A minute or two later a Twins fan (who didn't appear to know the woman) came down and escorted her out, and back to a group of Twins fans. Quite amusing.

My dilemma of whether or not to get a Brat (which I tend to eat on trips home, almost in homage more than anything else...) was finally solved when the Cookie guy caught my eye. Cookies?!? Yes. Someone thought it would be a good idea to sell containers of a dozen medium sized cookies to people sitting in their seats. For the paltry sum of $5. Not only that, but they were still warm (with melting chocolate chips to boot)!

The final note about the Metrodome, the ceiling is held up by pressurized air, so to enter, you have to go through a revolving door airlock (you can feel the pressure difference in your ears). When you leave, you are literally sucked out of the building:



Miles today running/walking: Approximately 11

Public Service Announcement: Sisterly Love

Day 9: Minneapolis - Part 1

I forgot to mention...you might have noticed that I eventually shaved. Well, it turns out that the fantasy of letting yourself go after you get married is just so much better than the reality. Plus, it's summer...the less hair the better!

Get ready, this day was a doozy:

We woke up super early and ran/rollerbladed around Lake of the Isles and then Kenwood Park, and past some amazing homes in the historic Lowry Hill neighborhood. This was about a 4 mile excursion.

Then we went to Minnehaha park for a quick walk along a scenic creek underneath a canopy of greenery. Perhaps another mile and a half. Check out the falls:



Then met up with one of Janet's friends for a breakfast/lunch at Chatterbox. Why Chatterbox? The answer will become obvious once you see the video:



And, I'm jealous. Are they looking for franchising opportunities? Oh my god. The cinnamon swirl french toast was amazing.

And then to the Mall of America. Obviously, I wasn't really excited by the promise of shopping, but come on people, Mall of America. American Landmark. We just had to check it out:



The mall is set up basically like a giant oval, with the above Nickelodeon themed amusement atrium in the middle, and 3 stories of shops around the outside. We were determined to walk around all three rings (if we could without collapsing or becoming bored). IT didn't take long for Janet to find some much needed refreshment in a throwback to her childhood years:



When you travel the country camping and staying with family, you can afford to really go nuts once in a while. To that end, we pampered ourselves with first-timer aqua massages:



I was surprised that it actually felt really good, and wasn't just a gimmick. Wouldn't mind having one of these at my place. If it proves to be too expensive, then maybe just a table with a slit for your face so you can lie face down? Maybe you could have a book that turned it's own pages underneath? I'm accepting funding for this and other amazing inventions starting....now!

I knew you wouldn't believe me if I told you, which is why I captured this on film:



Who are the adwizards that came up with that one?

All in all the Mall of America was surprisingly enjoyable. We didn't actually do any shopping, but it was entertaining enough just wandering around, people watching, counting the number of Lids stores, and mocking any of the numerous debacles of consumerism. Janet was wearing a pedometer...and in total we walked.....3 miles at the mall!

Those Crazy Minnesotans

Although you have to give them credit for giving streets numbers in one direction, and alphabetical names in the other...it occasionally leads to strange results:



Also, as Blake pointed out, it goes from 22nd street immediately to 24th, skipping 23rd entirely.

Also, if you want pizza in the neighborhood, you'll want to get it from this guy:



Although, I'm not the first one to write about the quirky Galactic Pizza.