My Adventures and Travels

The "Camino de la Muerte" or Death Road is another touristy highlight in Bolivia. It's a bike ride, about 40 km, all downhill, where you lose a stunning 11,800 feet in altitude from the top to the bottom! For my friends not using the metric system, thats from 15,400 feet to 3,600. (Metric: from 4700 to 1200 meters) Fortunately, the road that is infamous for deadly accidents is a lot less deadly today. Mostly because another much safer road has been built-so the only traffic on the road now consists of mostly cyclists and the vans that transport them, with perhaps the odd tourist. However, in the past, the narrow, dirt road with blind corners required big buses to back up to find wide enough spots to pass one another-which all too often ended up in buses backing off the sheer side of the mountain. Again, choosing a reputable company seems important when your life is on the line (we used Gravity bike tours). They supply you with a bike, a suit to wear over your clothes for ...

I'll be honest with you. I took scuba diving as a P.E. credit in college, and I was totally weirded out by the whole "breathe through your mouth" thing. It all made me pretty claustrophobic. So much so, that when I decided to go on a sailing trip in the British Virgin Islands (probably some of the best diving in the world) I opted to see this world from the surface and only snorkelled. We're laughing because after I got all strapped in, I tried to stand up. That was harder than I expected! Then we started planning this trip and Beau said one of the things he wanted to do most was dive-but they have a 2-person minimum to take you out. I hemmed and hawed and explained my slight phobia-and finally I decided to do it.  The tour group we arranged it with had what they call a "discovery dive" for newbies like me. I've read a lot of terrible reviews about these. Many resorts, especially in Mexico, basically give a crash diving course and bring a big ...

After I left you last, we went to a fun nightclub called Zero Zero, where we met some super-nice Americans (who you will see later in this blog), and stayed out until somewhere in the neighborhood of 4:00 a.m. The next morning, we had a favela tour planned. Some certain members of our party, I won't mention any names here, didn't feel so hot the next morning, but we were up and at 'em anyway for our tour! Favela is basically another word for shantytown, and Brazil and Rio are pretty well known for them. Many are extremely dangerous, but some have been pacified by the government and a constant police presence, and are safe to visit. Tours are a pretty popular thing to offer and there were many options, so I chose one that donated profits to an after-school program in the favela.  The first favela we saw was called Rocinha, and it is the biggest in Brazil. Side note: since all the favelas are built on the sides of mountains, they have some of the best views of the cit...

We'd been looking at Posadas, Argentina from across the river for a few days, and we had a friend who'd gone there for Spring Break. On our 3rd day in town, we decided to cross the river and check it out! Molly looks across the river at Posadas. (Photo by Ali) We got on yet another bus and headed across the border. We had to jump out to get our passports stamped and get on the next bus. It took forever! The stamping was quick but there was terrible traffic. I guess there is a lot of back and forth from Paraguay to Argentina as certain things are cheaper in each country. Anyway we finally got there and checked out their costanera/boardwalk area.  Looking back at Encarnacion from Posadas We spent a nice day walking around and seeing some of the sights, and a delish lunch at the only restaurant not closed for siesta at 3pm. I had a basil daquiri, how about that? Ali, Molly, Ceci, Mindy Minday, Matt, Kristi, Mark After that our group broke up. All the...

There are some funny-looking plants growing right outside of Tucson. On a non-game day I went on a hike (maybe just a walk, as there was no elevation gain required?) in Saguaro National Park. There were saguaros aplenty, along with plenty of other interesting cacti and flowers.

Okay I am FINALLY updating! :) I got to Tucson early Sunday, and decided that even though I hadn't bought tickets, I'd go to the Rockies game! I met up with Amy & her family and soaked in the AZ sunshine! After the game I did some shopping and met up with my friend Becca-who lives in Boston, of all places, but was in Tucson for her grandmother's 85th birthday! Crazy, huh? We went out with a bunch of her cousins that night, and hung out the next morning before she had to fly back to freezing temps. I went to another baseball game on Monday, and Thursday. (The Rockies won 2 of the 3 games! Woo Rockies!) I'm posting all of those pics together, because they all pretty much look the same. My car, as Toni advised, backed in to avoid this problem. Todd Helton is actually playing this year. So far! A common sight before games: the teams warming up, while fans line up hoping for autographs. Living the good life.