I’m leaving all the work stuff out as usual, but there was plenty of fun that didn’t involve work. Some of us hit up the hot tub before going out for the evening. After getting out a lot of us were just hanging out and drinking near one of the craps tables that the others were playing at. It was a lot of fun, especially with the faux bachelor party bets that Cory and I were making. I bought a tiara that said “Birthday Girl” on it and whoever lost a given bet had to wear it. The bets ranged from who would do something first, to hi/lo, to even/odd, to challenges. I think we ended up with Cory having a slight lead, despite him ending the night with the tiara.
Stephanie got there Friday evening and we relaxed in the room for a bit before joining the others at dinner. It was a nice event, and brunch the next day was also pretty good. We went to see one of the most amazing shows I’ve ever been to, O. The whole thing was in a giant tank of water, and they used it to full effect.
We flew back on Sunday and didn’t do anything for the rest of the day.
Stephanie planned an amazing weekend in Marin for the 4th of July long weekend. We got up there early evening on Friday, and I was able to work in the car on the way up so we could get going a bit earlier. Traffic was still bad, but I can’t even imagine what it would have been like should we have left later. We got to the inn and it was adorable. She really picked a great place, with a nice owner who cooked us breakfast in the morning.
We dropped off our stuff in the room, then left to get to the kayaking. We got to the launch point and there was only one group there so we assumed incorrectly that we were with them. Turns out there are four or five groups that head out for this bioluminescent kayaking trip every evening, so we found the group we were supposed to be with and it worked out. I didn’t realize it but the skirt on my kayak wasn’t sealing properly so it kept popping off on the first part of the trip, and I got soaking wet pretty quickly. It wasn’t that bad, since I’m naturally pretty warm.
We got to see some harbor seals and a lot of cormorants. There was one cormorant who had gotten the plastic rings from the top of a six pack stuck around its wing or neck and it had gotten another ring stuck on the tree near its nest. It had died and was mangled, hanging from the plastic six pack rings. I had heard about that kind of thing, but had never actually seen it before, it was very disturbing.
We got across Tomales Bay, and landed on a beach for a snack of cookies and hot chocolate. It was nice to get out of the wet kayak, and dry off a bit. After snacks, as it was getting dark, we got back in and I was able to properly seal the skirt. We paddled over to a dark secluded cove and I was surprised by how much bioluminescence there was. There was certainly the most I’ve seen in any one place.
We paddled back across and everyone else had a really hard time keeping up, the wind in the last stretch was strong, so many of them were getting blown down the coast. We made it back to the Inn and got some great sleep after washing all the seawater off.
The next day we had an amazing breakfast prepared by the inn owner, then we headed out to the northern point of Point Reyes. It was a lovely hike where we got to see a ton of elk. We didn’t know this but these were native Californian Elk. We had a nice lunch by a tiny pond there, then headed back to the town.
Stephanie looked up a meadery, and we got some drinks there. It was interesting with all the different types of honey and the different meads that those honeys made. The flavor was distinctly different with all of them. I would really like to try a cyser that was made with orange blossom honey.
Then we went to the Cowgirl Creamery, and got some really amazing goat cheeses. One was a standard goat cheese and the other was a truffle goat cheese, and possibly the best cheese I’ve ever had. They also had some really tasty looking crackers that we got to go with the cheeses.
We headed out to our next place an Airbnb at Mills Valley. It was cute, and pretty basic, but everything we needed and more for the evening. We went into Mills Valley proper and got some pretty tasty food at the nice restaurant there. We then just went back to the room and cuddled while watching some anime on netflix.
The next morning we got up decently early to get to Muir Woods. We were able to get parking, but we still had to park on the street despite getting there at 8:15. We had a really nice hike once we got out of the valley. There were more people on the early trails than Steph and I usually like to deal with, and I could tell she was getting aggravated by it. Luckily once we made it to some of the lesser used trails the crowds abated, leaving some wonderful views for us to observe in private and peace.
On the way back home we decided to look up restaurants along our route, and found an amazing dumpling place in Outer Richmond. They had some of the best soup dumplings I’ve ever had.
All in all Stephanie planned an amazing weekend, and I’ll have to repay her with a similarly amazing weekend soon.
We had a really tough time after getting to Houston. We originally boarded the plane, but they had an issue with the door where it wouldn’t register as closed. They took a look and decided they couldn’t use the plane with it like that. We got off and waited for several hours while they found another plane that had been undergoing maintenance. They eventually brought that plane around and we got to the Lima airport. Luckily Gate 1 had people there to get us and we made it back to the hotel without further incidents. The hotel was very nice, and the breakfast there was pretty good. We got into the hotel at 4am and went right to sleep.
Day 1 – Lima
We were very tired when we got up for the morning tour, and I was falling asleep standing up while in the crypts below the cathedral. It was very impressive the number of skeletons they had on display, and the way they sorted the bones was more than a little disturbing. The femurs had been placed in long rows of crossed pattern and the skulls were in a large circular pit about 8 feet across and 6 feet deep. We walked out to the Plaza de Armas and it was absolutely gorgeous. I really liked the look of all the enclosed balconies, but when I found out they were for women to see and not be seen it dampened my liking of them a bit.
We then took the bus to the Miraflores district where Stephanie, Jeff, and Patty got off. I stayed on and enjoyed the views as I headed back to the hotel for a much needed nap.
That evening Steph and I met up with Sebastian and Iris. They took us to a really nice Jungle food place. For a bit of background Peru is split into three broad regions, Coastal, Highlands, and Jungle. Iris is from the Jungle area and she showed us a great time with her local cuisine. I really enjoyed all the different fruit juices she got for us. We took a stroll down to the park, where they had lots of semi-feral cats. They were very friendly and had a society that took care of them. We walked over to the ubiquitous British pub and got a typical set of Peruvian drinks, Pisco Sour and Chilcano. We got back to the hotel and got some good sleep after that.
Day 2 – Cuzco
The next morning we got up super early, had a spartan breakfast as the hotel didn’t serve breakfast that early, and got on a flight to Cuzco. Mauricio the main tour guide was from Cuzco and I really enjoyed all the things he talked about as we got into town. We had a bit of trouble getting used to the air at 11,000 ft. That didn’t dampen our spirits as we drank a few coca teas and got a nice lunch at the restaurant across the street. I had the typical quinoa soup, and it was delicious.
We then headed out to the animal sanctuary where we got to see some amazing animals. The llamas, alpacas, puma, mountain cat, and Andean condor were all amazing sights. The macaws, tucans, monkeys, and hawks were also neat to see. Stephanie also liked seeing the bunnies and Guinea pigs, even though they weren’t rescue animals. Most of the animals there had been rescued from black market pet rings, and they were hoping to reintroduce them back to the wild. Stephanie left her phone in the van, and we had a small crisis as we called them, but the van came right back and all was well.
That night we went to the Cuzco Planetarium. It was decent, and we got a good look at Jupiter with the great red spot facing away from earth. The most interesting thing they talked about was the dark constelations where the Milky Way is blocked by dust. They pointed out the great black llama and a few other dark constelations. They also went over the inclusions in the Incan instructions that corresponded to astronomical measures and how that related to agriculture. The most interesting was the white llama terraces.
After getting back we had an amazing dinner at the top rated restaurant in Cuzco. The food was amazing, but none of us got anything particularly adventurous.
Day 3 – Machu Picchu
We got up very early and had a decent breakfast before getting on the bus to Ollantaytambo. The view while crossing the sacred valley was amazing, and the city of Ollantaytambo was gorgeous. If I were to go back I would want to stay there and walk through the old city. We then got on the train to Aguas Caliente, and the train ride was phenomenal. The train had windows in the ceiling and Mauricio talked about all the amazing things we were seeing along the way. When we got to Aguas Caliente we went straight to the bus and got up to the top of Machu Picchu without incidence. We found out the name of the city isn’t actually known, since Machu Picchu means old mountain, and that it is known as that because that is how the farmer who lived there referred to it.
The tour of Machu Picchu was great, and is hard to describe. We got to see all the neat parts that are still open. I’d love to include something like this in a game I make. It would also be interesting to recreate how it would have looked originally with idols in place, people working on crops, and roofs on.
After the tour we started walking up the Incan trail, Kaijen and I got about 2/3 of the way to the sun gate and decided to turn around. Michael and Steph decided to run up to the sun gate and then run down. We were a little tight on time, which is why the running and turning back had to take place. Michael and Steph made it and Michael got a few pics from there, I would have broken my ankle had I tried this since the train was mainly large rocks that weren’t flat. They made it back down about 10 minutes after us, which was pretty impressive. We met up with Calixto and he got us to town in time for lunch, which we weren’t expecting to make. He got in a little trouble since we had run off without our downward bus passes. The trip back was uneventful and everyone was tired so not much happened.
I wasn’t as tired as everyone else when we got back, so I went to the main square in Cuzco and decided that the most politic time to try Guinea pig would be that night, so I found a restaurant called Plus that had a single seat on the balcony overlooking the square. It wasn’t my favorite, but I could see how people who grew up with it could really like it. It was a little tough for me with too much work around all the small bones.
Day 4 – Cuzco
The next morning we got to sleep in a bit, as there was an optional morning tour that we declined. It was a great morning to just walk around the city, which we did.
Steph, Patty, Kaijen, Jeff, and I walked to the market. Michael wasn’t feeling well (which I think was related to the run up to the sun gate the previous day). The ladies got a lot of bags/purses and I got some fresh fruit (orange and passion fruit). Steph also got one of the giant breads for all of us to share, and it was pretty tasty. There was way to much of it for us to finish then, and it ended up lasting us until the end of the trip as a random snack. We went to the Chocolate Museum, which Steph and I had been to before in the Dominican Republic. I really enjoyed the chocolate museum still, and bought one of each type of dark chocolate almost.
We then went to lunch in the main square, again on one of the balconies, but this time we had a simpler meal. It was just Kaijen, Steph, and I, as Jeff and Patty wanted to get back more quickly, so they grabbed McDonalds. I was amused that in the old square of Cuzco there is a McDonalds, a KFC, and a Starbucks.
The afternoon tour was nice, with us going through some more coopted Incan construction turned to church construction. The tour was interesting, and I wonder how much of it was true, since they haven’t taken the construction apart to see if their hypotheses of the construction are true or not.
We were then left to our own devices in the main square, and we decided to go off to the close by artifact museum. It was ok, with the highlight being several mummies, which I wasn’t expecting at all.
That night we had an amazing dinner, with some better prepared Guinea pig. There were also some really interesting dances and songs performed for us. I really liked the band that played while we ate. There were some other tour groups there, and last to come in was about 100 high school seniors from an all girls school in Lima. The highlight of the night was when they were doing the Alcatraz dance, which is when one person dances with a tissue pinned to their back like a tiny tail, while someone of the opposite sex tries to light it on fire with candles. This was hilarious to watch, but even better when they brought me and one other guy from our tour group up on stage to try. Steph got a video and we look like idiots trying to get the tissue to catch, and even more like idiots dancing to keep ours from catching (and failing).
Day 5 – To Puno
The next day was another early morning, but not too early. We got on the normal bus, since the bigger bus that would take us across the highlands couldn’t go into the old city. At the bigger bus we started through the outskirts of Cuzco, with Mauricio narrating most of the things we were seeing, including what each little town was known for; Guinea pigs, breads, silver, etc. We stopped off in a local school (I’m told this is a Gate 1 thing) and it was very awkward. Some of the people in our group, mainly retired teachers, really enjoyed it. The people I came with just found it odd. The next stop was at the highest point in the journey. It was hard to walk around, and even going up a small set of stairs got me out of breath. The final stop was a little rest stop just before the final town, where the local airport was, with nothing of note there.
We got into the city in the late afternoon, then Mauricio showed us the main shopping street where we got some nice dinner and did a little shopping. We got a toy for the kitties made of alpaca wool and they ended up really liking it.
Day 6 – Uros and Tombs
We got up at a decent hour to go to the Uros, small floating islands made of reed roots and stacks of reeds on top. This was one of the most unique places I’ve ever been. They took us to a small island that was for 4 families, and they showed us the kind of fish they eat, the stoves they cook on, and how they make many of the things on the islands, as well as the islands themselves. All of this was very fascinating, and during the explanation a kitty came over and rolled around in my lap. It was adorable, and very similar to archer kitty, which means it blended in fantastically with the reeds. The kitty sneakily ate the demonstration fish when nobody was paying attention, which is what I think it does for most of its food. Mauricio said it was a pet, and not for keeping the island clear of rodents. We then got a nice boat ride to the main island where the store was docked and got to look around a bit more. It was a very interesting experience.
We headed back to the city and grabbed some lunch at a place on the main square called Mojsa, which had really good food and is where we ended having dinner as well.
We then went to some tombs outside of the city. These tombs were on a peninsula of a gorgeous lake, which was a little bit higher than lake Titicaca. The tombs were interesting, especially being able to see the different civilizations and their very different building techniques. The lake was prettier and more worthwhile to see than the tombs I think.
Day 7 – Lima
Early morning. We got to the airport around 6am for our flight back to Lima. We got to the hotel around 11am in Lima. This was our last day and we decided that we really needed to try the Chifa cuisine. Madam Tuson was recommended by Mauricio and it was close enough that we could get there. We were lucky to get seating in the first wave of customers, despite being the very last to be seated. This made our food come the slowest, and our waiter got the order wrong since he didn’t understand Steph very well, and was trying to pull off the I don’t need to write things down. I don’t think everyone was good about recognizing when people didn’t understand them on this trip, the waiter getting orders wrong being a good example. It seems like the default for the service industry in Peru is smile and nod (which is the default for most people in this situation). This leads to lots of miscommunication that could be done better with a good point at the thing you want or write a number kind of interaction.
After lunch we went to one of the most amazing things on the trip, the Larco Museum. It had so many interesting artifacts, including a small gallery of the sex related artifacts. A large portion of the sex artifacts were devoted to blowjobs, surprisingly. There were many gold crowns, tons of pottery, and many cat shaped objects. The grounds of the museum were also amazingly beautiful, with the walls covered in vines that were in full bloom while we were there.
We then had our farewell dinner, and it was clear that Mauricio was running out of energy. I feel a little bad for him, but know that he really loves doing the work. He was a great guide and I enjoyed most of the group we were with.
Getting Back
On the way back we got stuck in Houston again, this time because the flight coming in was delayed. I would think they would know a lot sooner that when they’ve announced it if the previous flight is running slow. Jeff and Patty got on an earlier flight, and so they got back about 4 hours before us. We got back and got to spend a nice bit of time with the kitties, catching up on our shows, and ordering in from one of our favorite restaurants.
This state park was really nice. The camp sites were nestled back in the woods, and the old air strip on top was great for watching the sunset. We got there Saturday morning and did a nice hike in. Part of the Canyon Trail was washed out, so it was a little treacherous. Hai and Mark turned back and went up the Fire Road at that point, but we got to camp at about the same time. The group we were with was really nice, including Steph, Hai, Mark, Michael, Joey, and Ryan. We played some exploding kittens on the air strip while watching the sunset. A little cotton tailed bunny hopped by while we were playing. Just after sunset the fog really started to roll in and walking the half mile back to camp was like walking through a horror movie, especially with all the red light from the headlamps lighting up the fog. It was getting pretty cold so we called it a night early.
The hike out was pretty uneventful, and seemed a lot faster than the hike in. It might have just been my imagination, but we also took the Fire Road back and didn’t stop for lunch/snacks/rest breaks. It was also a downhill hike back, whereas the hike to the camp was mostly uphill.
I’ll add in some pictures when I get them. I didn’t use electronics the entire time we were there, but Hai took a lot of great pictures.
Steph and I joined Nick in his shared cabin for a weekend of skiing/snowboarding in Tahoe. We went to Heavenly the first day and I sat out the second day when the two of them went to Kirkwood. I really enjoyed most of the runs, but the traverses were terrible, and at one point I had to hike a couple hundred yards through powder, which wasn’t pleasant in the least.
A lot of other people we knew were there that weekend, including Andrew, Debby, Riley, Rong, and Adam. Kevin and Lindsay also came to Tahoe, but they were staying in the casino and not on the slopes. After the skiing we had dinner at Capisce? and it was pretty tasty. Then we played a few rounds of Codenames and a lot of the triple wheel slot machine. It was a good time all around. I relaxed a lot on Sunday and got caught up with work. I also got some more shelves for our kitchen. I really enjoyed having the day to myself.
We took Valentines weekend in Las Vegas with a lot of friends. This was originally planned as just a friends trip, but it ended up turning into a bachelor/bachelorette party.
The flight there was delayed by 4.5 hours. This was due to the fasten seatbelt sign not working, which they didn’t fix. Instead they just said, “we’re going flying anyway, and you just can’t get up during the flight.” We made it there just barely in time to go to the spa. Steph was a little late to her massage, but not too bad. We didn’t have time beforehand to check in, so we did that after and went to dinner after a short nap.
Dinner was at Bar Masa and the food was pretty good, but no dish really stood out as fantastic. It was a pretty massive group of close to 30 people, and we all had a good bit of sake. The night progressed up to the suite, where four guys dressed as teenage mutant ninja turtles came up, and we played a lot of codenames. Steph was sleepy since we had to get up early so she left around 1am, and I stayed until about 3am since I had slept on the flight.
The next day we went to brunch at Bardot, where Steph got the largest French toast I’ve ever seen.
We then went up to George’s room and played some more Codenames with Tom and Irene. I really enjoyed spending time with them, and will have to have them over some time. We then went to a nice dinner at Milo, followed by some gambling at Ellis Island. They were giving out $10 in free slots play, which was interesting. It took a while for everyone to figure it out, but they did. Debby was the one who enjoyed it the most by far, as you can see in the poorly shot video below (Sorry for portrait).
After a 4.5 hour delay on the way in it was annoying to have a 4.5 hour delay on the way out, which included a long wait on the runway because one of the AC units was broken, but they decided “we’re going to fly anyway.” Not sure how I’m feeling about Jet Blue after this trip.
Stephanie and I went to Whistler in Canada for a weekend of Snowboarding (me) and Skiing (her). We met up with a group of people including Rong, Riley, Emily, and Emily’s family. It was a pretty good time, and we stayed at a rather nice vacation rental.
We took a gondola there that stretches between the two mountains, Whistler and Blackcomb. It was an amazing view, and once we got the glass bottom gondola. Looking down was pretty interesting, and we couldn’t actually stand on the glass.
Stephanie wasn’t terribly comfortable until near the end, and I was pretty rusty myself. There were a lot of points I would have liked to go a bit steeper, but the paths that Steph chose were challenging enough for me. The others were pretty good at the skiing part. The only thing I would really liked to have done is go up to the glacier and snowboard down that. It sounded like the kind of thing I’d really enjoy: huge area that is decently steep. There are a lot more videos that we took with the go pro on my youtube.
Pretty much the entire way there and the entire way back I was using my phone for the Gear VR. It was a really nice way to pass the time while travelling. The only strange part is when the vehicle turns the screen registers it as turning. It might actually be good for motion sick people since the screen responds exactly to the motion.
We got to Kochi pretty late and just went straight to the hotel. It was New Years Eve, so we had planned on staying up late and partying. We got there and Lindsay was able to get us into the roof party, despite one woman insisting that it was sold out. Lindsay even got us a discount because the package deal of a room and the party wasn’t on the website.
We had a pretty good night. Lindsay won a dance contest.
The only stop we made was to get some bootlegged alcohol, made from coconut juice. It wasn’t that great and wasn’t from the cleanest of places
I didn’t feel too unsafe because the fermentation process was proceeding cleanly.
We saw a fantastic sunset, and got some much needed sleep in the well sealed cabins. I only got a half dozen bites from the mosquitos, but that is why I was taking anti-malaria pills.
The next morning we went back to Kochi and got a hotel for the time before the flight. We walked along the beach some and got to see them take in the Chinese fishing nets.
Lindsay left at 4pm, so Steph and I grabbed some dinner and a nap before heading off to our flight at 1am.
The flights were really long, and not too bad. Steph and I switched seats halfway through the long flight, and she really didn’t like the middle seat with the broken recliner. I can’t blame her since it was really uncomfortable. I wasn’t able to sleep in it very much, but the window seat she gave me got me a decent amount of sleep. Her parents were there to pick us up when we got back and it was nice of them to make us some soup for dinner. Steph was completely gone the whole ride back, but she managed to stay up until a decently late time.
It took four flights to get me from Atlanta to Bangalore. I went through Chicago, over the North Pole, through Delhi, through Chennai, and then to Bangalore. I had to go through security at every airport and customs in Chennai. Lindsay met me at the airport and we headed back to the hotel for a nap. A few hours later we went back to pick up Steph as she got in. We had a short night’s sleep, and slept in quite a bit. We eventually checked out an hour late, and grabbed a quick bit of food at the close by McDonalds. We got the Indian versions, made of Aloo and Paneer.
We made it to the next hotel, which was about an hour and change away. We checked in then went to see the town, and get some much needed coffee. We walked a bit around one of the nicer areas and found a Cafe Coffee Day that Lindsay liked. We got our much needed caffeine and then talked through what our plan for the trip was going to be. While walking along the streets we noticed cows just wandering around and standing in the middle of the road. Everyone just went around them. With as crazy as the traffic was, cows weren’t even close to the biggest hazard.
We then went for some really oily massages called ‘Ayurveda’ massage. It was a very interesting and unique experience that I would not want to repeat. The massage wasn’t that unpleasant, but the constant oily feeling afterwards wasn’t great. They do let you shower, but it isn’t western standards. We had a nice Indian meal after that and called it a pretty early night.
The next day we went on a tour of the city, with a really amazing guide. In the morning we went to a snake temple that was built to appease all the snakes that were displaced from the filling in of lakes in Bangalore. They served the most delicious meal we had while we were in India.
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Near the snake temple were sari looms, and they were incredibly loud
Just down the street from there was a well known coffee/tea house, so we stopped by to get a drink
After that we went to the central marketplace. It was very loud with people going everywhere. There were large piles of trash around because someone had not been bribed to take it away. There were so many flowers in the lower area, and Steph got some Saffron, which I was dubious about.
We then went to a Sikh temple and learned a little bit about the Sikh traditions of taking care of the community, which I strongly approve of. Their meals, housing, and education social policies are very good, and are done on a scale that is mostly sustainable. Their religious practices aren’t for me, but the social policies are nice.
We had lunch hosted by a local family that was distantly related to the royal family that once ruled the Bangalore area. They were very nice, and cooked a dish ‘Kofta’ that was delicious. We liked it so much we decided that in the cooking class we were going to be taking later we would have to have that included.
We then headed to the temple to Kali, which was pretty disturbing. They had animal sacrifices, locks to cast curses, and a black cat owned by a transvestite. The whole place wasn’t that scary, just really creepy.
The nexts stop was Pottery Town. This was an area that was known for making pottery, and consisted entirely of a labor caste that converted to Christianity to get out of the caste system. They had a lot of pots everywhere, as well as all sorts of clay figures. We found one room full of nativity characters.
A short drive away was one of the slum areas, which the guide referred to as the nicest slums. The area was mostly buildings with a few tarps here and there. We stopped by an area for women who take trash and weave it into usable products. Lindsay got a day bag there, with Steph and I just donating for a tour of the facility. It was a very interesting area.
Lastly we stopped by Washerman’s Valley an area in almost all Indian cities that has the old style of cleaning clothes. They wring water out of the clothes and beat them against rocks to force out the dirt and oil. This is a very cheap way of getting laundry done, but destroys the clothes pretty quickly.
We called it a night and went to an interesting Mexican restaurant, which was decently good tex-mex.
The next day we headed to the park, followed by a nice cooking class.
It's an Exciting World 