Hello cielo.

Greetings from Huaraz. (Funny, a week ago I was staring across the Rio Grande at the hills of Juarez, today I'm staring at the hills of Huaraz.) Ben and I didn't take well to Lima, finding the central city sort of lacking and the suburbs that people fled to (Milaflores) plastic, so we jumped a bus North to the second highest mountain range in the world, or so they say, the Cordella Blanca.

Now, today, we finally feel like happy vacationers. We woke up in our lovely little room with view of mountains, enjoyed our lovely little breakfast, and went for a lovely little walk. We picked our way through the market feasting on street food, including fresh egg sandwiches, boiled quail eggs, and soft-serve ice cream dispensed from the back of a pickup truck, all costing less than 1 sole each (about $.35).

We hopped a cab to the edge of town and began walking toward some ruins. Up, up, up a bumpy dirt road, past every form of farm animal imaginable and a wide variety of dogs. The ruins were a bit of a disappointment, but no worries, the area was beautiful and the campesinos were warm and friendly. Ben pointed to a cross high on a hill and said, "let's hike up there." We asked directions from the locals and were on the trail- which went STRAIGHT up. My lungs were working their hardest in protest of the mix of altitude and breathing for 1 1/2, and it took quite a few stop-pauses before we hit the view. Boy, what a view. We only saw one group of three people on that trail the whole way - two Beloit College students and a fellow UW alum. On the descent, we tried to follow a trail back into town but the plan was foiled when the pathway was replaced by a 4' drainage ditch. We jumped in a collectivo and I shared a seat with a bundle of sweet grass, a freshly made wooden side table, and a bushel or so of potatoes.

Back in town, it was fresh sugar cane juice and hot churros from the street vendors, followed by freshly roasted coffee.

Vacation. Ben's taking the photos- here.

Vacation. Finally.

Tomorrow Ben and I embark on our "babymoon" to Peru. Naturally I traveled in Muslim alcohol-free areas while not pregnant and saved the land of pisco sours for now. (Duh.) Packing is the usual trip down memory lane, pulling coins from Singapore and Malaysia from the bag and recovering sleepsack, pack towel, and power converter. We're pros at this, I guess. I just now booked a room for us for the first night, but the rest of the trip is pretty up in the air. We'll figure it out as we go along. We're SUPER turned off by the $$$ racket involved in Machhu Pichu (or however you spell it, they didn't have our alphabet back then anyway, so IMO there is no wrong way to spell it) so we might actually skip that.

Last night was a hoot and a holler at the Half Acre brewery. One of those buy a ticket and drink all you want all night events, and the beer offerings were some heavy hitters and some interesting and creative oddities. Everyone was drinking from 16oz cups, but our friends at HA gave me a 6 oz sample glass instead for my "baby pours." I drank two bottles of water and barely 12 oz of beer. I consider this proof positive of my having a shred of self-control. OK, it's just a shred, but it counts.

Friday night I hosted the monthly Half Acre Cycling women's pot luck. There were somehow 14 women and a pit bull in the place. It felt rather sardine like but worked somehow... it's definitely a new record for this place. I love our monthly get-togethers. Some of us race/ride a LOT more than others, but we all stay connected and cheer eachother on over hot dishes and crudites.

Unplugged.

From where I sit, I can see the American flag and the Mexican one. Only the American one is painted on the side of a giant tank at the edge of an oil refinery, whereas the Mexican one is huge and proud and marks the border (and the entry to the City known as the "murder capital of the world.") I wish these hotels weren't always right on the freeway.

My computer died on Fri and I've been largely unplugged for nearly a week, and then I flew to El Paso on Tues AM and have been physically absent as well, so I feel rather insular. Without a computer I couldn't even throw a workout dvd in whilst in the hotel room, so I've been mostly running and working. We won our election on Tues by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, and I'm hoping for the same today. Tomorrow I'm on the 7am flight home, Monday Ben and I leave at 7am for Peru. Dizzying. What else is new?

I also get kicked a lot lately. From the inside.

Hoping to get some trail time in this weekend but assuming Palos will be closed. If the only way to ride trail is to jump on the bandwagon to the WEMS race on Sat, I'll probably just go along. We'll see. I need a little nature after this week by the freeway.