touristing

Ahoy,

We spent our first day in Delhi visiting Old Delhi. Navigating the train was comfortable and somewhat familiar. With the chaos and noise of Delhi that seemed so foreign and different, the language of public transit is almost universal and relieving. It provided a sense of control and consistency that other modes of transportation had not given us. We wandered around thinking we'd run into the spice market, but found the Red Fort and a mosque. We finally gave in and got a bicycle rickshaw to take us to the spice market. He took us back to where we had been to a small little spice shop that was not what we were looking for. We got on another rickshaw and he took us to the same place, this time I protested and he took us to the actual spice market. It was much simpler than we thought. We had turned and weaved through Old Delhi when we really should have just kept walking straight. Immediately we started sneezing, and everyone else around us was sneezing too. This was definitely the right place. With only a brief time up and down the stalls, we made our way back to the train with a delicious samosa stop. That night we had a dinner/housewarming/unpacking with the newlyweds, a last party before their other friends leave.

That night was the big announcement regarding 500 and 1000 INR notes, rendering our 500s useless. The banks and atms were also closed, so we had no way of getting change or more money. It was a stroke of luck that the things we had planned to do were free. The metro is incredibly inexpensive, you can get most anywhere for about 15 cents or less. Our first stop was the Lotus Temple, a gorgeous place of worship that looks just like a lotus from the outside and beautifully clean and quiet inside, a nice respite from the dirge of what was outside. We stopped at McDonald's again for lunch because they take card, and tried another veggie burger and veg mcpuff. India McDonald's has been the most different from any other international locations we've visited. Our next stop was Lodhi Gardens, which had the oldest-looking/least restored buildings we had seen thus far. It was a really big garden with a lot of different parts that it seemed locals were just hanging out in also. Our final stop of the day was Khan market where there seemed to be some higher end shops in addition to bigger international/American chains.

We went back to our hotel to collect our bags and sulk in the aftermath of election results. A, I's new husband, was nice enough to come pick us up from our hotel, because he works in the neighborhood. We went back home with him to spend our remaining days in Delhi. A lot had happened in the world that day and it was nice to be with friends. We ventured to another mall that evening for I to buy new, shiny clothes - as it is tradition for the newlywed to wear. That was a fun and exhausting experience - similar to the American experience, but just a little different. A's mom had prepared food for us to have for dinner that night. It was delicious and so nice to be able to have a night in during our trip.

tragically abroad,
jt

amusement

Ahoy,

With limited funds the next day, we went to Akshardam, which is kind of like an amusement park of a place to worship. It is a large property with gardens, temples, moats, etc. There are also shows and a boat ride that is a lot like the It's a Small World ride at Disney. We made the mistake of eating at the first food stall right outside the shows, only later coming across a giant food court on our way out that made us regret our decision earlier. Our final stop was Connaught Place, an area of concentric circles of arcades for shopping. We got another set of samosas and a lassi before going back "home" for a last meal before our flight. It would be of instant noodles/Indian ramen, the bestseller of India. We went to a small shop/stall/stand near I's house to pick up dinner provisions. Shops in India are really small, you mostly have to go with a list and the owner gathers the goods for you. There are no aisles to browse. I was more than happy to be having something simple for dinner and another night in before our next 24 hours of travel. Also, Indian ramen is delicious. I think I will look for it in the States.

We left for the airport around 10pm Thursday night in Delhi. We went via uber. Uber is great in India because we were able to watch the driver go to our destination and is at a fixed cost. It was a relief to not have to argue and be wary of where the driver is going. Our first flight was at 3:30am and we were so sleepy. The layover was in Shanghai and we had less than 2 hours to make it. I was anxious because on our way to Delhi, it took about an hour to get through all the lines for the transfer. And now our flight landed about half an hour late also. Fortunately, the lines we had encountered on the way there were not present this time around. We flew through everything and made it with time to spare for our transfer. Our final flight was about 11 hours to land at LAX at 9am Friday morning. We watched a lot of movies. Our flights were so cheap, that we were expecting very little, but it turned out to have all the same comforts of any other international flights - movies, blankets, pillows, meals, adjacent seats, ample leg-room, etc. Our experience on China Eastern was awesome and incredibly inexpensive.

The last time we came back from Asia, we arrived in the morning also, and then slept all day. So this time we endeavored to stay up all day. I was so sleepy.

devastatingly off kilter,
jt

day trip

Ahoy,

The next morning was check-out. We checked out early to leave for the Taj Mahal. We got to know some of the bride's friends and joined them for their trip. It was super nice for them to be able to accommodate us. We piled into the van for a 3.5 hour trip to Agra. We picked up a tour guide in Agra that went with us to the Taj and told us stories and history. It was like a class field trip. The Taj looks smaller in person, but the details are truly remarkable. The laden gems and carved marble are truly a feat to craft. They took us to a marble school/shop and showed us how something like the Taj Mahal was made. The town is mostly craftsmen, without a lot of opportunities for growth in other fields, so there are quite a few that migrate out for other industries. We moved onto lunch at a tourist restaurant where we made the mistake of ordering mild, which was bland. With a last drive-by of the Red Fort, we made our way back to Delhi. Little would I know the adventure had just begun.

We all got dropped off at our friends' hotel, and we used uber to get to our own hostel. When we arrived, I was frustrated, surprised and disappointed to find a construction zone. There were only construction workers there and I didn't see a reception. I didn't want to stop anywhere in the building because it was impossible to breathe with all the fumes in the air. We got to the roof and regrouped. The construction workers came up and showed us a shared dorm room (we had reserved a private room). We eventually decided to go back out to find our way back to our friends' hotel. I spotted a kid on his phone walking by and he was so helpful, he spoke perfect English and was really kind and did not try to scam us, which I guess is a testament to the school system and media. We looked up the address of our friends' hotel on his phone and he gave us instructions for how to best get there. I had developed this defensive feeling of being on the lookout for scams that seemed pervasive in the culture of tourism here, but this kid was just so genuinely helpful. I remain extremely grateful for this kid's assistance. And it was really fortunate that we knew about this other hotel from having been dropped off there earlier. I don't know what we would have done if these sequence of events did not line up like they did.

The hotel had 2 nights available for us, which was 1 night shy of what we needed, but it turned out well, because the newlyweds were able to accommodate us for the rest of our stay. And that was probably the highlight. She was my friend from high school and we had not seen each other much since then, so I was really glad to be able to spend the time and get to know her husband better also.

momentarily adrift,
jt

semi-traditional Indian wedding

Ahoy,

The next day, for the wedding, we moved rooms to another section of the resort that had converted old train cars into hotel rooms. This room was awesome! All of the wedding guests were lined up in the trains that had working bathrooms, tv and everything! Everything you would need in a hotel room. Such fun!

We spent Saturday before the wedding going to various malls looking for an outfit for A. We rode on the auto-rickshaws/tuk tuks, which are a lot of fun and inexpensive. We came across a big shop that had everything from clothing to housewares and groceries - kind of like costco, but much smaller. Everyone was out shopping for provisions on Saturday. There was another giant fancy mall that had all the stores an American mall would have. We tried McDonald's here- a veggie burger and spicy paneer wrap. Our last stop was an open air market, Sarojini Nagar, that seemed to have a lot of locals doing their daily shopping. We got A an outfit that looked like pajamas for the big Indian wedding the next day. There weren't that many shops for traditional menswear, but a lot for women.

Back at the hotel, we had some time to watch the national geographic channels. I love watching tv at hotels because we don't have a tv and we never have cable channels.

The first wedding event was a sangeet. It was a lot like a cocktail hour, but then there was a gift exchange, make-up thing, photo session, which I"m told is traditionally 5-6 hours long, but fortunately was much shorter. And the finale is a showcase of dances put on for the bride and groom by various combinations of family members. It was a lot of fun and entertaining. There were also men walking around with appetizers during the whole thing. Quite the contrast to Chinese banquet style dinners, where the food doesn't come out for 2+ hours after the guests arrive. As the evening went on, I thought maybe it would be just appetizers for dinner, but then after all the activities, there was actual dinner! It was a lot of food to eat. And all of it so delicious and meat-free! There were so many varieties of curries I had never heard of in the States. Copious amounts of food would prove to be the theme for the whole wedding.

The following morning, we had breakfast at the hotel and ventured out unsuccessfully to find a temple we had ridden past. India is the least walk-friendly place we've been. There are mostly no sidewalks and no pedestrian paths. Roads aren't paved, and really dusty and uneven or poo laden. Where there is pavement, it is mostly used as urinals. Street carts abut right into the road where you would have to dodge motorcyclists, bicyclists and other street carts. I've never encountered something like this to this degree. We missed a turn that involved crossing a big intersection with no lights and found ourselves walking a lot farther than we thought our destination was. Crossing the street is a whole 'nother ball game. Traffic doesn't stop, you just have to step out and trust that everyone else will dodge you.

The lunch event would be a more traditional Western style wedding. My friend walked down the aisle flanked by both parents in her grandmother's wedding dress. The appetizer servors had to be ushered out of the aisle as the procession was happening. Their duties would not be shirked for the march if they could claim ignorance. The ceremony was quick and personalized, like most Western weddings nowadays, with written vows and a friend as the officiant. We moved onto a big lunch to accompany the speeches and dances. Everyone dispersed in a timely manner because the wedding party had to prepare for the traditional Indian wedding that evening.

The Western guests were always the first to arrive, and the Indian guests would trickle in later. They knew something we didn't know, and also had probably seen it all before. The RRS changed multiple times before finally changing into his entire Indian outfit after seeing everyone else at the event. I think his life would be so much easier if he would just listen to me all the time. There were multiple food stations in addition to the floating appetizers that would come to us. There was a whole row of all the street foods that we were warned to be cautious of when we encountered them "in the wild," but was safe to eat at the wedding. There was a whole 'nother corner of food I never made it to. And inside was a whole array of buffet style Indian dinner.

The ceremony felt like hours long with a big fanfare for first the groom entering with an army of drummers and then the bride with her party. They sat at a table where they gave offerings in front of a flame that they later had to walk 7 times around. There was someone chanting in sanskrit that, I heard later, my friend tried to modify to make more feminist. There was another photo session that is traditionally 5-6 hours long that was much shorter. Later after the wedding, the new husband said a lot of the elements missing from a full Indian wedding were at his request. It's difficult to imagine what it'd be like to sit through a full length event. I don't think anybody really watched attentively the whole ceremonies. People would mingle and watch for a few moments and then wander off again for food or conversation. Background noise grew as the ceremonies wore on. It must be quite the task for the bride and groom to sit through all of the fanfare. We had copious amounts of Indian food, seemingly the theme for the weekend. I was never hungry when it was time to eat because we had been eating the whole time. I guess it was always time to eat. But it was always so delicious.

delectably adjoined,
jt

unsavory arrival

Ahoy,

We made it to India. We left Thursday, November 3 at 12:30PM. It was a 12 and half hour flight to shanghai. With a 3 hour layover before a 6  and half hour flight to Delhi. We arrived at 2am November 5, Saturday morning. The day before leaving I had seen news articles about Delhi surpassing Beijing for worst pollution on record. Due to Diwali and garbage burning, among other reasons, it was even smoggy inside the airport. We arrived amongst a large crowd. I guess the middle of the night is a popular time. We got through security and customs without any trouble. We went for the prepaid taxi to get to our hotel. After getting shuffled around a couple taxi drivers, we got 1 willing driver.

He started the drive taking us through a bunch of military complexes. It did not look touristic at all. He stopped in the middle of the road to gesture to us he did not know the way and asked us to call the hotel. Of course, we don't have working phones. He called and got no answer, which I think he must have dialed the wrong number because there were staff waiting for us. He could only say "no English" and ask for more money, speaking to us in Hindi. After we yelled at him gesturing him to drive to our destination as per the prepaid destination, he drove us straight back the way we came, past the airport and directly to our destination. I guess he did know where to go. If you find your taxi driver taking you somewhere suspicious, stick to your guns until he gets you there and don't give him more money. He could have made the same amount of money if he had just taken us to our hotel and gone back for another ride, instead of taking that detour.

It was probably 4:30am when we got to the hotel. The lobby was also smoggy. We slept in a giant hotel room that did not have hot water, which the RRS absolutely loved. We awoke to a smoggy day. "It can't be morning yet, it is still so dark outside..." Running theme.

cautiously agog,
jt

fall weather possibly

Ahoy,

I went to Chicago again at the end of September because the flights were really cheap and my Boston family was visiting too. I hadn't seen them in a while, so I was looking forward to it. The weather was still pretty hot and summery when I first got there, but by the time I had left it had shifted to cooler days. And it was so, so perfect in the 60s and still sunny. And it was crisp and brisk and I came back to 90 degree weather in LA. And that sucked.

My cousins were still playing pokemon, so we were able to catch things at the Garfield Park Conservatory and Lincoln Park Zoo. They took my grandma everywhere - to the museum, conservatory, zoo, brunch, etc. She was thoroughly pooped by the end of every day, but I think also happy to be going along. I think she really does like the Boston family the most, her eldest daughter, my aunt is there. But it's also awesome how big an effort they make to take her to do all the cool stuff. I think I should do that more often.

My dad is really good at being retired. My mom is not even retired, and I think she is doing a terrible job at having only one job. She laments of her boredom and lack of activity, and then seeks other weekend jobs. My dad is really happy with his garden and sewing room and old Chinese war movies and naps. And he maintains an exercise regimen of jogging around the neighborhood in the mornings and walks at night. My mom will often use the too late/dark excuse to abstain, though I really think it would be good for her to go with him, especially since she then complains of boredom. My dad came to me so pleased with himself for finding this big jug in the alley that he was planning to convert for rainwater collection for his plants. He's super crafty, which I'm sure is something I got from him, because my mom would be happier to throw money at the problem. It is so interesting the things I notice about my folks now. Also, no one has graffitied our garage since we put Batman on there. I think it really adds character to the neighborhood.

Gotham is watching,
jt

the capitol!

Ahoy,

We had booked a trip to DC months and months ago to visit one of A's best friends. He had the unfortunate circumstance of getting stationed in Paris, France for work after we had already planned the trip, which was not awesome. But he so graciously still let us stay at his place, which was awesome! It was mid-September so I was hopeful to be in some semi-fall weather. Disappointingly, the weather was probably deep summer - 90s and humid. I was so, so displeased, in addition, I had a cold. The one time every 3 years I get sick - and it had to be in 90 degree weather. But I brought my insulated water bottle, and the RRS thought it was a silly purchase until we had ice cold water in the middle of a hot, hot day.

We played so much pokemon! We went in the American History Museum, Natural History Museum, Air and Space Museum, Botanic Garden, White House Museum, probably some more. One of the days, we got a bikeshare day pass and rode bikes all around to the monuments and other neighborhoods. It was so fun and convenient! We got these amazing lobster and crab rolls in Georgetown. And pizza near the Capitol. And a milkshake and drinks on 14th St. It was a really great trip. Hopefully next time we go, his friend will also be at home and it won't be summer.

hackingly fried,
jt

more happenings

Ahoy,

There was another weekend we spent in the bay in August to visit his family. We spend a lot of time eating and sitting around the eating places. This time we were also able to see his good friend from when they were kids, and we bugged him a lot probably. But we didn't make it to Berkeley Bowl, which is always disappointing for me.

Straight into September, O & H from Seattle came to visit. I think they may be our favorite guests. The first evening was spent at happy hour. Seattle had apparently just started to get rainy, so they were so happy to be outside in the sun. I'm glad the weather can contribute to a good vacation for them. The following day we went on a train adventure to Santa Monica, and I probably spent too long playing pokemon. We capped off the evening with dipping ramen and ice cream which always is so filling I can't ever finish my bowl.

For their last full day, we started at this awesome brunch place that is not all hype. And then we probably went back home to get groceries to barbecue later. A quick climbing session before getting the grill going with a beautiful evening on the patio. The weather was so perfect. Despite the weather being perfect all the time in LA, I'm really glad it was that way for O & H to enjoy before returning to a less desirable situation. But nonetheless, I would be so happy if it were rainy here for months.

frantically askew,
jt

another wedding

Ahoy,

In August, we spent another weekend in Chicago for a wedding in the suburbs of one of my best childhood friends. It was a beautifully done and simple wedding in a far away place. Growing up in the city, I have gotten terribly accustomed to places being close and the suburbs being far. A revelation that the RRS has to contend with every time we drive anywhere. Good luck, mister. It didn't rain, and the weather was really quite perfect once the sun went down a little. It was apparently pouring in Chicago. And they had catered from this bbq place, so no complaints from my escort. Although he remembers it being a lot hotter than I did, but for someone that brought a full suit - I think he can take the blame on this one. If there is something he will stubbornly stand for - he will never sacrifice style for weather - a lesson he is slowly succumbing to as Chicago winters grip his psyche. Californians can't possibly understand seasons; they must think it is fictional concept.

We spent a day playing pokemon go despite the rain. We went out with umbrellas and continued into the evening along the lakefront and Navy Pier. It was quite the expedition.

deliberately soaked,
jt

let's recap

Ahoy,

The end of summer was a whirlwind of activities that very much had me feeling like we had overbooked.

We finally made use of our San Diego Zoo membership and visited our friends there. We spent the day catching pokemon and observing real animals. It was a lot of fun and we saw a lot of activity once the day cooled down. We saw pandas out and about, and bears play-fighting, koalas snoozing, elephants, tigers, etc. It was a good zoo day.

I participated in a bachelorette party that was probably the most girls I had ever been with for the longest amount of time ever. It was probably the coolest bachelorette party I'll ever get invited to. We went to Wii Spa, which I think I still am suffering from PTSD over. One of the rooms looks like an actual pizza oven. Much to the RRS's chagrin, I told him I would not be volunteering myself to go with him ever. We ate a lot of food, and went climbing - no surpise. The final surprise was an evening at Magic Castle, which I nearly spoiled. The bride to be had a great time and I was really happy we were able to cater a weekend filled with so much joy and happiness for her. We were all probably relieved to have foregone the male strippers.

We also went down to La Jolla for the actual wedding, which was at this venue that was uber appropriate for the couple. I like to think I gambled and won on our accommodations for the weekend on hotwire. For those of you that don't know how it works, you select a neighborhood and price, but you don't know what the hotel is until after you purchase. I got exactly the hotel we wanted because it is a stone's throw from the wedding venue, fully precipitating the benefits of an open bar.

We left the following morning under an overcast sky, which I was more than happy for. We made it back in time to watch the climbing competition and cheer on our friends.

blisteringly grappled,
jt

bachelor lifestyle

Ahoy!

Just came back from unicamp. It's always funny to come back to the RRS's bachelor lifestyle. He has a sink full of dishes, dirty clothes still out, clean clothes still out, beer bottles piled up... He never seems to remember when I'm coming back so he always says, "I thought you were coming back tomorrow! I was going to do the dishes tomorrow..." He was prepared for a night of climbing at the gym, cooking a steak for 1, and tucking into a night of anime. What a life!

gratefully descended,
jt

the wilderness

Ahoy,

We went camping in Washington at Mt. Rainier National Park! For those of you that read these entries - you were there, so you know what happened. We went to visit O & H in Seattle, among our favorite people to visit! They are so incredibly well equipped for camping. H makes a fire like a boss!

We arrived in Seattle on a Thursday night and got some super scrumptious thai food. We departed late Friday afternoon after running around for provisions. We made it to Rainier in what seemed like longer than it should have been because we ran into traffic. But that was okay, because we made it! We had some time for a short hike to Madcap Falls. We went beyond the falls looking for another waterfall and we might or might not have found it. We turned around after what seemed like we had gone too far away from the water. Somebody estimated we might have doubled our estimated distance for that hike.

The rivers and waterways are so cool in Rainier. There is just so much of it! The forest is so lush and green and vibrant. It is just so different from the dusty and hot and dry places in CA. I loved it! It was mostly overcast and rained on us overnight. We waited with a view of Mt. Rainier in clouds for a little bit and the peak never revealed herself to us until the last day on our way out.

Our full day began a little late and a with a big breakfast. It was as close to gourmet camping as I could think of. I'm not a big breakfast person, so when we go camping just me and A, we don't usually spend too much effort on breakfast. But we had pancakes this time around. Nuts! We went on a hike to Comet Falls and beyond to a meadow with fields of white avalanche lily flowers. That waterfall was huge! There is so much water melting off that mountain, it's amazing! We had been miscalculating off the maps, and it is probably not to scale and there was no scale on the map. We ended up probably with a 6 mile hike, anticipating only 4 at the outset, but it was so nice to hike in the forest and not in the sun on a dusty trail in CA. What a change!

Again we found ourselves among the last groups to tuck in. The RRS was snug as a bug in a rug wrapped in a 0 degree sleeping bag within a 30 degree bag. That kid is a weenie for sure. It was in the upper 40s at night and probably low 60s during the day. We awoke to some glimmers of sunshine our last day. After making it to the Grove of the Patriarchs over a suspicious suspension bridge, we zipped out of the park and pulled aside when we noticed the peak of the mountain making an appearance. The ever elusive Mt. Rainier; we were so lucky to have caught a glimpse.

Back in Seattle we spent the rest of the afternoon lolling about and general clean-up after camping. Weather was awfully perfect for Seattle. It seems it always is awfully nice when we visit.

magnificently tiny,
jt

camping once more

Ahoy,

Camping again! I was really excited and also anxious to go camping again in Sequoia. I just feel like the RRS hasn't had the best record for not getting sick on trips. And it would be really nice if he were to just not get sick every time we go somewhere fun. Also, H came on this trip with us. I was thinking she was going to bail right up until the morning we left. But I was so happy she came. The weather was absolutely perfect. The skies were clear and sunny, it wasn't too hot during the day, and then the evening temperatures were just so very, very perfect. I loved it.

We entered from the northern end of the park driving though King's Canyon first to see General Grant and the forest by there. Our campsite was at Upper Stony Creek, which is in between King's Canyon & Sequoia. We were also able to squeeze in General Sherman before starting up the fire for dinner. The RRS got a stone cold, rock solid frozen cut of pork from the main market in the park. He sous-vied it in a way by boiling water to bathe it and thaw it for a bit, before putting it in the fire. And, ladies and gentlemen, it was THE best pork of my and H's life. All other porks will hereby be compared to the camping frozen to sous-vied pork he cooked that night.

I hung up the hammock on these perfect trees for hammocking and stared up at the stars. Surprisingly, we were probably the last in the campsite to go to bed. I can usually still hear adults and children screaming well beyond midnight at other places in the past. Also, surprisingly, the toilet seat and cover were ripped off the toilet in the outhouse.

We called the trip short because the RRS had a work trip to leave for on Sunday. We cleared out of there Saturday morning to embark on a full day's worth of activities. Glad to have arrived early at the visitor center to secure a parking spot, we started off with a waterfall hike that followed the river and gave opportunities to dip our toes in the ice cold water. It was really refreshing because the day had started to heat up in the sun. After a sleepy lunch at the visitor center, we rode the shuttle to the Giants' Forest and museum. We saw a juvenile bear and a ton of marmots. The bear crossed the paved hiking path right in front of the people ahead of us. A was oblivious and wondering why we were all stopped. He continued to linger, as H and I beelined out of there.

After one last potty break, we began the drive down the mountain into the desert and back to LA. We stopped for some terrible Italian food in the Valley and got home right around 10. Another stellar Sequoia trip in the bag. And A didn't even get sick this time!

voraciously looming,
jt

theme park weekend

Ahoy,

A's family came down to visit for a weekend. We all went to Universal Studios to check out the new Harry Potter World. The weather stayed gloomy all day, which was a huge shock to me. It usually clears up, but it rained/ drizzled for most of the day. Just the day before I had heard on the radio that California declared El Nino a wash, kaput for the year. We all tried to make the best of it nonetheless. The first ride we went on was probably the most intense of 3d motion simulator rides. Everybody walked out of there, and you could tell that they just got destroyed.

The lines were crazy. We waited 85 minutes for that first ride. And even the gift shops was wait times for the lines. If you're waiting 50 minutes to go into the wand shop, you better be buying a wand. Nuts! Nonetheless, there is a nice spirit of magic in the air, and I think the weather probably added to it. UK is like that most of the year.

We ate at a Japanese place at Universal Citywalk, zipped to Glendale for doughnuts and called it a day. We cleared out their green Teagan and Sara flavour.

The following day we made it out to Palos Verdes to go to a park that the RRS claimed to be one of his favorites despite only having been once. And the one we ended up going to was not the one he was thinking of.

Vietnamese was on the docket for dinner, surprisingly having a menu so expansive and diverse that it was able to please everyone at the table. We topped it off with quite possibly one of the best boba places any of us had ever been to. Everyone cried tears of remorse as we stepped out because we were likely never to return because it is so far, far away.

despondently deprived,
jt

new house

Ahoy,

We were so excited to see O & H's new house. It is truly such an adult step in the way of life to have a house and not be able to just call the landlord about something that needs fixing. The color theme is a bluish teal shade, so go ahead and send anything that color their way. It's funny I say that because O is probably amongst the only readers of what I'm writing.

Upon arrival we got a grand tour of O's work and burgers for dinner. We had mistakenly been there before, probably it was one of the first times we met H. After driving through their old neighborhood and past their old apartment, I was happy to find the peace and quiet of their new accommodations. It seems like Capitol Hill gets crazier and crazier every time.

Their house is so cool, and so climate controlled. I remember those hot nights in their old place. Unfortunately, we only spent a night there before heading off to Vancouver. We spent a night there. And when we weren't sleeping, O & H quite willingly submitted to the whims of my mom dictating from afar. Bless their good-natured souls for following along.

We are going to see them again soon. It's going to be so fun!

wildly prepped,
jt

itinerary

Ahoy,

Let's start from the beginning. The boarding process took all of 3+ hours. There was a lot of line waiting, like cattle out to auction. We realized later that we should have gotten popo a wheelchair and that would have probably expedited the process for all of us. But what a trooper my grandma is. I aspire to be like her when I'm a grandma. Once we were finally on board and in our rooms, we had an emergency drill to attend. We had all brought our own luggage aboard because I didn't want to wait for the service to deliver it later, or possibly lose something. We had dinner in the fancy dining room that evening, just like we would for all but one of the evenings for the rest of the trip. There were 2 fancy night dress-up meals so they could take our pictures and have us shell out mucho dinero for those moments that my dad recreated on his camera.

We spent 3 full days at sea and 3 days docked. Despite being on-board a ship all day, there was a surprising amount of stuff to do. There was programming daily, all day. We played Dutch Catan a few times, got educated about the habitat and culture, crafted some crafts, watched movies, and tried to fit in some other athletic activities. There really is not a moment to spare for boredom. And the scenery is just so gorgeous, I really could just sit and watch for a while. I really do think a cruise was a great way to see Alaska. It's such a big state, I imagine it would take so long to drive around.

We stopped first in Juneau, the capitol. It was a rainy day, which is typical. All 8 of us rode around in a taxi, while the driver answered my millions of questions and talked about the landscape and culture. He had grown up in Juneau, went away for school, and come back. It is like traveling back in time. All the little kids just roam around without guardians, crime is low, cell phones and technology hasn't become an epidemic yet. We walked over to as close as we could get to the Mendenhall Glacier. It is the most accessible glacier in Alaska. Half of us hiked up to the top of Mt. Roberts Tramway and rode the tram back down. Juneau was built on mining, but you wouldn't be able to tell anymore. There are so many trees.

Haines was the next stop; it is a tiny little town with not a whole lot to do. They only have the capacity to have 1 cruise ship in a week, and the population doubles when that happens. It used to be a military base, and you can still look at what the buildings were. There is a quiet, but big river set against mountains if you cross to the other side of town. We hung around there for a while communing with nature, if you will. This was a really quiet town, which I thought was a welcome change from more touristic harbours, but the parents were not impressed.

Our last stop was the fishing town of Ketchikan, a markedly faster pace than Haines. Half of us went on a hike amongst the trees, slugs, and cliffs overlooking the town. There were bear tracks, and fortunately no bears. The other half went on a duck tour. The red-light district was especially fun to walk around.

Our last day at sea we went up the Tracy Arm to the South Sawyer glacier. The ship got incredibly close and we were able to witness some calving and a lot of harbour seals chilling on chunks of ice that had broken off the glacier. It was magnificent. We ran around all over the ship trying to get the best vantage points as it turned and pivoted in and out safely. A thoroughly thrilling morning on board.

We were scooped up the following day by our relatives for dim sum before getting back on airplanes and back to a terrestrial way of living.

decidedly rocked,
jt

all aboard

Ahoy,

First week back from the cruise. Hello, reality. I don't really remember the other 2 cruises we went on when I was a kid. I remember them being fun. And the pools were filled with salt water, like it came straight from the ocean. I had a great time this time around, and I hope my companions did as well. I was mainly the cruise director for my group of 8. We booked this adventure way back in October. I was scrambling to find people to join in on this deal I found. And then reeling from the aftermath of committing a group of 8, pretty much under my jurisdiction for a vacation. Oh, boy.

There was a lot of convenient eating. So now we are back to cooking our own food and cleaning our own dishes. And not having access to ice cream mostly around the clock. What a drag. Leaving this time with my family also tears me up a little. My dad was so happy to hang out and play with us. He's spent our whole lives working. And now that he's essentially retired, I'm more than halfway across the country. I've never really spent so much time with him. Every time my grandma sees me she asks me to go back home. I just feel bad about being so far away from them. I really want to know my dad better. And I really want my mom to detach from her phone.

I think it was a good time for us. My mom had been looking forward to a family vacation for a while. It was a lot of time spent with all my favorite people. I am truly so happy they all graced me with their presence and agreed to go on this expedition with me. In many ways, I hope I wasn't dragging anyone along. As the cruise director, sometimes it does feel like I'm dragging someone along. Challenge by choice. It's usually just the RRS I'm dragging along, but this time it was 7 whole humans. What a blessing to have 7 mostly willing participants.

generally ashore,
jt

cars, of course

Ahoy,

I made us reservations to go to the Nethercutt Collection sometime in March. It's somebody's private collection of old cars and other stuffs. It's open to the public and free! The family has over 100 old, vintage cars that are all restored and in working order. They regularly drive them to car shows and win awards still. Isn't that cool? They have all the staff and crew to restore a car in house except for the glass, and 2 other things. Isn't that cool? There is a big building with a bunch of cars and then another building with stuff besides cars, and also cars. The second building requires a reservation to go on the tour. But it's totally worth it, and I highly recommend you do it. 

The second building has a lot of musical pieces. There are a lot of self playing instruments and recorders. There is a piano that recorded Gerschwinn playing Rhapsody in Blue; so it plays on its own a reenactment of the composer playing his famous piece! There is a machine that has 3 violins playing on their own. There is an entire floor of orchestrions. These large boxes that contain all the pieces of a whole orchestra inside as they play themselves. Orchestrions were much more popular in Europe during WWII, and so a lot of the machines they acquired are German made. But in the States, we had silent movies set to the sounds of organs.  

The 3rd largest organ in the world lives here. The tour guide is the curator and musician that plays and maintains all the instruments. He was very enthusiastic about his job. The largest pipe could contain 3 grown men standing inside. Some of the pipes we could see, but a lot of them lived behind curtains in the wall. The guide says sometimes the building just shakes when he plays certain songs. He played a Phantom of the Opera piece for us. 

All in all, a pretty cool outing. None of us were expecting such a stellar end to the tour. It was a pleasant surprise. You should go and check it out yourself. If you're not a huge fan of cars, definitely take the tour.

resoundingly alarmed,
jt

asian fit glasses?

Ahoy,

Warby Parker has a new section at their Abbott Kinney location for low bridge fit! This is me alerting the internet universe (mostly to Asians) that you might find something more comfortable at the low bridge fit section at the Abbott Kinney Warby Parker storefront. I tried some TC Chartons, but they are just so much more expensive, and then they charge for the type of lenses, etc.

I tried googling this subject in my hunt for asian fit glasses, and did not come up with much. Maybe this will show up in somebody elses's search. Good luck low bridge noses of the world!

publicly announced,
jt

he has the immune system of a 2 year old

Ahoy,

We had plans to go to Pinnacles National Park over the weekend. It was a long (year) postponed trip with the RRS's family to celebrate his graduation. And, of course, he gets sick. We left Friday morning and arrived in the afternoon to a less than spectacular, perhaps underwhelming entrance into the park. But I was super excited to see the park and all its great features. We went for a short walk and saw a non-venomous snake that made A jump out of his shorts. Such fortitude in his spirit. We made dinner and A became much more ill. He slept in the car for a while. I went with his parents to hear a snakes talk by a ranger who didn't sound the most thrilled. But making powerpoint presentations thrilling is pretty hard.

In the morning, we decided (I agreed reluctantly) to leave early. I feel like he is always getting sick on vacation. The story of my life: we went to xyz, but then he got sick... This blog will become a record of all the times he gets sick. Somebody was describing to me how their 2 year old gets sick every month. That is as frequently as the RRS gets sick. He has the immune system of a 2 year old. We went on 1 hike and had a nice picnic lunch in the shade before heading out. I was really looking forward to being outside and getting at it this weekend, but sometimes I'm left with a 2 year old to tend to. A spice of life I would rather leave in the cupboard.

Fortunately I was still able to cancel and get a refund. It was super busy in the visitor center and I overheard the ranger turning this couple away because the campsites were all full and there was a waiting list. So how lucky for us, I offered them our campsite and they were super, duper stoked!

Pinnacles is the newest national park. It was once a monument. I asked the ranger why it changed, and he said it's the same amount of funding but more visitors, so it's actually not advantageous. And then our shuttle rolled up and I couldn't pepper him with more questions. True story, there is a pool right next to the visitor center. There used to be 2 other campsites but they got washed out by floods and were never fixed because probably wanted to let the ecosystem do its thing. The more scenic parts are on the west side, but the camp site is on the east side and you can only go to the other side through hikes or a 2 hour drive. We didn't quite get to the cool stuff, so we'll have to go back. They probably won't connect the sides with a road because it would probably disrupt the ecosystem too much, according to Paul Mondragon, another ranger I bugged about stuff. He is a descendant of the natives that used to live in Pinnacles. Fascinating.

repeatedly replanned,
jt

beach party

Ahoy,

We made a trip down to the San Diego area for G's birthday. His parents had just finished their dream retirement beach house. It was gorgeous! Words cannot describe. So much thought and consideration went into the design and furnishings. It was a block from a small beach in Encinitas, and adjacent to a little beach town. We brought a green tea chiffon cake, making the total cakes 3. A cake for every meal! Let them all eat cake! There were other foods.

We beached, volleyballed, played games. It was such a fun weekend vacation. I hope we get invited back. I tried my best to be a good guest and not wreck their pretty house.

sandily misfired,
jt

month around town

Ahoy,

Our weekends of late have been pretty thoroughly domestic. We were supposed to go to Yosemite, but weather reports washed that out. Which has left us in town for several consecutive weekends. Gasp! For a while we were looking at no weekends at home. This has given us some time to:

1. make a bed. We got wood from Home Depot. The check-out lady was hilariously incompetent, and I think that resulted in not charging us for several 2x4s. We came up with design and measurements and got all the wood cut at the store. We only got in 1 fight, and probably because we were hungry. I was really skeptical that we would finish the bed in a weekend, but it happened. So now we are raised off the ground some 30 odd inches, which gives us a lot more storage. This is the closest I'll get to a bunk bed as an adult now; I was pushing for that for a while. My goal was to make it awkwardly too tall for me to clamber onto bed. I just think it would be really funny to witness my struggle, in my head and for you. Also, one end of the bed rests on a drawer set from Ikea, which is probably the least sturdy component of our bed. All in all, good job, us! I honestly did not think it would happen as quickly as it did, but our landlord let us borrow his drill and that made a big difference. 
2. meet A's folks for dinner and lunch in far flung locales of the LA area. We had dinner in Chinatown one night, and I have to be honest - there are a lot of restaurants I would choose before I choose that one. But I think they have a massive load of nostalgia for that eatery, so what can you do but grin and bear it? Always a fascinating night of interactions with his folks. The following day, on a whim, we made the trek to Disneyland (!?!) for lunch with them. We always make the wrong turn for downtown Disney and end up somewhere the employees enter. The RRS loves the beignets at the jazz place. This is not the first time we've made this trip just for beignets. 
3. create organization/storage solutions. We hung up a hook for his longboard, hooks for our closet, and replaced shelves with a new bar in the closet to hang things. We now consider ourselves just beyond the level of newbies with a power drill and wood/hook combos. What a thrill. But really, this closet stuff has been on our to-do list for a while, and it's been nice to have some time to knock these out. 
4. go on Sunday morning hikes. That first weekend, we left a little later and we quickly realized that everyone and their mom was also going on a hike. Luckily for us, someone left right next to where we were waiting in line (there was a line) for parking. So despite all the folks that were waiting ahead of us, we were at the right place at the right time. Bonus, that morning was overcast. The following weekend, we left a little earlier for a brisk 3 miles in the Palisades. It was sunny so I was glad to be out of there when we were. And the last great escape into the urban wilderness took us into Beverly Hills. After wandering around for a while, this place probably had the least obvious trails, we went for brunch at a place we had passed up before because the line was too long. It was delicious! 

That's our generally unexciting & domestic month pretty well summarized. But I must admit, storage is really quite thrilling. 

pleasantly acquainted,

jt

finally

Ahoy,

We finally got some more white rice and I switched out our rice bear from the icky brown rice mix to pure, unadulterated white rice and it is simply, blissfully heaven! Brown rice is the worst.

bearingly grainy,
jt

stay-cation

Ahoy!

Due to an unfortunate circumstance, our friends were situated in a hotel for a while and they got sick of it. They had vacated the premises but still had the hotel, so they offered us their room for the weekend. And it was a blast! It ended up being less than 2 miles away from us, but it was still so fun. We walked to get pizza & pasta the first night.

The next morning we left somewhat early for Snow Summit, much to my dismay. My 2nd time snowboarding was more frustrating than the 1st time. The conditions were icier and more slippery. I feel like I spent a lot of time going down the mountain just trying to slow down. Going downhill is terrifying. It will never be not terrifying. A had fun once I freed him to go off on his own. He would have wasted a lot more time waiting for me, the record holder for the slowest run down the slopes ever. My prize for participating was Chinese to go for dinner. We also made use of the pool/jacuzzi that was strangely located underground. The RRS and I had fun making up games to play in the large lukewarm jacuzzi.

We had a major sleeping in session the next morning in honor of daylight savings. We didn't leave the hotel until noon. It was such a pleasant morning laying around in bed watching tv and reading. After driving to our proposed brunch place, we kept on driving because we had never seen such a long line for anywhere ever. We found this cute little French cafe attached to a cute kitchen store. It was a great meal, and we left for the tar pits museum fully satiated. It is a tiny museum and totally inconspicuous. I had never noticed it before. It was thoroughly informative regarding fossils and getting stuck in tar. Fascinating stuff. Iranian new year was happening in the park that day. I had never heard of Iranian new year, but they had the full displays and goldfish mascots. Always interesting to learn about other cultures.

delightedly aloft,
jt

bay area birthdays

Ahoy,

We ventured up north for a weekend, really a day, of birthday celebrating. The RRS's birthday is in March, as are his sister's, dad, and brother. Despite the rain, he somehow convinced his family to go on a coast walk by the sutro baths. My dress got thoroughly soaked when it started raining sideways towards the end. It was a fun adventure to see the forest in the rain. It's always nice to see anything in the rain.

We waited 2 hours for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I had never been inside that Macy's, the one where they have the Cheesecake Factory at the top. We spent some time wandering around the store and hanging out in the furniture department.

The next day we got on a megabus back down to LA. And it was so nice to be home.

swimmingly bubbly,
jt

dia del museos

Ahoy,

Our seats from the Coffee Museum. It was lots of fun to sit above the street and observe the unknowing streetgoers. The cloud game was on point our whole trip. So many stellar postcard moments every time we looked up at the sky. The RRS found himself sunburnt for, apparently, the first time in his life. He was unfamiliar with the condition and process. I am not a sunburn newbie, and whined appropriately.




We spent this day at 4 museums, making pretty good use of a leisurely day. I was pretty proud of ourselves. The coffee museum was incredibly proud of their organic product. The RRS reported a good cappuccino, and the sandwich we had was surprisingly tasty. He was in love with their sauces for the basket of potatoes (think potato wedges). Peru is home of more than a thousand varieties of potato. They are a very proud agricultural economy. We went to 2 history/cultural museums to get some more context for Peru & Machu Picchu. The chocolate museum was our last stop of the day where A had his first chocolate covered orange peel. We tried to sign up for a truffle making class or a cooking class, but they had not enough attendees for either. Too bad, we ended up going to a class elsewhere that did not have a max participant requirement for the green light and we got a personal class!

slightly cultured,
jt

fotos

Ahoy!


This chicken noodle soup was recommended to us by the chef from our cooking class. It is made with spaghetti noodles. A claimed it to the best chicken noodle soup he ever had. It is probably because the broth is made from all the chickens that have ever been simmered in the eternity of time.


I was told everyone goes to San Pedro Market for everything. There is a section for souvenirs, aisles for smoothies or fruit juices, fruit & vegetable aisles, meat & poultry aisles, spices, dried goods, etc. The end of the market has sections for ready made foods, where we saw locals actually eating. A lot of the stalls look like they have the same items as their adjacent neighbors, so it was anybody's guess which one to patronize. Most of the tourist places had restaurants advertising burgers, pizzas, pastas, etc. And no locals. It was somewhat difficult to figure out what local Peruvian cuisine is. Peruvian cuisine apparently had a heavy Chinese influence so some local dishes have a Chinese flair. We came back to the San Pedro Market upon multiple occasions. I love a good covered market anywhere we go.

delectably appalled,
jt

lunar new year

Ahoy,

We made our annual pilgrimage to Chicago for Chinese new year. The highlight was probably Beaver Donuts, which I got to eat 5 days in a row. My record thus far. It was glorious.

O & H flew in for the weekend, H's first time in Chicago! We did the usual for first timers to Chicago, spending most of our time exploring the downtown area. We made stops at the Architecture society, cultural center, library, eataly, french market, millennium park, maggie daley park, billy goat's tavern, water tower place, etc. I"m sure you don't need a laundry list anymore because I've probably mentioned all these places here before. Winter was pretty mild because of el nino, so it wasn't as uncomfortable as it could have been while we were walking everywhere. Somehow we made it to a 10pm dinner reservation at Girl & the Goat.

Sunday was a late start, which was fine. We mostly hung around Bridgeport because it was new year's eve. We got some coffee, went to the park to throw ice in the quarry. We dropped off our amigos at the airport, excited to see them in May again.

I was pretty apprehensive about our trip that week to Machu Picchu. We had some errands to complete before we could leave. The RRS was pretty sure he could wear his non-waterproof sneakers. Much to the contrary, I voted he should buy some weatherproof shoes. After a long fruitless search we ended up at Northface, which is where we should have begun with all along. It ended up raining only one day despite the forecast for all days, but it rained hard that one day at Machu Picchu. If I had a nickel for every time I told him so.

justifiably agloat,
jt

first time going to snow?

Ahoy,

The idea of "going to the snow" is so strange to me. Why doesn't it come to me? Like it has been for the majority of my life. But A has been wanting to take me for a while. We got snow pants last year and never used them. They proved to be excellent additions to our snow gear.

We drove with a friend, whom we routinely bum rides from, up to Mammoth. It was snowing at a pretty good rate as we rolled in, but his car has all wheel drive so we just drove past everyone putting snow chains on their cars. I've also never really heard of snow chains until A asked me about them. I don't think I've ever seen anyone in Chicago with them.

We arrived somewhat late, and woke up pretty early to get out. We didn't arrive in time for the first lesson, so I ended up in the afternoon class. We had some time before, so the RRS panicked as he tried to figure out how to teach me to snowboard when he didn't really remember to begin with. I fell a lot, but I was told I was doing pretty well for a beginner. In conclusion, snowboarding is thoroughly exhausting and expensive. I think it's kind of a silly sport for mostly affluent people. Shoveling is a much more useful skill. I would probably do it again, but it's not a sport I would devote myself to.

Ironically, the RRS got sick/altitude sickness after our first day out, so we ended up not going to snowboard the next day. He was originally super adamant about us going both days so we'd have more time to get better. He ended up spending our second day in bed and taking a day off from work. Thrilling. I continue to be super, duper grateful to the folks we were with for being able to accommodate him in his sorry state. When he gets sick, it's usually just a wrench in my our plans, but I was so sorry to be an inconvenience to the rest of the party. And so incredibly thankful for their help and kind gestures. I feel like we will encounter more situations like this, and I'm not sure how to return the kindness or express enough gratitude.

liftingly blizzarded,
jt

skipped some events

Ahoy,

It was brought to my attention that I failed to mention a few things that happened before Machu Picchu.

There was a last minute trip to Houston, TX awarded to the RRS because he won a rocket science award. Neither of us were sure what he won for. And when they announced it later, I wasn't really listening. We arrived on a balmy and breezy Tuesday. It was forecasted to be rainy over our stay. We attended an hors d'oeuvre and welcome speech talk thinger where we were supposed to talk to someone new. Forced socializing is exactly what adults are missing. Remember in school when we were forced to socialize? Making friends used to be easier. I met an astronaut that night!

The following morning we loaded up onto a bus to go to the neutral buoyancy lab among other NASA sites. Some of the divers gave us a tour and answered questions. I learned that they are required to maintain a certain BMI and so a lot of their work hours are for exercising. We also made stops at the current mission control in addition to the original, historic mission control. The RRS nerded out the whole, entire time. I'm sure you can imagine. Bonus! An astronaut was with our group for the day. So we were hanging out with an astronaut all day! We got to try some of the simulators that the astronauts practice on (READ: expensive video game).

That evening we got to see this new exhibit with a space shuttle sitting on top of a boeing. You get to go inside both vehicles. The exhibit wouldn't be open to the public until the following week. So that was pretty cool. We had some more hors d'oeuvre inside the star gallery at the museum. The turkey was really good! It was the most moist, tasty turkey I've ever had in my life!

We spent quite some time binge watching hgtv at the hotel. That's my new obsession. We flew back to LA the following day after a Q&A with an astronaut. But before getting to the airport egregiously early, we stopped at rocket park to take a look at some engines that the RRS made. The vehicle that was used to go to the moon lives there, and it's ginormous! The RRS continued to nerd out, and I spent most of the trip beaming with pride over his accomplishment. We were the likely the youngest there. Some folks might have been wondering if we were crashing the party.

We also stopped at a barbeque place and HEB, among other dining highlights in Houston.

gleamingly busted,
jt

something to see

Ahoy,

One of our days in Cusco, we got a boleto turistico. It gave us access to the ruins of Sacsayhuaman, Q'enko, Puka Pukara, and Tambomachay. We walked up to Sacsayhuaman from Cusco. It was uphill for about 20 minutes. I had A set his alarm for the bright and early hour of 6:30am. We ended up snoozing it to 7am. Our hotel offered breakfast in the morning, which we took advantage of all the days we were there. Even fresh eggs to order, which we can't say the same of a lot of hotels we stayed in the States. It was totally worth it. We spent an hour or 2 at the first site. A was not impressed. We noticed these sites rarely have information for context, often resulting in the necessity for a guide or homework. We wandered around not sure of the meaning or significance of anything. We went down a natural rock slide that but fun and terrifying.

Q'enko was another site just up the road - about 15 minutes up. We hired a guide here. A made the call that we had no idea what we were getting into. The site was pretty small. You can easily just walk through in less than 5 minutes. Our guide told us it was a spiritual site with a lot of altars to offer sacrifices. The layout of the rocks were so interesting and intentional.

We hopped aboard a bus up to the other 2 sites that were about 3 miles away. Puka Pukara was though to be some sort of military outpost, affording the Incans wide views and lavish accommodations. And Tambomachay was thought to be some sort of water aqueduct facility type. It has waterfalls and intricate tunneling  that a river runs through. I found these things out after doing homework when we got back to the hotel. The information providing at these sites I found to be less than that of places in the States, where they have informational placards everywhere to tell you about all the things.

We took the bus back down to our first site and got back to our hotel by 3pm. All in all, a thoroughly productive day. I'm glad we got up early to catch all these sites without being in a rush or amongst the crowds. We had plenty of time once we got back to have a slow afternoon and get to bed early, which I'm more and more so becoming a proponent of.

exceedingly aged,
jt

and we're back!

Ahoy,

We almost didn't make it! Our flight out of Lima to Ft. Lauderdale was delayed. The plane was coming from Philadelphia where it experienced weather issues that delayed it 2 hours by the time it got to us in Lima. Our connecting flight was at 8:30am and we were to land at 8am, so they rescheduled our connection for 7pm, which would have us land around 10pm! Because that was the next flight from Ft. Lauderdale to LAX. So the plane: Philly --> Ft. Laud. --> Lima --> Ft. Laud.
We hop on: Lima --> Ft. Laud -->  (transfer) LAX. Our initial arrival time would have been 11am, leaving us the whole day to do things and nap. The prospect of losing our whole day at the airport in Ft. Lauderdale was incredibly upsetting.

We flew from Cusco to Lima, landing at 6:30pm. I was on the verge of tears at the counter in Lima. In retrospect, it all worked out, but at the time - I was so displeased. Our flight out of Lima was supposed to be at midnight, and we ended up leaving around 2am. We decided to stay at the airport for our 5 hour layover, which we probably would have been fine to leave the airport after all because our layover ended up being extended. The airport has this weird system of rotating airline counters. When we first landed, there was no JetBlue counter, which initially put me into a tizzy. They actually opened around 9pm to reveal a delayed flight. What a day!

We tried to sleep at the airport. I pushed some benches together, making light of the fact that our new home was the airport. We ended up landing close to 7:30am, and I elbowed our way ahead of the crowd to get to customs and immigration first. Luckily, we had just gotten Global Entry so that pulled us ahead, and TSA pre, which helped us out entering back through security into domestic flights. Plus, we had no checked bags to collect. It probably took us all of 15 minutes to disembark, go through customs & immigration, and go back through security to get to our original flight. We caught the flight before they even started boarding, and made it back to LA by 11am. And they thought we wouldn't make it. What a day!

I was more than happy to return to a gloomy LA. I was over the sunny days in Cusco that left me burnt and toasty like a roasted tomato. We ended up with really only 1 rainy day over the whole trip, despite the forecast for all rainy days. Even A got burnt, and he usually does not. That high altitude sun got us good. We went to whole foods and reveled in the high sanitary standards of the USA. We had the top down on his car and reveled in the non-black smoke puffing out of all the automobiles. It was so good to be home. It even started raining, and it did not stop until the next day. What I wouldn't give for more rainy days!

sinfully elated,
jt

como se dice

Ahoy,

Como se dice, sunburn? Frito del sol? We spent yesterday walking around town and seeing museums. We went to the museo inka, machupicchu museo, cafe museo, y choco museo. We learned lots of interesting things that gave us more context for Machu Picchu and the culture and history. We usually don't have so much time in a city to see all these things. It's not a bad luxury. We stumbled across the San Pedro market and gawked at the food that locals were eating. We wandered around the street markets that were selling meats, seafood, fruits and veggies, everything. It was very obvious we were out of place, but A and I think it was one of the highlights. It's just really fun to be wandering amongst non-tourists, and non-tourist establishments.

I inadvertently planned this trip over Valentine's Day, and so we did a little research to discover that Valentine's Day is a national holiday to celebrate not jiust your sweetheart but just any one that is important to you. And this year it also fell on the last day of carnaval, wherein people pelt each other with water balloons and canned foam. Good thing I looked this up so we knew to expect this. There were folks walking around with water guns, bags of water balloons, so much canned foam. We walked across a lot of war zones and found ourselves the primary targets on emptier streets. It was uncertain whether going through busy plazas with a lot of other targets or going down less busy streets would keep us drier. Today was a great day to experience a Peruvian tradition. We weren't expecting this, but definitely a pleasant surprise. I got targeted more than A, I'm pretty sure, but no harm done. Everyone was in good spirits and just having a good time. You can't really be cranky about it.

We also decided to take a cooking class at the last minute. No one else had that idea apparently because we got to have a private class. I'm incredibly pleased with our experience because it was great to have someone to ask questions and talk to about the culture and local customs. Our chef was a fantastic resource for cooking things and Peru things.

I got pretty red on my shoulders today despite sunblocking. It's summer here and it's supposed to be rainy, but we haven't seen much rain, a whole lot of sun.

cosmically toasted,
jt

there and back

Ahoy,

Tonight we made it back to cusco after Machu Picchu. The day after we landed, we made the journey to Machu Picchu. A woke up feeling better after a restless night for both of us (a symptom of the altitude). I was so relieved he was returning to normal. We descended to about 8,000 ft, which also helped. We sat on the train across from these 2 girls that had gone straight from the airport to Machu Picchu. Witnessing the state of those two had me glad we stayed the one day in cusco first. I think A would have been so much more miserable had we continued onto a 90 minute bus ride to a 90 minute train ride after flying for 24 hours. But then I'm also not sure if staying at 11000 was wise either. It could have gone really wrong. I do not approach the state of A's health with as much hubris. But we were both able to enjoy the ride and views a lot, and we were both happy that he was not miserable anymore.

We arrived to a tree hotel, which I would definitely recommend. After wandering around and seeing pretty much all of Aguascalientes, we found food in a typical tourist restaurant. This little town is so interesting to me. Everyone in that town was pretty much on the same journey as us. You arrive one day, tuck in early to wake up early and hike around Machu Picchu the next day, and then you're out of there back to cusco. Every single person visiting that place, was in the same boat as us. People have done the trip, and people will continue to do so. Everyday the trains bring in hoards of people to go on this same pilgrimage. Same routine. Same steps.

We woke up at 4:30 AM. And the hotel delivered breakfast to our room. Our room had a great view of some rocks, and the sounds of the raging river. Seriously, I've never seen a river rage so hard. It was rainy and dark as we stumbled to join the crowds boarding the buses up. A almost went on this trip with his regular sneakers that are not at all waterproof. At my behest, we found boots in Chicago literally the day before we left. Life with me is a life of nagging. Very practical nagging, as we stepped into the ruins with his feet dry despite the downpour. It was incredibly overcast. Visibility was low, but I liked it. There's a spooky glow to places when it's foggy. Unfortunately for us we had timed entry tickets to Wayna Picchu, the next peak over from mp, in the morning when it was still overcast, so we were not able to see anything when we were at the top. But it's the journey, right?

We hiked around the ruins a bunch more as the skies cleared up. I was pretty exhausted after our hike up Wayna Picchu, but we trudged on. That place is no joke. It is just never ending and thoroughly spectacular. I definitely need to read up on some more context. There were lots of llamas, at one point they were in our path and we waited for them to clear out before we could continue. The place got thoroughly crowded. February is supposedly the low season, so I can't imagine how crazy this would be during peak season.

We went back down around 1pm and hung around the hotel until it was almost time to board our train. We got a pizza to go which was the strangest rendition of pizza I have ever had. All the restaurants seem to sell the same foods for tourists. Pizza is everywhere, and I don't think anyone knows how to make it. We made it back to cusco same way we got there, seemingly the same way everyone gets there.

Happy to not be in a hurry to anywhere tomorrow.

habitually elevated,
jt

South America for the first time

Ahoy,

Today we landed in cusco, after nearly 24 hours of travel. There were and continue to be points where I question whether we should have gone on this trip. The flights and connections were incredibly exhausting. This is definitely not for the weak of heart. We landed in Lima at about midnight and our flight wasn't until 4am. It seemed pretty commonplace though because everyone was sleeping at the airport.

We got to our hotel and slept for about 5-6 hours. I was initially concerned about the altitude, but I awoke feeling fine. Cusco is at 11,000+ feet above sea level. I was initially a lot more concerned about A in the altitude and he was less so. Hubris. After discovering his adverse reaction to the altitude in mammoth a few weeks ago, I really started to panic internally. He brushed it off. Hubris. It hit him hard today. He stayed at the hotel while I went out. When he did go out, after walking for a bit he upchucked in the street. That stuff projected like I had never seen. S*** gets real at high altitude when your travel companion is yakking in the street. Hubris spilled out of his body. Hubris haunts his dreams as he sleeps right now. As for me, I'm pretty okay physically. My appetite is way lower than normal, but other than that I have nothing to report.

Tomorrow we'll go down in elevation to about 8000 feet at Machu Picchu. I hope he feels better and that he can acclimatize because we will be back to cusco for the tale end of our trip.

It just pains me to see him like this and I question whether we should be here and whether we will do something like this ever again.

despondently awry,
jt

best friends

Ahoy,

Perhaps I'm being forward. It seems like every time I get to hang out with O & H I like them more and more, even though I thought that that wasn't possible because I liked them so much initially. They are friends I very gladly would spend every new year's with. And I'm so happy that I got to hang out with them this year to celebrate. I think I will never ever get enough time with these folks. They will get sick of me.

We scooped them up from the airport and picked up sandwiches at our corner deli to enjoy at an art museum. It was still holiday break so the tram up was super duper crowded and we opted to walk up. H says "if you've got 2 working legs and a heartbeat." Go figure that walking up is an option! We picnicked and wandered around for a little bit before driving out towards Arcadia to meet her family. We had to stop at the grocery and pick a case of mangoes and 9 coconuts, of course. When in Rome. Also, boba.

We learned that the Rose Parade is a multi-day endeavor. H's family had started setting out their spot at 7am! We joined in the evening with dinner to hang out and wait some more for the parade the following day. This is quite the extravaganza. Families were sleeping and playing out there. As a child, my parents never really let us out for parades. And they never bothered with parades. The only one that I ever knew of was Chinese New Year Parade, which was always in the dead of winter. So I had no chance of standing outside idly anywhere for any reason. It was an interesting experience to be a part of this family tradition. H's family was incredibly kind and welcoming despite my sorry state of health. It was so nice of them to invite us to join on their family tradition. It's always fun to see what other families are like, because there are just so many varieties.

There are some staples that we try to hit with these VIPs, Muji and omusubis and of course tons and tons of coffee. And we got double scoops of ice cream for $1. What a steal! The last full day with O & H had the pretense of an easy and "chill" day. I think everyone was ready for that, probably me most of all. We started with a late brunch across the street, went on a short hike, and ate some more at lemonade. We finally made it into sushi for dinner. The previous evening there was a 3 hour long wait and we tried our luck again and got a 1 hour wait. Yahtzee!

I can't wait to see O & H again. They are great friends to have.

lovingly delectable,
jt

home for the holidays!

Ahoy,

This was probably the first time I was in Chicago for Christmas in a handful of years. And it was the first time my dad was home ever for this holiday. After what I assume was a successful and arduous run at a pretty popular and long-standing restaurant in Chinatown, they sold it. So my dad for the first time in his life has had time to do things that he wants to do. Mostly watch old Chinese war movies. I deemed this year necessary for us to be in Chicago.

Also, we drove the car from Chicago to LA. So we went car shopping with my folks wherein they very casually purchased a subaru forrester because they did not mind the look and size. A and I made the 2000+ mile trip from Chicago departing the day after Christmas. We loaded the car with snacks and beverages and buckled in for the first stretch from Chicago straight to Denver. There is nothing to look at and no reason to stop in the Midwest, so we deemed it wise to just go the 15 hours straight to the Rockies in one leg. We left around 7:30am and made it in around 9:30pm thanks to a new time zone! Fortunately, this would be the halfway mark leaving us more time in Utah to check out some national parks.

The second day started with a 5 hour drive to Arches National Park. There were more people waiting to get in than I thought, but I'm sure less crowded than a non-winter day. We made the rounds in 3 hours despite warnings of icy roads and trails. Weather warnings be damned! We are going to see some arches! They were super cool. A told me later he was most excited for this park. We'll definitely have to come back. We scrapped the idea of checking out Canyonlands, and made a beeline for our hotel right outside Capitol Reef National Park. What was supposed to be a 2.5 hour trip ended up taking about an hour longer because we missed the initial exit and A drove like a grandma. In his inexperience of winter driving, he thought the car would stop working. We ended up on this incredibly windy, icy road for about an hour, wherein we saw one other car quickly pass us and a rabbit. The temperature dipped to -10 and A continued to drive like a grandma because he thought it was so cold that the car would just stop running or we would run off the ice. Painfully slow. We arrived to the hotel to find out all the businesses close at 8 this time of year so we could not get dinner. I was a grumpy human that night. A was happy to have made it alive to a heated hotel room.

The next day we drove through Capitol Reef in about an hour and continued our journey to Zion. We decided to scrap the trip to Bryce because A was afraid of the ice. He was over the whole winter thing. We ended up with 3 hours in Zion, which was a perfect taster also to get in a couple short hikes on icy trails. I would guess he was the most impressed with Zion. I think he had lower expectations, but immediately he mentioned regretting our decision to cancel Zion earlier that year now seeing what he missed. Zion is a gorgeous, breathtaking, incredible piece of American terrain. Also, it looks a lot like California Adventure. Ironic. We will definitely be back.

We zipped over to Vegas that evening driving through some dramatic canyons and cliffs. So much more scenic than the Midwest, it's amazing all the different landscapes there are! We decided to get dinner at a restaurant on the strip and I immediately regretted my decision. The contrast of the Vegas scene and tourist to a National Park ecology is jarring to say the least. We were so happy to just do nothing in our hotel room that night.

The following day would be a drive we were thoroughly familiar with - Vegas to LA direct. At last we were home! I can't say that I was ready to ring in the new year, but we would be rounding that corner regardless. And I know I always look forward to seeing O & H!

rarely over-looked,
jt

adventures from last year

Ahoy,

I think I should update this adventure log before I forget what things we did. Pictures will have to come later because this sd card reader is faulty right now.

The holiday season started off with a jump back in December. The RRS had some gift cards that was gifted to us for a stay at a b&b in Carmel. I took this opportunity to expand the trip with a stops in Morro Bay and Big Sur. We took the iconic highway 1 up the coast in his little sportscar. He loved it. We departed on a Friday afternoon and made it to Morro Bay in time for dinner at our favorite place for oysters. The hotel was run by an Indian family - likely the only "ethnic" people for a while - and the lobby smelled delightfully of Indian spices. We had parked outside this exact hotel on other day trips to this tiny town.

In the morning, we picked up a baguette and coffee before hitting the road up the PCH to Big Sur. That baguette was so good. We should have gotten 2. The day before and day after would be overcast and rainy, but it happened to be bright and clear the day of our trip. We got to ride with the top down and it was before the holiday season and winter, so there wasn't a lot of traffic to get stuck behind. He had a great time zooming along the winding roads and every corner another reveal of dramatic cliffs into a vast ocean. Lunch was a picnic with a sweeping view over the ocean from the hike to McWay Falls. One of those moments where you can't believe the beauty of nature, and the fact that you are enjoying it. What an honor to be alive, to have a heartbeat and 2 working legs. We made in to our campsite with pretty good time - enough to set up our tiny home for the evening and to go on a hike to a waterfall. A fire happened pretty easily despite everything being quite wet. It was a nice night to be among the trees.

We awoke early to a light misting. Yesterday's weather was long gone. Our trip up to Carmel continued to whisper weather at us. There's a dusting of magic to witness the wilderness in natural elements. I feel in many ways honored to feel the dampness of bark and drops of water on my bones as we swept through the once "vast, unexplored, and impenetrable" coast. By the time we got to Monterey, it was raining pitchforks. We went hog wild at a bakery and sought refuge at the aquarium. His boss also gave us passes so we spent our time seeking out the exhibits we liked because we had both been there before.

We checked in to the b&b that afternoon. It had a fireplace and was so cozy. A's boss joked with him that taking me to a b&b would ruin my taste for camping, because it was what happened with him and his wife. But I jested that that would more likely happen with A's taste because he has never cared for the cold or wet. We wandered around Carmel before tucking into some French food. French is always our go-to for when we feel fancy, which is him more often than me. We all know that he's the fancy one.

We took the 101 back down to LA the next day in one straight shot. It was delightful. To go camping in December! For all the flack I give this place... to be able to go camping in December!

greatly humbled,
jt