Ecuador Part 4

A few more pictures of the Galapagos Islands...

Ecuador Part 3

Penguins and Pelicans

I spent the second half of my Ecuador trip in the Galapagos!   Hiking, snorkeling, mingling with tortoises, iguanas, penguins, etc. - nothing like it in the world!

Iguanas at the hotel

 

Galapagos Tortoise

Marine Iguana

Ecuador Part 2

Some of the villages were only accessible by water.   These pictures show how we traveled on the Napo River (a tributary of the Amazon River) to the village of San Rafael on an island. 

Ecuador! Part 1

I spent much of November in Ecuador.   The first half of the trip was with an organization called Timmy Global Health.   I traveled with 15 other Microsoft employees and five doctors, five nurses and three pharmacists to the eastern side of the Andes Mountains in Ecuador - the Amazon River Basin.  There we traveled to eight different villages to provide basic medical care.    The trip was amazing, the team was wonderful and the villagers were all beautiful, friendly and grateful that we were there.   The pictures below are of some of the villagers.

More Kayaking

I finally bought a kayak!   I have been looking and trying many different kinds for about a year and finally settled on a Tiderace Xcape.   It is a great boat, stable yet agile and it holds a lot for kayak camping.   Pictures below are on Lake Washington (with Mt. Rainier in the background) and on a weekend camping trip to Cypress Island in the San Juans.  

Lake Washington

Cypress Island Lunch Stop

View from top of Cypress Island

The Landing

My family ranch on the border of Oregon and California is a beautiful and remote place. My sister still lives on the ranch and raises cattle, horses and a multitude of orphaned animals.

Ali Gets Engaged!

During our visit to the Virginia Barrier Islands, Morgan proposed to Ali on one of the islands! He had his grandmother's ring put in a new setting and took Ali for a beach walk and presented her with the question and the ring :-). She said yes! Current plan is to finish their doctorate programs in about a year then start planning the wedding.

Virginia Barrier Islands

Ali's boyfriend, Morgan grew up on the DelMarVa penninsula on the outer shores of Virginia. His parents still live there and work for the Nature Conservancy. The visit to meet them was wonderful! We stayed in a Nature Conservancy mansion (old plantation), a Nature Conservancy lighthouse on Hog Island (lots of beach walks) and a fishing shack (where Ali and I were successful in 'chicken-necking' for blue crabs for our dinner).

Adam Graduates from Georgetown Law!

Adam graduated in May from Georgetown Law school. The trip to DC was wonderful with the additional bonus of another week spent on the Virginia Barrier Islands. Adam has now moved back to Seattle and is in the middle of taking the bar exam this week.

Adam

Adam is graduating from Georgetown Law this May and will move back to Seattle soon after that. Here are pictures from the last year - DC with me, Nepal with his trekking guide, Paris, skiing in New England, etc.

Ali and Morgan

Ali and Morgan kayaking in Kauii, hiking in California and building snowpeople in Virginia (at Christmas with Morgan's family).

Katelyn and Sierra and Toby the Dolphin

My nieces, Katelyn and Sierra with the Sea World dolphins!

And the Cat!

Can't foget Buddy - here is one of him sleeping and one reading his Kindle - notice the birds on the Kindle

The Dogs Again

More pictures of the dogs - Skye and Mac in the snow (which they love), helping pick out the Christmas tree and just sleeping.

Washington DC

We finished the trip with a visit to see Adam in Washington DC. He is currently in his last year of law school and we had fun touring Georgetown Law and revisiting the capitol.

I hadn't seen the new Museum of the American Indian and spent most of one day here - very enjoyable!

New England - Part Two

New Hampshire is the home of the author of 'Pollyanna' for those of us girls that grew up with Pollyanna books. Littleton was the hometown of Eleanor Porter, the author, and the library had a beautiful statue of Pollyanna!

There are several Shaker village/museums in New England and Canterbury is well worth a visit for its beautiful grounds and impressive garden and buildings.

New England

Yes, New England in the autumn does really look like the postcards.

New Hampshire is beautiful, rural, very few cities and even fewer Starbucks. The Lakes District is amazing - here is a picture from a hike to the top of Rattlesnake Mountain. The lake is called Squam Lake - better known as the lake in the classic movie, 'On Golden Pond'.

The White Mountains in New Hampshire have beautiful rivers, lakes and hikes (the Appalachian Trail crosses the mountains).

Vermont's Green Mountains were basically tall hills (for a person from the northwest) but covered with gorgeous fall folliage and lots of little towns with covered bridges and grist mills.