Back home

We made it back from our little trip yesterday afternoon, although we had to park the car a block from our house and walk with all of our stuff to the house, but that is another story and another blog. We had an incredible time, and of course we took pictures. Now that Becca and I both have cameras again, my hard drive might be getting fuller, faster. We only took around 700 pics! With that many, I obviously cannot post all the good ones, of which there are many as well. So, I will start here and from time to time keep putting a picture on.

(click the photo to see the llama grazing and the climber's refuge right below the snow line.)

One of the places we went was Cotopaxi National Park. We had a GREAT time there! Not only is the centerpiece of the park incredible (Cotopaxi Volcano) but so was all the wildlife and the landscapes. We saw wild horses, llamas, awesome birds, Inca ruins, mountain lakes and streams and ancient lava flows (pictures to follow). For the first time in a long time we experienced cold temperatures and very hard wind. Did I mention we couldn't breathe? Most of where we drove had us around 11-12,000 feet. A few years ago when we lived in Colorado this wouldn't have been a big deal, but now we lowlanders get winded doing things above 8,000 feet (only 500 feet higher than our home in Colorado). I am sure we will revisit this nation park. You can drive almost all the way to the climber's refuge, but we thought we would wait until Madison gets a little bigger, being that it lies at around 15,000 feet.