Sunday, July 26, 2009

Gun Lake






















Hi, everybody,












Just wanted to share a few pictures from our visit with Mary, Butch, and the girls this weekend. We had a great time Friday and Saturday, but of course were sad to hear the news of Grandma Pierre's death last night. We we so glad to spend so much time Mary and her family who are courageously and patiently living life despite Butch's illness. Sending our love to all!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Ecuador!

Hanna here, not Laura, though I am once again hijacking her account.

So, an old friend of mine has a college roommate who got married in Ecuador two weeks ago, and she didn't want to make the trip alone. Naturally, when thinking about who among her friends would want to shirk all their responsibilities and trek around South America for ten days, she thought of me.



This is the colonial section of Quito at night, with the old white churches glowing all over. We were staying in the colonial area, it was an interesting place.







This is my friend and me at the equator. Supposedly if you extend your thumbs upward on either side of the line it boosts your energy. Probably doesn't work when you're mugging for the camera, though.












The Basilica in Quito. I went to the very top of the bell-tower on the left, and you can see the entire city. And Quito is not small. That tower is high up, you guys.



Behind me is the fancy entrance for political bigwigs. I forgot to mention, the gargoyles on this basilica are chock full of crazy animals: llamas, anteaters, tortoises, rams, crocodiles, etc.



The wedding was in something called a "cloud forest" just north of Quito, which meant it's like a rainforest but at really high elevation and just a little less rainy. We slept in treehouses. See right.











This was the view from our treehouse. I was pretty hyperactive the whole two days we were there. So much to see! Waterfalls, butterfly enclosures, faulty electrical generators, wedding bands with kazoos... we had a blast.



That's a waterfall behind us. We were taking some pictures of the happy couple in the cloud forest undergrowth.










Helpful tip for future brides: If you don't feel like decorating, have the wedding in a rainforest. Problem solved.

This doesn't even include the photos of our side trip out to the Ecuadorian coast, which included one day of seeing a Galapagos-alike island with blue-footed boobys and humpback whales and two days of sitting in hammocks on the beach. It was the perfect vacation to cap off my time in Atlanta.