It's Been a Long Time Since I Rock and Rolled

The lyrics to Led Zeppelin's song "Rock and Roll" begin, "It's been a long time since I rock and rolled." Well, I have been rocking and rolling (so to speak) but it has been a long time since I wrote on this blog.

The reason for my recent hiatus is that over the past two weeks I have had the tremendous privilege of visiting two of the most amazing places on the entire planet. Two weeks ago I went with my dear Anne to visit Machu Picchu in Peru. This past week my parents joined me for a week on a boat in the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador.

I am awed by my visits to both of these amazing locations. They are incredible, almost indescribable. Plus, I really don't want to turn this blog into too much of a narrative of my trip although I do want to share parts of the journey. In the spirit of gratitude and praise I need to state how fortunate and blessed I feel.

So, here is what is ahead for this blog and for my travels:

Right now the blog is a little bit out of sequence. There are old entries that I want to return to and new entries to write. I'll try not to confuse anybody.

Right now I also have a little bit over three weeks left in South America. My travel plans call for me to take three trips out of Quito over the next three weeks. One trip will be to return to Otavalo for several days. Another trip will be to head South along the Andes to the town of Banos. Banos is one of the prettiest towns in the entire country and is a favorite place for adventure sports. I've been told about a wonderful (and low impact) mountain biking trail and the town features lots of beautiful waterfalls to discover. Another thing they have there is the best bungee jumping in Ecuador. Don't worry Mom, I don't have any interest in going bungee jumping.

Finally, towards the end of the trip I will be taking a trip into the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. There is just no way to pass that up. However, over the next couple of days I will be recharging here in Quito and visiting some more parks and museums. Expect a lot of blogging over the next couple of days.