Rock Climbing in Las Vegas

Well it is about time for us to start updating our blog. Life back in the states has proven to be moving faster than on our trip in South America. With house projects, work, and playing outdoors the end of the day comes fast. But excuses aside we want to continue sharing our journey of the fun things that are happening.

This weekend we visited Cindy and Jeremy in their new house right next to Red Rocks in Las Vegas. We had several full days of amazing rock climbing surround by incredible views of the Red Rocks Valley. We are excited to have a Rock Climbing Bed & Breakfast at the Newman House and look forward to Cindy and Jeremy coming up to the Skiing Bed & Breakfast at the Jones house here in Carson.

So "Cheers" to more awesome adventures with great friends!!!

Walk through of our "New Home"

4070 Spring Drive
Carson City,NV 89701

The Jones Bed & Breakfast

Life after South America

At the top of Mariuolumne Dome with Jeremy & Cindy (highest dome summit in Yosemite).


Cathedral Peak- another great climb with great friends.


Playing with rock and ropes.


Summer day at Tahoe with Kari-Mom.


Mountain biking on the Rim Trail above Tahoe- the only thing missing is Ryan and KC!


Dad demonstrating our new extreme sport.


Cullen,Mike, and Sparky on "Father's Day Peak"


There's only a fine line between golfing a round and goofing around...


We have been home now for 8 weeks and we are sharing a few photos of fun times to keep the adventure dialogue going. In the mean time, there have been big changes that don't make it into the photo album... I started working in a fantastic office with amazing people, doing orthodontics in my hometown of Fallon. We are buying our first home in Carson City (officially ours this week!) which means we have plenty of space to put up friends and family who come to visit! And the most important change that has occurred in our life, is that my Me-ma has been teaching us alot about courage, faith, and hope in the last 2 months. Every rock we climb reminds me of the challenges she faces daily, and we celebrate her triumphs over obstacles of the body as she continues to grow healthier every day. Now, more than ever, we don't take family for granted or the time we spend together. We love you Me-ma!

The Ultimate Peruvian Experience

Good company, gorgeous glaciers, and a meandering trail through indigenous villages made this hike the pinnacle of our travels. We took our blistered feet and sore calf muscles on this amazing trek only one day after returning from the Inka Trail, but the experience was worth the effort. This trip was less extravagant and more hard core, especially for Cullen and Ryan who carried much more weight than the legal limit for local porters!

We took local bus transport to the start of the climb, then began our long walk along rivers and between towering rocky peaks. We camped among the misty clouds and curious cows on the first night, placing our tents virtually on top of eachother to create shelter from the frigid winds. After attacking a large communal bowl of spaghetti, we retired to our tents and spent the next 12 or so hours shifting between sleep and trying to sleep. When the dawn at last rescued us, we began hiking through the most outstanding stretch of trail we have yet seen in South America. After a short hike we spent the next hour or so walking a comfortable grade with alpine lakes and massive glacier-capped mountains greeting our gaze. Eventually we crossed a pass and descended a long way down to another small village with homes of stone and roofs of straw. After stopping to buy some hand-woven goods from the little girls who ran to meet us on the trail, we started the big climb over our last mountain pass. It was a tremendous ascent to make at the end of the day, but looking back I am happy that Peru gave us this last chance to spill our sweat here. In some way those hard climbs have strengthened the bond we made with the culture here- and gives us a window into the campesino (farmer) appreciation for the energy given by pacha mama (mother earth). On the third day, we walked downhill for a few hours until we reached a natural hot springs ¨resort.¨ After soaking in the murky but pleasingly hot waters, we finished our walk to the town of Lares. After catching the bus and eating some Top Ramen (both were incredible feats of their own), we made it to the town of Pisaq to shop and dine among the hustle and bustle of the giant Sunday market...

And that concludes our final adventure here in South America, although the journey for all of us continues. Welcome back to Colorado Ryan! We will spend tomorrow in Lima and will be back in the USA on Friday! Thank you everyone for visiting our blog and sharing your thoughts with us along the way. Please stay posted as we will continue to add new photos and stories of adventures to come.

Con mucho amor, Melissa & Cullen

Inka Trail

5am pick up and we were off for a backpack trip unlike any other we had experienced before... The five of us (including Ryan, ourselves, Ivan, and Sasha) set off from Cusco in a van towards the Sacred Valley. After a luxury breakfast (the first of many delicious meals prepared seemingly out of thin air and presented on a table with tablecloth, real silverware, and chairs), we began our journey toward the Inka`s sacred Macchu Picchu.

For the next three days, we climbed up and down valleys, through several smaller and beautiful Inka ruins (more respectfully known as constructions), passing through a range of climates from arid to jungle to cloud forest. After reaching the summit of ¨Dead Woman`s Pass¨on the second day, we began the endless rock staircase that would eventually bring us to the Sun Gate overlooking Macchu Picchu.

Maybe it was the spirit of the Inkas still conveying love and reverence for the mountains, or maybe it was the afternoon tea and cookies, but somehow the days passed like a dream and we arrived at our destination full of energy. On the last morning, we arose at 4am to eat breakfast and hit the trail in time for Cullen to be the first person to reach the Sun Gate (Ryan and I were unable to follow his deft manuvers past the slower but steady train of climbers along the narrow cliff-edged trail). We spent a long and calf muscle-burning day ascending and descending every possible staircase inside Macchu Picchu. As the sun was setting over the hill-perched remains of the majestic village, we sat quietly for a moment letting the immensity and beauty of a bygone world leave its mark on our souls.

Lago Titicaca

We arrived at sunset and the floating reed islands were glowing gold against the deep blue waters of the shallow Lago Titicaca. This small and hardy group of Peruvians live on man-made islands where even the homes and boats are made of grass. The women, like in most indigenous communities of Peru, wear brilliant colored dresses and their dark hair in long braids. During our brief visit to their home, we felt moved by their strength and beauty.

We were on our way from La Paz to Cusco on a long bus ride when we met two fellow travelers who recommended we stop for a few hours in Puno and visit these islands. What luck that we ran into them because the surprise visit to this unique culture was a special experience as we left Bolivia behind and re-entered wonderful Peru. We arrived full circle in our travels as we entered Cusco (pulled into the bus station at 4am). We feel right at home again and even joined our Spanish teachers for a few hours of volleyball before heading to the airport to pick up Ryan.

After a few misadventures in Mexico City and a quick stay in Lima, Ryan arrived last Saturday afternoon. About 12 hours later we were all on our way to the Inka Trail on route to Macchu Picchu. We just arrived from that incredible adventure around 10pm last night and are currently resting our aching feet and calf muscles- again full smiles. More photos from that journey soon!

More birds, bugs, and big animals in the Pampas

We crawled through the official jungle for 7 days trying to see animals and after just 10 minutes on a boat in the Pampas we found them all! While lounging lazily on a motor boat, we feasted our eyes on alligators, turtles, many unique and colorful birds, and even monkeys- lots of them! Pampas means the grasslands and this is where the animals are easier to see because the vegetation is less dense- we even had fish jumping into our boat, we held a baby alligator and Cullen held an anaconda snake! We spent three days with Melissa & Ilan (friends from the earlier jungle tours), four great people from Ireland, and our amazing guide Sabino.

On what turned out to be a much better tour than we ever expected, we went for a night canoe ride to find caiman (similar to alligators but more aggressive), we lounged in hammocks watching the wildlife around us (monkeys, birds, alligators all plentiful), we tredged through swamp for hours to find the anaconda, we swam with pink dolphins (and who knows what else was in the water!), and we fished parahna again then ate it for lunch! As if all of this was not enough, our incredibly friendly and informed guide gave us handmade necklaces with alligator teeth at the end of our trip! We are officially satisfied with the Bolivian Amazon and we are ready to get out of the humid bug territory tomorrow! Mike, we are proud to say that our calculations were near perfect and we will be taking just about every last one of our Malarone pills! Thank you!

Tomorrow we had a plane flight to La Paz in the morning but it got delayed until the afternoon. The tiny plane is notorious for cancellations so we are lucky that we can still leave on the same day. From this point on, we are in a race to get to Cusco before Ryan does! In just a few days we will be back to our stomping ground in beautiful Peru...