New Zealand Adventures

New Zealand 

January 2017

Fifteen days into the trip we flew from Tokyo to Nee Zealand. The English signs were refreshing to see. Day one in Queenstown, I ran along the lake as free as a bird in my shorts and no gloves! By evening, the rain came in. We wouldn't see a blue sky until one of the last days. During this visit, we tried many adventure activities. We rode a gondola to the top of the mountain and drove down a luge. We rode a jet boat and sped down the river nearly missing the walls of rock. We hiked Rob Roy's glacier, sampled some delicious wine, and searched for Lord of the Rings sites. We kayaked through Milford Sound. We bungee jumped and hang glided.  And we saw glow worm caves. 

So much action packed in a beautiful place with friendly people! :-) 

Here are some photos:

Post-bungee jump high

Japan Travels

Japan, January 2017


Last summer, my brother invited me on a trip that seemed like it'd be the trip of a lifetime. We planned on traveling to the eastern hemisphere. This gave 6 months to plan all the details (he did most of the planning).

Taipei
I met Scott and his friend at the Chicago airport Friday evening of December 30th. After a long flight, we arrived to Taipei January 1st at 6am... We missed all of the New Years celebrations! In Taipei, we walked around, saw sights, and met up with friends who were coincidentally in the same city at the same time (thanks to Facebook for letting us know).

Tokyo

After a nine hour layover, we boarded a plane to Tokyo and arrived with jet lag feelings worse than a hangover. Our AirBnB for the week was located in a quiet neighborhood slightly outside the city. In the mornings, I rose before the sun, and ran through the streets only to hear the pitter-patter of my shoes and the occasional crow announcing my passing. I have admired the agility and stealth of ninjas since my childhood and this was a dream come true to run through the dark streets of Japan (no, ninjas didn't live in Tokyo and no, they didn't wear black).

Quality model shot! 

Our time in Tokyo was filled with temples, shrines, walking, and food. My travel mates have a detailed journal of the places we visited and foods we ate. We walked at least 10 miles everyday and managed to find our way around thanks to Google maps!

   

Kyoto
Kyoto was the next city on the list. We took a 3 hour walking tour once we arrived and were introduced to the main cultural aspects of the area-- temples, shrines, Geiko girls, and exclusive loyal-customer restaurants. Our AirBnB was in a quiet neighborhood and more traditional inside. Our beds were traditional mattresses on the floor upstairs and the walls welcomed the outside's winter air. When in Kyoto, you can visit the monkey park, bamboo forest, temples, see many people dressed in colorful kimonos, learn the traditions of a tea ceremony, and visit markets. We did it all! Another highlight of the trip was a 6 course lunch. We were the only guests for the two hour period. Boy, the hot tea flowed and we sampled mysterious dishes! One day, we took a side trip to Nara and Iga to see wild deer and the ninja museum.

 
Next, we took a train to Hiroshima and arrived before the city woke up for the day. We visited the peace memorials. The city was very calm. For lunch, we at Japanese pancakes! Next, we took a train and boat ferry to Miyajima island-- famous for the shrine arch in the water. 

Lunch in Kyoto

Our hotel was a traditional Japanese ryokan. They greeted us with tea and sweets. We wore kimono robes to dinner and sampled more mysterious food. The hotel had a public bathhouse where you can bathe and relax in the different baths and sauna rooms. After the hot bath, an entire counter is dedicated to hygiene and beauty maintenance. :-)


Okinawa
Just like all the previous mornings, we woke up early (first enjoyed another bath and breakfast) and caught a flight to the South Island, Okinawa. Our dreams of warmth on the beach were replaced with the reality of grey skies and chilly weather. On the bright side, we got to experience driving on the left side of the road (with a rental car) and had an AirBnB with plenty of space to spread out. While in Okinawa, we went whale watching, explored a castle, visited the museum (Battle of Okinawa) visited the aquarium, and hiked a mountain. Whale watching consisted of 3 hours fighting nausea and 15 minutes of spotting whales. It was pretty cool but that may have been my last time.

Okinawa

purple "ube" ice cream

Back in Tokyo for 3 days and we felt like pros navigating the city. Our hotel had another bath house (cha-Ching!). We went to a sumo-wrestling tournament and a Robot Restaurant to watch a robot show (robots moved around and people-performers danced and sang).


Japan surprised me with its extremely kind people and rich culture. It was tricky navigating and ordering food with the Japanese characters, but we managed!

Ragnar Colorado 2016

Copper Mountain, Colorado
August 13, 2016


This place is definitely a favorite of everybody I know! Pedro and I competed in the Ragnar Relay for the 2nd year with our friends from Copper Mountain. This race is about 200 miles long split between 12 runners and 2 vans over the time of about 30 hours. The scenery was beautiful, the people were friendly, and the runs were strong. This year was better than last year since Pedro and I have become less afraid of the dark! 
Here is a post written by the captain of our team (her write-up is way better than mine!!)

Pedro's hair flying in the wind & Joking post-run

Zen Running :-)

The Copper Mountain Team 2016

Donkeys and Beer in the Carolinas

Asheville, NC
August 6, 2016

Asheville, NC was a pretty short trip. We visited a farm in southern South Carolina (played with some donkeys and chickens), Pedro ran a Spartan race near Asheville, and I ran the trails of Bent Creek nearby. We had a quick pit-stop in Asheville for some pizza and beer and saw enough to promise that we would soon return!

Marcahuasi, Peru

Marcahuasi, Peru

July 2, 2016

The best feeling in the world is a clear open road with the curiosity of what’s to come. Being out in nature leaves me with a strong sense of peace and clarity that cannot be matched in a meditation room. This week’s trip went to the Andes of Peru (a 4 hour drive east of Lima). Marcahuasi  is known for sightings of UFOs and the Stone Forest-- mystical, natural carvings of faces and animals into the large, energy-filled stones. When reading about this place, I was excited about the mysticism associated as well as natural super-plants found in the area to cure illnesses.

We rode in a bus up the dirt road carved into the mountain to a small town called San Pedro de Casta. After a nice lunch, we started up the 5Km path to Marcausai. Donkeys, horses, and locals moved up the path carrying campers’ gears, campers, or guiding the herd. Thank goodness for the resting huts along the way that gave us an excuse to sit, breath, and regain strength.

At 13,000ft above sea level, we reached the top and were welcomed by a flat ground for camping. The donkeys roamed around trying to munch on as much grass as possible and the campers set up their party spot. Pedro and I napped as soon as the tent was set! I woke up after the sun fully set to a sky full of billions of stars. We even saw plenty of shooting stars!!

In the morning, we climbed the stones to explore some of the area and then descended towards better oxygen levels. The car ride down the mountain was one of the most frightening experiences in my life (my trip in Haiti still ranks #1)! The driver never seemed to hug the mountain close enough or drive slow enough for my comfort. All in all, it was a great trip.

I recommend that you try exploring this area. Take about a day and a half to travel to/from the area, hike, and explore!

Cruising through South California

Temecula, California

January 29, 2016

Pedro signed up for a different version of Spartan Race called Hurricane Heat. This one is in Temecula, California and was Saturday 6-10pm.

Saturday early morning we arrived to Los Angeles, rented a car and drove south to Oceanview-- a cute beach town. After a nap, we drove along the coast to La Jolla admiring all of the beautiful sights. I loved the massive cliffs, waves, and architecture of the houses.

Saturday evening, I dropped Pedro off at his race and drove to Old Town Temecula to explore and eat. I ate dinner at a restaurant called E.A.T. They have a couple of locations and serve good, healthy foods.

Sunday, we drove to San Diego for a quick exploration in the historic Gaslamp Quarter. The architecture downtown was a nice mix of old-school historic and geometric modern. After a rainy drive back towards San Diego, we stopped at a pier in Manhattan Beach. Unexpectedly, a huge wind storm was brewing and produced winds that felt like we were in a hurricane! This was such a thrilling experience. We later learned that the storms from this day caused a lot of trouble for South California.  

Miami Marathon

Miami marathon 
January 24, 2016

I signed up for the Miami Marathon once I realized that I was becoming a scared, shy person in life. Also, running a marathon has been on my bucket list for 5 years...so what better time than now?
After some light strength training and running, I stood at the starting line Sunday morning with a calm, positive attitude. I was lucky enough to have in town my mom, my dad, Pedro, and his friend David as cheerleaders.

   

The first 10 miles toured South Beach, Pedro jumped in with me at mile 13. The race went down to Coconut Grove, near Key Biscayne, and finished downtown. My body tightened after about 20 miles. After finishing, the pain in my muscles was worse than I imagined.



Fortunately, I ate, drank, and stretched after and was recovered within 2 days. Pedro and I have signed up for next year’s race--- Jan 29, 2017!!