Llamas are resident - and pushy!
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The expanse of grass divides the residential sector from the industrial area. This is where they had festivals and ceremonies, and where the sole piece of ancient jewely was unearthed (a silver and gold bracelet).
The entry gate through which the Inca and royal family entered. Wyna Picchu rises in the background where a number of small temples were built.
Once the train pulls out the buses muscle in to pick up tourists for the hairpin road to Machu Picchu, 1000 feet above. The vendors rush onto the tracks to set up prime locations on the tourista path. Alaire likes her new straw Inca hat.
We took the Orient Express / Peru Rail train through lush steep canyons carved by the Urubamba River.
The entrance to a collection of private homes on a side street in Cuzco. The style is colonial Spanish, the fabrication crude and the exposed wiring (running through the upper left of arch) is clearly home made.
Not to be outdone by the builders of the cathedral to the left of this picture, the Jesuits erected this beautiful Baroque church on top of the foundations of the Inca royal palace.
The stones in this wall were carved to fit perfectly and were constructed without mortar. The random stone style was for commoners.
On a hill outside of Cuzco are the foundations for the Inca fortress. It was overrun by the Spanish and the smaller upper stones used as building material for construction of Catholic churches in town. One can see the scale of this construction from the woman in the lower center. Each stone was carved to perfectly fit the one below so no mortar was needed.
Off the cathedral square the remains of the Inca palace can be seen under the Spanish buildings. The horizontal stone style was reserved for royalty. With each earthquake at 300 year intervals the Spanish structures crack and fall while the Inca stones remain solid.
As we left our tour bus these mothers showed off their babies, asking one Sol (26 cents) for a picture.
Each Sunday people come on foot from miles around to the open air market. The one big tree in the center is the meeting place for lost souls.
Every Sunday artisans and tourists meet in Pisac, 40 km from Cuzco, for market day. The market covers approximately 16 city blocks, with one public restroom in a central restaurant.
We walked and climbed steps at Ollantaytambo ruins., including these built into the wall.
From 32,000 feet the colors in the exposed rock were impressive.
T's cousin Tuki and her friendly Argentian boyfriend took us to this delightful restaurant on the Pacific shore. Then we spent several hours at the Indian Market full of alpaca, llama and vicuna sweaters, shawls and ponchos, and straw hats and bags and wood carvings.
Outside the Royal Palace in Lima we watched the changing of the guard, complete with an awful brass band and high stepping brightly uniformed guards. This woman is dressed in typical Peruvian attire and has the typical Quechua profile.
Ethan is trying to point out the obvious while Michael is skeptical. Sound familiar?
August 2003: The Howard Family Reunion at the Rummel's cabin in East Texas. Mark, Hayden, Ron, Tom, Michael, Ethan, Sue, Drew, Melanie, Lorn, Etha, Alaire, Jon, Lindzey, Elizabeth, Lotta, Lindsey, and Kelsey pose for a late afternoon portrait near the lake.
On the road from Aspen through Ashcroft to Pearl Pass we passed by an Alpine meadow covered with flowers.
The old power station on the Crystal River near Crystal, Colorado, high up a rough jeep road from Redstone and Marble. We saw a kayacker wipe out dramatically on the falls, only to pop right up downstream.
A side trip up into the Lead King Basin was the beauty spot of our trip to the Crystal River Valley.
Each evening we spread a blanket on the lawn just outside the Music Tent for some wine and cheese and some wonderful classical music.
Maroon Lake is like a mirror as we begin out accent to Crater Lake at the foot of the Maroon Bells.
We made it over the pass on our way to Richmond Hill Road and down into Aspen. Michael was proud to have driven us up, and Lotta was glad to be alive.
On our way up Taylor Pass Road from Crested Butte the road became so bumpy and one passenger decided to hoof it. After a few hundred yards at 11,000 feet plus altitude we picked her up.
Michael got his first taste of real back roading on Taylor Pass Road as he drove up a rushing stream before climbing these rocks. Good thing we have 4-wheel drive!
Enroute from Redstone to Crested Butte we passed through a lush forest with a bed of ferns.
We stayed at Crystal River Manor in Redstone where we can watch the chipmonks play along the stream.
Well, it's a coffee can that is now an antenna for my computer which allows me to netwar locations that .....