Day Three Hundred Fifty-Nine: Early Morning Run in the Davis Mountains

Almost every summer for the last 20 years, I have been coming out to the Davis Mountains to spend time with family at a little encampment Jeff's family has been coming to for almost 100 years. Never once in any of that time have I ever gone for a run of any kind, much less one that took place at dawn, mostly because for most of that time I was neither a runner nor a morning person. But this was my year! What an amazing way to start the day!

Early morning run in the Davis Mountains

Day Three Hundred Eleven: Cerro de la Gloria

It was another beautiful day here in Mendoza, so some of us decided to do a short hike. Mendoza is surrounded by several large hills, so we took a cab to the top of one of the more famous ones, Cerro de la Gloria, where there is a huge monument dedicated to General San Martin, who played a fundamental role in liberating Argentina from Spain in the 1800s. After checking out the monument, we hiked down the hill and through the largest park in town, which also honors San Martin. It was a lovely day, and we had such a great time!

A tribute to San Martin and his liberating army

A nice view from the top of the hill

 Coke break at the lake after our hike

Day Three Hundred Four: Tour Bus Backing Up a Mountain

We joined a tour group headed to Potrerillos Lake today. There were a couple of stops along the way, one of which was to see a Christ statue on a high hill overlooking the lake. And when I say "hill" I mean one of the foothills of the Andes, so not exactly a small one. When we got to the gravel road leading to the statue, the bus driver started heading up in reverse. The tour guide explained there was no way for the bus to turn around at the top, so this was the only way. The driver obviously knew what he was doing, but it was a little nerve-racking for the passengers, who couldn't see where we were going and only knew there seemed to be a pretty steep drop-off on one side. We made it to the top safe and sound to enjoy the lovely views, but it was definitely a new experience for me.

This picture doesn't really do justice to how steep or long the road was

The whole scene at the top of the hill

Day Two Hundred Eighty-Four: International Bus Trip

We arrived in Santiago, Chile last night and hopped on a bus bound for Mendoza, Argentina this morning. We have rarely traveled by bus and certainly not for long trips and especially not for international trips, but we wanted to have the opportunity to get a good look at the Andes, and we thought this was the best way to do it. The seven-hour ride passed very pleasantly and quickly, and the border stop was not difficult at all. It was quite a nice experience, and the scenery was absolutely breathtaking!

First international bus trip

The road through the Andes

Potrerillos Lake

Day Two Hundred Seventy-Eight: Machu Picchu

We checked off a huge bucket list item today by visiting Machu Picchu. It is a place I have been fascinated with since I was a kid, but for the longest time I never even imagined it was a place people actually visited. It seemed like it was a sort of made up place created only for the pages of National Geographic. But we went there today and stood in a National Geographic photo, and it was amazing! It was also special to me because when I hurt my knee, I told my physical therapist that hiking Machu Picchu was my goal. It felt good to know that I had strengthened my knee enough to be able to do it! I would have been glad to visit anytime, but I love that I got to go there during my Year of Firsts, and I'm thankful I got to share the experience with all my people!

Machu Picchu

Sharing a special experience with my people!