Navidad in South America

Corey and I are down to one good trip a year for a while. For Christmas we chose Ecuador and Peru. The main goal was seeing Machu Picchu, Peru but since we were going to be down there we made the most of it.
The itinerary:
Quito---> Cuenca---> Guayaquil; We picked up a rental car in Quito and drove to each destination, dropped the car of at the airport in Guayaquil and flew to Lima.
Lima---> Cusco---> Ollantaytambo---> Machu Picchu---> Lima---> America; We chose not to drive in Peru and I'm glad we didn't. Driving in Ecuador was exhausting and according to the internet, Peru is more dangerous.
I always have grand visions of a remarkable trip report that I'm going to whip up for my blog and EVERY time I just don't do it. This time is no different. Here are a bunch of pictures with captions.
*I would like to note that the photos are in chronological order. That took effort.

Corey in Quito

Another virgin forced to protect a city. This sacred vagina watches over Quito.

Between Quito and Cuenca lies Cotopaxi National Park. We drove to see the breathtaking volcano. By breathtaking I mean that you literally can't breathe. The elevation was killing me! I'm smiling from hypoxia.

Corey and the volcano

It was absolutely incredible. I wish I could capture more of its beauty.

We made it to Cuenca and loved our stay there. We were surprised with amazing buildings and the funnest Christmas Eve parade! No one parades like S. America. They love Baby Jesus.

We LOVED this rooftop. Cuenca was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

We drove to Guayaquil so Corey could go to Iguana Park. Also, we flew out of there to Lima so it worked out well.

All of the iguanas were in the trees when we arrived. You really need to watch out because not only will poop reign from the trees, the iguanas will fall out and hit people. They are not graceful descending the trees. 

They just want treats. We coaxed the reptiles from the trees with bananas. Turns out you're not supposed to feed them, but we made plenty of friends giving the bananas away so I feel like breaking the rules to be popular was okay this time.

After arriving in Lima we went straight to this tiny city named Ollantaytambo. It was incredible and very surreal. Our hotel, Picaflor Tambo, was outrageously adorable and straight out of a movie. The running water on the right is from a glacier and has been flowing for over 700 years.

The walk from our hotel to the train station.

We rode the train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, rode a bus up a dangerously long and windy road, then hiked a little to discover this magnificent view. Machu Picchu was one of the first places I decided I wanted to travel to and arriving there was a wonderful feeling.

It was extremely cloudy all morning and only cleared up about 10 minutes before we left, but I didn't care at all. I enjoyed the mist and thought it added to the location.

My best picture of Machu Picchu. 

Back to Lima for a few days. We ended with a private tour and that was the best decision we could have made to see the capital. There are 10 million people in Lima. Just imagine trying to see the sights with Trip Advisor and taxis...the thought wears me out. For $25/hour we rode in a nice SUV, with a guide who spoke english, who drove well and took us to several cool places. It would have taken us days to see all of that!

How many South Americans live. 

O Redentor of the Pacific.

A beautiful Catholic church where we toured their catacombs! I saw so many skulls.

Busted! Sleepy police in Lima.

Action shot! I'm so glad we don't have to march like that.

A main square in downtown Lima. I love the extreme difference in culture here. It's very unique to see the Andean culture and the city folk mix so seamlessly.

Pugly Sweaters

I put some real effort into this year's Ugly Christmas Sweater party. I made things, I organized 3 games (with prizes) and I went to 4 stores to find my Bah Hum Pug sweater vest. This is not typical for me. I'm pretty lazy and don't volunteer for much but it worked out well this year.
All 3 games ended with something or someone broken, so you know it was a success. Caution: Large marshmallows can hurt if hit directly in the face. Also, they will break a ceiling fan light bulb.
Janna is the one who really organized this party. I merely helped with 2 things. I don't know how people do it. I can barely plan a group outing with less than 8 people. The second someone starts asking questions or complicating the plan, I'm out. I get kind of combative too.
The entire weekend was great and I am so happy with my Alabama group of friends. It's terrible living so far away from my husband, but it definitely helps to have such a great support group.

Cute girls, ugly sweaters :)

Rivals

I flew to Tucson for Thanksgiving this year and met up with my whole family. It was a perfect trip; seamless and easy. Everyone had a great time, everyone was happy and we all ate a lot of food. My bro-in-law, Dave, organized a trip to the UA vs. ASU rivalry game the day after Thanksgiving. It was awesome and like always, we sat next to some very enthusiastic fans :) My favorite! Emotions ran high that day and there were some near altercations.
The 3 days flew by but I did manage to get some nephew/niece time, In-N-Out, Lindsay time, great weather and relaxing with my baby. I'm pretty sure that this cold I have came directly from the mouths of babes, because this exact same scenario occurred 3 years ago. Totally worth it though. My immune system always seems to get dominated by little children ninja germs.

Seats in the shade thanks to Dave's research!

2 of my sweet nieces. One of them ran away for the pic.

These guys were okay with sitting still :)

The pure joy of a 3 by 3 and animal style fries.

Day 2 of Being Sick and All is Lost!

Please tell me that everyone falls into deep despair and absolute anguish when they get a cold. Hahaha. I am on day 2 of this chest/head/nightmare cold and have lost all hope in life. I have missed 2 days of flying so now I'm launching down the imaginary road of what I'll do with my life since I'm going to get kicked out of flight school. Luckily it's Friday and I have the weekend to kick this thing.
I am now at the end of my Instruments phase and can't believe I've made it this far. My next phase is Basic Warrior Skills and also the most exciting part of flight school. I can't wait! I also can't wait for Christmas vacation because Corey and I are going to Ecuador and Peru for 2 weeks. It's been a whole year since I've traveled and I can't wait for some crazy adventures. I speak a little espanol, but not even enough to figure out how to type an enye.
Since I am sick I was feeling nostalgic, (just another symptom from the total desperation of feeling ill) I am posting old travel pics.

Belo Horizonte, Brazil 2003

Waterton, Canada 2005

Phuket, Thailand 2006

Chichen Itza, Mexico 2008

Metz, France 2011

Wewelsburg, Germany 2011

Amsterdam, Holland 2012

Lugano, Switzerland 2012

Florence, Italy 2012

Cinque Terra, Italy 2012

Cinque Terra, Italy 2012

Athens, Greece 2012

Santorini, Greece 2012

Mykonos, Greece 2012

Salalah, Oman 2013

My Mom Came to Visit Me!

Paula is the greatest woman to ever live and I finally coaxed her to the south. When I was a kid I used to trick her into my bedroom by saying that I was hurt or needed something, then I would close the door behind her and trap her in my room and make her pay attention to me. That's kind of what I did here recently. She secretly loves it.
First thing you need to do when visiting lower Alabama is go to Florida. I took her to Destin for a day of sun, beautiful sand and clear, perfect water. We also hit up the outlets ;)

Ft. Walton Beach

She was blinded by the sun

So I gave her some sunglasses

I showed her the peanut capital of the world, the Boll Weevil and all over Fort Rucker. There's nothing better than having your mom's full attention when you're the third child out of four. It was heaven! 

The mighty Boll Weevil ate all the cotton and forced the area to plant peanuts. Now they're the peanut capital!

The Diner in Daleville, AL

Downtown Dothan, AL

Redneck Riviera

My friend, Faith, recently retired from the Air Force and moved back to her hometown of Tallahassee. This is great news for me because she is now only 2 hours away! Also, she is the world's greatest tour guide. In 2 days we saw more of Florida than I would have in 2 weeks. Following this the proof:

Window from an old slave church

Boat ride at Wakulla Springs

Lodge at Wakulla Springs

It was freezing!

We saw manatees, alligators and so many birds. Absolutely beautiful!

Light house on the Forgotten Coast

Apalachicola Sea Fest

Best food and a Craig Campbell concert

Me and Faith

So many butterflies