La Ruta de Conquistadores

Trading training ultra miles with a paddle back to pedals in recent years refueled a fire within Jim to step up the self-challenging, epic endurance adventure levels a notch through testing himself in new and unusual ways- like racing across foreign countries through extreme conditions!  So in October of 2013 we flew to Costa Rica for the race experience of a lifetime! La Ruta de Conquistadores, dubbed one of the toughest races on earth.

 Read about it here in the Anacortes American
Cyclist follows path of conquistadores in 3-day Costa Rican endurance race - goanacortes: Sports

REI PERU 10 day adventure trek

The next time it's a rainy, rest day and you find yourself surfing your Facebook news feed instead of your favorite seas or slopes and come across another one of those teasing, dream trip contest giveaway headlines- I highly recommend taking a few extra minutes with that second cup of coffee to enter it....You just never know, you  may end up winning.

That's exactly how I unexpectedly found myself travelling to PERU a couple of months ago, 

with a million thanks to REI!! 

 In exchange for the time it took to pick out a photo submission of ourselves hiking and a write a hundred word or less essay, 6 of us lucky contest winners received an all expenses paid trip to Peru!!   

Together we embarked on a fully supported, surreal, wonderland high altitude hiking journey, starting near Cusco on REI's 10 day adventure trek to Machu Picchu.  Through the Andes mountains we walked hours a day along ancient Inca trails, bonding with each other and our incredible guides 

as we took in the South American cultures and customs, old and new, 

lush flora, fauna and vibrant flavors every amazing step of the way.  

With World Class lodging and 5 star service as spectacular as Nature's 
impressive 20,000 foot surrounding peaks backdrop.

The Seven Serpents switchbacks sucked the air out of us on the final accent over Salkantay Pass at 15,250 feet, the highest altitude we reached

on our way to catch the sunrise over the Lost City,

as we learned Incan legends of llamas, condors and pumas

while forming friendships that will last a lifetime, 

with many more adventures trips together to come!

A videographer joined us to put the highlights together into a great promo clip for the trip. You can find it on the REI website or view it here

...and just what were those one hundred winning words, 

aka the *$6,000 adventure trip* paragraph-of-a-lifetime you wonder?!...

Some of my fondest memories as a child were the day trips with my family that began with a ferry ride…Eager anticipation would grow within like it now does the hour before a race start. I’d burst through those big old familiar doors, along rickety wooden floors to spend hours exploring every inch of clothing and gear at the only REI store in the whole world!   Gearing up was an early priority. I could paddle a kayak and climb a mountain before I could drive a car.  And now?  My two favorite lifetime adventure companions- my husband and REI!

Different Worlds...

Several years ago, when my dad first started writing to me about Jim,

I was living in a Chinese city of 15 million...

After travelling to nearly 30 countries,including seven years of teaching,

and playing,

around four Asian nations...

I finally returned back HOME to the great Pacific Northwest

and can confidently say after so many years of

gypsy wandering- That there truly are such a rare place in the world,

you can be lucky enough

to look out your living room window

and catch as spectacular view as this... A late fall sunset, complimented by a rising full moon

over a nearby volcano basked in twilight alpen glow,

shadowy foothills and a rugged island archipelago.

We relish the enchanting, quiet beauty surrounding the

sleepy little island town we now call

'Home Sweeeet Home"...
~~~

"Three things cannot be long hidden,

the sun, the moon and the truth." -Buddha