Tierra del Fuego

Can i say, i'm soooo glad that i feel 90% better. my stomach is still not fully happy, but i'm good enough to bust out a 7km hike. it was really really pretty. what was surprising was that it was cloudy and it threatened to rain, but i never did. the wind didn't really pick up from while we were hiking. now, i'll back up.

we (jake, steph, and i....the other three went on a horseback riding thing) arranged for a ride from the hostel to the park. the van (gotta pay for it) dropped us off at a little dock at the trail head for the Coastal Trail, the day hike we hiked. it was definitely a tourist spot. undeniably beautiful.




at the Trail head

we hiked a long the coast (as the name indicated) and saw gorgeous bahias and views.






it was awesome. had a great day of walking around!

Not so Good

maybe i shouldn't of gone hog (almost literally) wild last night with the food. spent the day ill at the hostel while the rest went out and explored the town and it's surroundings. damn. by the evening, i did feel okay enough to head out to dinner with the group. didn't eat all that much. the restaurant that we went to was touted at the best restaurant in south america. jake being the funcitonal foodie really wanted to go. everything looked delicious, but i just couldn't have any. at the end, jake thought it was good, but maybe not as good as the restuarant we went to before. well, at least i feel better. can't miss tomorrow's tierra del fuego hike.

The Patagonian Adventure....so it begins

Day one!
get up early and catch a bus to Ushuaia, Argentina. it's a 12hr bus ride. not oo fond of sitting anywhere for extended periods of time. As we head out along the coastline, i was struck by how close it looked like to the California coast, especially northern California. strange. i guess i sort of miss the bay area and the coast line. the mountains aren't that bad either.

it'll be interesting....this trip. i've never traveled with these folks before. we'll see how that goes. still, it's exciting. going to see a new place, exploring, having some fun.....



the coastline

players in the game....Amanda, Jake, Steph, Dani, Gordy, and I. it's time to tear up the town.
we arrive in Ushuaia at night...around 9:30pm. we find a cool hostel, an atm, and a really really good restaurant that served a lot of veggies. after being on a boat for 40 days where fresh veggies are far and few in between, we feasted. one thing that was really really good, was the roasted lamb. it's definitely what the Argentines do best. it was awesome!



us at the restaurant.

Back on Terra Firma

back in port a night early.......time to hit up ole joe's and get ready for this thing called off-loading and traveling. :D

Time to Head South!

well, after a hectic weekend with some skiing, a bit of a sore throat (i'm hoping that it will be better with lots of emergen-C), and final packing.  i'm sitting here in the office/lab doing the final packing and final gathering of last minute things.  once on the plane....i get a day and a half of travel time....that means sleeping on a not so full plane.  :D

so with that said....feel free to head on over to my other blog.  :D
http://ontheiceandbeyond.blogspot.com/

hope to see ya'lls when i get back for some summer fun!!

:D

Packing and Packing

well, time has come for me to head south again. my tele skillz are slowly getting not bad. it's too bad that i had to leave before i can really get a little bit better.

soon, i'll be sending send folks over to my "other" blog. same drill as on the boat, since i'll be on a boat again, no photos but lots of text (hopefully). the photos will come later. hopefully the longer days will allow us good work and lots of good photos. :D

http://ontheiceandbeyond.blogspot.com/

Tele Day 3 & 4

Alrighty! well, casey "convinced" me to sign up for a Tele Clinic at Northstar. i thought it would be a great idea for me since i really need some help. I definitely am not sure what the heck i'm doing and half the time i'm totally terrified of splatting on my face. So my 3rd day on teles pretty much was still me with no clue on how to balance myself.

Day4 - The Clinic.

after hauling arse to Northstar and running around, trying to figure out what the heck is going on and how to get to the NOrdic center, we were outfitted with some pretty neat tele gear. actually i had my boots and just rented skis and poles. the clinic/camp that casey and i signed up for was an all inclusive package with lift ticket, gear, lunch, and four hours of instruction. for a noob, that's pretty gosh darn good. unfortunately, they separated casey and i into groups that had some tele days and those who didn't have any. i wanted to ski with the girl but didn't get a chance to do that at all.

the day will be two hours of instruction, then lunch, then another two hours of instruction.


it was rad!  totally tired, but totally convinced that i want to learn this thing called telemark...

Tele Day2

Slowly but surely.....honestly, not sure what i'm doing.....I'm definitely going to sign up for some professional learning.....

Tele - Day 1

i didn't fall i do have to say. well, i guess that just means that i didn't push myself hard enough. by the end of four long runs, i was able to link turns. some not very well, but i got to do it! yay to the teacher, matthew, and yay to me. :D i didn't kill myself.

My Own Website outside of the Blogger

Talk about hard to work with. well, not that hard. i guess the hard part is the creativity. i do have to say, iWeb is pretty easy to use if you just want the simple push button type of site. however, working on Ed's faculty website has been a little bit of a challenge to take the pre-fabed site templates to a custom template.

well, for now, i have the Rabbit Hole... :D check it out!

Down the Rabbit Hole http://pengfamily.com/vivian/Welcome.html

Cochise 2008

yucca with snow balls that ed put on.
Originally uploaded by vypeng

another year another holiday season to head down to Arizona to visit Ed's sister and to do some slab climbing at Cochise Stronghold.  we spent christmas eve and christmas day relaxing and watching movies.  oh yeah, and doing some holiday eatin'.

the first day we (aaron, amy, ed and i) were there, driving in...it snowed. then the next day, it was unclimbable..for us that is. there was still snow on the ground. we needed for things to melt out, so we went on a hike. the next day, we went to do beeline and the assorted climbs around there.  on the second day,  ed and i did absinthe of mallet. the third day, we got up early and said our good-byes to aaron and amy.  they were heading back to santa fe.  we then hiked into whale dome and climbed a fun four pitcher (maybe it was five pitches) called moby dick.



 rare photo of ed and i...and ed smiling normally

the weather for each day just got warmer and warmer, until it became a little too hot to climb in the direct sun.  aaron and amy left

we drove back on the 31st and rang in the new year in our house.

did i mention that i really really like our house? :D