Camp Tapawingo

I was a Girl Scout when I was a child and loved going to camp every summer.  I went until I was about 14 then worked as staff for 5 years in my 20s.  I learned a lot working there.  I was originally studying to be an elementary teacher.  ONE week of camp with Brownies (7/8 year old) convinced me that was NOT a good plan for me!!  and I switched to Middle School :)  I was Business Director (mostly because we didn't have one and I was good at inventory and numbers) for several summer alongside other jobs.  I was Unit director - I was in charge of several other counselors and a unit full of girls every week.  I was the CIT (Counselor in Training) director for two years.  I taught 15-17 year olds how to be counselors in the future - I LOVED that job.  I was the actual Camp Director my last summer there.

That camp had a huge impact on who I am as a person and I still keep in touch with friends I made there 18 years ago! When I moved to Houston, I worked for one summer at a camp on the Gulf.  I don't have friends from there or many fond memories :)

My sister went as a camper twice because I was a counselor there and worked for two summers because she needing experience with children on her resume.  She has good memories from there, but her heart and soul wasn't invested in Camp Tapawingo like I was.

This week they opened the camp up for a night so alumni could see the camp while campers are there. They opened a brand new equestrian center.  My sister and I went with my friend Woodstock to go check it out.  My name was Sunshine at camp :)

Brianna and I on the hayrack

all camp - they now have a stage and seats!!

new horse barn

woody and I at the newly renovated Healthy House

old wash station

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What is left of the tents in Crooked Tree and Many moons

spirit lodge - the plumbing no longer works so there is a porta potty

big sky

new tents

apparently they don't drink the orange well water anymore!

Sister time in Chicago

I actually got to spend three weeks at my sister's house this July.  I signed up to run the Chicago half marathon and asked her if she wanted to join me.

Her Mother in Law kept the girls at her house so Bri could have a kid free weekend with me :)  We took Amtrak to Union Station in Chicago.  I LOVE to travel by train and Brianna hadn't done it before.  We were delayed quite a bit due to work on the tracks (they are trying to make a speedy route through IL)  We stayed at the Hyatt Regency at McCormick place because they were the official hotel of the race.  The packet pickup was there at McCormick place and the hotel provided shuttles to and from the race.

On Saturday, we walked up Michigan Avenue to Grant Park and walked all around that area.

We had dinner at a pizza place near the hotel and went to bed.  The hotel was super comfy and we both enjoyed watching TV.  She doesn't normally get to do it because of the kids, I don't because I don't live in the US. I got up at 4:55 to get ready for the race and Brianna slept in :)

I took the shuttle and got to the start line.  It is so hard for me to run in Mumbai.  There are obstacles and I have no running partners so I don't train like I should.  This race had a 3.5 hour time limit and I figured I would run as far as I could then walk the rest and probably be ok.  I didn't even think about running with a pace group, but the 3 hr pace runners were in my corral so I thought I would stay with them as long as I could.  (I used to run most of my halves in 2:50)  One lady was running 5/1s and one was running 4/1s.  The 4/1s were running faster but shorter and the lady was more fun than the other so I ran with them.  My goal was to stick with her until at least mile 10.  I made it to mile 11 and she kept creeping farther and farther away so I just did the Bobbi Jo shuffle :)  which is technically "jogging" but slower than most people can walk.   I have the mental ability to endure long races and my heart, lungs, legs never get tired.  I can always keep going- but my FEET!!  I cannot explain how bad my feet hurt even when walking 2 miles during a normal day.  Lupus is a disease that affects joints and my feet feel like bone is rubbing on bone - it is awful.  I walked the last miles and finished in 3:06 according to my watch which is a half hour faster than I did Jerusalem in March!  Chicago is a lot flatter!

I went back to the hotel and showered and Bri and I went and hung out at Navy Pier until it was time to take the train back.

Heading home

The day after Machu Picchu, we took the train back to Ollantaytambo and then got on the busses to head back to Cusco.

I rested and tried to rearrange all my stuff to get ready to fly the next day.  About half of us were going home the next day, the other half were going to the Amazon.

We left really early to go to the airport and fly to Lima.  We arrived around 9am and many of our flights to the US were late at night so we had a huge layover.  Belinda, Janine, Amy, Philip, and I got rooms at the Ramada across the street from the hotel.  They were doing construction on the 6th floor so they gave use rooms on the 5th floor for half price.  I took a nap,  wrote blog posts, and watched TV.  John, Dawn, Andy, Annie, Suzane and Mark went on a bike ride around Mira Flores.

Our flight from Lima left about 2 hours late and we were bummed because we could have stayed in the hotel longer.  I was supposed have a 5 hour layover in Miami, but we were 2 hours late so I had 2.5 hours to get my luggage and go through immigration.  No problem!!  until it took 2 HOURS and 15 MINUTES for my luggage to come down the shoot.  I missed my flight and went to the counter to rebook my flight and got teary eyed when I asked how on earth I missed my flight when I had 2.5 hours.  She said "security".  I'm thinking drugs - there were dogs everywhere and the bags were coming down 20 or so at a time then nothing for 10 minutes, then 20 more bags etc.  and the flight was coming from Peru.  totally drugs.  :)

I got a flight for 4 hours later so I bought 4 trashy gossip magazines and ate at TGIFridays.  I got on the flight and we were in the air for 10 minutes when the pilot came on and said the landing gear wouldn't retract so we had to go back to Miami to land and get a new plane.  augh!  I felt like I would never get home.  got on a new plane 2 hours later and finally got home at 8pm on Tuesday when I gotten up at 4am on Monday to start my journey - LONG TRIP.  It was so good to see Sally when she came to pick me up!

Peru day 5

Day 5
The festival was today so there was a lot of activity. Many of us watched the big ceremony from our hotel breakfast room.

Debbie and I walked around and finished our shopping and ate this delicious sandwich. It is a heart attack waiting to happen.  It had egg, cheese, ham, bacon, chicken, and sausage!! More meat than I should eat in a week!

Eric led a hike around less touristy parts of Cusco.  It is interesting what people's perspectives are.  Several people commented about poverty. Honestly, it never registered with me - it was nothing like India. People also warned me often about cars or poop on the street. Again, it was nothing like India and I am always aware of poop and cars!!! We passed a house with a red bag hanging from a stick. That signifies they have chicha - local corn beer. Several people tried it. Others didn't want to risk anything before our trek.


 We also packed for the trek. We could put up to 16 pounds in our porter bag and we could carry what we wanted on our backs. I put my sleeping bag and my clothes in the porter bag and carried this on my back. My trekking poles, sunscreen, bug spray, Vaseline, my medicine, first aid kit, hat, gloves, scarf, poncho, jacket, snacks, wet wipes, tp, a bag to put the used tp in, my headlamp,  and a water bladder with 2 liters in it. I looked like a big purple turtle.

Peru day 3 and 4

There are a million things I could talk about in these blog posts, but trying to keep it short and sweet :) 

Peru day 3

We had a lovely breakfast at the hotel. My headache was gone, but I still drank coca tea. We drove through the Urubamba valley to Pisac. On the way, we stopped at a llama farm and weaving co- op. We saw how they died the yarn with natural items and learned all about the differences between alpacas, llamas, and vicuñas.

We saw the ruins in Pisac, then went into the town to eat empanadas :) and shop at the market. I got a blanket, gloves and a hat with ear flaps.  We all went to dinner together and saw a cultural show while we were eating. I got to eat alpaca which was ok and guinea pig which is always delicious.  :)

Most of the people in my group are runners that did Rim to Rim together so I'm kind of odd man out. Most of them are over fifty and far fitter than I am!!!!  There are a few couples and several women here alone without their husbands.  Many of my friends think it  is odd that I do such grueling, active things as vacation so it is fun to meet people who enjoy it.   I am making friends :)


Day 4

We had a free day today so I went with some of the women to go to the super mercado and the open market. Many people chew coca leaves or eat things with coca in them so help with altitude sickness.  Cocaine is derived from coca leaves so it is illegal in many countries.

I stole this off of facebook - Jenny, Amy and Shari are getting a little excited about the coca products :)

 People were buying coca tea bags to take back to the states and just say " tea" on the customs form.  Lorrie had, coca tea, cookies, candy, and flour. I told her she would be detained and on the no fly list!!  I went with Carol and Lorrie to the big market. they had fruits, vegetable, meat (including whole pig heads!) they also had lots of crafts and it was a fun place.

Inti Raymi is a famous festival for the sun so the streets are really crowded with locals and visitors. There were parades everywhere and it was so crowded it was hard to move!

I went back to the room to wait for my roommate, Debra to get done working so we could go to lunch. We met up with some other women and went to a restaurant called jacks near the square. I had a delicious BEEF burger.  Cathy and I wanted to see the cathedral but it was closed until 4:30. We walked around to all the stores and watched the endless parade. It stared to rain and was really cold so we hopped into a really cute restaurant and sat in an enclosed balcony so we could be warm and watch the parade.

When the cathedral opened, we went in and I soooo wish I was allowed to take pictures. It was so bizarre and there is no way to explain it.  Catholicism in South America is usually mixed with native religions so the Catholic Churches in Ecuador would have statues of the volcano god in there or Jesus in a casket. This church had crazy paintings and sculptures. We thought some of them were pirates!! There was a painting of the last supper with them eating a guinea pig!! We cracked up laughing.  One of the people in our group said they heard a guide say it was a chinchilla but either way, I don't think that is what they ate at the last supper!  There was also a painting a a huge saint carrying a child Jesus on his back and when I say huge, I mean he was using an entire palm tree as a walking stick.  Weird.

We walked back to the hotel and went to our trek briefing. I'm getting nervous about this hike!! This altitude is killer and we are hiking 6 to 10 hours a day.  No showers for four days and sleeping on the ground. Temps are supposed to be around 30 F. Holy moly! I'm going to freeze to death if I don't pass out from the altitude first. 

Machu picchu

Macchu Picchu!

There were 200 people in our camp and everyone was trying to get to the sun gate as soon as possible. We got up at 3:30 so I slept in my clothes. The porters packed everything up so quick they practically dragged my sleeping bag out from under me! Debbie, Kathy, and I  actually got to have breakfast with the group. We started down to the permit control at 4:25. It took less than 10 minutes then we waited until it opened at 5:30. It was really funny to hear people concerned about walking down in the dark for only a few minutes. I started and ended the last two days in the dark!!

Kathy, Debbie and I walked with Nancy and Michael and watched as all these people passed us. Michael and Nancy were here two years ago when it was ran as a race in ONE day. I can't even imagine. I took 29 hours ( lunches included) I have no idea how people finished in less than 12 hours.  Michael was very helpful telling us what to expect especially when we got to the monkey wall. It was straight up and I guess some people walked up with their poles!! Crazy. We crawled on our hands and feet.  We reached the sun gate soon after that.  It took a little over two hours total.

From the sun gate, you can see the promised land - Machu Picchu!! It was a perfect sunny day!! Cathy and I barely made it into the group shot. That's the problem with being in the back. I think there were a few group shots that the three of us are not in...

The whole point of hiking the Inca Trail was to get to Machu Picchu, but some people were so exhausted that they had a hard time enjoying it and just went to the hotel in Aguascalientes. Kathy and I explored for about an hour and a half.  We were looking for the condor :)

Our guides kept telling us there were facilities at Machu Picchu - actual toilets!  with SEATS!  hot running water and soap!  It was so awesome we used them twice :)

Aguascalientes is a 30 minute bus ride away.  We stayed at hotel presidente.  The town only exists for tourists coming from Machu Picchu so it is really expensive and several people had incidents of not being treated fairly at stores and restaurants.  I explored town a little and rested before dinner, but I was still really struggling with walking - so much pain!!  We all ate together at a restaurant and celebrated our accomplishment.

Inca trail day 3 the descent

The DESCENT inca trail day three

Today was a rough day, but I finished!

The altitude made me so sick.  I took my med, drank coca tea, chewed on some coca leaves, and sucked on coca candy....  I'm seriously going to leave Peru with a cocaine habit!!!!!

beautiful views today

Cathy, Debbie, and I started early in the dark with Marco as our guide.  We had to climb another pass, Runkuracay, today.  We would climb a bit and rest. I was so nauseated that I was trying to eat my sandwich a bite at a time. Finally I threw up and felt a little better, but every time I ate or drank, it came right back up. It is hard to hike when you have no fuel. The trail was much more crowded today so we had to stop often to let porters and hikers pass. These porters were resting and let me take their picture :)

I tried to eat a passion fruit because I thought it was like an orange.  I love passionfruit juice, but have never seen an actual passionfruit.  It was bizzarre!!!  To open it, you smash it on a rock and you see these tentacle things attaching the peel to the fruit.  The fruit itself is gelatinous with seeds in it - it looked like an alien!!

We were supposed to stop at a campground tonight then get up early to hike the last few hours to Machu Picchu. Carol was really sick with some respiratory thing which was making it really hard on her lungs.  They strapped her to a stretcher and had porters carry her with Myra running behind them. They were going to take her all the way to Macchu pichu so she could see a doctor and sleep in a bed. We saw her a few times. She had a different view than we did - all she saw were trees and sky! Those porters were moving! They got to MP by 1:30. By contrast I got to camp around 6 and hiked another 2.5 hours the next day. The porters haul our stuff but never get to see Machu Picchu. Myra pause and let the ones that were carrying Carol enjoy it for a few minutes.   Someone in our group saw a woman slung half conscious over a porter's back and he was hauling her out.  I'm wondering how many people have to be hauled out?  A person in our group told me they looked up safety statistics on the Inca trail to find out how many people die on it etc. and found no information.  We were not sure if that was good or bad!!!


We got to a site with ruins and Victor was waiting for most of the group to catch up so he could give a tour. I stayed down to watch the bags because I just didn't have it in me to climb unnecessary steps. We made it to the lunch site and all I could eat was some soup and a few bites of yam. I refilled my bladder and we started again. I was having trouble with it leaking and I asked Erik to look at it. Best we could tell the pressure of my gear was making it leak.

The trail was " inca flat" for awhile and we walked through a cloud forest that was amazing.

Considering I was so sick, I was still making good time and we caught up to a group of our people at a view area. We stopped to use the bano ( just a squat hole) and the group was gone by the time we got there.

We started down the steep decent - over 2500 stairs. We had been warned about this, but I don't know if it is possible to train for this part!  They are very uneven and I was very thankful for my trekking poles! I fell once on my butt and so did Cathy because there was a lot of loose sand. It took us about 4 hours to get down.  We had followed porters at several big stops, but we saw no one for a long time so we were a little worried we had gone the wrong direction.  I don't speak Quechua, but my Spanish was helping us a lot. We got our head lamps on because it looked like another dark finish. I'm so thankful Cathy stayed with me. By the last hour I could barely move. Lupus made my joints hurt so much - my knees and ankles were killing me.  I also started to get blisters on my feet which was the first time I had that problem. We finally spotted Joel waiting for us by a sign and he pointed us in the right direction and it was going to be another hour.  I was in agony by then and for the last 200 steps or so I said " just one more step" every time I stepped down.  We finally reached the campsite in the pitch black so Joel got confused and led us the wrong way so we were the last two to arrive.


I was so relieved to finish -  I started sobbing. I had only kept one bowl of soup down all day and was in so much pain and hiked for 12 hours with very little fuel.  This lovely lady, Sue, took my boots off and washed and rubbed my feet - she is an angel! Everyone was very encouraging and proud of us for finishing.  There wasn't a question of finishing.  I have finished every race I have ever started.  Several times I have ended up in the medical tent (and the hospital once) at the end of the race, but I have finished every single race I have started.  It is just a matter of how miserable I am :)


The porters made us a cake!!  a cake!!  on the trail.  Not sure how they did it!  I didn't get any pictures of it or the porter ceremony because I was so out of it from the hike.  Our porters are amazing and Erik led a ceremony where each porter told us their name and what they carried for us.  We collected tips and shared it with them.  We saw other groups doing similar ceremonies - it is a really nice way to honor them and end the trip.


Debbie and my tent was with the porters so we didn't have to walk far, but I still needed Erik to help me walk.  I went a few feet away from the tent and used my water bottle to brush my teeth for only the second time dueling the hike.  Someone my wet wipes got tossed so Annie gave me hers and I  used a wet wipe on my face - that was my "shower."  I conked out and actually got some sleep - not a lot because we had to get up at 3:30 am. the next morning.