The Outskirts of Cusco

The AirBnB where we stayed last night was listed as "entire place," but the hostesses were actually staying in a room in the house, which was a little awkward but not terrible as they were very nice young ladies who stayed out of our business. Also awkward was the fact that the water went out completely after only two of us had had cold showers. The water, though still cold, was back on this morning, but the awkwardness continued when the next guests showed up while we were still on the premises. They were eager to shower and move into the rooms and just lingered while they waited for us to vacate. This was a very new AirBnB listing, and we feel sure they are still just working out the kinks. We just considered it a quirky travel experience and basically got a good chuckle out of it.

After breakfast, a driver picked us up for some sightseeing on the outskirts of Cusco. First we stopped at a wonderful little textile market. There were llamas and alpacas to feed, and we got to see a demonstration of how wool becomes textiles. It was fascinating, and we really loved it! Ruth and Weston even found some items to purchase in the market stalls, and I can tell you they got some really good deals.

Textile Market

When we left the market, we headed to a salt farm in the mountains. They harvest the salt that is formed from the natural minerals found in the mountain waters, and it is quite an impressive facility. The water is diverted to hundreds of different pools and several kinds of salt are formed and collected at the site.

Salt Farm

Later, we went over to a site called Moray, which is an agricultural area built in concentric circles at different elevations. Our driver suggested that we visit the restaurant at the top of the hill as he imagined it would be cheaper for us to purchase something there for lunch and then view the area from their perch on the hill than to purchase tickets to the actual site. He was very wrong about that as the set lunch menu, served in eight courses, was around $125 per person. The idea was that it was supposed to be an experience, but it was not worth the price tag to us, so we just ordered drinks, which was still about the same as buying tickets to the site, and moved on. It was a bizarre place but somewhat interesting, and there was a nice view of Moray.

Clockwise from top left: The restaurant, The coffee experience,
Hot chocolate, The chocolate experience, The distillery,
Distilled spirits containing local flora, Mata Cuy from distilled
sugar cane, Herbs hung up to dry

Moray

From there, we headed back to Cusco to catch a flight to Lima and then a connecting flight to Santiago, thus ending our time in Peru.

Santiago airport in the middle of the night

Day Five in D.C.

After a leisurely morning, we headed over to Mt. Vernon to learn more about America's first president. The property was absolutely beautiful, and we thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the mansion and exploring the grounds and outbuildings.

Washington's Home

The grounds at Mt. Vernon were gorgeous!

George Washington had terrible teeth and had to have
several sets of dentures made. He was self-conscious of this,
which is one reason he always looks so serious in portraits.

The swearing in ceremony

A meeting of the great minds

From there, we made our way to Old Town Alexandria for a late lunch at Virtue Feed and Grain. The food was delicious, and the little town was lovely!

Virtue Feed and Grain in Old Town Alexandria

Weston's lobster pot pie

Our next stop was Arlington Cemetery, and truly I have no words. It completely took my breath away, and I walked around with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes the entire time we were there. We were just in time to observe the last changing of the guard for the day at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which was a beautiful and moving thing to behold.

So incredibly thankful for the sacrifice of these brave souls

The changing of the guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Finally, we stopped to pick up "dinner" at Dangerously Delicious Pies and Coffee. I would not really recommend having chocolate pecan pie for dinner every night, but sometimes when you're on vacation, you've just got to go with what feels right.

Dinner

Hot and Cold

We spent the morning hiking the Angel Rocks Trail with our new friends we met on the cruise. It was a beautiful hike, and we had so much fun hanging out with another family we seem to have a lot in common with! I have been very surprised at how warm it is in Alaska, and we did work up a sweat. I always just have Alaska pictured as frozen tundra, but in truth, it has been one of the warmest places we've visited this summer.

Ruth and the "bear" rock

On top of the world

Max the mountain man

Little man on a big rock

After the hike, we headed over to Chena Hot Springs Resort. We grabbed some lunch in the restaurant, took a tour of the greenhouses, animal pens, and geothermal power plant of the self-sustaining property, and then visited the Aurora Ice Museum, where we definitely had a chance to cool off. The building is kept at 25° F all year long and is a fascinating ice wonderland. We loved seeing all the ice sculptures and watching the sculptor work. Today, he was turning out ice martini glasses, which the ice bar serves Appletini's in. The whole experience was so delightful!

Donkey love

The resort is trying to build its reindeer herd,
so they can start serving the meat in the restaurant.

The lettuce room

Aurora Ice Museum

Jousting knights ice sculpture

A full size igloo

Weston jamming on the ice xylophone

My little Eskimos

Polar bear bed

Aurora Ice Bar

Cheers!

Just chillin'

Mesmerized by the sculptor at work

Corn Dogs and Tulips

Because we live in a crazy world where every day is a National Something Day, we found out that today was National Corn Dog Day. To celebrate this most important of holidays, Sonic was selling corndogs for 50¢ apiece. And, since we had an extra 11-year-old boy at our house today, it made sense to take the most economical lunch route possible. So, we celebrate National Corn Dog day like it was a completely normal thing to do.

Happy National Corn Dog Day!

Later, we headed north to Pilot Point, for a visit to Texas Tulips. It wasn't Kuenkenhof, but it was beautiful in its own right and much easier to get to and less expensive than a trip to Holland. We apparently now live in an area of Texas that doesn't have bluebonnets (or at least not yet?), but we were still able to get our fix of lovely spring flowers.

The kids were thrilled to be getting their picture made with the tulips! 

Genuine smiles here!

Pretty in pink

Maroon Out

Frilly purple tulips

A peppermint vibe

More traditional looking tulips

A field of fire

Vibrant Red

First IEA Show

One of the main reasons we chose Flower Mound as a landing place was so Ruth could ride on a competitive IEA team. She has been practicing with the team since late July, and they had their first show today. IEA particularly focuses on riders' abilities, rather than the appearance or breeding of the horses. Riders often have no previous experience with the horses they ride, since the horses are selected randomly by the riders just before they ride. Riders are judged individually, but points are also collected for the team. Ruth looked beautiful, and, though she didn't win any individual prizes, she had a great time, and her team got 2nd overall. This is all new to us, and we all learned a lot and enjoyed the whole experience.

A Farm Zamboni

Our team has a dedicated hair lady. She is awesome!

So proud of this beautiful young lady!

The girls have to line up by height for the draw, because certain horses can't be used for the taller girls. 

First time to enter the show arena

Rooting for rider 120

Ruth and Bowie in the Walk/Trot Class

Ruth and Towne in the Walk/Trot/Canter Class