At the beach again...

ok.... since taking a bashing on the last entry i am now making my debut apperance on the blog!!

The flight out of cusco to piura(the north of peru) went all cosher till trying to leave that pathetic excuse for a town! the most updated and swank car was this boat who´s owners chest was swollen with pride for the fact that it was an american car! About an hour into the most desolate desert I´ve ever encountered, we all awoke to a sick sounding car coasting to a stop, needless to say without a the slightest sign of civilization or a destination! we were soon relieved to find a whole wrecker yard in his trunk as he started to mix and match parts for a fix-it job. We soon realized we had not only a taxi driver but also a skilled getto machanic (for example all the fluid containers consisted of 20 year old home product jugs and the sort secured with twine or bungie cords if the budget allowed)

At a random town we were all lucky enough to get a random item from the menu that we didn´t have the slightest for what it beheld. Rocky enjoyed some intence scrutiny of his knuckle/hoof/idon´tknowwhat. fortunatly it included all original parts. we were unsure what was more delicious, the amimal part or the exces amount of coarse hair for flavor. lucky for us this was just the start. There were a few more suprizes to go, but whatever the case,..... it made a turd.

now........ I´m not going to lie... this was the sweetest deal we came across! Our pimpin house with a few locals to show us the in´s and out´s of the town. it doesn´t get anymore beach house than this........ its a 50 meter sprint to the waves in the morning and then back to the hammocks........ pretty hard to beat the life!

a bit of eye candy right there........

......... and a bit of morning fresh, fried shrimp to accompany it..........

......... and more aww......... a massive change in sky colors

transportation has never been one of our strong points.... yea......not an uncommon sight but.....our on peruvian time here baby!!



our ´amigos´ with sandro(the owner of the swank house) and kike his go to man. Both are tops!

Da life man!!

Made it to Machu Picchu!

Some Inca Ruins... pretty amazing to see the work these guys did! They were definately troopers in their day. Champions.

On top of the world!

mom... we´re all getting along just great ;)

Machu Picchu - The Lost City of the Incas

¨we built this city.... we built this city on Rock (and roll)¨ -Starship

After making record timing treking up here (at 5am)... Rocky & I enjoyed the morning of getting our (somewhat english) guided tour through Machu Picchu, while Chad took a bus back down into Aguas Calientes to get his entrance ticket!!

A Machu Picchu morning...

And we thought Saskatchewan/Alberta farmers had it rough??



The famous picture that EVERYONE gets!

... I suppose most tourists can´t get enought of this place...

but we´re Stewart´s - this is how we spent our afternoon... under a shaded tree!

And last but not least...... this one is for Amanda! with all our love (Chad & Rebecca)

Ps. im chad. i update these blogs. i represent. i am... a champion.

...Cuzco...

Alfonso & Pedro toured us around Cusco...

Ruins, lunch spot, streets, shops, plaza... etc.

Streets of Cusco...

Rocky & Rebecca got a bit sun-burned this morning laying in the hammocks (where the posts are) .... then later in the day witnessed the maddest hail ever!! pretty intense....

Canadian Hail Survivors!
Chad, Rebecca, Rocky & Kyle (Toronto/Taiwan)

Cuzco definately has its character.... we love this town. Head out tomorrow morning to trek up to Machu Picchu! Thankful for new days and new experiences that provide so much opportunity...

Bolivia...

We made it into Copacabana, Bolivia... a pretty chilled out beach town (on the other side of lake titicaca). Heading out tomorrow to Cusco, Peru but have been loving the relaxed lifestyle of this little bolivian town!

..rocky actually bought this - figures he´ll need it for the Machu Pichu treck!

Earlier today we climbed up the mountain that over-looks Copacabana... only starting to get used to the steep climbing, constant out of breath feeling, and high altitude!

During the hike back down Rocky decided it was time to get some altitude sickness.... so we left him back at the hotel and Chad & Rebecca went and checked out the local eatery.... hmmmmm..... yum!

...the journey continues....

Getting high...

Crossing the boarder from desert Chile to desert Peru... so funny to see bright colored Peruvians walking WAY around the boarder crossing (do they not expect anyone to see them against the miles of white sand?)

One of the islands... everything constructed puerely of reeds!

Met up with some Americans... stayed on one of the islands with a family there!

On the Lake Titicaca islands... climbing up and up and up... a bit chilly for us beach lovers!

Brand new... not even worn!

In the past couple of days we´ve gone from sea level... to thousands of ´square feet´ high (according to rocky)! Its been awsome so far. We´ve spent the last couple of days touring around Lake Titicaca and its ilands... and right now we´re in Puno. definately full of experiences.... not much time to spend writting but will try to add some pics and im sure we have a few stories to tell upon arrival back home. Hope you´re all keeping warm back there...

Blizzard batters Saskatoon - Reverse Blog

"City grinds to halt as blizzard brings 90 km/h winds and 25 cm of snow. The only Saskatoon storm in the past half-century that comes close to Wednesday's storm occurred on Dec. 12, 1955.Since 1953, there have been 18 blizzards recorded in the city. But other than in 1955, none compare to the snow and duration of Wednesday's blast.Mother Nature has proven she still wields power. Abandoned vehicles littered the city Wednesday, paralyzed by the snow and poor visibility.By mid-afternoon Wednesday, the city announced all downtown streets were at near gridlock conditions and people were advised to stay off the streets.

Emergency services spent the day trying to contain the pandemonium, responding to accidents, closing highways, locating missing people, transporting women in labour and checking abandoned cars for stranded people. Eventually, the police determined only calls involving a crime in progress or life-threatening situations would be answered.


Around 2 p.m., police ordered Circle Drive Bridge closed in both directions between Millar Avenue and College Drive as officers reported zero visibility.

14 major intersections were shut down or deemed impassable.

Transit was halted.. The airport was filled with hundreds of potential passengers. The lineup at the airline counters stretched nearly 100 metres, all of the seats in the food court were filled.

The blizzard conditions have tapered off overnight, but things haven't got a whole lot better today. A bitterly cold Arctic air mass is moving in with extreme wind chills of around -41 C today.

.... all here though, are alive and well.. just wished we'd have stayed another week in chile ;)

The Chilean Proposal - 2 years in the making

Cerro Santa Lucia - Santiago, Chile

the fortress.. where the history of chile began on december, 13th 1541 ; where more history was made on january 4th, 2007..



the ascent.. hearts pounding - one more then the other; waiting impatiently for the right moment.. so far, the perfect day...



the park.. under the flowering magnolia tree; spanish guitar in the backgrouand; on a bench; in love; overlooking santiago..

the proposal.. one and a half hours of gathering courage; multiple failed attempts; the perfect lead in;

the acceptance.. was there a doubt?

the rings.. chilean silver; engraved in spanish; a chilean custom..

the newly engaged couple.. the luckiest and happiest on the planet..


* sorry this has taken so long to post.. more updates to follow..