On a lighter note....

I realized the other day that I never posted pictures from our family vacation. We had just gotten back, and a couple days later Josh left on the jovenes trip... and the last month has been so crazy I haven't even thought about it. I was thankful we were able to salvage our memory chip from the camara, since I hadn't had a chance to download pictures from our trip.

We decided to take our vacation this year in a little town called Saimaipata. We wanted to try out our new car on the Bolivian roads. It did great!!! - and we christened it 'Dora' on the way (the girls idea!). We took the old road from Coch. to Santa Cruz (the same road the jovenes were on when they had the accident. After driving it is when Josh decided it might be better to take a bus. It was only paved for the first couple hours.... then it was dirt - albeit good dirt - the remainder of the way until the very end, when it was washed out pavement. I think I agree with my dad... Good dirt is better than bad pavement.) It was a long drive - it took us about 10 hours to get there. After driving there, we decided we had no desire to drive that road back, so drove on to S.Cruz and back on the new road (basically making a huge circuit). But it was some of the most beautiful and amazing country I've seen yet in Boliva! It's only when you get out of the major cities that you realize what a frontier country Bolivia still is.





We stayed at a hotel called 'El Pueblito'. It was like something straight out of an old west movie or something... each 'cabin' was themed after some kind of business from an old town (i.e. Seamstress, Bakery, Tavern, Blacksmith). They had a quaint little chapel, a playground, a pool (although it was way too cold to swim!), a restaurant, farm animals, fireplaces (which we definitely needed!)... It was a great experience and a beautiful view! And they made beautiful hand-painted pottery and woodwork.



The second day we were there, we went to visit 'El Fuerte', some ancient ruins that date to pre-Incan times, although the Incans used them later on as well as some kind of ceremonial/religous site and possibly a military outpost. It was fascinating... Bolivia's Machu Pichu... and very well laid out/maintained for Bolivia. The girls did great on the 2 k hike through the ruins and we saw our first Andean condor (eat your heart out, mom and dad!)









We also enjoyed exploring the town a little bit and visiting a local animal orphanage.



On the way back to Coch., we stopped halfway on the new road to break up the trip a bit. And stayed at a fascinating place. It was a working Bolivian ranch that is also a hotel. Very off the beaten track, but a great experience too. They had 5000 head of cattle that they were working as we drove up (of course the OK farm boy in Josh loved seeing that!). The hotel was spread out ranch style and very nice and clean; they had beautiful grounds, fishing (for pirahnas!), and free horseback riding as part of the deal... a pool and a great raised pavilion with hammocks (perfect for bird-watching, mom and dad!)









We drove the rest of the way back to Coch. the next day, stopping for lunch at our favorite hotel in Villa Tunari, and taking advantage of their pool and water slide!




All in all, it was a great vacation, and greatly needed.