Yesterday at 12:26 PM, my younger sister gave birth to her first baby.  WELCOME TO THE WORLD BABY KENDALL!!!  We enjoyed seeing you over Skype, and look forward to seeing you in person soon.  Baby Kendall weighed 6 lbs 9 ounces, and arrived one day late - not too bad!  Baby, mom, and dad are all doing great.  The hospital is the same one where my sister and I were delivered many years ago.  It’s nice that technology makes it easier for all of us to stay in touch.  Baby Kendall, we can’t wait to meet you!

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Below are 3 new galleries of our time in Punta Arenas, Chile. We stayed here much longer than we ever intended mainly due to the warmth and hospitality of Eduardo and Pamela, the owners of the Hostal Independencia. They are some of the nicest people we’ve met on this trip and it was a real pleasure spending time with them. You can click on any of the photos below to view the galleries or you can always access them by clicking the Photos tab in the upper right corner of this website.

Life at the Hostal Independencia, Punta Arenas, Chile

While staying at the hostal, two mother cats each gave birth to a litter of kittens. Five kittens survived. The moms combined their two litters and took turns nursing and watching after the newborn kittens.  Below are some photos of these adorable little furballs.

The third gallery has photos of the picturesque city of Punta Arenas (population approx. 100,000).

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I’d really like to help my friend Huong in her quest for raising money to fight cancer.  My mom was diagnosed with lung cancer almost a year ago and I’ve become much more aware of cancer since then.  One statistic which I feel people should be aware of is that 1 in 3 people will develop cancer at some point in their life.  The numbers are staggering and frightening and most of us will either know someone affected or be affected ourselves at some point.  Join the fight against cancer today by pledging a small amount to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).

Thank you and have a good one.
Ana

Dear Friends,

Ten years ago, I had no hair (see the picture above!) and was in the middle of my second cycle of chemotherapy.  I was diagnosed with large B-cell lymphoma in February 2000, when my older brother called me from San Diego to tell me that he was training for the Santa Fe Century ride with the Team in Training San Diego Chapter.   This coming Saturday, I will be training in New York’s Central Park with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s NYC Chapter Team in Training cycle team.  And today, I am writing to ask you to help support this and all of the other wonderful resources provided to cancer patients, survivors and their families by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).

Please help!  Not only does the money that I raise help to fund research projects to improve cancer treatments and find a cure and provide financial support to patients, but being part of Team in Training is the best support group I could possibly have.  It is so inspiring for me to be part of such a great group of people dedicated to helping this cause, so I hope that you will help to continue this program by making a contribution to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

You can make a 100% tax-deductible donation online here: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nyc/ambbr10/huong.

Thanks so much for your support!!

Huong

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A few weeks ago we visited the Perito Moreno Glacier, near El Calafate, Argentina.  It was an amazing experience as the glacier is immense, spanning more than 3 miles across and several stories high.  The glacier has the rare distinction of being classified as “stable”, meaning it is neither growing nor receding.  We sat for hours at the many different overlooks, staring at it in awe.  Every now and then, we could hear the glacier pop and snap loudly as huge chunks of ice broke off and fell into the water.  The weather was perfect, and we stayed all day.  Sunset was especially memorable, as the setting sun’s rays bounced off the jagged ice formations and glowed a million different hues of iridescent blue.  I think we were literally the last people to leave, as there wasn’t another car in the parking lot by the time we left.  When we finally did go, I looked back several times trying to get one last glimpse so I could remember the glacier better.  It was weird.  I felt sad leaving, like when you are leaving behind a good friend or family member and you aren’t sure when or if you’ll ever see them again.  Anyway, it’s times like this that make this trip really worth it.

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In light of the terrible earthquake (8.8 magnitude) that shook central Chile this morning, I thought I’d write a post to let everyone know that we are fine.  We did not feel the earthquake here because we are about 1200 miles away in Punta Arenas.  Punta Arenas is located on the Strait of Magellan between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, on the southern tip of mainland Chile.  Our hostel is inland and up a hill.  We don’t think we are in danger of the tsunami here, but we’ll be sure to pay attention to the news. 

The earthquake and aftershocks were really scary to hear about.  Since we are relatively close, it feels more personal.  Concepcion and nearby Santiago are the two largest cities in Chile, with more than 10 million people in the earthquake-affected areas.  Everyone here has friends or family in these areas.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Chile affected by this quake.

Painting courtesy of French cyclist Anne Buisson. Thanks Anne! Check out her and partner Stephane’s website by clicking here

Hi everybody!  Ana and I are in Puerto Natales, Chile and doing well.  The weather has been awesome lately, and we’ve been enjoying the sunshine and warm weather.  We’ve been in Puerto Natales for a few days now, and are using the time here to catch up on a few projects.   I used the good weather to give Mango some TLC.  She’s running great but needed a few tweaks after all the bumpy, dirty roads.  I replaced her burned-out headlight, rewired two side-marker lights that shook loose, cleaned her tailight bulbs, regreased the sliding door, put a new fuel filter in, and cleaned the air filter.  Total cost for everything $7.  I love this car!

It’s been good relaxing in a “big” city like Puerto Natales (pop. approx 20,000).  We haven’t been in a city this big since Coihaique, about 2 months ago.  The Banff Mountain Film Festival was in town, and we enjoyed 2 nights at $3 each of watching short films about rock-climbing, skiing, and mountaineering.  They had some really beautiful films, although I must say that some of the rock-climbing stuff was a bit too crazy for me (free-climbing with a parachute - no thanks!)  Their website is here if you want to see some of the films or dates it might be in your town.  We also watched the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Olympics at Baguales Bar with some fellow Northwesterners from Vancouver, Bremerton, and Portland.  Since my family lives in Seattle, it was nice seeing TV from back home and feeling a bit more connected with family, friends, and the rest of the world.

After many weeks of mainly free camping, we are “splurging” and staying at the Hostel and Camping Josmar for $7 a night each.  The hostel is nice because it has cute little wind-protected camping areas in the back with lots of grass.  It also has a nice, warm common area with one free computer for internet that everyone hangs out around.  We plugged our laptop into the modem to make this post.   It also has several dogs and cats that mainly hang out in the sun and occasionally attack Ana’s pant leg.  I especially like the hostel because it’s name is a combination of my parent’s names, Joe and Marlex.  Mom and dad, you never told me you started a hostel in southern Chile!

We also used the time here to catch up on a few cosmetic and hygiene “special projects.”  One warm afternoon I dyed Ana’s hair black, and the next day she put highlights in my hair. No one was around to laugh at us if it went awry, so it was a good time to experiment for us.  We both look exceedingly spiffy now.  I am also still trying to get my pair of jeans to last until Ushuaia, and today I ironed a 6th patch onto the inside of one of the knees.  Additionally, Ana pre-washed some of our nastiest laundry from the Torres del Paine hike in the bathtub of the hostel.  The laundry stench was starting to eat through its plastic bag, so we decided something needed to be done.  All in all, we’ve been quite productive here in Puerto Natales.

Tomorrow, we’re driving to a penguin colony north of Punta Arenas (Pinguinera Seno Otway)  We’ll probably free-camp by the colony if the penguin smell and noise isn’t too great!  Thanks for the emails the last few weeks while we were in Torres del Paine.  It’s nice hearing what everyone is up to.  If you get a chance, leave us a comment or send an email.  We always appreciate hearing what is new in your lives.  Take care and see you after the pinguinos!

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I was bit by a horse at summer camp when I was a kid.  It was the last week of summer and all the horses were pretty ornery from having kids climbing all over them the past 3 months.  I’d spent most of my week at camp shooting bows and arrows, carving my spork, learning how to read a compass, and various other things you do at summer camp.  My day finally arrived to ride the horse and I was pretty excited.  Unfortunately the horse wasn’t as excited as me, and while I was learning how to groom him, he turned his head and bit me.  The bite left a big purple welt on my chest, and a lifelong hesitancy around future horses I’d meet.  I got off pretty easy though, as my horse wasn’t the only grouchy one at the camp.  My friend’s horse trampled him.  He was fine however after several weeks in the hospital (he was actually fine after a few minutes)

So, with my uneasiness around horses always present, I saw a really majestic horse today and thought I’d take some photos of him.  This horse was grazing just outside our idyllic, peaceful camping spot in El Chalten, Argentina.  He was munching away happily on grass and seemed “like a very nice and well behaved horse.”  I was wrong.  A few seconds after I started snapping photos, the horse reared his head and took off running towards the river bank.  Once he reached the bank he promptly turned around, leveled his gigantic head at me, and came running back at full force.  My bad-luck attraction to ornery horses was in full effect today.

I’m trying to become a better photographer, so initially I held my ground and kept snapping pictures.  However, at a certain point my own self-preservation took hold, and I ran away screaming hysterically like a 2nd grade school girl being chased at recess.  The “terrifying” horse ran past, almost grazing me, and disappeared in a cloud of grass and dirt up another hill.  I’m not certain, but I think I heard him snort my name as he ran past.  I kept glancing uneasily in his direction to see if he was coming back to finish me off.  Ana provided no help for my desperate situation other than to laugh at me.  And I thought we were a team!  We got some good photos though, so here they are.  The last one was when I bugged out.

On a happier note, the offending horse was caught and eaten later that evening.  He was delicious.

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