sleepy? i thik this is how we will feel tomorrow.

Well it’s here, day 179 out of 180.  We have been offline for the last several days in the Galapagos – exploring a pretty amazing place.  We started on a boat that we chartered with 12 other guests, but ended up getting off the boat after the first night and staying on land.  Prior to the Galapagos we had all experienced a 24 hour bug, and I think it hit Gavin on the first day of the Galapagos.  Combined with being sea-sick all night didn’t help his condition.  To our great benefit we had a children’s physician from Texas on board who helped us look atour boy.  After speaking with some local guys the weather forecast was for bigger seas and more pounding, so we decided to get off at Isabella island and fly back over to Baltra two days later.

this turtle could be 150 years old.

We had a great time – snorkelling, swimming, hanging out on the beach, and generally just chillin’.  We flew Sunday a.m. back to Baltra and back to the main port in the Galapagos – which is a 15 min bus, 5 minute ferry crossing, then a 45 minute taxi/bus ride – along with waiting about an hour for a bus… Regardless, we made it back, hung out, saw some really huge 150 year old turtles and had a great time.  We flew from Baltra back to Guayaquil yesterday, and are now back here in our Wyndham hotel hanging out and waiting for our 3:45 a.m. taxi to the airport.  I think we might go see a movie later this afternoon to kill a couple of hours, then go to bed a bit early.

huge!

So what does one write when it’s the last day of a six month trip?  Would you keep going, probably not – we are all pretty tired from travelling.  I realize that we have seen unbelievable things and this has been an amazing experience for all of us.  We are closer as a family and basically have been sharing everything – meals, discussions, sleeping, sicknesses, etc. every day for the past 179.  Did we have low moments, sure, but more high than low.  Our goal for the trip has always been to let the boys see things and experience things that they would not be able to in Boulder County, USA – we definately accomplished that.  From a life perspective, travelling this way changes your perspective on life a bit –  less is more.  We have seen plenty of people who are perfectly happy living their life without all of the extra stuff that we seem to tack on in the USA.  Kids aren’t rushed around to activities, they play soccer in the field with their friends.  People take time to talk to others, not everyone is sitting in front of their mobile phone or laptop at the coffee shop.   The only people we see cluthching their phones are Americans – not sure why or how we became so attached to being “liked” on facebook, or why it’s so important.  I think I’d rather be liked by another person that I had a real conversation with.

Cindy “loves” small airplane rides. I think she was looking for other options, but this vs. 3 hour bumpy boat ride, she went for it.

the boys were more than happy to go in the small plane.

flying

small islands from the air

Did we get to see everything? No way – there’s too much to do.  We didn’t do amazon jungle at all – which is a big part of Peru and Ecuador.  We really didn’t see much of Ecuador at all – simply ran out of time.  What we did see was amazing.  The food we have had, the people we have met and the places we have been have all been great.  We had one really bad experience (robbed), but in the end it was stuff we really didn’t need.  The car had a flat tire, and needed an oil change – pretty good considering the roads and conditions we drove on.  Would we do it again, probably, but maybe a different route.

Darwin and the family.

Are we excited to get back – yes.  It will be nice to sleep in our house, our pets and our friends.   I think we are all well rested and ready to get back to school, work and our lives inn general.  We may move a bit slower for the first couple of days though.  Cindy is excited to go get Knowshawn on Sunday from Wyoming – and his dog training starts on Tuesday.  Supposedly I’m supposed to go get a replacement cell phone, still trying to decide if I can manage without one.  Work wise – who knows.  I’ll probably look for a job, and possibly work on a new idea that I’ve had on this trip which has definately stuck and struck a chord in me.  The boys start school a month after we return – 8th and 6th grades – hopefully our schooling worked.

Is it the end?  I doubt it – we will definately be using the blog again in the future.

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