http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Quo-Vadimus/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Quo Vadimus en-us Tue, 22 Dec 2009 06:50:11 +0000 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 06:50:11 +0000 Today is my last day in Quito. Endings are bittersweet . . . I've had an incredible time traveling but I am looking forward to being back in the US and seeing my family and friends for the holidays. This last week has been especially good since I am more comfortable with Quito and have really seen it come alive during the fiesta. We went to a soccer match and despite rain and other logistical di http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/North/Mindo/blog-30117.html I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving While I did not celebrate it here I was able to watch Texas defeat Texas AM courtesy of the cable TV in the gym Hook 'em HornsSurprisingly I only have a week remaining in my travels. What have I been up to My second weekend we went to the equator know as Mitad del Mundo or middle of the world. There's a sizeable monument erected by the French t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/North/Quito/blog-28939.html Hola After a fabulous week being a house bum in Los Angeles courtesy of my friends Emily and Gene I left for Quito Ecuador where I am attempting to learn Spanish. I chose Ecuador because it was relatively safe i.e. I might have my money stolen but no one is kidnapping me to gain the US government's attention but would not provide me with the comforts of a first world country. Weather was http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/North/Quito/blog-27547.html I've added photos to the previous entry which is probably more interesting that the photos here so check those out firstWe set off on our four day tramp with the sun shining and a clear blue sky. After six hours of walking half of it around a lake and half of it uphill we arrived at Luxmoor Hut. I'm slow as Christmas going uphill especially with 20 pounds or so on my back so I was relieve http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/Westwood-Village/blog-25961.html Hi Unfortunately no place in Te Anau will allow me to upload photos so this blog will be missing the visuals until I return to Auckland. But here's how my last 10 days or so have been.Originally my plan was to stay in Auckland for a week and lay low conserve money and all that but then I decided to get out for a couple days. I'd heard from other travellers that Taupo was the place for advent http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Fiordland-National-Park/Te-Anau/blog-24426.html Back in Auckland now I made the 3 day journey from Sydney to Perth two weekends ago on the Indian Pacific train. It was quite remarkable to see the various landscapes across the southern portion of Australia. We stopped in Broken Hill ghost town previously busy mining town Adelaide charming city great parks and botanical gardens I went for a run and skirted around a number of lovely out http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-22827.html Hi from Cairns I finished up my week in Sydney visiting the Blue Mountains the Featherdale Wildlife Sanctuary and the Sydney Opera House to see a couple of shows. The Blue Mountains run close to the east coast of Australia . . .the most famous landmark is the Three Sisters rock formation originally seven sisters but erosion has offed four of them.Featherdale is also just west of Sydney . . http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Cairns/blog-21408.html Greetings from Sydney I have been traveling for a week now spending the first half in Auckland New Zealand and the latter half in Sydney. Both are beautiful port cities that also do a spectacular job of maintaining green space within the cities. I visited the Auckland Museum which houses a great Maori exhibit and has performances of Maori dances. It's interesting to see how another country ha http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-20232.html The Shahs go to Yellowstone . . . over 2 million acres of protected land. We headed out the first day to see the famous geysers and within 15 minutes of driving had our first wildlife sighting a bison on the side of the road. We actually passed it turned the car around to slowly creep up next to it and started photographing from different angles to capture the moment. By the end of 3 days http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Wyoming/Yellowstone-National-Park/blog-17584.html Taking everyone's advice I went out to Seattle since that's supposedly where I'm meant to be. I did my standard morning runs to explore the area and tried the food I had my first crumpet and the beer . . . all of which exceeded my expectations. Seattle was unusually sunny note glare in the pictures but that doesn't make it warm. For a girl who's lived in the South all of my life it's odd t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/Seattle/blog-15755.html