Geo: 35.2855, -120.663We made reservations to tour Hearst Castle in San Simeon in advance and arrived about an hour before our scheduled tour. We had time for lunch and still moved up to an earlier tour. The ticket office attendant was happy to give us a spot on an earlier tour. The castle is magnificent and the grounds are beautiful. It is easy to see why the Hearst family picked that spot for their home.After touring we drove back to San Luis Obispo and checked into our room at the Madonna Inn. The inn is known for its outrageous design and decoration, but we had one of the more subdued rooms on the property--the Highway Suite. It was really comfortable with a great rock-walled shower--probably the best part of the room. The furnishings reflect Alex Madonna's ... read more

Geo: 34.8986, -117.023The drive was a long one from Albuquerque to Barstow, but we listened to a book on CD to help pass the time. It was 113 degrees at 8 p.m. on I-40 near Needles, California. ... read more

Geo: -12.0931, -77.0465Before leaving the rain forest we stopped by the Butterfly Farm for a quick visit. The lodge provided transportation back up the river to the port and on to the airport. We were on flight 72 from Puerto Maldonado back to Lima with a stop in Cusco. Then we had a long layover in Lima and left on an 11:30 p.m. flight to Houston. We arrived home before noon. Amazing trip all in all. My favorite things: 10. Hydrangea garden9. Coca tea8. Fruit juice--mango, starfruit, watermelon7. Nasca Lines6. Parade in Puerto Maldonado5. Meeting other travelers and seeing them at several points along the trip4. Personal guides and drivers 3. Canopy tour2. Machigenga visit1. Machu Picchu for 2 days ... read more

Geo: -12.6034, -69.1919Edwin and a new driver picked us up to take us to the airport. We flew to the town of Puerto Maldonado in the Amazon river basin. We found the Inkaterra representatives at the tiny airport in just a few minutes. They retrieved our luggage, and we took a short bus ride with about 10 others to go to the river port. Then we all boarded a boat for a 45-minute ride on the Madre de Dios River to the Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica Lodge. As we traveled, the Inkaterra guide explained a little about the lodge. We would check in and go see our guide right away to pick out all the excursions we wanted to take while in the rainforest. The guide also gave us rubber boots to use for the rest of ... read more

Geo: -12.6779, -72.3834After staying overnight at the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge, we went back into the Lost Citadel for another look on our own. We wanted to stay at the Sanctuary Lodge so we would have ready access to the park all day. We were able to come and go on our tickets as we liked. We climbed up to the top so we could see the classic postcard view of Machu Picchu. We spent another several hours in the park on this second day here just to be sure we could soak up as much of it as possible. I was worried about walking up and down the steep stone steps, but we didn't have much trouble. (The elevation is about 8000 feet--much lower than Cusco.) As we toured, we wanted to stop and look ... read more