Chuck and his Scooter

Dear Family and Friends,

A year ago Chuck got a cute red scooter for Christmas.

He rode it around town a lot.  He liked it because he did not have to worry about where to park.  Downtown that is a big consideration.  

Chuck has always acted younger than his actual age, in fact I call him the Energizer Bunny.

Well last Thursday he had his batteries pulled and the Energizer Bunny came to a halt.  

He took a fall off his scooter and did a number on his shoulder.  He didn't think he had done any serious dammage, but an xray showed that he had dislocated his clavical...actually he popped the ligament that holds it in place.

Thursday he had successful surgery to fix it back in place.  He came through surgery with flying colors.  We think he will be dismissed from the hospital on Friday.  

Thank you to all our friends and family for your support.  All of you are precious to us.

Love,
Nancy

Hike around the Lowest Lake in the Cajas National Park

Dear Family and Friends,

Yesterday Chuck and I decided to take a walk around the lower lake of the Cajas National Park.  This lake is only 10 miles from our condo.  The last time we took this walk was about 8 years ago....why haven't we done this more often?  It is so tranquil.

This lake developed in a valley dug out by glaciers during the last ice age.  It is unique because half of the walk is in rain forest and the other half is not.

Here are some pictures of our outing.

Before getting to the park we drove across a couple of covered bridges.

The views heading to the park entrance were breath taking.

Once we were inside the park, we parked our car and headed down the trail to the lake.

We turned right at this sign and there was the lake.

The trail is easy to follow.  We went through the cloud forest first, a wonderful place for birding.

I just followed behind Chuck, watched my step, and took pictures.

The little house on the other side of the lake is where we started our hike.

We found this friendly guy enjoying the scenery.

An abandoned beer brewery.

This is a Red Angel's Trumpet.  They grow here and we saw a lot of them.  Eight years ago when we took this hike, we were told that this plant is prohibited in Peru.  The flower is poisinous.  You click here to read about how it has been used by the ancients of South America.

We finally go to the part of the hike that was relatively flat and out of the rain forest.

I took this picture and then did a half turn and took the second one.

I though to myself, it is like being in Montana.  So beautiful.  But Montana doesn't have a rain forest.

Here is a closer look at the abondoned brewery.

Almost back to our starting point, the little cabin.

We ran into some folks who kindly took our picture.

We took our time hiking the lake, it took us about two hours.

We love living in the Andes!

Love,
Nancy