Two Guys, a Girl, and a Logo

Jon and Jill have made it to Buenos Aires and the adventure has begun. 

And, they came bearing gifts.  

Our friend Rachel was kind enough to design the first ever Just Cuz Its Round logo and accompanying t-shirt.  Both were on proud display on our first day out and about in Argentina. 

The rest of the team will be "Instagram-ing" parts of the trip for those of you up on that app.  You can find them @jonblaze and @jlew31, if you want to see more outtakes from the next two weeks. 

Thank you a million times over, Rae, for the gifts!

More to come from me here...

Daddy's Girl

"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks?  It is the east, and Juliet is the sun."

- Shakespeare

It with great pleasure that I welcome to Earth, Juliette Mickelina Thompson.

The new daughter of my friends Elise and Trevor, she came into this world on June 22nd weighing in at a lithe 5lbs and 10oz.  Which can only mean that she's got a bit more of her mom in her.

I'm so excited for you, your Mom and your Dad.

May your life be filled with hayrides and birthday cakes.

May you give your Daddy full diapers thrice daily.

May you be an unwavering ally to your Mother (and me) in all family matters.

May your Romeos escape the barrels of your Daddy's shotgun and then the barrels of my howitzers.  (This shouldn't be too hard for you, since you aren't allowed to date until you're 35.)

And may the reflected effulgence of the brilliant sun of your life, little Juliette, shine for a very long time.

I can't wait to meet you in a few months!

The lake with the funny name, and more...

I figured I'd share a couple of the pictures I was able to take of La Paz and Lake Titicaca while the savages weren't having their way with me.

First, La Paz.  I think it has to be one of the cooler cities I've been to on this adventure (I've found that most of them are more or less the same, so it takes a lot to get a mention).  Ranks up there next to Cape Town and Sydney for beauty.  And, sitting about about 12,000 ft above sea level, it is the world's highest (de facto) capital city.  It is rich in history and fantastic views.  We only had a little bit of time there, but it was worth it for sure.

As you know, I made my way to Lake Titicaca after La Paz.  Unfortunately, it was done while under the weather, so I don't have much to show for it.  But, it being the world's highest navigable lake (lots of qualifiers in this post) means that I can check it off the bucket list. I will say that it felt like being at the ocean.  Which is isn't a feeling I've ever had at a lake before.  So there's that too.

And, I did get to see the full moon on my 6th continent while there.

Say "Hola, Peru!"

The Port at Copacabana, Bolivia

Some Ass...

That's all for now.  I couldn't let a visit to Lake Titicaca go unacknowledged, even if it was less spectacular than I'd hoped for.  At least I'm back at full strength for my friends Jon and Jill arrival tomorrow in Buenos Aires.  Don't worry, Uncle Rick, we'll make sure Jill doesn't get herself into too much trouble.

The Highest We've Ever Been...

I'm talking about elevation, boys and girls.  C'mon!  We've been between 8000' and ~14763' feet for the past week.  Enough to make the head spin, but that stuff above is salt and we'll get to it in a minute.

So, I guess it's time to start this story out right!

From the Chilean and Bolivian Frontier - 

My goodness is it the middle of nowhere and certainly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been (I feel like I've said that here before).  

I'll start with the animals before more nature shots.  We saw: 

Flamingoes (there are three varieties - Andean, James', and Chilean.  The amount of photos is not one of each variety, I dont think, just some that I liked): 

Llamas (which are quite tasty, I might add):

Vicuñas:

And then of course there were the Mountains, Lakes, Streams, Snow, Wind, Canyons, Gorges, Valleys, Moons, etc.  Some will only live on as mental images though as it was impossible to photograph it all.  Mainly due to high winds and cold, but also because we couldn't be stopping every five seconds.  Though the excuse certainly could have been made:

The Road!

Lago Colorado - Let's play spot the Flamingo!

Lady contemplates Lake (while shivering)...

Sorry so many Red Lake pictures - I've never seen a red lake, and got excited!

Àrbol de Piedra

As I understood it, this train is used to transport minerals out of the mountains: Borax, Salt, etc

And finally we made it to the Uyuni Salt Flats.  The night before we pulled into our hostel just as the sun was setting, but not to late to soak in the fact it was made completely of salt!

The next day, we were up early to hit the Flats -- first we were all like: 

Then, we were all like: 

But we finished up all like: 

Nom, nom, nom... 

More Pictures from the World's largest Salt Flat: 

Glow Cactuses from an island in the middle of the Salt Flat

It was a great adventure, filled with freezing cold temperatures and arguably the worst hotel I've stayed in on this entire trip (not pictured and literally the only place possible to stay on this adventure).  Thanks for being such a sport, Megan.  Especially after your first visit was to beaches and ride elephats.  I hope you have a safe flight home. 

I head to Lake with a name that is a favorite amongst all 4-grade Boys -  Lake Titicaca - today.  We'll see how active I am as I seem to have caught a cold.  A cold that had me vomitting my guts out at 430 am this morning.  I don't think I've vomited since Sophomore year of College, but I'll consider myself lucky as it is the first time I've been sick on the trip.  So gross though.   You're welcome for the detail.

And, I'll part with a simple hello to all of you, written in salt (of course) and with love: 

As always, I've posted and will keep posting other shots to the Tumblr page: http://justcuzitsround.tumblr.com/, feel free to check them out. 

Llama Me, Maybe?

San Pedro de Atacama in Pictures

We spent the day around San Pedro de Atacama today and I have to say that it is quite photogenic.  It is quite cold in the evenings, but the day was spectacular.   Before we head into the hills towards the Bolivian Salt Flats, I wanted to share a bit of this weird landscape.  It was like being on Mars (or the Moon, if you prefer). 

There were valleys covered with salt and clay:

Powdered Ginger Scones, anyone?

Such random rock formations in the middle of these huge fields of salt.

There were Massive Sand Dunes: 

And of course the Andes and their Volcanoes... 

Megan vs. the Volcano!