we are getting back on the stick....starting...MEOW!

so, no more being lame. we're going to start actually posting again. and being diligent. for real this time.

::NEWS FLASH::

RONALD IS NOW LIVING IN RVA. she joins me in my city. and i must say it has been wonderful thus far. and yes! she got a job at the cutest coffee shop. more on that to come, from her, after her first day tomorrow.

so, it is so unbearably hot here, that i want summer to go away forever and just not come back. it is atrocious. you cant go to anyones apartment without melting into a puddle. i mean, come on: [see below]

my running partner sent me that. and ew. it was so nasty out. so, i have turned my sights on cooking to pass the boredom. baking is not so great in the summer. but i am currently obsessed with making a variety of bizarre lemonades. latest conquest: rosemary lemonade. next time, more sugar. but man, refreshment mania! ive been using a simple syrup foundation and adding what i want to that. its just boiling 1/2 cup of water with a 1/2 cup of sugar. i added rosemary to that this time, but i think i need more sugar next time. it couldve been sweeter. the essence of rosemary was supah good though, which is my favourite herb!

in other news: go HOKIES! our alma mater placed first in the solar decathlon europe! ronald and i both know people on the team that we went to school with and i have seen the house and its pretty great.

[go allison, and the rest of the team!] so proud of them. lots of hard work and time went into the design, research, and construction of the project, and taking it overseas was quite the job. so, way to go.

im tired. so, this was a weak way to get back into it. but i promise we will start spicing it up, once we get on a schedule. and then we will actually be collaborating on posts.

oh and one last note: the trio went to the spitzer house tour through modern rva a few weeks ago and it was gorgeous, darling. do start going to modern richmond tours if you live here. they are fantastic!

[a picture was supposed to be here, but after five unsuccessful attempts at placing it, i give up. and we're going to start looking for another blog site b/c im beginning to hate this one!]

ecuador | days 10-11: galapagos islands: santa cruz part 2

so since we had to come back to puerto ayora to fly out of baltra, we decided to come back a day earlier to avoid the rush. an extra day in santa cruz gave us the opportunity to revisit the places we loved and check out a couple places we didn't think we were going to make it out to.

the island of santa cruz itself is a large dormant volcano and is famous for its lava tunnels. the neighboring towns of bellavista and santa rosa have the longest ones, and the one we went to was the tunel del amor(tunnel of love). ironically the tunnel itself is super muggy and kind of creepy... and on top of that someone decided to throw up inside of it before our visit. not really romantic.

another shoddy photoshop job, but this'll do.

the moisture in the cave, caught on camera.

an attempt at a better picture...

the gorgeous jungle!

and the gorgeous town of bellavista. appropriately named.

the lady maintaining the lava tunnels offered us some red bananas.

after many failed attempts, i finally caught a darwin finch on camera! yes!

and speaking of cool birds, looky at this here egret.

we absolutely had to go back to tortuga bay and playa mensa. hands down our favorite spot in the galapagos. this time around, we actually witnessed a small wedding on the beach. after the ceremony, the newlyweds took off in their private boat. baller!!

the always breathtaking tortuga bay.

playa de mensa, if you look closely there is a wedding going on at the right side of the panorama.

close up of the wedding, i felt like such a creeper.

baby fishies just hanging out.

our friend the hermit crab! we named him calvin.

dilz swimming with his marine iguana.

on our way out to baltra the next morning we decided to make a quick pitstop to los gemelos, meaning "the twins" in spanish, which are two giant craters formed by a volcano eruption. it was unreal, and i wish the pictures would do it more justice...

i tried....ugh! impossible.

this marks the end of our galapagos adventures, one more entry to go!

toodles,

ronald

ecuador | days 6-10: galapagos islands: isabela

NEWS FLASH: I SUCK AT BLOGGING!

sorry guys i've been terrible at this blogging thang. and im sorry if you are sick of reading about ecuador, but i'm not done yet!!! so anyway...

the two hour boat trip from puerto ayora, santa cruz to puerto villamil, isabela. WOW. i still cannot believe i survived it. the boat was tiny, fit about 20 people at the most, and loved to bounce on the waves. and by bounce i mean jump in the air 30 feet then crash back down on the water. over. and over. but modern medicine is marvelous. took a couple dramamine and bam. i was out like a light.

we arrived to the docks, dazed and confused, drenched in sweat and still drowsy from the dramamine.

isabela may be the largest island of the galapagos, but the town of puerto villamil is a lot smaller than puerto ayora, at least in the touristic sense. there are maybe 5 restaurants to choose from, and maybe 10 hotels. a couple places to rent scuba gear and book tours. the overall impression we got from isabela was that everything was so much more laid back. we had 4 relaxing days on this wonderful island and enjoyed every bit of it.

typical isabela

view from the beach in front of the hotel

view from our hotel balcony

we met henry when we first arrived at the docks of isabela, while waiting for a taxi. he is quite a character; he went on and on about how the people of puerto ayora are crazy for working so hard and how he hated boat tours with strict schedules. he offered to take us out on his boat, sans itinerary. fully embracing the laid back lifestyle, we went back to the docks a couple days later, got a couple beers and some ceviche, sat on the beach and waited to henry to show up. and as soon as we were done eating he appeared out of nowhere, hooked us up with the snorkeling gear and we were off.

the beach at the docks

the man, the myth, the legend: henry!

penguin island

snorkeling in the middle of the ocean!

iguanas again. typical.

the cutest thing i have ever seen! baby seals in love!

the camera had water on it.. sorry dilz!

the wall of tears, or muro de las lagrimas is a must see, not only to see the incredible man made wall and scenery around it, but for the little attractions along the way. branched off of the 6-mile trail were small beaches, overlooks, lava tunnels, and lagoons. unfortunately i wasn't smart enough to charge my digital camera the night before, so there aren't many pictures from this outing. we DID have a fabulous photoshoot with our friend lonesome jerry, the lost penguin.

concha de perla is a nice little place for snorkeling; luckily the couple times we went huge crowds of people were leaving just as we got there so we got the place to ourselves.

cool little bird guy.

underwater shots!

the giant tortoise breeding center was closing when we got there i think, but we still managed to do a quick lap and check them out.

this sign marks the beginning of the trail. so perfect!

the galapagos has great trails!

beautiful turtles

real subtle guys.

and now, i wrap up this post with the two things i will miss the most about this magical island...

i miss you kitty!!! [and lobster dinner]

toodles,

ronald.

candy shoppe lesbian? bodybombs. and wild turkeys.

so much has happened since i last blogged. i have been a negligent blogger. [shun!] but, things have been a little crazy, and i've been trying to keep my head above water. apparently, i really stink at saving money, which tends to cause problems when your computer dies and you need to pay bills...but, life is good, so i shant complain.



well, ronald and i got back from ecuador and moab, respectively. we both had great trips. i will upload pictures as soon as i get a computer, in which i can edit those pictures. she has filled you in on roughly half of her trip already, so i will divulge about my trip now:



first of all, the wild west is incredible. the landscape out there needs to be seen by everyone, especially if you live in this country. go there. and soon. the red rocks will seriously take your breath away. theyre just so big and beautiful. me and brittany were in awe of the size of the airport when we got off in grand junction. it was the equivalent of my dad's local airport, which is super tiny. the three of us spent part of our afternoon in grand junction, touring the wineries there. we got to try a bunch of meads, which i had never had before. and they were delightful. we bought a bottle from a winery and a raspberry chocolate satin from the meadery. we enjoyed both over the course of our trip. the satin was fantastic!



we traveled the two hours back to moab, with pitstops to see a great falling down bridge and other various scenic spots. we had a nice time catching up over jodi's awesome chili and mashed taters. we stayed at the house she lives in that night before transferring the next day to her boss's place for the rest of our stay. we nicknamed it "the lodge" and it was equipped with a hot tub, which i nicknamed a "hot tub time machine" when i started drinking the satin and polygamy porters together.



our first full day we hiked the entire loop of arches national park, which was over 7 miles. and it was nice. we didnt huff it, we just kinda took it slow and moseyed along. took lots of film [to be posted at a later date]. ate lunch up on the rocks. did some cliffhangers. scaled some rocks. the usu.



the next day we did two hikes! yes, i know. i dont remember the name of the first one. but the second one was up to delicate arch. wow. but not before the greatest lunch in history: at MILT's! so, green chilis are a moab thing, and at milts they have this burger. i got it w/ bison, so good. and it has green chilis, a spicy sauce, LTO, and yes. you better believe it was something out of this world. coupled with a banana milkshake and DELICIOUS fries. magnifique!



at delicate, the views are so amazing. i couldve sat up there for a day or two. but the mean photographers were getting mad anytime someone stood in the arch. and the sunset was all cloudy. so we left before we needed our headlamps to get back down.

the RTNA pose at delicate!

we had set up a campsite at the sandflats so we grabbed our hotdogs and smore supplies and headed out to camp! after a very successful start to our fire, some of jodi's friends joined us for smores and PBRs. a fun time was had by all. i had to camp in my own tent, so i was a little scared, but there was minimal complaining and i actually slept. so, i now like camping and would like to do it more in the future. we broke camp early so we could go make a serious brunch at the lodge. after brunch, jodi and i decided to do the rim trail, which was essentially a vertical climb for a mile or two. good on the buns. we met back up with britt to walk around downtown moab, and then we got mojitos....wow. those were some seriously fantastic mojitos! and we had fun drinking them too. we returned to the lodge for my birthday dinner of pasta with mushrooms. and the rest of that night was pretty fun....! we had to get up early to take me to the airport the next morning. and i did not want to leave, but duty calls. if you ever get the chance to go to moab, do it. its really great there.



that was a few weeks ago. since then, i went to blacksburg to see my ronald. we had a girly good time with friends christine and mandy. we went to a winery there and spent some time in floyd. went to a great little place for lunch called oddfellas. local and very yummy. we saw wild turkeys. we drove in the mountains. we went to studio. helped mandy pin up for thesees. went to the cellar. and did bodybombs at the mill. a great blacksburg day. we met with our littles for breakfast at gillies the next morning, had froyo with old pals, and then i hit the road.


a solid few weeks. oh, and the title of the post. so, in floyd there is the general store, which has penny candy. and ronald LOVES penny candy. especially mary janes. which are great. and at the mill, this turkish guy that we met, had some of the candy that ronald offered him. he then proceeded to ask mandy if ronald was a lesbian. she was floored, in a silly way, and wondered why someone would ask that, right after she offered them candy. and thus, the term candy shoppe lesbian was coined.



and done.
larry

ecuador | days 4-6: galapagos islands: santa cruz

so i believe we left off from where i said we got food poisoning. the night before flying out to the galapagos, dilz thought it would be nice to go to this korean restaurant he had his eye on for a while. being korean, i of course said jyeesss. we went, it was a really nice restaurant and was definitely the most expensive meal we had during my 2 weeks in ecuador. needless to say we went to bed happy...

until i woke up at 3 in the morning. i will not go into detail.

our flight was at 9 am. by the time we arrived at the quito airport, the sickness kicked in dilz's system as well. half conscious, we took turns going to the restroom while the other watched our bags.

flights to the galapagos islands from quito usually stop in guayaquil, making it about a 3 hour plane ride. luckily, our flight was going directly to the galapagos, making it only two. THANK GOD. we were feeling a little bit better on the plane, so we took pictures of ourselves so we could look back and laugh at ourselves.

LOLZ

what we did not know was that on this short flight, tame airlines[one of the two airlines that fly exclusively to the galapagos] served food. not just any kind of airline food, they had fresh fruit that smelled SOOO GOOOD. at this point our bodies were rejecting even water. but fatties like us just can't fight the desire for food....

so i bagged it for later. how are you supposed to deny fresh cut pineapple?!

it's the galapagos! seymour island i believe..

once we landed and got through security [which felt like forever] i saw my first [of many] galapagos lizard doing pushups and started feeling a lot better. from the airport, located on baltra island, we took a bus to a ferry to the north end of santa cruz, and from there we had to take a taxi all the way to the south end, to the town of puerto ayora.

it took us a minute to figure out that all the taxis were white pickup trucks, and by that time another couple from the ferry had taken the only cab left. the driver offered to give us a ride in the back. we accepted and it was the best idea ever.

we arrived in puerto ayora, lugged our crap around until we found a hostel, which didn't take too long since the town is super small. we did not make any reservations ahead of time but got lucky; this is highly NOT recommended. it did kick us in the ass in isabela, but i will save that for next time... dilz went out and bought some water ate our stowaway fruit and we passed out.

almost fully recovered the next morning, it was finally ADVENTURE TIME! first, we went to the darwin research center, or as i like to call it, turtletown.

i was impressed with their trails.

cool cacti trees.

lizard mid pushup! hilarious.

there was a little beach off the trail where pelicans, crabs and iguanas were hanging out. of course we had to take a picture break.

taking a little nappy nap while sunbathing. skillz!

baby turtles at the research center.

me and my turtle!

the man, the myth, the legend: lonesome george. perhaps he is gay?

the pimp himself on the right. rejected female on the left.

they mad because they get no love.

the center was predominantly for turtles but they had these guys too. we call this one forbidden love.

passed out!

later that day we ventured out to tortuga bay. we had no idea the it was going to be such a long walk/hike, and didn't get to spend a whole lot of time there. also dilz dropped my sunglasses in the ocean. thanks dilz...mehhhh! at the end of tortuga bay was a quiet little beach called playa de mensa.

beautiful tortuga bay.

my friend the iguana.

iguana pile up in the mangroves!

playa de mensa

dilz made his t-shirt into a muscle tee. the sleeves were used as head bands for the remainder of the trip!

that night we had our first real meal since the korean food incident. 24 hours without food, crazy i know. daredevil dilz wanted to celebrate by getting a taco.

i played it safe with some good ol' chicken, rice and beans. delish. not bad at all for 4 dolla!

the next day we squeezed in some snorkeling before our boat ride to isabela island. this was my very first time snorkeling, so i was super excited. also terrified. i can't swim, so...yeah.

from my bits and pieces of research we had a couple places to hit up: punta estrada beach and las grietas. we took a water taxi, then took a checked out punta estrada beach, which was pretty, but the tide was low. i think we were there when it was about as low as it could get, aka a bad time for snorkeling. womp womp womp. we continued on the trail to las grietas, which was another looooong trek. be prepared to walk a lot in the galapagos, people. with bugs. that will bite you. to death. *shudder* but it is always always worth the walk!

sleepy sea lion.

me being awk and dilz being a tool on punta estrada beach.

a lagoon on the way to las grietas. bug party!!!

las grietas.

i DID eit!!!

after a slight panic attack(i also have an irrational fear of deep/dark waters LAME i know!) i started my first snorkeling experience. i think it's actually kind of awkward, just sticking your face in the water with a tube in your mouth, fun fun fun nonetheless. unfortunately the fish were all taking a nap or something, so we had an underwater photoshoot by ourselves. DORK ALERT!

tyra would call this one "dreckitude."

i love how dramatic this photo came out. the only fish in las grietas.

just kidding!

the cool fish club, obvi.

on the walk back to our hostel we saw a fresh coconut stand. soooooooo goooooooood.

check back for more updates on our adventures on isabela island! flickr will continue to be updated with new pictures as well. thanks for reading, i feel like these posts are getting long and rambly. oh well.

toodles,

ronald.