THE ADVENTURE TO THE CLOUD FOREST

After a small but necessary amount of sleep the four of us set out in Puff-Puff, Chuck and Nancy's Korean baby SUV.  With a helpful and amusing GPS we made it safely out of Quito and made our first stop at MITAD DEL MUNDO - the middle of the world commonly known as the equator.

Even though it's not the EXACT equator, this is the site that has all the monuments to the early French explorers who "discovered" it. (Meanwhile, less that a km away is the true equator which the natives knew about long before the French).  Here are the French explorers lining up toward the equator monument.

Of course you can't come here and not straddle both hemispheres.  Chuck and Nancy did the honors.

And in case there is any doubt, here's the latitude.

After this exciting diversion (and some refrescos) we went to an overlook of an area where people have settled in a volcanic caldera.  Picture Crater Lake being drained and people farming in the lake bed.

This area is called Pululahua and is known as a geo-botanical area.  On the road once more - our destination Bella Vista Cloud Forest Reserve.  I was pleased to see some amusing things already.

For those of you who haven't read my past Ecuador blogs CUY is the word for Guinea Pig.  Cuy Asado is roasted guinea pig, an Ecuadoran delicacy which I intend to try on this trip.  Also seen on the road was this amazing load of pallets.

We had a beautiful drive through the Andes on our way to the cloud forest and out in the middle of nowhere came upon this little encampment which advertised a restaurant. 

We stopped to see if we could get lunch and the patroness said she would cook for us. She held up a lovely trout and a lovely tilapia and asked if those would be ok.  We said an enthusiastic YES.  Here she is grilling the fish in her wonderful outdoor kitchen.

Here is Jim awaiting lunch with his newly found friend, "lobo."

Somehow we had a language problem and Chuck and Nancy got meat while Jim got a whole Tilapia and I got a whole trout. It was all yummy!

 Meat, mote (hominy), plantains, yucca.

 Trout, plantain, yucca, rice

 Tilapia, plantain, yucca, rice

And for dessert she fresh squeezed a bunch of oranges to make this delicious pitcher of juice.

 

 A very satisfying road-side stop.  Within the hour we were at our destination of Bella Vista, but that is a blog for another day.

Audrey

 

THE TRIP THAT ALMOST WASN'T

Jim and I had been excited for weeks about our upcoming trip to Ecuador.  We planned to fly our usual route - from LAX on COPA through Panama to Quito, Ecuador.  We took the airport shuttle to San Francisco in plenty to time to catch our 8 pm flight to LA on an airline which shall remain nameless but which starts with U.  This flight would get us in LA in plenty of time to catch our 1 AM flight to Panama.  It was nearly boarding time when they announced that our flight would be delayed due to a lighting problem. Then they said they needed a new generator and we would know by 9:15 PM if it was fixable.  By 9:10 we got the word that it was ok and we boarded the plane.  We pulled out of the gate (now 1-1/2  hours late) and then stopped.  A few minutes later the captain came on with a disgusted tone of voice and said, "well folks, we have no brakes so we'll be getting a tow back to the gate.  I have no idea what will happen next but will keep you posted."  Meantime everyone is getting on their smart phones and telling each other that the only other flight to LA that evening also had mechanical problems.  We pull back in to the gate and the flight attendants say that there are gate agents to help with connection problems.  We file off the plane and queue up.  There is ONE customer service agent.  Jim and I were 10 back in line and it took over 1 hour to get to the counter.  Mean time they announced that we would be taking an incoming plane for Chicago and going to LA with it - at MIDNIGHT.  Our connecting flight in LA was leaving at 1 AM.  We were able to call COPA and get two seats on the morning flight leaving at 7:30 AM.  When we finally got to LA we went to the Customer Service desk and got a hotel voucher - we were able to sleep for 2 whole hours before getting our new flight to Panama.

We had a 4 hour lay over in Panama City.  We met an interesting guy who had been sailing around the Caribbean with his wife and they were heading back to the States for the holidays.  The wife had gone ahead with their cat on an earlier flight (kitty quarantine in New Zealand - their next port of call) and he was stuck in the airport for over 12 hours.  Here was his solution to waiting for his 3 AM flight. 


 

We had an uneventful flight to Quito but were extremely, desperately tired when we got there.  By now it was 11 pm Quito time - 27 hours after leaving home!  It took us over an hour to go through immigration as at least 2 other flights had arrived at the same time.  While in line though we met an interesting and well spoken young woman who was a Colombian born American citizen who grew up in Houston and was now a compliance lawyer with an international oil company.  Finally we got through immigration to where all the luggage was - it was literally a sea of luggage strewn about in mass chaos.  Another 1/2 hour was spent looking for our 4th bag.  It was not to be found so we had to go to the kiosk where a very nice COPA official helped us and determined that the bag never left Panama.  By this time we were so tired we were nearly ill.  The only saving grace was the customs check point was a breeze and we had this wonderful driver awaiting us with a placard.

I have always wanted someone to meet me at a foreign airport with a sign.  I was ecstatic that it happened on this occasion.  I doubt we had the wherewithal left to deal with a taxi.  We got to the hotel around 2 AM and were happy to find Chuck and Nancy waiting up for us with a glass of wine.  Total travel time - 30 hours.

It can only go uphill from here.

Audrey

HIGH FASHION IN SAN FRANCISCO

Today's adventure was to the De Young Museum in San Francisco for the final weekend of the highly popular Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit.  We had been meaning to go but just didn't put in on the calendar.  All of our friends reported how great it was - not only over-the-top fashion/creations but also the actual show itself!  The mannikins were eerily lifelike, especially when moving or talking (or singing) faces were projected on to them.  The exhibit was quite crowded and no flash allowed but I did manage to take some photos which capture some of the wildly creative things at this show.

 This was one with a projected face - the eyes blinked.  It was quite disturbing.

I loved his use of natural things in his clothing - like these shells and pearls.

 Shoes!

 If you pay attention to the eyes on these next three shots you will see them move.

 I was so sorry I couldn't use flash because the colors are muted.  This is a wonderful "animal print" gown of beads with a fabulous fez-like hat.

And, speaking of animal print - this "leopard skin" is made totally of beads. 

 Yes, 1,006 hours to complete this!  I can't imagine keeping track!

 I loved the textures in this next one.  Photo doesn't do justice.  It's made up of velvet, satin, beads, ribbon and all manner of rich fabric and accessory.

 This "simple" outfit was topped with a magnificent fur hat ala Nanook of the North.

 Incredible bead/embroidery work.

I couldn't get over the wonderful texture of this ruffled tulle.  The rest of the outfit left me cold (it was camouflage) but I thought the different colors of ruffled tulle were very effective.

 This part of the exhibit was quite exciting as they had an oval runway that revolved so you felt like you were seeing an actual fashion show.  I loved the colors in this gown.

Yes, even her umbrella was done in Hounds Tooth!

This was an amazing work that was a play on filmstrips.  The skirt part of the gown is crepe of film-stock print

 More film strips for the train.

 The corset top is covered in actual acetate film strips.  Amazing effect.

This was a totally multimedia event.  In one area there was a large screen playing clips from movies featuring Gaultier costumes.  Naturally they were odd films, ones I like, such as City of Lost Children or The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, Her Lover (Helen Mirren gets to wear some great stuff) or Bad Education.

I would like to have spent longer at this exhibit but as always when it is too crowded I just want to leave.  Since we don't make it to the De Young as often as we should, I went over to the 20th Century American art section to see if the Lovet-Lorski Venus statue was there (our all time favorite piece) but alas, they had a photo exhibit where she usually is.  To see a photo of her see my earlier blog here  http://ajstephens.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2009-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2010-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=9

I did get to re-visit some old friends in the contemporary glass section (Dale Chihully and William Morris) before meeting up with Jim at our rendezvous point.  Try as we might we just can't warm up to the new De Young museum.  So, rather than have lunch there we hopped back in the car and drove to the Legion of Honor to see the Man Ray exhibit.  For us to visit the Legion of Honor is like dropping in to visit an old and well known friend.  It's comfortable. 

We settled in to the usual excellent lunch in the cafe (I had "Ray Le Formidable" quiche and Jim had "BBQ Poulet" Sandwich), hit the gift shop and then went to the Man Ray exhibit.  I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was a May Ray and Lee Miller exhibit.  I hadn't known anything about her and truthfully I enjoyed her photos more than his.  Ironically, photography was not allowed in this exhibit.  One of the more fascinating items they had in the display were two short film clips, one a Jean Cocteau film, "Blood of the Poet" from 1930, in which Lee Miller plays a sculpture which comes to life, and a May Ray film, "L'etoile de mer" from 1928, which Man Ray filmed mostly through a pane of glass distorted with water.

It was a perfect day that ended with Friday night rush hour traffic from the City most of the way back home.  Ah, well!  It's the price we pay.

SHEEP RUN

August 5th is a date that has been circled on my calendar for several weeks now.  This was the date of the first ever Sonoma County Fair Sheep Run.  Being a major ovineophile I had visions of hundreds of sheep running down the city streets bleating, with sheep dogs keeping them in check.  My friend Ginger and I have been talking about this event for weeks at work.  So, today was the day!  We decided not to get up extra early and go for the 8 AM pancake breakfast downtown, opting, instead, to walk from my house over to South E Street, which was the route the sheep would be taking on their run to the Fairgrounds. 

Ginger and others waiting for the Sheep Run to begin.

There weren't too many of us waiting, which was another reason to not go downtown; I don't enjoy crowds.  We waited and waited and finally heard the sound of an air horn.  We knew they were coming.  The parade was led by a police car and followed by a Semi (source of the air horn) with the band playing "76 Trombones."

NOT 76 trombones

Ginger made a movie of the whole thing

Then we got excited because we could see the sheep herding dogs coming.

A mobile sheep pen?  Really?

Sheep!  (not running)

Sheep!

Sheep!  (not many)

(Cute) Sheep!

Cute 4H Sheep

The 4H lamb sales ended this last week at the Fair.  One girl's lamb got the highest prices ever at the Fair -  $6,765 ($55/lb).  Many of these 4H kids save their Fair money and use it to fund going to college.

Then we had the parade of horses.  Not sure what the criteria was to be in the parade but it was nice to see these beautiful horses anyway.

This is the first that I knew we had a Miss Wine Country Rodeo.  It does remind one that we live in an agricultural county.

Awesome BIG draft horses.

And then...TRACTORS!

This guy is a McCormick FARMALL from 1941.  He didn't move very fast.

And this one is the FARMALL CUB.  Top speed about 2 MPH.

Poppin' Johnnie.  Also a slow mover but great sounds.

Not sure what this one is but it's been around awhile!

And the parade ended with a big modern tractor.

Well, this was no Pamplona but it was pretty fun.  We hope next year if they do the sheep run again they will have LOTS MORE SHEEP and let them just run and be herded by dogs. 

Audrey