Spent a couple nights in Chicago this week. Had a great view of Lake Michigan.

I was lucky enough to spend a quick weekend in San Francisco with old friends. The most amazing part was that we were able to pick up right we we left off. It was like a single day hadn’t passed since we were last together. One of the best weekends I’ve ever had.

Made a quick trip to Chicago a couple weeks ago for work. I didn’t have too much free time but I managed to venture out and take in a bit of the city. A few of the highlights are below.

Oh my. This trip is going by way too fast I haven’t had any time to write about it. Let me recap quickly. Sorry if it is a bit scattered I’m writing from a train and well things are just happening so quickly. Here are some random highlights.

Lima – I was very anxious when I landed knowing that I was in a new place and cetainly didn’t speak much of the language. Went on a rollercoaster taxi ride from the airport to my hostel in the Mira Flores district where I met up with Scott. We enjoyed an authentic local dish for dinner, walked around the city, enjoyed a couple Cusqueños at the hostel and called it a night.

Huacachina – The next day we departed early on a bus for Ica. We arrived after a short 4 hour bus ride and immediately took a quick cab ride to the desert oasis called Huacachina. This is a strange little Oasis city is surrounded by miles of massive sand dunes. The city itself consists of nothing more than a small oasis or pond surrounded by hostels, restaurants and craft vendors. This was a fun stop! Scott and I took a trip out to the dunes on a buggy and did a little sandboarding. It was so much fun, but also very dangerous. Let’s just say these buggys were a little ghetto. They had seatbelts were fastened with a simple overhand knot. Felt really secure as we tore through the desert. Sandboarding was great also. Sure it was fun to stand on a handmade snowboard shaped piece of wood and go down the sand, but if you wanted to go really fast you layed on your stomach. So that’s what we all did and whew dis we fly down the dunes. If you ever get to Huacachina you must give it a go!

Paracas – The next day was split between Paracas and Ica. We woke up early and took a bus from Huacachina out to the ocean-side village of Paracas for a boat tour of the Islas Ballestas. These island host a wide variety of animals that I have never seen before. There were sea lions, dolphins, pelicans, and lots of boobies. Of course I’m talking about the birds, you know masked boobies and blue-footed boobies. Oh and most importantly I got to see penguins! So great.

Ica- After our tour of the islands that morning Scott and I headed back to Ica. We spent our time negotiating bus travel to Cusco which is a little difficult when there are some serious riots going on in cities along the bus routes. We found a bus that didn’t go near these areas. After this Scott and I enjoyed lunch and pisco sours in one of Ica’s most historic restaurants. Pisco is a local liquor made from fermented and distilled grape skins left over from the production of wine. These are quite tasty but I think they give me weird dreams.

From Ica we took a long 25 hour bus ride to Cusco. Uggghhhh such a long journey. But it was worth it because Cusco is amazing! I will tell you more about this city very soon.

Am I anxious or excited? It’s really hard to tell. What does matter is that I’m going on an adventure. It’s been far too long. Goodbye Los Angeles, I’ll see you again in a little while. Peru, I can’t wait to meet you. I think we are going to get along just great!