Slowly Recovering

Hard to believe, but the sun actually came out late yesterday afternoon here in Massachusetts. We hadn't seen it since getting home from Peru and I'm told it had been raining since last Monday. The rain has stopped, but last night our water damage expanded rapidly. Nothing major, the only obvious loss is a lot of wall-to-wall carpeting, but the water is still seeping in. Seeing life along the Amazon, where the river can rise and fall up to 45 feet each year, was perfect timing before this New England flooding. Reminds me how fortunate we are to only have to deal with soggy carpeting.

I'm finally caught up with 24, Lost, Amazing Race, and Survivor. I've almost made it through my 1,000+ emails and still have a pile of unread mail. Can't believe how many people still use snail mail.

Larry The Lizard's Peruvian Adventure is now posted and more will be added on this site later this week. Somehow Larry always gets his pictures posted before I manage to. If you are just starved for entertainment, I've uploaded all 1,133 pictures to Shutterfly. Shared albums can't hold more than 250 pictures - so there are a few albums you can visit:
Amazon #1 (250 Pictures)
Amazon #2 (250 Pictures)
Amazon #3 (133 Pictures)
Machu Picchu (250 pictures)
Cusco (239 Pictures)

Back From Peru

A dozen boat rides, nine flights, eight hotels, five bus rides, and two train trips later - we're back home after two weeks in Peru. Our time spent high up in the Andes after the Amazon was sick. Real sick. Like altitude sickness kind of sick.

The first night and morning was gross. After landing in Cuzco, Peru (11,300 feet above sea level - twice that of Denver Colorado), it took a few hours for the headaches to start. They got progressively worse until it was a 24 hour migraine with nausea, loopiness and shortness of breath. It felt like the worst hangover ever and we were worried this was how we'd feel for the rest of our trip. We decided not to pursue a white water trip we had been considering - good choice because the river looked lame as hell in the parts they let tourists raft. It all subsided on the early morning train ride to Machu Picchu, which is 2,000 feet lower than Cuzco. That was enough to let us acclimate to the altitude and we felt fine for the rest of the trip. We just had to get used to the shortness of breath and Lori being loopier than normal.

We had two days at Machu Picchu, the first day was bright and sunny and the second was cool and misty. It was great to experience it under both conditions and being able to hang out without the masses of tourists who take the train/bus trip just for the day. We did three different hikes around the site then returned to Cuzco for a couple days on our own.

Cuzco is a really cool city, all the buildings are built on 500 year old Inca foundations. The combination of Inca, Spanish and modern architecture is pretty wild and the area is full of tourists from all around the world, with American definitely in the minority. We did find the best Pisco Sours and I even got to dine on a fine roasted guinea pig. Mmm... that guy was cute and delicious.

Many more details and photos will be posted eventually. Peru has a ton more things to do and is definitely on our travel list for a return trip someday.

Live From Lima

Buenus dias! Checking in from downtown Lima Peru to let the world know that despite aborted airplane landings, pirahnnas, millions of bugs, a visit to a shaman, a wild boa, pounding rain, and lots of local drinks -- we´ve survived a week in the Amazon. And never has an a region of the globe taken so strongly to Larry The Lizard, all the guides, staff, and children on the Amazon loved Larry. Everyone except the monkeys, who live in absolute horror of lovable Larry. We only had to share the jungle lodges with one other couple, Kevin & Lynn, who live 30 minutes from us up in New Hampshire but we had to travel to the Amazon jungle to meet them.
Today we catch a flight (maybe?) to Cuzco and spend 4 days in high altitude near Macchu Pichu.
Adios amigos -- AF & Lori

Off to Peru

We are off to Peru! We've got eight days of exploring the Amazon and then we'll head up into The Andes to check out the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu. Along the Amazon we are staying at a series of different jungle lodges. The newest one says it has electricity and Internet access, so I maybe be able to send out an update from deep in the rain forest. I'll be sure to let you know if I successfully evaded the candiru -- the tiny barbed fish that can swim up into and become enlodged in your urethra. For anyone who flunked biology, that means it swims up into my penis and makes a home. Not cool.

We'll be gone for two weeks, and while you might think this is your chance to come steal my priceless collection of KISS memorabilia - think again! Our house sitter is quite the gun nut and may even be a meth addict. We'll have to be extra careful ourselves when we come back home.

Things are looking very good for "Illegal Aliens." The movie is finishing up its post production and interest is high among multiple distributors. Looks like a late summer theatrical release. As soon as I know any more, I'll pass it along.

Adios

Check out Lenise

A quick plug for Lenise Soren, one of the most charming, beautiful and talented actresses I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. She kicked ass in "Illegal Aliens" (sorry, still no news on a release date) and is destined for greatness. She's on "Eve" tonight. I've never seen the show but I can't resist a good lesbian story line.

Watch Lenise Soren playing Brenda Cortland the GUEST STAR on the hit Sitcom EVE this Thursday, April 20th, 2006 at 9PM on UPN.
Lenise plays the Ex-Lesbian Lover of Ali Landry's character Rita (the totally hot Dorito girl from the Super Bowl commercial from a few years back.) Rita's best friends/business partners convince her to come back into Brenda's life and it all climaxes in a sizzling Latin Dance!

Check out the EVE website for a VIDEO SNEAK PREVIEW of Lenise's Episode!
http://www.upn.com/upn_video/insider/index.php?page=nav&cat=4&chap=14778