Daredevil

Anytime I tell people I broke my foot, they naturally ask me what I did. The problem is, there really is no accident story, no specific fateful incident that cracked my poor foot bone. I mean, do you want to know what I was doing the night before I woke up with my foot so swollen I couldn't move it without pain?

I was learning to can peaches with our friends.

I know, I know, I need to be more risk averse. But seriously, stress fractures are kind of a straw that broke the camel's back kind of thing- apparently that part of the bone just weakens and weakens until one day it flops onto its chaise lounge, puts its hand to its head, and says "I give up". And then it cracks.

The good news is, canning peaches was fun and canning is not as scary as it seemed to be. I mean, botulism is pretty damned terrifying, don't get me wrong, but after doing some reading I've learned that fruits are acidic enough to make botulism risk virtually nil as long as they are processed correctly.

Speaking of processed, I thought it only right that the old timey-ness of this endeavor should be captured with a vintage filter.

 The key to not dying of botulism- the water bath.

 Off and on during the process, the boys played video games. Yes, they helped, but once all that was left to do was boil the jars they took to playing a terrifyingly weird Japanese video game.

 Willow, eating up the attention, blissfully unaware of how she is hindering Bobby's progress in rolling a giant sticky ball through an imaginary world.

 A little sugar water, some lemon juice, and local, organic peaches picked up at the farmers' market that morning. Purrrrrr-fect.

 The finished product. I was super excited to can my own peaches after this, but then, you know, I woke up with broken foot extravaganza and I've only cooked one time since then.

Paige and Matt have a huge backdoor garden, so they sent us home with a baggie of cherry tomatoes and some beets. All in all, between the farmers' market that morning, the canning, and the good night gifts of fruits and veggies from their garden, it was a most excellent way to celebrate, unbeknownst to me, my last day of mobility for 8 weeks.

Weighty Matters

I've extolled the virtues of my Vibrams five finger shoes, and have waxed poetically about how much they've helped me start running again. I started a new experiment back on June 12th, but I wanted to wait to make sure it stuck. Well, it has more than stuck, and even after taking a break from July 4th to July 26th due to traveling and having friends in town, upon starting up again yesterday things are going just as well.

I'm talking about lifting weights. Not just dumb bells, but being able to lift free weights again. On June 12th, Bobby and I started lifting weights together on Mon/Wed/Fri. We do three sets each of three exercises- squat, dead lift, bench press. Weight is added with each set, so that the reps are 10-8-6 (sometimes that last set is only two or three reps, just as many as you can squeak out). The first day I started off just lifting the bar- 45 lbs- for all exercises. This was too light for squats/dead lift, but a bit heavy for bench press (I was able to do a full 10 reps, but I was feeling it). Progressively over the weeks we added more weight each time, until, on the 4th of July, I had progressed to being able to easily bench press 65 pounds, I could push through  a few reps at 75 pounds, and, more incredibly, I was able to squat and dead lift my body weight- 135 pounds!

In spite of my bum hip/crap back, this actually happened

In the grand scheme of weight lifting, this is not some crazy impressive stuff. But in the grand scheme of my old creaky hip, this is incredible. The first few weeks, my left hip would just ache and ache in between sets of squats. Not in a painful, stop doing this way, but in a painful, "you're strengthening me and pulling me back into place and I've been effed up for a decade and this will take some coaxing" kind of way. It felt disconcerting, but I felt in my gut that it was not a "STOP" kind of a pain, but a "be careful, but keep it up" kind of pain.

Yesterday was my first day of lifting since we left for vacation, and man I am feeling it today. But I was able to do even more reps at 135 pounds on dead lift, and I only lost 10 pounds on my squat. My bench press has slid back a bit too- I was at the point where I could press 75 pounds a few times, now 65 is feeling a bit tough- but I know it will all be coming back to me soon. And more than that, I'm excited to see where I'll be after a year of lifting. I have some lofty goals, but I think they're reasonable. And after only a few weeks of squats, I can't believe how much muscle I've gained. I'm not much bigger (girls can't bulk up like a dude, despite all the fear mongering around weight lifting) but my shape is already changing. I've also noticed that I'm stronger on my bike, and running is easier, too. All in all, I'm over the moon happy that I'm at a point where I can throw some weights around again.

Since this is a fitness update kinda post, I figure I'll throw in a C25K update here at the end. Since coming back from the Texas road trip beginning of May, I've found it hard to get back into running. I averaged about twice a week from mid May to the end of June, and I made myself swallow my pride and start over with Week 3 to be damned sure I didn't tweak my back/hip or hurt my feet. A short road trip since then, then a long road trip, plus the focus on weight lifting has put C25K on the back burner. It's not turned off getting cold and crusting to the pot, it's just kind of simmering away in the background. I'm more than happy to continue to take C25K very slowly, because I think this is crucial to why my hip/back have been able to adjust to running, and why I have not screwed up my knees. I'm going to be at grad school orientation from Sunday, July 31st through Thursday, August 4th, so for now I'm focusing on getting back into the swing of weight lifting this week, and I'll start C25K up again next week. However, I know that all the biking and weight lifting I'm doing are also helping me to become a better runner. After the Texas road trip I came back and really fell in love with biking, and for two weeks all I did was bike, no running, but I was averaging 60+ miles a week. After that stint, I went for a run, and it felt so easy. Cross training for the win!

I will definitely have to specifically focus on some running come next week though, because I'm registered to run Warrior Dash on August 20th. I'm excited and nervous, but who wouldn't be, if you're going to be jumping over fire, and crawling through mud under barbed wire? Seriously, check out that link and look at the course. It's equal parts funny and kind of ridiculous.

On the Contrary, My Garden Tends to Not Grow At All

I am not the best gardener. True, I have never had a proper plot to garden, and people have told me patio gardening in pots is particularly picky. However, I have managed to kill herbs the last 3 times I tried to grow them. I think that goes beyond the difficulties of patio gardens and is firmly in the realm of "maybe the problem in this relationship is ME".

Despite my past failures, I was determined to make one last go of it. We live in a garden level apartment, which means we're half underground. Our living room window has a wooden box around it where the ground has been dug out so that we can have a regular sized window despite the whole being halfway underground thing. It gets 6 hours a day of full sun, making it the perfect spot for plants in pots. As a bonus, our dining room table is right next to it, so any little garden would be a nice view. Weekend before last we headed to the farmers' market and picked up locally grown, organic tomato and herb starts in coconut fiber planters for $3 each. I was hoping that the universe would smile benevolently on my eco-friendly hippie virtue- no plastic, Universe!- and bless my garden with good luck. I peppered the farmer with all sorts of questions, telling her that if these plants only knew how terrible I was at gardening they would be crossing their little plant fingers that they would NOT be coming home with me.

We left with two starts each of rosemary and basil, and one each of apple mint and pineapple sage. We also chose two heirloom tomato plants- Purple Prudens and Boxcar Willy. I planted them just as she suggested- a bit of pebbles in the bottom for drainage, organic soil, plant it coconut fiber pot and all- and then I gave them all a hearty shake of organic plant food. Since then I've been watering them and anxiously waiting for them to die... but they haven't! And more than that, they're actually thriving. I buried a trailing vine of the apple mint, because the farmer said that it would sprout up a new plant- and it totally did. The pineapple sage has increased its leaves by 50%, and the basil is starting to fill out with new shoots as well. I don't have any blooms on the tomato plants yet, but the important thing is they're not dead, which bodes well for future bloom possibilities.

This is the day I planted them. They're probably whispering get away plans to themselves at this point.

 Two weeks later, they look a bit more at ease.

 This basil needs to quadruple in size. I need to make fresh pesto every night of the week. And basil on fresh strawberries need to happen often as well.

 The apple mint is bumpin'. I've stripped a few leaves off already to put in ice water.

 Pineapple sage- it truly does have a pineapple smell to it. See all those little shoots along the stem? Surprisingly, that all happened on my watch. Maybe my thumbs aren't coal black after all!

 The true test will be if these tomato plants produce anything. Even if it's just one tomato, I'll be pleased.

 Here's the new baby apple mint shoot I mentioned. I still can't believe it worked. I'm like a 4 year old in awe of bean sprouts in a plastic baggie.

 This is the view from our dining room table. Grow little ones, grow!

 All of this success is making me look forward to the day when we can have a full on garden. Oh, and I didn't just have success with herbs and vegetables! I almost forgot...

The day that we picked up these guys, we got the pots from a local nursery. There had been some terrible hail, so they were selling four packs of raggedy, hail damaged petunias for $1 each. We got two 4 packs of pitiful petunias. I took them home and stripped away the bruised flowers and dead leaves, pruned back the snapped stems, and planted them in fresh soil with plant food. Two weeks later, they're blooming like crazy and they look great.

That guy on the right looks rough, but trust me, he looked way worse 2 weeks ago. I'm hoping that things keep going well. By this point most of my plants were long dead, so I think we've gotten through the touch and go first few days. I'm looking forward to picking tomatoes in about a month or two!

Catching Up with Technology Verdict: Meh

Since late 2009, I have happily owned an LG phone. It slides out to a full keyboard, and it has a pretty terrible touch screen, but that's about as bells and whistle-y as it gets. Bobby has owned a pink Motorola Razr ever since I've known him which was given to him by a kind friend when his (even older) phone died. Now's a good time to share this gem from The Oatmeal:

No, seriously, that is Bobby's exact phone. SOURCE

We have both balked at upgrading to smart phones, for a variety of reasons, number one being the exorbitant cost of  both the phone and the plans. However, Bobby recently accepted a position with his current employer. He's now programming...smart phones. And he was using a very outdated Motorola Razr. And neither of us had ever even made a phone call on a smart phone, much less used one in the day to day. That situation needed to be remedied.

So, about two weeks ago, we took the plunge, ditching AT&T in favor of Sprint. For our infidelity we were rewarded with enough discounts to actually get paid to switch, on top of getting free phones- really, free, not just fake free like so many cell phone companies try to pull. For $20 more a month we had three times as many minutes, unlimited data, and unlimited text, plus the free phones. We aren't Apple-philes, so we had no interest in the iPhone, when the Android based phones were everything we needed (and much cheaper for the monthly plans), so we went with the HTC Evo, and HTC Evo Shift. The Shift was for me, because I do so despise touch screens. So far, things are going well. I hated it when I first got it because it felt so annoyingly fragile, but once it was firmly entombed within an Otter Box that went away.

I have to say, I haven't been overtaken with the "I can't live without it!" feeling. Honestly, I find internet browsing on it kind of annoying, and I'd much prefer to do a quick and efficient morning check of FB and the news on my laptop. It takes about twice as long on the phone, not because it's slow, but because it's so small. That isn't me knocking the awesomeness of the technology, it's just that I like to be efficient and for day to day use, the laptop wins every time. I'm sure the GPS capabilities will be awesome in a pinch though, and the ability to Google anything one may want or need will absolutely be convenient when we find ourselves in a random town in Nebraska and we're tying to decide whether or not to eat at Burger King or if we can hold out for thirty minutes for real food. Oh, and yes, the camera is much better, for sure. However I'm not tempted to check it constantly, or be on the internet when I'm waiting in line, things like that. If Bobby and I are going out together, I'll usually leave my phone behind since we have his. I was never attached to my old cell phone, though, so that's probably why the black magic of the 'droid has yet to ensnare me.

I have to say though- an e-reader and a smart phone? Who am I?

Deep in the Heart of Texas We're Keeping Austin Weird

Upon our return from San Antonio, I bid Arielle a temporary goodbye, and settled in for a few days checking out Austin. Now, I've been to Austin on family trips, and on school trips, and I went there when I interviewed for the English teacher job in Japan. I also went there as a delegate to the Democratic State Convention, which was great fun. But I had yet to experience the heart of Austin night life- bar hopping 6th Street. My cousin, Mel, and her family had recently moved to the area, and the trip to Texas was the perfect time to see their new house and let them show me a good time out on the town. But first, Mel and I had a good old fashioned girls' day, catching up, eating Taco Cab, and shopping for unnecessary clothes.

 Sweet, delicious, cheap Tex-Mex. Oh Colorado. You are surely a wasteland when it comes to anything to do with Mexican food. Dear salsa bar at Taco Cab- relocate. I'm tired of making my own.

 We hit up Ross, which is always unintentionally entertaining. Case in point- eww. These jeans should never, ever have been made.

 On the other hand, Mel was able to experience the glory of HD glasses. She took them off and said "I wish I could wear them, always". Damn you, Ross. We DO love it.

 She took me by their favorite local ice cream shop. I was generously allowed to sample whatever I wanted- I hate it when an ice cream shop offers samples but then shames you for taking them up on the offer. My motto is- do not offer unless you are going to come through with a smile. This place delivered.

It is hot in Texas. Ice cream is a necessary food group to protect one's health.

 We stayed up late that night eating chips and salsa, catching up, laughing and talking and making plans for the weekend. The next day Melanie was a blessed angel and allowed me to sleep in until NOON. Oh, glorious noon. We lazed about the rest of the day, and then we headed out to Polvos to meet up with Arielle and her friends. Let me just say, if you have never been to Polvos, go. You won't regret it.

Mel and Josh

On the walk to Polvos we cut through an alley. I noticed the light was great, so we snapped some shots.

Allow me to get sappy here- I'm super lucky to have such a great cousin. I'm grateful that our dads were so close so that we were always around one another growing up. In our family "cousin" isn't too far from "sibling". I wouldn't have it any other way.

Walking up to Polvos after the alley way photo shoot, we were unaware of the epic food that was about to enter our lives.

Our feet are too hipster-licious fo' ya, babe. We were eating cupcakes, too, you just can't see our hands overlapping and holding them in adorable ways like hand models.

We waited patiently outside in an enormous crowd of would-be-patrons. I think I've figured out why I don't have 15 sponsors and 3,000+ followers- I clearly don't have enough pictures of my feet in cute shoes. Internet, I give you not one, not two, but FIVE pairs of waiting shoes! Blog success, here I come!

Everyone but me ordered margaritas while we waited, and our table freed up right as the pitcher came out. The perfection of Polvos was already in motion.

Arielle approves!

All sorts of salsa, all sorts of wonderful. My deep and abiding love for salsa variety continues.

Looking at this picture, I am tearing up a little bit as I realize that I can't go down the street and eat this. Poblano cream sauce should be a regular occurrence in my dinner time experiences. Life is sometimes so unfair.

Once we were all thoroughly stuffed, we parted ways with Arielle for the final time (tears!) and headed downtown. As luck would have it, a high school friend happened to be playing a show, and it ended up being a bit of a Brownwood High School reunion. Kind of random, and neither good nor bad. The show wrapped up, and we struck out to bar and club hop along 6th street.

The following pictures were all taken on my cheap-o LG decidedly NON smart phone. Apologies.

 We started off at the Blue Moon blues bar. An awesome band was playing, there wasn't a cover charge, and people were friendly and happy. +5 points for 6th street already, plus +10 points for the no cover charge. Dallas charges cover for everything, even just to dance. Here, I'm getting great blues in a chill atmosphere with nice friendly locals... for free? With no pressure to buy a drink? Yes, please.

 We went in a few random fun bars I can't remember the names of, and then we hit up this "swanky" club, that was totally empty at 11 p.m. Personally, I love random empty clubs because I don't need to be drunk or in a big group to dance. And you get to play around, as Melanie is illustrating above.

 Random little nooks that made me think that an 80's coke addict would be at home in them lined the walls.

 Upstairs we found a nice dusky dance floor, and the D.J. was excellent. Empty dance floor all to ourselves, with windows overlooking the pedestrian traffic below? You keep racking up the points, 6th street. We left that club and continued on our bar crawl way, and each new stop was enjoyable. They all had no cover, good music, dancing everywhere you went, and there was a refreshing lack of snobby clique-ish ness. For anyone familiar with the snottiness that permeates so much of the nightlife in Dallas, you know what I mean by that.

 We wrapped up the night dancing on the rooftop at the Blind Pig, and around 2 a.m. we headed home. This picture is a great example of the huge difference between Dallas and Austin nightlife. Austin shuts down 6th street and only allows foot traffic. This makes going out a lot safer, and also fosters a block party feel where random strangers are pretty friendly. There was also a surprising lack of drunken fights and cops arresting people. I felt safe, I wasn't heckled, harassed, or pawed at (all things that happen on the regular in clubs in Dallas). I danced with random French dudes who were hilarious, struck up conversations with friendly girls, and danced my ass off everywhere we went. In Dallas, when you go out in Deep Ellum, the traffic and parking are horrible and there are random pockets of deserted warehouses that are the perfect environment in which to get assaulted (that's not an exaggeration, things have gotten hairy for me a few times in downtown Dallas, much as I love it). Even with my many years long history of late night fun in Deep Ellum, I was already converted to Austin after only one night. Good thing cities can't read blogs, or else Dallas might get her feelings hurt...

This random guy jumped in the picture with me.

We found our way back to the car, I DD'd us home, and I crashed out at about 3 a.m. The next morning Mel was sick, so I accompanied Josh to a family picnic in Zilker Park and then headed out to Brownwood. I have to say, Austin won me over. It didn't even feel like I was in Texas, in a good way. 

Of course, the oppressive heat reminded me I was, in fact, in Texas. Driving a few hours to Brownwood at around 2 p.m. in a car without air conditioning was the opposite of enjoyable. I was double fisting water and Gatorade the whole way, because I truly didn't want a heat stroke on the back roads of Texas to be part of my trip re-caps. I arrived at Mom's house covered in sweat, tired, and windblown. But I arrived without a heat stroke! It was really nice to be back in my hometown, hanging with Mom and Granny. After the breakneck pace of the previous week's socializing and late night partying I was more than ready to settle into easy nights on the back porch, eating Mom's delicious food, and watching the horses play in the back yard. 

Oh, and if you ever happen to find yourself in Brownwood, TX, I highly recommend Prima Pasta. I definitely enjoyed some of their Italian take out on the back porch, too.

C25K Day 1, Week 1: Five Finger Shoes and Chi Running

Today I start Couch-to-5K (C25K from here on out). I have high hopes for this attempt, despite my fear that posting it on my blog will jinx my hip like last time. Over the past year, through a few failed attempts, I've researched running form and techniques to avoid injury. I was a long distance runner in high school, and I had a lot of natural talent, but I was given little instruction on form other than "don't clench your fists" and "don't slouch". Some of my favorite info has come from reading about the techniques in "Born to Run" and "ChiRunning". I recently found a really great video on the concept of ChiRunning that makes a lot of sense. If you want to check it out, you can find it here on YouTube.

In the course of my research, it would have been nearly impossible for me to miss all the chatter around barefoot running. From Barefoot Ted and his blog to TED talks about the history of running barefoot to stories in the aforementioned "Born to Run" book, barefoot running is everywhere. At first, I dismissed it as a fad. But the more I read about it, and the more I watched videos of heel strikes and the clunkiness of running shoes, and the more I pondered how much time I spent barefoot as a kid, running through fields and across rocks and stickers and sticks and thorns, the more I came around to the idea. Mind you, I didn't really want to take to the pavement and pound out mile after mile totally barefoot on concrete in mid-winter in Colorado. Rather, I became interested in finding a shoe that could get me as close to barefoot as possible. After several months of research, I found myself in REI last Tuesday, with Bobby, getting an early birthday present...

I got the Vibram Bikila LS, which is specially designed for running. I have very, very narrow feet so the lacing system helps me adjust the shoe to fit my foot.

The sole of this model is a bit thicker than most Vibrams, and the molding on the bottom is also more reinforced for running.

But they are still very flexible, as you can see here. And I still feel very close to barefoot. My toes splay when I walk, and I can feel the ground underneath my feet.

Flexibility works the other way too, I can curl my toes all the way under as well. With all the yoga I do (barefoot, of course) I have a lot of flexibility and strength in my feet and toes, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the Vibrams feel compared to other running shoes. One word of advice that is repeated over and over again when it comes to running in Vibrams is to start of slowly. I figure this will be the perfect opportunity, since C25K definitely starts off slowly- all 3 workouts in the first week are only 20 minutes long, alternating 60 seconds of running with 90 seconds of walking. I plan to do a 0% incline the entire first week, and keep a moderate pace, to help my feet get used to running in these shoes. More importantly, I want to take it easy on my hip. My problem is that I'm at a decent level of cardio fitness already, and I can run a mile or so (which isn't great but it's something) but I need to force myself to go slowly to ease my body back in to running.

I'll be posting weekly wrap ups on my C25K trials and triumphs (hopefully light on the former and heavy on the latter). I'm following the original C25K running program found here so altogether this will take 9 weeks. Fingers crossed my hip cooperates, and off I go in my nerd shoes!

First Impressions

As luck would have it my newest project for one of my internship/volunteer jobs is to become familiar with WordPress. They just recently made the switch over to using WordPress to host the blogs of their affiliates- the communities with whom they partner. This gave me the impetus to finally try out WordPress, and about two hours ago I dipped my toe in.

I started off at WordPress.org and read through all the little tutorials and overviews that they recommend you check out prior to starting a blog. A lot of it was a bit repetitive as it was basic information, but I wanted to make sure I was building a good base. From there I popped over to WordPress.com and started a trial blog. I chose a theme, put up a quick about me, and did my first post, including uploading a picture and making tags.

I know I have just now barely started with WordPress, but I thought I'd give my thoughts on the process as I went along in case anyone else has ever wondered if WordPress is, as the kiddos say, where it's at. I admit even I felt behind the times for having a Blogger account, when all I ever heard was how fabulous WordPress is. So, here are my first impressions...

WordPress kind of sucks. For one, every.single.time. I click on a new area I want to jump to, it takes fully 15-20 seconds to load. I know that doesn't sound like much, but Blogger responds instantly. It reminded me of when internet did not jump quickly to obey my every whim. In addition, I find their platform to be really clunky and kind of awkward. It just doesn't feel very intuitive to me. Of course, it also doesn't help that anytime I tried to navigate within my post editor I had the aforementioned problem of sitting and waiting and waiting and waiting for the page to load. I've noticed this happens when I try to visit any site affiliated with WordPress, including the blogs of my friends who use that platform. I would sum it up as saying that WordPress looks like it was designed by people who know how to code, who are very familiar with the nuts and bolts of website design, and who were coding and programming their own websites back before most people even had internet in their homes. Blogger, on the other hand, feels a lot less cluttered, and a lot more user friendly. And this isn't just because I have been using it for 3 years- I remember hopping on Blogger no problem, it all made sense to me in a logical, orderly way. Yet even with reading the overview on WordPress, I found myself clicking on certain tabs and getting lost in a random rabbit hole.

Again, I realize that I just set up an account, and I've done all of one post. I just wanted to chronicle this experience at each step of the way. And right now, in the stage of "I just started a blog, wheeeee!" I can say that I think Blogger wins this round. Now, next week I might be raving about WordPress, I'm not ruling that out. I'd also like to note that a lot of the "WordPress is soooooo much better than Blogger!" articles and blog posts I've read online are clearly written by people who have not been on Blogger in a few years. A lot of their complaints about Blogger aren't problems anymore, and with the recent updated editor I like Blogger a lot more. Honestly, the only thing I would change about Blogger is the way commenting works. I would love to have threaded comments, where people can reply directly to one another and get an e-mail notification of such replies.

I'm committing myself to learning WordPress inside and out because doing a good job for this organization is of utmost importance to me, so I'm certainly sticking with it. I'll keep the updates to a minimum from here on out, but hopefully they might be helpful to someone out there. I'd also like to take this time to apologize to Blogger, publicly.

Dear Blogger-

I didn't know how great you were until I stepped over to check out what I thought would be greener grass. Thanks for putting up with me all these years. You're the best.

XO,
Cortney

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ETA: After another hour or so on WordPress, I'm liking it better. Also, I found a way to fix my Blogger comment problem- DISQUS. You can patch it onto your blog and it has threaded comments, plus anyone with an e-mail address can comment on your blog. Purrrr-fect.

Galapagos Day 2: Puerto Egas, Santiago Island and Pinnacle Rock, Bartolome Island

Day 2 was our first full day on board, and most days followed the same general schedule, with various revolving activities. We received a wake-up announcement over the loudspeaker, then ate breakfast, and then we were heading to our first excursion of the day by 8 a.m. Most days we would do at least one, usually two hikes, in addition to one of the following- kayaking, snorkeling, or a panga ride for inaccessible areas. The activities ranged from one hour to three hours, and I swear the Eclipse staff had the spacing down to a science. We would do our first excursion around 8 a.m., and if it was a three hour trip we'd come back and have a bit of a rest before lunch, if it was shorter we'd do two excursions before lunch. After lunch we always had about two hours of leisure time- we usually spent this taking showers and naps, or lounging on the deck- and then in the afternoon there would be one or two excursions. We'd be back at the boat around 4, and they would have an afternoon snack waiting for us in reception (the fried plaintains and hot chocolate were my favorite!). Then, we'd usually shower again, maybe take another nap- we were very active, and got up at 6:45 each morning- before heading to the conference room for a de-briefing at 7:30 p.m. We'd go over the next day's activities- each time slot had two options, which meant that sometimes there would only be 6 people in your hiking group, which was awesome- one of the two guides would give a short informative talk, we'd all (minus me) have a drink, and then we'd have dinner at 8. After that we'd roam around the deck visiting, but most nights we were sound asleep by 10:30. I loved the perfect balance of super active, intense physical activity, and delicious, lazy, leisure time and fabulous food.

The morning of day 2 we headed to Puerto Egas, on Santiago Island, for a long hike.

It was actually kind of drizzling when we first landed, but I found that the weather really amplified the "mood" of Santiago. Every island was so completely different. The first day was stereotypical white sand/blue water, but Santiago had fine black sand and was covered in smooth swirly lava formations. This guy was a welcome party of one when we landed.

This picture perfectly captures Santiago island to me. I really liked the look of it.

There were lots of sea lions hanging around (my favorite part of the trip was all the sea lions in such close proximity).

Babies left behind while their mothers are fishing. They were so cute. No matter how many I saw, it never got old. Our guide for the day was Gilda, and she has been a Naturalist Guide for 15 years, yet even she would coo at them when she saw them. The cuteness never wears off.

All of the islands had vastly different plant life as well- Santiago had lots of these scruffy red plants, which looked really beautiful against the swirly black lava.

There was also a ton of very bright green vines. I thought this island looked like The Land Before Time.

Marine iguanas- they are much more colorful than normal here because it was the tail end of mating season.

Oh to be a sea lion.

The patterns in the lava swirls were so interesting to me.

Hot tub, bachelor style. Their smug expressions are perfect.

See what I mean about the Land Before Time?

This little sea lion pup nestled here at high tide, and then when the tide went out it was stranded. No better way to kill time than to nap, right?

Another shot of the natural bridge- this is where we saw our first sea turtle.

There are lots of cacti on the islands- it was surprising to me to see water and sand, and then a clump of cacti.

What a sleazeball! Check out that epic lecherous wink.

Indifference between the animals abounds. Sea lions and marine iguanas basically act like they are unaware of the existence of one another. Same with the crabs.

After our hike, it was time to snorkel. I'd never snorkeled before, or worn a wet suit, and it was awkward.

Gilda told me to leave my socks on so my flippers didn't fall off. I was wearing kids' size flippers but they were still too wide. So I'm not being a goober newbie, I was just following orders.

Awww, who's handsome in his wet suit??

I tried out a dive, and it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. The only downside is that the mask didn't allow me to pinch my nose and blow out the pressure in my ears, so I ended up with an earache afterward. Thank goodness for the free on ship doctor. He fixed me right up.

Eagle ray- there was another ray, but we didn't get a picture of it.

First sea turtle spotting during snorkeling.

These fish were all around me, but it was hard to capture them all on film. This guy will have to be a representative for his comrades.

A little reef shark. A bit blurry since he was so far below me- about 20 feet.

Our first sea lion play time. This guy played with us for a while so we weren't taking pictures during, but we got a shot of him as he sped off. I loved snorkeling, and I was so grateful to finally get the chance to try it out.

After the hike and snorkeling on Santiago island, we headed back to the ship for lunch. The afternoon's excursion was a hike to Pinnacle Rock on Bartolome Island. This was the most "dock like" of all our dry landings, and as usual there was a sea lion on the steps. We would come to find out that for some reason they really love steps.

And speaking of steps, in addition to the long stretches of walkway (installed to protect the vegetation) there were also 272 steps to the top. Don't worry, I didn't count, they told us that so that we could gauge our fitness level before committing to it.

Bartolome is covered in choppy lava rocks, in all shades of red, purple, cream, and yellow. It also has a lot of lava cacti, the tube shaped plant in the foreground.

Our path goes on...

This picture looks kind of ugly. But in person all the colors were a lot more vibrant.

Even the huge lava rocks were really light- it was strange to pick up a big, gnarly lava rock and have it feel no heavier than Bobby's camera.

Almost to the top!

Made it. The view from the top of the hill overlooking Pinnacle Rock was amazing.

This is a zoomed in picture of that dividing line between the two little bodies of water on either side- it was so green on blue, which was a huge contrast to the lava rock covered island.

Bobby and his dad.

All of us, minus Chad. I think he was taking the picture.

We hiked down and headed back to the ship to clean up before dinner. Afterward we were advised by the waitstaff to head out to the deck to see the sharks- sharks, we asked? We walked out and were shocked to see tens of Galapagos sharks following the ship, feeding off fish. Apparently, the small fish are attracted to the underwater lights off the back of the ship, and then those fish attract the sharks since it's easy pickins' for food. We stood out there for half an hour watching them. I tried to get pictures, and a video, but the light wasn't bright enough for either, so I just gave up and enjoyed watching them. With two separate hikes and the snorkeling, plus a bit of seasickness remedied by sleep inducing Dramamine, bedtime followed soon after.