La playa

The only way we are going to have a boring weekend here in Caracas will be to lock our door, close the curtains, and sequester ourselves inside. There is always something going on! This past weekend the PE teacher of perpetual motion Linda organized a day to the beach near Higuerote (she is the same one who organizes the Avila hikes and has never been seen moving slow- amazing energy). We hemmed and hawed about going and looked to have missed the boat so to speak until a car was offered to borrow for the 80k drive. This might have been daunting if I had not cut my teeth on the F1 streets of Doha.

We loaded up- a caravan of roughly 12 teacher cars, got petrol (less than a dollar to fill a tank- seriously!), and took off. Our leader Linda has a small yellow car and within moments I saw a small yellow car flying up the right side of the road! Knowing Linda has high energy I assumed she must also drive with mucho gusto so I fell in line behind her not wanting to get left behind. It was at that moment that I realized there are more than one yellow cars in Caracas (which is actually a popular saying here) and had to pull off a (in my mind) incredible swerve into oncoming traffic- going the wrong way- Hollywood style rally to get back to the flock. (Don’t worry mom it was Sunday morning and the roads were pretty chill)

After that the rest of the drive was quite relaxing and then we had our first glimpse of the Carribean- nice little sea if you ask me. To get to the beach we were going to, you climbed on a boat, paid a few dollars, and started motoring. Lisa and I felt quite smug having bought 2 beach chairs and an umbrella the day before- especially when we arrived at the beach to find a vast sea of  beach chairs and umbrellas for our use. Other highlights: watching the kids play in the waves, a huge flock of bright red ibises flying over, fresh fish grilled for lunch, 50 cent beers, and sitting in the sun. What a great day- I think we may have return- plus if we go again it will be someone else’s turn to drive.

Some of the barios on the way out- they build on every nook of every hill- quite amazing.

You can take the lifeguard out of Colorado but you can't 

The view- see we did use our chairs!

This was a pretty busy day for this beach- we were told that there are others that get packed with partiers. Venezuelans love the playa it seems.

Our neighbor Mike seemed to have a hard time relaxing that day- too high strung I guess.

AAAAGGGHHHH photobomb! I swear right behind these bellies is a darling picture of Luca, Lisa, and Wilder playing in the surf. Darn telephoto

pretty sweet first week

When we told people we were moving to Venezuela they had 2 responses: "There is a lot of murder there-are you sure you want to go?" or "They have lots of Ms. Universe winners and plastic surgery there- are you sure you want to go?" We learned from Qatar that you can't let pre-conceived ideas dictate what you do and how you live- but still... murders and fake boobs- we were a wee bit nervous.
Our first week has of course been totally different than anything we could imagine- I haven't seen a single killing and... no comment on plastic (family blog and all)
Caracas is amazing! The people at the school have made sure we are getting settled in and finding what we need (including TP) The green! The birds! It is so alive here- and warm. We have a great apartment with great neighbors and a football pitch across the street. We have gone on runs (lisa) and jogs (innes) thru the neighborhood as well as wandered thru the local neighborhood Las Mercedes. It seems just like any other big city- there are places you don't go to and times you don't go out. The school is awesome, the kids are happy- it's just what you would want from a first week. 
and if I sound too chipper don't worry- it will all come back to earth next week... when the toilet paper runs out.
Til then here are a few shots of the hood.

Front area of the school- a 7 minute walk from home.

There is some good graffiti here- will make a later post for sure.

This is the Avila mountain- you can see it from most everywhere- a good landmark to use.

They told us not to get into taxis that weren't legit- they may drive you off somewhere and rob you. How do you know a non-legit taxi I wondered- then I saw this one with the bungee cord attached sign. I get more street savvy by the minute.

On our walk to school- not too shabby, and we have a mango tree off our kitchen patio.

This is going to be many a breakfast- so good.

The concierge has a tortoise that roams about the yard- Luca thought that was cool.

We have heard about shortages of items- and it is a real problem here (milk is a bugger to find). Right now its kind of an adventure to see what we can do without- and no doubt it will at some point become a real pain in the... but for now its all industrial sized TP and ketchup.

On Saturday I got to go and play the local golf course- a real treat. It is the most beautiful course I have ever been on, we had caddies (a first), I got a birdie (a first), and we survived the Mango hazard on hole 14. Even more incredible- 18 holes, a caddie, breakfast for the caddie, breakfast for me, club rental all came out to about 30$. Too bad I can't afford a membership I could get into this.

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Mangoes on the course

getting all the good we could out of colorado

Well I have to finish telling you about July in Colorado before we can turn the page and go to Caracas. It was so good to be home, so good to be with family, and so good to see our friends. As always it is very hard to leave. Here are some last events we were able to do.

Lunch in Fulford with Paul and Marie Christine- if you ever come across a funky old house you need fixed up into something cool- I know who to call.

The life changing Johnson Pig roast- after 2 years in Qatar the pig tasted the best yet.

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I got a fair amount of bike rides in- and was sucking air on all of them! 

On the continental divide with Wilder and Angus.

Hit the Leadville thrift shop for a few new shirts- oh and Wilder got some new glasses. 

Made it to the bookworm.

Lake Powell- never disappoints- so nice to be there with Steve and Leslie, Caryn and the boys.

the captains

Denver trip- rockies game- they lost but who cares-we got to see Jim and Teresa.

mmmm rainbow slushie

take me out to the ball game

Jim took us to the cultural center of the world.

and a disguise shop.

then it was time for the last dinner- yes I would like some pepper.

So glad Steve, Ana, Tom, and Vickie could come by.

why does july go twice as fast as june?

We made it home- June was a nice month for saying goodbye to the so many friends we made- but it sure did go slow! I'm blaming the heat and blowing sand. Needless to say we were very excited to get to the blue skies and green trees of Colorado. Here are a few things we have been up to our first 2weeks back.

A walk in the woods- and check out the face on that tree! 

One must always bring a weapon when walking in the forest.

Ahh Marjorie- just being with you makes a day great! So lucky to have you in our lives.

Got a call from Wendy Rimel who put together an evening at the Continental Divide Cabins- got to see Matt, Todd, Justin, Wendy, Ulana, and kids and parents too of course! What a great time- and yes it was that cold- I would have been wearing my down jacket if I could find it.

The only reason you can't see grey hair on Justin is because he has a hat on. 40- it's the new 30.

4th of July and cousins- what a mix. I love the 4th of July- The parade is fun- but the great part is seeing all of our friends as we walk along before and after. In fact I don't think we were ever this popular when we lived here!

C'mon floats- bring us our candy. You have to love the tradition of large vehicles scattering candy about to whip kids into a frenzy- amazingly no one was run over.

Luca and Axel in the creek.

Angus, Wilder, Luca, and the mighty Gore Range.

The Tennessee Pass baseball game. Once a year Taylor City comes alive and just like field of dreams- If Jim builds it we will come. Players and hotdogs emerge from the forest, take me out to the ballgame is sung, and a high quality game of baseball is played. I love it so much.

Luca keeping the eyes on the ball.

Now that is one motley crew of ball players. I can only hope that when they are in college and beyond they return with friends to play like Jim's boys do.

Wilder keeping Ben on first-notice the levelness of the base.

 This was one of those things that sounded like a great idea when Caryn proposed it back in May- "let's run the hillclimb." I didn't suffer too much and it ended up being a fantastic hour and a half of time with just Caryn to talk to- that was when I could talk and not just wheeze responses.

Grimace or smile? you be the judge.

 Camping with Grampa Del. We had a great time up on the grand mesa- missed seeing Carrie and the boys- but got to see Anna and Tali. Its fun seeing the kids with Del- fishing or just listening to stories. And its always good to smell like campfire smoke.

watching the bobber

got it

much tippier than it looks

Oh I do love America- let the baby guard the beer cooler.

something was wrong with the canoe as my side was much lower in the water than Lisa's.

Cast iron skillet, stick of butter, fresh fish... mmm good times.

Learning life skills

that would be chocolate and cherry stains on the mouth.

Wilder hooking a rainbow.

Hike up to slide lake. Just like last year in Italy the kids showed what amazing hikers they can be. We loaded up with food and water and set off- it is one of the best feelings in the world to get to treeline and above- we even found snow.

At the lake- eating lunch

Elmo- what a great dog.

There were Colombines everywhere!

Some people make it rain- I make it snow.

Skiing!

So good to be back in our mountains- I just wish July would slow down- we have more things to do!