In San Luis Obispo

Hey all,

We made it through the move out, we spent an excellent weekend in Tahoe complete with sled-runs, snowball fights and hot tubs and after bidding farewell to the Bay Area we landed ourselves in San Luis Obispo for a week of relaxation, hiking and last minute preparations. After all of the rain California has been getting this winter it has been awesome to see countless shades of green radiating from the hills. San Luis is situated in a valley between costal ranges which right now makes it look like a sea of green, dotted by the volcanic peaks that draw a line to the ocean.

We have been trying to take advantage of the outdoors by hiking in the many hills around the city. Here is a picture of us on top of Madonna Mountain (Cerro San Luis for the purists) where we successfully hauled up our loaded packs as a training exercise. On the way up we saw wildflowers, several hawks and a great panorama of the town. On the way down I tried to eat a cactus fruit and when Emily's warned me that it had tiny needles which would get stuck in my skin I told her, "no, its more like a little fuzz than needles," and then I rubbed the 'fuzz' to prove my point. Well, I ended up with loads of needles in my hand and an especially stubborn one that refused to come out of my tongue. I hope this isn't a recurring theme of our trip.

The week has gone by pretty fast as we have had the chance to spend time with friends and family. Some highlights were: Blake's birthday gathering, a hike to the watchtower, dinner and a night-time walk on the beach with Ryan and Dirk, the Academy Awards with Patty, walks and hugs from Maggie, lots of shopping and sandwiches.

It is now Sunday night and we have one more full day here in San Luis before we catch the train at 6:45 am on Tuesday morning for LA. There we will visit our friends, Eitan and Melody as well as our Moyer family members and then on Thursday morning Uncle Pete will take us to LAX for our flight to Quito, Ecuador. Wow.