The Year in Review

2008 has been a good year, with lots of new experiences and good times. We finished our trip around the world, moved back to Alaska, and floated the Grand Canyon with my whole family. As the new year comes up right around the corner, I am having a difficult time figuring out what to do in 2009. I suppose it will all unfold as the time moves by!

Here is 2008 in Review. I wish everyone a New Year full of wonderful and surprising experiences!


January, 2008 I spent traveling through Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia by myself, without a guide book. It was a great way to travel and I ended up in some pretty off-the-wall places as well as some well known ones reccommended by other travelers. This photo was taken during sunset at Angkor Wat, which was one of the amazing places I was able to see.







February, 2008 I met up with my grandfather and uncle at my mothers home in New Zealand on the South Island. My grandfather and I spent some time touring the North Island first, where I learned to drive on the right side of the road and managed to completely terrify my grandfather:
"Yarrow, you're too far over. You are going to go in the ditch."
"Yarrow, you almost hit that car"
"Yarrow, you are on the WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD!"Or was that the right side of the road?

March 2008 I met up with Tim in Argentina and we traveled to Igazu Falls, and then through Paraguay and Uruguay. I turned 34 queitly as we where taking an all day bus journey across Paraguay.







April 2008 was spent in Peru, seeing Macchu Picchu (of course) and then heading down south to see my favorite thing . . . petroglyphs, at Toro Muerto. On the way we visited Amanti Island, where life was still going on much as it has for 1000's of years.










May 2008, was spent trekking around Huaraz, Peru, before moving up into Ecuador where we stayed under a smoking volcano ("no big deal" the kids told me) and took steaming hot mud treatments inside a giant box.

June, 2008 we were back in the United States for the first time in over a year. We flew in to Pheonix, bought a car, and drove to Alaska. I can remember being shocked by how convenient everything was in the US, and also by how many God-awful big box stores there were. Do we ever have some ugly architecture!



July, 2008 we arrived back in Alaska mid-June-just in time to enjoy the coldest, dreariest summer on record. That's OK-I still loved it!









August, 2008 was still cold!














September, 2008 was a month for gathering wood for winter, watching the moose rut, picking berries, and watching the fall colors.








October 2008 came in with angel dust in the mountains and went out with a wind storm featuring winds of 100 miles per hour. Lots of trees, roofs, power lines, and anything else laying around was taken out.



November 2008 the entire family went down to Arizona to do a 25 day raft trip of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. The weather was spectacular-warm and clear-and we spent most nights sleeping out under the stars watching meteors streaking the sky.




December, 2008 is back in Alaska for the holidays. We have lots of snow this year and-go figure-it's cold! Minus 15 degrees today but with all the wood we chopped throughout the summer it's nice and warm in the house.