Images of Mountain Summer to Dispell Winter Blues

   While  winter still rages here in many areas of the U.S.,
I pause to remember and savor images from our trip to
Ecuador and Peru in January/February.  We spent 2 ½
weeks with our daughter and her family who live in
Cuenca, Ecuador, a colonial city high in the Andes
where cool evenings and warm days exist all year long.
Then all traveled  together to Peru to spend 10 days in the
Sacred Valley and Cusco, wandering Incan ruins. As I
reflect back and sort through hundred of images, themes
are beginning to emerge, but for now, I offer these images
of mountain summer to warm, inspire and intrigue...

From Cuenca - a river bank path:

 Flowers in the family's yard:

 Hornet's nest in the field near the  house.  Our grandkids were fascinated.

 Landscape on the way to one of the rural schools where our
 daughter runs a mobile library and literacy program (stay tuned
 for a blog post on "From Words to Wings" )

Then off to the Peruvian Andes -where the rocks we climbed
over  in Pisac were alive with plants and flowers:

Here are some images of the luscious green and flower strewn
 Incan ruins in Pisac

And a few images of green, mist and mystery at Machu Picchu:
(Although by the time we reached Machu Picchu we'd already
explored some amazing locations,  its grandeur did not disappoint.)

And finally, some images of the road out of the Sacred Valley on
the way to Cusco:

Hope these images have helped warm you a bit in many ways.
Of course, spring will eventually arrive  - even in the Northeast
U.S. Somehow it always does.
Reflections, more images and stories stirred up by the trip in
future posts.

Adventure on.  Wendy