Take Me Away!

I have been wanting to disappear, to escape all worldly responsibilities, to just get away. Away from tv, phone, computers, school, work, doctors, insurance companies, everything. Where would I go to really be "away"? I haven't been able to figure out this feeling until I was looking through the pictures that were taken in Peru, specifically Machu Picchu. That's where I want to go.

I realized that I never did blog about Machu Picchu because I just don't know the words to describe such a wonderful experience. It was more beautiful than I imaged nature could be. It was peaceful, like being on sacred ground. It was not overcrowded. There were no electronic distractions. I was with family. And I felt I was with God. Yet, we were hiking. How could I feel such a sacred feeling on a mountain in my grubbies? I've decided, how could I sit above the clouds in such a marvelous natural setting and not feel close to God? I have only felt a similar peace in the temple.

Here are some of my favorite shots. (You can look at all of the pictures here: Machu Picchu)

As Kellie stated in her post - it looks like a National Geographic picture and there we are in it! We covered nearly every area that you see here. Stairs, stairs and more stairs. I have never had such a great time doing stairs!

This was our first view, at sunrise, of Machu Picchu. As we took the bus up the mountain we couldn't see the city at all. We parked at a building, headed on a path and as we took the corner this was our morning greeting. I just stood there for a moment in complete awe at what could be built at the very top of these mountains, how much work it must have been, how hidden and protected it was. It was truly "away" and I wish I could take my whole family there.

After my time here I decided that the Rocky Mountains have nothing over the Andes Mountains. The Rockies have that name because they are, well, rocky. The Andes are green and lush all the way to the top, clear above the clouds. Gorgeous!

I wish I could share this experience with all of my kids. It is fun to sit with Levi looking through the pictures and sharing the memory.

I would love to sit on one of the terraces to think, rest, pray, feel the breeze and sun, listen to the birds, and just be. Oh, how I wish it didn't take a 16 hour flight, a train ride, a bus ride, and a tour guide to get there.

Thank you Shawn and Kellie for giving us the opportunity. Thanks Kellie for letting your big sister tag along on your adventures. Thank you, Shawn, for doing all the translating to make the arrangements and for covering so many of the costs. Thank you Brendan, Jeremy and Andie for sharing your laughter and love with a mommy who felt a little lost without her kids. Thanks, Levi, for being willing to leave behind cell service and your girlfriend to hang out with mom for a week. With all of you I share some of my most adventurous memories.