Have you tried Ecuadorian chocolate?

In 2019 BC (Before Corona) Tom and I traveled to the beautiful South American country of Ecuador. The Quito airport sits at 10,000 feet above sea level which, coming from Chatsworth's 800 feet, caused some headaches while we became accustomed to the altitude. 

While touring this church in Quito we came across this guy selling coca leaves - see the next picture. 

Coca is a cash crop in p arts of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. For years, it has played an important role in Andean cultures where folks chew it for its mild simulant properties as well as it's ability to suppress hunger, thirst, pain, and fatigue. Of course we bought some to chew for only $3 in hopes of relieving our altitude headaches. Incidentally, the experience is less like chewing gum and more like chewing the leaves you've raked in the back yard. 

Tom loved the coca leaves and is still talking about it! 

Ecuadorian cacao (not to be confused with the aforementioned coca) produces some tasty chocolate. We are big fans of dark chocolate so a fair amount of time was spent purchasing and sampling across the different brands. Their coffee is delicious as well. From the coca and cacao to their coffee, we were busy!

Baños is located several hours south of Quito and is known for its thermal springs. This picture and the next 2 are taken from our lodge room perched high in a canyon with its beautiful waterfall (we hiked to it) that you can see if you click on the picture.

The next picture is taken from the top of the waterfall.

This short sassy Salasaca lady was hand spinning wool into yarn along the highway. Authentic as she was, she quickly made clear her desire to come home with us so that we could find her a husband! She didn't know where we were from but that didn't matter. Salasaca women are known for their colorful tops, woven belts called chumbi, and long wool skirts.

Cuy, or roasted guinea pig, is a famous dish in the highlands. We thought we'd see more in our travels and opted to wait to sample it. Unfortunately, it was the only one we saw. 

We stopped by a couple of tourist attractions marking the equator passing through Ecuador. The first one features a 30m-high trapezoidal monument marking the invisible of zero latitude passing around the center of the earth. The problem was that Charles Marie de La Codamine's 1736 measurements were a little off (ok, so they didn't have GPS back in the day). But we went there anyhow and spent our tourist dollars. Then we walked several meters to the northeast to find the more subdued attraction marking the "spot" calculated with GPS.  Details, details!! 

Weeeee!

  

 

Summertime and the livin' is easy, but spring wasn't!

The weather was terrible this spring. Most crops didn't get planted until June, other fields weren't planted at all. 


I was to retire on 6/30/19 and had a retirement party planned, however, I was asked to stay on 1 more year and accepted. Still had the party, though! Here is the party-prep crew after a hard day's work.

Love this!

Alan was to retire on 6/30/19 and he actually got it done!

Daniel, Mom, and me

Kiddie cocktail party. Don't judge.

Dan's girlfriend, Alison, is a senior aerospace engineering major at the University of Colorado. In summer she travels to places like South America and Africa with student engineers to build community bridges. This summer Alison lead the team and look what they built in Swaziland!

Karen helping Tom load a pallet at the Lynch farm. The soybeans are coming up.

Last month I had a bike accident after losing control on gravel. I walloped my head (the helmet saved me) and ended up with stitches in my hand and elbow.  Tom decided I should go to the ER after my babble sounded more ridiculous than usual. They decided to keep me overnight for observation. It took me over a month to "get back on the horse" as they say. How about that new helmet?

Today was the 5th annual Dan Cavanagh Multiple System Atrophy 5K. It was a beautiful walk, and we proudly came in at the back of the pack!

Love these purple coneflowers!

The Funks came out for a little dip in the pond before the Bach reunion this afternoon.  They love the swing. The kids almost talked me into jumping off the swing, but at the last second I chickened out. 

We got into the LC banana cream pie before the reunion! 

This - n - That

Here are a bunch of pictures over the year. Tom and I were on a hike in southern IL.

In March we escaped to FL for a conference and to visit Karen and Joel in Gainesville where we saw alligators, sand hill cranes, turtles, a water moccasin, and even a manatee that swam under our kayaks!

Harold the Camel meets Next Gen Emmett Guanzini. While on a visit to cousin Linda's, I also happened upon Kevin's 40th birthday party in November!

Charlie and I before his daughter Blake's graduation from Fordham U in May.

Two Fordham alums!

Dad and Charlie went on the Syracuse Honor Flight to Washington, DC in September!

Celebrating Noelle's appointment as ISU's interim grad school director.

Brazil, baby! The clouds parted briefly at the Christ the Redeemer statue.

Brother Tom crashed Blake's graduation party. Here he is with sis-in-law Carolyn and Mom & Dad in the background.

Snappin' selfies w/ Tracy at commencement.

Old Mill Restaurant along the Unadilla River in April. They still love their straight up Manhattans!

Every so often I get to Selkow-sit!

Dad's 70th reunion from Rutgers University.  It would have been Uncle Ken's reunion, too. Here we are: Aunt Harriet, cousin Karen, Ann, me, George, and Franklin who was the only other 1949 classmate.

Mom's 90th birthday party on January 26 in Utica.  Bottom L-R: Teri, George, Carol, Ann, and Kelly. Top L-R: Barb, Tom, John Hesse (party crasher), Carolyn, and Charlie.

Graduations in Colorado and New Hampshire, plus some special birthdays!

Dan is getting ready for his engineering department's ceremony. Alison is starting her junior year in engineering. This summer she'll work in Bolivia and Paraguay in the "Engineers without Borders" program. Dan will work one more summer on the Continental Divide at 10,000 feet with the City of Boulder Watershed as a crew leader before starting the job search.

Dr. Joel Correia, with his bride Karen, getting ready for his geography department's ceremony!

Divide and conquer! Mom, Dad, Abby, and Alison joined us at Dan's ceremony. Joel's parents, Matt, and Karen attended Joel's ceremony.

Sibs

Dan with Grandma and Grandpa Elwood. Grandpa recently celebrated his 91st birthday!  His bride is still only 39, of course.

Dan's birthday dinner with Matt, Abs, Nathan, Dan, Alison, Grandpa, Grandma, Craig, Monica, Karen, Joel, Pat, and Doug.

Anthony, Nathan, and Dan's graduation party.

Playing some music at the party! Alison's pretty darn good!

Joel and company en route to their ceremony.

Our niece, Kelly, graduated from the U of New Hampshire in hospitality management! Here she is with her proud parents. My brother Tom graduated from the same program and university shortly after the dinosaurs went extinct.

Grandma and Grandpa Elwood drove to NH from NY to see Kelly's departmental ceremony.

Happy 92nd Birthday to Aunt Harriet, my mom's sister. She is with great grandson Dominic.

Also Happy 91st Birthday to Uncle Mike, mom's brother, pictured here with his great grandson Damien!

Marta stopped by for a visit the other day! We right away went out and did all of our favorite things - hiked, played guitars, etc. Tom grilled us up some delicious salmon and we still had some fresh wild asparagus, too!