Hiya Sweetheart,
Woke up after about seven hours of sleep, though that was about 3:30 a.m. considering how early I went to bed, but I was refreshed and ready to get busy. I read for a bit, then got on my computer and finished my last video, and once it hit 7:30, I started calling the Cummins dealer to get word on my trailer. They said they would have the appropriate person call me right back, but that didn't happen. I went down to breakfast, very happy about my decision to stay here at the LaQuinta in Cleveland, which was very clean and comfortable, and the breakfast was quite good. Did more work after breakfast, still hadn't heard from Cummins, called a couple more times until it was time to check out, and finally reached someone who said my rig would be ready to go today. Armed with that information, I checked out and headed to their location, figuring I could unload my stuff and do some cleaning while I waited until they were ready. Turns out when I got there, they said it WAS ready to go, so I hooked up, then pulled it up to the office and went in to pay the bill, where I discovered that they had grounded out and destroyed my batteries in the process of doing something, and had replaced them with NAPA batteries. I'm sorry, but NAPA batteries are nowhere near the equivalent of my Trojans, so I was compelled to raise a stink about that, until finally they located a pair of Trojans nearby. After a couple of hours of arrangements, they managed to get them delivered and installed, so now, at least, I have brand new Trojan batteries, a small consolation to the fact that the replacement generator is smaller and only provides me with 30 watts of power rather than 50 watts, and is louder and noisier than my previous generator. Seriously, guys, if you're doing new and improved, you really should IMPROVE a model, rather than make it inferior. I feel like I've taken two steps forward and one step back. Anyway, by the time they were finished, it was too late to get to Linda's and pack up and move, which was my original plan (I'm sorry, it's just too painful to be here), so I arrived at Linda's around 5:00 and settled down. I didn't bother with electric, since her circuits only have 15 amps, which were constantly breaking before, and I didn't have any inclination to fixing them like I did before, so I just ran my generator to charge up the new batteries and prepare for the evening. I got my stuff out of her refrigerator and freezer, made myself some eggs for dinner, and watched some TV until I passed out from bourbon overload, which I'm sorry to say was my mostly liquid dinner tonight, besides the eggs. That's another reason I have to get out of here. I did walk out and give the horses an apple, they had actually come right over when they saw the trailer pull in, I think they're quite ready to get on the road again, as am I. Woke up from napping about 10:00, so I'm just finishing off this post before I shower and go to bed. It will be good to be back in my own bed, but I have to say, all of the hotels I've stayed in during the last two weeks have been pretty comfortable. Again, very happy with the LaQuinta in Cleveland, TN, they did an excellent job. Meanwhile, good night, baby, love you!

Hey Darlin',
Was up bright and early, had breakfast, and was heading out at 9:00, with a stop at another ruins, then to the Cusco airport. Dropped off at noon, flight went off on-time, arrived in Lima with a six hour wait for my next connection. During that time, I worked to find a tracker, someone who could bring in a dog and drone and learn where Lola went. After being on the phone nearly an hour, I found someone, she was very expensive, and had to drive down from the Tri-cities, but she could be there in the morning. No sooner were those arrangements made than I got a call from Linda with the worst news ever. Her neighbor found Lola dead by the road, obviously hit by a car. I don't know what to say. I had instructed her in the need for Lola's confinement, but she didn't do anything I asked, and this was the result. I am heart-broken and devastated. This trip had gone so well. It was the first trip where I wasn't sick, in extreme pain or been injured by falling off a horse. It was a wonderful trip, and should have had a wonderful reunion, but now Lola's gone and I can't stop crying. What a miserable way to finish. At least I know what happened to her, it beats not knowing, but she had years left in her life, and now she's gone. The rest of my trip was on schedule. I barely slept on the Lima-Miami leg, had no problems with customs or immigration control, didn't have too much of a layover, and was surprised that the Miami-Charlotte flight was on a 777, and first class had the individual pods with the lie flat bed, which I wish I had had on the Lima flight. Was kind of sorry it was such a short flight, but I did stretch out and got a good hour or so of sleep, which helped a lot. About the only hour in the past 31+ hours I've been going since yesterday morning. Arrived on schedule, with Linda picking me up at the aiport. I couldn't talk to her, I was so angry and grief-stricken. It was so unnecessary, so avoidable, if she had only followed my instructions Lola would be greeting me excitedly. Instead, I found her wrapped in a garbage bag on a skid. I couldn't stop crying. Richard eventually came by and asked to bury her, so I had to go. I decided I just couldn't stay there, compounded with the fact the electric on her motor home where I was supposed to stay quit, and I was in no mood to deal with that, so I moved to a hotel for the night, and glad I did. Was pleased to see a bathtub (so few hotels have one these days!), so I took a long hot bath, and was in bed shortly thereafter, though I did some computer work, reading and grieving before I finally slept. I'm so heartbroken, so sorry that our lovin' Lola is no longer here, she was always a constant reminder of you and how much you loved her, too. I hope, if there is an afterlife, that you and her are together again some way or another, that your spirits are together, and that we'll all be together again, our energies eternally mixed forever. Love you, love her, good night.

Sunday, September 26, 2026 - Day Twelve-Final Full Day
Hiya Sweetie,
Still no word on Lola, I'm heartbroken, but still hopeful. But there's nothing I can do but try to enjoy what's rest of my vacation and deal with it when I get back. Obviously, Linda's still looking, hopefully something will shake loose. Meanwhile, after breakfast today, we headed out for a day of being tourists, first to a magnificent hummingbird sanctuary, then to one of the many amazing archaeological sites here in Peru. This was in Ollantaytambo, a massive complex built on a mountain, as always, and had stairs that just seems to go on forever. I managed to make it all the way to the top, to 9800 ft., which was over a 600 ft. climb from the base. Magnificent views from up there, naturally. Then we went to lunch on the square, which was nice until a polical parade came through in a very noise fashion. They have an election coming up, and we've seen signs everywhere, and these parades are par for the course, though it seems most of the participants are simply paid to march with a flag. After this late lunch, we took a walk to up some narrow alleys until we came to a little guinea pig place. They apparently raise them here for consumption, as it seems guinea pig used to be a stable, but now is a delicacy. I haven't tried it, now do I really want to, but Jane said she had it somewhere, and it wasn't too bad. By the time we were finished with that, it was too late to see another archaelogical site that was on the schedule, so we came back to the hotel for a couple of hours before going to Marchella's for dinner. A wonderful eggplant parmesan, and again, enough food for a small army. Jane recited a couple of poems, and I did Snowy River, as I had promised Claudio I would do something. Back to the hotel, where I packed most of my stuff, showered, and off the bed. Long day of travel tomorrow! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Sorry to say the day didn't start out to well, at least for me. I got a call from Linda, who told me Lola went on walkabout last night and never came back, so naturally I spent the day worrying about her. The ride itself was memorable, inasmuch as I thought yesterday was about descending, but in truth, today was the amazing descent. We switch-backed down a mountain from about 12,000 ft. to our final destination at about 9600 ft., in just over 13 miles. Quite the descent! We had lunch at the bottom of the steepest descent, and it was extremely windy. I'm glad I've been wearing my neck gaiter, it really came in handy to keep the dust out of my mouth and nose. We've been so grateful that we haven't had any rain, and the few days that we came close, it missed us, but the wind was really nasty today, but I can live with that. We reached out destination, said good-bye to our good horses and were driven back to the hotel for an evening on our own. Alicia was determined to go back to one of the restaurants we went to, so Francesca went with her to keep her company, but the rest of us opted to stay at the hotel, though I ate on my own because I just felt that I wouldn't be very good company, worrying about Lola. Still no word, even after searching all day. Someone has her, I'm sure of it, I just have to figure out who! I hate that I'm not there to look for her, but there's nothing I can do at this point but send out good thoughts, keep posting on Lost and Found sites, and hope someone will do the right thing and turn her in. Came back to the room after a Caesar salad, will read and call it a night very soon. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin'!
Was exceptionally glad I spent the night in my room, managed to get a lot done, and the rest did me a world of good. Woke up early again, finished off some more work on my computer, went down to breakfast, and was picked up by Francesca at 9:30. We drove to where the horses were waiting for us, and headed out on the trail. We once again began by skirting the lake, retracing our steps from the second day of riding, as we begin to head home over the next two days. We spent most of the day descending, got a little gaiting in, saw lots of livestock along the way, passed through a couple of small towns, got a little song, dance and horn-blowing from one of the locals in the street, and generally had another excellent ride. Our lunch stop was by an old abandoned church, which we explored for a bit. I can't believe our last day of riding will be tomorrow! It's been a fabulous time, great food and companionship with everyone, and of course, wonderful horses (though still not as smooth as my Flash!). So many memories have been made! We had dinner down at the little restaurant in the hotel, where I only ate a little, but it was still too much after a big lunch, but I'm ready for my shower and bed. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Babe!
Wow, what an incredible day! Up bright and early at 5:30, up to the 7th floor for a light breakfast, then down to the lobby all packed and ready to go to meet our guide at 6:30. Didn't sleep all that great, short hours, but was so excited it didn't matter, we were all raring to go! Our guide Elizabeth arrived, and walked us down to the bus stop, which already had a long line waiting, but one it got started it moved along pretty quickly, with bus after bus filling up, turning around and leaving. Like most roads here, it was barely wide enough for two vehicles to pass, with plenty of places where that wasn't even possible, so there were numerous times one of the busses had to back up to make room for the other to make the corner. We arrived safely, (it's obviously not their first rodeo!), then stood in another line waiting to get in. Everything is highly efficient, using electronics to check everyone in and out. We finally made it through the line, and headed down the walkway that was the entrance, until it opened up into the ruins. It was breathtaking! Elizabeth spent nearly a full three hours taking us around Circuit 3, which in my humble opinion, was excellent for my type of tour. We were able to get down to the main grounds, and the royal house, and was a much more close encounter than the other two. Apparently Circuit one is only about 90 minutes, and it takes you to the highest spot, so you get the widest photo shot, but you never really get down into the heart of the ruins. Circuit 2 was supposed to be good, too, but still didn't get as deep into the heart of the buildings as we did. Loved it! After three hours, and a lot of education, we headed back out to the busses, once again went down the switchback road into town, where we split up. Jane and I decided first to have a frothy iced latte, wandered through the markets for awhile, then found a restaurant on the way back to the train station where we decided to have a good meal to tide us over, since I prefer to eat much earlier than we've been eating, and not sleeping too well because I've eaten too much, too late. This worked out fine! We had a great meal, enjoyed some musical entertainment, then walked to the train station, met up with the other ladies (who splurged on a foot massage!), boarded the train and had a lovely trip in the observation car, with the tracks following the river all the way back. Our cabin attendants presented a little fashion show of alpaca wear, and we were given snacks as well. We saw a long string of wildfires on the mountain just before we were arriving, but there's not that much growth to burn and the wind was blowing strong uphill, acting almost as a back burn. Claudio met us at the station, we walked to his truck, and drove the 45 minutes back to the hotel, where we all pretty much crashed for the evening. At least I certainly did! A nice long hot shower and into bed for me! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!