Well, I'm Off. See You in Mid-July

Well, I'm nearly done with the to do lists and ready to hit the road to Peru. I've got two lovely groups to take out into the deep green--and the first will also see the high Andes at Cuzco and Machu Picchu and Ollantaytambo. I hope they're geared up because I am. And I'm not quite ready to slow down yet. The last weeks have been wonderfully hectic. List of twenty things to do every day and nearly every day they get done. Today was a simple couple of short pieces for the local alternative--just 1.600 words total, then find the type of backpack a friend wants in Peru--three stores but I did it, and I have to because that woman guards my entire stock of jungle gear down there--then find a place to board the goat and get the goat there, write the last couple of checks that Italo can mail for July bills, check the medical kit and fill in anything not in there, buy soap, shampoo, toothpaste, razors and so forth for Madeleina and I, get me a pair of sneakers and one more shirt for Madeleina, buy a seven week supply of dog and cat food, clean the house, do all laundry and write to you guys. AND I DID ALL THAT AND IT'S NOT EVEN 5 PM YET. Except clean the house. And pack. And do the other 5 things on the list that I didn't mention. Oh, and somewhere in there, Italo insisted on taking a new picture of me for the facebook page, and I spoke with my sister for an hour, and got some papers notarized for Chepa, and so forth. See what you can do if you get up at 4:30 AM, and drink a LOT of coffee?
So now I'm thinking about you guys. I hope you miss me. I hope you come back and start reading again when I start writing again. I might post a couple of times from Peru, of course, but I'm generally into the trips there full time and this life just isn't part of that life. Neither is Chepa or Italo or Marco or Sara or Taylor Rain or Sierra or Alexa, though I'll think of them often. But I won't call them much. I'll miss them to much and take my eye off what is happening with my crew and my guests, and if I do that for a second, all hell can break loose. Don't ask me why or how. It just can. Because with few exceptions, none of the guests have been to Iquitos, most don't speak Spanish and some have very limited travel experience. They need my crew looking after them--just keeping an eye out that this or that pickpocket isn't cozying up to them to sell them some little jewelry while actually stealing their camera, that sort of thing. So I watch the crew and the crew watches them and it all works. But it leaves me not available for you, so you guys watch out for yourselves, okay?
And wish me luck with the trip, cross your fingers I make some money AND give the guests more than they asked for. And wish me luck traveling with Madeleina. She's a great road tripper but I've never had her alone in Peru--she hasn't been there for about eight years--and now we'll be sharing a hotel room till mid-July, and she's going to get to see me how my team sees me, rather than pretty much just with family and a few friends. So that will change us. I hope that changes us for the better. Because she is one hell of a human.
Alright fellas and gals. I'm signing off before I start bawling. Time to put the next load of wash in and begin to get dinner ready.
A lot of love to you all.
Peter G