Steel Sterling redux

 Steel Sterling was a super-hero appearing in comics published by what's now known as Archie Comics. I don't know what inspired me to draw this... perhaps it was my recent foray into the Archie hero line-up in the Mighty Crusaders. Further, I don't know why I drew this redux of Steel as a black man. When I rediscovered this sketch, I assumed it's because someone else at the time did the redux... but I can't find any evidence on line. But then, I am a bad Googler.

(un) Designed

If I believe the evidence of my sketchbook, I assume Greg and I were continuing our brainstorm. Here are drawings of the three fellows involved in a love square with the gal from a few posts ago. I think we both liked the concept, but it just never stuck.

 

Winding down the trip

The first sketch is a bit non-sequential, all the misc stuff I wanted to capture on  paper but hadn't yet. Our last afternoon was the most "urban" on the islands, touring the science center and then the small city of Puerto Ayora. One of our tour guides also owned a little coffee house OMG! Coffee. I brought a bag of Kona coffee home, yum. 

Then, back to Quito. By then, I had a lot of travel voices in my head (and a headache jumping back to elevation 9K from 0.  
 

The worst

I passed on the snorkeling, since my only experience prior hadn't gone well. I figured, I shouldn't be incapacitated on a business trip. I overheard, with horror, a private pilot trying to hit on this woman in my group. It was revolting. So entitled.

Things I saw

 I enjoyed reading Darwin's description of the Galapagos in Voyage of the Beagle, but probably like most tourists, the reality that you are a tourist and not an explorer or scientist is terribly evident and in stark contrast. That said, it was an amazing trip, and shocking to consult a map of the islands toward the end of our stay... for all we saw, we saw so little!

Quito

I fell in love with Quito. I'm no foodie... I cook blandly, though I am an adventurous eater when I travel (cow brain, guinea pig, grasshoppers, check)... but the food in Quito was so good. Fun fact, Ecuador uses the US dollar as its currency, making it a pretty easy destination for US travelers.   

I was in Quito four days... two prior to the Galapagos, and two post. The first day back was a little rough, jumping back and forth from sea level to 9,350' above.

 

Elevation 11,152'

Just a month prior, I was in Colorado Springs, elevation 6,035' and a few days earlier, I was at Machu Picchu, elevation 7,972'. Then I arrived at Cuzco, former capital of the Incan Empire, hiiiiigh in the Peruvian Andes.

I had a lovely day here, touring some colonial churches and sites. I followed some crowds, and hiked up the hillside away from them, passing through a hipster neighborhood with some offbeat galleries.

We met a charming family, and with them, I ate the local delicacy, guinea pig. Though I had a guinea pig as a pet as a kid, and was generally sadenned by the idea, "when in Rome..." It was enjoyable, though I wouldn't bolt back down to Peru just to eat it again.