We are a day behind on posting. It's 5:30am, Dec. 13th as I write this. We drove about 2hrs into the Mts., for those who have been to San Diego it was like going past Escondido. My brother and I used to play golf in an area called Silver Valley outside San Diego, the hills look almost exact, when you add the rock formations of the Stone Forest. The weather was spectacular, about 68, piercing blue sky at about 7500ft above sea level. (Kunming is about 6200ft, i went running yesterday morning, i couldn't figure why i was sucking wind after the first 5min, i figured it out!). 
Many pictures, tried to select some of the best. One of the members of our traveling show (yes, given the way they love to watch us and talk about us), is a professional photographer and has been giving all sorts of great tips, that's what led to the really great portrait shots of Audrey the other day when she was laughing at the sound of her given Chinese name Qiu Hong (pronounce Chew-hong [soft C and soft G).
We had a wonderful traditional lunch afterwards and then got back to the city around 3pm (btw, both Kath and I have had Rice Noodle soup for breakfast w traditional ingredients--not cold pizza and not pancakes).
I did a walk around the shopping areas, Kunming has 3 of everything, on one street i passed 3 nike stores, then an Addidas, then a Converse, then Puma, then another Addidas, then two of their own Nike/Puma brands--all on the same block. One thing you notice when you are 6.2 and have blue eyes in Asia--you are a freak of nature and people like to stare. I finally saw two German Nat'ls later that evening after dinner, but this goes beyond being a minority. We are officially novelties, as you will see from the pictures below taken of our 9yr old Emma Montana!
Enjoy the pics.
