Yes, we did a tour

It is now 5 months since we started this adventure. Now that we are taking time to look back, I am so glad that I took the time to write down some thoughts each day.

Planning this visit was making my head spin. We finally booked an 8 day Gate 1 Travel tour making it less stressful and more affordable than on our own. The guides were very informative even though the pace was hectic at times. Plus, we met some interesting people in our group.

We started in Quito's old town.

The Quito Metropolitan Cathedral in the Plaza de Independencia.

Fortunately, we had built in a few days in Quito before the tour to sightsee independently and rest up. We may have missed the tour with all of the flight delays. 

We did get to visit the Artisanal Market and an ethnic restaurant to taste the local foods. While returning to our hotel, we took a wrong turn and were lost and didn't have a sim card for our phones yet. So, we flagged down a taxi and I kept the hotel address on my phone and showed it to him. Over the 4 months, taxi drivers turned into our Super Heros with a few saves and getting us home. Being able to speak Spanish helped.

Mitad del Mundo. Middle of the World

No tourist in their right mind would miss this sight.

The egg did balance on a nail and the little girl was so cute and sweet.

Termas Papallacta spa day!

Papallacta is a small village  located at an altitude of 3,250 m (10662 feet) in the Andes an hour from Quito, leading to the Amazon rainforest. The tourist route from Quito to Papallacta passes through several small towns and villages before ascending to a maximum of more than 4,000 meters where mountains and glaciers are visible.

 Antisana Volcano which is elevated to 5,704 meters above sea level. The ice from the glaciers feed the aquafers for the hot springs.

We booked massages after soaking in one of the many hot springs outside our door. As I entered the room for my massage, I noticed a sign with the on-site doctor's emergency phone number. The therapist was quite robust as she rolled me back and forth on the table. I made sure that I could grab the side of the table in case I rolled off.  She began to breath heavily and I started to wonder who was going to need the doctor.

I am not sure how this video is going to work but thought I would give it a try.

Coca tea was available to help with the altitude. It was quite tasty, but we were advised to not drink it if we needed a drug screen in the next 10 days.

We slept well after a very nice dinner, coca tea and a roaring fire in our room on our return.

We are back...

It has been quite a while since my last post. Once we limited our travels to mostly camp hosting over the past couple of years. Our stories became a bit redundant. I began looking over notes that I made on our travels and we realized how much we had already forgotten. It's fun reliving some of those memories here.

We found ourselves making plans and reservations and turn around and cancel them, not knowing if we would get stranded with all of the travel restrictions and awaiting the vaccine. It seems so long ago as I write this. Thankfully.

We finally had enough waiting and started planning, determined not to be detoured any longer. We weren't getting any younger.

I think our plans became a little overkill, but we had some catching up to do. We had previously made and cancelled reservations to Ecuador twice. This time we were going no matter what. Hopefully.

2 backpacks and 2 carry ons. I can't believe that's enough for 4 months. We did throw away most of those clothes by the end of our trip. The trailer and truck were in storage as we waited for our Uber.

A slow start at the gate in Spokane, Washington with our 544am first flight delayed 1 1/2 hr on tarmac. 2nd flight canceled in Denver but rebooked. On the rebooked flight, they had to find a flight attendant since the one on our plane had timed out, leading to a 3 hr delay. Then idling on the runway 1 1/2 hrs awaiting takeoff, we returned to the gate for a refill of fuel, missing flight to Quito. We were hoping tomorrow would be better. 

We did get an upgrade, a hotel and food vouchers in Houston. We met so many nice people In Houston, including a lady going to Florida after the hurricane with the Red Cross. I handed out a few Kind Bars from my stash to travelers that weren't feeling so well. It is amazing what a little "trail magic" will do. People checked on us when things were going south for us. 

We made to the Holiday Inn with our comp code from United but for some reason the desk clerk said it expired. We said that we would pay for the room so we could get some sleep but he said he couldn't give us a room since we had a comp code reservation already. I called United customer service for another code. She heard him yelling at us and said we should report him to corporate which he overheard and really set him off. Our "angel" shuttle driver arrived from the airport as we were trying to get an Uber in the dark and he dropped us off at another hotel. Round 2 tomorrow! Things are bound to improve. Maybe.

Things improved with an upgrade to business class and reclining seats from Panama City, Panama.

Talk about night and day differences. So much better day!

Quito, Ecuador as the sun was rising as we begin our 4 month adventure. Our driver was even at the gate even though we arrived a day late.