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.