It's done, We're done!

Finally, everything has been sold (although some things will be picked up during our last three days here in Cuenca). It's been quite a process but surprisingly fairly painless. Once all the big things (and many, Many, MANY small things) were sold, we divided the final items into bags for friends in need.

Today we had a going away party at Magnolia Caffe . I think we ended up with at least 40 people in attendance - it was amazing! Magnolia is a special place to us. The owner, Simon Cordero, hand-crafted our wedding rings back in May 2013. The wait staff of husband and wife, Huber and Karen, have become like son and daughter to us and their son, Juan Pablo, a grandson.

We took over the restaurant today - these photos were taken before another dozen or so folks arrived. We had over forty people take time out of their busy schedule to see us off. Oh, and we also had three tables outside!

Other friends couldn't make it today but we have been able to see them around town. Life is good!

For anyone who needs a reason to stop in and try out Magnolia Caffe , besides the delicious meals, here is a snapshot of one of their delicious desserts. (We had the American style apple pie but I forgot to take a photo).

Everything is baked in house, including their rolls and breads. We highly recommend Magnolia Caffe for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert or just drinks!

This will be our final post in this blog. I hope you will all move over to our US based blog and follow us there: backendofnowhere.com or ourprimeyears.blogspot.com, where we will continue to chronical our travels and adventures! 2016 is going to be a busy year for us!!

Ciao for now!

Phew! What a month...

I finally found a few minutes to post about our cruise on our US blog:
November Happenings - Cruising, Flying & Panicking

Most of our time since we've been back has been spent cleaning out what we're not taking back to the states, getting things ready to sell, selling things and packing things!

We are 90-95% packed, hoping the top duffle bag contents will fit in one High Sierra bag and all our clothes and non-carryon stuff will fit in the other. Otherwise, sigh, we will be one bag over our limit of three free checked bags each. Stu's scuba gear is one, three footlockers and two High Sierra bags make six. Keeping our fingers crossed.

We have barely left the apartment since our arrival, hoping to get out more next week as more and more things that sold are picked up. The biggest things (refrigerator, recliners, one desk & chair, dining set, TV and bed) will be picked up on Dec 27-29. We have booked three nights in a nice hotel in El Centro, making it easier to allow multiple pick up days.

So we continue to move towards our move back to the states. We are meeting with friends as time allows, finalizing what will return with us, AND booking cruises! Yes, 2016 will be the year of cruises. Most are in the Caribbean, allowing Stu to do more scuba diving but we are still taking the Royal Caribbean Vision of the Seas trip from Tampa to Barcelona. From there, we booked a back to back (B2B) cruise on the same ship to Italy, stopping in several ports including Rome and ending in Venice. Excited!

Ciao for now!