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!

What have we been up to?

Wondering what we've been up to? Check out these posts on our US travel blog:

• Rolling right along....
• Where the heck are we?
• NEVER a dull moment!

We will be back in Cuenca on 11/17 and working hard to sell everything before our departure on 12/30. Busy, busy, busy!!

Ciao for now!

Changes in Latitude....

These changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes,

Nothing remains quite the same.

Through all of the islands and all of the highlands,

If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane.

"Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes"

When we moved from the northern hemisphere to the southern, from the USA to Ecuador, we definitely changed both our latitude and attitude.

But the only constant in life is....change.

We never intended to stay in Ecuador permanently and after analysis, we have met our financial goals. We still have things we want to do in the US, while we have the health to do so. Plus we want to do more travel and it's easier and often cheaper to do it from the US.

So, long story short...we will return to Cuenca in the middle of November as planned. But we will be selling everything and returning to the US and our RV lifestyle at the end of the year.

We will miss the many, many friends we have made but we will be past our two year anniversary and our visas will still be valid (as long as we return every 18 months or less OR unless the rules are changed).

This was not an easy decision but we feel it is the right one for us at this time in our lives. Life is good!

Ciao for now!

En los Estados Unidos

Sorry for late blogging, we have been SWAMPED! We did arrive safely and you can see all the details in our personal blog, Back End of Nowhere. If you are interested in following all our travels, I hope you will follow us there.

Oh, and watch for some surprising news coming soon!

Ciao for now!

Day Tour to Gualaceo

Back in May we did a four city tour and Gualaceo was one of those cities. But we ran out of time and didn't get to see the orchid farm or shoe stores. That meant we needed to go back!

We organized another bus tour and ended up with almost 40 folks attending. I didn't take as many photos this time around...why? Because I forgot to charge my camera battery. Argh....

We started the day at the weavers where they make their own dye, weave their own cloth and produce the most amazing products! Here are a few pics....oh, we had a couple of special guests on our trip, as you can see in the last photo. Wanda & Brenda brought Avery who thoroughly enjoyed little Rocky who was accompanying his people parents.

From there we traveled to the orchid farm. WOW!!! I could have taken a couple dozen more photos but here are some favorites....you can see all the photos from our day here.

We also walked over a bridge over the river (Rocky didn't like the noise or the swaying), perused the gardens and saw the local tortoises and macaws. All this was after we learned how the orchids are propagated. Did you know it takes three years for one to bloom? Our final stop was the store where several purchased beautiful orchids to take home.

We then traveled to Chordeleg for lunch, the same spot we went in May and it was just as good. A stroll around town and a few more photos taken....

Our final stop was back to Gualaceo and the shoe shops. Unfortunately, unless you have small feet, it's hard to find shoes to fit. We did some walking and found this interesting church across the street from a nice park.

The highlight of the day was this little female pup - I think she would have jumped on the bus with us if anyone had been willing to adopt her.

Then we came home to these adorable pups next door to our apartment building...

Another successful outing for Cuenca Happy Bus Tours (thank you, Emilio Morocho)!

Ciao for now!