Almost Home!

By Donna B. McNicol -
Two months have flown by, as referenced in this blog post on our US blog post:

   Winding down here in the US....

The errands and running around is almost done. Packing is complete - trunks and duffles for checked baggage (total of 6) as well as carry-ons. Reservations made for rental car in Florida, hotel in Guayaquil and transportation from there to Cuenca is also done. Stu has plugged all the holes that he could find under the rig, stuffed them with steel wool and then topped that off with pest repellant expanding foam. That, combined with inside and outside repellant granules and spray, should hopefully cut down on our mouse issue this winter.


Today Stu picked up some brake pads after hearing Scooby's brakes squeal yesterday (our Ford F-250) after fueling up Freddie and adding Sta-bil (our Freightliner). As he got ready to head home a LOUD squeal alerted him to an issue. Looks like the clutch bearings on the A/C compressor have frozen. He disconnected the belt for the ride home - no fan for cooling and no alternator for charging.


Now he's trying to take off the compressor and hopefully get the belt to at least run the fan and alternator. Depending on what he finds we will either finish the repair next year or take it to the local big truck repair place before we leave and have our neighbor bring it home and park it for us.

Still need to do laundry, drop off our trash, pick up the Trike at the Harley dealer (warranty and 1k service), put Sta-bil in during  the trike fuel fill-ups, run a few last minute errands in Cookeville tomorrow and do the final cleaning and winterizing of the RV on Friday. We hope to be on the road by 1-2pm, heading to Atlanta to spend the evening with my youngest daughter and grandkids.

From there we head to Florida for our last two days before flying to Ecuador on Wednesday. We will once again leave Scooby parked at my brother's house and take a rental car to Miami. We arrive in Guayaquil late in the day so we'll spend the night at the Holiday Inn. Our good friend, Emilio, will come pick us up and transport us and our 6 checked bags and our carry-ons back to our apartment in Cuenca.

As much as we've enjoyed our time in the US, enjoying seeing family and friends as well as enjoying the gorgeous fall colors, it will feel good to be back in Ecuador!

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