Photos of Aruba

If you read my last blog, you read about the "terrible" ordeal of getting stuck in Aruba for 5 days.  I told you that I would share some photos of that trip.  Here goes:

As you can see, this was pretty hard to take.

We did not stay at this hotel, but it was right across the street and we could cut through on our way to the beach.  Not bad, huh?

This was proof that we were actually in Aruba.  Food was OK.

Isn't this beautiful??  We sat on the beach for several nights watching the sun set.

This was another night's sunset.  It was SO fun to sit and watch what would unfold across the sky.

This was from the lobby of our hotel towards the pool area.  Not like the other place, but it was nice.  The white building in the background is the other hotel that I took a picture of.  It was beautiful.

I have a lot more pictures, but they really don't do it justice.  We are really happy to be in Cuenca.  We spent a few hours yesterday getting our cell phones here.  One of the things that I have realized again is that I really MUST learn the language.  It is coming very slowly.  Will post again soon.

Let the Adventure Begin!!

Little did we know what we were in for when we said that we wanted a little bit of adventure.  We were scheduled to leave last Saturday (April 23rd) at 9:25am.  Everything was on time.  In order to get a decent fare, we were going to have to change planes a few times.  Well, Louisville to Charlotte, NC - on time.  Charlotte, NC to Aruba - on time, but we landed late.  We did not have enough time to get our luggage through customs and make our connection to Panama City, Panama.  We ran around trying to find out where we needed to be.  It was not a pretty picture.  It is not something that I want to live through again.

After realizing that we weren't going anywhere that day, we got a room for the night at a place near the airport and called Orbitz to see when we could get out of there.  It was not good news.  We were going to be "stuck" in Aruba for 5 days.  Since it looked it was going to be more than 1 day, I got on line and booked another hotel for the next 4 nights.  Once we moved to our new digs, things started looking up.  We were closer to the beach and the casinos.  And we had a blast!!  Even had some luck at the casinos after a couple of days.  So we didn't mind the unexpected vacation.  If we hadn't had to haul 5 huge, heavy suitcases, plus a carryon, backpack, and computer bag, we wouldn't have minded at all.  Although after all of our planning, we were looking forward to getting to Cuenca.

I took some pictures with my phone, but I can't send them to myself because my phone is no longer active.  If I am finally able to download them in the future, I will have to show you some of the awesome sunsets that we watched (several nights in a row!) in Aruba.  It is a beautiful place, but definitely not cheap!  We spent $78. on 3 cab rides in 5 days.  That could get us almost 40 cab rides in Cuenca.

So, Thursday afternoon we head to the airport to go to Quito via Panama City, Panama.  When the airline agent asked when we were we returning, we made the mistake of telling them that we were not coming back to the States; that we were going to live in Ecuador.  Well, that was a BIG mistake.  They said that they could not allow us to leave without some documentation (I guess since 9/11, everything has changed).  So we called our attorney in Quito, Ecuador and told her the situation.  She emailed them the copies of our application visas (which I don't think they were supposed to accept) and they allowed us to leave.  (We thought we were never going to get off of that island!!).  It was a VERY stressful 2 hours!  There was a very nice agent, Nataly, who helped us.

On to Panama City, Panama...where we sat for 3 hours in a very crowded airport.  Finally we loaded on a bus to go to the plane where we sat for a while because they were not ready for us to load.  After finally getting everyone on the plane, we sat for another HOUR because of a mechanical problem.  It seemed like a nightmare that would not end.  At last, we took off and landed in Quito at midnight.  We were just glad to finally get to Ecuador.

The next morning, we checked to make sure that our flight from Quito to Cuenca had been rescheduled by Orbitz (remember we were supposed to arrive last Sunday?).  It had NOT.  So we spent an hour in a LAN Airline office trying to get a new flight.  Everything seemed like it was taking forever.  We got to the airport just in time--again with all of that luggage (too many maletas--suitcases!!).  More overweight fees!!!  If I can give one piece of advice to anyone thinking about doing this.....make sure your bags are under the weight allowance.  Those fees can really add up. 

But we are finally here!!  And everything has been going well since we arrived.  We are stocking the frig and unpacking all of the bags.  Looking forward to getting settled.  The Magic Jack phone works as well as Skype, so if anyone wants to call or talk, just let me know.  Sorry for the delay in letting my friends and family know what had happened.  Miss everyone, but will keep in touch.

The Countdown Has Begun!!

Well, the countdown has begun.  We only have 5 days left.  We have crossed off almost everything on our list.  We even sold Pat's truck today which was one of the big things.

But, before I get ahead of myself.  Our daughters surprised us "big time" last Friday night with an awesome going away party.  Pat and I did everything we could to blow things for them, but they pulled it off anyway.  Caitlin did most of the planning and Elizabeth had to get us there.  Pat's brother and sister-in-law, Gary and MaryJo, even drove down from Pittsburgh for the party.  They called and said that they wanted to see us before we left, so they drove down on Friday night.  Elizabeth drove down from Cincinnati for Thunder Over Louisville (a Derby kickoff event).  I got home late from work (my last closing...Yea!!). 

So we started talking about what to do for dinner.  Pat and I opted for pizza, but Elizabeth kept saying that she wanted a hamburger from the Corner Door (they make the BEST hamburgers in town).   Pat and I said, "We have gift cards from Applebee's.  You can get a hamburger there."  Elizabeth whined, "We went to Applebee's the last time I was home."  I remembered thinking, "Have we totally spoiled our kids, or what?"

Finally, we all agreed to go to the Corner Door.  We drive up there (only a couple of blocks, but it was raining) and could not find a place to park.  I said, "I'll drop you all off and go back home and leave the car and meet you inside."  Elizabeth said, "Go with your wife, Dad.  Don't make her walk by herself."  I said, "That's OK, I'll be right there."  (Little did I know until later what a pain we were being).  Well, I did find a parking spot down the street and hurried to catch up.  Gary was talking pictures outside while they waited for me.  He insisted on taking this picture:

It was taking us forever to get inside.  As we walked in, Elizabeth came up saying, "I got us a table in the back."  As we followed her I saw there was something special going on in the back and I said, "Elizabeth, we can't go back there, they are having a party back there".  (I could see a cake on the table).  She insisted we follow her.  As we entered the room, we hear "SURPRISE!!!"  I was SHOCKED as you can see:

I couldn't believe that they surprised us, and as you can read from before, we did not make it easy on them.  We had a blast and some old and wonderful friends  and family were there:

Co-workers from Semonin Realtors

Victor from Amgen, Thousand Oaks, CA and Pat

My brother, Steve, his grandson, Jacob, and my cousin, Candy

My sister, Sally, and I with my Aunt Catherine who is 86 years young

My brother, Steve, with my brother-in-law, Bob

Mike and Sandra (they are going to be the keepers of Pat's piano for a while) and I

Pat and Mary Jo have worked together for years

Great table and decorations

Co-workers Bob and Carolyn, Pete and Betty (with their backs to us)

The 2 Mary Jo's

Elizabeth talking to the family

Dave (owner of the Corner Door) with Pat and friends

Mary Jo and I

Pat's brother, Gary (who took most of the pics) and his wife, Mary Jo

As you can see, we all had a blast.  And our two wonderful daughters pulled it all together:

Caitlin and Elizabeth (aren't they beautiful?)

Wonderful job, Caitlin!!!

Pat and his 2 gorgeous daughters (what a proud papa!!)

Then as the night went on, Dave brought out the shots of tequila:

Pat and Dave

Toasting!!!

Shots all around (notice who is just a step ahead of everyone else..)

And then last but not least, something that Pat likes to get started, and then everyone else joins in......sucking helium balloons and talking like Munchkins:

Pat got things started

Followed by Jenny

Then Evan joined in....

It was REALLY funny, although my sister thinks they are doing something to their brain cells when they do that.  All in all, it was a GREAT party and we had an awesome time!! 



Thanks Caitlin and Elizabeth for TOTALLY surprising your parents.  We will miss you and think about you both!!  Love, Mom and Dad







Am I Forgetting Anything?

I feel like I keep making up a new list before I cross off the lists that I have already made.  It feels good to cross something off, but then I add two more things onto the list.  Pat only has 2 more days of work.  I only have 1 more real estate closing (I have been selling real estate for the last 10 years for those that didn't know).  I have decided to stay a little active in real estate by putting my license in the Kentucky Residential Referral Service.  So if anyone has need of a realtor, just let me know and I will refer you to Laura Fulton in my office.  And I will be able to make a little money at the same time. 

We rented our house yesterday and a relocating family is going to move in the day after we leave.  We have a yard sale scheduled for this Saturday morning (please no rain!!) and I have scheduled it on craigslist.  I have gone through every closet and drawer at least once, some two or even three times.  The pile of stuff to take with us is getting a little bigger.  The pile of stuff to sell is getting a lot bigger.  It's amazing how much "stuff" we have accumulated through the years. 

Tonight I wanted to pull out the pictures that I took when we were in Cuenca to remind myself of why we are doing all of this.  I have never posted these views that I took from our apartment that we rented there.  Now I remember why we are doing all of this work and going through all of this change.  Take a look and see if you don't agree:

Look at that blue sky!!

I don't know if you can see the tennis courts there to the right, but we can see them from our windows.  We hope to be able to play some mornings when the courts are available.  I'm not sure we will be able to play for very long until we get acclimated to the altitude, but we are very excited about it.

Doesn't it look beautiful?  These are the views that we will see from our windows every day.   I am hopeful that everything comes together at the right time without getting too stressed out.  And we have been enjoying getting together with friends and family over the last few weeks while we are still here.  Just a little over 3 weeks left.  We hadn't really looked at the calendar when we made our plane reservations and didn't realize that we will be arriving in Cuenca on Easter Sunday.  What a wonderful way to start our new adventure!!   

Now for the good stuff - sorting, selling, giving away

Well, we have been back for about 10 days now and we have been busy with the following:

Sorting, Labeling, Getting Ready for the Yard Sale

More Boxes, Books, "Stuff"

While going through some of my boxes, I found a box of stuff from when I spent the summer of 1978 in France.  One of the things that I was really happy to find were the letters that I received from my mother that summer.  I was in a summer school program in France and we sent 2 weeks in Nime (in southern France), 2 weeks in Paris, and 2 weeks in Colmar (in eastern France).  In order for my mother to send me letters, she had to send them to a certain location before a certain date in order for the mail to be there when we arrived. 

Unfortunately, my mom passed away in 1994 and I had forgotten about the letters that she had sent to me.  So it was like getting a little present from her without her being around to send it to me.  Isn't God good?  I'm not sure what my mom would say if she knew about our plans to move to Ecuador.  I know that she would want us to be happy in whatever we decide to do.  I remember when I went to France for that summer, I think she was a little bit envious because I think she would have liked to go to Europe, but my dad had no desire to go, so she never got to go. 

Ever since my mom passed away, whenever a friend loses a parent, especially a mom, I usually tell them, "you will reallly miss her at the weirdest times.  You think you will really miss her on Mother's Day, her birthday, or the holidays.  But what you will find is that you will miss her when you least expect it.  A song will come on that will remind you of her.  Or you will smell something that reminds you of her."  And I also tell them, "just allow yourself to grieve her whenever that happens."  Finding those letters allowed me to grieve her and miss her again.  But I am kind of glad that I didn't find them until now because now I realize how precious they are and I will not just throw them away.  

Sorry to get so sentimental on you, but for those of you who read this and your mom is still alive, call her today and tell her that you love her. 

Back Home in the States

We had an awesome time in Cuenca and we really didn't want to come back home.  But we had the return flight tickets and Pat had to come back home to finish up working until April 1st.  So as of right now, he only has 19 more working days until retirement.  Ya-hoo!!!  Plus we have to finish getting everything ready for our return trip.  Now we have to sort, give, sell, throw away, etc.  I'm sure anyone who has been there knows exactly what I am talking about. 

We loved meeting so many nice people in Cuenca and we can't wait to return.  We fly to Quito on April 23rd and then on the Cuenca on April 24th.  So for those of you who we did not to get to see or meet over the last 2 weeks, maybe we will see you at the end of April.

We had a good flight back to Quito on Friday.  We were supposed to fly out of Quito to Miami at 9:30am on Saturday morning, but we received an email that the flight had been changed from 9:30am until 7:30pm.  So then we had an unexpected day in Quito.  If we had known, then we could have flown out later from Cuenca and stayed at the airport and gone straight to Miami.  As it was, we arrived in Miami at 11:30pm on Saturday and had missed our connecting flight to Louisville.  Customs was unbelievable!!  We got there just in time for a "shift change" and then the US citizen side had one guy working to get us through customs.  It took 45 minutes for 20 people to get through the line.  So then we tried to see if LAN Ecuador airlines would put us up in a hotel for the night since our flight to Louisville was not leaving Miami until 11:35am on Sunday.  We finally got to the hotel at 1:30am.  Even though we got up at 7:30am the next morning, it was still better to sleep in a hotel than to spend the night in the airport.

It was not easy, but we did just make both of our flights -- in Miami and again in Atlanta.  God is good.  It was good to get home, especially after all of the time waiting.  We will say that LAN airlines is a very nice airlines--nice plane, movies, food, etc.  It reminds of TWA on the way to Vegas or Eastern Airlines  a few years ago.  If we had checked on our flight a week before, we wouldn't have had such a problem trying to get back to Louisville.

Next post, I will post more pics from Cuenca.

Gigantic Moth in our Bedroom

OK, so everyone keeps telling us that there are no bugs, mosquitoes, etc. in Cuenca.  Well, we moved into our apartment on Monday and of course opened all the windows because it was so beautiful.  We did close the windows before we went to bed.  That night we went to sleep and yesterday morning when we woke up, we saw this irregularity in the wood over the closet door in our bedroom.  As we took a closer look, this is what we saw:

We named him Luke the Moth after our landlord.  

He stayed all day and into the night.  We had shut the bedroom door and checked on him all day.  After it got dark, I went in there and he was flying around.  So decided to try to get him back out the window.  Pat even tried to take him by the wings and get him out.  I think he ended up pulling off part of his wing.  The moth finally landed on a book and Pat picked up the book and put it out the window and he flew off.  Whew!!  I wish we could have had the whole thing on video.  I'm sure if anyone was watching us through the window, they sure were wondering what in the world we were doing.

That was quite a bit of excitement for one day.  I still have not posted the pictures of the buildings that we have seen around town.  The architecture of the buildings in the Old Town are very beautiful.  I have been trying to post them several times, but then the internet gets too slow.  I will have to try another time.  Hasta luego for now!!