We are in Ecuador…finally.
The day started out in the usual rush-at-the-last minute that normally accompanies a departure schedule. This day was further complicated by the fact that it was Monday, following a full day on Sunday. And…it was the day we put the garbage out on the street. Always the helpful husband, Olen took our gigantic plastic bag full of garbage out to the street for me right before we were scheduled to leave the house. He was already dressed in his travel clothes, with all of the pockets of his travel pants filled with items he deemed to be “absolutely essential”.
I am not sure exactly what the details were, but he returned from his trip to the street smelling like a combination of sour milk and watermelon rinds, which were among other contents of the garbage bag. There was no way he could be cooped up in an airplane for five hours subjecting other human beings to the way he currently smelled. The pants HAD to be laundered immediately, and I do mean immediately. The other contributing factor in this equation is that the previous day my dryer had absolutely given up the ghost. There was no way I could dry the pants. I sent a quick text message to Tabatha asking if she was up.
No response. It was too early for her crew to be up and going during the summertime. So, I managed to unzip the lower portion of the offending leg on the cargo pants, hand wash it, roll it in a towel, give it a few minutes with the trusty hair dryer and announce that he was good to go and in the heat of the day the pants would dry completely…eventually.
About that time the crew that was riding with us arrived, we loaded up and headed out. We met the other car at the Raceway station near Decatur and headed toward Atlanta, caravan-style. We made one stop before lunch at possibly the slowest Stuckey’s in the entire chain. A few more miles down the road we stopped at a fast-food Mecca for lunch. Some went to Subway, some to Arby’s, and we were off again.
We parked the vehicles and took a very crowded shuttle to the new international terminal in Atlanta, checked our bags and went through security. It was at this point that Tim showed up, and we all headed toward our departure gate where Lucy was waiting for us. Shortly after that Jim appeared and our group was complete. Then the fun began. We boarded the plane and sat at the gate for almost an hour and a half before ever leaving the gate. There was some problem with a bag that didn’t match up with a passenger and other related problems. We were finally airborne about 6:20.
Our plane was the kind with individual TV screens on each seatback with selections of movies and games for entertainment, which always helps to pass the time. (Of course, I had watched almost the entire movie “We Bought a Zoo” while we were parked at the gate!) Dinner on the plane was not bad as airline food goes. It was a turkey sandwich, potato chips and a brownie. Most of us were seated in one area on the plane and others were here and there. The lady in this photo who was not part of our group tired very quickly of us and moved to another seat.
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When we flew into Quito the lights of the city below us made it look like we were landing in a jewel box. We disembarked and made our way through the emigration and customs checkpoints and spotted Diane (our delightful tour guide) holding a “Welcome Britnell Group” sign.
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She led us to our bus (photo of that tomorrow?) we will be using while in the Quito area. Our bus driver is Mauricio, and from our brief trip from airport to hotel, we are certain we are going to enjoy both vehicle and driver.
Diane gave us the basic plans for tomorrow, but decided to save all of her introductory material for us in the morning when we are fresh, as we are a bit road-weary tonight. She checked us in the Hotel Sebastian, and the photo of our room will show you that we are definitely well cared-for. The hotel is lovely.
It is late, and just looking at the photo of the comfy beds reminds me what a long day this has been and how much sleep will be appreciated. However, we knew that there are families at home who are anxiously awaiting an “arrived safely” post.
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Stay tuned. Adventures ahead tomorrow…
The day started out in the usual rush-at-the-last minute that normally accompanies a departure schedule. This day was further complicated by the fact that it was Monday, following a full day on Sunday. And…it was the day we put the garbage out on the street. Always the helpful husband, Olen took our gigantic plastic bag full of garbage out to the street for me right before we were scheduled to leave the house. He was already dressed in his travel clothes, with all of the pockets of his travel pants filled with items he deemed to be “absolutely essential”.
I am not sure exactly what the details were, but he returned from his trip to the street smelling like a combination of sour milk and watermelon rinds, which were among other contents of the garbage bag. There was no way he could be cooped up in an airplane for five hours subjecting other human beings to the way he currently smelled. The pants HAD to be laundered immediately, and I do mean immediately. The other contributing factor in this equation is that the previous day my dryer had absolutely given up the ghost. There was no way I could dry the pants. I sent a quick text message to Tabatha asking if she was up.
No response. It was too early for her crew to be up and going during the summertime. So, I managed to unzip the lower portion of the offending leg on the cargo pants, hand wash it, roll it in a towel, give it a few minutes with the trusty hair dryer and announce that he was good to go and in the heat of the day the pants would dry completely…eventually.
About that time the crew that was riding with us arrived, we loaded up and headed out. We met the other car at the Raceway station near Decatur and headed toward Atlanta, caravan-style. We made one stop before lunch at possibly the slowest Stuckey’s in the entire chain. A few more miles down the road we stopped at a fast-food Mecca for lunch. Some went to Subway, some to Arby’s, and we were off again.
We parked the vehicles and took a very crowded shuttle to the new international terminal in Atlanta, checked our bags and went through security. It was at this point that Tim showed up, and we all headed toward our departure gate where Lucy was waiting for us. Shortly after that Jim appeared and our group was complete. Then the fun began. We boarded the plane and sat at the gate for almost an hour and a half before ever leaving the gate. There was some problem with a bag that didn’t match up with a passenger and other related problems. We were finally airborne about 6:20.
Our plane was the kind with individual TV screens on each seatback with selections of movies and games for entertainment, which always helps to pass the time. (Of course, I had watched almost the entire movie “We Bought a Zoo” while we were parked at the gate!) Dinner on the plane was not bad as airline food goes. It was a turkey sandwich, potato chips and a brownie. Most of us were seated in one area on the plane and others were here and there. The lady in this photo who was not part of our group tired very quickly of us and moved to another seat.
Diane gave us the basic plans for tomorrow, but decided to save all of her introductory material for us in the morning when we are fresh, as we are a bit road-weary tonight. She checked us in the Hotel Sebastian, and the photo of our room will show you that we are definitely well cared-for. The hotel is lovely.
It is late, and just looking at the photo of the comfy beds reminds me what a long day this has been and how much sleep will be appreciated. However, we knew that there are families at home who are anxiously awaiting an “arrived safely” post.
Thank you for taking the time to make your first post before going to bed! I know you had to be exhausted, but we were anxiously waiting for it and it's greatly appreciated! So glad you all arrived safely. I was watching the flight status and was a little worried when the message kept saying "awaiting departure." I could only think of Brian Williams reporting on planes sitting on the runway for hours, waiting to take off, without any air conditioning or something. Glad you had a movie to watch, and hopefully you had air conditioning. :)
ReplyDeleteHope you all had a good night's sleep and have a great start to your adventure today. Can't wait to read more!!