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| Are we Ready? Finally! |
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©2016 TJ & Tamera Overman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ReUse by permission only.
Time flies. Our visitors from the U.S.A. or Estadas Unidos or EEUU as it is abbreviated in Ecuador were here for ten days. I thought it would be long enough but as I said; time flies.
So, my mom #1 (yes I have a mom 1 and mom 2), dad #2 (yes I have a dad 1 and dad 2), cousin (I have many cousins!), and a new friend (now family) have departed Ecuador. We had a houseful for the first time and it was great. We also had many adventures such as the triple triangle, the drive through Portoviejo at rush hour, finding the airport in Guayaquil just in time for lunch traffic, and a cut through road to the desert.
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| Boat Repairs on La Playa |
Those in the know are laughing right now as well they should. You may be too as these next few weeks will result in you reading all about them. Tamera and I learned we know more than we thought, we still have a lot to learn, and we know what it is like to drive and navigate in Ecuador. Fun and scary at the same time. We got it down now. Yep!
Also, we literally have thousands of pictures from our travels as everyone's were downloaded to this (now damaged) laptop we use for our blog and everything else.
It was my intention to give everyone credit on their individual photos. It is impossible due to the sheer number so all future photos concerning our visitors and consequent trip to the Galapagos go to Brenda Burkes, Linda Kerchener, Dottie Mullins, Ron Mullins, Tamera Overman, and well, me.
I know it is cliche to say "I'll start from the beginning so I will not say it. I will just start shall I?
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| The Pick Up at Manta Airport |
From the edge! Our house has five bedrooms and five full bathrooms. There are ten beds total, including trundle beds. There is air conditioning in one bedroom while the rest have ceiling fans. One of the bathrooms was damaged in the earthquake and cannot be used. We had four visitors coming. Since my parents are used to air conditioning my wife and I moved out of the air conditioned bedroom and took the downstairs bedroom. We are acclimated now and don't use the AC anymore anyway. In August there is really no need and the fresh air is so much better anyway. We washed all the pillows, sheets, and blankets in preparation. My wife hand painted a welcome sign for them. We swept (a must do every day), mopped, cleaned bathrooms, etc. It really was not much as we don't utilize most of the bedrooms/bathrooms anyway. We just wanted it to smell nice and fresh.
So our visitors had the entire second floor for their use. It gets the best ocean breezes and I believe they were all comfortable the entire time. If not, I expect to hear from them!
Our attorney (starting to feel a little Hunter S. Thompsonish referencing my attorney all the time) delivered our rental truck to us. We needed the truck so we could take everyone into town for groceries, shopping, and sightseeing. We also needed it for the drive to Guayaquil as you will find out later.
Mom and Dad arrived first after a four hour layover in Quito. They came bearing gifts like the infamous peanut butter, horseradish, good old U.S.A. whisky, books, seeds for gardening, DVD's, Cheese Its (already gone), and other various sundries we can't get here, at least not easily.
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| My Cousin Brenda and I |
We took them to our friend's restaurant,
Motumbo for dinner. They met our neighbors, Eduardo and Flores on the way and received a proper Ecuadorian fisherman greeting. We ate a delicious beachfront meal and returned home. There are the normal questions about cocktail and tartar sauces (no, none here) and menu translation (the back is in English!). We had to be up very early to pick up our cousin and friend so we returned home and spent some time catching up. We were all tired anyway so after a quick tour of the house it was time for bed.
The next morning, mom and I got up. We drove to Manta to pick up Brenda (cousin) and Linda (friend now cousin!). We arrived as the plane did. No Brenda and Linda. Hmmm. They had an eight hour layover in Quito so they should not have missed the connecting flight. Right flight? Check. Right time? Check. Extra luggage? Check. Where the heck? There they are behind us. How we missed them and they us I'll never know. They had to run back to the tarmac as the airline was taking their luggage away. Luggage? Check. The sun was coming up now so they were able to take in the mountain drive, farmland, and produce stands that dot the road to Crucita. We arrive home and for the first time, we have a full house. It feels great.
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| Locals Enjoying Fresh Coconut on the Malecon |
Brenda goes upstairs to get some rest. Linda is up for the day. These two flew in from Virginia and North Carolina and have been travelling a long time. Linda somehow slept in Quito airport. Linda has learned to sleep anywhere I find out later. I make everyone breakfast. Home fries and frittatas with fresh green peppers, onion, basil (from the rooftop), and tomato. Tamera makes some good strong coffee manually as our coffee pot decided to die on us. Coffee is a necessity for all but one of us. Do you know how much we miss Starbucks?
Brenda is up now and it is decided that our first real day will be a walk down the beach and a little tour of Crucita. Photo ops are good and everyone is ready to start snapping! We are anxious to show off our little town. So off we go. The sun is shining; a 50/50 proposition here in the winter and the water is turquoise. Sometimes one needs to ease in to paradise so we do. Brenda and Linda purchase mango with salt and lime from a street vendor. We're moving slowly.
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| Time to get to Work! |
There are fishing boats as always. Crucita is after all, fishing village. The mariposas (butterflies) are beginning to appear on their migration back to the north. Moto Taxis are headed up and down the Malecon and the kids are on the beach on their siesta from school. The Catholic school style uniforms are everywhere.Really everyone is just beat from travel and all the stresses that come with it. We return home after a time and then on to Rimini for cocktails and dinner. Fresh seafood with family on the beach.
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| The Mural Art in Crucita and all of Ecuador is Outstanding |
Lunches and dinners here are traditionally served with rice, fried plantains, and a little side salad with lime based dressing. The family finds out what they like and don't like quickly. For most, the plantains are not a favorite though Tamera and I like them very much. No worries. Just substitute french fries AKA papas fritas in most places. The important thing is to try something new. My family isn't scared to do just that. Brenda, mom, and I agree on one thing, however. We have to get a good steak at least once on this trip. Will we find one? See if we don't. Chao!
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