We are now in Quito, having had a stress-free, mudslide-free bus trip here from Baños. I dozed a bit on the bus, so Phillip took pictures. Along the way, we saw greenhouses, where the protection is from the strong rays of the sun, not the cold.
We traveled thru the middle of the two ranges of the Andes, the East and West ranges. In the distance, we could again see tall mountains, some with snow. On the one, you can just see the snow below the clouds that obscure the peak from view.
We checked in to the Vienna International, a secure and nice hotel in the heart of Centro Historico. We've got a room with a balcony again, like in Cuenca. Behind the curtains are two glass door that open onto a small balcony. This time our balcony is over a pedestrian only street.
Maybe no car alarms tonight! Although its been 4 nights since I heard car alarms, I'm not missing them. This afternoon, I saw a man and woman in a car, and I swear he was showing off his cool car alarm sounds for her, as he went thru all the different ways it would sound.
For lunch today, I had salchipapa. Sounds wierd, but is was just two hot dogs, split on the ends and microwaved, and french fries!
Phillip had a grilled pork chop with arroz and papas fritas. No picture of it, as it looked just like a pork chop with rice and french fries!
This hotel has a computer for the guest's use. A few quirks, the "o" sticks and the monitor is like the old one we took to the ranch, the big boxy one. No Skype, but it's great to not have to go to the internet cafe. Tomorrow is a Quito day before we go to the cloud forest on Thursday.
So, you guys are rocking Tirzah's world! I showed her the zipline pictures and her eyes lit up.... you may recall that Diego is on a zipline in the show intro and now her real-life Grandma Pat and Pawpaw Phillip went on one! :-) There's also an episode that involves the cloud forest, so I told her you're going there, too. Can't wait to hear about it! You're making the world seem so much more accessible, adventures so possible, for this little girl.
ReplyDeleteAnd *I* think your room there is beautiful.... I hope it provides good, quiet rest.