Finally leaving Quito

All good things must come to an end, and so did our stay in Quito.

But first! Our awesome mechanic, Hugo, invited us to stay with his family while we wait out our package from the post office. His wife and two children made for a household full of fun and good food. Their daughter Nicol has about 25 dwarf hamsters running around. She also loaned us plenty of dvd's to watch, and of course, we chose Sponge Bob. Or Bob esponja. On a sunday afternoon we went to the Mitad del Mundo to see the museum and arts and crafts fair that goes on to commemorate the equator. I got my first chance to roast some cuy. Cuy is guinea pig, and Andean specialty. Alas, we did not try any cuy, but I had eaten some when I was in Peru and it is not my first choice of food. It is kinda like gamey tasting chicken. Next we went to some local ruins. By this point in the afternoon the clouds had rolled in so we didn't see much, but it was a great time we spent with the Vivas family.

Anyhow, finally our package "arrived". It turns out the post office had had our goods the whole time we were in Quito, they just couldn't find it. Arrgh! A little annoying. But we finally took off last Tuesday. The rains in Ecuador have decided to hit. And we spent several days trying in vain to stay dry and warm. We wanted to ride the mountains in Ecuador to see all the high Andean peaks but rarely does the cloud cover lift enough to see the full mountains. Finally, one night we decided to camp real high and up close to Chimborazo, the tallest of the Ecuadorian Andes. We asked a family if we could sleep under the porch of a house they were caring for. They agreed and me and Merilee hoped for a clear morning to see the mountains. In the morning after I had a terrible sleep feeling sick we did awake to beautiful sunny skies.

P.S. the feeling sick part is a foreshadow.
Pictures; clouded in countryside, mountains, Hugo and Family, Merilee...ground zero