Departure!

Wednesday, June 19th, has finally arrived!  It's time to head for Ecuador.

Our time in Florida was fantastic.  We spent two weeks with Tasha, Dane and the grandkids - golf or tennis in the morning, swimming in the afternoon.  We were also able to see the new house that they're trying to by.  We toured it during the inspections and were pleased to find that the house is in very good shape.  It might need some updating paint wise, but that's an easy fix.  The hardest part of leaving for Ecuador  was leaving them.

My apostilled FBI background check finally arrived the day before we left.  Having that last piece of documentation in my hands was a huge relief.

Also the day before we left, someone had posted in an Ecuadorian Facebook group that there had been a change in luggage on the part of American Airlines (our airline).  The foot lockers that we had purchased were being embargoed!  I called AA, however, and (after waiting on hold for 30 minutes) was told that there was no such embargo.  It was still a concern until we checked in.

Last day details included going to AAA to get an international drivers license and pick up an SUV to drive from Estero to Miami.  Dane is going to babysit the truck until we come back at the end of August for my brother's wedding.  We loaded the SUV and were on our way!

One concern that we had was keeping the foot lockers closed for the duration of the trip.  There is a service in Miami (and other airports) where they will "shrink-wrap" your luggage.  If it fails inspection, the TSA is required to re-wrap it.  The process basically involves putting the piece of luggage on a spindle and wrapping it with blue cling wrap.

Because we were flying business class, we had the extra allowances for number of bags and weight.  We would have paid a ton of fees if we hadn't upgraded, plus the seats on a 767 are much nicer.  Finally, it was time for take off!

We landed in Guayaquil at about 10:30p.  Immigration was a breeze, and customs didn't ask a single question about our luggage.  We had arranged for taxi from the hotel to meet us, and Pablo was there waiting.  The only issue that we had was that there was no way that the luggage and passengers would all fit in one taxi.  "No problemo", said Pablo.  He called his brother who also drives a taxi, and we loaded everything except our carry-on in his brother's taxi and followed behind him in Pablo's taxi.  Yes, there was a concern that the lead car might shoot off track and our things would never be seen again, but our trust was in the right place. The honesty and openness of Ecuadorians and their culture is one of the reasons that we're so attracted to living here.