Sipping Juan Valdez coffee in his cafe on the corner of Foch Square
Those signs are calling my name. Beckoning to me - come hither - and then that four letter word…
BEER
This logo appears all over Foch Square. Yeah!
Do you go equip yourself in Explorer, then step next door to [x]ploit?
Water tank on top?
From all corners of Foch Square. SU could take a hint from this one ⬆︎
I had a nice cup of coffee and watched the people, and the clouds move in. Being a week day, and daytime, it wasn’t very busy. Every little cafe and restaurant had wifi.
There were many outfitter shops. I found a couple of web straps to wrap my now overfull suitcase with.
I tried a couple of beers, since this place had been beckoning me from the coffee shop. Then I went for a walk to see what I could see. Lots of neat buildings.
Church spires and mountains
Then I walked some more, just looking for interesting architecture or odd things. I bought a slice of pizza at a little shop. Man, was that good! $2.
Then back to the square for some more sitting and drinking and I ordered some Cervichos, I think it was called. Very good, but not as good as the pizza. Then back up the hill to spend some time charging batteries in the lobby.
12/12
About 6:30 pm Santiago called a friend to shuttle me to the airport and we said good-bye. I am very grateful to Santiago and his staff, and his father, for kindly and graciously seeing to my every need.
It took almost 2 hours to get through the snarled traffic, in the dark, to the airport. I sure am glad I wasn’t driving, and that Santiago had suggested a taxi rather than the bus.
At the airport, about 8 pm, they said my flight would start checking in around 9, so I went across the street to the airport business center, where there were many cafe’s, and free wifi. I had a nice cup of Juan Valdez’s best, and at 9 lugged my luggage back across the street. Then they told me they would start checking in at 10. Back across the street for another hour of free wifi. Back to the departures terminal, and stood in the line to check my bag for an hour. Then, through security, border control, and customs.
The flight boarded on time, and I had a window seat. But I haven’t been up this late in a long while - the flight was scheduled to depart at 0:55 am Ecuador time, same as Eastern Standard Time. We all got on board, and there were two teenage girls next to me who got themselves tucked in and ready to sleep. I was very warm, and anxious to get in the air. We were delayed for nearly an hour due to weight issues. Eventually, we took off. Once we were above the clouds and I was sure there were no lights to be seen, I went to sleep. And woke up when we touched down 6 hours later in Houston. Don’t think I’ve ever been on a plane that long without having to use the restroom.
In Houston we cleared border control and customs very quickly, and then waited for my plane to Phoenix, which left on time.
What did I learn?
▪ I don’t seem to get altitude sickness. At least, I had no symptoms up to 15200+ feet.
▪ I should bring my heart rate monitor strap everywhere I go.
▪ I should have brought my mapping GPS.
▪ I can always find something interesting to do without having a detailed plan ahead of time.
▪ I should learn to speak Spanish