Pre holiday dash through the Ecuadorian Andes

I made it to Quito safely, and ended up staying at a fantastic hostel with an amazing view of the city.  One of the first people I met was Jeff from St. Paul, go figure.  The amazing thing is that the next day I met another Minnesotian from Hopkins, weird!!  I spent three days in the city, exploring the sites and enjoying the traquility that this South American city has to offer. 

For me, three days in the big city is plenty, and it was time to move on.  Where too?  The story of my travels, I teamed up with three other folks and headed to Cotopaxi, an active volcano.  The fact that we went completely unprepared made the excursion special!  We arrived in the small dusty town in the afternoon, hired a ride into the national park only to find out that the park was closed and access to the hotels within the park was not allowed.  After some pleading by the driver and the fact that he was also a guide, the guard let us in to the hostel that we were not planning oin going to.  As it turned out, it was a bit pricey - but wonderful hot showers!!  We stayed there the night and hired another driver to take us to the base of the volcano in the morning.  We arrived and began our way up to the refugio where we planned on spending the night.  It was a grueling 1.5 hour hike up the side of the volcano with my fully loaded pack.  We made it, exhausted and ate, relaxed and talked.  "Sleep" came early that night, it took place in a large dorm room of about 50 beds, no heat and at 4,800 meters.  We woke at 6AM and headed up the volcano to the glacier, as we were not prepared for the summit.  The glacier was at 5,000 meters and it was straight up through the snow, but the views were spectacular!!  We got to the bottom of the volcano, hired a car for the "bus station" and it was time for Banos.

Lots to do in Banos, we started off with a 50 km bike dride through the river valley, amazing views, lots of water falls and more.  It took us the whole day and loved every minute of it.  We returned to the hostel exhausted and slept, actually slept!  The next day we partook in some Canyoning.  This is basically repeling down waterfalls - awesome!!  The last waterfall was a 180 foot drop, no rock to rest the feet, just straight down the rope in the middle of a waterfall, amazing!!  That night , another great sleep.  The third and final day brought more adventure - motorized buggy tour of the area, which turned into a race and fast driving by skill-less drivers such as myself!  Almost flipped in once and Nikky almost killed me.

So that has lead up to today, I am off to the beach for a beer and lunch and try to figure out my next destination.  I hope everyone had a great holiday and that you are all safe!

Hobbit

And so it begins, another journey of life!!

Well, I'm off on another journey.  This year, alone and for three months.  I plan on starting in Quito, Ecuador and head south, that's about it.  All I know is I have to be in Buenos Aires on March 14, 2011 or I won't be leaving...hmmmm.  Sarah, my favorite and best travel partner, will be in frozen Minnesota and will be missed on this journey.  So, that leaves me to update this blog, wish me luck.  I will try to do it as great stories arise, or when amazing pictures must be shared.

A little story on how I got to Florida.  It all started innocently, my close friend Mari-Lize and I went up to Minneapolis on Friday night for a last night on the town before I left Saturday.  Well, as most people know, a monster blizzard hit Minneapolis about the time we left the bar.  We woke in the morning to snow flying sideways, roads closed and of course the airport closed!  So, there we were stranded in Minneapolis, what a shame!  I finally got out of Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon, headed to a connection in Philly.  We sat on the ground for over an hour because the potable water pump on the plane was frozen - go figure.  Once it was fixed, we could not leave the gate because of snow plowing traffic behind the plane, it never ends!  Finally, we arrive in Philly, only to have to wait for gate B11 to be cleared.  I look at the clock, my connection has already left, awesome!  I go talk to the agent waiting for all the folks that needed help.  He hands me a hotel and meal voucher, I laugh at him, he looks at me a says that this is all they have to offer, I laugh at him again.  The laughing works, he finds out the original flight I was booked on was sitting at the gate with mechanical problems.  "Run fast to gate C24 and you'll make it!"  If anyone has seen me hit a double in softball can see where this is going!  A ran like the wind for the first 500 feet, in my hiking boots and a day pack on my back.  The rest of the way was a stressed lumber, like a lineman running an interception into the endzone.  I made it, and made it to Ft. Lauderdale an hour late, not bad for what I went through!  One last punch in the stomach - my pack didn't make the connection.  Got that the next day, and I am once again wearing clean cloths, maybe for the last time!

So far, it has been a eventful trip, there is no telling what is going to happen next, all I know is that at 8:30 PM EST I will be in Quito, Ecuador.  You will all be missed, even the snow!  Have a safe and happy holiday and keep in touch!!

Love all of you,
Hobbit