WE MADE IT

We did it . We arrived in Cuenca Ecuador on my birthday. I have to say we had a lot of help along the way. First, I must thank Sabrina with out whose help we would not have been able to accomplish this move and begin our adventure. We tried to pack and store and eliminate during the heat of the summer. It just was not possible to make much headway with temperatures running over 100 degrees and our home did not have any air conditioning.As the departure date moved closer, Sabrina stepped right in as it was very clear there was just too much left to do.She stayed with Sharyl and oranized the packing until it was done.

                                                           This

                                                      Became This

                                                           This

                                                     Became This

                             I was really afraid that we would not make it
                                                    BUT WE DID

We then began to pack the items we wanted to take with us. The airline will allow 5 pieces of luggage each. The boxes must be a certain size and weight. We packed to the max. Our two cats counted a a piece of luggage each so Sharyl and I were now limited to only 4 each. We would pack, weigh, unpack substitute weigh again until we felt we had what we wanted and really needed  and headed for the airport in Phoenix. We left from Phoenix as the airline had another restriction we had to consider. They will only allow animals to fly a total of 12 hours. The only flight permitting that time frame was from Phoenix to Guayaquil 11.5 hours. So off we went. The next hurdle was to be customs in Ecuador. Much to my surprise and great relief, they did not look in ANY box. We sailed right thru to meet our driver Patricio,who was to take us to Cuenca 3 hours away.

                                              Arriving in Ecuador
                                                          with
                                                Our worldly goods

                                          And our two precious kitties
                             They were not happy cooped up for 15 hours

We are now ensconced in our temporary apartment while we look for more permanent accommodations.