(June 7 – written by Dave) We’ve had a nice, relaxing day here in Riobamba.  We intentionally didn’t plan any tours, or visits to historical sites.  We slept in, enjoyed the hotel brekkie and moved slow all day – perfect. That’s not to say we didn’t enjoy Riobamba.  Nancy picked up a walking tour map … Continue reading Riobamba, Ecuador

(June 5 – written by Dave) We’ve been chased more dogs in the last two days than in almost forever.  We’d heard that dogs were bad in Ecuador but didn’t really see that many of them north of Quito.  The little blighters have spent that past 48 hours trying to make up for their countrymen … Continue reading A dog’s life – Latacunga to Ambato (50k/15,556k, +1300ft)

(June 4 – written by Dave) Today we rode the Avenue of the Volcanoes – or so it would seem.  We didn’t get any rain but after about the first hour of riding clouds pretty much made seeing any volcanoes unlikely.  We had blue skies for the start of the day but the sun couldn’t … Continue reading Avenue of Clouds –Machachi to Latacunga (53k/15,559k, +2000ft)

(June 3 – written by Nancy) Today we hit the road again after our nice two-week break in Quito.  I had my usual ‘I don’t want to leave’ anxiety – it’s easy to quickly get used to not having to worry about where you are going to sleep, where you will get food and water, … Continue reading Heading south – Quito to Machachi (45k/15,506k, +2000ft)

(May 31 – written by Dave) Greetings from Quito and our week of immersion Spanish.  We are not fluent in Spanish, nor are we effluent (but that’s a whole different story).  But we have actually learned a lot in the first four days of class.  Tomorrow we’ll have our last session and start getting ready … Continue reading Quito views and Spanish class

(May 26 – written by Dave) Ok, ok, no head scratching science in this post, phew. On to the surprises.  The first surprise was Friday morning when we went outside the apartment.  The streets were deserted like a Sunday morning.  We couldn’t figure it out, no people, no taxis, stores shuttered – did we miss … Continue reading Quito surprises

(May 24 – written by Dave) The other day we crossed the equator and it got me thinking back to my grade school days in the northern hemisphere.  Back in grade school we learned that the ocean and wind currents rotated clockwise north of the equator and counter-clockwise south of the equator.  In grade school … Continue reading Spinning in Quito

(May 22 – written by Dave) (Happy one year on the road!  One year ago today, we rolled out of Fairbanks, Alaska, starting this trip) In spite of staying in the same apartment as three Peterson sisters, with their countless degrees, advanced degrees, higher education certificates and frankly, much better writing skills, you are stuck … Continue reading Quito – Changing of the guard and other thoughts