MOVING TO ECUADOR - In Transit to Cuenca - Part 1

Our last day in Oregon will forever be an unforgettable memory.  From 6:30 am up until the last hour, we rushed around moving and storing the last of the furniture, cleaning our now rental house, and trying to cram the last of our packing into 4 already bulging and probably over 50 pounds suitcases.   By 1:30 pm, I knew that we wouldn't be ready for our 3 pm ride to the airport.  Then, just as I was about to take my shower break, the phone call came - a couple who wanted to see our rental, and I heard myself saying, "Come on over and look at it."  Did I just say that?  I did.  So, by 3 pm, our friends were here, our potential renters were here, another friend stopped over to bid us farewell,  Bo was outside boarding up the storage area, suitcases still needed to be packed, the house was still not empty, and I was ready to cry and pass out - seriously.  Obsessive-compulsive neat freaks will relate to what I was going through, because disorganization and seeing a mess makes me shut down, so I can't even function.  AND I was not functioning!

Then came kisses and hugs and calming words from Elizabeth and Ellen, and their ability to take charge and help make the remaining things to be done happen SUDDENLY became a task accomplished, a bit later than planned, but still with enough time to get us to our flight on time.  The "We are going to rent this house" couple left happy (could these people really be our wonderful renters????), Bo finished boarding up our storage area and hurried to clean up and get ready to go, and Ellen and Elizabeth loaded up those heavy suitcases, finally driving us away to the airport.

At check-in, we had to unpack and repack our overweight bags and leave things behind so we wouldn't have to pay the extra $150 overweight charge per bag - and we did it!  We also had a delayed flight so were able to hang a bit with our friends, take some photos, and finally more hugs and kisses goodbye (and tears).  Then we remembered!!  We left a few hundred dollars in the safe, food in the freezer, and several more things that would never have happened had we not been so frazzled and rushed.  I'm thankful I gave our keys to Elizabeth, so they were able to go back to the house and take care of things for us. 

Our red-eye flight was not full so the seat next to me was empty (more favor) and I could curl up and sleep.  We finally both passed out from exhaustion.  We arrived in Tampa on Sunday morning and so enjoyed our two days with our dear family of friends.  We took one day to decompress and visit with Patty and Ella.  Our last night, Bo and I cooked a wonderful Puerto Rican dinner for dear friends who came to feast with us, and we had a wonderful few hours of sharing our faith together and encouraging one another.  By midnight, we hit the sack, ready for another day of travel from Tampa, Florida to Panama City where we would spend the night at our Hilton reservation (or so we thought) before finishing our journey the next morning from Panama City to Guayaquil, Ecuador.