Monday, December 15, 2014

We have a departure date!!

[EDIT: We had to change the departure date to July 14... Stephanie (Ben's sister and my one-and-only sister-in-law) is turning the big 3-0 next year and we just learned that we've been invited to a big family gathering in Bat Cave, NC at the River View Cabins  (owned by Ben's parents) in celebration! That'll be happening the weekend of the 12th, and we will come back Monday, and leave for Guayaquil on Tuesday the 14th. We haven't bought our plane tickets yet, but we will soon!

We also decided to hit up Puerto Lopez on the way back to Guayaquil. If Mom and Noah are indeed with us, we can escort them back by bus towards the end of their stay and before they leave we can all do the Isla de la Plata excursion and whale watching, with quite a bit less baggage :-))]

[ORIGINAL POST]

This is kinda huge news.

We leave in less than 7 months!

We haven't made it super public, or purchased any flights yet, but we are 99% sure we'll be leaving for Ecuador on Tuesday, July 7, 2015. We will be flying first class on American Airlines from Orlando via Miami to Guayaquil, spending the night, getting up on Wednesday and taking a bus to Puerto Lopez to whale watch and explore Isla de la Plata on July 8. We will spend the night in Puerto Lopez and return to Guayaquil the next day to sightsee a bit and head to Cuenca by bus on July 10!

We have some more exciting adventures planned between now and then, such as renting out our furnished house, figuring out what to do with our stuff, selling off a bunch of stuff, etc. etc.!!

My mom and her husband Noah want to come visit us and are toying with the idea of coming along for our move.

I've already started my packing list for the trip! We are going to attempt to take one large rolling duffle bag each, plus a carry-on. It is going to be a challenge, but I think we can do it! It will help that first class luggage allowance is 70 lbs per piece, as opposed to 50.

We just got back from a 7-day Western Caribbean Cruise on the Carnival Glory. I'm still in recovery, LOL. No, it was fun, but I am pooped. Back to my regular teaching schedule tomorrow. And here are pics from the trip.

Here's my favorite photo from our vacation:
This guy was heavier than he looks!! I almost fell over picking him up!
They like being scratched under the chin.

That's all for now... got a couple transcripts to work on!


Caitlin