Selling Our Cars Until the Countdown

SELLING OUR CARS

We're "car guys." We like cars, we know cars, and we've owned many, many cars over the years.  Small cars, large cars, luxury cars, SUVs, pick up trucks - you name it, we've probably owned it.

We just sold our 2007 Mini Cooper and 2011 Subaru Outback. For the last week, we have been using a rental car from Hertz. We have a 2015 Chevrolet Impala. It has been a great road car. We drove it from Richmond, Virginia to Atlanta, Georgia dealing with Sonny's pet visa paperwork. We turn the rental car in today at 3 o'clock.

At this point, we do not plan on purchasing a car in Ecuador. We live very close to bus routes in Cuenca, and the city is very mass transit friendly. Taxis are very cheap as well. We live within walking distance to a lot of shopping; therefore, owning a car does not make a lot of sense right now. Eventually, I'm sure we will want a car to do some exploring around Ecuador.  Automobiles are very expensive in Ecuador - almost double what you would pay for a car here in the United States. For the most part, the cars and trucks on the road in Ecuador are newer. When I was living in Poland, there were a lot of antiques on the road!

We do plan on buying bicycles once we arrive in country. And I am thinking about possibly buying a Vespa motor scooter. 

Our building has a secure parking deck, so we will park any bicycles, Vespas, or automobiles there. 

THE COUNTDOWN IS ON!

Well, almost 24 hours from now, we will be heading to the Charlotte airport to begin our journey. A friend of ours is driving his pick-up truck to Charlotte to transport us, Sonny, and our 14 pieces of luggage to the airport.  Pictures will follow.

As luck would have it, the east coast of the United States is socked into cold, cold weather. The good news is: there is no additional snow or ice in the forecast. As a result, we are hopefull that there will be no flight delays or cancellations. We fly from Charlotte to Miami. Our layover in Miami is about 3 1/2 hours. Then we board the 4 1/2 hour night flight into Guayaquil. We get into Ecuador at about midnight. We will be staying at a bed-and-breakfast across the street from the airport. On Sunday afternoon, we will make the 4 hour trip through the mountains from Guayaquil to Cuenca. We have hired a private van and driver for that trip. 

This morning we began the medication for altitude sickness. We start that 24 hours in advance, and take it for two days. Guayaquil is at low altitude; however, Cuenca is at about 8,400 feet. 

Next post will be the progress of our trip!