Greetings from Baños, Ecuador

Tomorrow marks our 6-month anniversary which is fitting as we are officially on our Honeymoon - ¨Luna del Miel¨. We left LAX November 1st after calling at midnight to verify what time our 6 AM flight was exactly and having them say that Jeff was on the 12:20 AM flight whereas Liz was on the 6:05AM. Needless to say after spending 2 hours getting to John´s place from the I-10 around the Sunset parade there was no way he´d make the flight... fortunately they fixed it without too much yelling! Poor John waited for us to arrive late October 31st and then took us to the airport with about 4 hours sleep - thanks Bro!

The flights to Ecuador were fine and we arrived Thursday evening at 6:30 PM to a wet and 60 degree Quito. We hailed a cab which we later found out was lucky as Thursday was the start of a 4-day national holiday. The explanation - Ecuador has no government so everyone get´s a break - maybe my Spanish isn´t that good, but everything has been closed and the streets full of people having fun.

Thursday night we spent in the old part of town. Friday morning we woke up and because Jeff really wanted to ride the hairy, scary train - El Nariz del Diablo - we hopped on a bus for Riobamba. With all the holiday traffic it took us 8 hours instead of 4 to get there and then it was still rainy. This morning we checked out the local Saturday markets and then decided to skip riding on top of the train in the rain and clouds (not to mention we heard it probably wouldn´t be running anyway - the train runs 3 times a week, Wed., Fri., and Sun. only) and head to Banos (on Maaike´s recommendation) and camp out next to the active volcano.

We arrived to a sunny, warm Banos around 3 PM and were lucky to find a hotel downtown. We love it and have been shopping and look forward to the street parties tonight.

Oh and I forgot to mention the ride from Quito to Riobamba - 8 hours with no pit stop. This time Jeff had to pee really bad, but fortunately we were sitting in the last row and next to the window. Having just finished a bag of Ruffles, he checked it for holes and then filled it. It wasn´t too loud with the rattling bus and kids screaming, but still a little embarrassing. So then Jeff opens the window and chucks it out without realizing a car was trying to pass us on the left shoulder with his windows down! The guy cruised up next to bus, screaming and wet and yelling but fortunately the road narrowed again and we cut him off! Jeff's still laughing thinking about it. Ironically I begged the bus driver to stop so we could use the bathroom 2 hours in and we kept driving for another 6 - not sure how most people handle that situation!

Back to checking out the town. Hope all is well with you guys - Love Liz and Jeff