April 2021 to August 2021 - Utah, Fair Oaks, Utah and Ecuador (finally!)

We have been down in Ecuador for 4 weeks now and it has definitely been worth the wait.  We first started planning coming here in 2010 when Merritt started researching places for our planned early retirement.    We have been having a great time as you can see from this photo of Merritt doing some cannoning in Baños de Agua Santa. 

But before we get carried away with Ecuador we need to go back and do some updates from April when we returned to Salt Lake City from Mexico.

We got back to Salt Lake City just in time for two things.   The first and most important was the baptism of our second oldest granddaughter Mary.   Due to COVID her baptism was a bit different but actually it allowed her parents to organize the meeting just for her which was nice.  It was also nice to be the grandparents and be able to just sit back and enjoy the occasion.   Here she is, quite the jewel isn't she?

The second thing we were able to do was get vaccinated for COVID.  This sure made us feel better about spending extended time with Heather's father, Ted, in California.

We originally only planned to be in California for a few weeks and then head to Ecuador but when it became apparent that Ted was needing more help than usual we decided to postpone our trip for a few months so we could help organize (along with Heather's sisters) his move to an assisted living facility in Draper Utah.   

While we where there we enjoyed being able to attend church back in the same building that we both grew up attending.

Ted as been like  second father to Merritt and we enjoyed being able to help him out now that he is nearly 90.   He is an amazing man who lived through WW II as a young boy in the Netherlands then immigrated to the USA in time to serve in the Korean War.  He met Heather's mom when he was still planning to build a cabin in the mountains and spend all his time huntin' and fishin'.   All we can say, and he agrees, marrying Emma was the best decision of his life.  

Here is Ted in his younger days.  I am sure his Dutch relatives couldn't believe he had gone to the US and become a cowboy, just like in the movies. 

Nowadays he spends less time on a horse and more time playing dominos!  Speaking of which we enjoyed playing with him nearly every night. 

While we were there in Fair Oaks we heard about a super bloom of lupin flowers near Folsom Lake which was just a few miles away.  We went early in the morning to avoid the crowds and met even people who had driven up from as far away as the Bay Area to see it for themselves.  It certainly was beautiful.

Also Merritt got to get in a lot of tennis with his tennis buddy Vince and others.

He also did a lot of bike riding sometimes on his own, sometimes with his brother-in-law Brian and sometimes with his siblings.

We went for walks together nearly every morning often finding ourselves down by the Old Fair Oaks bridge. 

Before he left for Utah we had to make one last trip down to the American River with Ted.

Moving Ted's things and some of our own things was a bit of a process and we were grateful that Sloane and Mike came out from Boston to help us.   On June 21st we got the old U-Haul loaded up and off we went to Utah. 

The next 3 weeks were kind of a blur but the first thing we did was to go and see our newest granddaughter Golda.  She is pretty perfect! 

After that we focused on getting Ted situated into his new apartment and even got in some domino games to make sure he felt at home.

We had a chance to meet up in Provo with some of our friends from the Balkans.

While we were in Utah we got to attend Golda's blessing.  Jon and Lochlan are awesome parents who are thoughtful enough to coordinate their dress to match their daughters name. (we must have been thinking they were going to name her Violet). 

Because we delayed our trip Merritt was able to attend the Durtschi Family Reunion in Teton Valley, Idaho for all the decedents of his maternal grandparents.   Heather stayed home to rest but two of our daughters families also made the trip.  Here is Madison and her oldest, Holland, at the sand dunes outside of St. Anthony, Idaho.

And here is the whole crew of four of Merritt's siblings and their kids/grandkids that made the trip.   The next day, at the official re-union  there were about 200 in attendance. 

Nothing like running down a sand dune to make you feel young again!   It helps if you can stay on your feet! 

Merritt got back from Idaho just in time to pack for Ecuador, a hop to Dallas, then a skip to Miami, and a jump to Quito and then a bus ride to Baños de Agua Santa over a two day period found us in a magical valley surrounded by water falls and great little restaurants where we could relax and play cards and eat magnificent hamburgers. 

After we got a bit recovered from our travel Merritt signed up to go ziplining and cannoning.  The ziplining took about 2 hours to complete 6 runs.  Photos don't do ziplining justice so click here for a video from the last run.   The next day he did cannoning which was even more fun.  Here Merritt is at the bottom of one of the waterfalls they descended on ropes.

 Click here for a video of how Merritt got to the bottom of these falls.

From Baños de Agua Santa we took a 4 hour bus ride to Tena and then a taxi to the Banana Lodge on the banks of the Misahualli River which is one of the headwaters for the Amazon.  We took a fascinating all day tour down the river where we got to see how the indigenous people who have lived here for centuries live.  They still mine gold from the banks of this river (especially after storms that bring more gold down from the mountains). 

The next day we went back into Tena and set up a rafting trip on the Jutan Yuca River.  It was a lot of fun even though we did get soaked going through the rapids. 

After 10 days in the mountains and the jungle we took a 7 hour bus ride to Cuenca where we plan to stay until we leave for the Galapagos and then Quito in early October.

One of the first things we did here was to get our hair cut.   Back in 1999 we were on a train in the south of Thailand and Heather saw some female Buddhist monks who had shaved their heads.  Ever since then she has been wanting to try that look.  We decided now would be a good time to do it.  If she doesn't like it, it will have a chance to grow out before we head back to the states.  It turns out Heather really likes it! 

Cuenca is a beautiful colonial city built by the Spanish upon ancient Incan ruins.  One of the most beautiful buildings is the New Cathedral that was started in 1885 and only completed in 1975.  The domes are covered with ceramic tiles that were manufactured in the Czech Republic.   

We always like to try new things when we travel.   Merritt was talking to a shop keeper when this man with his goats came through the market place.  The shop keeper said he was selling fresh (and we mean very fresh) goat milk and that we should give it a try.  Merritt was game and reported it was nice and warm and sweet.  

We are very grateful for the fact that our children as self sufficient enough to allow us to run off and be irresponsible grandparents during this time in our life.  We were also very fortunate that through proper financial planning that we were able to retire early so that we could be spending each making that day the BEST DAY POSSIBLE.  

About three months ago we got involved in a new program to assist missionaries in Lagos, Nigeria.  We will make a post about that in the near future.