Oh my poor, poor blog.  I did start a post in May about my vivacious Grandmother, and never finished it.  What happened?  Do you care?

May, as previously stated, is horrible for us.  Too many birthdays (4 in my immediate family), anniversaries, graduations, piano recitals, ballet recitals, Mothers' day, etc.

June we decided to move up our long awaited trip to Ecuador.  Which meant I had to get all my shit together to apply for the Academy of Veterinary Dentistry before we left.  That ate up every spare moment of my free time.  I was relieved to get it done!  Mixed messages so far from the Academy while my application is being evaluated.

The last week of June/ first week of July we went to Ecuador.  We were interested in Ecuador as a potential place to retire, maybe even early.  I didn't even know anyone who'd been there when we planned our trip.  Finally in May I met a former Ecuadorian (gone for 20 years) and a few days before leaving, I met a client who went there 2 years ago for a birding trip and was very enthusiastic.

Here's some photos - Anna and I on the top of Mount Cojitambo.

Anna with a large meal.  This one was expensive -- around $5.  Most of the traditional large lunches were around $2.

 Anna and Colin on Cotopaxi, overlooking Quito, the capital of Ecuador.

 Amazing tropical fruits in Ecuador!  Here, Colin poses with a bunch of bananas.

 Me on top of a cathedral in Quito.

 Colin with a hearty lunch - rice, fries/chips, steak, fried egg.  Also came with salad and avocado.

 Mi amor, with his Panama hat.  Panama hats are actually made in Ecuador of local materials.  It's a misnomer.

Ecuador was wonderful.  The weather in the mountains was in the 50s to 70s, as it is year round.  In Texas they suffered a heat wave after we left (108!).  Ecuador is cheap, and friendly.  But it is not Nirvana.  We loved it, and we want to explore more.  More of Ecuador and more of other parts of the globe.   To be continued....