Souvenir Photo Studio, by Al Bourassa: Thursday February 9, 2017 Herederos

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Thursday February 9, 2017

One year ago today our dear Mother passed away just short of her 100th Birthday. I was fortunate to be with her the week before her demise and miss our regular conversations. She was a tough old lady who was the matriarch to her children to the end. RIP Yvonne and say hello to Dad Horace and Stepdad Lou.

Early in the morning Gustavo picked up Cristina and I, and we headed to the Hosteria Duran in Banos to enjoy the hotsprings pool, steam room and the sunshine. Swimming has been recommended to the 3 of us for our different ailments, so we had to give it a try. It was $7 to get in ($3.50 for old farts like me) plus we had to buy a beanie to wear over our hair for another $1.30 each. I tried to keep in motion the whole time especially to exercise my neck and shoulders, then enjoyed the nice steam before returning to the pool for a bit. Then relaxing and suntanning on the chaise lounges capped off the morning.

Then we all had a fish'n'chips craving so we got to the Crossroads Restaurant just as it was opening. The service there is slow but the fish'n'chips are worth the wait, and are the best I've had here, ...plus they are only $5.50. Then it was definitely nap time.

I jumped on Buzzer to join the Herederos at the Puente Roto at night. The nearby Broken Bridge Tavern was hopping with their Blues Night and the Broken Bridge itself was playing host to a few groups this night. There was a small Harley group and one fellow had a very impressive bike with very long and low lake pipes. I fear that he must scrape them quite often, especially on the speed bumps.

Then there was a very large bicycle group milling around the center. And a television crew were interviewing all the groups, including ours. I think they said that we would be shown on several venues, including FaceBook.

Then we got rolling East, past Capulispamba to the Hosteria Villa Ana Maria. I have seen this impressive new place several times in my travels but this was my first stop there. They have many separate cooking, drinking, and eating areas and the staff was super attentive and accommodating, truly unusual for Ecuador, and most spoke a little English. The food was also top-notch so I hope to back there sometime soon. I am positive that they had been warned to expect our group so they had a lot of staff on duty.

The group was enjoying the atmosphere and having desserts, etc, but I was feeling a little sore from the long day so I just headed back on my own. I switched over to the Autopista at Ucubamba to get away from the 2-lane Panamerica with the oncoming traffic glare. The Autopista is also a lot smoother and safer for night driving.

Then I still had to walk the dogs before I could call it a day.

I hope you enjoy the photos. That was the day's excitement. Cheers, Al