REMINDER: If
you are interested in getting the Blogs via email, simply send me an email to aljbourassa@gmail.com and I will add
you to a special list in my Blog settings that appears to work, yippeee. I won’t do that without your permission, and
THANK YOU all for your patience and support.
******
Sunday June 10, 2018
Is ANYBODY getting this Blog in their email??? Everybody I have checked with so far says NO, which is upsetting... Google, please fix this!
I had not heard from my old dancing afficionado from many moons ago,
Bonnie Macklin, and it was her birthday today. She had had a very bad accident last year and had been in hospital so she had not responded to my last messages. I found her Facebook page to check on her only to find out that she had sadly passed away last December. Bonnie was one of the most positive people I had ever met and we always had good times together, especially dancing. RIP Bonnie.
Remember that on Tuesday the Adventure Team unanimously voted on my suggestion to ride to El Pan today and I will bet that they are all super happy that they did. This morning, around 9:30, 5 bikes, 6 riders, plus 4 more in a car headed out. It was a wonderful sunny/cloudy day and we made it quickly to
El Pan, north of Paute in record time. I honestly thought that it was a lot farther. I made my usual complaint that we go on nice rides but don't stop to smell the flowers, enjoy the views, and take some spectacular photos. We corrected that on the way back.
El Pan is a small town in a lovely valley that almost always seems sunny and green, I think it is heaven.
Pierino’s Mom, who looks young enough to be his sister, was one of those in the car and she bought everybody a wonderful chicken dinner. I had had my heart set on the pork "chancho" that was cooking as well but it was nowhere near ready. The chicken was one of the best I have ever had in Ecuador.
I have an altimeter app on my phone and I wish that I had consulted it a few times just to see how high we were. We took a side trip up a steep mountainside and went to a small town where it felt like we were on top of the Andes once again. There was much going on up there with many tents cooking chickens and guinea pig (cuy).
Somewhere along the return trip I got strafed within a few feet by a large buzzard and my camera was not ready, .. darn.. and they were never close enough again to get a decent shot. The zoom on the Sony leaves a lot to be desired however I am not unhappy with today's shots.
Country living in Ecuador is very simple, and it always does my heart good to see children playing simple games, and even riding horses.
I actually went to Church twice today, for about 6 seconds each time, but the big guy knows I don't need a building to talk to him, or yell at him..., or thank him for my blessings. He knows me pretty good and has a wicked sense of humour where I am concerned.
Again I had had a sleepless night so the riding quickly tired me. I estimate the riding time at roughly 2.5 hrs, with stop time totaling almost another 4 hours, and I am just bagged... I don't know how I ever kidded myself into contemplating riding Buzzer all the way to Tulua... totally a stupid idea of a brainless old man, I guess.
Anyway, It was a heavenly trip today, and THANK YOU to to the Adventure Team folks for all the fun we have had over the years. Greatly appreciated.
I hope you enjoy the pictures. That was the day’s excitement.
Al
******
© All my work is COPYRIGHT protected and may
not be used in any way without purchase, or without my permission.
If you want to borrow a picture to share with family and friends, Facebook
or whatever, at least PLEASE give me credit for the photo.
NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.
 |
| A lovely morning as I await the group to depart Cuenca |
 |
| I could easily live in El Pan, I love this place |
 |
| This restaurant has always served excellent food. Buzzer is waiting. |
 |
| The other bikes are lined up in front of the park |
 |
| Pierino's wife Isabel and his Mom |
 |
| The group today, less Mom and me |
 |
| Love this lady and her cute boy |
 |
| Center of the park |
 |
| Interior of the church |
 |
| Waiting for lunch |
 |
| Enjoying the views from the back of the restaurant |
 |
| Superb valley |
 |
| Picturesque, warm and inviting |
 |
| What a great day to be in such a place |
 |
| The chickens are almost ready |
 |
| Nice stained glass |
 |
| The whole town is well kept. |
 |
| The chancho is being stirred with a huge ladel |
 |
| I took a few bites first... sorry |
 |
| Leaving El Pan. LOVE this view |
 |
| As I said, I could easily live in this idyllic spot |
 |
| We have the big church in town, where we were |
 |
| And there is this other white church down the hill, not far away |
 |
| I love being high up in the Andes |
 |
| We had to coax them to come back for pictures |
 |
| The youngster on the horse was enjoying the ride |
 |
| Simple country life... love it! |
 |
| A very distant view of that valley |
 |
| The weather was wonderful all day |
 |
| Making our way back to Cuenca, slowly |
 |
| This is what the day was all about... Heaven! (That's me..) |
 |
| Edging our way along the mighty Paute river |
 |
| Another group stop |
 |
| I am going to miss these rides |
 |
| Heading back south |
 |
| Who can ever get tired of these views? |
 |
| The Paute River empties into the Amazon |
 |
| This is before we went up the mountainside behind me |
 |
| Yes, we are pretty high up.... |
 |
| Sorry, don't know the name of the town |
 |
| Sunday mass was well attended |
 |
| I guess I am not a flatlander from Saskatchewan any more |
 |
| A composite of 2 photos I stitched together |
 |
| This was one of them |
 |
| Kid having simple fun |
