Ecuador Day 46

Alright, here we are today.

We had agreed with the Schinnerers to have Luis, a local driver who has taken us a few places, pick us up at 8 am to be on our way to Cotopaxi., an active volcano about 2 hours away from Quito. We enjoyed the drive there, watching the scenery and talking with Jim, Robin, and Pablo.

Once we got to the entrance of Cotopaxi, a man stopped us and let us know that he would be our guide, that is for $25. Oh, and yes, a guide was required for us to pass onto the next part. A little ways up the road, we stopped to go to the bathroom at a clearing where locals had set up booths, others were working on a building, and the military was standing guard. Once we returned from the bathroom, our guide let us know that for some reason he did not share, he would not be able to continue with us. Instead a woman got into the car with us to continue on as our "guide." Her job entailed sitting in the front seat, chatting with our driver, and occasionally (and by occasionally, I mean about 5 times the entire trip up and back-- 45 minutes each way) give us a little tidbit about the land.

The drive was beautiful. When we got to a parking lot clearing at the base of the volcano, we were instructed that we would need to walk to an overlook, a ways up the mountain. The guide told us it was a 45 minute walk. Seeing all the people ahead of us wearing fancy shoes and carrying poles to help them walk, we figured we might be in over our heads. I asked the guide if we might need some equipment, and she said no, the only thing that is required is "an active lifestyle" or something of the sort. Oh, geez. Let's keep in mind that at this point, we were 15,000 feet above sea-level. So, we thought, "why the heck not? We'll just walk until we are tired, no pressure, and then turn around when we are ready."

I am pleased to report that we made it to the edge of the parking lot before we all made an unanimous decision that turning back was a really good idea. Not only was it freezing to death, but the wind was blowing, and we were winded at the end of the "hike" to the edge of the lot. Don't worry, we did step off the lot, just so we could say that we made it up the trail a ways. Haha. All of our kids were crying because they were cold and we knew it was likely not a good idea to continue when everyone else going by was in full snow gear-pants, hats, boots, gloves, scarves, etc. Yeah. Not prepared in the clothing department. We took a few pictures and then ran back to the safety and warmth of the van.

On our way back, we had Luis take us to a local restaurant. He picked a place called "Cafe de la Vaca" (the Cow's Cafe). It was a really fun little place, decorated in every place possible with cow themes. The food was also quite good. Hallie picked a hot dog again and this time it came as large as her head. And that was on the kid's menu! Pictures below.

We got home about 5 pm and didn't do much else before it was time to get the kids in bed. We had a really fun time today and it was especially nice to be out and about on a little "field trip."
 

Some scenery on the way to Cotopaxi.

Once inside the National Park, we came across this "river" (as the guide called it), which luckily was no match for our van. It was just funny that they have it named and call it a river, when it clearly looks like a small stream or runoff--and there is no bridge in order to cross. You just drive on through.

On a similar note, we stopped at one point at this "lake." It is also named Something Lake, but it in fact resembles a swamp. It is at most a foot deep...if that.

It was pretty amazing to see all the clouds around us as we climbed higher and higher up the mountain.

And...we made it! Well, we made it out of the parking lot. Don't we all look freezing? Check out Hallie in the front-- she was making it clear that she wasn't warm.

She was so cold in fact, that she insisted that the guide carry her back down to the car. Oh poor woman.

Some scenery from where we were. It was cool to see all the different ways the lava had marked the land during the various times the volcano has erupted.

Our view of Cotopaxi from the parking lot trail. You can't see the top very well because the clouds and fog were too thick.

At the Cafe de la Vaca. I told you-- cow everything. I spared you a picture of the toilets, though they were decorated like cows too, just in case you wondered.

Luis and Jace. Luis kept Jace entertained while we were waiting for our food. They were quite the funny pair.

Hallie and her thousand pound hot-dog. Can you see the excitement on that girl's face?!

Whoa. I'll let you guess how much she actually ate (hint: very little)

A view from outside. Fun little place. If you ever find yourself in Ecuador and on your way to or from Cotopaxi, this is a good little place to stop for some grub.

An update on our decree. Still NOTHING. Can you believe it? I can't. Oh wait, I can. That is just the pattern of things here. It is frustrating to say the least. I did finally get a hold of MJ today, who said that she would go to the court house in the morning to see about it. Well, we really need to have it by tomorrow, as Devin needs to take a copy with him back home for insurance purposes. We already added Flor to the insurance through Devin's work website, but after we submitted it, the site said that we would need to submit a copy of the decree within two weeks or the addition would be denied. Great, just great. Since he leaves on Monday, we need that decree tomorrow. Any prayers you might want to offer on that note would be lovely. So, we are again behind what we were told we would be. MJ told us that we would have the decree by Tuesday, the latest Wednesday. We will be lucky to have it Friday. See why Flor and I might just be here forever? Yeah. Fun times.