As we boarded the plane, the graphic of our flight path was displayed. It seems that Quito is pretty much due south of Miami! It's been said that world powers reside will always reside within the 38th & 40th parallels, and quite frankly it's a welcome relief to be leaving behind Washington politics.
As the plan approaches the thin red line, also known as equator, we will soon calibrate ourselves to latitude 0. Changes in latitude, changes in attitude they say!
Landing at 1400 gives us plenty of time to clear customs. We are progressing rather nicely until the bags are sent through the final contraband x-ray. While the exit is within meters and within site, we now get a bit of impromptu luggage search. The bag in question was stuffed with 15 pounds of 700 Crayola crayons and 500 pencils. It seems that the customs is sensitive to items that will potentially need to pay duty. Nonetheless, our "Pack for Purpose" items are quickly dismissed.
Our 3 full sized suitcases stuff the subcompact taxi we hire to tack us to Freedom Bike Rental. The taxi literally bounces it's way down the curvy valley. At one point, the "rear bonnet" bounces open nearly sending Bruce's helmet down the road too. Freedom Bike Rental moved since last time we were here, and a few more wrong turns, and we have arrived.
Our rental doesn't start until tomorrow, but we are able to pick up the bikes this evening. Begin relocating the rather large amounts of cripity crap from our over sized suitcases, into the very petite Altrider Hemisphere saddle bags. We head off to dinner as Bruce's F800 gets a brand new rear tire. By 2100, the welcome comfort of the Marriott. In Quito, they have a congestion reduction policy. The last digit of the license plate indicates the day of the week that your vehicle can't be driven before 0930. It seems the "mighty" DR200 day is Friday, so we will get a late start.
As the plan approaches the thin red line, also known as equator, we will soon calibrate ourselves to latitude 0. Changes in latitude, changes in attitude they say!
Landing at 1400 gives us plenty of time to clear customs. We are progressing rather nicely until the bags are sent through the final contraband x-ray. While the exit is within meters and within site, we now get a bit of impromptu luggage search. The bag in question was stuffed with 15 pounds of 700 Crayola crayons and 500 pencils. It seems that the customs is sensitive to items that will potentially need to pay duty. Nonetheless, our "Pack for Purpose" items are quickly dismissed.
Our 3 full sized suitcases stuff the subcompact taxi we hire to tack us to Freedom Bike Rental. The taxi literally bounces it's way down the curvy valley. At one point, the "rear bonnet" bounces open nearly sending Bruce's helmet down the road too. Freedom Bike Rental moved since last time we were here, and a few more wrong turns, and we have arrived.
Our rental doesn't start until tomorrow, but we are able to pick up the bikes this evening. Begin relocating the rather large amounts of cripity crap from our over sized suitcases, into the very petite Altrider Hemisphere saddle bags. We head off to dinner as Bruce's F800 gets a brand new rear tire. By 2100, the welcome comfort of the Marriott. In Quito, they have a congestion reduction policy. The last digit of the license plate indicates the day of the week that your vehicle can't be driven before 0930. It seems the "mighty" DR200 day is Friday, so we will get a late start.