Our home is in a small community. Most people / taxi drivers don't even know it exists. Taxi drivers will comment when they come into our gated community and say it is "Muy bonito". Our little enclave is built along a river named "Rio Tomebamba", it is one of the four rivers that run through Cuenca. The community is a lovely place to live and we can stroll to the river in about 6 -7 minutes from our front door.
Michael has always been interested in fly fishing so he ordered fly fishing gear from Orvis and had it delivered to his Mom's home in Florida. When we came back from the States after the holidays, we brought our new fly fishing gear home with us.
Michael has gone out to the river several times to practice casting. He doesn't really care if he catches a fish, he is out there standing on the bank of a beautiful river, fishing. How cool is that?
We went fishing together one Saturday morning, and found a place that was suitable for casting the poles, so we fished.
Our plan is to go to the Caja's National Park next week and try our hand at more fishing. The Caja's are beautiful, so even if we don't catch a thing, it will be a great day trip.
A THOUGHT ABOUT SOMETHING I MISS:
I don't know why, but the other day I decided that I miss driving a car. I really, really don't miss sitting in rush hour traffic on the Interstate, or trying to negotiate snowy, icy streets. I just miss driving.
Specifically, I miss the first warm weeks of spring in the midwest, when you start driving with the windows all the way down. No more warming up the car on cold winter mornings. The time before the approaching Summer months when you have to blast the A/C.
For those few weeks in April and May, you get to feel the breeze in your hair and play the stereo a little louder. I miss that.
Since we have been married we have owned two pick-up trucks, a Dodge Dakota and a Chevy S10, a Honda Accord that my mom gave to us, a Ford Focus Wagon, a Honda Element, a 1994 Harley Davidson Heritage Softtail, and a 1972 Volkswagon Westfalia Camper. I miss them.
You COULD NOT pay us to drive in Cuenca. The traffic is crazy, it reminds me of what the wild west might have been like. If there is no oncoming traffic, even the bus drivers will make a left on red, and when the light is green, whoever gets to the intersection first, does what ever they want, U-turns, lefts, rights, whatever, and they had better do it fast or the guy behind them BLARES the horn.
There are lanes painted on the streets, but like stop signs and stop lights, they are really simply suggestions.
Life in Cuenca means taking buses, cabs or walking. All are OK. The buses cost a quarter, and once you know your way around, you can get to most of places you need to go to. Cabs are inexpensive and most of the drivers want to help you learn Spanish, or want to practice their English, and walking is great for our health.
I just miss driving sometimes.
Michael has always been interested in fly fishing so he ordered fly fishing gear from Orvis and had it delivered to his Mom's home in Florida. When we came back from the States after the holidays, we brought our new fly fishing gear home with us.
Michael has gone out to the river several times to practice casting. He doesn't really care if he catches a fish, he is out there standing on the bank of a beautiful river, fishing. How cool is that?
We went fishing together one Saturday morning, and found a place that was suitable for casting the poles, so we fished.
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| Rio Tomebamba |
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| Michael in action fly fishing |
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| Me getting ready to make my first fly fishing cast. Michael chose to stand on a huge rock, and suggested that I stand on an area on the shore where I could cast into a moving pool of water. I threw a few casts out, lost two lures on rocks and trees (fly fishing means you have to be able to whip the line around, and this place is loaded with Eucalyptus trees). Suddenly I felt a tug on my line, OMG, I had a fish. I got excited and shouted to Michael, he started calling out helpful stuff to me as he came over to my fishing spot. "Hold the pole up, be gentle, keep pulling the line in". We got a fish. It was a rainbow trout from the cool, sparkling waters that flow down from the Caja Mountains. It wasn't huge, but we had a nice lunch that day. |
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| My Rainbow Trout |
Our plan is to go to the Caja's National Park next week and try our hand at more fishing. The Caja's are beautiful, so even if we don't catch a thing, it will be a great day trip.
A THOUGHT ABOUT SOMETHING I MISS:
I don't know why, but the other day I decided that I miss driving a car. I really, really don't miss sitting in rush hour traffic on the Interstate, or trying to negotiate snowy, icy streets. I just miss driving.
Specifically, I miss the first warm weeks of spring in the midwest, when you start driving with the windows all the way down. No more warming up the car on cold winter mornings. The time before the approaching Summer months when you have to blast the A/C.
For those few weeks in April and May, you get to feel the breeze in your hair and play the stereo a little louder. I miss that.
Since we have been married we have owned two pick-up trucks, a Dodge Dakota and a Chevy S10, a Honda Accord that my mom gave to us, a Ford Focus Wagon, a Honda Element, a 1994 Harley Davidson Heritage Softtail, and a 1972 Volkswagon Westfalia Camper. I miss them.
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| The Harley that we spent many wonderful afternoon and evening rides on. It also took us to two Harley Davidson Anniversary Celebrations, the 95th, and the 100th. |
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| Our Honda Element that we took to go camping and kayaking at Paradis Marin in Quebec 7 times. |
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| Our Westafalia. It cracked us up when we drove around in it, kids that were not even born until the 90's would be giving us the "peace" sign as we drove by. It was definitely a Greatful Dead Bus. |
You COULD NOT pay us to drive in Cuenca. The traffic is crazy, it reminds me of what the wild west might have been like. If there is no oncoming traffic, even the bus drivers will make a left on red, and when the light is green, whoever gets to the intersection first, does what ever they want, U-turns, lefts, rights, whatever, and they had better do it fast or the guy behind them BLARES the horn.
There are lanes painted on the streets, but like stop signs and stop lights, they are really simply suggestions.
Life in Cuenca means taking buses, cabs or walking. All are OK. The buses cost a quarter, and once you know your way around, you can get to most of places you need to go to. Cabs are inexpensive and most of the drivers want to help you learn Spanish, or want to practice their English, and walking is great for our health.
I just miss driving sometimes.
1 comment:
How are you liking Cuenca? What kinds of jobs are there? My wife and I are considering a move to anywhere outside of the USA. We are both in our early 30ies.
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