4 Jan All good travels begin at oh-dark-thirty and this time it was even darker than usual with us leaving home at 0300 so we could drop our car at Bob's and catch a taxi to SeaTac for the 0620 Continental flight. After stops in Houston and Panama City, we arrived in Quito in the dark
(photo above was taken at another time) only to have another 1 1/2 hour wait in line to get through Immigration. We never saw the guy who supposedly was there with a sign to pick us up so we haggled a still-overpriced cab fare to get to the hotel in the Mariscal Sucre district on our own. The Hostal Fuente de Piedra looked really nice with exposed wood and stucco, and the staff spoke enough English to get us into a room where we crashed for some much needed sleep.
5 Jan We had breakfast (eggs, etc, included) in the courtyard with other members of our group and then Kevin and Juan showed up and we walked down into "gringolandia" (the Mariscal) to the Magic Bean for jugos (juices) and batidos (like a smoothy w/o ice) and some information about what we could do in the city today. C.J. and I returned to the hotel then walked the six blocks or so to El Parque Ejido for the weekend crafts market where the rest of the group had migrated to as well. On the way back we wandered down Avenue Amazonas and stopped at a Gothic-like church where a wedding was in progress before returning to the hostal. Around 1800 Kevin, Juan and Julian drove us to a crepes and waffle place (decidedly non-traditional) for dinner. Back in our room we repacked for flying tomorrow on the way to Ibarra.
6 Jan The last two of our party to get toQuito, Nona and Steve, showed up at breakfast and shortly thereafter we started loading a small Mercedes Sprinter bus with our wings, and Juan's Land Rover with our other luggage. Heading north out of the city, we turned left up a cobblestone then dirt road to a high (13,000 ft) ridge with an antenna farm. The conditions appeared perfect for flying but Juan's wife, Carrie, down at the LZ was having difficulties with the landowner. An alternative LZ was available but Kevin was understandably reluctant to send us off to a less than optimum landing field on our first day and at unusually high altitude.
We drove down and did the tourist thing of visiting Mitad al Mundo, a site containing a large monument marking the equator, as well as shops, restaurants and other buildings (photo above). From there we backtracked a ways, dropped off Carrie, and I got to ride with Juan for the rest of the day. We got on the Pan-American Highway, descended into the Guayallbamba River gorge and then continued up and over several ridges on a tollroad until we reached a viewpoint above Lago San Pablo near Otavalo. After a short rest stop we descended to the lake and a resort restaurant, Puerto Lago, for lunch. C.J. and I had some of the local soups, and a plato tipico Otavaleno, all very good. Skirting Otavalo, we went through Ibarra and around Lago Yahuarcocha (busy on Epiphany weekend) to our lodging at Rancho Totoral. After checking in, and noting the wind was wrong for flying, we went to see the official LZ and also looked at the golf course for a possible landing area. Dinner around 1930 was excellent with pollo mignon and trucha con hierbas followed by a scoop each of mora (blackberry) and guanabana (like soursop) helados de paila, excellent ice cream/sorbet.
7 Jan We got up for an early breakfast and an early start up to the highest launch, El Bestial, above
a lower launch, Yuracrucito, which itself was above a statue of San Miguel, patron saint of Ibarra. When we reached the last turnoff onto a steep, narrow road we got out of the bus and walked the quarter mile or so to the launch at 10,400 ft. The wind was NE which was over the back of the ridge unless you cared to launch into a deep, steep canyon. After an hour or more we walked and drove back down stopping at La Estrelita, a resort/restaurant high on the mountain with a possible launch nearby. Reaching the lake level again, we stopped at Rancho Totoral to pick up lunch and Kerry, a student of Kevin and the final member of our group to arrive. Then we drove up to the Aloburo launch where the wind was blowing W, straight in (!) even though the higher clouds were clearly still moving from the NE over the ridgetop behind us. Since conditions looked so good no one rushed to launch and we waited for our guide Julian to go first. He took off and sank out pretty quickly in what appeared to be turbulent conditions, not even making it to the LZ. Shortly afterwards the wind crossed and then blew down and we all re-boarded the bus and headed back to the hotel. Since it was reasonably early we cleaned up and headed for the famous crafts market at Otavalo, about an hour away. It covered the whole Plaza de Ponchos and was filled with stalls of weavings, sweaters, shawls, hammocks, hats and souvenirs. We had a blast bargaining with the short, round-faced Quechua girls in indigenous dress ending up with a shirt and panama hat for me and scarves, alpaca shawls, embroidered blouses, a sweater and pants for C.J. As the market was closing down we bought
a street empanada (deep-fried dough filled with cheese) and then got back on the bus with our loot. A 13-yr-old Otavalena joined us on the bus, sang a few songs and offered scarves and woven belts to buy, then got off at the tollbooth at the edge of town. Back at the Rancho we all showed up for dinner wearing some of our new clothing and had another great meal, this time pollo mignon champinons and trucha con (garlic) and a dessert made of condensed milk and eggs, sort of a dry custard.8 Jan Tues We tried El Bestial again. This time we drove all the way up and the wind was right but the clouds obscured the route to the lake LZ. Juan was geared up and on launch, but as the clouds cleared the wind started blowing down. I tried kiting on the NE facing slope and, once, when I had my wing up over head, a burro at the farm just below brayed loudly in alarm. Probably a good thing or I might have considered launching into the deep canyon. We drove down once again, picked up sandwiches at RT and headed right up Aloburo. Launch was in the sun and cycles were mostly "up". We ate lunch first and Steve launched and I followed him, then C.J. Our first flights in Ecuador! No one else launched and, except for C.J., we had sledders even though I went to the left to fly over the plateau with the almost-obscured ruins.
When the Land Rover arrived with Barbara on the roof we were packed up and relaxing in the shade. Barb, Karen and Kerry stayed to kite in the LZ while we went back to the cabin to rest and wash out some clothes. At 1615 we headed back up to Aloburo to try to catch a glassoff. Two pilots got off but then it blew down strongly and we gave it up for the day. For dinner we drove in to Ibarra and ate at a deli-restaurant not far from the main plaza. I withdrew $200 from an ATM, not knowing when we might have another chance. C.J. and I shared a "pizzette" and a very Euro-looking plate of thin slices of dried ham (Serranon?) with cheese, olives, salami, pickles and toasted baguette slices with a grande cerveza.
9 Jan Wed We were up at 0430 for the long bus trip to a launch in the Rio Choto area. Ir was drizzling when we left and we had low clouds, more drizzle, showers and sunshine but no flying. The route took us north on the Pan Americana into to lower elevation Rio Chota valley then west through El Angel and farther with roads going from paved to cobblestone to dirt to two-tracks with some deep mud bogs. The bus got stuck once but we pushed it
free and drove to within a quarter mile of the summit. It was barely misting but we were well and truly in a cloud with no way to see the LZ in the valley below. There were possible launch sites facing at least three directions with almost no wind to make one a better choice than another. The story was that we had to fly before 1100 when the valley heated up and conditions became too strong. 1100 came and went while we waited in the cloud. Finally the valley began to clear and launchable wind blew up from the E, the direction most directly towards the LZ. We had our guides (Kevin's partners Juan and Julian) and a couple more locals
but no one wanted to be first off the hill especially as the wind got stronger. So we ended up carrying our gear a mile or so back to the bus (C.J. was fortunate that Julian carried her gear.) There was a lot of concern about getting through the mud but our driver, Enrique, did a great job and we slithered through easily. Back in the valley bottom we found the road to the LZ blocked by national police due to some kind of riot - it was lucky that no one had launched and found found themselves in that mess! We got back around 1600 and had another great dinner at RT. Now there was only one more possible day for flying in the Andes.10 Jan Thu WE had to leave today to get to the hot springs at Papallacta, but the conditions finally looked good for flying. We went up to Aloburo and almost everyone got off for a sledder after the valley fog lifted. We packed up quickly and the bus arrived soon after and we went back up (seeing Nona and Steve launch as we were on our way). I went first on this round finding lift right out in front and climbing to the top of the ridge. then I headed left and flew through sink crossing a canyon to the plateau with the ruins where I thermaled up and drifted back. Continuing to the left around the lake, I reached the statue of San Miguel and
shot a couple of photos. Then I turned out and headed for the lake and followed
the shoreline above the totora reeds to the LZ for about a 24 min flight. C.J. landed shortly afterward, and Kevin and Julian. Back at RT we finished packing, had lunch and checked out, but didn't leave until 1500 or so. We drove through Cayambe and El Quinche and up over a 4000 m pass (unfortunately invisible in the dark) to Papallacta (pah pah JAK ta) and Termas, a definitely upscale hot springs resort. We bathed in the three thermal pools right outside our cabin then went in to dinner at 2100 (beef w/pineapple, pork w/ fettuccine and pesto, pisco sour and beer).11 Jan Fri WE had set the alarm for 0630 and dragged ourselves out into the cold so we could use the pools before breakfast and departure. After quick soak in the cabin-side pool we wrapped up in our towels and fleece and walked out to the balneario where there were many more pools on a hillside.
The uppermost pool was adjacent to a rushing mountain stream and, if you were that kind of person, you could alternate between the hot water of the pool and the freezing water of the stream. After breakfast in the hotel restaurant, where I found out that an Ecuadorian tortilla is an omelet, we headed back over the 4000 m pass in sunshine and down the winding roads towards the coast. As we passed into the cloud forest it became overcast and we had a few sprinkles of rain. We stopped for lunch just outside of Santo Domingo los Colorados at a big roadside cafeteria with surprisingly good food and a garden of flowers, geese and peacocks. Santo Domingo seemed to be a pretty gritty place with the only sights of interest being the "no-tell motels" with high walls and 24-hour service. The rest of the trip was a long grind (10 hrs total) in the rain on bad roads ( there was concern that it was late enough that we might miss the last Bahia de Caraquez ferry, so we went around on the Canoa side of the river/inlet). We got to Hosteria Canoa around 1730 and then went into town for dinner at the Bambu, outside dining at tables lighted with conch shells. The rain had stopped and it was plenty warm enough.12 Jan Sat The bus left early in the morning with Juan to keep Enrique company on the long drive, and we went in to breakfast at the Bambu in the Land Rover. I think C.J. and I walked back to the hotel along the beach after breakfast. Then we loaded the wings on the Land Rover and went down the road to a closed beach restaurant/LZ for a briefing by Kevin. A bit farther down the road, past a shrimp farm (major export in Ecuador, right up there with bananas), we turned onto a dirt road and Julian drove the gear to the top
(alt: 150 m). I helped unload then looked at the light wind and decided it was doable. I launched and went R (downwind) to a set of cliffs and climbed slowly above launch. I flew back over launch to let people know it was soarable, then tried seeing how far I could go to the S across a small gap. It was a lot of fun and not "boring soaring" at all. When C.J. and Karen had been in the air for a while and conditions were still good, I talked them into trying to fly back to our hotel which wasn't too far to the N but 
there was a major gap. (photo above shows
the ridge and the gap to the N) We made it across most of the gap (and small river!) and landed on the beach behind the Coconut Bungalows Hotel where we bought drinks and relaxed as first Nona, Steve and then Khadija landed nearby. Since everybody flew, Julian had to walk back up to get the vehicle, Karen and Khadija hitched and walked up also. After Kerry landed (2 hr 45 min) and got his malfunctioning radio off, we had a tailgate picnic and went back up. It was blowing 10-15+ and I thought hard about it but, using A's and C's I was able to do a smooth inflation and got off cleanly. This time there were no thermals I dared to drift back in but there were still plenty of Frigate birds and pelicans. I climbed easily to 300 m and when Karen finally launched, I left for the north. There was some sink in the big gap but I was able to reach the next set of cliffs and find a tandem wing soaring there (Greg Gilliam). I joined him for a while and then headed straight out over the Hosteria Canoa and landed on the beach next to the volleyball court. Karen and C.J. joined me there and later Kevin flew down to the beach in front of the Bambu, the far north end of town, where we met him for dinner.13 Jan Sun It had been raining since 0400 and the unpaved streets in Canoa were a muddy mess when we drove in for breakfast. After breakfast we wandered around the town while others went to check email and such at one of the many little e-cafes. Later we all walked north up the beach trying to get around the headland to the bat cave. No luck, but there was plenty to see on the beach
(Canoa beach panorama)
(snail gliding across water skim)
After a self-catered lunch of cheese, crackers, coconut milk, fruit, chocolate, olives, and stuff back around the hotel pool (too wet to drive up to the launch even though the breeze was straight in on the beach), we went swimming in the 6 ft surf. Great fun in the warm water, but it left me wanting a body board (and C.J. another 8 inches of height). After hanging out in the pool for a while Julian suggested we go look at one launch or another. We drove over to El Nido, the usual Canoa launch and decided that it was too wet to drive on. After some indecision, we decided to carry our wings up (Julian volunteered to take C.J.'s) for what would most likely be a two-minute sledder. I launched first and turned right maintaining and climbing. When I turned back, I was over the ridge. Karen, C.J. and Kerry launched and we all soared for a while going north and south a ways. I came close to toplanding but Julian said he did not want to fly my wing so after 40 min or so I landed with Kerry near the Cielo de Pacifico restaurant (closed) and Karen and C.J. followed shortly. Nona and Steve weren't around and Khadija had opted not to carry her wing up to launch. After quick showers we went back to the Bambu for ceviche pescado, camarron al ajillo and a Hippy (coffee-flavored liquor shake) for dessert.
14 Jan Mon Raining again this morning! (Well, it is the beginning of the rainy season after all, so it should be no surprise. but Kevin says it's very unusual. Typically, he says, the group flies every day; we've had only 4 flying days so far.) We ate breakfast under the thatched roof of the Bambu where we/Kevin decided to leave a day early for Crucita. Back at the Hosteria we packed up and I discovered that I had tweaked my back at some point so I took a couple of Alleve and rested until 1300 when we loaded up Juan's Land Rover (Juan is still in Quito for a wedding and his anniversary) and a rented pickup truck with driver. We had to wait an hour-and-a-half for the ferry to Bahia and then had had lunch at Dona Luca's so we did not get to Crucita until after 1730.
We went right up to launch (through the gate with list of all the personas non gratas) where it was blowing in pretty lightly and the tide was high leaving the landing option somewhat limited. Down in Crucita on the waterfront, we checked in to the Hostal Casa Grande and had a light dinner. Crucita is a larger town than Canoa and most of the streets are paved, but the hotel did not have hot water for showers (and the electricity went off during the night shutting down the fan).
(C.J. and Karen over launch with Crucita behind)
15 Jan Tues We could hear the rain when it started early in the morning. We had the "Americano" breakfast and the rain gradually tapered off. I walked north along the water front about a mile to the fish processing shed which were the gathering place for a cloud of birds hoping to pick up the scraps. C.J. was napping because we are both suffering the effects of a cold which has swept through the clients on the trip. Around 1100 we were on our way back up to launch where it was blowing in lightly. I launched and sank out to the beach below but Julian came down quickly and brought me back up. C.J. and Kerry launched, sank out and got rides back up. then the velocity picked up a little and Karen, C.J., Nona and Steve launched followed by me. I went L and kept going past the "stilt house" on the ridge to about 3.67 km from launch at a cliff face with a road above, "the spoon". I soared there for a while then tried going farther S but after .5 km, I was sinking and had to return low and work back up. Heading N after about a half-hour, I tried to get to the launch high enough to do a toplanding but I ended up on the beach instead with Karen coming in 5-10 min later. We got a ride back up and hung out at the restaurant above launch for a while. Around 1700 C.J. and I walked down to the hostal, where the electricity was on again and rested until dinnertime. Juan and Khadija had bought some chicken soup makings, had the hotel kitchen staff prepare it, and we had that for dinner along with a beet salad and bread. We were pretty tired and went off to bed at 2000.
16 Jan Wed I had a bad night with congestion and a fever but we got up at the usual time and had breakfast, bought another 5L bottle of waterand went up to launch. There was some blue sky but the wind was light. A local PG launched and sank out. Juan launched later, went down the ridge and landed. Julian gave it a try and made it back to the beach below launch to land. Before he did, I was in the air and thinking light thoughts to try to stay up. I slowly gained and went south beyond the spoon but again got low and had to return. I got up again and went back to launch where I had to work down in order to top land just inside the back fence. C.J.
had launched after me and continued flying for over three hours. A while later I launched again but not before getting dragged on launch when I tried to tease out a tangle before getting the wing overhead. After brushing myself off, I managed a good launch and went S to the spoon where it now was easy to get over 300 m (whereas, earlier getting over 200 m was a big deal). Reaching 355 m, I pulled on 1/2 speedbar and went south all the way to the end of the ridge - the last .5 km being very slow. I was down to 190 m when I turned back and zoomed at 35 kph back to the higher ridge. (photo, left, shows the view at Crucita to the south)I worked a while and got to 416 m and headed out over the ocean in front of town planning to land on the beach in fron tof the hotel. The wind had picked up still more as evidenced by the wind lines and whitecaps forming. C.J. was doing the same thing, as was Steve. We all kept upwind of the Malecon, waterfront boulevard and landed on the narrow beach facing out towards the water. We walked the short distance to the hotel and sat down on the patio for a beer with Steve and Nona. When everyone had returned to the hotel we folded our wings up for travel in the wind shadow behind the restaurant and put them in the Land Rover. We gathered again around 1915, settled our tabs with the restaurant and walked to the Hostal Voladores, the Luis' and Raoul's Flyers' Hotel, for dinner (fish,of course). Back in our room I took 3 IB hoping to get a better night's sleep. It worked for me but not for C.J.17 Jan Thu The Land Rover headed for Quito around 0430 and our taxi-bus arrived at 0530. We drove in the dark arriving just about sunrise at the small but modern Manta airport. The flight to Quito was only 30 min (8 hrs by road!) and a bus driver met us with a "Levin Lee" sign. While waiting for Khadija to try to change her tickets I got $400 out of an ATM for Kevin, then we were taken back to the Fuente de Piedra and checked into the same room we had before.
Our long delayed breakfast was at the Magic Bean. C.J. felt dizzy and couldn't finsh her pancake (but no one could finish the huge pancakes). After breakfast we wandered along Ave JL Mera and stopped in the Galleria Latina to see some high-end crafts. More appropriately we found some 7 for a dollar postcards and a t-shirt at Hyla Camisetas, a t-shirt shop. Back at the hotel C.J. restred for a while, then at 1400 Kevin took us by Taxi to the Basilica (ca 1926) where, after touring the inside, we climbed up into the 
belfry, crossed the space above the nave on a Balrog bridge, and climbed again up into the steeple. We skipped lunch and took a taxi back to the hotel where C.J. rested again. At 1730 the bus picked us up and we drove in heavy traffic by circuitous routes to 
Mucki's a special restaurant belonging to a friend of Juan. The food was excellent - Argentinian beef, lamb chops, salad, vegetables, all tastily prepared. Now that the rush hour was over, it only took 20 minutes to get back to the hotel. So by 2245 we were saying goodbye to the rest of the group who were heading back to the states early the next morning.18 Jan Fri Sleeping in (until 0730) felt like a luxury and so did the hot shower. After breakfast we walked around the block to the Hotel Sierra Madre to find out when we could check in (Fuente de Piedra had made reservations for us early on when they had no room for us on the 18, 19, and 20th). They were really helpful and said we could move in anytime, but when we went back to Fuente, they asked why we were leaving. Apparently now they had room. Go figure. So we stayed in the same room for a reasonable price which we put on the credit card. After settling back in we walked to a nearby bank and used the ATM to get $500 mostly to pay the balance to Kevin. After finishing our financial dealings with Kevin we went down to Ave 6 Dec and bought a 10 ride bus ticket at the Ecovia station. The bus ride to old town was simple - we got off at La Marin and walked uphill to Plaza Grande passing lots of little food stalls and cheap businesses. The plaza was quiet but
later, while we were touring the Cathedral, we could hear music and amplified voices and firecrackers (surely not gunfire!) emanating from a large demonstration in front of the government building. There were lots of police and soldiers around; it was interesting that some of the police had swords. We went first to La Compania (the church of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits) which had been restored not too long ago to its gold-encrusted splendor, lots of gold leaf everywhere. Then we toured the Cathedral (photo, left, the Cathedral) and its religious art and paraphernalia museums. We got back to the plaza just as the demonstration was breaking up so we rested on a bench for a while then went looking for the post office with no luck. We caught our bus back to the hotel but this time it was really crowded and we barely squeezed on and we had to wriggle our way off at the bus stop. Back at the hotel restaurant we shared the almuerzo, the fixed price lunch, along with all the meat we had brought back from Mucki's in our styrofoam doggy bag. We took a rest in the room and then went down to gringolandia to the post office to get postcard stamps. Later we went out again to get an ice cream cone at Los Alpes and we also toured a Super-Maxi supermarket to see what was different from the US .19 Jan Sat We ate breakfast a bit later than usual and walked to the weekend artisan market in El Parque Ejido. It was still setting up so there were few artworks displayed along the sidewalks and the stalls were still being stocked. Nevertheless, C.J. found the tablerunner she was looking for and a couple of woven belts as we made two circuits through the market. Next we crossed the Ave 6 Dec to the Museo de la Cultura of the Nacional Banco Central del Ecuador. The first floor had well-displayed pre-Spanish artifacts including a special section on gold. We spent less time on the second floor with its colonial displays, and even
less on the era of nationalism (and totally skipped the contemporary art). We went back to the market and made one more circuit and C.J. couldn't resist one more pair of pants. Tired by now, we walked back to the hotel for another almuerzo of legume soup, pork, mora jugo and a light strawberry (frutillo) pudding. We rested, read and coughed for a while then decided that we had to have a colorful hammock so at 1630 we went back to the market and looked through a bunch of stalls until we found the style and color we wanted. Walking back along Ave. Amazonas we stopped at a mall built on a spiral plan, then we took another route back to the hotel. We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant but it didn't seem as good as the lunches we had had there. Oh well. (Actually, I thought my churrasco was pretty good)20 Jan Sun After breakfast I tried to check online for our flight with no luck and had to have the girl at the desk help me do it by telephone (Later we found out that COPA does not require its passenger to reconfirm reservations.) While I was there I asked for a taxi at 0430 and a wakeup call at 0400. Then we took the bus to
the old town again, walked up through the Plaza Grande and on to the church of La Merced where we tried to follow the mass in Spanish for a while. We moved along to the church and monastery of San Francisco and picked up mass about where we had left it at La Merced. When we left we continued S on Garcia Moreno to the Museo de la Ciudad which is in a restored colonial-era hospital with well-done exhibits (photo, left, shows the Virgin of Quito above the domed roof of the museum) . Finally finding an exit we emerged from the museum and headed east on the colonial-era Calle Ronda then turned north on Guayquil. We found the Lonely Planet-recommended Heladeria San Agustin and had a couple of scoops of tropical fruit ice cream. Almost directly across the street we stopped at a stand that was selling freshly-made donuts so we were well-fortified for the rest of the walk. Leaving Old Town, we reached Parque Alameda but 
there were no boats in the tiny lakes, the observatory was being renovated and the spiral ramp to a viewpoint was closed off (photo, left, shows the Bolivar monument in the park). We detoured a bit to the east to see the frieze on the Legislative Building, and then walked through Parque El Ejido where a storyteller was amusing a crowd, and returned home to the hotel just before a rainshower hit. *Last day jinx hits again* After resting a while and packing our bags, we decided to got to dinner. The hotel restaurant was closed and the receptionist suggested finding a restaurant down in the Mariscal. We asked if it would be safe and she said it would be okay if we weren't out too late - like 2200. We looked through the guidebook and picked out a few possibilities and then settled on La Canoa when we came to it. Food and service were good and we finally got to try the fritada (fried pork) and encebollado (tuna soup with yucca and onions). On the way back, on a deserted, but well-lit street only two blocks from Ave 6 Dec I was accosted by a dark-skinned man in dark clothing who grappled with me and finally tore off my velcro-belted belt pack and ran towards Ave 6 Dec where he disappeared. C.J. had bashed him over the bead a couple of times with her water bottle but I didn't even bother chasing him since he had gotten only the belt pack and our Lonely Planet guidebook. We hope that his fellows laugh him out of the Muggers Guild. A local hotel owner and a tourist from Sweden came out and made sure we were alright and called the police. They were very clear that Sundays were a bad time to walk around the Mariscal: many of the shops were closed and there were few private security guards around. The police didn't show up even after the hotel owner called them again so we left our hotel name and walked back to our hotel. We didn't hear anything more about it but we told the receptionist and hope that she gives better advice to hotel guests after this.21 Jan Mon The travel alarm woke me at 0330 (but the 0400 wakeup call did not materialize) to catch the taxi to the airport at 0430. We got there plenty early and a porter took our baggage to the fron tof the check-in line (not really necessary but it wasn't clear how to get to the counter). After handing over our baggage and getting our boarding passes, we had to pay the departure tax of $40.80 each (!). We got to keep our water bottles, and since we had no foreign currency to get rid of, we didn't feel a need to buy any duty-free stuff. Approaching Panama City, we had a good view of the Canal and the city. We lost our water bottles at the gate before boarding for Houston. Entry and customs at Houston was just a formality and we were in Seattle pretty much on time at 1730 PST (2030 Quito time). We had a great view of Rainier, Adams and St. Helens as we flew north of them near sunset. Bob picked us up as soon as we recovered all of our baggage. Another memorable trip!
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