We did look at several condos in this exact complex with Debra, but, we did not see the one we wanted to call home. All the units are mostly the same 3 bedroom 2 ½ bath layout, however this particular one had been purchased and refurbished. Professionally painted, new hardwood flooring, new appliances and refaced cabinets throughout. The  on-line photos looked very promising, but, you know, I really did not even feel like going to look at it. I was sick of looking at condos that we really didn’t even plan to buy in the immediate future and really just wanted to find an internet coffee shop and kill time until we had to head to the airport. Tod was insistent and unhappily I conceded, but, only because (believe it or not) the only Starbucks we found was inside a Target store and did not open until 10:00 am. Who in the bloody hell EVER heard of a Starbucks (or any coffee shop for that matter) not opening until 10:00 am? That is just a ludicrously tasteless joke I tell you!

So that morning instead of a coffee shop we ended up back at Charlotte Harbor looking at a condo on Melbourne Street.

As it turned out, I was very happy that Starbucks was closed that Valentine’s Day and also that Tod insisted on going to see yet one more dang condo before we left Florida.

We ended up spending the drive to the airport and the flight home discussing the last two condos we had toured. Believe it or not we were deep in thought and seriously contemplating the purchase of a retirement home in Florida. It was crazy to both of us because at the beginning of this trip we were really planning just to check out Punta Gorda and see if this was even an area we would like to someday retire in. Now here we were seriously considering purchasing a home. Of the last two places we toured, each had great although different things to offer.

Burnt Store Marina had the boat slips almost right outside your door. I had lived in a marina before and it is a fun and relaxing lifestyle. Burnt Store also had a golf course, the whole boating community atmosphere and some fun little stores and restaurants. The idea of having a boat-slip practically right outside your door almost made this a done deal, but, then we had to come to reality with the smaller, older condo. Even if we gutted the entire inside, it would not change the low ceilings and the limited living and closet space. Also, Burnt Store was at the top of our budget, therefore left little room for the much desired remodeling project. One other thing about Burnt Store was the location being over 12 miles away from all the cool downtown attractions. 12-miles doesn’t sound like much to most people, but, it was 12 miles on an old 2-lane country road and really, we both wanted to be able to walk and / or bike to shops, restaurants, music in the park, the used book store and just the entertainment district in general.

Charlotte Harbor had the location location location! And, it was even bigger than we needed with 3 bedrooms,  2 ½ baths. Add in that it had a great little gym, an awesome pool area and the best part is that it had been completely remodeled and other than a few kitchen supplies, was move in ready. We both really liked the idea of walking 1 1/2 miles across the Peace River bridge for lunch or dinner, the farmers market, live music the city marina, or even just to get an ice cream cone. Did I mention that this place was under budget?

Yes, we had much to think about after this Valentine’s Day excursion.

 

 

The following day we had scheduled on our own to see one condo at Burnt Store Marina. We both loved the marina and amenities, unfortunately, the condo was way too small and old for my taste. When I say small, the current owners had their kayaks stored in the dining room. The storage and closet space was minimal although the general layout was nice. Still, we really did have to consider this one because the marina was so amazing and the idea of having the boat docked literally outside your door was extremely appealing.

Touring the marina, I found the “Ms Cheryl” and took a picture for my friend Cheryl. (She wanted to know if it came with a cabin boy. I told her, “Yes, it comes with a full crew willing to do whatever is needed to make you happy!” Cheryl liked that. Who wouldn’t?)

The Marina is so dang cool. There is an 18-hole golf course, 2 restaurants, a yacht club, a small grocery / ice cream store. The best part is the fact that you can leave the harbor and head starboard to a protected cove and sale to Punta Gorda for dinner or supplies or set a course heading to the port side and sail into the Gulf of Mexico! This place is amazing for golfers and sailors!

We hung out at the Marina Restaurant and walked the piers just taking it all in. I Love the water – well really we both do.

Burnt Store Marina is under STRONG consideration for a retirement home.

We spent a grueling day looking at condos in the Punta Gorda / Port Charlotte area with Debra, our new best friend Realtor. I scheduled to look at 6 condos in 2 different complexes, but, Debra had other plans and we must have toured well over a dozen.

The condos near Burn Store Marina were beautiful, only a few years old and really nice closet space and an attached garage. The problem them, other than they were a little small (which I did not mind), was that they were in the middle of a field with no place to go. True, they were only about a mile or two from Burnt Store Marina, but, other than that, it was a 12-mile drive on an old, two lane country road to get to anything of interest or necessities. Neither of us wanted that – I want coffee shops, restaurants, beaches, music in the park and Tod wants little pubs and anything that makes me happy. (And seriously that’s the way it should be.) We both privately knew that as soon as we saw the location we still viewed at least 8 condos in this complex. Mostly they were the exact same layout, just decorated slightly different – God it was so very tedious after the first 2 or 3. I thought the day would never end.

Next we moved on to the Charlotte Harbor condos. These were in a great location with great amenities, including a pool, hot tub, putting green, community room and covered parking. This place was originally built as a vacation resort, but never took off so they started selling off and/or renting out the units. These were a little bigger than we needed but the price was right and it was a relatively new complex. Again however, we viewed way too many and most had been rentals or repos and needed some extra special TLC which was more than I was willing to take on remotely.  We did see one partially renovated unit that we both really liked so the day was not a total loss.  There was an end in sight of this marathon condo search (beware, of realtors who don’t let go of you once they have you captive). What could be better at the end of a grueling day then a drink at the Celtic Ray owned and operated by Ray from Dublin, Ireland.

Warning: Be very careful when you ask an Irishman for a shot of whiskey. 

One great thing about living in the Dallas Fort Worth area is the easy access to direct flights all around the US. We flew direct  into Fort Myers airport, (this trip is a breeze!) and drove about 45 minutes to Punta Gorda. The hotel recommended Harpoon Harry’s for “linner as my daughter-in-law Heidi would say” lunch/dinner because of the view of the water. You get into Harpoon Harry’s by walking through sort of an indoor/outdoor walking mall filled with tourist shops that carried all sorts of nautical trinkets and beach gear along with an ice cream / popcorn / candy shop (which yes, we did stop at on the way out.)

Tod got a little nervous when we passed by a drop off spot and everyone getting “dropped off” sported a walker or was with someone sporting a walker. He looked at me so serious and said, “I don’t think I’m ready for this lifestyle.” Of course I burst out laughing inappropriately at him and just said, “Come on, lets go to Harpoon Harry’s.”

The view was awesome from the dining deck and we talked about how much fun it would be to ride up in the boat, tie up and come in for lunch. I thought about all that while enjoying the view and the smell of the salty ocean mixed with the smell of food cooking. So far, it was all fun, although a little bit of a challenge to find anything on the menu that didn’t contain meat, cheese, or greasy fried food, but, I made it work and we did have a lot of fun just being on the ocean. The location and view were both great and the ambiance perfect so that made up for the menu. Well, right up until they served my drink in a plastic cup (I hate drinking out of a plastic cup!) I guess you can’t have everything.

I’m not really sure why Tod took a picture of the front of the menu, but, I think maybe it’s because he likes pirates or at least the idea of pirates sailing the seas in search of treasure.

I made Tod go stand near the bar so I could get a picture of the barrel hanging from the ceiling. Notice he is sort of grimacing at me?  Obviously he didn’t want to do it, but, he did humor me. (Tod is a good husband.)

We drove all over Punta Gorda that afternoon / evening and realized we loved the small town harbor side atmosphere of Punta Gorda and the neighboring city of Port Charlotte.   In the early evening there was a band playing in an outside stage at the beach. You had to love it, every Thursday night there is music in the park. The retired band members were between the ages of 65 – 90. They were having a great time playing for everyone. I wish we would have gotten a picture of them to show you but maybe next trip. We REALLY need to be near the water when we retire.

Tomorrow we are looking forward to what will prove to be a grueling day of Condo shopping. I scheduled to see 6 in 2 separate complexes and we ended up seeing about a dozen! Insane because remember, we are really only checking out the area and getting a feel for property values (and right up until I broke my hand, hoping to play in the ocean and maybe a swim with the dolphins!)

 

How did I get from Valentine’s Day in Florida to Dogs and Bunnies? Well Read on, I’ll tell you.

The good news is, the bunny got away safe and sound. The bad news is, I chipped my tooth, bruised my ribs and broke my hand. Although I didn’t know that part yet, I just knew it hurt and I could not move it much or hold the leash with that hand.

About a week and half before the Florida trip (February 2^nd I believe), Tod flew out early in the morning for LA so Indy and I went walking alone. The first half of the route went well and by wrapping the leash around my hips, I could control Indy’s rambunctious energy. The second part was not so smooth. Indy saw a rabbit, I didn’t. He took off and the next thing I knew I was flying slow motion through the air, face first headed for the sidewalk. All I could think of was oh God, not my teeth! There was not a damn thing I could do to protect myself or break the face first crash landing.  A few hours later (5-hours) I thought I maybe broke my little finger and should go get it checked out.

Here is a photo of the temporary cast – quite unattractive and clumsy, but, it did protect my hand, which I suppose is the entire point of a cast. (Just remind yourself of that when you have to wear such a hideous thing!) So much for a romantic Valentine’s Day in Florida. This cast will stay on for a week. Arrggg….

Here is a picture of the flowers Indy sent me – notice his photo on the card.

This is my hand after taking the temporary cast off – looks like hell but really it didn’t hurt, well, except when the Doctor messed with it, which of course Doctors like to do.

 Ouch, looks like it should hurt. Really it doesn’t.

Here is my new cast – I like that I could pick out a color to match my purse – very cool except a few weeks later when I had to go to some formal dinners… I guess a black cast would have been more appropriate but it definitely would not have been as much fun.

The new cast will be my armor and protector for the next 3-weeks.

It is annoying, hard to type, hard to button anything, challenging to take a shower, open a jar or wash dishes, next to impossible to peel carrots,  and overall just plain old clumsy.  I cannot tell you how many times I clunked myself in the head or face before I got used to it. Next post, I really will get into the Florida story (which actually is the point of this post.)

I wanted to give you an update of our Valentine’s Day adventure in Florida. This trip materialized because Tod and I like to have some romantic adventure for Valentine’s Day. Someday, I will tell you about the year he bought me an exotic “frog” yes a FROG, named prince, but, that story is for another day. You all know we went to Ecuador to investigate retirement possibilities. When we returned we knew we would love to go back for vacation but Ecuador was just not right for what we wanted for a permanent retirement residence.

You know Tod, he started talking about the Azores for our next adventure in the great search for the perfect retirement location. To be honest, I did not even know where on this earth the Azores Islands were. Turns out they are located about 600 miles off the shores of Portugal.

I took a deep breath and calmly said, “Honey, what language do they speak there?” Everyone knows I have no aversion to moving half way across the world, but Portuguese? I don’t even know Spanish that well! How on earth am I going to learn Portuguese? I investigated the Azores and Tod was right, these islands sounded amazing and I knew we would Love them. The problem is, the practical side of me (yes I do have one) kept thinking about Tod’s consulting business and how that would require him to be traveling back and forth to the states. (The flights would be grueling if he had to do it on a regular basis not to mention that it would be challenging and expensive for any friends or family to visit us.) Hmmm, we had to come up with an acceptable plan B.

After a few days I said, “What about Florida? It would be easy to get to any major city in the US for work, easy for the kids to visit, golf courses, tropical weather, ocean sailing and beach access. Plus if we had to be someplace in an emergency, we would have quick easy access.” Tod was sold on that idea and ready to go to Florida the next weekend. He said, “I always wanted to checkout Punta Gorda” (I had never heard of it, big surprise. Not!) Tod continued, “That town has been on my radar since 1998.”

I said, “How about for Valentine’s Day weekend? We can have a get-away romantic weekend, play in the ocean, checkout the beaches and the town to see if it is anyplace we think we would like to retire.” That was it, the flights were scheduled and we were adding Florida to the list of potential retirement communities.

Tod started checking out real estate and wanted to checkout properties and Marinas, you know, just to get an idea of the market. The next thing I knew, we contacted a realtor about some listings he found and scheduled a full day of condo shopping on Friday February 12. And somewhere during all this, Tod found a few places on craigslist for sale by owner, so we scheduled to see one on Saturday in Burnt Store Marina and one on Sunday before we headed back to Dallas. (I don’t want to spend the entire trip checking out real estate – I want to swim in the ocean!)

 

 

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 720 times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 12 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” ~ Michael Althsuler

I am saddened and elated to be writing the last post for our Ecuadorian honeymoon retreat. I am sad mostly because I had so much fun taking all of you with us on this trip and now we are at the end of this adventure together. I am elated to be writing the last post because it was just time for this story to come to an end. Although the trip was wonderful and more than we could have even imagined, I think we were both ready to get back to our new life together and see where it will take us. (You never really know when you get up in the morning what will happen and I just love that part about life!)

The trip went by so quickly but we made use of every moment of every day and other than a few scheduling conflicts I would not have changed a thing. But, for now it is time to say goodbye to Ecuador.

When we went outside at 3:50 AM to wait for our cab, he was already there, sound asleep in his cab. I had to knock on the window to wake him up. He seemed quite embarrassed but who knows what time he got there so he wouldn’t be late. He loaded our bags and we waved goodbye to the security guard in the shack and off we went on the first leg of our journey home. I can’t wait until I have something else to tell you all about but until then, take care, thanks for sharing our travels, we enjoyed telling you all about it!

“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.” ~ G. K. Chesterton

OK, well this doesn’t make any sense at all, but, our last day in Ecuador was a 3 mile hike to Ecuador’s one and only Harley shop which just happens to be located in Quito. We were not looking for a Harley shop in Ecuador (we do not own a Harley or any motorcycle for that matter), but, we drove past it a few times during our travels around Quito, so we decided we really needed to go there. If you had asked me, even 2 months ago, I can assure you that a Harley shopping trip was by no means what I had planned for my birthday or for our last day in Ecuador. It just turns out that it was our only free day and we were out of time, it was either go on the 27^th or miss the opportunity.

We wanted to visit this shop simply to purchase a shot glass for Keith and a T-shirt for Tod’s friend Leo who happens to be a die-hard Harley guy. Well, as has been the case for all of our travels in Ecuador, this was truly an experience. It was by far the most extravagant and secured Harley shop I have ever visited and remember I lived and grew up in Wisconsin and have been to several Harley shops all over the U.S. including the Harley Museum in Milwaukee. The entrance was protected by a security guard that signaled someone on the inside to unlock the entry door. The entrance had beautiful wood floors that continued up the steps into the main showroom and store. It was small, but, immaculately clean and extremely tasteful in the décor, including the customer lounge / bar area.

The staff immediately summoned an English speaking person to assist us and answer all our questions. The import tax seems more like a “sin tax” on Harleys and Harley paraphernalia. I am not sure how anyone there could ever hope to afford one. Even the merchandise has a horrible tax imposed. It was all very interesting and I am really glad we made the effort to go there. (We could not even got out of the locked doors without the security guards assistance.) I have never been able to figure out if the crime was so high in Ecuador that they needed such a high level of security enforcement or if the crime was never high because they enforce such high security regulations. Whatever the case, Ecuador always felt safe to me and I never really felt in danger. It was always easy to find a Police Officer to ask for directions. (Isn’t it funny that they have such high security even in grocery stores but for hotel keys they put the room number on one side and the hotel name on the other?)

Photography was not allowed inside the Harley showroom so the photo is from their website.

Not too much exciting the rest of the day except packing up for the trip home – it was a little bit of a challenge because obviously we had more to take home than we had on the way there! We only made it because Tod is an extremely efficient packer and could fit more in an already filled space than I could fit in the same size empty space. (I think it’s a guy thing.)

I have been meaning to ask you, did you ever wonder what happened to all those $1.00 coins they made a few years back? They never were well received in the U.S. and seemed to just disappear after a few years. I found out where they all went. It appears they shipped them all over to Ecuador! They love and use them ALL the time. We got them for change and then keeping with our American instincts, we would try to get rid of them just as quickly as we could at the fruit stands or to pay a taxi driver.

It is nice that Ecuador uses U.S. currency so you do not have to do the “exchange rate” math every time you make a purchase.  They did intermix the Ecuadorian coins with the U.S. coins – mostly fifty cent pieces, quarters and dimes but the bills were all U.S. currency.

Weeks ago we told you about our crazy bus trip to Middle Earth or Mitad del Mundo. We also mentioned that I really wanted to go back to the “new” location, advertised to be the “real” Equator.

Well today was the day and back we went. Our directions were to head past the entrance of Middle Earth and find the dirt road, it would take you right to it. And low and behold it did!

Oh, my, gosh, this place was unbelievable! We had an English speaking guide so could understand everything and ask questions and the best part, we could understand the entire answer! Our guided tour included a discussion of the early inhabitants of Ecuador and some of their habits such as the burial process. The bodies were preserved and placed in a fetal position then buried with worldly possessions to take to the “after” life. If the king of the tribe died, his entire immediate family (wife, children) were knowingly and willingly drugged into a coma state then buried with the deceased king. They would eventually awaken but by then they had already been buried alive. (I am guessing no one wanted to marry a king.) So having no living heirs, a new king would be chosen.

Another interesting thing about early inhabitants is that they did partake in head shrinking. It is a 5 or 7 step process to shrink a head (I can’t remember, I was a little mortified during this part of the tour.) In some cases it was done to enemies and then warn or displayed as a trophy. In other cases it was in honor of deceased royalty or maybe a family member you wanted to honor. It is not really done anymore mostly because it is outlawed in Ecuador. In the 1930s, the Ecuadorian and Peruvian governments made it illegal to sell, own or trade shrunken heads. (Before that you could buy one for about $25.) In the 1940’s, the U.S. followed suit. The sale and purchase were outlawed but it is still taking place in the black market. It is believed that today 80% of shrunken heads on the market are fakes – monkey heads or made from leather. For a period of time the shrunken head trade was a huge business for Ecuador and Peru.

Overall it was very interesting to learn about different Indian tribes and see parts of how they lived and in some cases are still living.  The photo below is of a woman’s house (I cannot remember her name) that lived in this location almost on top of the equator until she died at age 114. It’s her actual house, but, I am sure they refurbished it for tourists. She made Chicha de jora which is basically a corn beer prepared by germinating maize, extracting the malt sugars, boiling the wort, and fermenting it in large vessels, traditionally huge earthenware vats, for several days. Her and her “herd” of Guinea Pigs lived in this house. (Did I mention that Ecuadorians usually keep their Guinea Pigs in the house?).  I guess easier to pluck out of the cage to prepare for dinner.

Finally we were at the exact location of the “real” Middle Earth. This part of the tour was why we were here and as promised, there were several “scientific experiments” that we could take part in. Had the GPS identified the real latitude 0’0’0”? We were about to find out!

One of the experiments was a sink with water and leaves. When the plug is pulled at the center (Equator) line, the water flows straight down – no swirl. When moved 10 feet to the left the water/leaves swirled clockwise – when moved 10 feet to the right, the water/leaves swirled counter clockwise. Another experiment was balancing a raw egg on a nail head – easy at the equator. Other experiments included tests of strength 5 feet off the equator and then exactly on it. It seems that both forces are pulling you when you stand exactly on the equator and it is much more difficult to do simple strength tasks. I could easily pull Tod’s arms down with 2 fingers on the Equator and 5 feet off the Equator I could not do it with 2 hands much less 2 fingers. You have really got to go there and check it out for yourself – it reminds me of a vortex effect.

I am so glad we went back to find this place. I do believe this is the real Equator line in Ecuador and the early French expedition team were really 700 – 820 feet off the mark but again, considering the tools they had to work with I believe they did a remarkable job!

I cannot believe this trip is almost over. The time has gone by so fast and we were having so much fun. Ah well, until the next post, take care. T & M