4 DAYS IN A RENTAL CAR ~ DAY 4

Riobamba... nice town. Not as pretty as Cuenca, but it has a nice main drag that has some really nice stores in it..and restaurants.

After we woke up we all met up fo breakfast at a local place we had spotted the nite before. They advertized waffles, pancakes and crepes. We the waffles were much larger in the photo than the 4 inch across ones that were served. The bacon that we paid extra for was maybe one inch across.. Randy was pleased with his microscopic sausage. We all got a kick out of our breakfast as all of our waffles, pancakes and crepes were served with chocolate sauce on it as well.. sigh.. it was tough but we managed to eat our "dessert" for breakfast.

Again we fired up the trusty Garmin and we were off to find our way out of town.. we did it! First try. Well, kind of. The road was being worked on so we were detoured.. The Garmin lady was not pleased.. "In 50 meters make a U turn".. oh shut up... We were all backed up on a dirt road with cars trying to get up a hill that was all muddy.. Mug bogs anyone? We decided that a local in front of us had the right idea as he took a sharp right and headed off in another direction. We followed and found our way around the steep muddy hill , boucing and bumping along the dirt road out to the main paved (thank goodness) road.

Our 4th day was pretty smooth, considering we hit MAJOR fog. So bad that we were creeping along at maybe 15 km. Then we hit some heavy rain, and one of the areas that we came to was awash in mud from the neighborhood next to the highway.. Randy had to come to a stop and slowly cross through the mud river. Once again... I was so taken over by what was happening I forgot to whip out the camera and take a picture.

Flooded road in a town we passed through..

We found a nice restaurant on our way back and had a lunch. (thought not as nice as the one in Puyo). The scenery was nice, the bath room was horrible.. Remember ALWAYS carry kleenex in Ecuador.

We had planned on staying the nite in Paute, as the rental car did not have to be back until noon on Friday.. but we were so tired. We drove staight through to Paute, dropped off one friend, then another in Cuenca and raced home. Off went our shoes. On when the REAL comfy clothes and back into our comfy chairs... ahhh. I love going on a vacation; cause then home feels twice as nice when you return.