The Vacation Doesn't Begin Until We Get There, Right?

Our trip to Ecuador got off to a rough start today as we faced one difficult situation after another. We arrived in Miami without incident and looked forward to a 4-hour layover before we boarded our flight to Quito, Ecuador. Yet the problems started to appear soon after our arrival (it seems I can never escape from flight problems in my travels) when we found out that our flight, scheduled to leave at 4:15 pm EST, was delayed to 7:25 pm. This was in fact the time we were supposed to arrive in Quito had the original flight gone as planned. So, the family and I decided to grin and bear it and spend a good seven hours meandering around the Miami International Airport. Later, we found that the aircraft we were to board, due to unforeseen maintenance problems, hat not yet left Quito and would not arrive before 10:00 pm the same night.

Since then, we have been provided with a free room in a hotel nearby the airport, ate a free dinner, and are awaiting further news as to when our aircraft will arrive. If we end up leaving tomorrow morning, it will mean that we will miss the first day's events: the guided tour of historic Quito. Yet as long as we arrive in Ecuador sometime soon, and get to eventually board a boat to the Galapagos, I am sure we will still remain in positive spirits.

The best part of this experience so far are the lessons my father is learning. He has never been farther south than Tijuana and - while inexperienced in the areas of international air travel - is coping with the "adventure" better than my mom and I expected.

There is definitely more to come within the next few days. Right now, please keep your hopes up for us as we wait to find out that we will eventually make it to Ecuador...after all, that's when our vacation is supposed to start!