Freedom is Comin Soon!

In the last two weeks we have done a lot of soul searching and reprioritzing, if that's a word.  We went with Marcelo to finally see that beautiful property in Tortorillas that we had seen from across the valley.  We started out around 10:30.  We went and looked at another property in Tarqui first.  The guy was asking $30,000 for 6 hectares.  It seems that when the price is too good to be true it is because the land is crap, and sure enough it went along the crown of a hill.  I'm sure the views up there would be stunning, but cutting a road up there and pumping water to the site would be a huge and costly project.  Another one bites the dust.  :(

The Tortorillas property had the same problem.  There is no servicable road.  We had to stop the car about 1/2 a mile away and hoof it in.  The views were spectacular and we were feeling pretty good about it.  We met and talked with the nephew of the owner.  Turns out that another uncle owns 2 hectares smack dab in the middle.  That didn't bother me so much since there were other places to build a house and out buildings.  Two or three actually.  It is really hard to tell where property ends and begins in the mountains, so we really wanted to see a plat map.  The little school down below in the valley was only a 10 min. walk away. 

While dily dalying on the property it started to rain and then turned into a huge thunderstorm with thunder, lightening and a pouring rain.  The kids and I had our raincoats, but Mark and Marcelo only had their shirts.  The rain hit the trail and turned it into a red mudslide that was almost all uphill.  It was quite an adventure for awhile.  Mark and I had to each take a child and help them up the hills.  When we finally got to the car we were sweating, completely drenched from head to toe and full of mud.  It stopped raining when we reached the car.  Go figure, but that is weather for you in Ecuador. 

Hoofing it.

The property is on the other side of that large hill to the
left.

The school down below in that little
cluster of buildings.

The property includes that flat plateau surrounded
by low trees to the right.  We thought that might
be a nice place to build a house.  Here come the clouds.

 

That property is 6 hectares as well and is being offered for $55 we think.  Couldn't get a firm price on it.  So here's when the soul searching began.  Mark really liked it and started thinking of ways we could divide it and split with others.  The price is too high for us, but we do have some other people interested in possibly splitting land with us.  But then there is also the cost of putting in the road and getting the machinery in there.  It started to become very overwhelming for me.  We would be investing ALL of our money in this venture and still not have enough to get the creamery fully up and running.  I kept seeing problem after problem occuring, beginning with the road, and not having the money to get where we want to be.  I've been there before and I didn't want to go back to that place.  Mark had already recognized that in order for us to grow the business enough to meet the demands we would need to take on investors, and that scared the crap out of me as well.  I don't know why I am so freaked out about it, but the idea of involving others in this before it has even taken shape does not feel good to me.  There is the small fact that I have only made a few fresh cheeses and I really have no idea what I'm doing yet.  I had always had the idea to get the goats and begin making small batches of cheese for our family and friends.  THEN, if I enjoyed doing it and IF my cheese was good I would think about making more and selling small batches.  Once this idea of a creamery hit us it was like a freight train that I couldn't catch.  I loved the idea of it, but I didn't know if I really wanted to tie myself down to a business that would need all of my time and energy when I was just starting to get used to the idea of slowing down and enjoying life.  So, I told Mark I didn't want to do it. 

After a lot of round and round, discussion and more discussion we have decided to look for a amall piece of property(one or two hectares) with a small, nice house on it for cheap.  Then we would like to save our money and travel.  We also tossed around the idea of taking yearly sabbaticals in South America and Europe, but even though the kids want to travel that might be hard on them.  Plus, we wouldn't have a car and I really don't want to live in the cities.  So, we decided to buy in Ecuador and use it as our home base.  In the meantime while we save our money we are going to explore Ecuador.  In a couple of weeks we are going to take a week to go to Ingapirca, Latacunga and Ambato, then head to Banos to see the town and Tungurahua.  After that we are going to head to Otavalo and San Pablo del Lago.  We know a woman in Banos and she has invited us to see her property there.  There is also another expat family from Germany and they have a lodge in San Pablo del Lago so we will stop by and say hi to them as well.  We were going to go up last week and tried to rent a car, but the rental companies will only accept a credit card and all we have is a debit car. 

So, instead of a vacation for my birthday we decided to go car shopping.  We spent the day walking the Cuencan automile.  We saw a lot of crap out there for a lot of money.  We were looking specifically for family size SUVs like the larger Chevy Gran Vitara, Mitsubishi Monteros, etc...  They don't call them SUVs though.  They call that size automobile all Jeeps.  We saw a lot of cars with 170,000, 180,000 and 200,000 kilometers for around $17,000 and they all smelled horribly inside.  Finally we found a nice Mitsubishi Montero 4X4 with 70,000 kms on it at a price we could handle.  We took it for a test drive and really liked it.  The kids and I especially loved the sunroof.  So, hopefully tomorrow we will be the proud owners of a shiny, red Mitsubishi Montero.  My friend jokingly asked me if I was 16.  I had to laugh because in the states when we got a new car it was like, okay we've got a new car.  But, I am so excited to have some wheels so that we can go exploring I actually DO feel like I'm 16.  LOL 

I almost forgot to mention that after a nice hot, sweaty day looking for cars on my birthday we did actually go out for dinner the next night with friends and their children.  I have never been to Tiestos and I was waiting for a special occasion to go.  The food and service were amazing!  Chelsea and Brian know Juan Carlos, the owner, so they asked him what he recommended.  He asked everyone their likes and dislikes, counted how many adults and children and then made our plates to order.  For the adults we had surf and turf, langostinos in a yummy sauce and lomo fino two different ways.  The kids had a chicken dish in a tomato sauce.  The tiestos came with potatoes, rice, quinoa, salad, and bread.  Everything was delicious.  For dessert the children got ice cream, but the adults shared three dishes.  Some kind of praline and caramel cake, chocolate mousse with maracuya ice cream (my favorite) and rum flavored ice cream with nuts.  It was the best meal I have had in Ecuador.  I am already ready to go back.  Whose birthday is coming up???