Rhyolite, Nevada

Just want to share a few pics of our past year's travels.

Death Valley

Rhyolite, Nevada

Doorknob on house built of bottles. circa 1900

Bank building, and store. Rhyolite, Nevada, circa 0900

Storefront of Jewler's in Rhyolite, Nevada. circa 1902

Who lies here?

Rhyolite flourished for a few years due to mining and eastern money. When the mine played out, the investor's did too. Once home to about 8000, is now home to the ghosts, wild burros, lizards and the occasional curious traveler.

We spent the better part of an afternoon exploring the town, cemetery and surrounding desert. Truly a haunting and desolate landscape.

To learn more about this ghost town, go to this page.

Take The First Step

If you would have asked me two, three, or five years ago what I would be doing, living in Ecuador would not have been one of my answers.  Not because I didn't want to live in a foreign country. Not because I was afraid to travel. Not because I hadn't dreamed about living an unusual life. I just thought that it was a dream and was financially unobtainable; something only rich people do.

The second half of my life has been blessed with dreams. My BF has helped with that. Every dream I have had, he has helped make it happen.  

On my 30th birthday I was alone. Raising 2 daughters. Looking at a future of hard work. I lived in fear and I wasn't happy.

Then I met my BF.  I never dreamed of someone like him until he was "stalking" me at Torrejon AB in Spain (that was a dream too). I think I fell in love before he did, but it doesn't matter. We are together now, still best friends after 30 years of play and laughter.

Flash forward ten or so years. Ever since I was a child and I saw the Disney movie about the dancing horse, I had wanted a Paso Fino.  On my 40th birthday - I had one.  And not just any Paso, but a granddaughter of a world class Paso. She was amazing!  She was a dream come true. She won ribbons and even won a class at the Rocky Mountain Regionals.

I raised sheep, llamas, and had an organic egg business for about 10 years. Why?  Because I wanted to and the BF made sure I got to.

Then we moved to central New York state and another dream fell in my lap. With the help of my father and the BF, I was able to open a yarn shop. A yarn shop? Why? Same answer, I wanted to. It was fun. I made many good friends and miss them all so much.

But as with all good things, there comes a time when you have to let them go and focus on the next dream.  The next dream was the BFs rather than mine, but that is alright. It was something we had been tossing around for almost 20 years. We had looked at Costa Rica back in the early 90s. My fears stole that at that time. The fear of change, the fear of not having enough money. Oh, and don't forget the fear of having young children and "What would they do?" It was all crap and I robbed my entire family of what may have been the greatest adventure of their lives.

When my BF mentioned vacationing in Ecuador I was puzzled.  Why Ecuador? Well, he preyed on my love of all things Spanish. My love of the Spanish culture was the carrot he dangled in front of my nose. 

"It is less expensive than Spain." he said.

"They speak Spanish there." he said.

"The U.S. dollar is the currency, so no exchange rate." he said.

"Buy the tickets and book the hotels and I will go with you." I said.

He did. We went. We went again. We sold everything and came back. To stay.

Now, we are living not only his dream but mine as well.  I love the differences in the lifestyle, the ease of each day, the new sites and sounds and tastes. 

Looking back at my life I see a trail of dreams fulfilled. Some by chance and others because of the wonderful man that I married. He helped me overcome my fears (there were many) and truly live. He helped me live out loud and be joyous. He allowed me to dream and never told me that dreams don't come true, no matter what your age.

They do!  All you have to do is take the first step.  Oh, and don't forget to take the next one as well.

This post was inspired by Cindy Wood, and her FaceBook post this morning.  Thank you Cindy!

Dreams For The New Year

I am sure that everyone is looking back at the past year; thinking about the changes, the successes, the losses, the happiness, the sadness.  All of that is a part of life.  And, being human, I will do the same.

The past year was a gentle one for me - sort of.  I lost my father shortly before the beginning of 2017. We are always told not to make big changes after the loss of a loved one.  But, I didn't take heed.  The BF and I sold everything (except the house my father left me), packed what clothing we needed, grabbed the dogs and moved.  We didn't just move a little.  We moved a lot!  To Ecuador.  Do I regret it?  No.  It is different.  Although it is far from my children, it is alright.  It is quiet.  It is relaxing. It is liberating.

After that, not much more happened.  Every day has been just like the last.  The tide comes in, the tide goes out.  Life is simple.  We want for nothing as we don't need much.  We have a few friends and each other.  We eat well on fresh seafood and veggies taken from the earth that very day.  I feel as though I am living in a movie - I just don't know what the plot is yet.

We got our Visas without a hitch.  Then, the next milestone occurred when we headed to Guayaquil for our Cedulas - Ecuadorian I.D.  Now is is just a waiting game until we have our residency.  We cannot leave the country for more than 90 days a year for the next 2 years.  But, that isn't difficult.

What are the plans for the next year?  Not much.  Exploring our new country is the top of my list.  There is so much to see that I don't know where to start.

The top of my list is visiting Mindo. It is one of Ecuador's most visited locations; very touristy, pay for everything, must see.

Then, I want to take a train tour  to the last stop on the line, wherever that may be. 

Seeing the countryside from the train will make it fun to choose the next trip, the next adventure.  We will see the volcanoes, the lakes, rivers, valleys, villages - all that cannot be seen from main roads. We will see the country from a wonderful vantage point.

I want to swim in the ocean every day that I am home.  I want to walk the beach every morning and evening and enjoy the tranquility. I want to savor fresh seafood daily - until I tire of it and want nothing more.  

Yes, 2018. A year of tranquil living.  A year of stress free existence. A year to look forward to.

Life Is Crazy

It has been so long since I have posted.  It has been so long that I seem to have forgotten my voice.  Which person blogged here?  Is she still around?  Does she still think the same way?  View the world with the same eyes? Or has life thrown a few curve balls and caused her perspective to change?

Me. Yes. No. Only one of them. And Yes.

I haven't posted a thing here since 2012.  Holy Mackerel Andy!  That is a lifetime!  Since then, I have closed the yarn shop.  My dad passed peacefully, at home, surrounded by his children and grandchildren.  Hijo Primero graduated from college with a degree in Bio-Chemical Engineering (where in the hell those brains came from I will never know).  Hijo Segundo graduated from college with a BA in Political Science (Magna Cum Laude, again with the brains).  Hija Primera is living in New Hampshire with her husband and son. The BF has retired from the Air Force after reaching the rank of Chief Master Sergeant. And Hija Segunda is living with her dad and I in...and this is the Crazy part of the Life is Crazy...Ecuador!

Yes.  We have kicked everything we knew to the curb, packed a few belongings, bid farewell to our friends and family and left the country!  We bought a guesthouse, Casita Las Mareas on the Pacific coast, in the province of Manabi' in the village of San Jacinto.  It doesn't keep us very busy.  Life is simple. Life here is idyllic.  It is still so new. 

Casita Las Mareas

There are days that I feel as if I live in a movie.  The sun is shining, the waves are out there - in my front yard no less - doing what waves do and making the most peaceful background noise, the locals are playing their music that makes me want to dance and life is unbelievable.

I do miss my friends and my family that we left behind.  There are days that I miss them terribly.  But, the show must go on and life must be lived - even if it seems crazy at times.  

I hope I can keep coming back and put new life into this little corner of my world.  Maybe it can keep me sane.  Or maybe I can just get back to sharing the insanity as it happens.  Who knows.  Who really cares?  

Just a Trial Post

Trying out new things with my new computer. This is a shot of Mirror Lake. Hmm…wonder why it is called that? I did a sepia effect and tilt from Windows Live Writer. Then I expect to send it to my Blogger account for posting. Will it work? We will see.

Why am I doing this? Because I am having difficulty with pictures on Blogger. I take a picture url from my flicker account, upload it to Blogger and it goes directly to the top of the page. It doesn’t matter where I tell it to go, it goes to the top. Then, I have to move it and I don’t like that I can’t get the text wrap when I do that.

I don’t want to move my blog because of the hassle of re-directing traffic. Just leave it where it is and import from here. Let us see if that works.

Oh…before I do, let me try bringing a picture over from Flickr WWell, that seems to work. At least it came to the bottom of the page. And, in case you were wondering, this is the main street in the Olympic Village area of Lake Placid, NY.

and this ends my 100th post

Waterfall in Autumn

Waterfall in Autumn
Originally uploaded by emmasdaughter

Although I haven't been blogging much, I have encountered wonderful blog fodder; too much to even try to get into one post. So, I will start with this picture of a waterfall in the small upstate New York town of Ticonderoga.

We went on a mini vacation for my birthday, traveling through the Adirondacks and into Vermont, via the Ticonderoga Ferry. To say it was beautiful would not be enough. The autumn color was astounding. And, we missed the peak of color by a month!

Traveling from New York state, across the river and into Vermont was like moving through time. The scenery was punctuated with bucolic farm settings and quaint towns. We stopped for an early afternoon walk through Montpelier and then moved on to another ferry trip back to New York. This time the ferry was across Lake Champlain; our destination, Lake Placid.

We arrived in Lake Placid just as the sun went down. The air was crisp with just a bit of a bite to it. The Olympic village portion of the town alive with pedestrian traffic and lighted with turn of the century street lamps was a vision to behold.

Because we hadn't a clue where we were going to end up on this trip, we hadn't made hotel reservations. Our first stop for a stay was a downtown hotel that looked promising from the outside. Once inside that promise was quickly broken. We left quickly to say the least and headed for a hotel more in line with a wonderful birthday weekend get-away...the Marriot. To say this was a nice hotel is an understatement.

The next morning we arose and walked around the lake. I pity the people that have to live here all year long. The beauty and serenity would have me feeling as thoug I lived in a different time, a gentler time if there was one.

We spent the morning browsing shops and windows; enjoying one anothers company. Then it was time to head back.

The longer I live in this area of the country, the deeper in love with it I fall. Each new day, each new season, brings with it a different type of beauty and creates, within me, a serenity I have never felt before.