Preparing to Leave

I made the simple countdown chain for the kids that I made while I was gone on the EBC trek. I asked the older one if he thought it was too babyish to do this this time, but he acknowledged it is helpful in keeping track of the days until I get home. The chains are numbered with the dates I'm gone starting from the bottom and each day they take off a link. The last day of the link I come home. So we sat on the little chairs in his room and made it together and talked about the trip. Both of us were choked up at some point talking about it, especially the, "You know I'll be back, right?" part. Cotopaxi is considered an active volcano. Although its last eruption was about 100 years ago, this is of little consolation to kids whose minds conjure up images of people being caught in a lava flow. 

This trip is shorter than my Everest trip, the boys are older, and there will be more connectivity while I'm gone I suspect (because of the better infrastructure in Ecuador than there was in Nepal).

That doesn't mean I'm going to miss them any less.
Some of the weekend was spent cooking meals to freeze so that the family can have some decent pre-made meals while I'm gone...that aren't chicken nuggets or pizza.... Some last minute rearranging of clothes I'm taking with (Its supposed to be 70 degrees in Quito...the hardest temperature to pack for...jeans? shorts? jacket?) I also spent considerable time ooohing and aaahing at the photos of the hacienda that Mountain Madness switched a few days of our lodging to.  Behold:
Hacienda Rumiloma

Do yourself a favor and look at the Tripadvisor photos of the rooms:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g294308-d1068231-Reviews-Hacienda_Rumiloma-Quito_Pichincha_Province.html