New Year-New Home

    Well, I have decided that I am not going to wait for Sharon to finish her blog post about her epic hike to the volcano. You can anticipate it in the future but in the meantime, I thought it would be informative to bring you up to date on our recent move. 

   Because of my deteriorating eye sight we have been on the lookout for a more ideal place to live than the apartment we were in. Not that it was bad or unlivable, but we knew that as time progressed the downtown core was not the best place for me to be. So we had our eyes open thinking that in a year or two we should move. Lo and behold, about six weeks ago there was a post in Facebook about a townhouse for rent in an area called Amable Maria. It's one of the nicer areas in Loja so of course we had to check it out. Perfect!! Three bedroom town house at the end of a quiet street and steps from the sendero which is a path that runs for miles along the river that runs through Loja. Nice wide flat gravel path where I can walk with the dog for hours without worrying about traffic or broken side walks.  Here are some pics of our new digs.  

Big Kitchen as you can see, with lots of storage and, most importantly, since we have done without one for almost three years.....AN OVEN!!!

The actual layout from top to bottom is:  Large rooftop patio which is half covered in case of rain. Second floor: Master bedroom with large bathroom and shower, two smaller double bedrooms. and a guest bathroom. TV room with lounge and large screen TV.    First floor: large kitchen, dining room, living room, and back patio (completely covered in case of rain).

So as you can see we feel like we have moved up in the world. The dog is loving the long uninterrupted walks in the park and I am starting to get in shape with at least two hours of walking every day.  Probably a bit late for the getting in shape bit but who knows, I could live to 100 and as long as I keep moving maybe I can outrun the reaper.

So, the townhouse is three floors if you count the roof terrace which you are looking from here. This is the street past the house and three blocks in this direction is the bus stop to downtown. Very convenient. One half block in the other direction is the sendero which I spoke of. The bus ride to the center of town takes about 15 to 20 minutes and since I am a senior, it costs me about 15 cents.  What's the rent I hear you asking?  I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you to stop the flood of people from moving south. Suffice to say, only slightly more than the apartment rent, and here we have to pay our own utilities. The water bill last month was $7.00.... But that's seven dollars American!

So there you have it. We struggle to survive in the sun. It's not easy, but someone has to do it. I would have posted more pictures of the sendero but I'll save those for next time.

Until next time, or until Sharon gets her act together.

 All the best to everyone in the New Year.