Mega Shopping Trip
Every month or so, we try to make a trip to Ambato, which is two hours away, to do some grocery shopping. That is the nearest supermarket - what we have here in Shell is the produce market, butcher, bakery, and small corner stores. Generally, we can find what we need here in Shell or Puyo but some things are in the bigger stores that aren't down here in the jungle and we can also get better deals on more "specialized" (i.e. pre-packaged and preservative-laden) items. It usually makes for a fun outing and is a beautiful drive up from the jungle into the Andes mountains. Usually.
Yesterday was not so fun. Our trip up was fine, although I was battling a runny nose and the beginnings of a sinus headache (been fighting this for some time). Anyway, we did our shopping - picking up things like fresh mushrooms and romaine lettuce, a couple of cases of boxed milk, paper towels, ziplock bags, packaged meat, cheese, whole wheat flour, Jif peanut butter, diapers, and a couple of Dominoes pizzas from the food court to put in our freezer at home for the occasional craving for "American" junk food. We had burgers in the food court and then headed to the large hardware store down the street to buy pink paint for the girls' room plus a few other household supplies and then we headed back home.
It rained a lot and, as often happens when it rains here, there were landslides. There can be landslides any where between Ambato and Shell but a common problem area is the area where lava made its way down from Volcan Tungarahua about a year ago - the excess water gets the volcanic material and dirt moving again. The road was closed and we were stuck in a long line of traffic on a curvy mountain road. From a previous drive, Sean and I knew there was another way around on the other side of the river into Baños and we decided to go that way.
Well, we also knew there was yet another road that would probably take less time that was closer to the river and we decided to go try that one. But we soon came upon a police officer in his truck who was blocking the road, saying we couldn't go that way and it would probably only be 20 minutes or so until the main road opened. And back up to the main road we went. We came out at the front of the line and found a crowd of people and a chaotic mass of vehicles waiting to be let through...with no real hope of seeing the road opened up for us any time soon.
Finally, somebody from the "traffic police" drove the road Sean and I had tried to go on in the first place in order to confirm it was safe and clear. At last, the "go ahead" was given for whoever wanted to go that way. We turned around and found ourselves first in line to head down the alternate route....with a small, rice-grinder of a yellow taxi on our tail followed by several very impatient people in various shapes and sizes of vehicles. Sean pulled over whenever the road was wide enough to let those people through rather than be the first to make it down this road that may or may not be sound!
The "short cut" was breathtaking at first. Very picturesque, though the road was never more than a one-lane road... Things quickly became less "picturesque" as far as I was concerned. Sean was still having fun - even when it became a true 4-wheeling adventure. There was lots of sloppy,
gray mud as well as steep drop-offs into a rushing river black with volcanic material being brought down from the old lava flows, impatient drivers in cars that had no business being there, and traffic going both ways on the steep, narrow pitiful excuse for a road. There were times when I looked down and saw....nothing. (The picture doesn't do it justice, since at the real hairy places taking a photo out the window was the least of our concerns.)
Well, obviously we made it home safe - 4 hours later and just before dark. I was feeling really sick by the time we got home and most of the groceries that didn't need refrigeration sat on the table until I felt better late this morning. I was in a very foul mood after our extended excursion. Normally, when I feel healthy, I enjoy these kinds of adventures but I was feeling so yucky and ready for bed that the detour just made me that much more miserable. I went to bed at 8:00...though I laid on the couch groaning and grumping from about 7:00 p.m!
We found out today that they didn't open road last night. One of our Ecuadorian pilots tried to go to Quito but finally gave up and came back to Shell when the road was still closed at 7:30 p.m. I'm grateful that we could take the other way home and didn't spend the night in the car, sniffing diesel fumes and Dominoes pizzas while Maddie cried and Brooklyn whined. Not my favorite day but a success nonetheless.
Yesterday was not so fun. Our trip up was fine, although I was battling a runny nose and the beginnings of a sinus headache (been fighting this for some time). Anyway, we did our shopping - picking up things like fresh mushrooms and romaine lettuce, a couple of cases of boxed milk, paper towels, ziplock bags, packaged meat, cheese, whole wheat flour, Jif peanut butter, diapers, and a couple of Dominoes pizzas from the food court to put in our freezer at home for the occasional craving for "American" junk food. We had burgers in the food court and then headed to the large hardware store down the street to buy pink paint for the girls' room plus a few other household supplies and then we headed back home.
It rained a lot and, as often happens when it rains here, there were landslides. There can be landslides any where between Ambato and Shell but a common problem area is the area where lava made its way down from Volcan Tungarahua about a year ago - the excess water gets the volcanic material and dirt moving again. The road was closed and we were stuck in a long line of traffic on a curvy mountain road. From a previous drive, Sean and I knew there was another way around on the other side of the river into Baños and we decided to go that way.
Well, we also knew there was yet another road that would probably take less time that was closer to the river and we decided to go try that one. But we soon came upon a police officer in his truck who was blocking the road, saying we couldn't go that way and it would probably only be 20 minutes or so until the main road opened. And back up to the main road we went. We came out at the front of the line and found a crowd of people and a chaotic mass of vehicles waiting to be let through...with no real hope of seeing the road opened up for us any time soon.
Finally, somebody from the "traffic police" drove the road Sean and I had tried to go on in the first place in order to confirm it was safe and clear. At last, the "go ahead" was given for whoever wanted to go that way. We turned around and found ourselves first in line to head down the alternate route....with a small, rice-grinder of a yellow taxi on our tail followed by several very impatient people in various shapes and sizes of vehicles. Sean pulled over whenever the road was wide enough to let those people through rather than be the first to make it down this road that may or may not be sound!
The "short cut" was breathtaking at first. Very picturesque, though the road was never more than a one-lane road... Things quickly became less "picturesque" as far as I was concerned. Sean was still having fun - even when it became a true 4-wheeling adventure. There was lots of sloppy,
gray mud as well as steep drop-offs into a rushing river black with volcanic material being brought down from the old lava flows, impatient drivers in cars that had no business being there, and traffic going both ways on the steep, narrow pitiful excuse for a road. There were times when I looked down and saw....nothing. (The picture doesn't do it justice, since at the real hairy places taking a photo out the window was the least of our concerns.)Well, obviously we made it home safe - 4 hours later and just before dark. I was feeling really sick by the time we got home and most of the groceries that didn't need refrigeration sat on the table until I felt better late this morning. I was in a very foul mood after our extended excursion. Normally, when I feel healthy, I enjoy these kinds of adventures but I was feeling so yucky and ready for bed that the detour just made me that much more miserable. I went to bed at 8:00...though I laid on the couch groaning and grumping from about 7:00 p.m!
We found out today that they didn't open road last night. One of our Ecuadorian pilots tried to go to Quito but finally gave up and came back to Shell when the road was still closed at 7:30 p.m. I'm grateful that we could take the other way home and didn't spend the night in the car, sniffing diesel fumes and Dominoes pizzas while Maddie cried and Brooklyn whined. Not my favorite day but a success nonetheless.
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