Wind blown hair to the extreme. 

Around dinner time we finally made it into Quito. We stopped at the super maxi (a grocery store) to buy water for the amazon. After we walked to subway. 

I need to give some background first. The drivers in Quito are insane! They don't stop at stop signs and instead just honk to let people know they are coming. We also went through more red lights than we did green. People constantly just j-walk, and the driver does not slow down. The drivers are insane! 

Anyway, so we had to cross the street to get to subway. There isn't a cross walk, so we got across the first part in stood on the median. Soon we saw a bus coming at us and honking. We stepped forward and cars were coming at us. We figured out that the "median" was a bus lane. We somehow made it across the street and survived. 

Day 11-

Yet another early morning! To top if off, I got a bloody nose right before we got on the bus! 

We left at an early hour of 5 to drive 4 hours to the Amazon. We stopped at a few spots on the way though. 

The first place we stopped were the Andes Mountains. Holy crap! It was FREEZING!!!!!! We weren't dressed for how cold it was. I walked to the top, took a picture then came right down to the bus. 

Thankfully we stopped at a cute restaurant after for breakfast and more importantly hot chocolate! I think the chocolate was dark chocolate so it was SO GOOD! 

Excuse the weird face I'm making but the baby to the right was adorable. He would copy every thing I would do! I wanted to take him home with me! 

Oh Jeff. 

After warming up a bit, we drove to the hot springs. It was crazy because it was rainy and cold, but the water was HOT! Parts were even too hot. They told us jumping from the cooooold river to the hot springs was good for our circulation. I did it 2 times, but that was enough. Some did it 7! 

The next few stops were a chocolate factory, lunch at another ecuadorian food place, and the hotel to check in. Unfortunately, there was no AC in the rooms, and 97% humidity. Supa fun! 

We started the evening by going on the streets and feeding monkeys. If you have fruit, they will come and take it from you. Some money held it close to their shoulder so they would sit on them. I was too chicken for that, so I just held it lower. 

We were going to have a movie night but it didn't work out. Instead Drew raided my music while we organized our bags. 

Day 11- 

We started the day with a ride down the river in our canoe.

Our tour guide couldn't speak english very well, so he was so hard to understand. One time he was trying to tell us "we can't just wake up". He said that over and over and we didn't know what he was talking about. Then we understood that he meant we can't just get up on the canoe because then it won't be even. We would die laughing every time he said it once we figured out what he meant. 

After instructing us not to "wake up" he pulled all of us to the front for "model shots". 

At one point, I was sitting and leaning back and then a wave of water came crashing into the canoe. I immediately jumped up! In doing so, I put my hand on Drew's leg, pushing him down. Oops! I didn't realize he got wet too and was trying to get up, plus we rocked the boat from getting up too quickly. 

After 30 minutes on the canoe, we arrived at some place that was pretty much like a zoo. 

It was 97% humidity outside though so I wasn't feeling it. Therefore I don't have any pictures of the animals. I did love all the green though! 

This picture cracks me up! Drew hates bugs more than me or anyone else on the trip! 

Alex is such a tease! 

After our little zoo adventure, we got back on the canoe and it drove us to our bus. Then the bus drove us to our next hotel. It was not a hotel. Our tour guide has family that lives in the Amazon, and so we stayed in their cabin. I have no idea the last time it was cleaned. There were spider webs, bugs everywhere. I'm not really a neat freak but this place was awful! To top it off they didn't even have water. So basically we put our bags down, and did not want to spend any more time there. 

The plan was to go on a walk to the river. Well the path was not very cleared so it was more like a walk through the jungle. Plus the water was too low so it would have been more like cliff jumping into shallow water. On the plus side, we had rockin boots. 

After our hike, we didn't have any wifi so we played a game, "heads up". Turns out deaf people are the best at this game because they are the best at acting it out. 

After a few hours of playing and eating dinner, we had some Ecuadorian performers which later turned into a dance party. To end the night the cook came and "cast out evil spirits" on whoever wanted it. 

You can see how much we are all buying it. 

Day 12- 

We were so ready to get out of there, especially my poor roommate. She got a total of 1 hour of sleep due to paranoia of the bugs. 

First, we went shopping. I finally finished up buying gifts for my familia! 

Below the shop, we got to see how all the stuff was made. It is crazy the exactness they have to have in carving and painting. 

Then the boys pestered me outside.

Next on the list was zip lining. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture but I do have quite the story. 

So everyone had to go in pairs of twos if they went superman style. Well we ended up having an odd number so I agreed to go sitting so one of the workers wouldn't have to go with me. I had to wait for all the groups to go and then it was finally my turn! I went and had a relaxing time across the amazon. I landed on the side and knew I had to walk to the next location. Some guy said something in spanish and motioned forward. I thought, oh i can find the place, I'm sure there will be a sign. 

I walked for about 10 minutes and hit a fork in the road/dirt. I said a prayer and felt like I should go left, which was more like a dip. The right side had a house up ahead. So I started walking left. After a few minutes, I was in deep mud and thought, no way this is the way to go. I ran back up and went to the right. After a few steps, I heard something growl at me. A deep growl. I stopped and looked around. I didn't see anything and I wondered if I was imagining it. I took another step and the growl happened again. I had this feeling I should walk away slowly so I did so. I went back down to the left and hid behind some tree. I still couldn't see anything, so I started walking again. After 15 minutes I knew this couldn't be right. I realized I was in the middle of the amazon. There could be any kind of animal out here. I started to wonder if I should just sit down until they come searching for me. I didn't have water and was getting heat stroke. I said a prayer to be able to make it. I knew in my heart they wouldn't come for awhile. 

I decided I would walk back to the place where I initially landed and somehow ask where to go. Or just keep saying "where" in spanish. While walking back I noticed this mountain that had a lot of switch backs. I figured it was worth a try. I yelled hola the whole way up. I would go up 2 switch backs and then have to stop. I wanted to ditch these two metal things I had to carry but I knew if I did so, I wouldn't be able to zipline back. 

I felt like the pioneers pleading for help. I knew I couldn't do it on my own. After my prayer though, I thought about how the pioneers said they often felt angels pushing them along. I knew I was receiving him just like them. I made it and was able to zipline back safely. 

The next activity was bungee jumping. I considered it for .2 seconds when they said we may be able to double up, but then I came to my senses again. It is insane because they fall and then disappear under the bridge, so we couldn't see them. I had so much anxiety every time someone jumped off. I can't imagine how it feels to actually be on the edge. Thankfully everyone had fun and survived. 

Poor Cindy had to watch all of her family jump. 

After all the adrenaline junkies were done, we checked in at our hotel, and freshened up. I personally enjoyed the wifi til it was time for dinner. We went to a nice place where we actually had a guy playing music for us!

Once we were done eating, we went on a party bus up a volcano. It was too foggy to see anything so we just came right back down. The concept of the bus was fun, but it was too crowded to actually dance. I pretty much just held on the whole time and moved my feet. 

The party bus was basically just a pre-game event, because after we went to a bar. I had to live up to my promise since Drew didn't drink. First we went on the main floor and all the people looking at us really freaked us out. Thankfully they wanted to play pool so we went upstairs. Then I really had space and confidence to dance! It was so fun! They played a lot of american music actually! After a while we walked to the dance floor to see how crowded it was. Two guys smoking asked us if we wanted to dance, so we ran right back up those stairs. Even though those two guys were creepy, I had a lot of fun! 

Day 13- 

The worst day the whole trip. 

The day before I started getting a cold but it was bearable. Well not today. 

We drove up a mountain that has the highest elevation in the world. Half of us were sick so we just sat on the bus while the other half hiked up the rest of the mountain. Then they biked down and we drove very slowly behind them. Well being so high up made it hard to breathe. Which also meant I had a lot of pressure in my chest. I thought I may die. 3 hours later, we finally made it down the mountain and I survived. 

The rest of the day consisted of driving back to Quito, 4 hours. It got better though. We played "life" on someone's phone, and Alex told childhood stories about him and Drew. Of course his parents had to correct him every once in a while. 

We finally made it to the hotel, checked in our bags, and went to get food. The best part about dinner was everyone discussing their 2 favorites and 2 things they would want to change. It was nice to kind of summarize the whole trip. 

Once we got back, Audrey, Liz and I tried to go through our bags and reorganize them. By about 11 everyone was ready for bed. 

I couldn't breathe so I laid there 2 hours and finally fell asleep at 1 only to be woken up at 1. 

Day 14- 

LONG day of travel. 

Like I said we woke up at 3 so we could catch our 6:30 flight. 

We barely made it too, we walked up to the terminal right when they were boarding. 

Since I had a cold, it was a rough flight. My head pain got worse, and my ears were killing me. Thankfully I was able to fall asleep for a little bit. 

After our 4 hour flight we landed in Miami and got our bags to put them through customs. Then Jonathan and I had to split up from the group to catch our next flight to Dallas. Boy did they miss out. 

Harrison Ford was on my plane. 

No I did not get a picture. 

I walked half asleep on the plane, so I didn't really see him. Toward the end of the flight some people around him were getting his autograph. I asked the person next to me who he was and he looked at me like I was stupid. To my credit, he was wearing glasses, a hawaiian shirt and his hair was messed up. 

I met up with the group back in Dallas after my 4 hour lay over and told them who I saw. That was a big mistake. They were ticked. 

Finally at 8:10 we landed in Tucson. Right when I walked down the steps, I saw my dad, sister and brother-in-law waiting for me! I gave them all a hug and then my dad put his arm around me again. I could tell how paranoid he was about me being gone. 

We finally got my bags, I said goodbye to all my new besties and we were on our way! Well first we stopped at my house and THEN we drove an hour and a half home. I don't know how we both stayed awake but we did it!