Hola, KANSAS CITY!

June 10, 2015

I am the oldest. My brother Jack is the youngest.
With our two sisters who live in KC.

I’m in the States now. 

I flew back here a couple of weeks ago (to Kansas City) to attend a niece’s wedding.

This is the first time that I have been back in my hometown in over six years, and it is wonderful to see my family and friends again.

Rather than leave from the coast, I started my vacation in Cuenca, where I spent a day and half to see my dentist and hairdresser.  From there, I took a 4-hour afternoon bus ride across the Cajas to catch my 11PM flight out of Guayaquil.

I flew American to Miami, and then switched to United from there to Chicago onto Kansas City. I had short layovers in both Miami and Chicago, and was concerned about my luggage making it with me. For that matter, the check-in staff at the GYE airport (José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport) was also concerned that I would make it through customs and security in time to make my connections and even offered to mark me as a “special needs” passenger.  In other words, “needs a wheel chair”.  
I didn’t know whether to be appreciative or appalled (surely I don’t look THAT old). But the counter people at the Guayaquil airport are always so kind and helpful, I smiled and politely declined.

But things went downhill after that.  Normally, I fall asleep on buses and airplanes before they even take off, but was so squished in my bus and flight seat(s) that I didn’t get a wink of sleep throughout my journey.

I arrived in Miami around 4:15AM, cleared customs fairly quickly, but then the wheels on one side of my carry-on fell off, so I ended up dragging it from one side of the airport to the other, going through several security check points along the way.  I also discovered that I was walking around with only one dangly earring (the other fell out somewhere), my eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, so I’m sure I looked pretty bedraggled by the time I caught my flight to Chicago around 6AM.

About then I was kind of wishing I had opted for the wheel chair alternative.

The good news was that my flight to Chicago arrived 25 minutes earlier than scheduled, so I slammed down a morning beer before heading on to Kansas City.

I got in at 10:30 in the morning; however the plan was to wait there for my brother Jack’s flight from California to land at 3:30 in the afternoon.

And, as I anticipated, my luggage did not make it with me.  Fortunately, I shrink-wrapped it when leaving Guayaquil (with all my USA & Ecuador contact information taped to the outside – I also put a copy of my itinerary inside the bag). The GYE check-in folks also tagged it with a bright orange “priority” sticker.

American Airlines has lost my luggage three times, and the one other time I made an American to United airline switch, the luggage was never found... (a domestic flight from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania back to Palm Springs)
I am wise to these guys, and as a precaution packed basic necessities and wedding clothes in my carry-on.

GRRRR…why do I ever fly American/United airlines??

I also have short layovers on my way back to Ecuador (those flights going through Dallas and Miami) and my bet is that my suitcase will go missing in action again, and already planning on spending an extra night or two in Guayaquil waiting for it, before heading three hours back home to Olón, on the coast of Ecuador.

Anyway, while waiting for Jack to get in, I filed a luggage claim, then went and picked up my rental car (I’m in the States for three weeks) and then spent a very boring five hours hanging around MCI (Kansas City airport). It’s not much fun hanging around this airport  – restaurants outside of security area are only so-so, and wifi hot-spots are hit or miss (I don’t have a smart phone and still drag around a laptop that could be used as a small table).

My sister Laura, KC friend Stephanie
and my brother and me.

Once Jack got in, we headed to my sister Laura’s house, where we were stayed for the wedding weekend.

We headed out to meet some friends for dinner that first night (my other sister, Liz, was unable to join us since she is the mother of the bride – my niece Taylor) and though I was really tired coming from Cuenca, Ecuador and 30 hours with no sleep, we had a wonderful time.

And – thankfully - my luggage showed up at my sister’s doorstep the next morning.

During our visit to Dad's house.
It's been 14 years (since Dad died)
that we've been inside.
The current owners were so gracious to
give us this tour, and shared with us
some pictures they inherited
 with the home.

The next day (which was a Thursday) all four of us siblings spent the whole day touring some of the former homes we lived in while growing up in Kansas City.  Aside from the wedding, this definitely was a highlight of the trip, and an exceptionally special day...A day full of wonderful memories.

We saw the inside of four of them. We had pre-arranged afternoon appointments with two of those (Dad’s home, and the 94^th Street house in Kenilworth). In the morning, we just knocked on a couple of doors and gracious current home-owners let us in.

Grandma & Grandpa Frost's home
in KCMO.
A "let's knock" stop.
They lived here for 45 some years.
Many Thankgiving memories and
going down to see the Plaza Lights
turned on afterwards

Dad owned this home in
Prairie Village, Kansas for 41 years.
From the time I started high school
until he died in late 2002. 

A visit to see Dad.
My sister Liz took this photo.

Dinner at the Hereford House.
Eating KC rib eye.
Died and gone to heaven.

.

Kansas City’s reputation for hospitality is well deserved, though I doubt four people over 50-yrs old – standing on the doorstep asking to see the inside and take pictures – probably didn't appear to be too threatening.    

The rehearsal dinner was at Jack Stack’s, where I finally got to sink my teeth into some exceptional KC BBQ – boy, have I been craving that for years!

My niece Taylor and new hubby Ben
in center of back row.

The wedding was special and wonderful; my gorgeous niece looked spectacular, and she and her new husband Ben are a perfect couple together. They have been friends for years.

On the Monday after the wedding, I dropped Jack off at the airport for his morning flight back to California, and then headed west towards Colorado and New Mexico.

I figured that as long as I was coming this far from Olón, I was going to make the most of it to do a two-week driving loop around both those states and was looking forward to the adventure.

I’ve driven through them many times, but never really explored either state.

I’m on that road trip now.

More to follow...  

Celebrating my June 9th
Five year Anniversary 
move to Ecuador
with a bottle of Hatch wine
...in New Mexico.