Celebrity Blog - By Mike Rogers (Part 1)

Friday, August 31st

Touchdown!!! I had arrived in Quito and I was ready for whatever was waiting for me. After clearing customs, getting a ride to the hotel and checking-in, I began to wonder how on Earth I was going to find Joey. Hmmm…
But before I could figure that out, the phone rang.

It can be quite strange to see someone that you haven’t seen in years. It had been almost 3 years since I last saw Joey but it felt like mere weeks. Someone ought to give that phenomenon a name.
After catching up a bit, we decided to check out some of Quito. Our destination: Gringo-Ville (I mean, where else would we go on first night).
All I can tell you is that things started off with a sense of sanity. But before long, we happened across a bar whose specialty was shots. It didn’t take long before the bartender convinced me to buy a bottle of sugar rum and some mixers even though he didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak Spanish. I cannot tell you how long we were there for or how many shots were consumed or how Joey and I got home.

Saturday, September 1st

Have you ever had that, what the hell did I do last night feeling? Yeah, that was I on Saturday morning. I felt like hell! Misery loves company so I was quite pleased when Joey told me that she felt terrible as well. Yes, this is typical for a Joey and Mikey reunion. Just ask her about her trip to Chicago a couple of years ago.

At one point in our convalescence, Joey asked me if we were going to actually see some of Quito or just stay in bed. Of course we had to see what Quito had to offer so begrudgingly, I got out of bed.

It didn’t take long before I had my first real experience. On a packed bus to Old Town, my pocket was picked. Joey had warned me about such occurrences. I planned to move my wallet to a more secure pocket but all the alcohol consumed the night before along with a butterfly fluttering past me totally rendered me an imbicile. Such is life…

Sunday, September 2nd

Minus a wallet but armed with the omnipotent Joey, the real adventure began. We caught a bus to…whereever! We stopped in a town called Baeza. We arrived at this town where we were greeted by about 1,000 dogs. To help you picture this place, this town has maybe 200 people in it. There was some sort of town championship of volleyball going on so we watched that for a bit...totally ridiculous to say the least. This town also featured a collection of wild animals...none of which has ever been seen by anyone in civilization. There was a half pig half dinosaur creature with the snout of an elephant. (joey's note: commonly known as a Tapir to the rest of the world) There was also a llama that Joey and I unsuccessfully tried to steal. There were also tons of African goats. We also went walking through the local ‘park’ where we were assaulted by various creatures and insects. I most likely have yellow fever now.

After out little jaunt through the town that took all of an hour, we returned to the main road to watch the conclusion of the regional volleyball championship. After eating at a little roadside café, Joey went to throw her rubbish away and I heard her shriek. I immediately thought that she had been striken with illness. She came over to me with a look or horror and told me to have a look in the bin. Of course, there was no chance in life that I would. What she had discovered were a pair of doggy legs sicking out of the bin. Apparently, the bin was the depository for dead dogs as well. After that, it was time to leave Baeza.
We caught the next bus to Tena where our adventure would continue.

Upon arriving in Tena, we found lodging for the night.

(To be continued when Mike decides blogs are more important that work)