Six, five, four, three, two ......

We are six days away from heading to Ecuador and currently living like college students. The furniture is all gone except for one stuffed chair that a friend is taking on Thursday, and our table and chairs we are eating on. Our bed is now a pallet on the floor made from the feather top we had on our mattress along with a few pillows. It's not too uncomfortable, but it's a bit harder for those of us who are not of college age to get in and out of it than a bed that's not flat on the floor.



Our small patio table and chairs that was on our balcony until a few days ago is serving as our dining room. Small but serviceable. It doubles as a second computer table when not in use for food. Unfortunately, we've been eating out more during this last, stressful month, and our waistlines reflect it.



Gil has been furiously scanning documents into a computer. Note the glass top table that now has a cardboard box as its base.



We took some time off yesterday from doing the tedious tasks that are left to complete, and had some fun. Gil's son, David, is here from Santa Monica for a last visit with us before we take off. It was Fleet Week here in San Francisco this past week, and Fleet Week finishes off with shows by the Navy's Blue Angels. From our apartment, you can see all the boats on the Bay that come out to watch the Angels fly. For those of you who have heard us say we'd like a place with a view in Cuenca, now you can see why. This is what we are used to.



We went up on the roof of our apartment building to watch the Angels fly. The Angels' lead plane - this big, beautiful caribou - is flying past Coit Tower. Once we see him flying back away from the Bay like this, we know the Angels are not far behind.



Those amazing fly-boys (don't think there are any fly-girls, yet, but if so, my apologies to them) making their first pass by Coit Tower.



This is kind of small (we don't have a telephoto lens), but these guys are wingtip to wingtip.



They swoop in and out between the buildings too. We've heard that San Francisco is the only place where they are allowed to fly over and through the city. Mostly they are over airfields. When Deborah used to work in a downtown high rise, they'd fly right past her window at eye level, and she could see the guys in the cockpits! It also appears from the roof of our building that there is one move in which two of them fly under the Golden Gate Bridge. They used to do that regularly as part of their program, but for awhile, they weren't allowed to do so. Now it looks like they are doing it again. Talk about precision flying.



Up on the roof, it felt like we could actually reach up and touch them.



This is one of our favorite moves. It is so pretty. Especially on a beautiful, clear day like this. October is the best weather month in San Francisco; warm and clear. There have been only a couple of times when the Angels have had to cancel their show due to fog, because there is a lot less fog in October. Last year was one of those times. We were very happy that this year was clear so we could enjoy the thrill of seeing them again.



Since we are not likely to be here again for the Blue Angels, we were very pleased that Fleet Week happened before we left.