We returned home to California last week.  Seems strange to be back in The States again, and strange to be going into an office for a thing called a “job” again.  It is amazing how quickly we were able to adapt to life in Ecuador.

Which brings up a bit of news.  We decided around the first of the year that we do want to retire, and we want to do it in Cuenca. For the prior month, we had been asking everyone we knew to let us visit their apartment, and then grilled them on what they paid and how they liked the area.  From this, we had developed a rough map of the region we wanted to rent in when we returned to Cuenca.

One interesting young pair of Americans we met (Jesse and Nancy Lopez) had a beautiful penthouse condo right on the edge of old-town, right smack in the middle of the area we had decided on.  While we toured their place an praised it, Jesse mentioned that their neighbor was a British couple that wanted to return to England to care for a sick relative and were selling.

You can see their condo, which they are rening out at https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/758967?fb_login=1

We suggested having a look at it, and went next door.  The place was very nice.  The couple was going to the Amazon early the next morning, so we couldn’t talk to them again for a week.  During that week, Evelyn and I talked it over and decided we would love to live there.  They returned 2 days before we were to leave to come home.

We called and arranged to have another look at the condo.  Yes, it was as good as we first thought — actually better since it included some amenities we were not aware of the first time. We sat down at their dining room table to discuss selling, and 15 minutes had a handshake agreement. We spent the next day with a lawyer and notary, giving him Power of Attorney to sign the sales document for us, just before we got on a plane and headed home.

The sale closed today. We are now happy owners of a penthouse condo in Cuenca on the edge of Old Town. It is a 3 bedroom unit (for us that means bedroom, office and photo studio) with about 1800 sq ft. It also includes a rooftop workshop, a rooftop gazebo, a rooftop washer-dryer room, and a locked parking spot.  Oh yes, it also comes fully furnished, as the sellers decided they didn’t need any of the furniture or contents when they return to England.  We therefore have a turn-key penthouse ready to move into.

I will be staying at LeapFrog through the current product cycle, so we have until October to sell our Berkeley house and head South to the equator.  Adventure awaits!

By the way, if you happen to know of someone that is looking for a 3500 sq ft, 5 bedroom, 3 story house in the Berkeley Hills with an amazing view covering 4 bridges, drop me a line.  We are just now starting to get rid of a massive amount of “stuff” that has accumulated over the 24 years we have lived here, but this is an absolute fabulous house that we have loved for decades.  Now time to empty it and start the next major adventure of our life.

Talk about joys and fears, all mixed up into one… 🙂