Dec. 23
Awakened very early this AM. By 0400 I decided that as long as I couldn’t sleep I might as well get up and start the finish loading of the trailer.
By 0745 we were pretty much ready to go so I hooked up the trailer and managed to destroy the plastic leveling blocks. Annie started to clean up the mess when Gordon came out to say goodbye and said he would take care of it. So after a hug we were off. We pulled out about 0815 and were heading south,
Annie wanted to take the ferry to Pt. Townsend to avoid the Seattle traffic. I kind of felt that it was a Saturday and close to a holiday so traffic wouldn’t be bad. We went down I5 through Seattle and traffic was lite to moderate. South of Seattle we were traveling the speed limit again..
Because we have to stop in Portland to give Annie’s T’s to Holly we were going to drive from Ocean Shores through Astoria to Portland. After looking at the map we decided to leave the trailer in Elma and drive unhooked to the condo. It would be less expensive and quicker on the return trip to go back that way to Portland. Annie had lived in Elma for a couple of years and we had stayed at a local CG previously so that is where we parked it. I talked to the managers and they said it was OK to leave it unattended for a couple of days. We got set up, then unhooked and were off.
After a stop in Aberdeen for lunch and a bit of shopping we were on our way again. We arrived at Ocean Shores, checked in and were given a third floor condo. With no elevator it took quite a few trips up and down the stairs to get the terrariums and other stuff up. After we settled in and rested for a while we decided to go out for dinner. There was a menu for an Irish pub that looked good so that is what we did. I had an Irish stew and Annie had some clam chowder both were excellent.
Then it was back to the apartment to watch the Davinci Code which we had rented earlier. It was excellent.
After the movie it was off to bed for a great nights sleep.
Annie here- I was happy to leave the 5th wheel in Elma. I really don’t like towing the trailer through city streets and windy roads and that is what we would have to do if we had towed it to Ocean Shores. We stopped at Aberdeen Wal-Mart on the way. It was terrible finding a parking place but, I finally did after letting John out to buy wiper blades for the truck. The ones we had were beginning to shred and it was raining. By the time I found a parking place John was out of the store looking for me. No blades for the truck. We had lunch at a Terriaki Rice Bowl. Really pretty good.
We arrived in Ocean Shores and found our time-share with no problems. I wasn’t too happy about being on the third floor because we had to carry all the terrariums up three flights of stairs. They offered to have a handyman help us but, we had to say No. Everytime we started up there stairs there was a sign that read “No Pets Allowed”. I’m not sure tarantulas qualify but I didn’t want to push it.
We found a great Irish Pub called Galway Bay for dinner. I had clam chowder that was the best I have ever had and John had a white Irish stew made with lamb. It too was great. They are having a Christmas dinner so we may go there.
After watching the Davinci Code we were off to sleep. During the night I woke more than once to the sounds of wind and rain.
I flushed my Chinese fawn. I had to face the fact that she had not survived the several days of cold when the electricity was off at home. She was so fat and looked so healthy. I just hate to lose one of the kids.
Dec 24
I awakened early again this AM. Finally about 0630 I decided to get up and make coffee. About 0830 Annie fixed Chiliquillies for breakfast. We watched a great Nat. Geo. Program on Plate tectonics. Then it was nap time again.
We went for a couple of drives today. The first was to the TTrails campground where we had originally planned on storing the trailer while we were here in Ocean Shores. It was a nice place but expensive for three days of storage.
Later we went on a drive through town looking at moving possibilities. The area is a bit depressed so homes are not expensive at this time.
Annie rented a couple more movies so she will be parked in front of the TV this evening. I will probably read. It is good that she can do that because she really enjoys watching movies while I get bored after a short time.
Annie here- I enjoyed the drive through Ocean Shores. It wouldn’t be a bad place to live although I have a feeling the summer tourists could make it hectic. I fixed spaghetti squash with a tomato shrimp sauce, vegetables, cottage cheese, and chocolate orange slices for dinner. I watched three movies today too. Nanny Macphee, The Lake House, and something else. John really isn’t into movies so it works out okay. He plays at the computer and I watch.
We bought windshield wipers at Ace. Considering it stormed all day we needed them. I hope tomorrow isn’t as stormy although, I really don’t mind the rain and it’s not near as cold as at home.
Dec. 25
Annie here- I believe we got up around 0730. It was still dark. We are still kids at heart. As soon as we got up we headed for the Christmas gifts. The first gift I opened was a new Nintendo game from my Portera kids. Of course I used to have a Nintendo. I got a great DVD player from John. It’s really the nicest I’ve seen and has about 30 games on it besides playing movies and DVD’s. It has the best picture and two sets of ear phones so two people can listen at the same time. I watched two movies on it The Arctic Express and Pirates of the Caribbean. Later this evening John and I watched National Treasure. I liked it because when the treasure was finally found it didn’t get buried again instead it was fully recovered. Nice concept for once.
We had our Christmas meal at the Quinault Casino and it was the best. The prime rib melted in your mouth. The turkey was the same. There was all you could eat King crab. It was well worth the price of $18 each .
I got to talk to all my kids. Most were at Aaron’s in Aptos as was my sister Sonja and Jane. John asked Sonja to buy me another Nintendo and he would pay for it when we see her later this week. I really do want another one and since it was in his custody when it got lost I guess it’s okay. I had already decided I wouldn’t replace it myself as it was close to $300 with everything I had bought. At least now I know exactly what I want and what I don’t so it won’t cost quite so much to replace it.
Josh called and wished us a happy holiday. He and John talked for a bit too. It really has been a wonderful Christmas. Probably the best I have had in years away from my family. But, now I have a family in John. It’s good.
Well, all is packed and pretty much ready to go. Knowing us we will leave early. Tomorrow I give my tarantulas to Holley. A bit of sadness in that but, reality dictates they must have a new home and she is the best person to have them.
Until tomorrow.
Dec. 26
At about 0330 my eyes popped open. I laid in bed for a while but then decided I had better get to moving. It took a while to load all the bugs again but by 0530 we were on the road to Elma. We gassed up, chowed down, hooked up and were off. Stopped in Portland to drop off the spiders and drove on through the raid. I think once we left Portland the gods wanted us to experience a storm so they sent rain, rain and more rain.
The Siskiyou roads were closed so we spent the night in Grants Pass at Jacks Landing.
Annie here:
John got up at 4 a.m. and started packing things up. I followed suit since I couldn’t have slept anyhow with the racket. It was rainy and cold but we were off and running in no time. We got into Elma and had a nice breakfast at the Rusty Tractor and then picked up the 5th wheel.
We took 12 across to I-5 and drove through the rain to Portland where we met Holley and Shelby. Holley looked pretty good and showed me her bald head. Pretty sexy. Holley was able to get all the T’s in her car but, not the roaches.
We drove to Grants Pass, OR and arrived at the camp ground at 1530. The owner was watching for us because when we had called earlier we were assured we didn’t have to make reservations. Because of the weather he was filling up fast. He had decided if we didn’t arrive soon he was going to reserve a spot for us. The reason the camp ground was filling up was because I-5 over the Siskiyou’s is a snowy mess with road closures or chains required. It’s cold.
We are so tired because we haven’t had a good nights sleep since we left home. The bed in the time-share was awful. It’s finally caught up with us.
We hit the local Costco and Wal*Mart. Both had sold out of Nintendo’s before Christmas.
Dec. 27
It wasn’t raining when we got up but it was cold. We kept checking with the desk about getting over the mountain passes. Our large slide hadn’t opened properly and hadn’t sealed at the top. John can’t figure it out but, would like to make it to Redding and the Dan Gamel service center there. We met Cathy and Gordon Weiss down a few spaces. They are our neighbors and the owners of the MH park where we live. They are making their annual pilgrimage to Yuma.
At 1030 we finally started out. The highest pass had snow all around but, the road was okay. Lots of big rigs and RV’s on the road because of last nights storm and another coming in later today and one due on Friday.
We got to Dan Gamel at 1430 and they told us it would be a couple of hours for diagnostics so we went into Redding and found a Sprint Store to see about getting John’s Blue Tooth working. When he called to check with Dan Gamel they told us there was not a simple solution to our problem and it was going to be pricey ($1000.00). We had no choice but to tell them to go ahead. We won’t be leaving here now until tomorrow after 1400. We had hoped to be in Sacramento today.
This isn’t the first time we have had to spend the night in Dan Gamel’s lot.
Costco nor WalMart have had Nintendo’s since before Christmas but they checked down the I-5 corridor and found several stores that have them. I called Sonja (sister) and asked her to try and she could get it to us when see her to exchange Christmas gifts.
The passes were clear and the roads good except for one construction area where the bridge crossed Shasta Lake.
Arrived at Gamel’s about 2:30. He said it would be ready about 4:00. He was twenty two hours late. For a bit over $1000 we were told that they couldn’t fix the slide. It is safe but may leak somewhere down the road. They recommended I contact the factory. I will check at the factory when we return from our trip.
Dec. 28
Wow! There was a big wind storm last night. Thank goodness we were in a protected place between several large RV’s at the back of D Gamel’s repair facility. We spent the day shopping and at Barns and Noble.
John was in such a hurry that he didn’t connect right to the 5th wheel and broke the handle on the tail gate. New tail gate now.
Finally left Redding at 1435 and got to Sacramento at 1810. We parked across from Cat’s house. Nice to see the family again and we exchanged gifts. We got a nice set of books on tapes and a digital picture frame. Both perfect for this trip.
Checked all the stores around for Nintendo. No such animal in the area. Costco said they had just sold the last one an hour before we got there. Grrrrrr.
Arrived at Cat’s about 5:30 in the evening. We went to a few stores to try and find Annie’s Nintendo but no luck. Had a great visit with the kids.
Dec. 29
Happy Birthday Annie!!!
My 62 birthday today. I used to think that is old and now I think it’s approaching Middle Age. We left at 0530 in order to miss the morning commute traffic since we have to be in Modesto at 0800 to get the CB installed. We arrived there at 0745 and finished at 1000. Sonja arrived right on time at 1000 and we exchanged gifts once again. She wished me a Happy Birthday and then John remembered and did the same. He told me about my birthday gift that is at home in the dresser drawer (I can’t wait).
When I told Sonja (on the phone) that John had gotten me a DVD player that did movies and stuff she went shopping. Now, my sister, Sonja, is the queen of thrift shopping and the bargain. She doesn’t even have to find them they find her. So she’s out looking for movies and stuff for me at bargain prices and finds DVD’s of old movies and TV shows for 75% off. She collects a fine selection and she and grand daughter, Sierra, estimate what the final cost will be. When they rang it up at the cash register it was far less than she had predicted. Seems they were all .25 each.
We drove on to Bakersfield and went to Camping World (really huge and new). Got the new tail gate. One made for 5th wheels. Then it was off to the camp ground. I tried to make sure they had space but no one answered the phone. When we got here there were 6 RV’s ahead of us and more pulling up behind. We got the last over-flow space. It’s in an orange grove and the oranges are so sweet and we can have what ever we want.
John has plotted out a tentative course to Pharr.
No Nintendo here.
Up at 0500 to be on the road at 0530. Cat made coffee for us and came down to say goodbye. Arrived in Modesto, got the CB installed, went to the bank and we were off.
The weather was good. Stopped at the Camping world in Bakersfield to get a new tailgate and we were parked at Orange Grove RV Park before dark. They put us in the overflow area as they were packed.
Had a nice visit with Gordon and Cathy. They were also parked here.
Dec 30
Got up about 0700 and started getting ready.
Annie here:
We left Bakersfield around 0830 after a good breakfast. I packed a few snacking items and plenty of bottled water. The 5th wheel was all organized (finally) and the back seat of the truck cleared out of Christmas packages and store bought stuff. Now it has only the maps and camping resort books and food. So much neater.
I really enjoyed watching Mr & Mrs. North today and then an old Sherlock Holmes; Some of Sonja’s .25 specials. There are plenty more to go.
We drove east on 58 and then picked up 247 S in Barstow. That’s a two laner through the mountains but good road. John almost rear ended a pickup that decided to stop in front of us and make a left hand turn. We skidded a bit and John almost had to hit gravel but, other than a racing heart we came out of it fine.
At Yucca Valley we jogged west on 62 and picked up I-10 E. John gassed up in Palm Springs at a truck stop and used the truckers pump it took about ten seconds. They pump at 60 gallons a minute. Then it was off to Ehrenberg, AZ, just across the CA AZ border for the night.
We got here about 1600 and it’s a lot warmer than it has been. A nice camp ground with all kinds of activities and a dinner every night and breakfast and lunches at a very reasonable price. I fixed our dinner. Pork roast in the pressure cooker with vegetables, Liptons rice side, and cottage cheese.
While I was doing that John walked up to the office to see about getting an Internet connection. They were closed so he came right back. When he got with in sight of our 5th wheel our electrical connection at the box was in flames. He ran up and pulled the plug but, our plug was toast and one connector was melted into the box. The neighbors said they had noticed the flames and smoke and wondered what we were cooking. John reported it and they came down and took the box apart and replaced the receptacle. John had an extra plug for our connection and replaced it. Boy! Is that scary. John pointed out the trailer was in not danger but he and the park manager both commented that the circuit breaker on the box should have popped off. I didn’t even notice a flicker in the lights when they went to battery and hadn’t a clue.
Enough excitement for a week today.
Tomorrow we are driving to Deming NM for the New Years. John thinks they may have something special going as it’s a nice camp ground. After eight hours on the road though I am going to be tired and I expect John will too.
Last night we watched three episodes of Victory at Sea. I picked up the whole collection at Wal*Mart for $5.00. I used to watch them as a kid and loved them. We’ll watch more tonight.
No Nintendo here either. We called the local Super Kmart rather go over.
Annie
John: I woke at about 0530 looked at the clock and decided it was much to early to get up. I managed to doze until about 07something and then put my feet on the floor and started to move. Annie fixed a great breakfast while I did some of the outside stuff to get ready to up plug, hitch up and move out. At about 0830 we were pulling out of the CG and heading east. Traffic was easy going to Tehachapi. They move the freeway so we didn’t go through Mojave. Previously I remember driving along and looking at the aircraft and the airport. This time I didn’t see either.
Cathy Weiss had told me of a quicker way to I10. Normally I would head south on 395 to Adelanto then cross to Victorville and go through Apple Valley. This time I went to Barstow then south. If it was a bit longer it was a lot easier drive as I didn’t have the stop and go stuff through Apple Valley. We tried to gas up at a Pilot station but they were packed and didn’t have diesel where I could get it so we continued east on 10 and found a Flying J. There I was able to use the truck pump so the fueling was much faster. It dispenses about a gal a second..
Finished up and it was on to AZ and the CG where we were staying for the night. It is a Western Horizons park and they are in C2C until 1 Jan. So for $8 a night we are parked on the Colorado River and we can watch the sludge and foam float by.
I had to go to the office this evening and when I cam back I noticed the elect. Box was smoking. It seems that my plug or the box had a short in it. The CG people replaced the receptacle and I replaced the plug and now everything seems to be working OK…
Later Annie said she wasn’t getting water. It seems that the pressure regulator plugged up. I took it off and all is fine. Nothing seems to be going well on this trip and I am beginning to wonder if we should just go home.
Dec 31
Annie here- We left Ehrenberg, AZ at 0600 in the dark. We passed the freeway access twice before finally getting on. Kids had blacked out the sign and it was really hard to see in the dark not being familiar with the area.
We gassed up at the Flying J before getting on I-10. Yesterday there was a line a mile long so we had decided against it. Once on the road we just sailed on. I-10 is wide and has a 75 mile an hour speed limit. John drives at about 60 to 65. It’s all high desert and I thought about all the bugs making their way through life in those desolate areas.
We were in Phoenix at 0830, New Mexico at 1335, and at our camp site in Deming at 1500. I was so tired of just sitting. We traveled 488 miles today.
As soon as we got set up we went to the Wal*Mart Super Center down the road to pick up snacks for the party at the park tonight. Of course I checked on Nintendo’s. The clerk just stared at me and said, “No. Haven’t had any for a while.” It’s exactly what I expected.
I fixed us pork mole’, rice and beans with tortillas for dinner. Wow! It sure tasted good. After cleaning up I figured out our route and schedule for the next few days. It looks like this:
Monday January 1, 2007 - 336 miles from Deming to Ft. Stockton, Texas
Tuesday January 2, 2007 - 319 miles to Medina Lake Park just outside of San Antonio
Wednesday January 3, 2007 – 236 miles to Pharr, Texas our destination.
I made the reservations so we are set. John has been doing it up until now so I decided to give it a try. I just hate these really long days on the road.
We had a nice New Years Party at the park club house. Everybody brought finger food (you know that means more than a small army could eat). We all talked about what we were doing, where we were going and had been. A very nice time. We left around 2200 and both dropped into bed and fell asleep immediately. We didn’t even hear anything at midnight.
Jan 1
I awakened early this AM and Annie was also awake so we decided to get an early start. Annie did the route and reservations yesterday so we are all set. I am so glad that she did them.
We arrived in Fort Stockton early enough so Annie could visit the local WallMart and look for her game. Still no luck. She wasn’t feeling well, no food, so I dropped her off at the trailer and went back to town to gas up. We watched TV, Victory at Sea, for a while and then went to bed.
Jan 2-3
Another early start today, it was still dark when we pulled out of the CG. Annie is kind of excited because we will be staying at 1000 Trails. We changed the route a bit and knocked about 30 miles off the trip. Somewhere along the way I lost the power cord for the laptop. We were going to drive to Bandera to look in a Radio Shack but we were told it was a very small store and it would be about 40+ miles so we just decided it could wait another day. We watched Victory at Sea for a while and then went to bed, read and I turned out my light about 2130. Woke up at 0130 again and took my sleeping pill and then slept until 0430. After that it was doze and waken. We finally got up and hit the road about 0830. A bit later than usual but it will be a short drive today.
Some construction in SA but nothing we couldn’t handle. We arrived at the CG at about 1430. I found out when we arrived that we don’t leave until the 10th. Oh well….
We did some shopping then Annie started feeling bad again so we had to get some food in her. Found a nice Mexican restaurant and had dinner, then drove back home. Tomorrow I want to find a Camping world so we can get the h2o pressure regulator and a latch for the screen door. I also want to find a Chevy dealer so I can get the oil changed. I’m still a bit undecided about replacing the tires.
It started raining about 50 miles south of SA. It let up for a while but now it is coming down again. We will be here for a week and then cross the border.
We met the Wagon Masters today. There are also three other rigs here but we haven’t met any of them yet.
I had forgotten how discourteous the TX drivers were but it was brought to my attention on the interstate. I think it so strange that they are so polite in person yet in a vehicle and they become Mr. Hyde.
One nice thing that TX has is free internet at most of the rest stops. I wonder how long “free” will last. They have it in the CG but I have to go to the office to use it and we are parked about as far from the office as you can get and still be in the park. I am also a bit concerned because my mail hasn’t arrived yet.
We arrived at the Campground in Pharr in the early afternoon and were soon set up.
Jan 4-5
Wow, time seems to be slipping away. Yesterday we decided to buy a weeks worth of WiFi. Now I don’t have to lug my laptop down to the office a couple times a day.
On the night of the 3rd we had a great thunder and lightening storm. The sky would light up and then the thunder would chase the flashes across the sky. It would just roll across us.
Yesterday the tail gunner came by to inspect the truck and trailer. They want to make sure that everything is OK before we leave. All was well but he did find a gouge on the inside of one of the trailer tires. We will watch it for the next couple of days to see if it is leaking.
Bob, the wagonmaster also found a place where I could buy a spring for the trailer. So now I have a spare. Most of the day was spent getting everything spruced up and ready to travel. A couple more people came in. I think there are now about five rigs here. It will be a BIG rush next week when they start arriving.
Bob and Luann are the Wagonmasters and Lester and Nancy are the tail gunners. The Wagonmaster has overall responsibility and the tail gunner has designated responsibilities. They seem to work well together.
This morning we all went to Mexico to get our Visitors Visas and holograms. The holograms are permit stickers that go on the vehicles. I was a bit worried because I was unsure if they would accept the letter from the bank about the trailer. The letter said I could take it to Mexico for 30 days. We will be gone for almost three months. They didn’t even ask for the letter. On the way back I was notified that we can’t get Central American Insurance so we will essentially be uninsured while in those countries. Actually we will only have liability once we are 50 miles inside the Mexican border until we return. And the liability is only good in Mexico.
After we returned from the border we did some shopping. We found a camping world and bought a water pressure regulator. We will only need it for the nest few days but I want to have it for when we return. Later we had a social and met the others who were here. We will be traveling with these people for the next 78 days so it is nice to get to know them. They are a great bunch.
A bit about the Campground here. It is BIG. There are probably over 1000 spaces for the “Winter Texans” who arrive here when the snow fly’s up north. They have activities for almost everything you can think of. In the AM they have line dancing classes, water aerobics, regular aerobics and an exercise class. They also have wood carving, wood working, stained glass, lapidary, and probably a few other classes. There are pool, ping pong and card tables. There are also two swimming pools and shuffleboard, square and round dancing, tennis sewing and almost every craft you can imagine. If you get bored here it is your own fault.
Jan.3, 2007
It's been a few days since I've been able to add to this. Some where we lost the power cord to the laptop and had to wait until we could get back on line. We stayed at my first 1000 Trails camp ground last night. I bought the membership in November and they have very nice campgrounds and we don't have to pay when we stay there.
There were deer all over the place. I have to say I saw more deer and antelope (dead) on highway ten than I think I've seen in my whole life.
We left about 0830 this a.m. for what I hoped would be our shortest driving day. When we arrived in Pharr we found out we don't leave until the 10th and we thought originally the 8th. I guess that's two more days to re-coop my senses. It's been a lot of miles and hours on the road.
No Nintendo's in this area either. I've just about given up. I think it's a dream destined to remain only a dream.
It's really windy and rainy here but at least we don't have to be on the road for a few more days. Let's hope the next email will be more interesting.
Jan. 4, 2007
We must be in Texas. I was wakened early this morning by loud noises and couldn't figure it out in my comatose state. Then I heard loud pounding rain on the roof and saw flashes of light. No, not bombs a terrific thunder and lightning show. It's been years since I've had such a fine show by the rain god and associates. The show has continued off and on most of the day.
I went out to walk around this very LARGE destination camp ground for Snow Birds (called Winter Texans here). We estimate there are over 1000 Winter Texans here. It's a marvelous facility with a very large rec building with swimming pool, spa, library, gym, pool hall, banquet hall, the list goes on. When I got to the furthest point from our site the sky opened and I was blessed with a Texas down pour. I jogged back most of the way.
Our Wagon Master, Bob, was just here. Wow! There is still plenty to do before we leave. Today the Tail Gunner, Nancy (the female half) takes several of us to the border to get the vehicles registered and our visas. I am so happy we are finally here.
Last night another couple came in. They have a cab-over camper and are from Vancouver, BC. They have been wintering in Mexico and drove 10 hours yesterday to get here. They signed up for this trip 18 months ago and have been getting ready since June. So far everyone is amazed that we are here with only 10 days notification. The more we learn the more we agree. We may have known about it for 10 days but we had only 5 days to get it all together. As times goes we are finding more things we missed. Oh, well. What's an adventure with all the pieces in place.
Wow! More money. More money. We just got SkyMed in case of medical emergency for $288 plus $60 application fee. That's only good in Mexico but, if we can get to Mexico they'll come get us and it's good in the US and Canada. That's for a year and they do offer amazing services including getting your rig back home if you are unable.
Then of course there is the Mexican Insurance (which you have to have) and that cost us $452.55 for 6 months and you can't get it for less. We'll be in Mexico for eleven days. I think we will have to come back just to use some of that insurance.
So far we have met the Wagon Master and his wife and the Tail Gunner is here now and we met his wife a bit earlier. They are all giving us information and asking questions and giving us paperwork to complete.
Sun is shining and it's beautiful out there right now.
Until later..
Jan 6
When I checked the tire this AM it had lost a couple of pounds so I decided to take it off and have a look. There was a small pinhole leak in the sidewall. I dropped the spare and was going to mount it but then I decided that because I have to have a spare I went to Discount Tire to get a new tire and have it mounted. I will keep the spare a spare.
Bought the tire and mounted it. When I started to put the spare back I noticed it was kind of flat. So I broke out the compressor and put some air in it. First the Valve stem started leaking. Then all around the edge was leaking. I am so glad I checked it because I would have been up the creek so to speak if I needed a spare. I took the spare to Discount Tire and they fixed it for free. They will get my business when I return from the trip and need tires for the truck.
That took the better part of the day. I also cleaned out and straightened out the basement. Now I can find stuff in it.
I had replaced the tailgate on the truck while in CA but was unable to get the support wires off so I took care of that also. I kind of wanted to put the Chevy logo on the tailgate but it broke when I too it off the other one. So I just trashed the whole thing.
Annie and I had to go to Barns and Noble so she could spend her birthday present. Then we found a Mail Box place and sent her DVD off to be repaired.
Back at the CG there was another get together but the weather was not cooperating so it didn’t last long. Now we are in for the evening.
Annie went to the Craft Show here at the park. When I returned I found this vase.
While it was pretty on closer examination it looked like cardboard. So I turned it over and thought it would make a nice table decoration. But we don’t need any more decorations here.
Then Annie showed me how it works…
Wow, time fly’s…
Jan 7 and 8
Yesterday, Jan 7, I washed the truck and trailer. Annie did some shopping and cleaned the inside. By last night everyone had arrived. Our evening socials are growing.
After the social I tried again to get on line but was still unable to. The answering service I think was trying to help. At least they said they were. I was getting pretty fed up with the whole situation. Perhaps I spoke a bit rougher than I should have but eventually I got the owner of the company on the phone and he fixed the problem in a matter of a few minutes.
This morning Carl came by and I followed him and got the truck oil changed and lubed. It really doesn’t need it yet but I don’t want to have to do it while on the trip so I decided that I might as well get it done now.
When I came home we started clearing out the furniture so we shampoo the carpets. Carl and Bonnie rented a carpet cleaner and we split the cost with them. So for about $17 and an hour or so of work the carpets are clean. Yeaaa
At 1300 we had our first meeting. Bob gave us a lot of information to digest. He talked about the tolls, roads and some of where we will be staying. One of the places in Nicaragua sounds great. It is an all inclusive resort hotel. I think we will be spending two days and two nights there.
After the meeting we had to do some more shopping. We returned just in time for the 1700 party put on by the Wagon Master and Tail Gunner. It was a nice evening. There was plenty of food and drinks and we all said something about ourselves. Now we know a bit more about each other.
Tomorrow we have another meeting and then Wednesday we head south…
After the party we came back and put all the furniture back inside and unloaded the stuff we had bought.
Jan 10
Got up finished the unhooking etc and we were off by 0745. Right on time…
Traffic wasn’t too bad on the was south. We paid our $4.00 to cross the bridge and were on our way. There were no problems with the border crossings. We had the hologram on the truck and were off heading south.
Traffic was moderately heavy through Reynoso but once we cleared the town it lightened up and it was smooth sailing. We divided up into groups of four to six. We were the leaders of our group. I was a bit apprehensive about leading but it was a pretty clear road without a lot of turns so that eased my mind a lot.
Annie was GREAT… She read the map and the signs and passed the info on to the people who were following us. The topography was interesting. After getting out of the city and for the first hundred or so miles it was mostly flat. There were a lot of ranches and we frequently saw livestock along side the road. Mostly goats and sheep. As we moved farther south the land changed from flat to hilly. There are still a lot of ranches and some of them have signs in English enticing us to stop and try the fishing and hunting.
We stopped for lunch at a Pemex Gas Station. Our group decided that we would gas up in C. Victoria before we arrived at the CG. That was mistake number one..
We all gassed up. Gene had a problem with what he thought they had charged him and he was contesting the price. We waited about fifteen minutes for them. He told us to go ahead and he would follow along. That was mistake number two. We shouldn’t have gone….
When we arrived at the CG all was well. We heard on the radio that they had left the Pemex station and were on their way. Lester, the tail gunner, missed them so he arrived before they did. They were lost. Lester went out looking for them and we tried for a few hours to reach them on the radio. They were finally located and brought home.
At the briefing this evening we were again told NOT to leave anyone by themselves. We were also given instructions for tomorrow.
Had a great Margarita get together for the briefing. Annie made some Guacamole that was gone in less than five minutes.
After the meeting we decided to go for a walk toward town to too get some stuff for the fresh fruits and veggies. We stopped by Marilyn and Gene’s to see if they wanted to go. While they didn’t want to they did invite us to see their trailer. It is a Titanium and I had wanted to see what they had to offer. I really liked their rig.
Wyn and Gin also came in to look at it and we ended up just sitting and chatting and drinking some wine. We had a great time. We didn’t get to the store and about 2040 we left and here I sit .
Looking forward to tomorrow and another day of travel in this beautiful area..
Jan 11
Happy 72nd Birthday Audrey… I still miss you…
This morning we made it to the store. It is a very nice supermarket. I would kind of compare it to Fred Meyers as they sell more than just groceries. We met LuAnn and Nance on their way to the store as we were returning.
We were in the first group today. So we weren’t in the lead. That was OK also. We pulled out right on time 1100. The trip down was uneventful. The topography is changing again. Now we are more into rolling hills. It is still ranch and farm country. Most of the roads were OK. Until we reached the town of Manuel. Then the roads got BAD. It probably keeps the speed down going through town with all the potholes, missing pavement, and topes (speed bumps) so you don’t want to drive any faster than 15 or 20 mph.
They grow a lot of Milo here. It is used as cattle feed. At one point we passed a dead bovine along side the road. It appeared to be covered with lime or some other white substance.
Out across the planes there was one mountain that kind of stuck up. All around it was flat and then there was this giant haystack sticking straight up. No one could find it on the map.
We pulled into the campground at about 1400. Actually it is just a motel parking lot. But the lot is quite large and has plenty of room for all of us. There is a large grassy area right behind the rigs and a beautiful swimming pool. The water was a bit cold for me though so I didn’t use it other than to get my ankles wet. We also have very nice showers. They cost $1.50 a person. We probably could have gotten away with just one person because Annie and I used it together but we paid the $3.00.
There is also a very nice small restaurant here that is open 24 hours. The food is quite reasonable. We both had a dinner, and an order of soup, guacamole, dessert a few beers, and water it came to about $20. Annie wants to go there for breakfast in the AM. I probably won’t go.
We are in the last group to leave tomorrow. In all likelihood we will be the next to the last people in the convoy, right in front of Lester and Nancy, the tail gunners.
Jan 12 – Friday
The day started and ended very well. Some of the times in between were not quite so good.
We were in the last group to leave and pulled out right at 0800. Rod and Gail were the group leaders and did a great job keeping everyone together and informed. We made our first stop about 1000 and all was well. About half way to our second stop we heard that someone had break problems and needed help. Lester, the tail gunner, stayed back to help and the rest of us continued on our way. At out lunch break Wyn mentioned that my tire looked low. It was down to 30 lbs. So I aired it up and hoped that it was just a fluke caused my hitting a pot hole. Fifteen miles later it was still losing air. We stopped at tire repair place but they didn’t understand what I wanted or didn’t want to do it so we aired up and went on.
Today’s trip was about 200 miles. I would guess that about 150 of them were on washboard roads. If it wasn’t the topes it was the potholes or other areas that needed repair. Even where they had just resurfaced it the road was still bumpy and rough. All that said the drive was beautiful. We were in the foothills. The vegetation was great. In some towns fruit vendors lined the streets selling their multicolored wares. At the topes where we had to crawl over the bumps vendors would come out to the vehicles selling cheese. I wish I could have bought some.
We finally arrived in Poza Rica. The directions were a bit off so we missed our turn. When we finally discovered it we were about 3 miles past where we should have been. So we made a U turn and a very busy highway and went back.
We finally made it to the right road and were heading for the hotel where we would be parking. Traffic was bumper to bumper with small cars darting in and out like flies. I got stopped by the local police for running a red light. They wanted me to follow them to the police station but I couldn’t understand them so I just paid my fine right there. It was $200p. One hundred for each of them.
When they pulled me over I brushed up against some trees but I don’t think I did any damage to the roof. I may have done a bit to the awning though.
Tomorrow morning I will take the tire off and someone from the hotel will see about getting it repaired while we are on our tour. At least I hope that is what they will do.
Jan 13
When I got up this AM I found that Lester, the tail gunner had already put a jack under my truck. So I jacked it up, took the tire off and left it for whoever was going to take it to the garage for me to get it repaired. Bob had already made arrangements for me.
The bus was a bit early so we loaded up and were off. Traffic was terrible but we made it without incident. Vicki gave us a brief history about Tajin (Ta Heen) as we drove. I believe these pyramids were built by the Toltec. There were two types of sacrificial altars. One was rectangular and it was for the sacrifice of animals and plants. The Square one was for human sacrifice. The Toltec’s were under the domination of the Aztecs and they required human sacrifice.
They also played a football game similar to the Maya. The winners were sacrificed. I wonder how hard I would play in that game.
Again we were not allowed to climb the pyramids. But we could get to some high points to take pictures. After wandering around we watched the Papantia Flyers. There are five of them and they climb this pole about 100 feet high. One of them is in the middle and the other four surround him. The four are attached by ropes and at a signal drop backwards and hang upside down and slowly swing down.
We had a nice lunch and then it was back to the CG/hotel. My tire was ready to be mounted. It cost a total of $70.00p, a bit less than $7.00 US.
After a short nap we did some visiting and then it was time for the daily briefing/meeting. After that it was dinner and then to bed. I think I turned my light out before 2100.
Jan 14
Today was an easy drive. We were in the last group again and were right behind the leader. Not a bad position. The lush vegetation was beautiful. We were again on rolling hills along the coast. For quite a ways we could look to our left (east) and see the Gulf. On the right were lagoons and almost jungle.
Arlene and Joe, who were in front of us got stopped by the police for a red light. But it cost them $100 in dollars rather than pesos. That was a bit much.
We stopped for lunch at a rest stop near a Nuclear Power Plant. Annie found a coconut and we will have a coconut opening party in the next few days.
The roads were not well traveled today; possibly because it was a Sunday or perhaps it was because we were away from the cities. Our group leader got us on the right roads and we arrived about 1515. I decided not to dump here. I really don’t think the tanks are all that full. I may empty the gray into a bucket and dump it on the sand.
There were a bunch of kids watching us park so after we set up I invited them inside so they could see what it looked like. Then we gave them all a soda. There were also some workers who offered to wash, polish and wax the rig for 900 pesos. That is a bit less that $90 so I said go for it. They got it all washed today and tomorrow they will do the polishing and waxing. We also turned in our laundry. It should be done by tomorrow evening.
This evening we had our welcome dinner. I had a garlic shrimp steak and Annie had a Orange shrimp steak. They were delicious. After a dessert of flan we headed back to our casa mobile to relax.
Overall it was a great day…
15 Jan
Slept well last night. In fact I slept great. The light was out by 2130 and I didn’t open my eyes again until 0600. I have a vague recollection of hearing a car alarm go off sometime during the night but it didn’t seem to awaken me enough to be all that much aware of it.
Toady we had a tour of Vera Cruz. It was interesting. We started in the town square. All the towns and villages seem to have them. We visited a large church then meandered across the street to the old hotel. It was quite beautiful. After that we found a bank so Annie could get some cash and then wandered around the town for a bit.
Then it was back on the bus and to a little village where we saw another small church. There was also an old building where Cortez was supposed to have lived. But I doubt that he was ever in that house. It looked to have been built quite a while after he was gone. Then we had a nice lunch and went back to the CG. That evening the mayor invited us to a celebration at the town square. We had a lite dinner and entertainment. The entertainment was a light/water show and traditional dancing. The dancing was great and the light/water show was phenomenal. The water would shoot up in various ways in time to the music. It was colored by the lights. After the festivities were over we had our pictures taken with the dancers and then the technician who did the light show showed us around his domain. We continued with that part of the show for another hour or two. Finally it ended and we headed back to the CG. We said our good by’s to Vickie, the tour guide and retired to our casa mobiles.
16 Jan.
Today was pretty much a travel day. We were up and out by 0700. We were in the first group. Our CG was at a water park. We had hookups but not sewer. The electrical was ungrounded and the polarity reversed. If you were barefoot you would get a tingle touching something metal. Driving in was quite an experience. The road was lined with kids waving to us. I almost had one decorate my front bumper when he started to run out in front of me. I locked the binders and his mother grabbed him so nothing happened.
We had a margarita party in the evening and then Gene and Marilyn came over for dinner. Gene wasn’t feeling well so the evening ended early but we did have a nice time.
17 Jan
This morning we had a fantastic tour of the local Animal Park and historic site. There were lots of birds, monkeys, snakes and statues. Overall it was a very informative and enlightening experience. I think I got some great pictures. Then it was back to the CG to hook up and to head to Palenque. The trip here was only about three hours as the distance was right at 100 miles. Most of the time the roads were good but, there were some pothole challenges. We bought some propane on the way in. I was down about a quarter of a tank. So now I have a pretty good idea of how much I will use.
Parking was a special challenge. The ground was very soggy and slippery. I don’t have 4wd so I couldn’t get into the first few places they wanted me to park. I finally go into, well almost, got into a parking place. We are very un-level. Side to side is almost OK but front to back is bad. I guess I could un-hook and lower the front but we will only be here for one more night and it almost isn’t worth it.
Annie wanted to use up the avocados we had so she talked Lou Ann into having a social. I think everyone showed up. I worked on the neck and shoulders of LouAnn, Arlene and Annie. I think they appreciated it.
Temp today was in the high 70’s. We also had quite a bit of rain.
Jan. 18, 2007
We were on a big bus at 0845 on our way to Palenque Ruins. Our guide met us at the campground and traveled with us, telling us what to expect. These ruins were unlike those we saw at El Tajin. They started to clear them since around 1940 and figure at the rate they are doing the work they will expose all in 5000. The jungle constantly tries to reclaim them so they must work, not only to clear new areas, but to keep those already clear for viewing visible. They have found many pyramids and a few burial sites. One is of a woman covered in red. She is called the Red Queen. Jade was these peoples “gold” and she was covered in it. Red and green… hmmm she sounds like a Christmas decoration. We were also able to climb several of the pyramids.
There are many fine pieces of relief sculpture and with some showing the original colors. There is so much to see and sooooo much more to uncover and explore. It was a magnificent city of many thousands of Mayans and royalty. This city is from the classical period about 250 BC to 900 AD. The jungle had reclaimed everything and many of the covered pyramids are over-grown with very tall trees and jungle flora.
The city also had permanent water supply extensive aqueduct system which provided drinking water and also water al the other necessary functions.
After our guided tour of the pyramids we walked 20 minutes through the fantastic jungle. We saw trees wrapped in fig vines and vines Tarzan would have loved to swing on. We saw a grand cascade of water and crossed a swinging bridge over the stream. Once again there are not words to describe the wonder and beauty of what we saw. After a while beautiful and magnificent just don’t work.
We were back to our RV’s for a ½ hour to gather lunch and be on our way to Aqua Azul and Misol Ha Waterfalls. I fixed John a lunch and stayed back. I am just plain worn out and my back was aching. John worked on it for about 10 minutes before he left and it feels so much better.
After everyone left I walked up to the main road to the restaurant. It is a large Palapa, wide open without windows and doors. It has a thatched roof. I had chicken mole and soup recommended by the waiter. I don’t know what it was but, it was green and good. After a very relaxing lunch I walked home and slept the afternoon away.
I expect the bus back soon and I think we are once again going out to the restaurant to dinner. I think I will have fruit salad.
Tomorrow is our longest drive day. It’s just over 300 miles. We cross into another state and they will take any chicken, pork, or eggs that are not cooked. I have two eggs left for breakfast and some bacon we will use. So until tomorrow.
Jan. 19, 2007
This was our longest travel day yet. We were in the last group and got out of the camp ground at 0730 right on time. We were the leaders for our group and Les and Nancy our Tail Gunners.
We fueled up at the 19 mile mark since it is going to be almost 310 miles today. The roads were pretty good on most of the drive. We stopped at Quesos La Bretagna for cheese. Good cheese that they make right there. Then we drove on through many small villages that really looked like I expected with small houses that we would call shacks some painted the brightest purples, lavenders, and blues you can imagine; even a magenta one. There were chickens and turkeys, pigs, sheep, goats, donkeys, and horses and of course cows. In this area there are lots of Brahma’s. We also saw large sugar cane fields.
When we crossed the border into Campeche they checked for eggs, chicken, and pork. We had been told if it was cooked we could bring it through. In the morning I cooked two nice pork chops for lunch so they wouldn’t take them. We really are down on food because of the next two days border crossings. Anyhow, they left the cooked chicken but, made us toss the pork chops. The other border crossing was no problem after all we had nothing left. That crossing was from Campeche into Quintana Roo.
At one of our rest stops there was a Palapa and Les said the sign read fresh tortillas. So we walked of over and in side there were a few tables, a counter, soda and beer coolers, and a large dance floor. A lady and her two teen age daughters were sitting at one table. When I asked for tortillas they all three got up and went into the little kitchen and made me two dozen tortillas from scratch. They were so hot you could hardly hold them even juggling them from one had to the next. So very good!
Quintana Roo seems to have better roads than the other states. I think they may have more money because of their tourist trade. We traveled at good speed on two lane road most of the afternoon. We gassed up once again at a Pemex and they cheated us out of some money. Because John is so good about keeping accurate fuel cost and consumption records we were able to get back P100 although that was still too much.
We arrived at our site Yax-Ha’ right on the Caribbean at 1721 without one wrong turn. Yaaaaaaaaa!
This is a beautiful camp ground and our parking place backed right up to the ocean.
Saturday, January 20, 2007 - Day 13
On the drive in yesterday I kind of wondered it we were still in Mexico. Once we crossed the border into Quintana Roo the roads seemed to get better. I wonder if it is because there is more tax money coming in.
We tried to go to dinner after the meeting last night but the restaurants were all closed. So it was back home to try and figure out what to eat because all the meat was pretty much gone. By this time Annie had been without food for so long that she was pretty much unbearable. Her mood was not pretty…
Today is the border crossing into Belize. From what we have been told it is the toughest yet. I don’t think it will be any worse than the crossing into Campeche yesterday where they took my cooked pork chops.
Bob pulled out a bit before 0700, the rest of us followed. We didn’t pull out in any order so along the way we stopped and lined up by the numbers. We reached the border about 0830, cleared Mexico and headed into Belize. We stopped and were fumigated and then continued onto immigration.
The men went into the building and registered the vehicles. The ladies stayed outside and visited.
Soon the difficult part was finished and we mounted up for the trip through the inspection. It wasn’t any worse than Campeche. They looked in the refrigerator and freezer said OK and we were finished. Of course they didn’t look in the closet or any other hiding places. After we cleared the inspection we had to slow down again for the insurance check point but then we were off to the campground.
We arrived about 1115 and everyone was pretty much set up by noon. Some went for walks into down and others used Carl’s free taxi service, which was a very nice gesture on Carl’s part.
At 1700 we had our social. Wow, the food was great but, as we were going out to dinner, I didn’t eat all that much. In retrospect I would have been better off to have eaten more here and not gone to dinner. We went to Tony’s which was a five minute walk from the CG. In my humble opinion the food was OK but, nothing like most of the places in Mexico.
First impressions of Belize;
Mexico but, with more English spoken.
Very friendly people.
Stores will accept Pesos, American and Belize dollars.
Signs are in English and drivers are like Mexican.
One thing I wanted to tell you about is a topay. That’s pronounced “toe pay”. If rough road brings a whole new meaning to Rough Road, topay is Spanish for “speed bump” Topays are everywhere in these countries. They come in various forms but, all have the same result a jarring jolt in the middle of your drive. Everyone pays close attention to them. Some are metal balls set into the concrete, others are low speed bumps three or four a foot apart, still others are very high speed bumps. They can be found on toll roads, entering and exiting every town and village, in town and just anywhere else the Topay god so desires. I believe the US needs to employ more topays. They are so much more effective in slowing traffic than cops, speed limits, or common sense. It’s really hard to have car chases with them around too.
Jan.21, 2007
Happy birthday Grace. Grace is Annie’s daughter in-law, married to her son Josh, and mother of grandson, Josiah.
While down town yesterday we bought a frozen whole chicken. This morning while getting it ready to slow cook for the day and taking the parts from the body cavity and we discovered that here they include the feet. Nice clean chicken feet. Annie decided not to use them even though they probably would add lots of flavor.
Wow! Back from another adventurous day. It just never ends. We were picked up by three vans and driven to a river about an hour away. There we were loaded into two boats and taken on a river boat ride along eighteen miles of jungle. We saw the kinds of wild life you would expect and hundreds of flowers and air plants. We also passed a Mennonite community.
Our guide said without the Mennonites the Belize economy would fail. The government of Belize gave them free land and insured their independence and now they are the agricultural backbone of the country. The only thing of complaint is that because of their promised independence Mennonite children are made to work in the fields and with heavy machinery and are often injured. Our guide said he had the misfortune of witnessing an accident involving a boy driving a tractor on one of his tours. On the way back there were Mennonite boys down at the river on a pier with a horse and buggy. I took a picture but, don’t know if it turned out.
Our destination was Lamanai Ruins. When we arrived we had a lunch served by the boat company in the Palapa by the river. Lunch was chicken, Belize style, and very good, rice and black beans (dirty rice), fried bananas and the Belize version of potato salad. The salad was different in that it had corn, green beans, and carrots as well as diced potato. Very good. I had seconds of salad. There was plenty to eat and they offered a selection of cold sodas and water.
After lunch we walked through the jungle to the ruins. We saw the tallest point in northern Belize, which is a wonderful Mayan pyramid. We were allowed to climb to the top of the ruin. Two thirds of the steps were so steep and narrow a thick rope was provided to assist those who wanted to use it. Most of us used it to climb up and down. We felt pretty proud of ourselves as it was a tough climb. Then we looked around and Fez and Marjorie were up there with us. They are both in their mid 80’s and very active.
From the top was the most spectacular view of the jungle canopy that just went on forever. While we were on top of this marvelous structure our background noise were Howler monkeys howling. If you have never heard this call there is no way I can describe it. It will definitely make your hair stand on end. We saw some of the Howlers too including a mother and infant.
These ruins are different in that it is not easily accessible. There is a road but, I guess it’s covered in mud, narrow, and not well maintained. Our guide didn’t seem to consider it an optional way to get to Lamanai. The river boats are the most practical way to get there. I think that makes this a well protected area and one that will stay pristine for a long time.
We saw other ruins here and then walked back to the dock and boarded our boats. Our trip back was fast and furious with the wind blowing in our faces and through our hair. Well, some of the people had the wind blowing through their hair. Then we boarded our vans and in 45 minutes were back at camp. After our briefing for tomorrow’s drive we had a potluck at our trailer. Not well attended but, more than adequate for a nice social evening.
So, tomorrow we have 160 miles to drive. On the way we will stop at the Belize Zoological gardens for a couple of hours.
Monday, Jan 22
We were in the second group this AM. We were the number two which was where I really wanted to be. On the way we stopped at the Belize Zoo. It is a bit unusual for a zoo because they don’t capture wild animals. All the animals there have been rescued or injured. There were spider and howler monkey’s, and birds galore. I got a few pictures of some of them. They even had a tarantula which made Annie happy. One of the birds was a “Harpy Eagle.” A very unusual looking bird. One of the storks would preen for us. I hope we got some good pictures of it.
We left the Zoo about 1400 and headed for our camp. Annie wanted to stop in town and get a few groceries so the rest of the group went on without us. I never worry about finding our way because Annie is so good with the directions. We found the place with out any trouble and that is when the fun started. It had been raining here and the ground was very soft. While trying to park, the truck got bogged down in the soft grass. Try as I might there was no way I could go anywhere. One of our travelers has a 4wd pickup and a chain. So when he arrived he pulled the truck to harder ground and then went back and hooked up and parked the trailer for me. In the meantime I had to cut a lot of branches from a tree so I could keep my roof in one piece. Once he had me parked his next challenge was the 40 foot motorhome that was also bogged down. We are talking about a 30,000 + bus. So Carl hooked on the rear and loaded a bunch of the women in the back of his truck. The men got in front of the MH and with Carl pulling and the rest of us pushing we got it out of the muck.
At 1700 we had our travel meeting and social. By this time Gene and Marilyn were here along with Lester and Nancy, the tail gunners. They had decided to stop for dinner and do some shopping along the way. Gene and Marilyn wanted to stop and do some shopping and have dinner so Les and Nance stayed with them. I don’t think they wanted a repeat of the last time Gene got separated.
When we crossed into Belize form Quintana Roo, Mexico the ground was pretty much flat. Today, as we moved west, it started getting hilly. It is actually kind of pretty here. Many of the houses are on stilts because of the flooding from the rains and/or hurricanes. Quite a few homes are also painted bright colors. I mean very bright colors. Some of the places are large and well kept while right next door is a broken down shack.
One other very interesting sight today was a family out riding in a horse and wagon. Looking at them I would say they were Mennonite’s. The horse looked well cared for and the wagon was spotless.
So while the day had a bit of excitement and frustration it ended well.
Jan. 23, 2007
Can you believe it? We are in the Guatemalan jungle! You can not believe the bird sounds.
We left San Ignacio, Belize at 0800. Thank goodness we had no problems pulling out and our group was one big long caravan instead of four smaller ones. We had to make our border crossing from Belize into Guatemala and our leaders always want to hit the borders early since the process can take hours.
These are Latin countries so the men have to do most of the serious stuff like vehicle papers and things. Woman only have to have their passports. The crossing actually went quite quickly; two hours and forty minutes. Part of that can be attributed to Belize letting us leave the RV’s parked on their side until all the paper work was done on the Guatemala side. Once you check out of a country you are not suppose to cross back without going through the whole entry process again. The Guatemala side didn’t have anyplace to leave the RV’s so it would have taken hours to processes and go through two or three at a time.
Guatemala is a third world country like Mexico. The difference is Mexico is the rich kid and Guatemala the poor kid. Mexico has very stringent border guarding even more so than we do in the states from Mexico. It’s because they are trying to keep their poorer neighbors out and from taking Mexican jobs. Sound familiar?
We crossed the bridge from the border into Guatemala just like crossing the Rio Grande. From there it was twenty miles of the worst road we have encountered yet. It was pot holed dirt and our speed varied vastly between 5 and 7 miles an hour. We were spread out into groups with two RV’s (Les the Tail Gunner last in his 36’ three axled Air Stream and Arlene and Joe’s new motorhome) last and going even slower.
Bob (AM) had told us this would probably be the first or second worst road we would have to travel. A mile or so down the road he called on the radio to say the road was better than last year. Oh, well. Just think we probably have a worse one yet.
There were two good things. One it wasn’t real muddy nor was it dusty dry. The second and most important was we were traveling so slow I got lots of great photos of the people and their homes. They really are a very poor people and live in real shacks with thatched or tin roofs. The only children we saw with shoes were those in school uniforms. One school consisted of about five rooms in a row and had some window glass and pigs rooting around the yard.
The kids love seeing us and always ran to the road to wave and shout. The older kids seemed to always have a baby on their hip and tried to interest the baby in the parade of RV’s. I was so taken by the older boys and girls caring for the smaller children and babies.
The animals were in much poorer condition than in Belize or Mexico. The only well-fed animals were the Brahmas grazing in fields. Horses, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and dogs all wondered freely along and into the road.
There was no doubt in my mind we were in a foreign country and a very poor one at that. The positive side was the smiles and cleanliness of the children in-spite of the dirt and poverty. Then perhaps they don’t feel poor.
After a very slow twenty miles we finally reached a paved road. This one was so much better than what we had been on even though it too had lots of rugged, canyon deep pot-holes. We had to slow to 2 and 3 miles an hour at times but usually we were able to drive at a decent speed.
We stopped as a group at the 48 mile mark and took a break. Here there were lots of artisan shops and a place to buy ice cream. A Mango sorbet and a vanilla shake were our lunch. You haven’t had vanilla until you’ve had it here. Ours is so poor in comparison this vanilla brings a whole new meaning to delicious. How we have sacrificed quality for quantity amazes me. Of course we don’t know the difference until we get to a place like this where the fruit is fresh off the trees and the vanilla is pure and rich.
We reached Tikal National Park round 1500 and had been warned that the speed limit is 25 MPH. They time you from the main gate to the main complex and if you arrive too early they send you back to re-drive that ten miles. The road is as good as any two-lane road in the states and winds through jungle. The road signs caution the driver to watch for animals such as Jaguar, snakes, Coati, and other exotics along the way.
We saw a Coati for an instant and it was exciting. That was the only sign of wild life we saw until we arrived at the camp ground.
The camp complex is beautiful. There are three restaurants, two hotels, swimming pools and gift shops. The camp sites have no hook-ups but are grassy and spotless. The showers and toilets are directly behind us and very clean.
The sounds of the tropics is everywhere in the bird calls and just fills the air with exotic sounds. Tikal is the site of the most important Mayan Ruins. It is a massive site and we will do our first tour tomorrow morning. We will have a guide the first round but, after that we can do it on our own and pay for it. We will be here until Thursday. Drew is trying to find people to take the sunrise tour tomorrow morning. Thursday we are doing the Jungle canopy tour where you climb above the jungle canopy and are strapped into a harness and travel along cables from one platform to the next
We had dinner at one of the restaurants. The Quetzal is Guatemalan money and the exchange rate is about Q7.2 to the dollar. Our dinner was good and very reasonable.
Jan.24, 2007
We all met at 0900 to tour the park area with the pyramids, temples, and palaces. We wore long pants Annie had rubber bands around the ankles, lots of insect repellent complete our ensemble.
We divided into two groups with two guides and off we went deep into the Guatemalan jungle. Our guide introduced us to some of the flora along the way. We saw Chiclet trees (you know the ones that gave us gum). The wood from this tree is exceptionally hard. There are so many beautiful trees and birds here. There is one tree called a “strangle tree” since it grows around another tree and eventually kills it. The Mayan also have a sacred tree. It grows straight up and blossoms like an umbrella at the top. It is an incredible sight.
At one point we walked down a real jungle path single file (as opposed to a well used wide path). I didn’t see any exotic insects or birds while on this path. But we could hear Howlers and eventually came upon the band of monkeys. We watched them for a time and managed to get a great picture of one.
The pyramids here are huge and impressive. Tikal is very large and there are so many monuments, pyramids and temples that it defies description. We were able to climb several, including Temple III. This temple is presently being “excavated” again. We were told that the first time they did it from the top down and now they are doing it from the bottom up. I don’t think they finished it the first time. I wonder about that though because there is a lot of scaffolding at the top. And they also built a wooden stairway to the top which made it much easier then climbing the high uneven steps. The top provided us with a wonderful view and some great pictures of the jungle canopy.
Annie climbed two more pyramids and got enough exercise for a week. I climbed one more. The steps are very high and uneven.
We saw more complexes with pyramids (four sided) and temples (two sided). It is such a wonderful complex and I guess 75% is yet to be uncovered. The ruins are still exciting and while we are not yet tired of seeing them they are beginning to run together. We have many more to see yet.
When we got back Annie changed out of her humid/sweat wet clothes and felt better. The food prices at the snack bar in the museum seemed a bit excessive so we had lunch at the local café at the campground for a very good price. Then we did a bit of shopping at the museum shops. These aren’t like at home but, little vendor run places.
We bought hand made dolls from a young Guatemalan woman for $2 each. They are made with bark and mushrooms and feathers. Very nice. There were three people there. The husband his wife and child. The wife had the most beautiful eyes. The husband was laying there smoking a cigarette. The child would go out to the people passing by and show them the dolls. The wife wouldn’t say much and when we tried to get her to write the price so we knew how much to pay she just shook her head. She may have been illiterate. He wouldn’t get up and just told us how much.
Annie bought some Guatemalan patterned fabric in incredibly bright colors for quilts. She also bought a shirt and blouse. The fabric is actually four sets six place mats and napkins. She bought two table coverings too. These will be the quilt fabric.
After the shopping we did the wash. In case I haven’t told you the 5 gallon buckets do a pretty good job of agitating while we drive. Still, our wash has gotten backed up and there is a place here to wash (meaning a deep concrete sink with cold running water). So we took the buckets, plunger, detergent, and cloths to the faucet and joined my fellow campers to wash cloths.
The art of washing cloths in the jungle:
Put a bit of detergent and color safe bleach in bucket. Use a small amount… Add water, which is cold, to bucket and then clothes. Agitate with plunger for several minutes while sweating profusely in humidity. Dump dirty, soapy water from bucket then put bucket under cold running water and agitate with hands until little or no suds remain. Ring out with wrist power and hang out on rope line strung from RV to nearest tree or jungle vine. Repeat process until all clothes are clean. This does clean them in that they smell good and look clean but, isn’t real good at removing stains.
After the wash we had a social and then went to dinner at the same place we had lunch. We were with Gene & Marilyn, Carl and Bonnie, and Lynn and Chris. It was a good dinner and very reasonable. Annie had her usual, fresh fruit. I simply can not tell you how great tasting the fruit is here. I seriously doubt I will ever appreciate another banana as much as these.
This evening we got picture of the local turkeys, which are so exotically colored they make ours in the US look drab. Then we saw a Coati and were able to get some pictures of that cute mammal. Neither the Coati nor turkeys were shy of people and paid us no attention.
Then it was home to relax, read, and scratch our numerous insect bites and bed.
Jan 25 Thursday Morning:
We left the clothes out last night and it has been raining lightly so our cloths are getting rinsed by nature.
Soon we will be heading out for our Jungle Canopy tour. From what we have been told it is more like a Disneyland ride. You can’t really take pictures as you are moving too fast and just hanging on. It is a bit pricey at $30 US each but, since we are here I guess we should get our “ticket stamped” and do it.
Okay all, we survived the ultimate thrill ride. We did the high canopy tour, which consists of seven zip lines. Two are 200 meters long, we were 40 meters high, and traveled one kilometer.
First we were put into harnesses that went over our shoulders and between our legs and had big clips on them. It was safety first. Before we started climbing we were attached to a safety line. We always had at least one line attached. Then we climbed the first tower made of wood steps to a platform. The guide pointed up and said we start from there. So we climbed more steps to the next platform.
From the first platform we saw the second platform through the trees. The guide demonstrated how we just let ourselves go once we are hooked up to the “zip line.” You are suppose to point your feet out in front of you and hold on to the zip line with one hand over and in back of your head while clinging to the harness cord that is connected to the wheel over the zip line. It’s important to hold onto the zip line with one hand (which is gloved with a heavy duty leather glove) or you will spin. Also, the idea is to let the line slide freely because if you grip it you will stop. Stop is not the idea. Hanging from a harness on a zip line 40 meters above the jungle floor is not the object of this exercise.
When you approach the next platform if the guide motions you to break because you are going too fast you are to pull down on the cable in your right hand. If you don’t keep your feet stretched out in front of you momentum is also lost. If you do stop before reaching the platform you have to turn around and pull yourself hand over hand until you reach the platform. Not an easy task as John stopped about 20 feet short of the second platform. If it had been any further he isn’t sure he would have made it as it was an uphill pull.
We were first up to the first platform along with Yvonne. She is terrified of heights and has bravely climbed several pyramids and is getting better at it. She was so frightened but, Annie was her mentor so kept encouraging her (Annie also neglected to tell Yvonne that we were going on the longer, higher tour. Several in the group went on the shorter, lower tour. The guide said whose first and John pointed to Annie and said, “She is.”
She wasn’t as scared as Yvonne but, sure as hell wasn’t ready to go first. The only problem was about seven of our fellow travelers were right behind her. Yvonne was watching her (terrified as she was). So she was hooked up to the zip line, grabbed the cable, held onto the harness and leaned back. Almost right away she felt herself begin a spin so moved her hand back on the cable and forced her feet up more (it’s like doing leg raises but holding your legs up and out). Instead of spinning she gained momentum and reached the second platform in good speed with watery knees. John was next and he didn’t quite make it but, did as he was suppose turned around and pulled himself to the platform.
Yvonne followed John and we later found out when she was hooked up and ready to go she told the guide, “I don’t think I can do this.” He pretended to not understand and gave her a push. So Yvonne made it to the second platform via zip line.
By the forth platform we were all higher than kites both physically and mentally. They got higher each time. Annie, the photographer, had Yvonne’s camera and was suppose to be taking pictures of her. She had taken several pictures and when she looked at them all but two were close-ups of her face and nose. She had the camera backwards! Nervous?? Of course it’s a digital smaller than her hand. Her excuse was “How was I to know which way was forward? It doesn’t have a big lens like mine.”
After we had finished our canopy tour everyone was flying high on adrenaline. We all had our pictures taken together and most had mud all over them from the zip line. Annie didn’t and still can’t figure out why. Yvonne was our hero of the day for conquering a huge fear and she is in her 60’s. Fez and Marjorie the 85 year olds did it too. Those two have climbed all the pyramids and never fail to do anything. They are amazing!
The afternoon was ours and Annie slept and read and John did some work that needed to be done. Later we all had dinner at one of the local hotels on the reserve compliments of Adventure Tours. It was excellent as usual. But nothing compares to that canopy tour….. nothing.
Jan 26, 2007
Today was a travel day. We left at 0830 in the first group. The roads weren’t too good until we got onto the highway to Guatemala City. That road is as good as any two lane in the states.
We had a stop for lunch at the neatest jungle resort. It’s Finca Ixobel (Finca means ranch or estate). It’s one of those places you see in travel magazines and dream of going to. I don’t know how Adventure finds these places they are so out of the way and off the main track. It’s just heaven and a bungalow is about $35 a night and then there are less expensive rooms right down to small dormitory type rooms with shared bath and toilet facilities. These rooms are all very open to the outdoors because it’s never really cold here.
They served us from a limited menu but, oh, the food was good. This is also where we picked up our home made bread we had ordered ten days ago. It is fabulous stuff. I am getting to the point of running out of descriptive words to tell you all about the things we are doing and the place we are seeing.
After two hours we started out again. The drive was pretty uneventful except driving down the main street of Rio Dulce. The street is a very narrow two lane with vegetable and fruit sellers lining both sides. Both pedestrian and vehicular traffic are going both directions. John was squeezing through with inches only on both sides of the 5th wheel. The real tight spot was when the tanker truck and our 5th wheel passed each other. We had maybe 6” on the side with the vendors and 1” or 2” between the trucks. Some of the vendors had to move their wares back a bit or they would have been run over. That is all part of the adventure.
Tonight we are camping in a horse pasture on a river. Last year Bob (WM) let the horses out and two days later they were still running free. This year when we pulled up the guard (this is a hotel property) went out and caught the horses and moved them somewhere else. We didn’t see Bob’s face on a wanted poster so perhaps they weren’t sure of who did it.
After setting up we walked to town with a couple of other people to buy some supplies. We are really getting low. We bought fresh fruit and vegetables from vendors and found a nice super market (not very big) for a few other things and then walked back. Neither of us is really hungry so will not eat dinner but, I did try the bread and its good.
The laundry is still not dry. The way for us to predict weather here is to do laundry, If we hang it outside it will rain. If we hang it inside the weather will be sunny and bright.
Tomorrow is a river boat excursion from Rio Dulce to Livingston, Guatemala. So until then happy dreams of adventure all you poor people stuck in the real world.
Sat Jan 27
Up at 0700 this AM and started the generator. Mary, one of our neighbors asked how she could listen to the Howler monkeys with the generator going? We have the loudest in the group and I am sure by the end of the trip no one will want to be parked near us.
Mixed feelings about the trip today. The boat ride on the Rio Dulce was great. First we went up stream a bit and saw an old Spanish Fort. On the way the driver stopped or slowed down at a few places where we could see the birds and flowers. It was great. Going downstream we took a few detours to some very beautiful waterways. At times children in dugouts would come along side and hold on to the boat seeking handouts or to sell us a flower. These kids don’t have the smiling faces we have seen on the roadside kids. One of the dug outs had a boy and girl about 7 to 9 years old and a baby of less than a year playing on the bottom of the boat. At one point we saw a petty little girl of less than 2 years sitting on a pier with only a dog to watch her. She was quite content and smiled and waved.
Livingston is where the river empties into the Caribbean. The town wasn’t much. We walked through and stopped at two ATM’s. Apparently they don’t take foreign ATM cards. We had lunch with Gene and Marilyn at a restaurant over looking the ocean and river. When it came time to pay the bill we both gave them our credit cards. Gene’s was fine but when mine came back they had charged it to Gene’s card. I think it was about $20 so I just asked him to pay it and I would give him the cash. It was easier then having them do it all over again.
We made one stop on the way back. It was at a school where they teach children a vocation. We bought a few handicrafts. Interestingly enough they never had change no matter what you gave them. So they would just give you more merchandise instead of change. A very interesting marketing strategy; we got a piece of handmade exotic paper in change.
The only way to get to the school is by boat as it is in the middle of the river jungle. It takes students from 12 to 27 years both male and female. They live on campus in dorms for three months before they go home the first time. Classes are five days a weeks and they are fed three meals a day. There were six thatch covered huts for classrooms; a large Palapa for the cafeteria. Since it was Saturday there were no classes and the students were just relaxing (we saw a few cell phones). Most of the boys were on the soccer field playing one of several football games. The field was muddy and many of them weren’t wearing shoes. They had mud up to their chins and were all having a wonderful time. When it’s over they go to the river and swim themselves clean.
They are taught one of two vocations. One is as tourist guide the other is to go back to their villages and help their people bring up the standard of living. I assume this included the crafts they produce to help support the school. Really nice work and we bought a bowl made of coca leaves and lacquered. Very nice. I wish we could have spent more time there.
We probably spent too much time in Livingston and I would have been happy to bypass it completely. There really wasn’t much to see other than the village itself. The boat ride there was great and if they could make arrangements with the school for a meal we would have gladly spent the afternoon there.
We returned about 1500 and had our meeting and drive brief for tomorrow. We will be in the last group again. We will be leading this time with Rod and Gail as second tail gunner. Gene and Marilyn along with Art and Mary and us make up the rest of the group. Of course, because we are the last group, Lester and Nancy will be with us as the official Tail Gunners. It should be a quiet trip as most of the people in our group don’t talk much.
The hotel has a swimming pool and showers here. Most of the group are enjoying the pool. I (Annie) took a shower and as usual it was cold. Thank goodness for the hot outside air. The clothes are dry and more in the 5 gallon buckets to be agitated by the rough roads.
All in all a super day as usual. A couple of us decided that should we have ended the trip today it was worth all of what we paid. But this is only day 21!
Jan 28, 2007, Sunday
We were up early for an 0845 start to our new destination in Esquipulas, Guatemala. We were supposed to be in the last group. Our groups leave 15 minutes apart so we don’t have a long line of RV’s to hold up traffic.
The Howlers were out in force calling to each other or threatening each other. We were pretty much ready to go by 0800 when the first group left. Just before the second group was to leave rig #6 had problems and we took their place.
We had only 138 miles to drive and at 58 miles we all stopped (as a caravan) and Adventure treated us to fresh fruit smoothies. They were sure good for about $1.50 each. Annie had banana/ choc, John had Banana/strawberry/choc. As we were leaving we took over the lead position in our group. We don’t mind being leader once in a while but, it is a lot of responsibility. Not only must you follow the travel log and get everyone in your group safely to the next destination but, you also must make the stops for the group so they can lunch, potty break, and gas up and anything else they want. Several times on this trip the leader of a group has become confused and lead the group astray. I have very good navigational skills so it hasn’t happened to me. My fear is that when it does I will end up with four rigs in Timbuktu.
Anyhow, it worked out fine and we arrived at the Hotel Gran Chorti in Esquipulas around 1400. Here we parked in a dirt and grass lot the hotel owns. At home this hotel would not be on my list of places to stay. The outside was not in the best of shape and there were uniformed guards with sawed off shotguns patrolling the area. At least this one wasn’t a hotel horse pasture although, I think they use it as a dump because several areas were burned and there was a garbage heap not far away.
Adventure rented two rooms so we could have hot showers and there was a beautiful pool. The inside of the hotel was GRAND. Not only spotlessly clean but all marble and greenery everywhere. The restaurant served family styled meals for four to eight and some of our fellow travelers later had dinner to try it out. They said it was wonderful. We took advantage of the showers but, didn’t go swimming.
Once we were parked and set up we walked down town to the Catholic church. It is very impressive and when we were driving down the hill into the valley of Esquipulas the view was awesome and the church stood out. It is very large and white with several bell towers. In this church they have The Black Christ and people come from all over to pray there. The line to see the Black Christ was about 45 minutes long so we opted out but did get lots of pictures of the Cathedral. On the way out we took some family pictures for people who wanted group pictures in front of the Cathedral. That way the whole family could be in the picture.
There were loads of vendors everywhere and the place was really crowded as it was Sunday..
Later we went shopping at a large super market. Not out idea of large but, large for this area. They had an extensive meat market but, it was all but closed when we got there. We bought some hamburger and chicken and a package of mystery meat and picked up a few staples.
Tomorrow we are exiting Guatemala and entering Honduras. Last year it took no time to exit and 5 hours to enter. We will be sitting in our rigs for hours so we will make sure we have stuff to do.
Jan. 29, 2007 Monday
Evidently Honduras has a new government and they have ousted all the old government workers for corruption and installed new ones. Since this is a recent event the people at the border crossing had only half a clue and not enough forms for us and the process took almost seven hours. Thank goodness only the Wagon Master and Tail Gunner took care of everything so we were able to stay in our vehicles. That was a good thing since it rained 95% of the time we were parked on the side of the road. I can’t imagine it being near this kind of hassle to get into the U.S. We really must learn not to complain.
We changed our dollars and Quetzals to Limperas. The exchange rate is 18.5 Lempiras to a dollar. Honduras is even poorer than Guatemala and this is the first time we were told to beware of pickpockets. At the border crossing a man tried to extort $5 from each rig but, since the WM had paid all fees we were told to ignore him. By the time he got to us he had given up.
We were in numerical order so we figured we didn’t have to worry about being leader today. As #13 we were way down the list and after the border we were told to just spread out as we headed for our next camp site.
Honduras looks very different from Guatemala. First off there was not one thatched roof and the road was pretty good until about half way when once again pot holes slowed us to a crawl in many areas. The vegetation is no longer tropical forest instead we saw lots of Pine trees.
The first couple of towns we went through looked very prosperous and the animals on the roadsides looked healthy. In Guatemala I swear every animal was boney and probably needed a good worming. Here they all looked plump. Most of the livestock was ranging free throughout and had no fear of vehicles so crossed the road at will.
We drove up into the hills to a maximum elevation of almost 7000 feet. The landscape is breath taking and the views are magnificent. We took lots of pictures of the people and their homes. They definitely became poorer as we drove further south but, they seemed very happy. The kids often came out to stare at our group and wave. When you wave back they get so excited. We are kind of like a parade going through the small towns.
As the day progressed we once again became group leaders. The mountains were steep ups and long steep downs so we traveled pretty slow. At one point we passed a group who later joined the back of ours. As the lead vehicle Annie was on the CB constantly informing the rest of the group of road conditions. Sometime we had to pass very slow vehicles and we would call back if the road was clear so those behind could pass. Because of curves we do that a lot for safety.
The day was long and it was getting close to dark when we at last saw our destination, a Texaco station on the left side of the road. I called back to the group on the CB to tell them we were there and heard a “Thank you Wagon Master for a safe trip” from several rigs. It seems that all but two rigs were behind us. Someday they’ll all be there and we will take them on a tour of the country we are in that was never meant to be seen by the tourist. Several in our group came up to tell us what a good job we had done getting them here.
Tonight and tomorrow night we are in a truck stop at a Texaco. It has showers but, no hook ups. Tomorrow we go to see more ruins and have a lunch out on Adventure. They sure do take good care of us.
Mary and Art fixed dinner for us in our rig. They have the smallest rig #12 which is a van conversion. It is the most maneuverable in the caravan. Each rig has its advantages and disadvantages. We still like our 5th wheel.
Jan. 30, 2007, Tuesday
Another wonderful day of adventure with Adventure Caravans. We started out at 0730 for a bus tour to the Copan ruins with guide. We learned that the average income for a Honduran family is $650 a year. The children are required to go to school through 3rd grade because after that they are needed in the fields.
Children are the best coffee bean pickers because they have small hands and can get the ripe beans. They make $1 a bucket for coffee picking and can average four buckets a day. When you consider the average yearly income that is pretty good money.
Everywhere we saw coffee beans drying on flat spaces that we would use as drive ways. Honduras is the mountainous country in Central America and has no volcanoes unlike so many other Central Am countries that do.
Our guide said that Honduras is so far behind because the last time Columbus was here in 1502 (or some such) he told the Honduras people that he would be back and to do nothing until he returned. They have been waiting, doing nothing ever since.
The drive to Copan was on a very curvaceous two lane mountain road. Copan is not as impressive as Tikal in the height of their ruins but, they do have the finest carvings we have seen so far. They are not weathered like the others we have seen. This site is full of truly beautiful relief work that shows the talent of the Mayan sculptures and the complexity of their work. We took lots of pictures.
This site is different from the other ruins we have seen. While the city wasn’t so large the archeologists think is was a more of a sacrificial city. Perhaps because the air is a bit drier the artifacts are in much better shape. In fact Copan has the best preserved artifacts of all the Mayan ruins. The tour was spectacular.
Our guide really knew his stuff. His English was impeccable. He has been an active part of this “dig” since the “60’s” and has been involved with projects by National Geographic and NBC. His enthusiasm is genuine and he has many theories about Mayan life. He saw Mel Gibson’s Apocalypse last week and said it’s very much right on. Nice to hear that from one who probably knows what he’s talking about as opposed to critics who like to hear themselves talk.
After the tour which lasted three or four hours we were taken to a local restaurant /hotel for a great buffet lunch of fresh fruit, beans, rice, rolls, beef steaks and cold water. It sure was tasty and the steaks were marinated and very thin. All the meat in Central America is sliced very thin but, everyone says it’s always very tasty.
We then went to the local town which was Copan and did a bit of souvenir shopping. We also hit the ATM. After we returned we had a very nice social with piña Coladas and Marguerites. The even numbered rigs brought the snacks and they were great. There was a small boy sitting watching us and someone brought him some food. After a while John brought him another plate, some napkins, and a drink. He was very appreciative. Marilyn told him to bring some home to share with his family and he said he would. He also shared a bit with the dog that was hanging around. With his napkin he left us a origami bird that will move its wings.
Jan.31, 2007, Wednesday high temp low 80’s
We had our travel brief at 0800 and since everyone was ready to head out we left at 0820. We were in the first group. The drive today was only 66.9 miles but, don’t forget we are in C America and the roads can be slow.
Actually that wasn’t the case today. Just plain good two lane road and a few steep hills. We arrived at San Pedro Sula about 1100. The hotel is a 5 star and it cost as much to rent one room for three days here as to rent the whole upper floor of the hotel in Esquipulas.
This is a real city with loads of traffic. All the nice houses and businesses including this hotel are behind 8’ block walls and the hotel is guarded by armed guards. Other than that it could be a very nice hotel in the states. But then everything here has armed guards. Even the mall.
We are still amazed at the prices. We had the most delicious lunch buffet in the hotel for less than $10. The beauty salon did hair cuts for $5, manicures for $5.35 and pedicure for $8.00. We have Internet access here with WiFi for free. Just about everyone got a hair cut and some of us got manicures and Annie had her first pedicure and liked it very much..
We lounged around for most of the afternoon. John doing computer and trailer things and Annie napping and reading. Finally we decided to go across the highway to the Mall. This is a real mall in the American sense. The first store was a dress shop with a wonderful dress in the window on sale. So Annie decided to check it out. After all if it was priced within reason she would have a dress. I suppose they thought it was priced within reason $245.00. “Excuse me!” she said. “Think of the quilting fabric I could buy for that.”
We discovered that although the native products and services here are inexpensive American imports are way out of sight. But this is true in most places south of the border. Take for example a can of WD 40, $10. Annie found a Nintendo DS Lite for $239.00. That’s twice the price in the states. We found an Ace Hardware at the mall and here that is a high end store. It carried lots of American products but, they were all very expensive. We needed some ibuprofen and it cost .20 a pill. They don’t sell it by the bottle. At those prices I can understand why…
Purified H2O is inexpensive. We paid $1.50 for a five gal jug. In some restaurants a small bottle of water costs as much or more than beer.
They also have a multi-plex style cinema. Most of the movies are American with Spanish subtitles. The cost is $3.00. Although we aren’t interested in going there are several of our fellow travelers that are.
There are 18 rigs on this caravan all Americans and Canadians and all over 50 to 85 years old. Most are in good physical condition and many have traveled extensively. There is only one smoker in the whole bunch, Bob the Wagon Master. I guess my point is the type of senior on this trip is the active adult. We are obviously all adventurous or we wouldn’t be here. It really is an amazing group of people and we all get along well. Everyone is right there to help if someone needs it and we all laugh a lot. They are for the most part educated to the BA level at least and there are a couple of scientists in the group and there is a farmer. All have worked hard and all planned for retirement. Some couples worked together for early retirements and others just plain worked hard. All in all just a wonderful group to be associated with and all so interesting.
Again the scenery here is remarkable. Beautiful green mountains, lush valleys and around every bend in the road something exciting may happen. It might be a wonderful view of a farm, an animal crossing or it might even be a truck stopped in the middle of the road changing a tire.
South of the border when someone wants to pass you tell them it is OK by turning on your left blinker. When you want to turn left you also use your blinker. The person passing usually knows the difference. We have to remember not to do that when we are back in the states. But actually this is usually done on long roads and not in towns or villages.
February 1, 2007, Thursday 0730 temp 75 humidity 56%
Today we are doing a tour of a woodworking factory, the town and we will stop at a grocery store on the return for some much needed supplies. We are also having lunch out. Then I guess it’s another free afternoon. We don’t’ get many of those so they are always a treat. Annie brought x-stitch and games, books and other crafts because she just can’t handle being bored. Well, she hasn’t done a stitch yet, but has managed to finish a few books.
Well, back from the touring today and it’s only 1500. First we were able to tour a banana plantation. For the past two years they haven’t been able to go because they weren’t working on those days. I guess we lucked out. It really was interesting and I have to say when you eat a fresh banana here it’s 10 times better than the states. When allowed to ripen naturally bananas have a very creamy texture (not squishy). Because of the gas they use in the states to ripen the bananas have a grainy texture in comparison.
It really is fascinating. Banana trees live about one year. They mature in nine months and produce a flower (doesn’t look like any flower you have ever seen). Each day the flower turns back a petal and inside is a hand (that’s a bunch of bananas) They start out as little stringy looking things and as they mature they become a bunch of green bananas. Each day another flower petal turns up revealing another hand until there are nine bunches of hands. They are covered with a plastic bag to hold in the heat until they reach the desired size. They are then cut down all left on the stem and processed.
Processing involves separating each bunch from the main stem, putting them in water to clean off the insecticide, tarantulas, and snakes. They are then separated into bunches and packed for shipment. Each box must meet a weight requirement. The whole thing is quite a process. The adult plant then dies but, shoots at the base are already growing to replace the old plant. Of course this is a simplified version but, it gives you an idea.
From there we were taken to the wood carving workshop and store. That too was interesting. There were lots of items for sale at all price levels and we picked up a few Christmas gifts and some fabric for me (you know the placemats and napkins) plus a couple of other things. We also went to the factory to watch the craftsmen carving. They do wonderful work all by hand and it’s a craft they grow into father to son. They use Mahogany and make doors, furniture and household decorator items.
Then it was on to the Gran Hotel Sula for a buffet lunch. On the front of the hotel is a small plaque that reads, “Del Webb 1968”.
What can I say? A great selection food selection and it was all good right down to the dessert. I had my usual, chocolate cake (are we surprised?). John had tres leche cake, which is a favorite of several people in our group. It will never be a favorite of mine though.
After lunch we were taken to big grocery store with everything we all needed (well, just about. We couldn’t find International Non-dairy creamer). I even found some Brummels and Brown margarine, my favorite. It was a real treat for all of us and we did lots of shopping. One of the guys lost his card in the ATM but, thank goodness he will get it back today since the bank is opened.
Then it was home for the day. Our tour guide here in Honduras is Jorge and he is the archeological guide I told you about. He has a favorite charity here. It’s a clinic started by an RN and subsequential she has become famous in this area. Anyhow, those of us who would like to go to her clinic tomorrow can. We pay for the bus but, it will be about $10 a piece. We don’t know yet if we can go because he has to call and see if she has time for us, I want to go but John isn’t interested so he will stay here. If we don’t go we will go to the Artisan Market.
After we arrived back home we washed the truck and trailer. Or neighbor Gene helped us and then we helped him. The switch on the ceiling fan broke and John had to go to Ace hardware to get another switch. Of course that was after we spent a hour or so trying to fix the old one. It is to dark now to finish it so tomorrow the new switch will hopefully be installed.
Feb. 2, 2007, Friday
Annie went to the clinic with four other people, Barbara and Jim Gutmann #8, Keith and Marilyn Thistle #18 and Astrid Douglas #4. We left about 0900. Barb had the responsibility of writing the caravan journal for that day so she will us her account of the experience. I can only say it was something I would not miss and all those that didn’t missed out on a wonderful thing.
John went to the local market and did a bit of shopping. He bought a machete, and also bought Annie some material and earrings. The earrings are a bit different as they are made from coconut shell. The rest of the day was spent working on the fan, which still doesn’t work.
In the evening we went to a restaurant on the top floor of the hotel. The view was just fantastic and the food was some of the best I have had on this trip. It was a wonderful evening.
Feb. 3, 2007, Saturday
Today we are driving from San Pedro Sula (Hotel Copantl) to Lago De Yojoa (Yo Hoe Ha) (Los Remos Hotel/ Restaurant). The trip is only 53.8 miles. We were in the last group and as we were all leaving we dumped our tanks in a city sewer through a man hole. Actually it’s a good idea to dump the black and gray water when ever you get the opportunity. Just like we fill up on water and buy propane when the opportunity arises. We never know when we’ll be able to do it again. This is not like the U.S.. We can go hundreds of miles without the convenience of such things. The gray water is dish, shower, and such and black is toilet water.
From the dump site we stopped at a place to fill up our propane bottles. We had one empty and a ¾ full but, decided to top off the ¾ tank as well. The only thing was they charged us for two empty tanks. At least we have loads of propane and empty Black and gray tanks.
We left the hotel at 0950 and arrived at the Lago da Yojoa. What a beautiful, beautiful place. The lake is the one of the largest in Central America and is huge. There was a nice breeze, trees, and the restaurant and hotel were right on the water. Several of us sat on benches by the water and watched the birds with and without binoculars. The birds here are beautiful. We saw great blue herons, egrets, blackbirds, raptors, and a small bird with a bright yellow beak and red and yellow wings. Without a guide I couldn’t even begin to try and identify them.
Lago De Yojoa is full of Black bass originally planted in the late 1950’s. They were almost fished to extinction but, conservation by the state has now increased their numbers sufficiently to give a good livelihood to the locals. All through the town there are stands selling fresh fish. Now these fish aren’t in freezers or on ice they are hanging on poles, blowing in the wind.
At 1600 we had a social on the restaurant veranda that over looks the lake. When you look down you are looking into the clear waters of the shore line. We were asked to buy our drinks but, we brought our usual appetizers.
Right on time the dinner was ready. What a meal!!!! They started it with pickled onions, whole deep fried, freshly caught Black bass that filled our oval shaped platters, a mix of rice and black beans and rice, salad, home made tortillas, lots of fresh fruit. For those who didn’t want fish there were half chickens in a white sauce. The meal included one drink.
Annie got the chicken and John the fish with the idea we would share. John didn’t like the fish because he finds fresh water fish muddy tasting. Annie thought that the bass tasted great to her as there was so much meat on it.
The restaurant owner, Mario, spoke very good English and made Annie a Lemonada (lemonade) although they don’t usually serve it. She has developed quite a taste for Lemonada. You just can’t get it this good in the US of A. It may actually be lime aide because we haven’t seen many lemons here.
Just before dinner was served a Marimba band came in to play. A Marimba band in this case was three men and one marimba. They were certainly entertaining and very good. We all partied from 1600 and it was still going strong when we left at 2200.
One of the men, Joe Szabo #17 went fishing with a guide and came in just as we were leaving with a very nice Small mouth bass. He was very proud and modest but, it offered another picture op for all of us with cameras.
We retired around 2200 because we are leaving in the morning in the first group at 0900 for Ojo De Agua (Esso Station) 129.3 miles from here.
Feb. 4, 2007, Sunday
We are here at the Esso Station. We left right on time at 0900 following #1. Not a bad drive at all although some of the road got rough at times. These roads are still nothing like what we experienced the first day in Guatemala. We got here 1330 after making two stops, one for lunch.
We drove through the capitol of Honduras, Tegucigalpa (Ta goosey gal pa). Annie could never have figured out how to say that without interpretation. We gassed up and then parked and Mary and Annie went across the street to a local fruit stand and bought eight avocados, six oranges, and four tomatoes for less than $3. Mary bought a watermelon and we shared it. We paid $1.50 for our half. We already have a fresh pineapple so didn’t get one of those.
Tonight we eat at the restaurant next door also owned by the Esso station owner. We eat out more frequently as it is so inexpensive. Many of the meals lately have been included in the cost of the trip.
The scenery here is just spectacular. From the high mountain passes to the fruit stands along the road. Bougainvilleas will line some of the roads and their purple with all the other multi colored flowers makes one think they are in a Technicolor dreamland.
Tomorrow we leave here and cross the border into Nicaragua and will be staying at Esteli (Club Campestre) what ever that is. We have heard that this may be the worst border crossing yet.
Honduras is where all the old school buses go to die. In the states we are conditioned to stop when we see the blinking red lights on a school bus. If we did that here we wouldn’t get very far as they are used for public and private transportation. It is quite an experience going up a mountain road behind one of those yellow beasts while it is belching black smoke. There are people sometimes hanging out the door so it is open and the red lights are flashing. At stop signs and potholes when you have to slow down there are vendors running up to your vehicle trying to sell you something. For the busses they have their products on a long stick and the people take what they want and then toss them the money. I have seen the vendors running along side the bus and people inside hanging out the window trying to reach what ever is being sold.
Something I find so interesting once we crossed the U.S border is the driving. The pace here is very slow except for that. I don’t know if they drive like crazy because it is a macho thing or just so they can get where they are going early enough to relax. Being passed by a bus while going around a blind curve on a two lane winding mountain road is normal here. The oncoming cars just move away.
Feb 5 1643 Monday, temp 70’s
It was a bit noisy last night as we were parked right next to the street. John managed to sleep through the noise but Annie woke up a lot. She kept hearing the crunching of feet on the gravel outside and later discovered the garbage had been gone through. One boy of 12 or 13 stuck around our group all afternoon and evening.
We found that at most of the places we stay the kids are extremely polite but are looking for handouts. This boy was bare foot (not all that unusual) and dirty, his clothes were a T shirt and cotton pants that didn’t fit. I really believe he was a street kid and just plain hungry. Of course we fed him but, I wish we could have done more. We really can’t though because there are so many of them. It’s sad to see a child like that with a lost, “no hope” look in its eyes. I will remember this one for a long time. He came back later with his “brother.” The brother was well dressed and had a smile that would light up a room. It kind of made us wonder of they were really “brothers.”
We left right on time at 0700. When we pulled out we were in order so we didn’t really have to stop to regroup. We did make one stop though for a quick break.
It took us about an hour to clear Honduras then about 15 minutes to get into “no mans land” between Honduras and Nicaragua. Based on previous experience we expected to be there for a few hours. After about 15 minutes of waiting John decided to look at the duty free shops. He met LuAnn on the way there and she said they were almost finished. So it was back to the rig and soon we were headed into Nicaragua. First though some trucks and busses had to get through so all of us could squeeze by. That was interesting.
Finally we were on our way. First impressions of Nicaragua. The roads are good and the scenery is spectacular. I think I have been saying that for quite some time now. Each country is a bit different. Within a mile or so of the border you know that you are in another country. There is a plant called a fire plant, and they have a bright orange flower. Art, one of the other travelers picked one and gave it to Annie. I think it may have lasted about 45 seconds in the truck. The odor pierced John’s sinuses like a hot iron. I didn’t want to get rid of it but finally did. Then we had to open the windows and let the pollen or whatever else was in it out.
Driving down the road and looking at the surrounding hills is an experience. It almost looks like fall in New England with all the multi colored trees and plants. Then it was on to the palms. I don’t know how many different kinds of palm trees and plants there are but I think that most of them were seen along the drive today.
At one point there were some cattle along side the road. Just about the time we came up to those bovine beasties on of them decided to cross the road. We almost answered the question “why does the cow cross the road.” The answer would have been to decorate someone’s bumper or fender. I don’t think we missed him by more than a few inches. But we did and that was the most important part.
There seemed to be more schools here than in Honduras and the children were wearing uniforms. The schools also seemed to be in a bit better shape. Nothing like home but they just looked like they were better kept.
Soon we were out of the greenery and into drier land. W finally reached our destination, Esteli. This is a private club and is usually only open on weekends. The opened for us today. For lunch we had a choice of Shrimp, Chicken, fried or baked or Beef. They ran out of shrimp and beef so most of us had chicken. Annie was able to get her shrimp before they ran out. John didn’t order because he didn’t want lunch. But after waiting an hour or so for everyone else’s to be served he tried to order. Interestingly there was an extra plate of chicken so he had that. Then there was another plate of chicken and we purchased that to bring home with us. When I tried to pick it up the waiter/cook/cleaner/everything else, said he would bring it to our rig. Fortunately we had someone there who could speak Spanish. When he brought it I think there were two orders of chicken in it.
Annie spent the afternoon working on her hobby which is doing free editing for a bug magazine while John did the laundry.
At 1700 we had our usual social and meeting for the next day. Some of the laundry is dry so it will have to be brought in. Tomorrow we have a 0900 departure so we won’t be so rushed in the AM.
Tuesday Feb 6
What a day. We were both up and moving around by 0600. Annie fixed breakfast and we were relaxing and chatting with the neighbors. Our neighbor pounded on the wall and said “ants.” Both of us were parked on an ant hill. They were all over the tires, the stabilizers and the rug. John got the bug spray and went to work on them. Annie started putting things away inside so we could move. It was challenge to get the outside cleaned up. John had to spray at almost every step. Fortunately the “raid” took care of them for the time we needed. Soon we had everything put away and the slides closed. It was a challenge to get the jacks raised. John had to stand still for a few minutes and in that time his shoes were covered. Again “raid” came through. The rear stabilizers weren’t down so fortunately we didn’t have to deal with that part.
Once we were out of the problem area we dumped and then waited until departure time. We were in the first group. The trip was uneventful which was good. We had hoped to get gas on the way but stations are not as plentiful here. We will try and get out and fill up while parked in Granada.
Annie decided that she needed new glasses as her old ones were scratched. So we talked to Joe, out guide in Nicaragua, and he set up and appointment for her at a local Optometrist. $225 later she will have her new lenses in her old frames. Some things are not all that cheap in Nicaragua.
Our parking place is in a public park next to Lake Nicaragua which is the largest lake in Central America and the second largest if you include South America where Lake Titicaca hold that honor. We are parked along side the public road. After we parked we turned our laundry in to be cleaned. Joe, our guide, also set up someone to wash the trailers if we wanted them to. It had been a while and we were dirty so we said go ahead. For $8.00 they will wash both the truck and the trailer. That is a priced that can’t be beat.
About 1430 the carriages arrived. We took a tour of the city on in a carriage pulled by two horses. It was an interesting sight watching a line of 18 brightly colored carriages, with many of the horses decked out with pom-poms, parading through the town.
At about 1600 we were back at the town square. Annie went for her eye appointment and John found an ATM to get some cash, then wandered back through town and found the place where Annie was getting her eyes examined. About 1700 and $225 poorer (lenses only) we both were looking around the town. We stopped and each bought a t-shirt, looked at some hanging chairs and then went to dinner at the San Francisco Hotel and Restaurant where we met Hombre the parrot. The San Francisco is a very nice place located just a few blocks from the town square. You can eat in the front part of the restaurant or you can choose the rear which is in a nice garden setting. We chose the garden.
As far as small parrots go I guess Hombre is about average looking. Measuring from his feet to his head he is probably about six inches high. He was on a branch trying to make a meal out of a leaf when we sat down. The waiter told us to hold out our hand which John did and Hombre immediately climbed aboard. He sat on John’s finger for a while then went to his shoulders. Soon he was on Annie’s finger then her shoulder. He discovered, with her help, her straw, with which she had been drinking lemonade. She would dip both ends of her straw in her drink and Hombre would take it. He would start at one end and using just his beak and tongue move the straw until he was at the other end. It kind of reminded us of an old typewriter carriage. John tried dipping one end in his beer. As soon as Hombre tasted it the straw hit the table. Apparently he doesn’t care for the local brew. Soon the straw wasn’t enough and that little guy was sitting on the edge of Annie’s glass with his head down inside as far as it would go. He went to the source rather than the straw. Of course with all the lemonade he also needed something a little more substantial. He went after the chips. He walked over her plate to try some avocado and tomato but he kind of turned up his beak at them. I guess he put them in the same category as the beer. He did eat some potato. By the time our dinner arrived it was getting dark and we moved Hombre back to his branch. We gave him a straw to play with and he did use that for a while. After dinner Annie thought he might want to play some more, but I think it was past his bedtime so he did what parrots do and bit her.
While sitting there we also me a nice couple from Vancouver, BC and chatted with them for a while. Then we had a nice 30 minute walk back to our casa mobile where we retired for the evening.
Wednesday, February 7
We were up and ready to go early today. Our buses arrived a bit late Annie got a great picture of a cart full of something piled high pulled by a horse.
Our first stop was Masaya Volcano National Park. The volcano is constantly spewing gas and vapors. All tourists are advised to stay no more than 20 minutes and to park vehicles pointing toward the exit. Also we were advised to hide under our vehicles if the volcano started spitting rocks. We took pictures and enjoyed the view then headed for the museum. It was small and 20 minutes is all it took.
Our buses (two large vans) took us into Managua the capitol of Nicaragua. It’s really big and is by far the most populous city. We saw several buildings and then had lunch. After lunch we went to a peoples market. Now this I really enjoyed but, we only had 20 or 30 minutes. The Mercado is divided into sections food, shoes, clothes, and artisan. It was huge with shop after shop in each section. Annie bought two dresses. They are embroidered and made to hang loose, which is perfect for this kind of weather. We also bought triple antibiotic and cream for insect bites then it was on to the artisan section. There we picked up several gift items and two hanging chairs (like hammocks but chairs). The prices and quality was far superior to yesterdays offerings at the town square. The prices started at half of those and them we bargained down.
After the Mercado we went to a huge, modern super market and had a ball buying stuff. We all like to go to these markets. I think it’s a taste of home and it’s just like being a kid again in a candy store.
We had been back at the RV about 45 minutes when Joe (our tour guide) and his wife came up with Annie’s new glasses. She said it was like a miracle when she put them on and could see the world again and it was clear. Wow!
Annie fixed dinner so we stayed at home. That’s getting to be a treat too; not eating out occasionally.
Tomorrow it’s another tour. This one is a boat trip around the lake with lunch provided again.
Feb. 8, 2007, Thursday
We were up at 0530 to drive into town to get diesel. Neither of us were looking forward to it because we had to go on our own and we feel very uncomfortable without someone who speaks the language along with us in case we get stopped. We went early because we didn’t want to contend with lots of traffic. We get up at that time anyhow.
We did fine and filled up the truck and the 2 ½ gallon gas can for the generator. We are sure happy we have that generator. When we are “dry camping” (that’s without electric, water, or sewer hook-ups) it great to run the generator for a while to get that little extra boost of power. We have batteries for lights but, they aren’t as bright and we can’t use the appliances that take lots of juice.
Ahhh, back home again and it’s 1516. We were taken by mini bus just down the road to a dock where we boarded three small boats. Each boat had a guide and we were taken around some very pretty sections of Lake Nicaragua. The lake was formed about 2000 years ago when the volcano last erupted. It isn’t the one we saw yesterday as this one is no longer active. The lake was once part of the sea and the volcano caused it to be isolated. It eventually lost it’s salinity but, Bull sharks and Saw fish survived. This is the only place they exist in fresh water. The eruption left many islands throughout the lake that are now covered in vegetation. People live on many of them mostly one family to an island. Of course the very rich have bought many and built wonderful homes on them. There are restaurants on one or two also. There is also a Monkey Island we boated around it and took several pictures of the spider monkeys. At least I think they were spider monkeys.
When we got back to land we were taken in four tractor pulled carts with lot of loud oldies but goodies playing as we went. We were in the first car right next to the speaker. It was so loud that we couldn’t hear each other. When they turned it down to a better but still very loud level some of the people in the rear cars said they couldn’t hear it. After our first stop we made sure to sit in the back. The carts were covered and we were happy for that since the sun is hot. There was a nice breeze to cool us as we were taken through the town. People waved and shouted greetings. You’d have thought we were a parade and I guess we really were. Our first stop was at the Railroad museum. We just spent a few minutes there as it wasn’t open. Our procession ended at a restaurant in town and we were served a very good lunch. John and a very tasty and tender slice of beef and Annie had her usual vegetarian plate. It looked great but didn’t have much to offer in the way of protein. There was a marimba band playing for tips. They were quite good and hopefully made enough so they will continue. While we were there we were photographed and videoed because the restaurant wants to advertise as a tourist attraction. Then it was back on the tractor pulled trains to our RV’s.
I really need to tell you about the local cuisine since we left Mexico. It always seems to center around beef, fish, chicken and less often pork. The steak is a strip of thin beef usually quite tasty but, certainly nothing like we are used to in the states. Frequently you could use it to put a sole on your shoes. Bread is usually served and occasionally tortillas depending on the meal, rice, and potatoes, a salad and fried and or dried bananas (which are very good). We have yet to see anything like tacos, enchiladas, or tostadas. Sometimes they offer shrimp. The shrimp would be Annie’s first choice every time if she were not eating a vegetarian meal. They don’t know how do well with vegetarian here either. Yesterday it was a plate of vegetables very tasty but, no protein at all. Today was pasta, very good too but, once again no protein. Annie told the guide that he needs to explain to the restaurants that some kind of protein is necessary if only rice and beans.
Tomorrow is a free day but, those of us who want can take an optional tour of another volcano, a zoo, where you get to feed the animals, lunch, and a visit to a real Mercado. It’s not one the tourists go to and that is a real attraction to me. At first there were only six of us signed up for the trip and of course the more that sign up the less expensive because it cost the same no matter how many go. Today at lunch we talked it up and so far eleven have signed up. It will be a long day. We leave at 0900 and get back around 1700.
Feb 9, Friday
We have been gone one month tomorrow. We left Pharr, TX on 10 Jan. Since then we have been through five countries and tomorrow when we cross the border into Costa Rica it will be six.
Joe arrived right on time this AM and we were off on an optional adventure. The cost was $100 for the two of us but I think it was worth it, especially if you think of it in American terms. First we went to Katarina, a dead volcano. It has been hundreds of years since it last erupted but it did have an earthquake in the past 20 or so years and destroyed a lot of the villages that bordered it. The crater is now filled with spring fed water and is quite crowded on weekends.
From there we went to the Zoo. It isn’t much by North American standards but it is coming along. It is kind of unique like the zoo in Belize because it takes in injured animals. It will rehabilitate those it can and send them out. I think one of the best parts of it was the butterfly and bird area. You walked into a large enclosed area and the butterflies and birds were free to fly around. The aviary area only had small birds in it.
We had a short talk by the zoo director explaining how we could adopt an animal if we wanted to.
From there it was lunch and that was great. John had the shrimp and Annie had the Vegetarian plate. The shrimp were cooked in a creamy garlic sauce that was delicious. This place finally got the Vegetarian plate correct as they had beans and rice and also some tofu. It was topped of with “little drunken cake.” This is a white cake with a flan topping that has been well soaked in rum. Annie didn’t care for hers…. *smile*
When we finished there it was on to the market. We drove by the one that the tourists go to and went to the one that the locals use. It was hot and crowded but we did manage to find some good bargains. Annie bought some slip on shoes, a blouse, some ear rings, and another dress and insisted that John get a couple more shirts. We had a great time with the shopping but as there was no breeze today it did get very hot there.
Then it was back to our beach where we could see the people who chose not to go and gloat over our adventures.
About 1800 a slight breeze finally came up and cooled us off a bit but it is still uncomfortable.
Tomorrow we depart at 0630. It promises to be a long day as the roads are very rough. Last year it took them 1.5 hours to go abut 10 miles. We were also told that the border people in Costa Rica take a two hour break about lunch time, so if we aren’t through the border before they break it will be very late when we get to our destination, which is a gas station.
10 Feb Saturday
It was an early day. We left at 0630. Bob and LuAnn the wagon masters wanted to get an early start because the roads were so bad and also getting into Costa Rica can be difficult. Both were true in this case.
I think we found out where all the old pot holes go when they die. This road was pot hole heaven. Earlier we mentioned “topays” which are essentially speed bumps. Think of some of these pot holes as an inverted speed bump. If you hit them any faster than 2 mph you might leave the front end of your truck there. Not only that but, the streets in Granada are very narrow and frequently have cars or busses parked along one side. There were times we had to drive on the curb to avoid hitting parked vehicles.
Once we hit the Pan American highway the roads got better. Joe, our guide in Nicaragua, told us that the PA highway was paid for by foreign governments and that is why it is a better road, and in all honesty it is a pretty good road.
It took us about two hours to clear Nicaragua so we could leave which is longer than it took us to get in. It took us about six hours to finally get into Costa Rica. This border crossing was over eight hours. I think we finally cleared the last check point at about 1700. We still had an hour to drive so it was dark when we arrived. Fortunately the road was good so we made pretty good time. We were parked in a service station so we were able to gas up.
A few of us had dinner at the local restaurant and then it was off to bed for a good nights sleep.
Feb 11, Sunday
We had a morning travel brief and hit the road about 0815. We were in the second group today. We passed the first group so were #1 for a while; At least until we stopped at a restaurant for a great milk shake. In the meantime group one and three both passed us. Part of group one stayed with us and the rest went on. We made one more stop at a fruit stand and then continued on to San Jose. Once we crossed the mountains traffic picked up. Our group leader missed the turn off for the campground and we continued toward downtown San Jose. The last person in our group caught the error and made the turn and notified us. By this time we had already gone too far. We missed at least one more spot to turn around.
I think you could call this a “freeway” as it did have limited access and very few exits. There was one problem though and that was the bus stops every few hundred feet. The bus would stop in the right lane to take on and discharge passengers and anyone behind it had to stop also. Near the bus stops there were pedestrian over crossings so at least the foot traffic didn’t have to try and dodge six lanes of traffic. We finally found an exit and pulled off to turn around. Cris spotted a taxi and hired it to take us back to the CG. This worked out very well. We made the turn, not without some consternation with the local traffic as we were in the far right lane and had to make a left turn. Drivers in Costa Rica are quite a bit more courteous than in the other south of the border countries we have visited. Other wise we would have still been trying to make the turn. While a few people did express their displeasure with their horn, most stopped and let us make the turn and no one tried to slip between our vehicles as we crossed in front of them.
The driver took us directly to the campground where we are now settled in. We had our regular 1700 social and received the information about tomorrows travel, which is an overnight with hotel accommodations. We are going to a volcanic hot springs. We are also doing tours of the area and dinner at a very nice restaurant. Most of us are looking forward to that. We will be in this camp ground for six days!!! Yaaaaa.
We actually got to do our washing in a real washing machine yesterday. We each get to do one load until everyone has used the machine once. We hung the clothes on a line and they dried by nightfall. Sure beats having them wet for two or three days because of humidity.
Feb 12 and 13 Monday and Tuesday
We were up early this morning to get ready for our overnight excursion to Arenal an active volcano. Before leaving John tried to get some pictures of some of the birds in the small aviary that one of the residents here keeps.
The bus showed up on time and we were off. We made a couple of stops along the way. The first was at a church and the second was for lunch. We had what was called a typical Costa Rican Lunch. There was beef, chicken, pork and fish. There also was rice, beans and a salad. I think the “typical” might be with just one meat rather than all of them.
Our room at the hotel was great. Two double beds and a bath with a very large shower. All of the rooms looked out at the volcano which was about 1.2 air miles from our room to the summit. It rumbled and growled the whole time we were there. Every few minutes it would spit out some rocks and we could see them tumbling down the slope. Sometimes they were small and a few times they were as big as a car or truck. When the larger ones hit the slope they would explode into flames and continue on their downward journey.
That evening we went to the hot springs which are heated by the volcano. When it rains the water seeps into the cracks and crevices and gets heated and then comes out very hot. As it move down it cools off so you have a choice of how hot you want it. We got to about 110F and decided that was enough. By the time we had worked our way up we had already been in for about 45 minutes which was plenty long enough for us. So we got ready for dinner which was a very delicious Spanish Buffet.
On our ride to the hot springs our guide, who is a college educated vulcanologist, and is also very knowledgeable about the birds and flowers of Costa Rica, told us about the volcano and the last major eruption. He said that some of the people who were in the hot springs at the time were cooked. One town was destroyed and a river diverted. They now have limits on how close you can build to it but here money talks and there is at least one hotel in the “red zone.”
The hotel has a service so if the clouds clear up they will call you and you can see the flames and red hot rocks and lave running down the cone at night. Unfortunately the clouds didn’t clear enough for a good view but we did see a bit when we went for our bird walk at 0530 in the AM. It is quite a sight.
We saw quite a few birds but didn’t get any good pictures. There is just something about seeing a toucan or parrot in the wild that makes them a bit more interesting. But I guess we can say that about any animal. I think we had a couple of gecko’s in our room as it sounded like they were talking to each other. We also heard the Howler monkeys serenading us in the morning.
After breakfast it was time for a nap and some more volcano watching then we were on our way. Shortly after we left we stopped near a river where we saw many iguanas. They were in the trees on the ground and by the river. We both got some great pictures.
We stopped for another “typical Costa Rican” lunch. It was served family style except for the meat. John had beef and it was actually very tender. Annie had her usual beans and rice and some veggies. They did have a very interesting squash and corn mix that most of us found quite good.
The next stop was in Sarchi where the local people bring their wares to sell. It is a cooperative and the prices are quite a bit less than those in the gift shops. So we overspent again.. The next stop was still in Sarchi but this time at the shop of a man who makes decorative ox cards and furniture. The ox carts are beautifully painted and the craftsmanship in the furniture is wonderful. We purchased a small table that has a hand painted top.
The last stop was at a metal church in Grecia. There are many stories of how it came it be built and why but it is all metal on the outside and most of the inside exterior walls are also metal.
We arrived back at our homes a bit before 1900 checked our e-mail and read with sadness that Bob, Sonja’s long time partner, had died. We will keep both of them in our thoughts.
Tomorrow we will visit the national theater and then head to the rain forest for a tour and canopy ride. It sounds like another exciting day and another “adventure.”
Feb. 14, 2007, Wednesday
Happy Valentines Day.
Back from another full day of adventuring. First thing today was a tour of San Jose, Costa Rica the capitol of this country. We were not particularly impressed with the city.
In 1948/49 the President of the country in one day abolished the army and presented a new constitution to the country. All the money and buildings used for the armed forces was turned over to education and remains such to this day. The new constitution made Catholicism the state religion but, guaranteed freedom of worship to all. It also made all peoples equal, and provided for free movement within the country. Before there were big restrictions on travel depending on race as well as other things.
Interestingly enough when he was having problems with his northern border when the Sandinistas were in power he asked the US to set up camp there.
Our tour ended at the National Opera House and we had a tour there. That was beautiful! While we were there a lady, who is a professional singer, walked to the front of the auditorium and sang. She has never sung there but, wanted to so she sang while holding her one year old son in her arms. We all gave her a rousing round of applause.
After the Opera House we walked to the National Museum and toured there. Our guide is so knowledgeable about everything. He brings it all to life with his explanations. They was an American named Walker who invaded Central America in the 1820’s. Costa Rica’s little army of 500 defeated him. Someone in our group asked if the man was related to the Johnny Walker Whiskey people. He laughed and said on his very first day as a tour guide he told the story and said it was Johnny Walker who invaded the country. He was so taken with his story that he continued throughout the day with Johnny Walker and how he had been defeated by Costa Rica. His bus driver kept laughing at him and called the office and told them. When he got back to the office there was a big Johnny Walker party and he has never lived it down in 20 years.
After the museum tour we boarded the bus and were taken to the Rain Forrest Aerial Tram; a ninety minute drive. We had a nice buffet lunch there and then board the tram. There were six of us to a tram and we had our own guide for the 60 minute ride. It took us over and through the rain forest. It was so awesome. We started out near the bottom and continued up through the different layers of the rain forest. On the return we were at the top. We saw a Coati way up at the top of the canopy. I had no idea they were such climbers. We saw lots of flowers and diverse plant life also. On the way back we also saw two toucans. One was a Chestnut mandible toucan. It is the largest of the toucan family and was really quite beautiful. I still have trouble imagining these birds are real with their large bills and vibrant colors and flying but, they do a great job.
When the tram ride was over we were ready to do it again and again. Of course that wasn’t an option and in no time we were back on the bus heading for home. Our guide spotted something off the highway and had the driver pull over; he was so excited.
“Look everyone a King vulture! It is waiting for something below to die. The King vulture will eat first before any of the others are allowed to.”
Indeed there were a whole herd of vultures on the trees across the highway. The Kind vulture was easy to spot because of its white on black wings. The others were the usual Turkey vultures. Our guide was just so excited, he said none of the other guides would believe him. So, he jumped out of the bus, rushed across the highway, and used his telephone to take pictures then became even more excited when he spotted a large Tapir in the gully below that was evidently dying. This is what had attracted all the vultures. I guess it made his day.
So that is our day and we are actually back to the RV at a decent hour. Tomorrow is a free day and I think we may take the public bus down town for some more sight seeing.
Friday it’s off to Poas Volcano National Park and then La Paz Waterfall Gardens, lunch out and then to Doka Estate Coffee Plantation to learn all about coffee from planting to drinking.
Feb 15 Thursday
We are about half way through our adventure now.
On Thursday we decided not to go to town but to stay around here and get some shopping and do a bit of laundry and just relax a bit. So after our travel meeting Michael, one of the permanent residents here took us to the post office and a few grocery stores. Annie had to mail a card and a gift. The fruit and veggie stand was great as was the meat market. John bought a couple of “melt in your mouth” smoked pork chops.
Once back home we borrowed Gene’s computer and used Skype to make a few phone calls. Somehow we didn’t get all the phone numbers in the laptop address book so John was only able to call Cat. Annie called A2 and Sonja.
Sometime during the day we managed to get in a load of laundry.
In the evening we went to Gene and Marilyn’s to watch a video of what was supposed to be the volcano but turned out to be just a lot of pictures of Costa Rica.
Annie finally started feeling better this afternoon.
Feb 16. Friday
We were both up about 0600 and did the puttering around here that we do. Annie was feeling bad again today. At first she decided to go on the tour today but then decided against it and stayed home. She slept a lot and did some laundry.
The tour was just great. Our first stop was at the Psoas Volcano. Looking down into the crater we could see some Vulcanologists working around some fumaroles which were emitting a thick yellow vapor.
Then it was on to the Waterfall/butterfly/hummingbird/frog/snake garden. We wandered through a butterfly garden and then looked at the snakes and frogs. The frogs were amazing. They looked like they were glued to the bottom of the leaves. Some of them weren’t much bigger than the eraser on a pencil.
In the court yard there were many hummingbird feeders and hundreds of flowers that the hummers would be attracted to. The little hummers were just all over the place. It was interesting to see the difference in sizes that perhaps you might not notice if you didn’t see them at the same time.
We had a great buffet lunch with hot dogs, fries, pizza, salad, chicken and veggies. Then we walked down to the falls and the stream. It was a beautiful walk and the falls were great. We probably spent and hour or so just walking along the paths. Then it was back to the bus and on to the coffee processing plant.
Costa Rica only grows the Arabica coffee. By law that is all they are able to grow here. There are three grades. Only #1 and #2 is exported and all of it is exported. They use #3 here in Costa Rica.
They explained how decaf is sent to Europe for decaffeination. They also explained how the longer a coffee is roasted the less acidic it is. Italian Expresso is the darkest roast and has the least acid. European, which is a light roast, has the most acid.
The coffee is picked by Nicaraguans who are migrant workers here. After the coffee harvest they move on to pineapple, sugar cane and probably other jobs.
After we left the coffee growers we stopped at a supermarket and then it was home.
Feb 17 Sat
Today was another day off. We kind of stuck close to home. Annie still wasn’t feeling real well but was doing much better. The laundry was pretty much finished so we didn’t have that to do. There was an optional trip to the coast offered but no one seemed to want to take advantage of it.
We did some chores and then walked toward town to do a bit of shopping. We went to the vegetable market and got some veggies and a few fruits. Then hit the meat market for a couple of things. On the way home we also stopped for an ice cream and then paid a brief visit to a hardware store for a nozzle for the hose. We arrived home in the early afternoon, put the groceries away and then just visited with our neighbors.
A couple of young reporters from the “Tico Times” one of the local English language papers came by wanting to do a story. They spent a few hours with us and even joined us for our social. We all had a great time and we think they also enjoyed getting to know all of us.
Annie had made previous arrangements to have dinner with Gene and Marilyn. We brought the Chicken Mole, rice and beans and they supplied the salad and desert. We always have a great time with them.
About 2100 we said our goodnights and went back to our own “casa mobile” for the night. By 2130 John was in dreamland and soon Annie followed him.
Feb 18 Sun
We were up before 0600 today. We had to get ready for our next move. When Lester came by to thump the tires he said one of our trailer tires was low. John checked and sure enough it had lost about 50 lbs so we put some air in it and decided to check it later to see how it holds.
We were in the fourth group today so we were not in any hurry. Shortly after the first group left we were notified that there was an accident and the roads out were closed. The campground owner jumped in his truck to try and find us an alternate road. Because of this problem it was decided to leave in a convoy rather than groups. So we hit the road about 15 minutes later than #4 had originally planned. By the time we got to the road that had been closed it was open so we split into our groups and continued on. We were leading group four. Some of the earlier groups decided to stop so we passed them and were soon group 1.5.
The uphill climb wasn’t all that bad. We topped out about 11,500 feet and started down. At about 10,000 feet we stopped for lunch at a restaurant that served cafeteria style. We both ordered what we thought was a desert but turned out to be sour cream. Oh well….
The restaurant had hummingbird feeders right outside the windows so we could sit there and watch the hummers feed. They would occasionally stop and also watch us eat. It was kind of interesting. There was one little bird who would feed then make the short hop to the window sill and watch us for a while then go back to the feeder. We noticed about three or four different kinds of birds.
We went back to the trailer and as almost everyone in our group was ready we started down the mountain again. Along the way we passed some places that sold unique baskets, bowls carved out of wood, and carved masks. Our log noted these were not to be found any place else. We will probably stop there on the way back.
Soon we were in San Isidro. We filled up at the Shell station and then drove across the street to the hotel. We parked in a soccer field in back of the hotel. They had to do a bit of digging around the gate so we could get in but, we made it and are now set up and will enjoy the rest of the day.
Somewhere along the way Gene had a flat tire. While he was fixing it Marilyn went back to the trailer. There were people standing around so when someone reached in and took her purse everyone was taken by surprise. He grabbed her purse and apparently had someone waiting for him because he jumped in a car and took off. When we arrived at the hotel Marilyn used the WiFi in the lobby to call her kids who would let the credit card company know about the theft.
Annie, Jim and Barbara went to the lobby to find out about any tours and met someone who gave them some advice. He said he would be at the pool at 1600 to give the rest of the group the information. It was almost 1700 before he arrived and he really didn’t have much to offer. A few people in the group decided to drive to the beach which is about an hour away. We decided not to do that.
The hotel restaurant is very nice and the prices are not as expensive as in San Jose. They also serve a buffet breakfast which we will probably have in the AM.
We walked to the grocery store and mall across the highway and then came back to eat. Annie had the BBQ spareribs and John had a New York cut steak. Both meals exceeded our expectations. With the drinks the meal was still less than $30. After dinner we were back in our “home on wheels” and were soon ready for bed.
Feb 19 Monday
Today was kind of a free day. Some people went to the beach and others just took off for tours on their own. Annie wanted to check out the baskets so we went back up the mountain. Quite a few of the places were closed so we didn’t get to see everything. We did log the miles and parking areas and will give it to LuAnn so she can print it or put it up on the board when we return.
When we returned it was time for lunch. Adventure Caravans sprung for some hot dogs and we supplied the trimmings. Gayle put it all together. During and after we played Bocce Ball. Many of us had never played before so we all had a great time learning and playing.
That evening we had planned to have dinner with Barbara and Jim but ended up with about a dozen people. It was a wonderful time. We all laughed and just partied. Gayle loves mashed potatoes and offered to trade Jim, who ordered first but whose dinner was about 45 minutes late, a large jumbo shrimp for a bite of his mashed potatoes. He took her up on it. Then she asked the waiter if she could have a side order of just mashed potatoes. I guess you would have to have been there to see what happened to really appreciate it.
After dinner we all retired with good nights and went to our homes on wheels.
Feb 20 Tuesday
Today is “Fat Tuesday” or the last day before Lent. It is called “Carnival”, “Mardi Gras”, “Fasching” and probably many other names. Tonight there will be a lot of partying so we were warned that the police will be out in force.
Before we left Jim and Barbara had a flat tire so everyone pitched in to help fix it. After Jim mounted his spare we carried the old tire in the back of the truck so he didn’t have to put it in his MH.
It was also a border crossing day from Costa Rica into Panama. We spent almost six hours at the border getting everything in order before we were allowed into Panama. It was about an hours drive from the border to San Isidro where we were parking for the evening, which is a PriceSmart parking lot. PriceSmart is part of the Costco chain. They even carry Kirkland products. Because it is a holiday the store would normally close early but they agreed to stay open for us.
We almost didn’t make it. On the way into town John didn’t see the speed limit. Annie told him that there was a reduce speed sigh so he did. But it wasn’t enough. We got stopped. It was quite an experience. He asked for our passport and drivers license. We did give him our passports which he looked at and promptly returned. Then he asked for the drivers license. John felt uncomfortable with that so gave him an old expired license that he had. He didn’t know the difference. The cop didn’t speak any English and our Spanish is very limited. When we found out the speed limit we realized that we had been speeding.
Soon Lester came along and sorted it out. They wanted us to go back to the border to pay a $150. fine. Lester told them OK but would they accompany us. They said no because they were off duty. So then he asked them to write up a ticket and we would take to the border and pay it. He also wanted to see some verification that we were speeding. They wouldn’t show him that and wouldn’t write anything up so we left. We think they were just looking for money because they stopped another car at the same time they stopped us who was going the same speed and let him go. So we squeaked buy without paying a fine.
When we finally arrived the store was still open so we did some shopping. It was a typical “Costco” day and we left about $150 poorer.
Feb 21, Wednesday
We had an 0800 travel meeting and departed soon after that. Drew also had a flat that needed fixing so we accompanied them to the tire repair store about two miles down the road. Everyone got their tires repaired and soon we were off and rolling again. Because of the time we were there Lester, the tail gunner, had joined us.
We stopped at a few places where they do bead work and bought a few things. Let me say a bit more about the bead work. It is very intricate and quite beautiful. Some of the pieces are large and are almost like a mantel or collar. Then there are the smaller pieces that can be used for chokers, small necklaces, anklets and wristlets. There were also some dresses that were quite nice but Annie apparently wasn’t interested.
For lunch we stopped at a kind of “snack bar” along side the road. We were the only ones who ordered anything there. We had beans and rice (the beans were lentals), two pieces of chicken, and a soft drink, It was more than we could eat. The total cost was $1.80. We will probably stop there on the return trip also.
About an hour out of our destination we heard #16 Marilyn calling for Adventure caravans. It seems that the tire Gene had fixed was no longer fixed and was flat again. Lester and Drew stopped to help and we continued on the way with #8 Jim and Barbara.
The police presence in Panama is incredible. I have never seen so many uniformed officers. They use radar or laser to catch speeders. We saw one guy pointing what looked like a cell phone with a large screen at oncoming traffic. We don’t know if it was a speed tracking device or he was just gesturing. Most of the villages we drive through have pedestrian bridges. The police will frequently park off the road and under them. Perhaps it is to avoid the heat which today was in the high 90’s. Interestingly enough when they are there you will usually but not always see traffic cones out. Sometimes they are on a motorcycle and other times in a car or on foot. If they are on foot we will usually see a car or m/c parked a bit down the road from them. There is almost always a uniform at the bus stops, even in the mountains away from all the villages.
They are repairing some of the roads in the mountains so it was slow going where they hadn’t been fixed. It wasn’t like a pot hole but the pavement had just separated. In some places there were large gaps and in other places they were smaller and it was more like a bad bump when you drove over them. When we saw a large one, we had to go very slowly and sometimes drive off the road to avoid them.
The campground parking was very tight. Annie wondered off to visit and if it wouldn’t have been for some neighbors John would have done some serious damage to the trailer and possibly the campground. Lesson learned, don’t back up unless someone is there to guide you. Especially when you don’t know what is there and can’t see behind you, are in a hurry or are stressed.
Our camp ground is as nice as anyone could ask. It’s lush and green, the owners are American RV’ers so they know what they are doing. They have several large parrots, cats, and dogs. As far as beauty goes it is close to the top of the list of campgrounds we have stayed in. Now if they just had a wash machine.
In the evening we had a welcoming “rum” party. Adventure supplied the drinks and we brought the snacks. We also found out about some tours for Monday, our free day. They do have WiFi here at the CG but we have to go to the restaurant to use it. It just isn’t as convenient as having it in the trailer but other than that it is fine.
Feb. 22, 2007, Thursday
We didn’t even get out of the camp ground today. It’s very hot here and it starts warming up early.
The owners here have lots of totally beautiful parrots and a new favorite of ours, the Toucans. They also have three very small (6”) monkeys. Last week two girls opened the cage and two of them got out. Although they are around the owners haven’t been able to catch them.
There were several optional tours available but, nothing we saw interested us except a village in the mountains. Barb #8 said she and Jim wanted to go there we thought it sounded good so Annie did some investigating. Were not sure how it happened but, by the end of the day Annie had organized a tour with a bus up and back and now 12 people are going. It will include a frog rescue exhibit, zoo, village arts and crafts and lunch. One couple is going for the birding.
Also, John and Jim wanted to do a Shrimp Boat Party that takes you out in the Pacific, has an open bar and serves ceviche, shrimp cocktails and goes shrimping. They cook the shrimp catch and everyone eats it and then we come back. The only problem was we had to have 35 or 40 people and there was no way. To make a long story short Annie finally was able to talk the boating guy into doing it with the ten people she knew wanted to go. We didn’t care if they had other groups so they could open it to the public thereby filling the boat. Now we have twenty-one going and we will be picked up and returned to the camp ground; all this for $50 a person. We will do all this on Monday.
Dennis the owner had an electrician come in to look at our fan that hasn’t been working for a month. This guy is an Electrical Engineer and couldn’t figure it out so will come back tomorrow with a real electrician and hopefully fix it.
This afternoon five of those who quilt got together in the Palapa and divvied up fabric we had picked up so far on the trip. A very nice selection of fabrics so far.
This evening, Dennis and Sheila, the camp ground owners hosted a down home American dinner; hamburgers, potato salad, coleslaw, beer, apple pie and ice cream. Then we were honored with a performance of local Panamanian dancers. The music was only drums and the dancers ranged in age from under six to over sixty. They were in native costume and it was great. There was also local artisan with crafts for sale. Wonderful stuff, bead necklaces and ear rings, hand sown appliqué blouses, pictures, bags, and cloth. We all bought a lot and I am sure she was very happy with the results. These people do such great hand work and the prices are down right cheap.
Tomorrow we leave for the Panama City and the canal. We will be gone for two days and staying at a hotel. We are coming back on Sunday. I am sure it will be good to be back in our own bed. Then it’s back the way we came. Wow, we finally will make it to the canal.
Feb.25, 2007, Sunday
Today is turn-around-day. We left Panama City and began our return trip north. On the way home we stopped at an ice cream store and Mercado and arrived back to the camp ground around 1700.
It was a memory making day; a day of sounds and sights. We were taken by Embera tribesmen in dugout canoes up the Chagres River. The sounds that will live in my memory were of shrill whistles, water against the hull, the scraping of canoe bottoms on the rocks, boat propellers hitting rocks in the shallow rapids, drum beats, and flute.
Whistles are a means of communication between the boatmen on the front of the boat and the driver at the rear. The whistles indicate shallows and which way to turn to avoid hitting bottom. The river is very shallow right now and several times the men had to jump into the river and push/pull the dugout up rapids into deeper water. We, the tourist, were not allowed out of the dugouts. The village of eighty was four to six miles from our starting point through the tropical dry jungle of Chagres National Park. It is the last village on the river.
The Embera peoples are believed to be from N. Columbia. They have been in their village from the mid 50’s when they founded a new home with four families. There are twenty families living there now. The sights were of their traditional thatch homes on stilts. Their lively hood is no longer farming but, tourism, the river, and crafting. Their small carving and baskets are of very fine workmanship. Baskets are made by the women and carvings by the men. The people dress in very simple but, colorful clothing, the women in wrap around skirts, the men in loin cloths. No one wears shoes. The women, probably in deference to some tourists, cover their breasts. They wear a loose top made of beads or some other decorations so that probably covers what some may think immoral. We did see one woman who was breast feeding a child but when someone wanted to take a picture she moved the child and covered her breast.
We were served a lunch of fried Tilapia (from the river) and plantains on wood plates. After lunch they performed several dances accompanied by drums and flute. The fish tasted too much like the river for John so Annie finished his portion.
John felt almost like he was on a movie set. Almost everything was in place and there didn’t seem to be anything out of place. Everything was very colorful. While we were on dirt there was very little if any dust. The people were small in stature, Annie was taller than most, but they were very attractive.
Because they didn’t wear shoes I guess their feet were very tough because they didn’t seem to be bothered by rocks in the water when they were pulling or pushing the boat.
After lunch they did a few dances for us. The men would play drums, and flutes and the women would dance in a kind of train. Later they changed the beat a bit and got some of us tourists up to dance with them. Except for the costumes it could have been any rock and roll party.
Words are never going to be adequate to tell you about the wonder of this day but, someday when we are very, very old and sitting in a rocker on the porch and a great-great grand child will look at us and our eyes will be distant and a soft smile on our will be on our lips. The smile could well be the memory of this day.
Feb. 26, 2007, Monday
Happy Birthday baby sister Nina - 60 Looms nigh
Today is a free day so we can do what we want. Annie ended up arranging two tours. Both started out with just two couples but, ended up with groups. The first was a bus tour for 11 of us to El Valle, a town in the mountains. El Valle sits in the crater of an extinct volcano. It is the most beautiful place full of lush vegetation and high end homes. The road is very narrow with many twists and turns and it took us just under an hour to get there.
Once there we visited a frog project funded by the Houston Zoo. It is to gather and protect frogs and toads from the fungus that is decimating the frog populations around the world. We spent probably an hour and a half talking with the head scientist. We got to take pictures of many exotic frogs and learned a lot about the project. The project is housed in two hotel rooms right now while a very nice facility is being built at the local zoo.
After the frogs we went to the zoo. It is not a modern zoo as we know it and most of the cages and pens are made of chicken wire but, all of the animals were well fed and in clean environments. They seemed content. There were lots of caged chickens. We couldn’t figure it out but, we saw a large variety.
We also saw the new lab facility for the frog project. It is really nice and should be completed in a couple of months.
From there we went down town. Town was a narrow road with buildings on both sides. It looks like most towns or villages and didn’t have a real grocery store as we know it. There was a section for tourist and it was very expensive.
Half of the group went to a German restaurant off the beaten track and the rest stayed in town. The German restaurant was set in lush vegetation and is a resort actually. The food was German and a bit more expensive than many restaurants, but very tasty.
From there we went back to town and met up with the others. We looked at the “People’s Mercado” for souvenirs and Annie bought another Mola. It was also the most expensive so far at $57.
A 50 minute drive had us back at the campground where the bus for the sunset shrimp trip was waiting. We took a few minutes to get settled and then loaded on the bus. Just before we were ready to depart, Lester informed us that we had a flat tire on the trailer. This time it was the right front tire. Because Annie had arraigned this trip because John wanted to go so he decided it would be best if he went and changed the tire later.
The bus driver missed the turn on the way to catch the boat so he turned around and soon we boarded the small skiff to take us to the “Bubba Gump” our home for the next few hours. We pulled away from the beach and headed out to the “shrimping area.” The bar was open and pretty well stocked. At first there was cheese and crackers and a few other snacks. Later we helped ourselves to Cevche and Shrimp Ceveche. The captain dropped the nets went fishing. We ended up with lots of small fish including needle, puffers, a few rays and about five or six shrimp. It was a lot of work for such a small catch. On the return trip the Captain slowed the boat down so we could watch the sunset. Overall it was a great trip and well worth the $50.
Soon we were heading back to our rigs and thinking about the morning departure. On the way back to our Casa we saw Lester sitting there and told him we would be changing the tire in the AM as it was already dark. He told us that it would be better if the tire were changed before the morning because if it got any flatter it might damage the tire. John said OK and then Drew mentioned something about the slide being in so Les wouldn’t hit his head on it. That’s when we found out that they had changed the tire for us. We felt very special because they had done that for us.
Feb 27 Tuesday
Time to head north and return home. For us the morning went by very quickly and we were soon on the road. Annie wanted to stop and look at some baskets so we pulled over. She got out and looked and when she came back noticed that the left front tire was flat. So with help from our friends the tire was taken off, the spare put on and then we were off again. We were in an early group so we were able to stop and get it repaired. They couldn’t find anything wrong with the trailer tire and it was still holding the 80 lbs I had put in earlier. So the tires were mounted and the spares were put back in their holding area and we headed to Price Smart again. On the way we stopped for gas as tomorrow would be a border crossing.
On arrival we did a little shopping and met Woody. Woody is a retired Marine who lives full time in his motor home. He was born and raised in Panama and joined the US Marine Corps and did almost 30 years. He had been living in Panama for the past few months at XS Memories, where we were also staying. He decided to accompany us back to the US. Because his first language is Spanish he will probably be a big help.
Feb 28, Wednesday
Getting out of Panama wasn’t a problem, getting into Costa Rica was again a challenge, although not as much as it was on the trip down. I have a feeling they were looking for bribes.
Once we finally cleared and were ready to head out we ended up in a group of three. Annie and I were leading, with Keith and Marilyn following, Woody was out tail gunner. After about 20 minutes we had another flat. The left front time again gave up it’s air. Please understand that the roads are narrow and there is no place to pull over so when we have a flat we had better change it quickly and have someone direct traffic around us. This particular time it happened on a curve which made it eve more dangerous. Annie and Marilyn put out the caution signs and Keith directed on the curve away from us. Woody and John got the tire changed in record time and we were soon on the road again.
We stopped to get it repaired and this time it was the valve stem. It cost $2.00 and took about 10 minutes. Soon we were in the soccer field behind the hotel again.
Once Annie realized where we were she immediately went up and ordered an Ice Cream Sunday for dessert. She also wanted to make sure that she would get her BBQ pork ribs, which she did. She had to again draw a picture of what a Sunday should look like. After dinner when she had had her desert the waiter asked her name and said they were going to name the Sunday after her. So if you are ever driving through San Isidro, Costa Rica and stop at the Costa del Sur Hotel you might find Annie’s Sunday on the menu.
I decided not the put the repaired time back on the truck so the next day we didn’t have a flat.
Annie told John earlier that she did not want to lead the next day. Later she told him that we were leading. Oh well….
Mar 1 Thursday
The trip over the mountains went pretty well. One of the people in our group cut it a bit close when passing and managed to take a truckers mirror off. He also did quite a bit of damage to his rig. When we got to the top and were resting for a bit he and the trucker settled on an amount for the mirrors and we were soon heading down the hill.
Driving through town was a nightmare for Annie. Some of the people behind us tended to get lost or were not able to follow directions very well so we were constantly stopping and waiting for them to catch up. There were still complaints that John was driving to fast.
Annie decided that the next day she would take a day off and let John drive and navigate.
While parking we managed to take out the cable for TV which was strung to low. We managed to get it fixed until the owner came by and did a better job.
Mar 2. Friday
In the AM John decided that he had enough flat tires (three in the past 24 hours) and went next door to a service station to see what they had. His intention was to get two tires but he ended up with four because the price was only $116 each and that included mounting and balancing. Unfortunately they don’t replace the valve stems routinely and John forgot to tell them to. The next problem was the electricity went out and they couldn’t mount the tires until it was fixed. Our departure time was 0930. About 0840 the juice came back in and John had the tires installed. He arrived back just in time for the travel briefing which Annie said she wouldn’t attend as she was taking the day off. The problem was that they didn’t put enough air in the tires (only 40 lbs instead of 80) and they didn’t put the valve stem covers on. So while he went back to finish Annie reluctantly went to the travel brief. John arrived back in time to get ready to pull out. On the way out we again managed to again break the cable. Annie had to climb on the roof again and untangle it from our antenna. While there John also figured out the problem with black tank and, hopefully, fixed it.
We departed just fine. Because we were a bit tardy in getting out we kind of lost sight of the rest of the group for a while. Because John didn’t attend the travel meeting and didn’t have time to go over the trip log he got a bit concerned. But soon they were back in sight and all was well.
All went well until we got stopped again but the local police. We weren’t sure what he wanted but he asked for our passports, insurance papers and other papers. Then he asked for John’s drivers license. As he does he gave them his old expired CA license. That was find until he asked where we live and we told him Washington State. He was very confused because he saw a Washington license on the truck, a California driver’s license and his passport says he was born in New York. He would look at the papers, then look at us and try and ask us a question. Even though we could understand a little of what he was saying we really wanted to get going. Finally he went to the car behind us and asked him if he was from California and he said no he was from Wisconsin. He checked his passport and saw Ohio. Finally he asked him if we were friends and when he said yes he came back to us and gave us our papers back wished us a pleasant day and we were on our way.
There were a lot of construction stops along the way so we didn’t make very good time. We also made a stop to get one of the gas tanks filled.
The tire gods must have been angry because as we pulled into the station Bob mentioned that one of our tires was low. It was the left front again and it was a brand new tire that was flat. Fortunately they had a tire repair place right at the station and I had the tire fixed. The valve stem split. So that made four flats in less than 36 hours. I think we set some kind of record.
Mar 3 Sat
Today we were up early with a departure time of about 0700. We are crossing into Nicaragua this morning. The traffic at the border was its usual congested self. It seems that getting into and out of Costa Rica has so far been the most difficult border crossing. But we are now beyond that.
Joe, our guide on the way down, met us on the Nicaragua side and probably helped ease the way a bit. We cleared the border and were in the first group.
We will spend the next three nights here in Montelimar, a beautiful all inclusive resort on the Pacific ocean.
We are all lined up in the casino parking lot. The casino was the home of former dictator Samosa. We will get our wristbands in the AM so tonight we have a card that will let us eat and drink in the buffet style restaurant. It was a long tiring day.
Mar 4 Sunday
John didn’t sleep well at all last night. The temp probably didn’t drop below 95 and the humidity was also high. I think we may get a room at the hotel for the next two nights.
Annie got a manicure and pedicure and John got a massage. Annie’s was great but, John didn’t fair so well. It was very light and little more than a gentle rub. The girl who worked on John looked to be about 14 or 15. The tables were very close together and he was uncomfortable with the whole procedure.
We both swam for a while in the afternoon. Annie spent a good portion of the afternoon in the medium size pool. There are three pools. One is very large with a swim up bar and snack bar. The snack bar serves hamburgers, hot dogs, ham and cheese sandwiches, fries, and other things anytime night and day. Everything is included in our stay including the drinks. The small and medium pools have bars. The smaller pool is mostly for children.
We watched the sunset from the Casino deck with several others from our caravan. It was beautiful without being colorful. We went back to the trailer about 1800 and the temp inside was 98. It was then we packed up and walked to the hotel. For $53 we will have two nights in A/C comfort. After dinner we came back to the room and were both out like lights before 2100.
Mar 5 Monday
We both slept much better last night although John was still very restless. Perhaps tonight will be better. There was a very nice breeze last night so it may not have been as uncomfortable in the trailer as the night before but, we are still both happy that we decided to get a room.
After breakfast John, Annie and Barbara walked to a “village” shopping center set up on the beach about a half mile from us. We had a great time and managed to get a few things. Then it was back to the hotel. We went to the trailer and picked up a bit so we won’t be so rushed tomorrow AM.
It was back in the water for Annie and then with several from the caravan we walked to the snack bar in the center of the big pool. It has a bridge so you don’t have to swim. After that Annie, Jim and Barbra walked to the buffet where they met John at 1230 for lunch. Annie lounged in one of the many, many hammocks strung between the trees here. Life is tough but, someone has to do this stuff so let it be us.
After lunch we went back to our room to cool off a bit and take a nap. It wasn’t five minutes after we closed the door that Annie was off on her visit to dreamland. She slept for about an hour and then we caught the train to the casino. The train is a length of passenger cars pulled by a tractor. I have seen it up to four cars long but it is usually only one or two.
We put away our purchases visited for a while and then came back to the hotel. We saw Les in the lobby and he told us that the covering on the underside of the trailer had come down. This is the area that the people at Dan Gamel had cut to replace the valve. When I started having problems with it I had to undo their tape. I used “gorilla tape” to put it back but it isn’t holding. Tomorrow I will have to try something else. I don’t know what yet. Perhaps I can tape it on both sided a bit and that might help.
We sat on the beach with Jim and Barbara and watched the sun set. It was very beautiful but no green flash.
Then it was off to dinner. Keith and Marilyn also sat with us. After dinner someone brought a piece of cake and some ice cream to Lynn as it was his birthday. We gathered round and sang. By then it was getting late so we headed back to our room. Annie’s knee seems to be doing better now that she has been taking ibuprofen again. John got some ice for her to pack it in for a while to see if that will speed up the process.
Mar 6
Today was the day we drove the road from hell.
We left Montelimar about 0730. We were in the third group. The second group wanted to see the oldest cathedral in Central America and our group didn’t. About an hour after we left we were stopped for a routine police check. This happens more going north than going south. We were the group leaders today so when we got stopped everyone got stopped. Even if we could speak a little Spanish when you get stopped we always are ignorant. We show them our papers, passport’s drivers’ license and what ever else they want to see. This time there was a problem with our papers. When you enter Nicaragua you have to buy their insurance. We were last through a month ago and we purchased a months worth of insurance… we thought… Our leaders purchased a month (30 days) worth of insurance. But because it was February our insurance expired on 5 March. Guess what? Today was the 6th and we were illegal. When they pointed that out to us we didn’t realize that it was insurance and thought it was our visa and we would soon be heading off to the slammer. Fortunately for us it was just insurance and although we were illegal the police were very frustrated because no one could understand what they were saying and they let us pass. Of course this took almost half an hours time and a 50 point rise in our blood pressure. About 30 minutes later we came upon group two who were stopped by another set of police. We just drove by because they were so busy with them they didn’t stop us or perhaps they thought that we had been cleared by the previous group. These police weren’t as accommodating as the one we were stopped by. But then they also tried to speak Spanish with them and didn’t play dumb as we did. They had to wait until group four arrived with Les and now Woody who could speak Spanish. We found out later that group four was also stopped by the same police we were stopped by. They explained the situation to them and showed them the master insurance policy which showed we were insured for another two days. The insurance papers, the explanation and about $30.00 let them go. That is until they pulled up behind the other group. When they also wanted money they were told NO… In fact they were also told that they had taken the names of the officers in the first group and they would be turning them into the authorities.
So, they went on their way….
Meanwhile back with group three… (us)
We stopped to gas up and take a little break. We still had about 80 miles to go until we were stopped for the evening and it was only about 11:00 or so. The roads were OK so we figured about three hours. It more than doubled that.
Shortly after we started we wondered if we were on the right road. Then we began to wonder if we were on a road at all. We finally saw a highway sign so we knew we were headed in the right direction. They were working on the road and we had to use a diversion, which is loosely translated as a detour. It ran along side the road but it was through fields and pastures rock and shale. It was little more than a wide dirt path. Also remember that we were in Central America. So, vehicles were trying to pass us on both the left and right. A bus and security car both drove on the road which was in the process of being repaired to get by us, which they did. It was a kind of madness. After about twenty miles of this which took about three hours the road work was over. I can understand why they were working on the roads. We would be hard pressed to even call them roads. If we could drive 15 MPH for more than 100 yard we considered ourselves lucky. They were potholes with a bit of level ground nearby. Somewhere along the way someone spotted a pottery shop and we stopped. I think I heard my truck and trailer say thank you. After the ladies had spent all they could we left again. I am sure that the shop had more business that day than in the previous week. I am not complaining because we purchased some beautiful pottery for less than it would cost at home. But then again at home we wouldn’t buy it.
The road wound through some beautiful country but I couldn’t see it as I had to concentrate on the roads.
We came to a few small villages where children lined the roads. They would have strings across the roads to try and stop you. If you slowed down enough they would climb on your vehicles, bank on your windows and try and get you to stop. On of our people in front of us stopped to throw some “Mardi Gras” beads out their window. Those of us behind then also had to stop because they did. Immediately the kids who got the beads were pounded upon by those who didn’t get them. Others jumped on their truck and stuck their hands in their windows so they couldn’t get them up. Because there were a couple of us behind them we also had kids climbing all over our vehicles. It was not a great experience as the parents and grandparents we cheering the kids on. The only other time we experienced anything like this was again in Nicaragua but it was in Granada when we were driving slow and the kids were trying to climb on the vehicles to get a ride. But then if you yelled at them they would get down.
We finally reached the Pan American Highway and from there the road was much better. The drivers were the same but at least you could go faster than 5 mph.
When we reached our stopping place and pulled in to park I noticed that one of the slices was part was out. The roads were so bad they had caused a bolt to come out of one of the rods that controlled my living room slide out. I didn’t discover this until the next morning. I had to push half the slid out. When I tried to bring it back in and it wouldn’t come I discovered the missing bolt. Carl had a bolt that fit so I was able to get it back in. I will still have to do more to it but at least it works. The kitchen slide now has a problem also. I am so thankful that I got tires in Costa Rica or I am sure that would also be a problem.
Mar 7
We left the campground and headed for Honduras.
The border crossing was uneventful and a bit different as border crossings go. There was a rope separating the two countries. This was not a major crossing point and there were few trucks. We cleared Nicaragua in less than two hours and spent the rest of the time in “no mans land” between the two countries. Actually we were in Honduras but had not crossed the border. While waiting for all the paper work to be completed many children came to “chat” with us. There was a school on a hill nearby so we brought them some supplies that we had which were pencils paper and a few other odds and ends. When the kids came up to our truck and looked inside what they wanted most was a pencil. It sees hard to believe that something like that could be so important. We gave a couple of kids what we had in the truck and then took the rest to the teacher in the school. John had an amigo whose name was Freddy. He gave him a pen. Freddy practiced his English and told us he had black shoes… Zapata negro… We had a bit of fun with them asking us questions and us asking them questions.
Soon the border was cleared and we headed to our next stop which was in Choluteca. It was a hotel.
We stopped about five miles out to gas up and get ready to move in. Parking was difficult so we had to come in individually. A few of the people appointed themselves assistant wagon masters so we were hearing orders from more than one person which made it a little difficult.
When we finally got parked there were a few teens next to our rig. When Annie told them the truck had a diesel they got a bit excited. As soon as I got out they wanted to see the engine so I popped the hood and let them have a look. Their English was excellent, almost unaccented. There were about five of them and they had just finished working out at the hotel. They were all on a basketball team and attended an American school which explains their English proficiency.
We had our usual “social” by the pool and while a few of us tried for the internet the rest wandered off and did a bit of swimming. Dinner was supposed to be a buffet. I guess you could call it that if you just chose what you wanted to eat on your plate. We were served chicken, beans and rice. John thought his chicken died of old age as it was tough and very dry. Annie had decided to not eat but about halfway through the meal she joined us. She got a drumstick and a thigh that were almost alive. Actually it wasn’t all that bad as she was able to eat part of it.
Mar 8
We had an 0700 departure today as we were crossing the border into El Salvador. Getting out of the hotel parking lot was a bit more difficult than getting in but we managed and were soon on our way. We regrouped and headed for the border. While waiting to clear Honduras we shared the road with cattle and kids. We finally got fumigated crossed the bridge and were in El Salvador. We had to drive about a mile to a very large parking lot where we waited for about another four hours to finish clearing into the country. It wasn’t too bad. I just sat under the front part of the trailer and managed to catch a little breeze. By the time we finished the temp was well into three digits. From there we went to the gas station in Amatillo, about a mile down the road, where we parked for the night, It was not one of the better places as far as noise goes. There was talking all night long and trucks coming and going.
Mar 9
We were in the first group today heading for the beach and Hotel Bahia del Sol. Driving through some of the towns was quite an experience. At one point we felt as if we were driving through the town market and I guess we were. One of the people in a group behind us had someone climb on the roof of their 5th wheel and try and steal their weather station. Fortunately someone saw him and notified the police who stopped them and hauled him off to wherever they take them. We missed a turn but were able to get back on track by making U turn in a gas station and we were soon on our way again.
The hotel is nice. We have electricity and are parked on the grass. The view isn’t all that great but we are comfortable. It is about a half mile walk to where we can connect to the internet. It is also a restaurant so we had a bite to eat. Food is very expensive here. A beer costs $2.50 and a glass of lemonade is $2.00. A child’s plate of a hamburger and fries is $8.00. We split a plate of meat and beans and rice and it was over $15.00. Perhaps if we went from here back to the states the shock wouldn’t be so great. We were able to eat in other countries for less than half of what it costs here. Perhaps it is because we are at a nice hotel and yacht club and the prices in town will be cheaper.
We had our evening social by the pool. Jim and John tried a drink called a Poco Loco. The cut part of the top of a coconut off and add some rum, vodka, grenadine and honey to the juice inside, put some ice and a straw in it and that is the drink. I don’t think I will have another but it was and interesting drink. The water here has a lot of salt in it so the ice gave it a bit of an off flavor. It is OK to drink but I don’t think too many people do.
Mar 10 Saturday
Today we toured San Salvador, the capitol of this country. Jorge, our guide, is very knowledgeable about the history of the country. It is by far the smallest country in Central America but size wise is the most densely populated. When Central America separated into individual countries there was no such place as El Salvador. They took some land from Guatemala and Honduras to form El Salvador. It is the only CA country that only borders the Pacific Ocean. Belize only borders the Caribbean. It was pretty well decimated by their civil war but they are trying to make a comeback. They tend to be pro American because of our help when the Sandinistas, backed by Russia and Cuba were trying to take over. They do have a very turbulent history. There are almost no indigenous people living there as they were all massacred in the 20th century. He also said there are virtually no blacks living there. By that I think he meant citizens as we did see a couple in the town, but I think they were servicemen from the Embassy. We have one black man with us, he joined us in Panama, and when we were in a market a little girl saw him and hid because he frightened her.
Our guide said they really don’t have a middle class, only upper and lower. The rush hour traffic in town, cell phone use, and many other things lead me to believe that they do have a middle class. It may not be as large as in some other countries but it sure looks like it is growing.
We toured a Cathedral, a marked and then some of the nicer neighborhoods where houses started at 1 million and went upward from there. While that may not buy a lot in CA or NY it does a pretty good job in El Salvador.
For lunch our guide took us to a small restaurant that served food cafeteria style. I had beef and some of the best seafood soup I have ever eaten. It had fish, shrimp, lobster, clams, mussels, and probably other stuff I really don’t want to know about. The line to eat was quite long so it had to have been good to attract that kind of patronage. Adjoining the food place was a craft market. Annie managed to buy a couple of pieces of fabric and John got his shirt. Prices were a bit higher than in other countries but that could have been because we were in a very touristy area. The merchants would bargain a little but not much.
From there we went to a super market for the rest of our groceries and then stopped for ice cream before heading home. John walked to the restaurant to get on the internet. Annie was feeling a bit rocky so she stayed home. Later that evening she started feeling worse.
Mar 11 Sunday
Annie had wanted to go to the ruins but couldn’t get enough people. In a sense it was good because by now she was feeling worse and needed to rest. So she spent almost the entire day working on the computer looking at and working with pictures. John did some much needed work on the trailer and also managed to get some time in the pool. In the evening we had our travel brief and then dinner. Annie started feeling worse so she headed back to the barn a bit early and went to bed. We had a 0630 departure time in the AM so both of wanted to get a goods nights sleep.
Mar 12 Monday
We were in group three departing at 0630. Once group two left John had to try exit the area where we were parked. Gene came down to help guide. But after watching John spinning his wheels in the grass a few times Gene asked if he could just do it. Of course John said yes and within five minutes we were ready to go. Gene is a farmer and has been pushing and pulling trailers for longer than John has been driving.
Normally on a “border crossing” day we are not supposed to get gas. Today we needed fuel. We had gassed up at the last station but the last drive was 126 miles and the drive today was 200. Over 300 miles would be pushing it. Today was a border crossing and John was told you are not supposed to get fuel but he needed it so what was he to do. We were leading group three and told them we wanted to stop. They were all OK with that. We stopped and put $20 in the tank and were ready to go in a few minutes. The others in our group had decided to use the time to do the necessities. We waited almost ten minutes after we fueled up for the others to enter their rigs so we could continue. Even at that we were still ahead of group four so we didn’t hold up anyone.
Soon we were back on the road and in about an hour were ready to get in order for the border crossing. If John hadn’t mentioned it earlier we are supposed to be in numerical sequence when we cross the border. Our passports have our rig numbers on them so it just makes processing a lot easier.
We reached the border and cleared El Salvador and then entered “no mans land” in Guatemala. After a few hours of sitting there in the heat and starting to melt, we finally cleared and headed toward the Water Park where we would be spending the next four days.
By this time Annie was feeling really bad. Once we were in convey with the rest of the group she started to sleep. When we crossed the border into Guatemala she again slept for the almost four hours we waited there. Once we cleared it was about an 80 mile drive to the park where we would be staying and she rested. On the way in we had to stop for fuel again. The wait for fuel and the parking was about forty five minutes so she rested. When we finally arrived she wakened and helped park then went to bed again. She is really feeling terrible.
March 13 Tuesday
Today we toured Guatemala City and Antigua. Because of all the driving we had a 0730 departure time. The trip into Guatemala took almost two hours because of the rush hour traffic. On the way in Hugo, our guide, explained why all the trucks were parked along side the road for miles. Big trucks are not allowed to drive in the city between 0730 and 0930. And then again in the afternoon they also have a restriction. While traffic is still quite heavy it isn’t as bad as it would be if all the trucks were on the roads.
Our first stop was at a Cathedral where we took pictures. During the revolution a bishop was shot and he is buried in the basement of the church. He is also on his way to being canonized. From the church we toured the city looking at some of the nicer homes and then went to the palace. We almost didn’t get to tour the palace because they were still dismantling all the equipment from the recent visit by President Bush. The palace is really a museum and showplace for entertaining foreign dignitaries and no one has ever lived there. It is made from light green granite and is very striking. Because of the color the local people have named it “the big guacamole.”
Annie was still feeling rough so she stayed on the bus which was parked in the town square. While she was sitting there she observed a farmer bringing his goats in and selling the milk. She thought it was quite interesting.
Soon we were on our way to Antigua, about 90 minutes away. It is a very old city and is on the list of world historic places. Our first stop was to tour an old mission which is now a hotel and restaurant. It was very nice. Rooms start at about $130 a night we were told. There were a few Macaws grooming each other and John got a couple of interesting pictures. We left the Hotel and went into town to visit the Jade factory. We heard a very nice presentation on how jade was re-discovered in Central America and then were allowed to tour the museum. Naturally we bought some Jade. Annie got a necklace and some smaller pieces to string together for herself. John got to help pick it out.
By this time we were ready for lunch. It was at a very nice restaurant in town. We had ordered earlier so the wait wasn’t as long as it could have been. Annie had the veggi plate and John had beef. Both were very good and well presented. We were also served a lentil soup that was delicious. After lunch Annie headed back to the bus to rest. Annie thought John knew she was going to the bus. He didn’t and when he couldn’t find her got very worried. Someone told him where she was so he continued with the walking tour. We were shown an old convent where cloistered nuns lived. After the last earthquake they decided not to rebuild it. One can only imagine what it was like when it was all together. The inner courtyard was very beautiful. We could also see where the choir loft and alter were in the church. We made a trip through the cellar which may have been catacombs at some time but now were just a big empty space and tunnel.
We then boarded the bus and headed to the Macadamia nut factory. We learned that there are two different kinds of nuts plus a hybrid between the two. The nuts are not picked but are gathered when they fall to the ground. The plantation owner invented a machine to take the outer husk off. It is kind of unique as it is just an old tire with a motor attached. The nuts are fed through a hopper the tire skins the husk and throws the nut into another basket and the husks drop out. We were told he made it very simple so others could do it also. They donate and sell macadamia trees to the Maya in the area so they can be a bit more self-sufficient. We then went to there store where a few received complimentary facials so John got a facial. Then we boarded the bus again and headed back to town for some more shopping. We found an ATM and got some cash and were soon looking at the crafts. Naturally Annie found some material she couldn’t live without. We also bought a few other odds and ends.
By this time it was getting late so we again boarded the bus and headed home. It only took about an hour this time because we didn’t have to go into Guatemala City. Once back home Annie headed to bed and John fixed his dinner. About 1900 the power went out so we are back on battery power until they get if fixed and that may not be for a few days.
Mar 15
Today we went to Chichicastenango and Panajachel. The trip to Chichi was great. We wandered throught the markets and did some barganing. Annie was able to get quite a bit of fabric. It was a great time and we had a lot of fun. In one spot there was a large Catholic church and out front the Shamen were practicing. People would visit the Shaman and then go inside. There was also a pretty good sized food market but it was not as colorful or as large as many of the others we had visited. The markets were very crowded with booth tourists and locals people. After we spent what we could at Chichi we boarded the bus and went to Lake Atitlan and Panajachal. The dress there was very different than in Chicastenango. The men in particular were a lot more colorful. in what they were wearing. During lunch the vendors would come to the window of the restaruant to sell their wares. When we finished our meal it was back to the streets so Annie could do some more fabric shopping. On the trip between the two places we passed small trucks that were completly loaded with people. I really don't know how they could get so many people in the back of a small pickup.
Mar 21
Time fly’s when you are having fun. We have left Amatitlan and continued on our journey north. We crossed the border into Mexico with no problems and parked on the street near a hotel. It was one of John’s least favorite places. There was traffic all night. We were on a dead end street so most of the traffic was just driving by to see us parked there. The trees were also very low as were the wires across the road, which we managed to take down on the way out the next day. So there went another $20. Lester paid the guy off so I had to pay him but I kind of felt it was a scam. The wires were not live. I also have mixed feelings about Adventure parking us in a place like that. Oh well… It’s only money…
Because we didn’t write for so long places are beginning to run together. Now I really have to stop and think of where we have been since we left Guatemala and arrived in Mexico.
April 9, 2007
Wow, I guess I had better write a bit more before I close this diary out.
After we left the hotel in Chiapas, where we took down the dead wire, we went to anther “camp ground” in Oaxaca. It is listed in the books as a campground but it is really just an open level space where you can park. Getting there was not a lot of fun but once we were parked we really appreciated the place. There were no hookups but we were used to that. It was far enough off the mail highways to be very quiet. We also got to take an Ox Cart ride which was great. It kind of makes you realize what the pioneers did when they crossed the plains moving west. It also gives one a better appreciation of the experience of the people we see going down the road on an ox cart. We only went a few hundred yards and got tired of the jolting. We had a great dinner and later the show was great. They showed all the different dresses that women wear for their wedding day and for other festive occasions. I think there were about ten or twelve. They also modeled the one set of clothing that a man wears. The finale was the “wedding.” Gene and Marilyn, the only unmarried couple in the group, had a Oaxacan wedding ceremony. Overall it was a delightful evening and I would head back there any time.
The next day we went east over the mountains. It was a delightful trip and we enjoyed the scenery. We spent two days at Catemaco and went on a boat on La Ola. We visited a primitive resort where we had a chance to consult a shaman. Annie and a few other ladies got a facial. On the way back we boated around a small island where they are doing monkey experiments. They brought some (I think) Madagascar monkeys to see how well they would do there. In three days the monkeys were diving for snails. I guess in some ways they are doing quite well as they all seemed to be very overweight. But that may be from all the tourists feeding them. We wandered around town for a while when we returned and then we all went back to the lake for a dinner.
Our next stop was on the east coast at “Costa Esmeralda.” The campground was on the beach. Because of where we were told to park, I had to make a very sharp turn and was soon bogged down in the sand. At least we were not the only one. There was a motor home that had come in a few days earlier and it was up to its axels in the sand. When Carl arrived he was able to pull us out and park us. There was a party that evening for the CG owners’ daughter which most of us attended. The next day Annie went on a tour of a vanilla plantation/factory and learned quite a bit about how the plants are grown and processed. I stayed back and did some work on the trailer and truck.
The time is getting shorter now for the next day we were in Tampico where we stayed on our second night in Mexico. It was behind a hotel and had a nice pool and restaurant.
Our final night was again in CD Victoria which was the first placed we stayed on this trip. We had a great farewell dinner and most of us stood and said something about how much we enjoyed the trip and the people.
Crossing the border back into the U.S.A. was not as bad as many of the other crossings. We had to clear Mexico which the Wagon Masters helped us with and then it was on to the border. They did a rudimentary search of the trailer but it wasn’t a big deal as we really didn’t have much to declare. Soon we were back at Texas Trails in Pharr. We had about 30 lbs of mail to go through.
The next day we were on our way home. We stopped at the same 1000 trails CG near San Antonio we stopped at on the way down. Our neighbor their let us use his internet connection so we were able to get online and check e-mail’s. He also told us of a nice CG that was on our way, Balmorhea State Park. It was beautiful, a real oasis in the west Texas desert. While there we met a couple from WA and had a very pleasant evening talking with them.
I called the Fleetwood factory to see if I could get the 5th wheel in to get it repaired. I was told to find a dealer. When I explained that two dealers told me contact the factory because they couldn't fix the problem I was told to find another dealer. I told him I would but it wouldn't be a Fleetwood dealer. The next morning we were on our way again. Our plan was to stop in Anthony, TX at the Camping World and pick up some parts for the screen door and a few other odds and ends.
We got what we needed and decided to take a look at the trailers they had for sale. We found one we both really liked but it was about 100k so we passed on it. They also had a very nice lunch but you had to have a ticket and to get a ticket you had to talk to a salesman. So we did and we did. We left the next day in a 36 foot Holiday Rambler Neptune Motor Home. Our payments have essentially doubled and we still have to buy a car. While there we also had a great meeting with Jim MaGee, Annie’s former brother in law.
The trip west was uneventful. Both Annie and John had to learn to drive the “bus.” We stopped in Phoenix and had a great visit with Fred and then headed toward Bakersfield which we passed through to spend the night at a rest stop in Button Willow.
Our next stop was in Newman to visit Sonja, Annie’s sister. While there we also went to Aptos to see Aaron, Chandra and the grandkids. Then it was on to Roseville where we spent the nigh parked in front of Cat and Scott’s house and also had a great visit with kids and grand kids.
About 0700 the next morning we were on the road again heading north. We stopped at an SKP park in Sutherlin, OR. It was really a nice place and Annie would like to try and buy into it.
We finally pulled up to our house home on 7 April, tired but with memories that will last a lifetime. On the 9th we were off looking for a toad which we found. So now we have a 05 motorhome and a 00 Saturn. It will still cost up over a K to get the car ready to tow. Oh well….
This ends the journal of our Central America trip.