Tomorrow is March 1st, which means we have been living in our Jungle Mansion for one month, which also means we have now been in Costa Rica for as long as we were on the road. During this time, we have meet a lot of interesting characters and had a handful of different experiences. One of the best is the notorious Panama Run.
Groceries, among other items are very expensive here, with this being the proverbial end of the road. As such, beer, wine and liquor is also quite expensive. When we asked where one could find cheaper products, thinking maybe we would have to go to Limon, the nearest big city, or all the way to San Jose, to find better deals or bulk items, we were told that for alcohol, we would need to go to Panama. As we are only about 30 minutes to the border crossing at Sixaola, this didn't seem like that crazy of an adventure. We decided to ask our neighbors, Rick and Kathleen, if they could tell us directions for the Panama Run. We had been introduced to our neighbors on the road back from our houses the day we decided to rent this house. We had seen them out a few more times, but had yet to hold a real conversation with them. When we saw them at Trivia Night on Thursday at Tasty Waves, an event that has become our marker for the passage of time, I decided to strike up a conversation and get to know the two of them. They have been living in Costa Rica for about a year and half but have been traveling down in this country for a number of years. They rent two properties on the same "farm" where we live, and essentially, we are the only people living back here. From South Carolina, in their 60's, their personalities shine. They are friendly, funny, at times brutally honest and vulgar, and lots of fun to spend the evening with.
At Trivia Night, I asked Rick if he could explain the roads to Panama, or maybe even draw us a map. Roads down here are not labeled, and with nothing but jungle all around, it can be a little confusing finding your way places. He said he could explain the way, or even draw a map, but what would be better, would be if he came with us for our first run, so we would know how to do it in the future. Agreeing that this sounded like a good plan, we made a date for the following Saturday. We headed over to their house around noon on Saturday and our day began. After stopping at Tasty Waves and The Point to grab beers, since if we were going to have a day out, why not make it a good day, we continued on our journey.
Heading out of town, we turned off on the road toward Sixaola, but we didn't stay on that road. We took another turn and yet another until we wound up on a dirt road, with a sea of banana plantations to either side. Green leaves went on forever in every direction. At the end of our dirt road, we reached a river bank. There was a small cart selling pipas (coconuts) and some food. A few cars were parked on the bank and a team of men ran a set of two boats. In order to cross into Panama without the bureaucracy of the border officials, this boat system has been set up to take people back and forth across the river, to where on the Panamanian side, you find duty free shops with booze, electronics, and clothing. The river is not particularly wide or deep, although it was deep enough for one young kid to be enjoying a swim in the hot afternoon sun, but the boats are necessary so that when you cross back, your goods don't get wet. We got into the boat with two other women and made our way across the river to a sand bank, where you get out of your first boat, and transfer to your second boat. On the shore of Panama, you climb the steps to the duty free liquor store, and as Rick said, you're like a kid in a candy shop.
Not only do they have a larger selection than you will find anywhere on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, but everything is cheap! Fifths of Jameson for $10, 24-packs of Milwaukee's Best for $9 (yeah, I know it's Milwaukee's Best, but hey, it's $9) Patron for $20, decent bottles of wine for anywhere from $3 to $12, Baileys, Kahlua, Flor de Cana Rum, Johhnie Walker Black and Red, Vodka, Gin, anything you could think of! (Note: this store would not be so amazing in the States, but down here where your only options are 6-packs of Imperial or Pilsen for $10, this place is a wonderland.) We gave ourselves a $100 limit for the three of us to stock up so we wouldn't need to spend so much money on having a beer once in a while. Rick got a few things for himself and after about 20 minutes, we made our purchases and headed back to the boats.
Once back across the river, we tipped our boatmen, who share in the money they make, seemingly without issues. We loaded up the car with the help of the boatmen, and started our drive back. "Now, is where the real rush begins," Rick informed us. The dirt road leading back to the main road is where the cops will stop you. Some days they wait, concealed in the banana plantations, to pull you over and take what you have just purchased. Nothing more than that takes place, no ticket, no reporting you to Immigration, they simply help themselves to your bounty, which should be expected every once in a while when one is partaking in illegal rum running across international borders. We were lucky, no search and seizure this day.
We drove home, with one more stop at The Point to celebrate our success. It was just getting dark when we got back to the "farm" so we sat with Rick and Kathleen and enjoyed our spoils. We heard more of their stories from their early days together and learned more history of the place where we are living. In the end, not only had we succeeded in becoming Rum Runners, but we also bonded with our amazing neighbors. Friendship and booze, what's better than that?
* I had brought my camera in hopes to document the day, but considering what we were doing was illegal, I decided it best not to have evidence of said illegal activity.
Showing posts with label Jahsiah Ault. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jahsiah Ault. Show all posts
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Ancient Ruins, Bullfights, and Nicaraguan Hospitality
The time-space continuum is warping oddly. From our seemingly endless time in Mexico, we have now encountered a new phase of passing through 3 countries in less than one week. That being said, Guatemala was short and that was our plan all along. This idea was only strengthened by our respective sicknesses, which while they were unpleasant, were not the worst of what can happen in the "third world".
We knew that we wanted to cross the border from Guatemala into Honduras at El Florido, just 10 km outside of Copan Ruinas, the town that is the hub for touring the Mayan site of Copan. What we did not plan on, was the incredible bureaucracy of the Honduran border guards. All of our papers were in order and there were no complications, but when you bring a car into Honduras, you must go through the Aduana office (Customs) and the Aduana officer must file your car on their system, SARAH. This process, which includes going to the bank and paying the import fee, plus making 5-7 copies of about 15 different documents, can take quite awhile. Luckily, since our destination was only just across the border, and we had made sure to get off to an early start that day, we were able to still get through this lengthy process and make it to Copan Ruinas with daylight to spare. We asked around at a few places to find one that A) had parking, B) allowed dogs, and C) fit within our budget. After the first two rejections, which came with looks of "Are you crazy? Dogs don't sleep with people!" we lucked out. The Hotel Marbella, recently bought by a family that lives in La Entrada, a city about 70km from Copan Ruinas, became of refugee for the next two days. Not only did Don Carlos, the uncle of the owners and the care taker of the hotel, say the dogs were not a problem, and that we could park the Yukon in the little courtyard, but Deimy, the daughter of the owners, a cute little ten year girl, who stays at the hotel Monday through Friday to attend school in Copan Ruinas, spoke perfect English and told us we could even access the roof of the two story building to let the dogs run around. The view from up top was amazing. You could see why the valley of Copan had been inhabited by a variety of people for the past 4,000 years.
The next day, we geared up for our main tourist event of the trip, exploring the ruins. I had been to Tikal in Guatemala several years before. Jahsiah had visited a much smaller site in the Yucatan, and Timmy had never been to Mayan ruins. We were told that Copan was the most artistic of the Mayan sites and that the detailed sculptures and original paint and plaster on the buildings and walkways made this a unique site. Our guide, Daniel, at Las Sepulturas, a secondary site another kilometer down the road, said if Tikal is the New York of the Mayan sites, than Copan is the Paris. The carvings were amazing and as with all ancient ruins, the energy of the place was powerful. Picturing what life might have been like in 600-900AD, when Copan was thriving, was made possible by the great care with which the site is maintained. At Las Sepulturas, where we did decide to shell out for a guide (which maybe we should have done at the main Copan site for more information) we learned a lot about the basic structure of everyday life. Copan proper would have been where the royalty lived and where everyone from the surrounding city would have gathered for festivities and celebrations. Las Sepulturas was for the middle class, the doctors, scribes, astronomers, and fisherman, while the poorest of the city would have lived in the surrounding hillside. It is thought that Copan had around 20,000 inhabitants at one point. The main site and Las Sepulturas are no longer being excavated but archeologists are still working in the surrounding hillside to learn more about day to day life. Daniel showed us on the houses at Las Sepulturas where hinges for doors would have fit. The Maya slept up on beds with doors so that crocodiles, snakes, pumas, and monkeys couldn't get to them in the night. The river would have run right past their houses, now it is anywhere from several feet to a few kilometers from where the city was as the course has changed over time. When I asked if there were still crocodiles in the area, he explained that the fisherman had killed them over the years to make it safer and easier to fish. One of the many symptoms of civilization.
After about an hour and half of translating what Daniel said from Spanish to English so that Timmy and Jahsiah could understand, my mind was tired, and my body was tired from the day of exploring. We hopped a tuk-tuk back to town. For those of you who are not familiar with a tuk-tuk, it is a three-wheeled taxi that looks like something out of a Disneyland ride. They are incredible cute and fun to ride in. It was a nice change of pace for all of us to get shauverd around for the afternoon. We had dinner at a little spot on the way into town owned by Jessica, a Dutch woman, and her husband Esteban, from Belieze. We ended up spending the evening playing darts and talking with Jessica, her mother, who was in town visitng from Holland, and Jesse, an expate from West Virginia, who now has a jade and jewelry business, Mayan Mountain, that he started 3 years ago. It was a welcome change to spend the evening speaking English with folks other than eachother.
Our next stop in Honduras did not prove as welcoming. We headed southeast, making our way towards the 3 Nicaraguan border crossings, which are all in the southern part of the country. I suppose most people hit the beaches along the Caribbean coast of Honduras, but since those roads didn't connect with where we needed to be, we went a less traveled path to the city of Comayagua. Not much of anything to see in this city, we learned that the US has a very large air base just outside of the city. We also learned about the relationship that the US and Honduras have had in the past and to some extent, still have today. The Contras, backed by the US, used the base at Comayagua to invade and attack Nicaragua during the revolution. Honduras was also the launching point for both the US backed Guatemalan coup in 1954 and the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961. The US has always seen Honduras as it's biggest alley and most strategic location in Central America. Another odd fact though, is that the US deports it's gang related felons to Honduras. Between 2000 and 2004, some 20,000 felons were deported to Central America, mainly Honduras, even if they weren't from there. This in turn, has fueled the ever mounting gang violence which was all too presently felt by us during our brief tour of the southern regions of Honduras. I'm sure most people that stick to the beaches and the bay islands never see much of this, but it encouraged us to keep moving and get to Nicaragua as quickly as possible, and we're from Oakland, mind you.
After a brief stint in Honduras, we were to the Nicarguan border, and boy, if we thought it was buracratic getting into Honduras, getting out was even harder! The same deal of photocopy this, then go here, then photocopy that, then go there. And at these border crossings, all of this is happening in Spanish, with me as the main translator. If I thought I was good at speaking and understanding Spanish before, I certainly am now. All in all, between getting out of Honduras and into Nicaragua, which was equally as buracratic but hundreds of times friendly, this border crossing took about 3 to 4 hours. Once we were finally through, we made our way to Somoto, a smallish city just 20 km from the border. This region was the hardest hit during the revolution due to it's close location to that same base in Comayagua, but you would never know that based on the friendliness of the folks in town. Somoto is also known for being the birthplace of the Rio Coco, the longest river in Central America, and one of the draws of staying there is to go explore the canyon and the river. You can hire a guide and go on a 7 hour tour, a 3 hour tour, or if you have a car, you can drive up to the where the tours end and explore the river on your own. We opted for this option. We paid the entrance fee and headed down to find the river.
We started our walk, crossing the river and taking a path. We let LaDainian off leash. He took off running. He did a few laps and circled back behind us. He likes to check the perimeter. We walked for a few minutes before he took off, away from the river, he wasn't coming back when we called, and then we heard bellows. Cows, making noise, lots of noise, we were all yelling for LaDainain to come back, more cows, more noise. LaDainian had attacked a bull. He was hanging from it's neck when Jahsiah finally caught up with them. Jahsiah pulled him off, but now the cows were pissed. They started advancing and headbutting Jahsiah. He was pulling LaDainian away while the cows were pushing them out of their territory. I had no choice but to stay back as I still had Isabelle on the leash with me and the last thing the situation needed was another dog next to those cows. Finally, Jahsiah and LaDainian got far enough away that the cows retreated to their grazing space. After getting the dogs back to the car, I went to speak with the owner of the cows and the bull that had been attacked. The owner wasn't mad and once I explained that LaDainain didn't have rabies and had had his shots, he was more relaxed. I told him I wanted to give him money to help cover the medial costs. I asked to see the cow, at the time I didn't know it was a bull, and he took me around to where the cows were hiding. The bull had puncture wounds on his neck and up and down his two front legs, but overall he was fine. I went back to the car, got some money, and returned to give it to the owner. He seemed reluctant to take it, saying that the cow was fine, but for my own piece of mind, I insisted. We decided to stay a little longer and enjoy the river, with dogs safely stashed in the car. The canyon was beautiful and after all the commotion, it was refreshing to swim in the river. When some cows headed down towards the river by where we were swimming, Jahsiah suggested we take off, still a little troubled from his cow episode. He had the right idea though, as we still had to drive to Leon and it was already the afternoon.
We hit the road, drove for a few hours and wound up in Leon, just before dark, searching for a hotel. On our way across town to check our second choice, our first denying the dogs, a gentleman on the street flagged us down. His name is Mario, he is Nicaraguan and he lives in Napa, but recently opened the Hotel Leon del Sol, a very nice conversion of an old mansion. Mario is a welcoming man whose precense fills up the room. He told us over and over that we were home and to relax. There is a kitchen that guests are welcome to use, breakfast is included, with real coffee, a hot commodity throughout Central America. If you want to do laundry, you can, and anything you might need in the area, Mario can help you out with. He offered to give us his phone number so that if we needed anything in the rest of the country, we could call him for help. And his services came in handy when we realized today that LaDainain had seriously injured his foot. Mario got a vet over here for a house call, and we learned that luckily LaDainian's foot was not broken, just badly bruised and swollen, remarkable when you think of hanging from a bull's head while it's running and it steps on your foot. We have to give him a shot a day for the next 4 days and he is to be on bed rest for 8 days.
After a day of recharging and making good use of Mario's knowledge, we are feeling ready for the last leg of our journey. Tomorrow, we will head down to Lake Nicaragua to check out the largest lake in Central America and the 5th largest in the Americas. After that, we might have one more stop before crossing into Costa Rica. Then, it's only a matter of getting over to the Caribbean coast. Manzanillo here we come!
The next day, we geared up for our main tourist event of the trip, exploring the ruins. I had been to Tikal in Guatemala several years before. Jahsiah had visited a much smaller site in the Yucatan, and Timmy had never been to Mayan ruins. We were told that Copan was the most artistic of the Mayan sites and that the detailed sculptures and original paint and plaster on the buildings and walkways made this a unique site. Our guide, Daniel, at Las Sepulturas, a secondary site another kilometer down the road, said if Tikal is the New York of the Mayan sites, than Copan is the Paris. The carvings were amazing and as with all ancient ruins, the energy of the place was powerful. Picturing what life might have been like in 600-900AD, when Copan was thriving, was made possible by the great care with which the site is maintained. At Las Sepulturas, where we did decide to shell out for a guide (which maybe we should have done at the main Copan site for more information) we learned a lot about the basic structure of everyday life. Copan proper would have been where the royalty lived and where everyone from the surrounding city would have gathered for festivities and celebrations. Las Sepulturas was for the middle class, the doctors, scribes, astronomers, and fisherman, while the poorest of the city would have lived in the surrounding hillside. It is thought that Copan had around 20,000 inhabitants at one point. The main site and Las Sepulturas are no longer being excavated but archeologists are still working in the surrounding hillside to learn more about day to day life. Daniel showed us on the houses at Las Sepulturas where hinges for doors would have fit. The Maya slept up on beds with doors so that crocodiles, snakes, pumas, and monkeys couldn't get to them in the night. The river would have run right past their houses, now it is anywhere from several feet to a few kilometers from where the city was as the course has changed over time. When I asked if there were still crocodiles in the area, he explained that the fisherman had killed them over the years to make it safer and easier to fish. One of the many symptoms of civilization.
After about an hour and half of translating what Daniel said from Spanish to English so that Timmy and Jahsiah could understand, my mind was tired, and my body was tired from the day of exploring. We hopped a tuk-tuk back to town. For those of you who are not familiar with a tuk-tuk, it is a three-wheeled taxi that looks like something out of a Disneyland ride. They are incredible cute and fun to ride in. It was a nice change of pace for all of us to get shauverd around for the afternoon. We had dinner at a little spot on the way into town owned by Jessica, a Dutch woman, and her husband Esteban, from Belieze. We ended up spending the evening playing darts and talking with Jessica, her mother, who was in town visitng from Holland, and Jesse, an expate from West Virginia, who now has a jade and jewelry business, Mayan Mountain, that he started 3 years ago. It was a welcome change to spend the evening speaking English with folks other than eachother.
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| Jahsiah and Timmy taking a break at Copan |
Our next stop in Honduras did not prove as welcoming. We headed southeast, making our way towards the 3 Nicaraguan border crossings, which are all in the southern part of the country. I suppose most people hit the beaches along the Caribbean coast of Honduras, but since those roads didn't connect with where we needed to be, we went a less traveled path to the city of Comayagua. Not much of anything to see in this city, we learned that the US has a very large air base just outside of the city. We also learned about the relationship that the US and Honduras have had in the past and to some extent, still have today. The Contras, backed by the US, used the base at Comayagua to invade and attack Nicaragua during the revolution. Honduras was also the launching point for both the US backed Guatemalan coup in 1954 and the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961. The US has always seen Honduras as it's biggest alley and most strategic location in Central America. Another odd fact though, is that the US deports it's gang related felons to Honduras. Between 2000 and 2004, some 20,000 felons were deported to Central America, mainly Honduras, even if they weren't from there. This in turn, has fueled the ever mounting gang violence which was all too presently felt by us during our brief tour of the southern regions of Honduras. I'm sure most people that stick to the beaches and the bay islands never see much of this, but it encouraged us to keep moving and get to Nicaragua as quickly as possible, and we're from Oakland, mind you.
After a brief stint in Honduras, we were to the Nicarguan border, and boy, if we thought it was buracratic getting into Honduras, getting out was even harder! The same deal of photocopy this, then go here, then photocopy that, then go there. And at these border crossings, all of this is happening in Spanish, with me as the main translator. If I thought I was good at speaking and understanding Spanish before, I certainly am now. All in all, between getting out of Honduras and into Nicaragua, which was equally as buracratic but hundreds of times friendly, this border crossing took about 3 to 4 hours. Once we were finally through, we made our way to Somoto, a smallish city just 20 km from the border. This region was the hardest hit during the revolution due to it's close location to that same base in Comayagua, but you would never know that based on the friendliness of the folks in town. Somoto is also known for being the birthplace of the Rio Coco, the longest river in Central America, and one of the draws of staying there is to go explore the canyon and the river. You can hire a guide and go on a 7 hour tour, a 3 hour tour, or if you have a car, you can drive up to the where the tours end and explore the river on your own. We opted for this option. We paid the entrance fee and headed down to find the river.
We started our walk, crossing the river and taking a path. We let LaDainian off leash. He took off running. He did a few laps and circled back behind us. He likes to check the perimeter. We walked for a few minutes before he took off, away from the river, he wasn't coming back when we called, and then we heard bellows. Cows, making noise, lots of noise, we were all yelling for LaDainain to come back, more cows, more noise. LaDainian had attacked a bull. He was hanging from it's neck when Jahsiah finally caught up with them. Jahsiah pulled him off, but now the cows were pissed. They started advancing and headbutting Jahsiah. He was pulling LaDainian away while the cows were pushing them out of their territory. I had no choice but to stay back as I still had Isabelle on the leash with me and the last thing the situation needed was another dog next to those cows. Finally, Jahsiah and LaDainian got far enough away that the cows retreated to their grazing space. After getting the dogs back to the car, I went to speak with the owner of the cows and the bull that had been attacked. The owner wasn't mad and once I explained that LaDainain didn't have rabies and had had his shots, he was more relaxed. I told him I wanted to give him money to help cover the medial costs. I asked to see the cow, at the time I didn't know it was a bull, and he took me around to where the cows were hiding. The bull had puncture wounds on his neck and up and down his two front legs, but overall he was fine. I went back to the car, got some money, and returned to give it to the owner. He seemed reluctant to take it, saying that the cow was fine, but for my own piece of mind, I insisted. We decided to stay a little longer and enjoy the river, with dogs safely stashed in the car. The canyon was beautiful and after all the commotion, it was refreshing to swim in the river. When some cows headed down towards the river by where we were swimming, Jahsiah suggested we take off, still a little troubled from his cow episode. He had the right idea though, as we still had to drive to Leon and it was already the afternoon.
We hit the road, drove for a few hours and wound up in Leon, just before dark, searching for a hotel. On our way across town to check our second choice, our first denying the dogs, a gentleman on the street flagged us down. His name is Mario, he is Nicaraguan and he lives in Napa, but recently opened the Hotel Leon del Sol, a very nice conversion of an old mansion. Mario is a welcoming man whose precense fills up the room. He told us over and over that we were home and to relax. There is a kitchen that guests are welcome to use, breakfast is included, with real coffee, a hot commodity throughout Central America. If you want to do laundry, you can, and anything you might need in the area, Mario can help you out with. He offered to give us his phone number so that if we needed anything in the rest of the country, we could call him for help. And his services came in handy when we realized today that LaDainain had seriously injured his foot. Mario got a vet over here for a house call, and we learned that luckily LaDainian's foot was not broken, just badly bruised and swollen, remarkable when you think of hanging from a bull's head while it's running and it steps on your foot. We have to give him a shot a day for the next 4 days and he is to be on bed rest for 8 days.
After a day of recharging and making good use of Mario's knowledge, we are feeling ready for the last leg of our journey. Tomorrow, we will head down to Lake Nicaragua to check out the largest lake in Central America and the 5th largest in the Americas. After that, we might have one more stop before crossing into Costa Rica. Then, it's only a matter of getting over to the Caribbean coast. Manzanillo here we come!
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| Leon Street Corner at Sunset. |
Thursday, January 10, 2013
From the windiest place in the world to Ballermala
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| Wind Power at La Ventosa |
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| Real Madre, San Cristobal de las Casas at night |
After our last Mexican stop, we were ready for our next country, Guatemala. Driving south from San Cristobal, we came out of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas and entered into a low, hot valley, where Ciudad Cuauhtemoc on the Mexican side, meets La Mesilla on the Guatemalan side. This border crossing had been recommended by a few other travelers and from what I had researched, was to be a simple, no hassle crossing. It was. We still had to go through the protocol of getting the car fumigated, dogs paper's checked, our passports stamped and processed, with stops on both the Mexican side for exiting and the Guatemalan side for entering. It took about two hours all said and done, but was easy and everything went smoothly. We drove on for a few hours, not sure if we were going to make it all the way to Panajachel, in the Lago de Atitlan region, or need to stop before in either Huehuetenango or Queztaltenango. We ended up only getting as far as Huehuetenango, up in the Cuchumantes Mountain range.We had been shocked by the height of the mountains of Chiapas, but the Cuchumantes made those look like foothills. Jutting up out of nowhere, we left the hot, muggy valley of La Mesilla and began climbing, higher and higher towards the clouds. Some of the most dramatic landscapes any of us had every seen, we spent the next few hours in awe of where we were.
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| Scenes from our drive through the Cuchumantes Mountains |
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| No Man's Land, truly untouched earth. |
Our first night in Guatemala, in Huehue was pleasant and we were all feeling elated at how easy a time we were having in dangerous, scary, difficult Guatemala. Our hotel was a 125 year building that had the feel of nobility and we went to dinner at a nice restaurant, sitting upstairs, overlooking the plaza and the church lit up at night. The roads into Huehue had been nice and the tempurature was perfect. But, we were soon to learn our lesson, just when you think everything is fine.....
Day two, we awoke and stomachs were not feeling so hot. We had discussed plans in Huehue and decided to change our itinerary. Instead of heading south to Antigua, another colonial city that was sure to be clarwing with hippies just come from the Rainbow gathering in Southern Mexico, of whom we had been surrounded by in San Cristobal, we decided to head due east to Coban, not Copan, famous for it's ruins, but to the the less traveled region of the country, famous for it's caves and natural pools. With Jahsiah feeling a little shaky, we set out, with confirmed directions from our hotel staff and began our drive of only about 270km. Little did we know, the strecth of highway we were driving on was more or less unpaved and our 270km took us over 6 hours to cross. Some of the worst roads in the world, taking us into even higher mountains that than day before. At one point, we came to a mountain side, thousands of feet up, that had been completely destroyed by a rock slide. One young boy, maybe 12 years old, shoveled pebbles out of the road, attemping to smooth the path. He asked for water in the scorched environement and luckily we had some to give him. Further up the road, 4 grown men had a road block in place, which they would remove for 25Q, about $3.00, a toll for the removal of boulders and the "improvement" to the highway. We literally thought we had reached the end of the world and while I tried to remain opptimistic about our course, I began to worry that we were too deep in uncharted territory. Meanwhile, Timmy had become sick, and Jahsiah was worse than when he had woken up. Despite being high in the mountains, the temperature began to climb and all of us were beginning to crack. Just when we thought things were going so smoothly.
We decided to call it quits before ever reaching Coban and the famed caves of Semuc Champey, instead opting for a cheap, roadside hotel in San Cristobal, not to be confused with the famous Mexican city. This San Cristobal had no other travelers, no Rainbow gatherers, no Zapatista activists. We were the only non-Guatemalans in this town. We pulled in and within minutes Jahsiah and Timmy retired to their respective bathrooms as I went in search of water, saltine crackers, and medicine for the weary travelers. Holding it together long enough to get supplies, I made it back to the room just in time to have my turn with the porcelain princess. We rested and tried to sleep as best we could. Luckily, the price at the hotel was per person so we were able to get two rooms for the same price as all three of us in one, so at least we had a better toilet to sick person ratio. After a rough night and some local medicine, we awoke in a little better shape the next morning, but we had learned an important lesson, don't let your guard down in Guatemala. The roads can be merciless and so can the cuisine. But the people are incredibly friendly and helpful.
Due to our weakened states and fear of the less traveled highway, we decided to forgo our Semuc Champey plans and headed south for Rio Hondo, a little junction on the way out to Copan, the Maya Ruins just across the Honduran border. A short drive, on an a decently paved road, a nice room with air conditioning, and hotel grounds with three pools, water slides, and a high drive, it's no Semuc Champey, but tonight it is, to us, the most beautiful spot in Guatemala. From Bubble-Gut-emala to Ballermala, our world-wind tour is packed with everything. Let's see what tomorrow holds.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Cerveza, Shots & Sparklers
Some footage from Puerto Vallarta, La Ticla, & Playa la Ventura... Good Times
Heat Rash, Mechanics, WiFi
I am sitting on a bed, in Puerto Escondido, in the Best Night Hotel Aldea Bacocho, outside of the more touristy part of town. our objective of this stop is two fold, get our car looked at by a mechanic and do laundry.
As we drove into town yesterday afternoon, on what was the hottest day we have had so far, the temp gauge in the rear view mirror reading 93 degrees, we passed by an AutoZone and kept our eyes open for mechanics. We drove along the 200, our highway away from home, headed toward Playa Zicatela on the southern side of the bay, to where we hoped to find cheap accommodations. Zicatela, also known as the Mexican Pipeline, attracts lots of surfers from all over the world, bringing with them an international feel and an oppressive expat scene. This in turn, created higher prices than our modest budget allowed for. After a few failed attempts of locating lodging for the night, we decided to grab some lunch and regroup. By this time, I had unbearable pain from what looked like a burn on my left ribs. I couldn't remember being burned by anything and have avoided being sunburned thus far, so I was confused to say the least. The blisters that were appearing also had me concerned that something might be very wrong. With this predicament of blisters, high prices on rooms, and way too much heat for any of us five travelers, we headed back out of town, away from the other sun soaked gringos, towards the AutoZone back on the way to the airport. We found a hotel for Mexicans, not surfers, just up the street from a mechanic who said he would diagnose our problem for just 100 pesos, less than $10. To our surprise, the room we found had air conditioning, which I've never felt such a strong sense of love for, and great wifi, the likes of which we have not experienced since our glory days of Puerto Vallarta.
This is about our half way point of the trip, or at least that is what we are figuring at this rate. Mexico has taken much longer to drive across than we had anticipated and this pace was even with us keeping good time to ensure we met up with my family and friends in Zihuatanejo. We have traveled 1,350 kilometers since we left Puerto Vallarta the day after Christmas. Hugging the 200, we have taken the scenic route through this country, but this was our intention, to see the deserted beaches up and down the coast, the nearly desolate coast of Michoacan, the Costalgre of Jalisco, the Costa Chica of Guerrero, to find the hidden surf spots not yet blown up like Escondido. As we left Puerto Vallarta, we headed for the small town of Cuyutlan, a supposed black sand beach with good surfing. What we found was a town long forgotten by the rest of the world. It had reached its heyday of tourism back in the 40's and the crumbling buildings and empty streets evoked feelings of an abandoned carnival. We rented our most basic accommodation thus far on the trip, and while the room offered less than others we have stayed in, it still wasn't the cheapest. As we drive from state to state, the prices of goods and accommodations fluctuate greatly, displaying the obvious wealth gaps based on whatever industry each state is known for. Cuyutlan, Colima does not have much to offer, but while the town itself was falling apart, there were a handful of hotels, some of them rather nice looking, for incredibly high prices. I guess on the weekends, families from the nearby port city of Manzanillo flock to Cuyutlan to swim in less polluted waters. We had larger aspirations and as such, after one short and less than comfortable night, we moved on.
Our next stop, which also held dreams of waves and secluded beach paradise, was Playa La Ticla, one of the many little beach towns along the 250 km coast of Michoacan. Ticla turned out to be more than we bargained for. Our spacious room on the corner of the building owned by Dona Maria Pasquales, didn't have any screens or mosquito netting, but the off shore breeze from the beach, just down the road, and the luxoury of two windows and a back door, created a nice constant circulation of air that kept the mosquitos at bay. Our neighbor, David, a Canadian who has been traveling throughout Mexico for over 15 years now, proved to be an important source of information, guiding us on how to bypass Acapulco, recommending our next stop along the way, Playa La Saldadita, which made it so we could stay next to Zihuatanejo without staying in it, and alerting us to the fact that when we drive across the Tehuantepec Isthmus of Mexico we will be crossing one of the windiest places in the world and that we should check the weather conditions before we embark on that leg of the journey. We ate dinner at Cabanas de Vicky, a nice open air spot with a thatched roof and great food. Vicky, the owner and the cook, is very hospitable and makes a point to come out and sit with her tables once the rush has died down. We sat and chatted with her the first night, and on the second night, we felt right at home, helping ourselves to drinks from the refrigorator and playing cards to pass the time until our meal was served.
The welcoming vibe of Ticla was much needed and spoiled us for other less friendly locations. But moments like that are the ones that remind you why you wanted to travel in the first place. Hearing stories from David (more to come on those later) and finding little towns that are as yet, still mostly unknown, these are the hidden gems that make living out of car, getting heat rashes and burn blisters, eating cup of noddles for days on end, all worth while. Lying on the beach of Ticla, watching thousands of hermit crabs dance a beatiful ballet while Timmy surfed a point all to himself, those moments are what this trip is about.
I'll need to write more to bring you up to speed fully, as we have made a few stops since Ticla that included new cocktails, a Spanish rapper performing for free and making a music video, and vocabulary lessons based on car parts. But for now, I'll pause to enjoy the air conditioning for one more night before we continue on towards Costa Rica. In about 4 days, we should be Guatemala, and so will begin the next phase of our journey.
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| Sunset at Cuyutlan |
This is about our half way point of the trip, or at least that is what we are figuring at this rate. Mexico has taken much longer to drive across than we had anticipated and this pace was even with us keeping good time to ensure we met up with my family and friends in Zihuatanejo. We have traveled 1,350 kilometers since we left Puerto Vallarta the day after Christmas. Hugging the 200, we have taken the scenic route through this country, but this was our intention, to see the deserted beaches up and down the coast, the nearly desolate coast of Michoacan, the Costalgre of Jalisco, the Costa Chica of Guerrero, to find the hidden surf spots not yet blown up like Escondido. As we left Puerto Vallarta, we headed for the small town of Cuyutlan, a supposed black sand beach with good surfing. What we found was a town long forgotten by the rest of the world. It had reached its heyday of tourism back in the 40's and the crumbling buildings and empty streets evoked feelings of an abandoned carnival. We rented our most basic accommodation thus far on the trip, and while the room offered less than others we have stayed in, it still wasn't the cheapest. As we drive from state to state, the prices of goods and accommodations fluctuate greatly, displaying the obvious wealth gaps based on whatever industry each state is known for. Cuyutlan, Colima does not have much to offer, but while the town itself was falling apart, there were a handful of hotels, some of them rather nice looking, for incredibly high prices. I guess on the weekends, families from the nearby port city of Manzanillo flock to Cuyutlan to swim in less polluted waters. We had larger aspirations and as such, after one short and less than comfortable night, we moved on.
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| Full moon over Cuyutlan |
Our next stop, which also held dreams of waves and secluded beach paradise, was Playa La Ticla, one of the many little beach towns along the 250 km coast of Michoacan. Ticla turned out to be more than we bargained for. Our spacious room on the corner of the building owned by Dona Maria Pasquales, didn't have any screens or mosquito netting, but the off shore breeze from the beach, just down the road, and the luxoury of two windows and a back door, created a nice constant circulation of air that kept the mosquitos at bay. Our neighbor, David, a Canadian who has been traveling throughout Mexico for over 15 years now, proved to be an important source of information, guiding us on how to bypass Acapulco, recommending our next stop along the way, Playa La Saldadita, which made it so we could stay next to Zihuatanejo without staying in it, and alerting us to the fact that when we drive across the Tehuantepec Isthmus of Mexico we will be crossing one of the windiest places in the world and that we should check the weather conditions before we embark on that leg of the journey. We ate dinner at Cabanas de Vicky, a nice open air spot with a thatched roof and great food. Vicky, the owner and the cook, is very hospitable and makes a point to come out and sit with her tables once the rush has died down. We sat and chatted with her the first night, and on the second night, we felt right at home, helping ourselves to drinks from the refrigorator and playing cards to pass the time until our meal was served.
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| Road to La Ticla |
The welcoming vibe of Ticla was much needed and spoiled us for other less friendly locations. But moments like that are the ones that remind you why you wanted to travel in the first place. Hearing stories from David (more to come on those later) and finding little towns that are as yet, still mostly unknown, these are the hidden gems that make living out of car, getting heat rashes and burn blisters, eating cup of noddles for days on end, all worth while. Lying on the beach of Ticla, watching thousands of hermit crabs dance a beatiful ballet while Timmy surfed a point all to himself, those moments are what this trip is about.
I'll need to write more to bring you up to speed fully, as we have made a few stops since Ticla that included new cocktails, a Spanish rapper performing for free and making a music video, and vocabulary lessons based on car parts. But for now, I'll pause to enjoy the air conditioning for one more night before we continue on towards Costa Rica. In about 4 days, we should be Guatemala, and so will begin the next phase of our journey.
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| Street Scene from Puerto Vallarta |
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Take It Easy
Lounging on one of two queen sized beds, eating a salad of mixed greens, vegetable medley, and shitake sesame dressing, allowing myself to settle in only long enough to write this update, this is me.....right.....now. We made it to the Extended Stay in Sierra Vista, Arizona, just north of Bisbee, where we had originally wanted to stay. Due to a cheaper price, we settled on Sierra Vista, got to cut those corners when you can. We arrived a little after 9pm, local time, which was 8pm in California, but since Arizona doesn't honor Day Light Savings, half the year Arizona is an hour ahead of California. The drive today took a little more than 8 hours, with two stops for peeing and streching. The first day we stopped a lot, and we only went from Oakland to Redlands. I think we got our rhythm down a bit more. Tomorrow will be the real test, as we are waking up at 6am with the goal of crossing the border by 8am. This is to ensure we arrive to our beach town destination by nightfall as we don't want to drive in the dark.
Our first night was spent in Redlands with our good friend Joe and his siblings, and it was wonderful. To arrive to a warm house, fireplace all aglow, with a homecooked meal waiting for us, was just unbeatable. What a way to start our journey, to reconnect with a friend, play games, and be treated so kindly, we couldn't have asked for anything more. Our second night finds in us a less welcoming environment, but we are all happy to have plenty of outlets to charge all our devices, large beds to sleep in, and the chance to do a little reorganizing and packing before we venture into the unknown of Mexico.
For those of you interested, we are crossing over at Douglas/Agua Prieta, in case you want to check current conditions at the border tomorrow morning. After that, we are cruising down to Guaymas, or at least that is what we're shooting for. Hopefully, we will find a nice place to stay there and we can maybe have a day or two to relax a bit after a few long car days. It would be nice to swim in the ocean a bit and let the dogs have a car free day. We'll see how the town suits our needs.
I'll leave you with the prominent song from the trip so far. What else would you expect from a road trip but: The Eagles.
Our first night was spent in Redlands with our good friend Joe and his siblings, and it was wonderful. To arrive to a warm house, fireplace all aglow, with a homecooked meal waiting for us, was just unbeatable. What a way to start our journey, to reconnect with a friend, play games, and be treated so kindly, we couldn't have asked for anything more. Our second night finds in us a less welcoming environment, but we are all happy to have plenty of outlets to charge all our devices, large beds to sleep in, and the chance to do a little reorganizing and packing before we venture into the unknown of Mexico.
For those of you interested, we are crossing over at Douglas/Agua Prieta, in case you want to check current conditions at the border tomorrow morning. After that, we are cruising down to Guaymas, or at least that is what we're shooting for. Hopefully, we will find a nice place to stay there and we can maybe have a day or two to relax a bit after a few long car days. It would be nice to swim in the ocean a bit and let the dogs have a car free day. We'll see how the town suits our needs.
I'll leave you with the prominent song from the trip so far. What else would you expect from a road trip but: The Eagles.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Sleep When You Die
The days are longer now, with nothing to do but wait. I am reminiscent of our last attempt of leaving the country via RV through Mexico and the waiting game that we played last time. I should be grateful that this wait should be done by Saturday morning, whereas last time, we waited for 5 weeks in New Mexico for a title to our RV that never came, only to find that when we crossed the border, we didn't need it anyways! Funny how screwy life is sometimes, or rather how silly you can feel when you make a plan. That being said, here is our plan for the next few days.
We will leave Saturday morning. Guess that's what happens. I wanted to leave this past Monday, December 10th and now it will be Saturday, December 15th. Ce la vie! Our first port of call will be the LA area for up to three visits. Hopefully we can link up with my sister and her husband who live in Irvine, Jahsiah's friend Nik, who is in Hollywood, and our friend Joe, out in Redlands. We're going to try to make it work to see them all, which shouldn't be too hard as we are hoping to leave at 9am at the latest on Saturday morning, which puts us in LA around 3pm that afternoon. Then after one last night in California, we will head East, to the Extended Stay America in Sierra Vista Arizona. Not the nicest digs, but the nicest that our modest budget will afford for a cohort of 3 people and 2 dogs. After our luxuorious night in Sierra Vista, we will drop South to the Border!!!!!!
Crossing the border at the Douglas/Aguas Prieta, our first Mexican destination will be the beach town of Guaymas, along the Gulf of California. New waters for all 5 travelers. The drive from Douglas to Guaymas is about 6 hours, according to Google maps, so we will be crossing the border at 8am, at the latest, to ensure we arrive before dusk to Guaymas. From there, we have two objectives. The first is to make a journey inland to Copper Canyon, a canyon system in the Sierra Madre that overall is larger and at parts, deeper than the Grand Canyon. Other than this little stint, we will mostly be hugging the coast, so this will be our chance to see some non-beach terrain. Our second objective is reach Zihuatanejo to meet up with my sister and company, who will be celebrating her 30th birthday. Time is getting short with this objective happening, but I remain hopeful. The reason I had wanted to leave on December 10th was to ensure plenty of travel time to join up with my family. The reality is that we have been delayed a full week. I'm not sure how it will play out, but I won't let myself get down, not now.
I have already warned Jahsiah and Timmy that I will be a bit of a tyrant on the first few days of our trip, making sure we stick to early morning departures and early evening arrivals. We have the short days of winter working against us in terms of driving time and I want to make sure that the lackadaisical beach time is complimented by the ardent departing of the United States. I will be the annoying one waking people up at 6am on Monday morning. But really, what's a little early wake up when you have an adventure to take? My thoughts are: You can sleep when you die.
So that's the new GP. GP stands for Game Plan, in case you didn't know. Keep your fingers crossed that we get our good car news tomorrow, Friday, morning. That will be the deciding factor. We need positive thoughts now, in a big way.
“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu
We will leave Saturday morning. Guess that's what happens. I wanted to leave this past Monday, December 10th and now it will be Saturday, December 15th. Ce la vie! Our first port of call will be the LA area for up to three visits. Hopefully we can link up with my sister and her husband who live in Irvine, Jahsiah's friend Nik, who is in Hollywood, and our friend Joe, out in Redlands. We're going to try to make it work to see them all, which shouldn't be too hard as we are hoping to leave at 9am at the latest on Saturday morning, which puts us in LA around 3pm that afternoon. Then after one last night in California, we will head East, to the Extended Stay America in Sierra Vista Arizona. Not the nicest digs, but the nicest that our modest budget will afford for a cohort of 3 people and 2 dogs. After our luxuorious night in Sierra Vista, we will drop South to the Border!!!!!!
 | |
| Copper Canyon, Mexico |
I have already warned Jahsiah and Timmy that I will be a bit of a tyrant on the first few days of our trip, making sure we stick to early morning departures and early evening arrivals. We have the short days of winter working against us in terms of driving time and I want to make sure that the lackadaisical beach time is complimented by the ardent departing of the United States. I will be the annoying one waking people up at 6am on Monday morning. But really, what's a little early wake up when you have an adventure to take? My thoughts are: You can sleep when you die.
So that's the new GP. GP stands for Game Plan, in case you didn't know. Keep your fingers crossed that we get our good car news tomorrow, Friday, morning. That will be the deciding factor. We need positive thoughts now, in a big way.
“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Slow Down Everyone, You're Moving too Fast
The past few days have brought some unsettling blows to our expected departure date of what was hoped to be this past Monday, December 10th, 2012. As it were, we are still in Oakland today, Wednesday, December 12th, and will most likely be here for another two days.
On Saturday night, we were at our good friend's house, having a little going away get together of sorts. Nothing crazy, just about a dozen friends, eating food and spending some time together before we go our separate ways for a while. Our friends live up in the hills of Oakland, not the super rich hills, but the hills nonetheless. I, Liz, decided to call it an early night, as Sunday was going to be a busy day, and I like to stay on point when getting ready for a trip. Around 1:00am, I declared it my bedtime, offered rides to anyone who needed or wanted one as I was the driver for the night, said goodbye to loved ones, expecting to be leaving in two days time, and walked out the front door. What did I discover? My car was gone. Stolen. And, it's not even really my car. You see, I had been car sitting for our friend while she is out of state. I've had the car since April, and never has a problem occurred, so you can see my aggravation that literally just as we are trying to leave the country, we now have this to deal with. What's more, is that since I am not the registered owner of the vehicle, it was a less than pleasant experience reporting the car stolen to Oakland Police Department. OPD can't report a car stolen by anyone other then registered owner, and the registered owner needs to be present to file the report. So at 4:30am, after waiting three and half hours for an officer to respond to the call, I was told there was nothing he could do, and that my best bet was to do what the dispatcher had told me at 1:00am, which was to have my friend get something in writing notarized, saying that I had her permission to drive the car. I had to take this notarized document to OPD on Sunday to file the report.
So, after a lot of tears, frustration, a lack of sleep, and a set back in travel preparations, not to mention a missed birthday party for a one year old, we found ourselves a little shaky Monday morning to get back on track to leave. There were still things to do! And a lot of them. So we began plugging along again, packing up every last thing, storing all the remaining important pieces of our lives, one more night with more friends and family, the dogs trip to the vet for Good Health Certificates, and then......more car trouble. Our Yukon had an engine light come on with the error code of cylinder 5 misfiring. Oh great.
What does it all mean? Is there a greater message in the events or are they random? When things go wrong, the first impulse is to find the underlying sign, the reason things are unfolding in this manner. But maybe there is no greater meaning, maybe it's all just chaos theory, like Jeff Goldblum so eloquently describes in Jurassic Park. We did our best to stay positive, to realize that if we couldn't handle some bumps in the road now, in the comfort of this place we've come to call home, how would we fair with difficulties on the road, of which there will be many. We forged ahead.
Silver lining: We took the car down to my good mechanic Stan, at 5th Street Garage, perhaps the most kind and honest mechanic the world has ever known. He hooked the car up to his little electric gadget that reads the computer chip in the car and surmised that the flaw is in the error code, not the cylinder itself. He reset it, told us to drive if for a day or two, bring it back and as long as the light hasn't come back on, we should be good to go. No charge for this service and mostly, peace of mind. So, we have two days to kill, even though we are ready to go and my thoughts are this, we've been moving too fast. OPD has an 80% recovery rate of stolen cars, so the good news is if we stay around for a few more days, I might get a phone call saying the car has been found, which is great for everyone involved. Also, some important mail has yet to arrive and while I can leave without it, I would rather be here for it. That being said, a few more days isn't the worst thing ever, just a reminder that things happen at their own speed, and you can't control the timing of everything. And if I can't learn that here and now, I'm doomed in Central America, where time has it's own agenda and won't care what I think or feel about it.
The theme song for today? Inaudible Melodies by Jack Johnson. This was a very important song for me in my early college years and I think it's fitting that it has been stuck in my head all morning, reminding me that this is not a race, this is life, and it's meant to be enjoyed, highs and lows, good times and bad. Relish in all of it, because as my good friend Benny so aptly put it once, "It's not always gonna be like this". The reason all of this is happening, is to make us slow down, take a breath, and leave here leisurely, completely ready, not rushed and panicked, hoping we remembered to do everything we wanted to. We have more time, and this is never really a bad thing, just a chance to make better use of the time you have been given.
On Saturday night, we were at our good friend's house, having a little going away get together of sorts. Nothing crazy, just about a dozen friends, eating food and spending some time together before we go our separate ways for a while. Our friends live up in the hills of Oakland, not the super rich hills, but the hills nonetheless. I, Liz, decided to call it an early night, as Sunday was going to be a busy day, and I like to stay on point when getting ready for a trip. Around 1:00am, I declared it my bedtime, offered rides to anyone who needed or wanted one as I was the driver for the night, said goodbye to loved ones, expecting to be leaving in two days time, and walked out the front door. What did I discover? My car was gone. Stolen. And, it's not even really my car. You see, I had been car sitting for our friend while she is out of state. I've had the car since April, and never has a problem occurred, so you can see my aggravation that literally just as we are trying to leave the country, we now have this to deal with. What's more, is that since I am not the registered owner of the vehicle, it was a less than pleasant experience reporting the car stolen to Oakland Police Department. OPD can't report a car stolen by anyone other then registered owner, and the registered owner needs to be present to file the report. So at 4:30am, after waiting three and half hours for an officer to respond to the call, I was told there was nothing he could do, and that my best bet was to do what the dispatcher had told me at 1:00am, which was to have my friend get something in writing notarized, saying that I had her permission to drive the car. I had to take this notarized document to OPD on Sunday to file the report.
So, after a lot of tears, frustration, a lack of sleep, and a set back in travel preparations, not to mention a missed birthday party for a one year old, we found ourselves a little shaky Monday morning to get back on track to leave. There were still things to do! And a lot of them. So we began plugging along again, packing up every last thing, storing all the remaining important pieces of our lives, one more night with more friends and family, the dogs trip to the vet for Good Health Certificates, and then......more car trouble. Our Yukon had an engine light come on with the error code of cylinder 5 misfiring. Oh great.
What does it all mean? Is there a greater message in the events or are they random? When things go wrong, the first impulse is to find the underlying sign, the reason things are unfolding in this manner. But maybe there is no greater meaning, maybe it's all just chaos theory, like Jeff Goldblum so eloquently describes in Jurassic Park. We did our best to stay positive, to realize that if we couldn't handle some bumps in the road now, in the comfort of this place we've come to call home, how would we fair with difficulties on the road, of which there will be many. We forged ahead.
Silver lining: We took the car down to my good mechanic Stan, at 5th Street Garage, perhaps the most kind and honest mechanic the world has ever known. He hooked the car up to his little electric gadget that reads the computer chip in the car and surmised that the flaw is in the error code, not the cylinder itself. He reset it, told us to drive if for a day or two, bring it back and as long as the light hasn't come back on, we should be good to go. No charge for this service and mostly, peace of mind. So, we have two days to kill, even though we are ready to go and my thoughts are this, we've been moving too fast. OPD has an 80% recovery rate of stolen cars, so the good news is if we stay around for a few more days, I might get a phone call saying the car has been found, which is great for everyone involved. Also, some important mail has yet to arrive and while I can leave without it, I would rather be here for it. That being said, a few more days isn't the worst thing ever, just a reminder that things happen at their own speed, and you can't control the timing of everything. And if I can't learn that here and now, I'm doomed in Central America, where time has it's own agenda and won't care what I think or feel about it.
The theme song for today? Inaudible Melodies by Jack Johnson. This was a very important song for me in my early college years and I think it's fitting that it has been stuck in my head all morning, reminding me that this is not a race, this is life, and it's meant to be enjoyed, highs and lows, good times and bad. Relish in all of it, because as my good friend Benny so aptly put it once, "It's not always gonna be like this". The reason all of this is happening, is to make us slow down, take a breath, and leave here leisurely, completely ready, not rushed and panicked, hoping we remembered to do everything we wanted to. We have more time, and this is never really a bad thing, just a chance to make better use of the time you have been given.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Baby Steps....One at a Time....
Well, Liz here, November 12th, filling you in on a few things. We launched our Kickstarter 12 days ago and we have made some great progress! In the first 5 days, we reached 20% of our goal, which was so exciting! Things have slowed down a bit, I think elections really drained everyone's energy and that was one thing with timing we were worried about. But, with that mid-month paycheck just around the corner, I'm confident we are going to get another nice bump and I have no doubt that our awesome network of people will help us reach our goal!
Other developments with getting ready to leave involve the purchasing of our phone. I am the world's biggest sell out, since if you know me, I've preached nothing but hate speech about smart phones, and iPhones, in particular. While I didn't get an iPhone, I did get a smart phone. Trust me, I'm having all kinds of self-loathing and guilt from this purchase. It is necessary though in one regard, we want to stay in touch with people and the cheapest and easiest way to do so throughout Central America was to get a phone through a non-contract provider, so that we won't have a monthly bill or roaming fees like with AT&T or Verison, but when there is Wifi access, we will be able to Skype with folks! So, I bit the bullet and bought a smart phone. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do in life, so that you can do things that you do want to do. Balance. Or whatever.
Also, we are pretty sure our two friends, Kat and Kelly, will be taking over mine and Jahsiah's apartment and inheriting most of our furniture and belongings. This news is very exciting as this way we don't have to worry about what to do with our stuff, we save time on donation runs and avoid the stress of completely moving out, and we know that this awesome spot we have inhabited for three years will stay in the family! We put a lot of energy into our vegetable garden, built a fence, turned the empty dirt plot that did exist into a nice hang out space with lots of food to eat and I would have hated to see it all fall into disarray. I'm happy to think that whatever the future holds, I can come back and visit this space to see it continue to transform. Too many wonderful cooking nights have taken place here, so the fact that I don't have to completely say goodbye warms my heart! Thank you Kat and Kelly!
Jahsiah and Timmy have been continuing to work construction with our friend Brandon, getting jobs done, making sure to tie up lose ends and leave things in a state of completion. I have been training my replacement at the Altarena Playhouse. Elaine is the new Box Office Manager and I couldn't be happier to have her taking over. All three of us are getting really excited about our approaching departure date. It looks like we are just about at the one month mark, December 10th is the date that pops up in my mind as when we will be ready!
We still have a lot of things to do to be ready to go. We also still have our wish list of items that are either needed, or desired, for the trip. Here is a combination list because my mind is too cluttered and stimulated from coffee to separate them out:
Stay tuned for more updates as we prepare, and remember to bookmark this page so you can read our posts from the road!
Other developments with getting ready to leave involve the purchasing of our phone. I am the world's biggest sell out, since if you know me, I've preached nothing but hate speech about smart phones, and iPhones, in particular. While I didn't get an iPhone, I did get a smart phone. Trust me, I'm having all kinds of self-loathing and guilt from this purchase. It is necessary though in one regard, we want to stay in touch with people and the cheapest and easiest way to do so throughout Central America was to get a phone through a non-contract provider, so that we won't have a monthly bill or roaming fees like with AT&T or Verison, but when there is Wifi access, we will be able to Skype with folks! So, I bit the bullet and bought a smart phone. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do in life, so that you can do things that you do want to do. Balance. Or whatever.
Also, we are pretty sure our two friends, Kat and Kelly, will be taking over mine and Jahsiah's apartment and inheriting most of our furniture and belongings. This news is very exciting as this way we don't have to worry about what to do with our stuff, we save time on donation runs and avoid the stress of completely moving out, and we know that this awesome spot we have inhabited for three years will stay in the family! We put a lot of energy into our vegetable garden, built a fence, turned the empty dirt plot that did exist into a nice hang out space with lots of food to eat and I would have hated to see it all fall into disarray. I'm happy to think that whatever the future holds, I can come back and visit this space to see it continue to transform. Too many wonderful cooking nights have taken place here, so the fact that I don't have to completely say goodbye warms my heart! Thank you Kat and Kelly!
Jahsiah and Timmy have been continuing to work construction with our friend Brandon, getting jobs done, making sure to tie up lose ends and leave things in a state of completion. I have been training my replacement at the Altarena Playhouse. Elaine is the new Box Office Manager and I couldn't be happier to have her taking over. All three of us are getting really excited about our approaching departure date. It looks like we are just about at the one month mark, December 10th is the date that pops up in my mind as when we will be ready!
We still have a lot of things to do to be ready to go. We also still have our wish list of items that are either needed, or desired, for the trip. Here is a combination list because my mind is too cluttered and stimulated from coffee to separate them out:
- Make curtains for the Yuka Frida (This is the name of our Yukon now). At points, one of us will be sleeping in the Yuka Frida, with the dogs. If you have ever slept in your car, you will know you sleep much better if you can hang curtains so that others are not so aware of the fact that you are sleeping in your car.
- Create screens for the windows of the Yuka Frida. For the purpose of the dogs being the car at night, or people, we need screens to allow cool air in but keep bugs out. I am having trouble invisioning how to attach these, crafty friends, any thoughts?
- Get new tires. Our tires are in good shape but for the conditions we are likely to encounter, we need something brand new and tough. This is a big wish list item.
- Get a Platypus Water Filter, or some other type of filtration system. I hate buying plastic water bottles all throughout Central America as recycle programs are not readily available. We had a Platypus before and it was amazing! I would love to have another, but they cost about $100, so come on Kickstarter!
- More SD cards. We have the cameras, although we are also looking into getting a GoPro, because they seem pretty bad ass. Either way, we want to have plenty of ways to record and document.
- Tie up lose ends. This is board, I realize, but it includes things like handling mail, informing banks of whereabouts, compiling an address book so that we can send mail along the way, all those little tasks of organizing life. This is my strong suit, but of course I won't do it till about three days prior to us leaving. I work well under pressure.
Stay tuned for more updates as we prepare, and remember to bookmark this page so you can read our posts from the road!
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