Day 72 – Friday, September 6, 2013

Today we woke up to my 6:30 AM iPhone alarm to prepare for our 7:30 AM departure. It wasn’t until we were ready to leave that we realized we were an hour early. We had changed time zones and I hadn’t reset my phone. Luckily, Julie can laugh at almost anything now! Julie notes “He is obviously confusing my pre breakdown delirium with laughter.”

We left our Granada, Nicaragua campsite and headed for our planned destination of Ojo de Agua, Honduras. Julie notes “Our guide had to make an unscheduled side trip to Managua to pick up ‘another part’ but we opted out of following him on this imaginary quest and instead people watched at our assigned gas station meeting point. We turned down the many offers of cheap sunglasses, eyeglass lanyards, 12 volt chargers and assorted wares. We wonder daily who the market is for some of the items but persistence pays and we’ve seen a few deals go down. I personally am the proud owner of a new pair of clip on shades. Oh ya!”

As per usual, there was a “show” to be had at the border area. This time we were told the large open area entering Honduras would be closed to all traffic to allow a drill team of young people to practice. I guess that was the only area large enough to allow them to practice. It didn’t affect us as our paperwork wasn’t yet complete anyways. Julie notes “My theory is, there were groups of kids from both countries meeting to practice in a mutual territory. One of the vehicles, packed to the rim with kids, the back window taped with plastic, had passed us on the way there. These beautiful teenagers in uniform had arrived in it, seemingly unscathed and tidy.” The border crossing into Honduras went really quickly but even so, we still weren’t able to make our destination before dark. We found a spot in a newly constructed Pizza Hut parking lot. As far as our parking lot camping is going, this ranked near the top as a good one. J It was very clean, well-constructed, and secure. And the food was actually quite good, especially getting a salad. Julie notes “Yes on fear of illness we have been avoiding lettuce based foods so this was a treat we hoped not to regret later. We only had one batch of the fancy medicine left and one tiny throne we would have to share if there was an issue. It would be every man for himself.”

Our Granada site on Lake Nicaragua. Julie notes “This picture makes it look quite clean and inviting. So we’ll leave it at that.”

Beautiful views as we left Granada. Julie notes “The scenery is spectacular. What we have learned is to look up and beyond the ditches and roadside turn offs, etc. Despite the threat of heavy fines in some countries, garbage and litter is everywhere. So our adage is ‘Don’t look down but be careful where you step.'”

This little girl posed for us in her traditional dress. Julie notes “The people are spectacular too!”

More landscape. Julie notes “This was taken during one of our numerous police checks. Seems, now that the 5^th wheel is not with us, we are garnering a lot of the attention of the officials. Brad is getting quite smooth at pointing out the licence ‘placa’ under the camper, all our vehicle papers and so on. Sometimes they just want to speak a little English. I tried to confirm with the officer at this stop if these were orange trees. My pronunciation of “naranjas” might be a bit off. He had that scared looked like I was maybe trying to ‘bargain’ my oranges to get out of a ticket. He sent us on our way quickly.”

Which way?

A common site along the highways – an old diesel Toyota blowing black smoke with passengers riding in the back holding on to their cowboy hats.

The practice area and some of the participants. Julie notes “The practice was brief and then kids headed in all directions for a break. I can’t imagine how they were going to gather them all together again in that chaos. I was just thankful I wasn’t a parent helper.”

During our vehicle inspection, the customs agent opened our pantry and spied a bottle of wine and commented “Oh, 2010 Marques Casa Concha merlot, muy bueno!” I replied with a thumbs up “si”. That was his only comment. We thought that was a pretty funny exchange! And by the way, the wine was quite good.

Near the end of our drive we spotted a rainbow and took that to be a good sign. Julie notes “As I mentioned the other day, we are somewhere over the rainbow. This isn’t Kansas anymore, Toto.”

…over and out, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Day 71 – Thursday, September 5, 2013

We were on the road again today after some running around supposedly looking for auto parts with our guide in Rivas, Nicaragua. Julie notes “We surprised our guide by telling him as he was sneaking away early this morning, that’d we’d travel into town with him on his quest for parts instead of sitting around wondering if and when he was going to return to the beach. He led us on a merry scavenger hunt about town, with excuses and stories and each turn. But it was fun to see him sweat a bit. Are we becoming those evil unhappy people we see on reality shows? If only we were getting paid for this.”

We travelled a short distance to the historic city of Granada, Nicaragua. With some assistance from our guide, we arranged a boat tour on Lake Nicaragua and a horse and buggy tour through a waterfront park area and then the old colonial part of Granada. It was good to be on the road and also fun to do some touring of new territory. The lake tour goes through an area of 365 islands and includes a stop at an old Spanish fortress. We took well over 100 photos again today and will try and sift them down to a few. Most of them aren’t very good it shouldn’t be too hard. J Julie notes “Well that must be because Brad had the camera for most of the day. Couldn’t be my many bleary attempts to get interesting vehicle loads and family modes of transport and great scenery, etc. all at 100kms/hr.

An old church in Rivas that is being restored. Julie notes “One of our stops in Rivas to get ‘parts’. It was a neat spot to sit and people watch.”

Julie’s workmates might be thankful for the QEII hospital lab after seeing this laboratoria. Julie notes “This is one of the fancier labs that I’ve noted in my travels. But I am still hoping I won’t have to come out of retirement and work here. We do have another border crossing tomorrow. Everyone pray that cool, calm and collected Brad is the one doing the talking this time and let us cross to Honduras. We’ll see what the labs are like there.”

Our horse and buggy with a father daughter driving team. They took us from our camping spot to the boat launch and then came back, with Raymond the horse, a few hours later to take us on the city tour. Julie notes “Everybody loves Raymond, especially the lady horses we passed”.

Pepe, our young boat captain. He was a good guy and spoke English much better than we spoke Spanish. We had a private tour of the islands as we were the only ones departing at that time.

Amazing trees and birds. The islands are mostly privately owned by the wealthy and have some elaborate vacation homes. And we even saw 4 monkeys that inhabit one small island.

Old Spanish fortress.

Julie notes “Guess who we’re gunning for? And yes Karen P we are still ‘stylin’ the hats. And thanks again to the ‘hat Cam’s mom bought me’ that I am wearing stylishly crooked here, I did not get sun stroke.”

Julie notes “On the look-out for British pirates coming to steal our Granada silver. Or certain scurvy guides who try to steal our vacation plans.¨

Julie notes “I think most casualties at this fort probably happened when the soldiers tried to run up or down these stairs. They were tricky even with my tiny delicate feet.”

Julie notes “They sell you three bananas and there are 4 monkeys. What’s with that? And Brad, father of 4 of his own monkeys so should know better, throws all 3 bananas over at once and one bully monkey grabs them all and doesn’t share. Kids! I almost made the guy go back for more bananas but hopefully there will be more tourists to follow.”

Julie notes “My flower came off a tree in a pod that looked like a skinny banana. Pepe made a big show of how he was going to eat the banana and then tada, like a magic trick there was a beautiful flower inside.” Brad notes “Isn’t that how it happens to all the girls?” Julie notes “haha I think I’ve maybe been reading too many Victorian Harlequin romances.”

One of the old buildings in Granada. Julie notes “We think it is either 400 or 400,000 years old. Our driver was giving some statistics to his daughter who was translating to English as best she could and some things got a little lost in translation. But the city trip was fun, they were great people and we had some good chuckles with them. And again their English far outshines our Spanish. Kudos to them.”

We decided to take a taxi back into town to the central plaza area for a nice dinner. We had seen many nice restaurants in the central plaza area on our tour. We hailed a taxi and off we sped into the inner city hoping our driver knew where we wanted to go. It was another taxi ride to remember. His knowledge of the narrow back alleys and streets that may have been shortcuts put fear into these gringos. We travelled through some very sketchy neighborhoods but eventually arrived exactly where we had asked to be taken. We had a “nice” dinner at the La Gran Francia Hotel and Restaurant. Julie notes “First we headed out of town it seemed, then through the barrios, families and horses and cattle and dogs and probably chickens all dodging us. It was dark so there may be lots more details that we missed. My whole body was tensed and I know my face had that bug eyed tourist look as I worried not only for everyone’s safety and whether the poor old taxi was going to break down right there but also for the living conditions that we saw. It was another reality check for how fortunate we have been in life as we get dropped off in the fancy part of town. We ordered the Macau, the Nicaraguan national drink to celebrate no life lost on the trip to the hotel. And toasted to hopefully a less adventurous cab ride back. I also had the traditional tipico onion and jalapeno sauce over some sumptuous shrimp and the local veggies, papas, zanahoria and zuma, were cooked perfectly. The cab driver that returned us to our camping spot was much more sedate a driver and made sure we were locked up tight in our camper before he left us. ‘Mucho peligrosa’ he kept warning us. Hoping I don’t have any crazy cab nightmares tonight.”

…over and out for today, the muleskinner and his sidekick.

Julie notes “Barb, do you think it’s maybe time for another theme song?”

Day 70 – Wednesday, September 4, 2013

We are still on the beachfront of Lake Nicaragua. We were supposed to travel to Granada today however our guide is supposedly checking into needed vehicle repairs. He did arrange to have a rear wheel cylinder leak repaired today. The mechanics made the repair right at our campsite within a few hours. He was supposedly checking locally for other needed parts so here we sit for another day. Can you feel my skepticism about these delays yet? Julie notes “I am sensing the teeniest hint of skepticism. He hides it so well. (Did you feel my hint of sarcasm?)”

Julie and I planned a trip to Ometepe Island on the ferry but the bureaucracy was more than I could take. First we made a reservation for the round trip. We then had Inspector Gadget look at the “rig” to assess costs. We then lined up for an hour or more. Of course, the off-loading melon truck broke down on the loading ramp. We suspect this may have been on purpose because the guy sold melons to everyone on the pier. We paid our assessed fee to the ferry company. Then we went to a different window to pay the tax for the dock area, then we paid our tax per person because we were foreigners. I want to know how they knew that without asking us? Then we were questioned about the size of the rig and assured, after phone calls to the ferry owner, and assistance from the tourist office that everything was good to go. The tourist officer insisted we not pay any other fees except to the mayor of Ometepe Island on our return trip. So, after waiting for the melon truck to get towed off the pier, we were waved ahead for loading. But wait, we had mysteriously not paid enough for the size of our rig. The loading guru insisted we pay more. Again, my patience wore thin and a standoff ensued. I was holding up the already late line of travellers and insisting that we not pay any more. Eventually, after involvement from the tourist office, armed police and military, ferry staff, and probably a few others, we got a refund and were turned around and sent out of the area. Back to the beach for the day. Third world antics are beginning to take its toll on this gringo and the fact we are not getting the trip we paid for. Julie notes “Yes just reading this again has worn me out. What he didn’t mention was that we were just going to walk aboard and tour in a bus or taxi but our illustrious guide insisted it would be a much more pleasant trip with our vehicle with us. I am not sure why we keep listening to him. Humidity brain I think. Brad’s usual arm waving escalates dramatically when he is trying to explain ‘that it’s just the principal of the thing’ in a foreign language. No wonder he is losing weight on this trip. Brad let them keep the last 20 cordobas in taxes as that was about when the armed guard came to check on the arm waving foreigner or ‘Windmill Gringo’ as how he will likely go down in Ometepe legend. Again, I reminded him that I do not know how to say ‘don’t shoot’ or ‘which jail did you take him to?’ in Espanola so I am hoping he has got all his rebelling against authority in foreign lands out of his system. Plus if they’d hauled him off I would’ve had to drive the truck into the lake to turn it around and everyone knows how I hate to get my feet wet.”

Julie notes “Our alternate form of transport was waiting if they happened to confiscate our vehicle during the ‘Windmill Gringo of The Ometepe Ferry’ debacle. In the distance you can see our intrepid leader’s vehicle as he ‘waits for parts’. Cynicism intended. He was most likely enjoying our ferry loading escapades from afar.”

Chess game on the pier waiting for the ferry. The shirt pulled up over the belly is a men’s fashion statement here in Central America. Julie notes “Our Emily made this look popular 20 years ago, in Canada, with her 3 year old baby belly sticking out. She’ll be happy to know that it is catching on. I love it. Makes me wish for a second that I was a man. Got a hot belly, in any sense of the word, pull up your shirt.”

Our beautiful beachside campsite overlooking Lake Nicaragua and Ometepe Island.

A refreshing dip in the warm waters of the lake.

Fish for dinner for this guy. Julie notes “Our regret to all egrets out there, we have been calling you cranes. Our surprise extended stay here allowed me to search out the bird book. Black feet, yellow beak = the Great Egret. Big eyes, red face = embarrassed travellers. We’re disappointed Kristin and her bird buddies didn’t point that out to us earlier!”

Wind generators on the distant shoreline. Julie notes “Again, I bet you thought this was going to a picture of Brad and maybe Frank, didn’t you? If only they would do wind generation on a distant shore line.”

One of the many pictures we took of the ever changing volcanos.

…over and out, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Day 69 – Tuesday, September 3, 2013

We left our Pacific Ocean Costa Rica beach and headed back to our Lake Nicaragua San Jorge beach. Deja Vue! Julie notes “or maybe it should be Deja View?” This involved another dreaded border crossing. This time wasn’t so bad however. It was later in the day and not too busy. It still took a few hours but that is starting to seem pretty quick. My patience is wearing a little thin though when I challenged a 300 lb trucker for jumping the queue. An English speaking supervisor quickly intervened to tell me that he is a “driver” and that is how it works. I promise to never ever complain about the Canada/US border crossing ever again. Julie notes “Yes Brad picks the most sensitive time, as we’re about to get our passports stamped into Nicaragua, to display his machismo. I calmly reminded him that I don’t know how to either hail an ambulance or make bail in Espanola so if he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life living in limbo between Nicaragua and Costa Rica he better regain his cool. I was planning to pretend I didn’t know him when the clerk took several extra minutes scowling over his passport. But she let us through and no blood or tears were shed, just the usual amount of sweat.”

This was planned as a one night stop but our illustrious tour leader is claiming to have vehicle problems. We shall see what happens.

An early morning view of the Pacific from our RV. Julie notes “Eric Clapton sang to us yesterday ‘Alberta, Alberta, where’d you sleep last night?’ and this is the answer to that. He also sang ‘Alberta, Alberta, where you been so long?’ I told him to read the blog like everybody else.”

Costa Rican countryside in the rainy season.

A canopy over the roadway. Julie spied 6 monkeys in a tree. I was too busy dodging potholes and missed seeing them. Julie notes “Melodie, can you sing “6 little monkeys sitting in a tree, along came Grandpa Brad, as noisy as can be, Grandma saw the monkeys, and waved one down for tea, now there’s 5 little monkeys, sitting in a tree.”

Norm, our tour guide, impersonating the Wicked Witch of the East from the Wizard of Oz. He is checking his fuel transfer pump that apparently stopped working. Julie notes “If he is the wicked witch then maybe those were flying monkeys I saw! Yikes! Who does that make us then? Suggestions? I have to admit a couple times that I have clicked my ruby flip flops together and said ‘There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.’ (I really only have blue or black flip flops so that is probably why we’re still here somewhere over the rainbow.)”

Wind power generation on the shores of Lake Nicaragua. Julie notes “You thought this was going to be Brad’s butt didn’t you? Well I sure did.”

…over and out, the muleskinner and his trusty sidekick Julie notes “After all of this salt water and rainy season weather, the RV and I are starting to show signs of becoming his ‘rusty and a bit mouldy’ sidekicks.”

“Also, now that the ‘gasp’ across the continents has subsided, once news filtered out that we would not be able to continue our quest at this time, we wanted to thank everyone for their comments of support and encouragement, either through blog or email. I did allow my head to swell a little bit as well with all the accolades but I share those with my courageous Mom, sister Suze, brother Core, Uncle Herb, Aunt Hazel, Cousin John, Cousin-in-law Lynn…(unfortunately the list is endless) and of course mi esposo Brad. All of whom who have battled or are battling stupid cancer with the support of amazing families and friends at their sides. Please keep the blog comments coming. They are the fuel in our tanks that keep us going. Otherwise we just have each other’s comments and as you could guess, those are wearing thin.”

Day 68 – Monday, September 2, 2013

We started the day in David, Panama. We had some errands to do before our long trip homeward. We topped off our tanks with propane. Refilling stations are much harder to find in Central America. Most of their propane appears to be delivered by truck from central depots and not available at gas stations. Julie notes “Apparently Brad’s off gasses do not keep the fridge running so I am glad the tanks are full and a big thank you to Brad and his propane station friend for making that happen. I know some sweat and gas was involved.”

We also replaced our two RV house batteries at Casa de Batterias. I was able to find heavy duty Trojan 6V batteries similar to what we had, actually better than what we had. We were then on the road to Costa Rica and another border crossing. This border crossing was much smoother and quicker than what we experienced going the other way. That was a nice surprise. Julie notes “If you want to see Brad excited just bring out your forno oven or your mega deep cycle batteries. He literally gets the giggles. Merry Christmas honey!”

We suggested to our guide that we find a spot along the beautiful Pacific coast we were following instead of a parking lot. After a few miles we found a beautiful beach where we could camp. Ahhh, it is a wonderful spot. I had a swim in the warm ocean. As we picked up shells and rocks along the beach, we were both reminded of Julie’s mom, Vera. She was a rock and shell collector extraordinaire. It is hard to believe it has been a month to the day since Vera’s death. Julie notes “I bent over to pick up my first interesting rock and went into a sentimental crying spell. Took a little time out in the camper and then went and enjoyed the beauty of the place as mom and dad would have (if it was in Canada.) Miss you!”

We had some delicious leftover paella, roast chicken, and a tomato and cheese salad. We both feel great finding this spot and just being able to relax on the beach. We opened a bottle of wine and had our supper inside listening to the evening rain. Nice, Nice, Nice! Julie notes “You’re probably thinking the same as me…’Didn’t Brad take Julie on another holiday where it rained every day?’ The answer is ‘Yes.” But who is really keeping track of these things, right?”

Even if the homes may not be to our North American standards, the plants in the tropics are amazing.

We just missed a picture of this guy holding onto the back of the truck going up a hill. If he was in a race he may be disqualified for that manoeuvre.

Julie and I tried a little Chinese food restaurant on our lunch break. The food was the Latin version of Chinese food not the Canadian version of Chinese food. J Neither of which are probably very authentic. It was very good though. Julie notes “And we toasted with our coca lights to a smooth border crossing. Good bye Panama. Hello Costa Rica.”

Palm trees on a plantation. The palm oil is harvested mainly for various cosmetic products. Julie notes “Rumour, or maybe even fact, has it that the oils are carcinogenic and only sold now to countries outside the North Americas and Europe. Someone should tell the other places that this stuff is not good for them. But the trees are pleasant looking and supposedly there are monkeys in those hills.”

Our beachside campground. This is what I think of when we talk about Costa Rica! Julie notes “I should’ve taken video of Brad trying to manoeuver around the rocks and the waves to finally submerge, but the camera was on the last ounce of battery power. You will have to just imagine it and also imagine the realization after he makes it back out that and there is a nice smooth beach just a few yards down the shoreline. Oh well. It was good amusement for me and that is what really matters right?”

Julie notes “Those clouds you see held off long enough for us to have some lovely beach time and then became another amazing rainforest meets ocean thunder storm. We ask ourselves again ‘How can the thunder and lightning always be directly over us? There may be some bible scholars out there who have the answer to that.”

…over and out for today, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Julie notes “Itunes and I got along very well today. My favourites, out of many a propos selections it chose to play today, were songs from one of my first cassettes way back in the day, An Evening with John Denver. I just recently purchased the album from Itunes for Mom’s funeral as she was a big John Denver fan as well. Now we won’t go into the details of how MY cassette fell into the hands of my sister, Krista. I am not one to hold grudges, for long anyway. It was probably pay back for Brad stealing her jeans. More family dirty laundry we don’t need to air here. But anyway, back to the songs…I opened the door of the already running truck this morning just as John was singing ‘Welcome to my morning’ and it did feel like an old friend welcoming me as I had listened to that cassette (before it was ‘borrowed’ right Krista?) innumerable times. Then this afternoon as we continued our backwards trek John’s ‘Sweet Surrender’ talked a lot about being on the highway, ‘Not knowing where we’re going, not knowing where we’ve been’. Which is kind of how we feel and he made it seem like a good thing. So thanks John wherever you are. I hope you are sitting around a campfire with my Mom and Dad serenading them with their favourites.”

Day 67 – Sunday, September 1, 2013

Today was a very disappointing day for us and I think it will be a let-down for our loyal blog followers. We are sorry to tell you that after a week or more of negotiations and research that we will be unable to continue on to South America. We are the only paying customer on the “Trek of the Americas”. Shipping costs to and from South America are extremely high and the terms from the tour guide that would allow us to continue on to South America were unacceptable to us. We have reached an agreement with our tour guide to return to the US over the next 30 days. We will follow a different route through Central America and Mexico visiting different locales and sites. However, we are very disappointed that it is not the trip we planned.

I can’t emphasize enough how extremely proud of Julie I am, especially her strength and determination. She really amazes me every day and all of you, her friends, know what I am talking about. I am truly one lucky guy. And, did I mention the luxury Mediterranean and Trans-Atlantic cruise I surprised her with 6 years ago. I know I have mentioned that to her quite often lately. J

In any event, it is still an adventure, just not one we had planned. Julie notes “Well I had plans to wallow in my own misery but he has stymied that plan with his highfalutin praise now hasn’t he? It has been 6 months of loss and now this disappointment and I did not accept this change of plans in quite the good grace he is suggesting. But the alternative of moving forward on our quest at this time would have meant sending out a plea for funds to our loyal bloggees and let’s face it, we know all of your money has gone to TV evangelists in hopes of being saved. So backwards we go. Brad was a tiger getting an agreement struck. His many years of contract negotiating came in handy and was surprising to our guide and we are hopeful that the agreement will be honoured. We have lots more to say on that subject but will see what transpires. And we aren’t saying never to the final destination but we are now much wiser if we do proceed in the future. One thing we will do whether we go to South America or not is to learn Spanish more gooder just like you’all seen our English is. For instance today I asked Brad to interpret the road sign Playo de Sol and he figured it meant it meant ‘Sun of a beach’. Close…but other drivers were looking at him funny when he was shaking a fist and yelling Playo de Sol after them as they cut him off.”

Today we travelled back on the Pan-American highway to David. We are once again back in the Price Smart parking lot, er, I mean campground. Julie notes “Actually now being a connoisseur of sorts of camping in parking lots, this one ranks higher than most. Mostly frogs and cricket noise once the store shuts down. And not one mango has fallen on the roof. Brad had to go buy a mango from a road side stand.”

Before leaving Panama City though I captured this picture of a pristine original Volkswagen beetle for Uncle Herb. He is and old Volkswagen aficionado and may be able to tell me what year this one happens to be?

Also, prior to leaving Panama, we counted 18 cats outside our camper. Not too bad in daylight but I must say it is a little freaky at night to step out and see this pack. Julie notes “I’m thinking given the current change of events, a couple of them may have been black cats crossing our path.”

We crossed back over the Bridge of the Americas on our northbound journey. Julie notes “Déjà vu all over again.”

Which house is mine? Julie notes “One of the envious things about Central America is the wonderful variety of colours most of the buildings are painted. Not the beige world we live in, for the most part. I am not sure what this subdivision was but I hope it’s not a sign of their future .”

Somebody went to a lot of work on this hillside.

We were able to give away some of our baby clothes and blankets to a couple of very appreciative mothers at our lunch stop.

Rhythm and drum music from a group of young musicians flooded out from this church while we ate our lunch.

This guy slept through it on his hammock next door while his horse grazed outside.

A northbound view on the Pan-American highway.

…over and out for today, the muleskinner and his amazing sidekick

Julie notes “I hope you’ll all continue on this adventure with us as we shove some regrets in our back pocket and pack up our troubles in our old kit bag and drive, drive, drive…. And for Quent who was humming this the other day (and for us after this trip is tallied) ‘I’m a man of means by no means, bump, bump, king of the road’. And that’s the truth. See you all at the next camp ground er parking lot, um parking camp, camping lot, grounding park…”

Day 66 – Saturday, August 31, 2013

Today is the last day of August. It’s hard to believe we left Grande Prairie eight and a half weeks ago.

We were up early, made fresh coffee, and took our lawn chairs over to the banks of the canal. We spent a few hours just enjoying the morning and our coffee. Julie notes “With no jets or air brakes to try to ignore we were roused fairly early by the beginnings of the work day for nearby construction workers. People came in bits and spurts all morning and we gave up trying to figure out what their scheduled start time might have been. A boisterous and jovial crew they were though considering it was already almost 30 C on an early Saturday morning.”

We took a long walk along the causeway to the end where most of the developments and restaurants are located. It is an active area, especially on a Saturday, with bikers, joggers, families, and fisherman. We ended up having some drinks and food at one of the outdoor restaurants. We then made the 3 km walk back in the heat of the day. Julie notes “Okay so I thought my flip flop between the toe callus had been sufficiently built up over these past many weeks. You know the one I mean. This 6 kms today proved that I was sorely mistaken. Sorely being the operative word. Sorry about that tootsies.”

An empty ship exiting the canal.

Canal, coffee, and contemplation. Julie notes “I bet he is thinking ‘How did I manage to land such a wonderful wife? It makes me smile just thinking of her. I am the luckiest guy to be stuck in Panama with her!’ He does go on and on like that sometimes but it’s hard to argue the truth eh?”

Another iguana came by to visit.

My iguana impression even includes the correct colour.

The pedestrian walkway past the new museum following the banks of the causeway.

A loaded freighter exiting the canal.

Julie’s refreshing sangria after a long walk with our ever present English/Spanish dictionary. Julie notes “Tools of the trade. And the more sangria I drink the better (I think) my Spanish gets. I should maybe just carry around a drink in my purse instead of the dictionary.”

And finally, a shot of our new side street campsite. Julie notes “There is that iguana impersonator again!”

…over and out for today, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Julie notes “Ah me aching flip flop feet. Rookie mistake.”

Day 65 – Friday, August 30, 2013

We met with our tour operator this morning over breakfast and discussed some of the issues we’re facing and possible options. We have not yet reached an agreement on the next leg of the journey and will be in Panama a few more days at least.

We spent the day puttering around and visiting the Albrook mall once again. Julie notes “Still haven’t caught the mall fever, but many others had. It was a busy Friday afternoon and we soaked up some A/C while we people watched. We would’ve taken in another movie but the pickin’s were slim. Pretty sad summer for movies, dubbed or subtitled.” We had a late lunch at TGI Friday’s and then made are way back to the campsite for a siesta.

Our guide scouted out a new location for us to move. It is on a side street on the causeway near the new Gerhy Museum. The causeway is about a block wide with the bay of Panama and the city skyline one side and the Panama Canal and Pacific ocean on the other. The Bridge of the Americas is nearby and also the Balboa yacht club. Much more scenic for us and has a constant breeze which makes it much more comfortable in the heat and humidity. We were able to sit out in our lawn chairs and watch the sunset over the bridge. Julie notes “The new spot, in front of the former US military officer club, comes with 18 cats or more so we did hear some Toms as we were going to bed. But that is my only noise violation, besides another amazing middle of the night thunderstorm, to report. The question ‘Why oh why did we stay in a hot, noisy fire hall parking for 7 days has been batted around in. We don’t have the answer to that, other than it made for good blog entries.” We tried out another new restaurant with great food and live music on their outdoor patio. It was good to move to this new location.

The Bridge of the Americas at sunset.

Enjoying the Bridge of the Americas at sunset.

My dinner of a filete of corvina (local fish), roast potatoes and a really good citrus reduction.

Julie’s seafood salad.

That’s all for today folks, carry on, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Day 64 – Thursday, August 29, 2013

We were very sad today to have to leave the luxury of the Trump Hotel in Panama and head back to our camper. We had another great breakfast in the hotel this morning and then relaxed until our noon checkout. We took it easy all afternoon once back at the camper so not much to report today. We are getting anxious to get on the road again but have hit some snags in our travel plans that we are trying to resolve. Julie notes “We did walk to a different restaurant for supper, The Grand Canal Café. The food was great. The servers all wore Panama hats. We were a little worried as we were the only customers at first. But being the trendsetters that we are, people followed suit and the place started filling up.

This is our sadness showing leaving the Trump. Julie notes “Good bye bathtub! Remember to Facebook me.”

That’s all for today folks, carry on, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Julie notes “We were greeted back at the Estacion de Bomberos with a chorus of car alarms as there were several cars parked close to the ship yard transport route that were particularly sensitive to the transport air brakes. Music to our ears. And while Brad was off getting more gas for the generator I was interrupted during my siesta by a loud crash on our roof. Being in a military zone my first assumption was we were under attack or the bomberos were subtly hinting we should move on. After a quick outside inspection I realized we were under a mango tree. So now we have some fruit stored roof top for later. Bonus!”