Day 78 – Thursday, September 12, 2013

I changed one of our automated mailer system settings to hopefully resolve the issues we’ve been experiencing with our notifications. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the update notice for this post gets emailed.

It looks like we will be staying in this RV Park for a week or so. By the way, the park is in Guatemala, not Honduras, as yesterday’s title would have you believe. Julie notes “None of you get any bonus marks for pointing out that error. I guess if we really don’t know what country we are waking up in then how do we expect anyone else to keep track? But the money and the license plates don’t lie. This is Guatemala.”

After meeting with our guide we have come to a satisfactory agreement to stay here, where there are services, while he has a master cylinder shipped to Guatemala City. We should depart from here about September 18^th. Julie and I are making some tour plans and will use this as a base. Today we drove towards the Pacific to the Autosafari in Chapin, Guatemala. Before we could go on that adventure however, we had another adventure driving through the narrow busy streets of Amatitlan looking for a laundry service. It was a safari in itself. We did find an old rundown dirty place that we decided to forego for two reasons; one – it was too dirty and two – we didn’t think we could find our way back to pick up our clothes.

We went back to the shopping complex and had a hearty breakfast in a Mexican restaurant. Julie notes “I know! Confusing eh? We are eating at a Mexican restaurant while in Guatemala telling everyone we are in Honduras.”

Food was pretty good but the coffee was terrible. Oh, how I miss you Tim Horton. It was then off on our own to find the Autosafari Chapin. We managed to find it after a few wrong turns and more adventure driving in small towns. We toured the park in the pouring rain but were able to see most of the animals.

Finally, we went back to Amatitlan to give our closed laundry lady one more chance to get our business. Julie notes “Those of you who know Bradley well, know that once you get on ‘THE list’ he will die before he gives you anymore business. This was this lavanderia’s last chance or we would never grace her barred doorway ever again, even if we return in the future to Honduras, umm I mean Guatemala.”

What do you know? She was right there in the doorway as though she had been waiting for us! We figured out the details after English/Spanish help from a very nice young lady, Melanie, who saw the windmill action of our language exchange and stopped to help. The people here always seem very friendly and willing to help.

Is this laundry service ever open?

Melanie, our bilingual helper of windmill gringos. Julie notes “Not only can she speak English and Spanish she can translate windmill. I think as she walked off, I heard her humming ‘yes I know the windmill man…’ the folksong of Cousin Barb, origin. It is amazing how quickly the legend has spread country to country.”

Lost in Escuintla. Bet you can’t say that!

Friendly Escuintla onlookers watching the gringos drive by both ways.

Autosafari Chapin

Julie notes “These guys were roaming but in a fenced pond area to the right were a few of the ladies, I am guessing, plus the cutest baby, who went underwater for safety once we approached. All we could see were its twitching ears and nostrils as the mom pushed it across their pond.”

Julie notes “Even the giraffes opted for an umbrella on this rainy day.”

Julie notes “I think this guy is thinking ‘hmmm I see a nice steak on the hoof just next door for me and the missus for supper. You create a diversion honey and I’ll follow this guy out the gates to the antelope paddock.'”

…and we’re in the fog as the title implies. Julie notes “This tropical depression is getting a bit depressing tropically speaking. We’ve been forced to find our sweaters as temps have cooled to a brisk 18C or lower indoors. Wonderful sleeping conditions though and when you go to bed as early as we do, that is an important thing.”

…and the flooded aftermath. Julie notes “We opted out of driving through this puddle. Two bystanders gave us the ‘so-so’ hand movements and indicated above knee depth, after I asked them through gestures if we should drive through. No snorkel on Julie’s dually so we took a different course. Luckily this is the way to the Laundromat area and we have travelled there so many times Brad has the lay of land memorized. To me it’s just a lot tiny streets and colourful buildings and busses, approaching at alarming speeds with guys hanging out the doorways.”

…over and out, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Julie notes “Happy birthday baby brother! Hope it was a dandy and didn’t include too many bad smells or loud noises or drive by fruitings. (I know this is just wishful thinking. Unfortunately for Kelly, any day with Quent will include at least 2 of the above.)

Day 77 – Wednesday, September 11, 2013

We spent most of today looking for a laundry service that was open. We went to the same place 4 times and the lady was never there so we finally gave up for the day. We are getting down to the critical stage on the unmentionables however so we better find a laundry service tomorrow. Julie notes “Can’t really blame the lavenderia lady for hiding when the big truck stacked to ceiling with gringo undies pulls up in front of your shop. The locals going back and forth really tried to help us and kept telling us she was eating and to come back in an hour, in 10 minutes, at 2 o’clock, etc. She must owe them money and they want to keep her in business, something like our guide and us.”

We also went back to a very nice modern shopping area for groceries and had a hotdog and pop while we were there. Julie notes “American hotdog with lots of Guatemalan fixings. It was tasty. Also for those of you contemplating storing your fruit on the roof of your RV, Brad just found the mango that had fallen during our roof whilst ‘camping’ in the bomberos parking lot. It wasn’t a happy find. The car parked near us at the barnyard campground experienced a drive-by fruiting. And we had to buy new fruit.”

Otherwise, it was a pretty lazy day. I made an egg scramble with leftover steak, potatoes, and peppers for breakfast (Julie notes “He snuck the rest of the mystery meat into the works as well thinking I wouldn’t notice. But it turns out tarantula meat and eggs go nicely together) and cooked mushroom pasta for supper. Julie notes “Yummmy and nothing mysterious about it except for how he was able to whip that all up in this little kitchen. Although the dishes afterwards did tell some of the tale.”

It rained most of the afternoon and evening as is typical these days. Julie notes “Our guide/weather man says there is a tropical depression hanging over Guatemala, Mexico, etc. and here I just thought it was the proverbial black cloud following us around.”

A stinky fire was burning close to the RV Park making us hope the wind would keep the smoke away. Julie notes “No such luck so we went off on our laundry mission impossible. Things I’ve learned in a 3^rd world country #23 “You are never far away from an unpleasant smell or some very pleasant people.”

Searching for a laundry service in Amatitlan. Julie notes “Who knew doing the laundry could be such an adventure! Had 2 more pairs of soiled undies to throw into the works once we were done manoeuvering the streets I tell you in our quest for freshness.”

A soccer game in our RV/Water Park. Julie notes “Not the national team as you could probably tell by the skins and shirts uniforms. But they were having fun.”

Contemplating life or trying to decide what to make for supper? Julie notes “Or maybe hoping the soccer guys would ask him to play. But they didn’t. One disappointed little mule skinner for sure. I let him make supper for me to take his mind off of that.”

…that’s it for today folks, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Julie notes “Okay I reread last night’s wrap up words and I promise no more red wine induced self-pity. From now on just regular self-pity which is probably induced by that tropical depression. We’ll see how I feel once that lifts. Probably drier anyway.”

Day 76 – Tuesday, September 10, 2013

We’re not sure if our “automated” mailer is working properly. We apologize if you have not been receiving updates but we have no way of knowing who is receiving updates. At least, I haven’t figured out how to do that. If you read this and did not get an automated email (and you were on the automated email list) please let us know.

Today we drove over 250 km from our site near the Copan ruins in Honduras, crossed the border into Guatemala, and travelled through Guatemala City to the RV Park near Palin, Guatemala. We arrived around 5:00 PM after fuelling up and doing some grocery shopping. The RV Park is not too far from Guatemala City. We are at the same RV Park that I had stayed at when Julie was in Ontario; “Turicentro Automariscos” at KM 34.5 on the Carr Al Pacifico near Palin. The park has full hookups for the RV, natural hot pools, swimming pools, water slides, restaurant and lounge, snack bar, and iffy wifi (not to be confused with iffy wifey) near the main facility (but not from our site). Julie notes “The best part about it is it is quite clean and they are working on maintenance all the time. And we are situated right near the highway so still get to hear the trucks decelerating and ‘chicken buses’ honking their horns as they approach the 2 bus stops adjacent us in case we get too out of touch with reality.”

The border crossing was quite fast and efficient and was not too busy and they had lots of parking. It was a real treat compared to some others. Julie and I got lost in Guatemala City for a half an hour or so when we got separated from our guide in heavy traffic. We ended up mistakenly exiting the bypass we were on when 2 lanes went to the left, 2 straight, and 2 to the right. The bypass, we now know, is the 2 lanes to the left. (Julie notes “In case any of you guys plan to repeat this trip please note unless you plan on visiting the little area of El Nuevo.) It became quite obvious we were lost when the 2 lanes got narrower and narrower and the buildings were at the edge of the one lane road with narrow sidewalks. We had radio contact with our guide who was waiting up ahead on the bypass. After getting turned around and heading back to the bypass we figured out where we were and how to rectify our error and were on our way again. Julie notes “I did not take any pictures of where we ended up. I didn’t think that that would help calm the situation any. But it was kind of like one of our cab rides we’ve described but driving ourselves and not knowing where we could possibly turn the rig around. But squished in there were also some transports and cars and Brad wisely followed them and then did his ‘Windmill Gringo speak’ to a policeman who was standing at a minor accident scene on the highway and he got us pointed towards the correct turnabout. We would like to claim the award for the first of the group to get lost but first of all ‘we are the group’ and second of all, our guide has been lost a few times, difference was we were right behind, so we were lost together. I think there is a song there somewhere.”

Julie is now using our “good” full DSLR camera from the passenger’s seat because our smaller point and shoot Canon camera started over-exposing all of the pictures. It was good for a few laughs watching her try and hold the camera properly, use the viewfinder, and take a picture. I must say her co-ordination using a camera is not what the ergonomic designers had in mind. But once she got the hang of it, she was shooting pictures with great veracity. Julie notes “Ha! Brad thought he could cut down on the number of pictures I take by sabotaging my little camera. No such luck buddy boy. I do have a bruise on the bridge of my nose though from banging the camera lens into the side window. And the seatbelt doesn’t let me lean forward enough to get close to the wind shield. With my little camera I just held my long monkey arms out and clicked. But despite these new restraints on my photography style I just keep clicking away to the blog editor’s dismay. Also you will have to imagine all the amazing shots ‘that got away’ before I realized my tiny camera had crapped out. A herd of big horned cattle bearing down on us, stopping traffic, a horse stretching his tether out across our lane of highway refusing to move, cute kids, breathtaking scenery, plus the usual blurry, off kilter, no content ones that I’m famous for – award winning stuff for sure. I do have quite a few now of my knees and the truck floor as I was experimenting trying to see what the issue was. If you’d like to see those just let me know.”

We lit a charcoal BBQ, located at each site, and BBQ’d some steak and some mystery meat – I think it was pork? Julie notes “We’re pretty sure it was too big to be squirrel or iguana but it was in the beef section of the grocery store. We think. Could’ve been the monkey section. The signage wasn’t great.” We grilled some onions, red peppers, and had baked potatoes with sour cream. Mmmm good. Julie notes “Ditto that.”

Leaving a small town in the area near the Copan Ruins.

Typical countryside. Julie notes “Imagine the ‘clunk’ as I swing and hit the camera on the window.”

Part of the excellent freeway nearing Guatemala City. Julie notes “All of a sudden we were routed onto the oncoming lanes of traffic. There had been a mudslide on our side of the freeway that they were cleaning up. I was just glad the 3 or 5 little orange traffic cones they had at the other end of the detour was enough to keep the oncoming traffic from barrelling into our lane. How do you say Aaaaa!!! in Espanol?”

More countryside. Julie notes “It is a beautiful place and as you can imagine the roads do a lot of winding up, down and around. We were warned about runaway trucks and saw many breakdowns.”

Guatemala City. Julie notes “Imagine bicycling up there after working downtown. I’m out of breath just getting my helmet on.”

While we stopped in traffic, these two kids would not let Julie take their picture. They would smile and look at us and wave until Julie pointed a camera at them. They would sheepishly look away. Julie notes “Kids are kids wherever we go. They make the world go round. Plus they were probably wondering why I kept hitting my face on the camera and the camera on the window.”

…over and out, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Julie notes “‘Too ra loo ra loo ra’ played at supper time and made Brad reminiscent of Dad and I just cried a little. It is a weird world without them. I know they’d be very relieved we were headed back to the homeland and we also had some great upbeat songs yesterday like ‘Lord of the Dance’, ‘My Old Man’s a Dustman’, ‘If I had a Hammer’and the ‘MuleSkinner Blues’ to go with the happy thoughts.”

Day 75 – Monday, September 9, 2013

We left the tourist park around 7:00 AM this morning and headed for the Copan Ruins. We arrived here around 1:00 PM. We had a quick lunch in the cafeteria, hired an English speaking tour guide, Juan Carlos, and headed into the ruins, the underground areas, and finally the museum. They kicked us out of the museum at the 4:30 PM closing time. I was pretty much done but Julie was still busy reading every placard at each display. A typical museum process for us. Julie notes “Yes since he took me to a museum on our honeymoon we have known this may eventually be the straw that breaks this marriage’s back. At least I get my money’s worth and at least give the impression I am retaining some info so that I can then turn it into misinformation when I relay it to the next person. But I’m not the only one misinformed. Turns out the archeologists who reconstructed the famous Mayan hieroglyphic staircase here a few years back put it back in the wrong order. I guess there was no Mayan spell check back then. There is a Japanese team working on fixing the translation using computers. Now can you imagine the ‘lost in translation’ through many languages back to English?” Brad notes “Our Copan guide also informed us about life in Honduras. He told us that Honduras had beat Mexico 2-1 in the football game the other night, which was celebration we had heard, and would go on to play Panama. All the people of Honduras come together for football, kind of like hockey in Canada. Left wing and right wing politics are forgotten and the people are happy with the big win. The government, knowing the people were all happy, quickly raised taxes the next day. Things are the same wherever you go, I guess!”

We just about beat the afternoon rain but got drenched on our long walk back from the ruins to the museum. Oh well, it is a warm rain and I think it was time for Julie to have another shower anyways. Julie notes “Turns out maybe it wasn’t the barnyard we were getting a whiff of at the last campsite.”

Another good day. We made forward (er, maybe backwards?) progress towards our destination and took in an amazing site.

A scene along the highway travelling towards Copan.

This cute little old lady walked by us at one of our break stops with the yellow towel on her head and proceeded to sit down in front of this gas station store and watch life go by while doing some visiting.

Some shots from the Copan Ruins in Honduras. Julie notes “This is a grave marker. Which made it easier for the grave robbers unfortunately.”

Julie notes “You can’t see him but ‘Chuck-chuck’ (my Canuck-chuck spelling), the rain god was building behind us and loudly announcing his approach. Maybe not a good time to be holding my metal drink container up in the air, but Brad is taller than me and has that metal plate in his head.”

Macaws that are raised and released in the Copan Ruins site. Julie notes “The macaw was held in great esteem by the Mayans. They were linked to the sun god and there were many carvings and plaster statues of them throughout the ruins. They also have big beaks just like the elite royalty. From birth the wealthy elite used methods to flatten foreheads, protrude noses, cross eyes and fill their teeth with jade. If it weren’t for the jade teeth I almost had them convinced that I was reincarnated Mayan royalty or goddess. I would go by my old Kayaking Goddess title or perhaps Princess Canuck-chuck.”

This little girl, Carlita, posed for a picture. She is one of the children of the owners at our campsite across the road from the ruins. Julie notes “Her brother Brian came to the camper to practice his excellent English that he was learning in grade three. And also agreed to take a little bit of candy off of our hands.”

…over and out, the muleskinner and his sidekick.

Julie notes “Bob Dylan is singing ‘it’s not dark yet but it’s getting there’ so that means bedtime no matter what the clock says in whatever time zone we may be in. The humidity is high as it drizzles off and on but the temp is a pleasant 28 C. Nice sleeping weather.”

Day 74 – Sunday, September 8, 2013

We spent the day at the “Centro Turistico Pulhapanzak” – a tourist park with most of the amenities you would expect. Julie notes “It has a few extra ‘amenities’ as well. As I mentioned yesterday it over looked a small barn yard so when the breeze shifted Brad had something to blame the aromatics on. The funny clicking noise we heard the night before can be attributed to a large iguana spied in a nearby tree. We experienced one of the craziest thunderstorms in the night. Once again how can we always be at the epicentre? The camper rocked hard and often, from the thunder of course. Not for the reasons you guys are thinking. And speaking of rocking and rolling, the natural surroundings had a young couple doing what comes naturally in the backseat of a Mazda as we sat a few feet away. We escaped to the camper for lunch. ‘Afternoon Delight’ had played on the iTunes a day early I guess.”

We hiked to the base of the waterfalls and back. Took a short drive to another spot on the river to check out the scenery and generally had a nice relaxing day. We BBQ’d our last frozen Costco Belmont burgers for supper. I also BBQ’d some chicken thighs for tomorrows dinner. The burgers were delicious. Julie notes “I second that! Deeee-licious!”

We met a group of great people from Pennsylvania who were here with a couple local social workers to do some volunteer work for a week or so in some of the remote areas of Honduras. Julie had the brilliant idea to donate all of the children’s clothes, art supplies, books, and eyeglasses to them. They were thrilled and said we had hit all the marks with the stuff we had to donate. It was a great feeling to know it will go to good use. A big thank you Alison, our daughter-in-law, for collecting and donating all of the kid’s clothes.

The park entrance. Julie notes “This area has been kept very clean. A nice change and we complimented the staff for that.”

Our campsite. Julie notes “If you look closely you can see the cutter ant trail right behind the camper and very close to the shower area. If you’re standing on the rubber mat with the water on you’re pretty safe. If you are the guy assisting your lovely wife with the shower then there are likely 20 or 30 angry ants climbing on you. Everyone sing ‘The cutter ants go marching in a row, Hurrah, hurrah. The cutter ants go marching in a row, Hurrah, hurrah. The cutter ants go marching in a row, then they all stopped together to bite Brad’s toes Then he’s dancing and swearing and yelping in the rain, boom, boom, boom.’ Because the evening rainstorm was upon us. And then for good measure, I wouldn’t let him back into the camper, after his shower, birthday suit or not, until he had found my shampoo bottle that had dropped into the middle of the ant trail. One more time ‘The ants go marching…”

The waterfall. Julie notes “There was the option to zip line over the falls as part of our park admission fee but we decided once we glimpsed the seemingly skimpy zip line wire that we had already had enough on this trip.”

The soaked couple at the bottom of our hike. Julie notes “Should’ve waited and showered here but there were some bigger ants lurking around.”

The volunteer group from Pennsylvania and the 2 local social workers, ranging in age from 15 to 72.

A cool dead tree with a new plant growing from the top.

…over and out, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Day 73 – Saturday, September 7, 2013

Julie notes “Okay! Before we even start into the day, let me tell you about our night. You know those funny National Lampoon ish type movies, where it’s dark and the family finally picks a place to stop in an innocent looking spot. The sun comes up and they are actually in the middle of a wrecking yard, or a gorilla pen or as was in our case, party central for a national football game being held one street over. So yes it’s Friday night but it gets dark here early and yes we go to bed early and yes what I am about to describe took place between the seemingly civilized hours of 9 pm and 1 am but it was traumatic none the less. We’d been sleeping like babies for an hour or so enjoying this quite pleasant and quiet Pizza Hut parking lot in Danli, when an announcement of some sort was made over a loud speaker and a roar went up from a large crowd, a marching band started playing. Then more roaring of the crowd, more marching band, then every person in town who owned a truck, car, motor bike, bicycle, stroller, basically anything with wheels and a noise making device, started driving past blaring their horns, revving their engines and chanting. And let’s not forget the fireworks or perhaps random volleys of gun fire, we’re not sure which. In the background there were still the announcements and crowd roaring and I thought a demonstration of some sort was happening. But then we remembered we’d heard something about a big game but thought it was televised not actually happening right there. A group of fans took up the lawn right under the Pizza Hut sign waving large banners and revving up the fans that circled in their vehicles. The honking and yelling and chanting and random firework volleys plus parking lot dancing and my laughing (possibly hysterically, because really you can’t make this stuff up) died down after about an hour and a half. That was nice because then we could hear the real party music blaring from the field where more festivities were going on. Things seemed to wind down around 1 am. Let’s keep in mind our time change mix up from the yesterday morning and coupled with another noisy night and that may explain the following frayed nerves. Now back to Brad.”

After some heated debate with our guide about our next destination, we headed for Lake Yojoa in Honduras. Julie notes “I reminded Brad calmly that our guide DOES know how to point and say in Spanish ‘illegal alien’. We weren’t on the road for more than a few kms, smoke still issuing from Brad’s ears and excuses spewing from the 2 way radio when the iTunes came to the rescue with a Styx song, ‘Crystal Ball’. Brother in law, Ron will know this chorus being a Styx fan. ‘Tell me tell me, where I’m going, I don’t know where to go, Tell me tell me, where I’m going, I don’t know where I’ve been…’ It made us chuckle as it seemed like the perfect synopsis of our trip and the steam in the cab evaporated a bit.”

We first had to travel through the large city of Tegucigalpa. I don’t think that I had ever heard of this place but it appears to be a very large city. The traffic and roads were for the most part a nightmare. It is a crazy experience driving our big rig through the cities. Julie notes “My legs are still sore from backseat braking on our crazy Granada cab ride. I was literally weak in the knees after this experience. For countries that rely a lot on pedestrian, bicycle, horse and buggy transport they haven’t made allowances for protecting them from the busy traffic. We hold our breath each time we have to pass someone.” We made a stop for some groceries at a very modern grocery store. Then it was on to the freeway and stop and go traffic for miles and miles. Finally, we passed by the parade on the closed side of the freeway. Once out of the city, we travelled through some more very mountainous areas. The mountains and pine trees reminded us a bit of British Columbia. We stopped for a tour at the underground caves “Cuevas – Taulabe”. After the tour we travelled another hour or so until we reached a real campground for the night. We will spend tomorrow here hiking to the waterfalls and exploring another nearby river area.

Our pizza hut campground and the view we had of a large cross on a hill with a trail leading up to it. Julie notes “Looks innocent enough doesn’t it, but now you know the real story.”

Julie notes “Maybe it’s time for us to crawl up this hill and ask for forgiveness for whatever we’re being punished for. Couldn’t hurt? Well it would likely hurt. We’ll keep it in mind.”

Following a convoy of large trucks while being passed.

Driving in Tegucigalpa Julie notes “This was quite the place. You can see the houses hanging off the hills in the background of this picture. I have about 50 more of the amazing real-estate precariously hanging in these valleys if you’re interested. Brad can attest to that after sifting through 130 some pictures from today. And I wonder why the batteries keep dying.”

Very modern grocery store. Not really sure why I need to show you a picture of a grocery store but I guess it is the extreme contrast between abject poverty and apparent wealth that I find disturbing but interesting.

The freeway parade. Maybe this is where the kids from the border ended up? Julie notes “I did see a banner saying “Festival de Maize” so I am making a corny educated guess that this was what was going on. It may not have a kernel of truth in it though. Kids dressed in marching uniforms, pageant gowns, costumes from butterflies, lady bugs, lions, zebras and on, majorettes with pom poms and batons and gogo boots. I didn’t see anyone dressed as a cob of corn though, but there was one girl whose dress was made of colourful bottle labels and bottle tops. Not sure of the beverage. Hope it wasn’t cerveza and she had to help with collecting.”

A high mountain pass northbound through Hounduras.

The road we will follow through the mountains and many switchbacks but it is probably the best highway we have been on in all of Central America.

Pretty scared before entering the caves. Julie notes “Well I have to give him credit for not saying he encountered just one old bat in the caves. I bet he was thinking that though so I will add that to the stuff to hold against him.”

The caves.

…that’s it for today folks, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Julie notes “We are in an actual campground in Honduras, go figure. Not your typical Canadian campground, mind you. We do look out over a barnyard but it is forested and we sat out in the dark before supper watching an amazing firefly show, listening to crickets chirp and also something unidentifiable creature making a constant low noise. Pretty sure snakes or spiders don’t make that noise. And there is a really long bare trail just outside our door that leaf cutter ants have cleared and we’ve watched them haul their precarious huge loads back to their nest. Now I’m not an ant (I am just an aunt) but why wouldn’t they forage out in a circle from their nest instead of this long trail. I don’t know. What I do know is if you stand in their trail they will bite you. Okay here is to a good night’s sleep in the peaceful campground tonight.”

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.”