Out of the Blue and across 5 states

Hello Samantha dear, I hope you're doing fine......

If you are a Garth Brooks fan you will immediately know what city we drove through yesterday morning. Sad to say there were no monumental landmarks for me to take a photo of, on the highway. Regardless, Baton Rouge was an easy passage and we elected to stay outside of New Orleans. Was I curious, of course but after Houston I was a bit suspicious about the magnitude of traffic we might encounter. 

We made a stop at the largest Bass Pro Shop that I have ever seen. It was like the clouds opened up and sucked my husband in. Remember the wonder of the Sears Wishbook, when you were a child? That was the look on Steph's face as we entered. 2 levels of every conceivable item one could want for any outdoor activity as well a Bayou replica. They even had critters in their Bayou. We saw ducks, turtles, fish, a giant snapping turtle, all living there. 

The "marsh"

We ended the day in a little town called Slidell, Louisiana. Great little town, with nice people and a Cracker Barrel. If you have never been to Cracker Barrel, just go. If you have been, you know what I am talking about. 

We were tired yesterday, stayed in a no-tell motel and had no wifi. So suffice to say I did not get a chance to blog or load photos. It did mean that we got a good rest and were able to gas up and hit the road early today and passed through a small section of Mississippi. Most of Louisiana and some of Mississippi, the highway is literally on stilts for miles and miles over the Bayou. There is no getting off of it, no fuel stops etc.. 

Then it was a Dixieland Delight, kind of day, through Alabama. The roadkill was less interesting than the 8 foot gator that had been hit in Louisiana, but none the less armadillos are clearly not speedy creatures. Also, first time I have seen a wild hog and he must not have been very fast either. A short trek through Florida and we were heading North!

Next thing you know, we were way down yonder, on the Chatahoochee! I would like to remind you that we are accustomed to warmth, and I attest that it is not hotter than a hoochie coochie. It is getting chillier by the state, as we continue North. Today I realized that I took all my "warmer" clothes back to NB when I was there in March. A Walmart stop may be a requirement by the time we get through the Carolinas.  LOL

Tonight are just outside of Savannah, Georgia. We travelled some very rural areas today and enjoyed the view. We have a stocked cooler and snack basket in the truck, so we stop when we feel like it, or when we need fuel. Usually we choose our hotels close to the highway, with a restaurant close by. It is nice to be able to stretch our legs by walking to dinner.  Tomorrow we will hit the I95, which means stopping when we get tired instead of calculated stopping points. We have 1, maybe 2 adventures left to go on our route. 

Until tomorrow, 

Gigi

Out of the Blue and through 16 lanes of traffic

 Hola Amigos!

We both woke up feeling fine this morning, despite the 3 am sleep interruption by a motorbike in the parking lot. Seriously, who revs a bike engine, in a parking lot at 3 am? I could have throttled him, pardon the pun.

We hit the road early so we could do a bit of bird nerding at Arsansas National Wildlife Refuge on our way through. What a magnificent park, right on the Gulf coast. 

Not going to lie, the fact that you could see the gator tracks throughout the walkway was a bit unnerving. Regardless, I only had to be able to out run Steph. We saw quite a few gators and marvelled at the fact that the ducks, birds, turtles and frogs seemed to hang out in the same spaces. I am sure they make for a tasty meal when they least expect it. 

Cute, right?

The park had several walking trails and then a one way auto loop at the end, with an active Eagle's nest. We could not see them close enough to identify the species and did not think to ask. 

It was a great way to break up the day of driving and gave us a good stretch. Nice to get your steps in, even if you are on the road. 

Uh-oh!

   Our day passed pretty quickly and we decided to aim to go beyond  Houston, since it was Sunday afternoon. We liked the odds of there being less traffic and it turned out to be a good plan. Now when I say less traffic, I have no concept of what to compare it too but I am left to assume it must be way worse during the weekdays. The road system is unlike anything I have driven before. Smack dab through the centre of Houston, on the freeway.  We avoided the toll road, used Waze and of course I had to turn the music off so I could see. LOL! Steph and Dolly waltzed through the traffic without issue. I, on the other hand,  do not understand why the brake pedal on my side does not work. At one point there were 7 lanes of traffic going each way, but alas, I kept my mouth shut and continued to try to operate my brake pedal. 

He survived

We settled in to our hotel and are planning our route for tomorrow. We have about 3500km behind us, by land and I have no idea how many nautical miles it is from Roatan to La Ceiba. We have figured that we are a little more than halfway home. I am missing not having my camera with me, but Steph has been good at sharing his. 

We keep forgetting to take our little Buhos out of the truck when we stop. Today we remembered to bring them along for a photo op by the alligator swamp. I dare say they were the only things the mosquitos did not try to eat. Man, when they say everything is bigger in Texas, they are talking about the mosquitos! Land Sake!

Until tomorrow, 

Gigi

Out of the Blue - Deep in the heart of Texas

 Hola Amigos!

If you think we had a lovely sleep and enjoyed a leisurely coffee this morning, you will laugh when I say, not so. 

We have both been working really hard on our health and nutrition. We want to live a long and healthy life with each other (despite the last 5000km) and enjoy our grand babies. So last night we aimed for a light dinner and chose wonton soup, from a local restaurant, to enjoy with Star Wars. Sadly, the only thing worse than watching Star Wars with Steph, was what we assume to be food poisoning from the Chinese restaurant. It was a long night for both of us.  

We got Dolly to her appointment this afternoon and decided to do a little hike, since we were both semi-alert. I think the Texas sun did us good. 

I am not allowed to divulge the names or photos of the birds that we got today, because we know the other competitors are following along. However, I did see this old road runner surrounded by a group of cacti. LOL I am not sure how he is smiling after no coffee and one testy piece of toast.

Just wearing my pepto bismal coloured shirt

                             

We got our steps in and went back for Dolly. Turned out she needed  2 new shoes, which we were prepared for. Unfortunately, they did not have the correct size to fit her full figured frame. Enter Joe, the shop owner and nicest man. He went out of his way to call a competitor to ask if they had the tires. They did and they agreed to stay an extra hour past closing, so Gertie with the Girth 

could get her new shoes on and so we did not have to wait here for them to open on Monday morning. Could we have continued on our way? Yes, but nobody wants to blow a tire on the interstate.

    We think Joe said he was from El Salvador and he was completely intrigued with our trip and that we spoke some Spanish.  He was really hoping we had a Youtube channel, which we don't. However maybe the next adventure we will consider it! In the meantime, we snapped a photo for our blog and thanked him for taking such good care of us.  

It was all in all, a good day. We got our laundry done, we enjoyed a local park trail, Dolly got new shoes and an oil change and we are tucked back in to our hotel room. A Saturday evening sipping gatorade and watching North Woods Law, my how the times have changed. 

Until tomorrow, 

Gigi

Out of the Blue and straight into 'Merica

 Hola Amigos, 

Our internal alarm clocks have adjusted to getting up early, so that we are packed and in our seats for the day. Usually, the intent is to hit the highway before rush hour. Albeit, I am not entirely sure if the traffic ever stops in Central America.

This morning's route was definitely a "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of plan. We knew we could make the border if we didn't fool around. There are 2 general routes that we had chosen. One included a good wander Northwest and the other was almost 2 hours shorter, straight up to Texas. No brainer, right? Wrong. The pinball route sounded great, but has had a lot of negative media attention in the past for various issues. If you want to google, I am certain you can find the history of it being a hotspot for criminal activity. We were told by our local friend that it is safe and to head out early in the morning and be more concerned about the abundance of transport trucks passing, than anything else. He was correct in his advice. There were tons of transports and American plated vehicles going like the speed of light over the potholes. LOL To put it in perspective, this road is similar to our 4 lane highway for 95% of the way. I was anxious at first. If I am being perfectly honest, I have been anxious since the whole no communicado hotel a couple days ago. 

The drive went by smoothly once we got caffeinated! One checkpoint, where we were waved on through. There was plenty of patrol cars during our drive and some really beautiful scenery. We arrived at the border around 10:15 am. Exiting out of Mexico was exactly what we thought it would be, a bit confusing. Drive here, go there, enter here, no not here, go there, no over there first, we are going to search your vehicle, no you don't need your vehicle searched, get in line and then bam, we were out. Someone advised me to create an inventory list in English and Spanish. It has come in super handy, a couple times. We handed it over, she opened the door and wished us well.  

Cue our entrance to America, the great! Dolly rolls up past the stop sign, excited to see her home state of Texas. I saw the look from the border agent, he was clearly not impressed with Dolly's eagerness (or Steph not noticing the stop sign). When we get to the kiosk, we got the same "holy ole gringo in a Honduras truck" look. Then the interview started with, "sir, you need to stop behind the stop sign next time" and leave it to my husband to reply "yes sir, apologies, I just heard all about it from my wife".  He chuckled a bit, asked some routine questions, checked our truck documents and wished us well.  

We carried on to Harlingen, Tx for a hotel and an appointment to have some maintenance done on the ole Doomsday truck. She will get an oil change, an alignment and tires balanced. Alignment and tire balancing are things that are not commonly done in Honduras, or at least not in Roatan. The roads are rough and it would be futile. Our mechanic, in Roatan, has done the drive from Texas to Honduras almost 100 times, during his career as a mechanic with a car dealership. He gave us some tips from his experiences over the years and one was to change the oil when we got to Texas. Hard work, in hot weather warrants it. He also changed the brake pads before we left even though they did not look terrible and we soon figured out why. I am not sure there are many people who would take the time to prep us as well as he did and then say if you have any issues, call me and I will walk you through what to do. 

I have been missing the babies (the big ones and the little ones) this week, so I was thankful for a FaceTime with Holly & Ivy (Auggie was asleep) today, as well as having the service to text Kass & Casey and the boys. We are settled in for the evening and very much looking forward to leisurely coffee in the morning, as well as getting our laundry done. Perhaps we will have time to do a little bird nerding while Dolly is being taken care of. 

Until tomorrow, 

Gigi

Out of the Blue - Where in the he77 am I?

 Hola Amigos!

You may, or may not have noticed my absence yesterday. We were so surprised at the state of the toll roads that we made great distance. However, we knew we would not make it to the next city and decided we were ok with staying in a little town, on the coast. After all, it was on IOverlander and had several hotels with ratings.....

With have certainly witnessed a magnitude of hotel varieties on this trip, from midrange, posh, creepy,  to Auto Hotels. How entertaining it has been. If one gives enough thought to Auto Hotel, you can begin to configure what purpose they may serve. It is a gated  hotel, with your own private garage! The door to your room is found inside of your garage. Certainly you would imagine this was the perfect answer for weary travellers, who wish to secure their vehicle and items.... SORT OF. I was mystified why there would be a lonely condom by the hand soap. Also, the red decorum and chrome fixtures, how very new age. Then my husband solved the mystery.....provocative billboards, advertising discreet auto hotels. Turns out the auto hotels are more about Netflix & chill than security for gals like Dolly.  We stayed at Auto Hotel Frances, I don't know who Frances is, but she likes red. Also, given the demure size of soap on the counter, by the condom, I would say she was more about wrapping than washing. Our friends spent last night at Auto Hotel California, not going to lie, I was curious as heck. 

Last night our hotel was the only decent option, in a town that was cringy, at best. The staff were nice but once we got settled, I realized there was no cell service, the wifi was down and shortly after dinner, the power went out. It was at that precise moment I wondered where the he77 am I and why? Once Steph determined the sheets were clean by using our power pack flashlight from the car, I proceeded to take a little tablet to help me sleep (thank you Salome & Isabella) and curled up in my clothes, for the night. 

At 6:30 am we were packed up and on the road. It was a beautiful sunrise and the drive was great. 

We made our way back out to the toll road and headed for coffee. Today, Shell saved the day. Their coffee was definitely not as good as OXXO but there was a lady selling warm pastries in the parking lot, so that made up for it.  Did I get gringo'd, of course, but was it worth the $4, you ask.... absolutely.

Another interesting adventure here, in Mexico, is the driving patterns. The white line indicates as much importance, if not more than the yellow! You drive to the right, basically on the shoulder so that others may pass you. This can happen in any direction, at almost any time. That means it is not unusual to have a semi in the centre, passing another semi that is on the shoulder, while you are on your shoulder. That's correct, 3 lanes of traffic on a 2 lane road. Also, hazard lights and blinkers are used more than I have ever witnessed anywhere else in the world. There is literally a symphony of flashing lights and horns while driving down the highway, yet it is all fairly organized. 

 

The Gulf was windy but so beautiful yesterday, on our drive through. 

We have been enjoying the views and Doomie has really pulled her weight. The food has been amazing and the people have been lovely. There have been some interesting looks when we go through the checkpoints. Today, on our way through a National Guard checkpoint, the man came to the window of our truck and looked quite shocked to see gringos driving a Honduran plated vehicle. He asked if we spoke Spanish and chuckled when we said "POCO" - a bit.  He spoke excellent English and quickly verified our passports before sending us on our way. Big Poppy speaks much better Spanish than I, but between the 2 of us we are managing ok. I would think it may be difficult to have no Spanish linguistics and traverse this country, but thousands of people do it each year. It seems to alter the interaction when you make an attempt to greet and ask in Spanish. If all is lost I simply smile and say "Lo siento, mi Español es muy malo" - I am sorry, my Spanish is very bad. That usually gets a giggle or a smile and the transaction goes on. Sometimes, I get lucky and they speak English at that point. 

We are settled in for the night, in a nice hotel (no, it is not an auto hotel) and looking at another early morning. 

If you are looking for us, we are chilling out. 

Until tomorrow, 

Gigi

P.S. this blog post does not go in the book for the grand babies. They can find out the meaning of Auto Hotel some other way.

Out of the Blue - into the Veracruz state

 Hola Amigos!

Our Palenque stay was so beautiful, we woke up to the birds singing while we packed up Doomie. Not bothering to wait for the restaurant to open, we opted for road coffee. 

OXXO is a chain store throughout Mexico that has some really great coffee. We tend to top up the tank daily so as to not run into a situation. By we, I mean he because let's face it, you probably all know I have a tendency to let the light come on. Even with the light on I admittedly press my luck more than I ought to. Mexico has an abundance of fuel stops, some more appealing than others. This morning, after much research, we decided we would buy a "Tu Pay Pase", basically a digital toll scanner that you fix to your windshield and reload.  Seemed easy enough, the sweet lad at the OXXO loaded it for me and voila! Not so fast, he forgot to tell me that you need to register it before you use it...cue the headache. Alas, complete and it worked like a charm once we knew what lanes to use!

It was a rather basic day, the toll highway was really great going and Waze warns of disturbances, when she can. The one thing Waze did not warn us about, was monkey crossings! There are poles with nets strung above the highway in places, to allow them to cross safely. Never did I imagine that a monkey may cross the road. Also,  is that an ominous sign to have a monkey cross your path? I mean I would rather one cross my path than on my back. Thankfully, not a worry for today, as we did not see one. 

Dolly, sending a little wink and a monkey crossing sign!

Our original plan was to head to Villahermosa today. We don't want to push too hard in the heat and we really were not sure what the toll highway would be like when we struck out, so we had planned a short day. The roads were great and we skipped Villahermosa, which is much larger than we imagined! We settled in Minatitlan this afternoon. A quick trip to the Bodega for some snacks and drinks for the cooler, then dinner.

Minatitlan, a fairly busy city is known for its oil refinery. It sits on the bank of the Coatzacoalcos River.  There is no shortage of taxis cabs, restaurants and cars in general. LOL

Did I mention it was hot? Like 43C hot when we walked to the grocery store. I was secretly singing "This Girl Is On Fire",  as we meandered the uneven sidewalk. Considering it is not much of a tourist town, there does not seem to be many places of interest to take in. 

We were happy to have dinner in the hotel restaurant, but forgot to bring the Buhos with us. Dolly is tucked in the covered parking and we are ready to watch a movie and plan our route tomorrow. 

                            Until tomorrow, 

                                    

                                   Gigi

Out of the Blue - into local culture

 Hola Amigos!

Our last day in Palenque was a treat! We had an early start to beat the crowds to El Ruinas Palenque. We parked our truck and paid a "watchie" to watch over Doomie. I mean a solar eclipse was on the horizon, we did not want her to be afraid.  The ruins were spectacular and did not disappoint. This makes our 7th or maybe 8th ruin visit. It really is incredible history, so if you are not familiar with the Mayan, Aztec, Inca cultures,  I highly encourage you to google. 

Second to the Mayan culture, are the birds and preservation of the areas. We happened to be on the tails of a birding group, but we are pretty certain they missed the Laughing Falcon and Toucan! 

Temple Queen LOL

Before you ask, no I did not climb the ruins this time, for 2 reasons, 1) I was not willing to risk breaking another bone and 2) it is hotter than yesterday. My ole granny knees have been cooperative for months now, so I am taking no chances.

Clearly indicating "why not?"

Of an ever better mention, Big Poppy also did not feel it necessary to climb the ruins. He certainly has before, but we were a bit closer to medical facilities and did not have to worry about meeting a deadline to leave the country. Dolly and I have $400 USD riding on the ole guy, to get us to the border in time. LOL

Gigi and Big Poppy Buho

Today, we picked up 2 little owls, known as buhos in Spanish. Friends of Stephan's (The Morins),travel with their garden nomes and we loved the idea. We have been looking for just the right couple to take on the adventure. So Gigi Buho and Big Poppy Buho jumped onboard today. This may change, given they are constructed of wood and my past experience with CBSA ( a story for another time). 

The waterfalls were no small feat, considering the anti-climatic view, however, we did the 3 million steps down and back. The shade was a nice consolation, considering the heat that the sun was spreading ferociously before her date with the moon.

The falls in Palenque National Park

The solar eclipse was about as anti-climatic as the waterfalls, in this neck of the woods, so we decided to create our own. I give, Mr. Solar Eclipse, 2024.  If you have followed this blog at all, you know I have no shortage of sarcasm or song lyrics. I will keep it in this one time.

.       

While we were wandering through the park, Dolly got herself a bath and a wax. She looks fresh and is ready to continue on the journey tomorrow. Our only complaint thus far is the really cruddy internet and phone service. However, it really is a 1st world problem and we

just pop into the restaurant to do our updates.  If you are looking for

us, we will be enjoying the pool and getting our route sorted for 

tomorrow.

Until tomorrow, 

Gigi

Out of the Blue and in the land of no service - HA!

 Hola Amigos!

We woke up early and decided we would get breakfast, then hit the road for Palenque. Turns out we would start the day uncaffienated and on an empty belly since nothing was open when we got to the office. Thankfully, we had asked the sweet waitress at the restaurant last night what route we should take. Her answer seemed fairly clear, "straight ahead" hand gesture and then she told us that she doesn't drive. LOL!     

A 1 lane bridge but takes 2 vehicles at once

We took her route and questioned ourselves a couple of times. The route showed only 87km to our destination. HOLY! A short day, you would think? HA-HA - NO.  Enter the term we had been preparing for: TOPE - translates to a top, something that protects something else. Let me tell you, they do not protect much. I have never been so happy to be driving Dolly, she may not be built for speed but, she sure waddles over the topes. It helps immensely that my hubby is a good driver and that we have been driving in Honduras for almost 4 years.

My trusty pilot

We found a randomly placed OXXO store on our route and they were just brewing fresh coffee. I mean, FRESH, he held my travel mug under it as it ran. It carried us on through to Palenque, with a renewed exuberance and a few loose fillings. 

In December, some of you may recall that we did part of this trip with a company called GAdventures. Our guide was a phenomenal fellow from the Yucatan area of Mexico and he has become a great friend. He has offered us lots of tips on planning our routes and making recommendations. Salvador appreciates good food and exceptional service. His choice for Palenque, a little place near the ruins, Maya Bell. We made our way here after a short and very harrowing experience going through the town of tiny streets. Dolly is sassy, she shows up on one way streets. LOL

Our cute little room

Since we will stay here for a couple of days to recharge and of course visit the Palenque ruins during the eclipse, we opted to choose a room with a bit of extra comfort. Pool is nearby, restaurant is a close walk and the staff are lovely. OMG, I forgot the food. Mexico is known to be a country of culinary experiences. If today is any reflection of that, I would have to whole heartedly agree. I am typing this as we finish eating dinner, which was delicious. 

Tostados de Pollo (think chicken taco but better)

Gigi and Big Poppy

Since the internet is strongest in the restaurant, I am blogging the day from here this evening. Hope your Sunday was fabulous. It is still hot as the habanero sauce Steph burnt his mouth on a few minutes ago. I will stick to the mole, it is amazing!

Since my sister loves cows, this photo was necessary

Until tomorrow, 

Gigi

      

Out of the Blue - Feeling HOT HOT HOT

 Happy Saturday Amigos!

Finca Ixobel in Poptun, Guatemala was a mecca for bird nerds like us. We woke this morning to one building a nest on the window ledge, right outside our room! The one surefire way for my hubby to start the day off right, is with coffee and bird nerding. We accomplished both this morning. The Finca kitchen sent us on the road with our travel mugs full of hot coffee and a bag of fresh banana bread. Clearly, they knew the way to my heart! 

Toucan Sam hanging out at Finca Ixobel

We hit the road with a plan of driving to a little town close to the Guatemala / Mexico border and spending the night there. That would allow us a little time to enjoy coffee and cross first thing in the morning. As it turned out, there was very little traffic and Ole Dolly was feeling her Taylor Swift era, so on we went. 

Beautiful views along the way

   

 Much of the road through this part of Guatemala was   really good. Mountainous and winding in places but fairly new with minimal transports on a Saturday, not what we were expecting.     

We knew we were close to the border ( trust me there are signs), but we did not realize we were nearly over it until we saw the little buildings. So much for washing the truck first. Ok...lets think about this, are we prepared? I know you are not going to believe this (LOL), but I had the file folders of necessary documents, in chronological order. We were stamped out of Guatemala in a flash. Since Doomie was feeling sad that nobody cared about her plates, in Guatemala, we gave her a special treat, a fumigation. By fumigation, I mean a tent where a small nozzle spit a drop of something on her side. Neither of us could ascertain if anything actually happened, so we side eyed each other and made the executive decision to continue on. The mandatory, albeit disappointing, fumigation date required payment, our passports needed stamped, Dolly got a frisking and her temporary import documents and we were off! Or so I thought, one of the officers took a liking to a dive knife his staff had found in Steph's gear and wanted to buy it. We gave him the piece of gear, as a gift and moseyed on our way. Toodle-ooo. 

Did I mention it was hot today? I mean the type of day that the sweat rolls down your forehead and into your eyes before you can catch it. It was approximately 38C when we arrived in Tenosique. You would think we are used to the heat, but this is much drier than the beach weather we have been enjoying. 

Doomie aka Dolly with her main squeeze

We were happy to pull into our Auto Hotel tonight. Seriously, this is the best concept I have witnessed on our trip! You pull your vehicle in to your own garage and close the door. Your hotel room door is in your garage. We were slightly timid backing the ole Tundra in, but she obliged and we are happy to be settled in with AC and television for the night. We are both a bit excited for tomorrow's location. We plan to spend a couple of days there.

Out of the Blue - Bird is the Word

 Hola Amigos!

We had a quiet night tucked in at the River Park Cabanas. Not often do we both manage to pull off a 10 hour snooze, but last night was the exception. This morning we stretched our legs and took in the surroundings before being served an amazing "tipico breakfast". Tipico breakfast consists of eggs, ham, fried banana, queso, beans, tortillas and of course coffee........ 2 minutes in to our drive we encountered our first check point. 

Omoa,  Honduras - first check point, waved through

1 hour drive took us to the border crossing at Frontera Guatemala. We had researched and felt prepared for the crossing. It was way easier than we even expected, took us 10 minutes to be stamped out of Honduras and in to Guatemala. Ole Dolly is wearing her Honduran bikini (license plates), so she didn't require any special documentation. Apparently, the fellas are fond of her bikini because I think we went through 3 or maybe 4 check points today. The policia all seem surprised when we roll the windows down and we are gringos, as well as the fact that she belongs to me, not Big Poppy.  

Picture it, Sicilly... I mean Guatemala farm country, my husband brings Doomie to a glaring halt, beside the entrance to a farm. I don't have time to wonder why, when he flies from the truck with his camera. I look up to see 2 things, the farmer shaking his head at yet another gringo pendejos (asshole) and a flock of storks overhead. Yes, bird is the word, a second hobby, if you will. 

Trust me, that is not where babies come from

    Of course this part of my day's note will undoubtedly touch the souls of Simon, Bridgitte, Claude and Lise, since we are in a bit of a bird competition this year. Let's just say there have been some amazing finds today. 

A motmot bird

A little hummingbird

Main Street, Rio Dulce, Guatemala

Rio Dulce was grey and drizzly as we went through, which was a bit disappointing, but the memories from staying there at Christmas came back quickly. We loved kayaking at daybreak to see the howler monkeys, but decided that the weather meant we would probably not enjoy it as much this time. So the decision was made to push on a bit further to Poptun. 

For the record, I succumbed to the tienda ham sammie today. The road snacks, aka world's best brownies, that my beautiful friend, Page gave us, seemed to have disappeared and we were ready for coffee and a snack. We met the sweetest little gal at a Texaco who assured us they were made today and we picked them from the cooler ourselves. Several hours have passed and we are fine, so I will take that as a win. 

We have arrived at our accommodations for the night and are pleasantly surprised at the location. Tonight we are staying at the neatest little farm at the foot of a mountain, near San Luis, Guatemala. It's an ecolodge, which we like and is a working horse farm. I think my derriere will forgo a trail ride after a day of driving, but a shower and supper are on the agenda....... I am sending Steph first.

Although functional, I think I will use the shower in our room.

Out of the Blue - How Did We Get Here?

 Is it a midlife crisis? Years of the transient military life? The arrival of 3 grandbabies, in 6 months? I mean really, who can rationalize what goes through the minds of folks our age? After 45, our give a shit factor went right out the window and we started living our lives on our own terms. 

We are adventurers at heart, there is no question. Neither of us have ever really lived life in a conventional manner. Probably why we are so compatible, we know how the other thinks, we appreciate it and we roll with it. 

We were super disappointed when the flights from Eastern Canada changed and no longer made our little Island home accessible affordably and on the same day. A trip home now entails 24 hours (plus) of travel each way, 2 hotel stays and packs a punch to the wallet. So naturally, when things got dusty in Roatan and the babies started arriving in Canada, it was time to rethink our longterm plan. 

Enter the grand plan to drive back to Canada. We acquired Doomie, aka - Dolly Parton, aka- Girthy Gertie awhile back and we just couldn't leave her behind. She was built to waltz her voluptuous body up over the roads and potholes of Central America.  So after lots of research, reading and planning we struck out on our next big adventure. If you have read this far, feel free to roll your eyes and wonder wtf are they doing....we do it regularly.  

Doomie, aka - Dolly Parton, aka-Girth Gertie

Last night we drove sweet Dolly over to the port, where she boarded a barge and spent the night sailing across to La Ceiba. We are pretty certain she had a man spend the night, nestled in her comfy reclining seat, but alas, we all get lonely and she was fresh as a daisy when we picked her up this morning. Our Ferry crossing was a little less romantic and a lot more wavy. 

We left La Ceiba at 8:30 am and moved our way through to Tela, where Steph bought a ham sandwich from a roadside tienda. If you know me, you know I am pretty cautionary with roadside food. We continued our travel and ended up seeing a clown who looked like he needed a bite. Don't judge me, I am sure he was fine after the sandwich. San Pedro Sula was a quick drive around and not nearly as busy as I expected, we timed it well.  Tucked into a sleepy little hotel, about an hour from Guatemala, for the night. 

Dude was happy for a ham sammie

Until tomorrow, 

Gigi