Paid off dirty cops.......................check
Hidden money in my underwear to avoid paying off dirty cops..............check
The last week has been filled with excitement. We are currently in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Getting here (since last blogging) has taken us across the borders of Honduras (at night, and 2.5 hours total time waiting at customs) Across through Nicaragua, which is the easiest border by far, and into Costa Rica. We have again spent uber amounts of time in the front seat of the car, and not nearly enough time simply vacationing....My idea of vacation is not driving all day, sleeping in the hot pocket, and getting up to drive again.
We have officially reached our furthest point south and will begin making our way to the north in a day or two. We will be taking a route much further inland and seeing some Mayan ruins.
We have been 5,500 miles to this point, and been gone for 20 days. That's 275 miles a day. That's chaos.
My vision for the trip was pretty simple, but there have been many variables that have been quite different from how I pictured things...
I would have liked to take a leisurly drive, settle down for a day or two, possibly on the beach and surf with some locals, do some surfboard repairs, give away a surfboard or two, bless and serve people in anyway I can, and leave and head for the next guy, or gal, or family that I might be able to help out. I could really think of no other way to spend this summer vacation at this point in my life....It's deinitely my heartbeat and what I find total Joy in. That's the main reason I'm here....It's a ministry that I find TOTAL joy in!!!
I have found...
Camping on the beach, in the pourning rain, during a thunder and lightning storm is tough way to go, and it is even harder to meet locals during these times. funny how that works...people don't sit out on the beach when it's raining do they???
_____________________________
One of the things I have been able to reflect on is...
What does a ministry in this area look like in the future?
Though it hasn't been all like I thought, I'm totally pumped to be down here and am completely thankful for the way things have turned out to this point.
Feeling wrapped up in the goodness and the grace of God!!
7.19.2008
7.14.2008
Crossing the Border
Man. Toady was nuts. After spending the last couple of days touring around Guatemala we decide to head south, scratch that....East. We have a hard time going too far south at this point. We really saw a couple of cool cities over the last few days. Santiago Atitlan, on Lake Atitlan was nuts. Mayans everywhere. The total cultural experience. Then last night we were in Antigua. Nuts too. I don´t really know how to explain Antigua. You may just want to google it or wiki it. That might do it more justice. Antigua had too many tourist though, so we bolted for El Salvador.
Today´s border crossing was enough to make me want to pull my hair out. Here are a few of the reasons.
1. the people speak ONLY spanish.
2. I try and speak only spanish.
3. Somehow my three spanish teachers forgot to teach border crossing vocabulary.
4. There are a ton of locals that try and help you cross the border...and they all want tips.
5. You have to beat them off like flys.
6. We have a truck, and that means lots of paper pushing
7. They wont do any of the photocopies for you, so you have to find a place to get photocopies.
8. Most offices have a photocopy machine, but they wont do it.
9. Tim is trying to get me to ask more questions.
This is enough to drive any man to drink...need I say more.
We crossed after an hour an a half and have found our way to La Liberdad, a small surfing town that we thought was going to blow up with waves. We find ourselves without good surf, but the prospects of linking with some locals remains very high. We are totally liking the flavor of El Salvador and are looking to stick around for a while.
Sweaty, but having fun still. The adventure continues.
Today´s border crossing was enough to make me want to pull my hair out. Here are a few of the reasons.
1. the people speak ONLY spanish.
2. I try and speak only spanish.
3. Somehow my three spanish teachers forgot to teach border crossing vocabulary.
4. There are a ton of locals that try and help you cross the border...and they all want tips.
5. You have to beat them off like flys.
6. We have a truck, and that means lots of paper pushing
7. They wont do any of the photocopies for you, so you have to find a place to get photocopies.
8. Most offices have a photocopy machine, but they wont do it.
9. Tim is trying to get me to ask more questions.
This is enough to drive any man to drink...need I say more.
We crossed after an hour an a half and have found our way to La Liberdad, a small surfing town that we thought was going to blow up with waves. We find ourselves without good surf, but the prospects of linking with some locals remains very high. We are totally liking the flavor of El Salvador and are looking to stick around for a while.
Sweaty, but having fun still. The adventure continues.
7.12.2008
Guatemala!!!
We drove across the border this morning and are now in Guatemala. It´s been a little bit of everything trying to get to this point. Mexico was......crazy and......interesting. It´s a nice change of pace to be in Guatemala where the people seem even more friendly and the pace is slow. We could cross this little country in a day, so we are enjoying the opportunity to slow it down a bit. The beaches should be nice and may even warrant a couple of days of camping! So. We have come across some classic people, so great places, some that I hope to visit again, and others I´m thankful to have passed. Military checkpoints are a hoot too...one guy wanted us to sell him a mag lite. I´m talking a fully camo´d hat wearing, automatic weapon, (yeah, bigger than an m-16). We were haggling with a soldier. CRAZY. Another ranking guy at another stop wanted some cola...we only had some warm beer. Three soldiers took it. CRAZY.
Officially, montezumas revenge is over for me. Tim is on chapter two. We are eating good local food, talking with uber-nice store owners, and driving like we´ve lived here for a dozen years.
Since it´s rainy season it has made things particularly rough. The back of the truck, where it´s free to sleep, is somewhat uncomfortable.......SCRATH THAT........EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE! It gets to about 100 degrees (we think) and water condemses all over the canopy. We basically turn all night long and wake up in a pool of our own sweat. Putting up a tent is not an option, it would wash downstream in minutes.
We surfed a place two days ago called punto conejo, rabbit point. This was classic. The rains had come down so hard the last few days that we could not get to the beach, the rivers were too high. We ran into 4 other surfers, loaded their boards onto our cars, and had them stand on the tailgate. They then directed us through foot deep ponds and down miles 4 wheels drive beach driving, to one of the most beautiful empty point breaks ever seen. We surfed about 4 hours with just the 6 of us and had an unreal time. The guys were pumped because they were in a 2 wheel drive truck and there was simply no way they could have gone to the beach. So this was pretty fun. We almost got stuck in the sand too, which made things a little more exciting.
More to come later. We´re heading to Atitlan tonight and who knows tomorrow.
Hasta Luego
Officially, montezumas revenge is over for me. Tim is on chapter two. We are eating good local food, talking with uber-nice store owners, and driving like we´ve lived here for a dozen years.
Since it´s rainy season it has made things particularly rough. The back of the truck, where it´s free to sleep, is somewhat uncomfortable.......SCRATH THAT........EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE! It gets to about 100 degrees (we think) and water condemses all over the canopy. We basically turn all night long and wake up in a pool of our own sweat. Putting up a tent is not an option, it would wash downstream in minutes.
We surfed a place two days ago called punto conejo, rabbit point. This was classic. The rains had come down so hard the last few days that we could not get to the beach, the rivers were too high. We ran into 4 other surfers, loaded their boards onto our cars, and had them stand on the tailgate. They then directed us through foot deep ponds and down miles 4 wheels drive beach driving, to one of the most beautiful empty point breaks ever seen. We surfed about 4 hours with just the 6 of us and had an unreal time. The guys were pumped because they were in a 2 wheel drive truck and there was simply no way they could have gone to the beach. So this was pretty fun. We almost got stuck in the sand too, which made things a little more exciting.
More to come later. We´re heading to Atitlan tonight and who knows tomorrow.
Hasta Luego
7.08.2008
Acapulco
So far.......DRIVING.
Tim and I have driven and driven and driven. It has been nuts.
Our journey through Baja was......lets see.....DRY. There are more cactus there than we ever care to see again. We drove 5 1/2 hours through a nutty mountain pass in the dark. It was about 50 miles, and took us all that time. We got a good bump on the bottom of the truck, and blew out a shock (the front right) but everything else is smooth. I will return to one place in Baja....Scorpion Bay, a perfect point break with a sandy bottom and perfect waves. They were about waist high, but I rode a few waves more than a quarter of a mile. It was nuts. By far the longest I´ve ever surfed continually. Scorpion Bay was full of American tourist surfers, so it wasn´t really the place that we were looking to throw down and camp.
We travelled south from there. Through La Paz, passing up Cabo San Lucas, and taking a 6 hour ferry ride with the truck to Topolombampo. From there, we drive along the coastal route through Mazatlan, Peurto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Zihuatanejo, today we arrived in Acapulco. We are hoping to to go south into central america, but have yet to hear from our insurance company.
So far we have been camping in the mountains, on the beach, sweating day and night (yeah, it´s that kind of heat), sleeping in the back of the truck, and cooking on the tailgate. We´ve taken hundreds of photos but are unable to post any at this internet stop...our first of the journey. We actually got a hotel two nights ago. We needed a warm shower, if you know what I mean. There was also some sort of tropical storm that dumped rain all night and tore down all kinds of electrical poles and signs, and tore off some roofs. Perfect night for a hotel.
We both wish a need more time to fully explore this land, but we are trying to get to some smaller towns along the coast to squat for a day or two at a time, plug in, hook some bruthas up, and dig out.
We are unsure what is ahead, but are pumped to be where we are, and are both thoroughly enjoying the trip.
We have been totally provided for, have not encountered bad cops, federales, or people trying to take advantage of us, and feel God has had his hand of protection on us this whole time!!
Tim and I have driven and driven and driven. It has been nuts.
Our journey through Baja was......lets see.....DRY. There are more cactus there than we ever care to see again. We drove 5 1/2 hours through a nutty mountain pass in the dark. It was about 50 miles, and took us all that time. We got a good bump on the bottom of the truck, and blew out a shock (the front right) but everything else is smooth. I will return to one place in Baja....Scorpion Bay, a perfect point break with a sandy bottom and perfect waves. They were about waist high, but I rode a few waves more than a quarter of a mile. It was nuts. By far the longest I´ve ever surfed continually. Scorpion Bay was full of American tourist surfers, so it wasn´t really the place that we were looking to throw down and camp.
We travelled south from there. Through La Paz, passing up Cabo San Lucas, and taking a 6 hour ferry ride with the truck to Topolombampo. From there, we drive along the coastal route through Mazatlan, Peurto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Zihuatanejo, today we arrived in Acapulco. We are hoping to to go south into central america, but have yet to hear from our insurance company.
So far we have been camping in the mountains, on the beach, sweating day and night (yeah, it´s that kind of heat), sleeping in the back of the truck, and cooking on the tailgate. We´ve taken hundreds of photos but are unable to post any at this internet stop...our first of the journey. We actually got a hotel two nights ago. We needed a warm shower, if you know what I mean. There was also some sort of tropical storm that dumped rain all night and tore down all kinds of electrical poles and signs, and tore off some roofs. Perfect night for a hotel.
We both wish a need more time to fully explore this land, but we are trying to get to some smaller towns along the coast to squat for a day or two at a time, plug in, hook some bruthas up, and dig out.
We are unsure what is ahead, but are pumped to be where we are, and are both thoroughly enjoying the trip.
We have been totally provided for, have not encountered bad cops, federales, or people trying to take advantage of us, and feel God has had his hand of protection on us this whole time!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
