Jada's point of view

Well hello there! Long time no talk. So, where to begin? I don't really know how to start things so I'll just write and you guys will read. Sound fair? Perfect!

Okay, so I had been practicing driving that motorcycle for a year in our neighbourhood before taking this trip. Just a fun fact. Mom and dad had given us lots of advance notice about how they wanted to get down, so I was already learning how to ride my bike. Sure it was scary at first, but I was really getting confident on that bike! I was really nervous about leaving at first, since it would be new territory and I hadn't gone on any trips outside the city. The fastest road I had been on was a 120km/h road, and that was only for about, give or take, 5 kilometres. So yeah, I was nervous. You would be too! But we were off and like any trip we had our good times and our… not so good times.

One of the most memorable events of the trip (though I am sad to say so) was three day into the trip were I had my spill… I was too close to mom and panicked after looking at the view to see her break light. I won't divulge further, seeing as how mom and dad have already put in their two cents about it. Besides I have some awesome battle scars from it! (They are really small… like really, really small.) If anything, I'm glad that happened where it did. I had great emergency care from a helicopter nurse, who happened to be right behind us. What luck! I am deeply indebted to them, and hope they know I will never forget what they did.

 Of course it would have been better if that didn't happen…. but oh well! You win some you lose some. My parents gave me three options: 1. Take moms bike the rest of the way down, and have mom get a new bike. 2. Get a car (brandon was really keen on this one). or 3. Fix the bike and be on our way (which was the most unlikely since my bike was probably totalled off). Needless to say I was upset. I was angry at myself for doing something so stupid! Low and behold the next day my bike is there with very little damage! It was fixed and off we went! Of course I didn't have engine guards on it, so for a few hours I drove on the interstate. Funny how engine guards give you that sense of security. That was put on and we were good to go.

We met back up with Uncle Bob, and his brother. It was a lot of fun driving with them! Even though I had some issues it was still a great way to travel. We walked on the beach by our hotel, and I swear it was like Bamfield all over again (you know what I mean CSS kids). We ran, played, and simply enjoyed the fine weather and refreshing water! One of the best moments of the trip in my opinion. I even scared a poor sea otter. I had no idea it was there! It scared me as well, and I ended up cutting my finger on a rock trying to see it better… wow I am pretty clumsy…

 (Oh yeah, that was fun!)

I broke my starter because I had a brain fart. I actually found it kind of funny, how I was more distraught over damaging my starter, than I was when I acquainted it with the asphalt. We met a really nice guy who fixed it, and changed my parents oil. He was super nice, and was a great mechanic and metal worker! The great thing about bikes is you meet different kinds of people and great new friends.

(Mark is the mechanic who help us. Thanks we owe you one!!!)

We went through the red woods, and dang it was gorgeous! The trees are HUGE!!! Grandfather tree is 1800 years old!! Thats ancient!! We've been in the redwoods before, but that was with a car, so this was totally different! If you disagree, than you my friend have never had the joy of driving without a roof over your head down through amazing trees.

 (See!! I wasn't kidding!)

 (The one log cabin was amazing! surprisingly comfortable to sit it…)

 (Brandon is probably gonna kick my ass, but this was a hat that was just so funny!

He definitely belongs in the 80's!)

(Uncle bob, Gary, and Rita under one of the many trees.)

Soon enough we crossed into mexico. That boarder wasn't so bad… No one was annoying us, or herding us like cattle. So I guess this was one of the best boarders we passed through. But unfortunately we went straight into Tijuana. Good lord! That place is a maze! The roads in mexico were… okay I guess? The topes(Speed bumps) though! My poor bike! I scraped the bottom of it so many times! I actually started standing up off my bike to get the weight off of it. I won't ever complain about any roads!

People say Albertan drivers are bad (No clue what they are talking about.), well after driving with mexicans I say we are the best drivers around! People actually got mad at us when there was traffic and we weren't swerving between vehicles! Sorry but our bikes are rather large and I don't feel like getting run over thank you very much!

We had to stop for a few day in Mazatlan, since we were in the tropical storm Manuel. The streets would flood and with all the pot holes, there was no way i was going to drive through there. We got rained on pretty badly in some places, but still kept going.

Guatemala… How can I describe this country… Well… Oh I know!! It is no doubt the asshole of the world! You get there and the smell of shit invades your nose! That was horrible!!! Not to mention we got stuck in a drive in hotel, where gun shots were heard, and the beds had no sheets or pillows that we clean. Not my idea of a great night! Nothing really significant happened there, well at least none I can think of. But when we were traveling from Guatemala into El Salvador I took a little passenger with me. Thats right guys, I took a little grasshopper across the boarder with me. He just sat there enjoying the ride. Bright green and cute! Of course he ditched me once we got into the boarder! He never even said goodbye! Stupid.

Okay I'm going to skip all this boring stuff!! Boarder crossings sucked! The only one I didn't mind was from honduras into Nicaragua. It was straight to the point and took the least amount of time. It's the second poorest country in central america, but you would never be able to tell! It was beautiful. The roads were amazing, and the greenery was absolutely astounding! Nicaragua, I would go to again, just to see more of what it is like.

Other boarders suck! Never go with anyone who claims they can help you. All they want is your cash, and will screw you over to get it. They are thieves and freakin snakes who don't deserve our time. Yes they usually took up all of the time. Three hours at a boarder crossing because some guys want money. Not worth it.

Finally we found ourselves in Panama!!! Finally a place with good road signs and roads. I didn't have to worry about killing my bike with the big pot holes we had seen in the other countries. It's a four lane highway, and the drivers actually look out for other drivers! I know crazy right! We stayed in David (Day-Veed) for a few days then we left for dad's friends place. Poor brandon the arachnaphobe just had to see the biggest spider they have down here. The wandering spider, you can search it up if you want, but I am so not doing that! Gross! Mom saw a tarantula cross the road and had a panic attack. She was behind me, and I thought something bad had happened to her when I heard her shriek in my ear. Well as you all know, I am now def. Yep thats how loud she shrieked, "AH! THAT WAS A F**KING TARANTULA!!! IT WAS F**KING HUGE!!! STEW! I DONT WANT TO STAY HERE!!!!" Yep. Those were her exact words. We haven't left yet, so I guess you can tell dad calmed her down. It was pretty funny! I wish I got a picture of her panicked face!!

We had taken a wrong turn so I needed brandon to push me backwards so I could turn around. He was by a pillar, panicked and pushed me over! I was not very happy. Dad laughed and yeah. We got there and had a bit of bug trouble. But all of that is fine now.

Oh and mom had another panic attack!!! Yep like a week ago we were sitting in the living room when mom just so happened to look down. Sitting right in the middle of the floor, minding its own business was a scorpion. It was black, and about two inches in length. Mom pulled up her legs and shouted for dad to kill it. He did with her flip flop and picked it up, throwing it away. After it was done mom said good night to us kids and walked into the master bedroom. I laughed so hard when mom shouted out "HOW DID THAT GET IN HERE?! WHAT THE F***!" Can you all guess what moms favourite word is? She sounded so calm when saying good night and like five seconds later she is shouting and panicked. She didn't have a good sleep, and neither did brandon.

Well, i guess thats a recap of all the fun things I can think of at the moment… I had fun on this trip, but sadly my bike won't be coming back to canada with me. I find that unfair and sad! I love my bike! Oh well. I had fun and do not regret doing this at all! I would again, in a heartbeat. I have ten thousand kilometres under my belt, and met many new people who have impacted my life greatly. I miss my friends and family members. Hopefully some of you come down to visit! We would love to have you down into our terrifyingly terrific life of fear and work! Hahaha! This won't be my last blog, but it will be the only one for a while.

I hope I didn't just waste all your time reading this. Well, if you continued reading and it wasted your time then too bad for you! I regret nothing! Talk to you all soon enough! Have fun and keep in touch! bye bye for now!!!

Jada

Karen's view point of this Adventure

I guess it's my turn to write my two cents.

First of all, a lot of people think I was the person behind this "adventure".   Stewart had been kicking the idea around for a while, and we talked about it for a some time as well........even though I swear we talked about it for a week before everything was said and done........but, I obviously don't remember that first part very well.   Anyway......I am always in for some fun, and will go with Stew anywhere.

I love love love Motorbike trips, I have no problem packing for them.  Although, I found it hard deciding what I was going to pack for this trip.....we are going to be gone for a year......I have some kick ass outfits I wanted to bring!   Realistically I knew I could only bring the basics......jeans, t shirts, maybe one pair of shorts.    My computer, iPad, cords to charge....these weren't a necessity, but I refused to leave them at home.....I swear I will carry my own luggage!

First day......leaving our house for the year...........

We were all pretty excited to get going....Adrenalin going, can't believe we are actually doing this!!!!
In this Photo I m actually pretty pissed off....let me back up.

After all the biking I have been doing, you think I would know how to load my bike.  I was carrying Stewarts and my luggage......I couldn't figure out how to get both of our bags on properly.  (remember..my bag is a lot heavier than Stewarts....have no idea why). (sarcasm)
Stewarts bag fit perfectly on the passenger seat, and I could fit mine on the back.(sissy bar).   I knew I shouldn't ride with mine on the very back....will make it too difficult to turn.  I tried switching them around but couldn't get it to work.......so, of course I tried driving up our little, curvy driveway back heavy.   By the way....we have Sand Stone rocks going up it as well.    Needless to say, I couldn't turn.....but no, I didn't stop cause I can do it........I crashed my bike into the sandstone!!!  Thank God I only bent my crash bar up and took off part of the front reflector!  If you look closely you can see it.  We spent another two hours fixing it, and wow, I figured out how to put my bag on the passenger seat, where it should have been in the first place.   This isn't a great start to our trip..........

I stayed at my friend Karen Hudson's place for the week, since Stewart had to go to Sundry for work.....Yes he had planned to work right up until we left....August 30th.
Anyway, I stayed at Karen and Dave's, who are also looking after our dog and cat for the year.  thanks guys for this!

 Petey and Dave

 Petey and Ali

Karen and me

We met up with my brother-in-law Bob Schneider, his brother Gerry and wife Rita, and Stuart Gammel, in Calgary to travel with us.  

Stuart was going with us as far as BC, he branched off just before the border into the States.  It was great riding with you Stuart, we will have to do it again.

 Stuart, Bob, Brandon, Jada

Gerry, Rita, Stuart, Bob

The Schneider's rode with us into the states, through good times and bad.........They saw the best and worst of me.....and I am so glad they were with us through the worst times.

The very worst, when Jada had her spill.   I know we keep bringing it up, and she really wants to forget about it, but I really felt like selling the bikes right there and flying the rest of the way.  This is accident number two!  First me, now my daughter...........I never saw what happened being that she was behind me, but it is a sound I never want to hear again!  I thank God she only had minor scrapes, and that Dan and Bonita were behind us in there vehicle.  Thank you for not being in a rush and passing us....instead, they travelled behind us for the longest time enjoying the view, when Jada had her mishap.

Bonita is a Triage Nurse, who works in a helicopter much like Stars Air Ambulance.  We had the best of the best with us that day......and Thank you Dan for driving the kids to our hotel, and offering to take Jada's bike with you.   Jada's bike was hardly damaged.....which was surprising.  She just had a scuffed windshield, a cracked engine guard, and her gas tank was just dented a little in the front.  We replaced everything except the gas tank.

Her tires were worn from regular wear so we replaced both of them as well.  

Jada has done extremely well getting back on her bike and riding.  She pleaded to keep going and didn't want us to sell.  I know some of you think we should get our head examined for continuing on, but I wanted to give her the chance to get her confidence up again.  It was best for her to ride with us, learn from her mistake, and have Stewart and I coach her through it.  

Dan and Bonita, angels on the highway.

Continuing our journey through the states was pretty much stress free after this.  We met up with Bob, Gerry, and Rita in Washington.  They had left a day earlier while we waited to get the bike fixed.

It was so nice walking on the ocean beach and investigating sea life with them.  We watched a sea otter playing in the ocean, looked at sea stars, and sea shells, and Gerry found a really neat rock which he gave me for luck.   

 Brandon, always finding a place to climb

 Rita and Gerry Schneider

 Jada and Brandon 

Bob and Stewart

We travelled through the redwoods as a group, and this is where Jada had her second incident.......she of course steered right where she was looking over a curb.........that's all I will say about this.......but she buggered up her starter because of it.   We had to push start her a few times after getting gas, and I was getting pretty pissed off..........I couldn't believe she had that brain fart!  I just about got rid of the bike again.......I think it would be safer to drive a car at this point......plus, I am now thinking the Schneiders' and my lucky rock are actually unlucky!!!!  Both incidences happened in front of them.....no offence guys!! 

We got her starter fixed by a great and wonderful mechanic in Ukiah, by the name of Mark. Stewart and I decided to get our oil changed by him as well, since it was about that time.   We ended up staying over night there, but Bob, Gerry and Rita returned back to their hotel in New Port washington.  We said our goodbyes, and we were now truly traveling on our own from this point on.  I wasn't ready for our groups to separate, I tried to talk Rita and Gerry into traveling across the Mexican Border with us.  Unfortunately they couldn't.   Thank you guys for joining us on this first little part of our leg.

What was really neat for me when traveling through another part of the Redwoods after Ukiah, was realizing I had been here before.  One of our first bike trips 7 years ago was by the one log home, and the Grandfather tree in Brookings.  It was so great to have the kids travel the roads on motor bikes like Stew and I did.  I thought back then how neat it would be to have our kids travel with us on motor bikes to see the same sites we saw.......and wow.......it happened!

Fast forward a little.....Driving the bikes in L.A was a little nerve racking.  Figured if we can drive here we can drive anywhere!!!   L.A. was great!  We took the kids to Universal Studios, by cab, and really enjoyed the day.  The rides were great, Stew can only do so many rides before he feels sick.  Brandon loved the simpsons ride, and Jada and I really loved the Transformers ride.  After doing it a couple of times I was starting to feel a little queezy myself.

 we thought we were being shocked.  lol

 LA. in front of our hotel.

I know I said I was going to give my view point of this trip, and it seems like I am telling a story instead of giving my thoughts.    I am going to shorten it up a little bit now otherwise this could go on forever.

I realize the best carefree, stress free traveling was in Canada and the United States.  I know, ironic right, since Jada had her accidents in the States.  I mean the absolute best roads ever are in the first world countries.....ding ding ding!  The Central American border crossing were awful, stressful, and an average time of 3 to 3 1/2 hours.   I will not write about this for I feel I will just be saying what Stewart has said......I may as well cut and paste his version.    I absolutely hated it, and I am so glad he has a calm, logical disposition.....because if i was on my own, I would have had a bleeding ulcer long ago.   When things went wrong and I had panic attics and temper tantrums, he just looked at me at said, relax.....there is always another way of doing something.  By the way, I never relaxed until I was actually driving away from borders.   Funny how driving a motor bike, trying to get enough air flow to cool you down from sweltering for 3 hours, helps you to forget the drama, and enjoy the ride!   

Yes enjoy the ride somewhat........If mud was holding my bike together, it would be in pieces now.  You will never appreciate the highways back home until you drive on shit roads here......like holy cow, I never thought roads could be so bad!  It even makes Saskatchewan roads great....i mean I will never complain about the road from home to Loon Lake, or gravel roads for that matter ever again!!!

I've lost a couple screws that I know of since we are done driving.  Those will be replaced once we get to a Kawasaki dealer.    There was one road in particular that was so bad, Stewart would be the navigator........he would see what hazards were up ahead and actually tell Jada and Myself where we should position our bikes on the road.   Crazy!!!!

Every Country we entered the people were really nice.  That is once we were out of the Border crossings.  The people who try and scam you in the border crossings are all bandits who try and take you for everything you have..........I have nothing nice to say about those assholes. So I won't talk about it.

A few great friends we have made along the way are Carlos and Socrates.

Carlos, we met just before Mazatlán, at the ferry.  He helped us tie down our bikes since the ferry workers will not do it.  It would have taken a lot longer if it wasn't for Carlos.  We became fast friends and will hopefully meet up with him again over the Christmas holidays.  He will be in Panama sailing, and has extended an invitation for us to join him for a couple days.  Since we have never sailed before, this will be a great learning experience for all of us.

Socrates, we met in Tapachula.  He works for the hotel we had stayed at.....the hotel we stayed at for 3 days because I had gotten sick.........no one likes to travel when you have the shits!!!! Socrates really helped me out with translating for me at the doctors office.  If it wasn't for his help on his day off, wow....I will always be grateful for your help, your kindness, and most of all your friendship.  I look forward to having you and your family as our guest in Canada.

Stew, Socrates, karen at the Hotel in Tapachula.

Thought I had a photo of Carlos......can't seem to find it.........

Fast forward again.......bad pothole roads.....a few shitty little towns......starving stray dogs.........we arrive in Panama after a month and 10 days.  Stew gets in touch with his friend, who gives us contacts in Panama to help us get into his home away from home.

Brian and Jeannette have helped us out a lot since coming here.  They have been calming my nerves about the bugs and spiders, and even helped to encourage me to walk in the jungle.   I did it.....I don't plan on doing it again any time soon.  They live up the mountain in Altos Del Maria, have about 13 dogs.....all strays they have rescued, and 3 cats.   They have huge hearts when it comes to animals........it is so nice to see how loved these animals are, and how they are loved back.    There is also community dog by the name of Sisco.  He stayed outside our house one night when he followed us on our walk.   I plan on picking up dog food like the other people here, who feed dogs at the basura...(.garbage dump).     

 Jungle in Alto....

 walking back from the garbage, Sisco followed us.

 One of many many many spiders yuck

 Karen, Driving shot in Panama

 Welcoming Committee near Altos Del Maria

 pretty oxen

 Jada, driving shot

 Stewart, and Brandon...aka...helmet bitch. Brandon can explain in his blog.

 Starting our jungle trek

 maybe wasn't so bad....Jada & Brandon

 I'm still freaked out...took a lot for me to walk this

 this is why I don't like the jungle....as well as scorpions, spiders, anything that crawls.

can you see the frog?

Okay........so...if i had to do it all over again.......would I?

Yes I would!  Even with all the bitching I have been doing, it has been a life experience I got to do with my husband and kids!!!!!  I am so lucky to experience adventures with them.  Yes, there were times I wanted to say screw it......I am done.  I am glad I stuck it out.....their were far more fun times than bad...border crossings could not out weigh the pleasant times.   I laughed, I cried, I swore, hell, I even almost shit my pants.......... Road side stands will never be ate at again.......EVER!!!!!

Lets just say....I was a great host! you guys can figure that one out.

But just so you all know....I am not doing this again going home.  I am selling my bike, buying a plane ticket and flying home.  I already have a buyer for my bike and we are only a week into Panama!  As for Jada's Bike.......I'll be giving that one away.........

Until next time......I will still take photos and blog every once in a while.....it just won't be every day like when we were traveling.  

Adios.......for now!

Stew's Summary of the Entire Trip

Now that we are here in Panama and settled in Altos Del Maria, I thought it best to capture my overall thoughts on our entire trip.

We left Calgary August 30th and arrived to Altos Del Maria on October 10th.  We travelled 10,315 km over 40 days through the US, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Finally Panama.  We had some great days, some terrible days and lots of "Interesting" days.

The best parts:
 - Walking on the beach with the Schneiders and just relaxing for the first time on the trip.  We needed it.
 - Riding through the desert of the Baja peninsula in Mexico and first seeing the sea of Cortez.  It is a spectacular teal vision after seeing so much nasty land.
 - Happening on Santa Cosala South of Guadalajara Mexico and its wonderful lake communities.  This was the first place in Mexico we could really see ourselves living full time.  We spent a few short days here, but really enjoyed it.
 - Getting lost North West of Mexico city in a very small town where no one spoke english.  We had a good discussion with some locals as the road turned from cobblestones to mud in a torrential downpour.  they helped us find our way and reaffirmed that we can probably get by anywhere with the little spanish I knew.  Also reaffirmed that people are good and want to help where ever you go.
 - Finding the Holiday Inn in Tapachula, where everything else looked so sketchy before that.
 - A little gem of a hotel just into Honduras from El Salvador.  We arrived in the dark in a terrible rain storm and were all really worried about what we would find in Honduras.  We heard it was the poorest country we would travel through and the most dangerous.  What we found was a very nice hotel and great people.  Karen needed a tire repair and the friendly Hondurans who fixed it and helped me get a couple bolts to fix a loose saddlebag were tremendous.
 - The hotel in Liberia Costa Rica was also wonderful with the hotel built around the jungle.
 - Arriving in Panama to a divided highway with proper signage.  We were stopped by the police for speeding in a town area (ok there were no signs that said slow down there), and the policeman was very friendly, professional and let us know the expectations without being mean about it.  After the conditions in Mexico, Guatemala, ..., it was great to be back in a more developed country.  It almost feels like being back in Canada!
 - Last but not least, the people along the way have been incredible.  Dan and Bonita who helped us in Washington when Jada had here spill were so helpful in a very stressful situation.  Mark, the amazing bike mechanic, from Northern California who fixed Jada's starter without delaying us what could have been more than a week.  Carlos, who helped us get on the ferry to Mazatlán, gave us some good advice and has kept in contact since then.  Socrates from Tapachula who helped us so much when Karen needed a doctor for tummy troubles.  He came in on his day off to help us translate with the medical staff.  Matthew, a fellow travelling biker, who shared some time and stories with us. Brian and Jeanette in Altos Del Maria who have been simply great.  They helped us get set up, invited us to Thanksgiving supper, came over for birthday drinks and are helping us meet people in the area. There were several more people along the way who helped us and so many more who were simply good people.  Thank you so much to everyone.

Ok, so with any good also comes some bad:
 - Day 3 in Washington on the Cascade highway when Jada grabbed the front brake too hard and laid her bike down.  This scared the #@$#@* out of me because I was riding behind her and saw her sliding along the highway!  I am so glad she is ok, but never want to see that again.
 - Getting lost in Tijuana and driving through some really sketchy areas before we got on the right road.  Just a comment, Mexico signage for roads are absolutely terrible all over the country.  It is so frustrating to know you want to be on highway 1 and then come up to a sign that says highway 1 right, left and centre!  As a traveller you need to know which towns you want to go through in Mexico (every little town not just the big ones)  just to stay on the right road.
 - Getting stuck in a 10 mile long traffic jam in 40 degree heat because of striking sugar cane workers blockading the highway.  So stressful winding through the big trucks in the bikes on the shoulders and in between trucks.  Thankfully we got out before nightfall and found a hotel.
 - Getting parasites and bad bacteria in Southern Mexico that gave all of us diarea and stalled our trip for a few days until we could travel again.  We are still not back to normal more than 3 weeks later.
 - Getting ripped off at the border crossing going into Nicaragua.  All the border crossings suck big time.  We averaged about 3 hours per crossing because of the many steps, confusing layouts and bureaucracy.  The "helper" people at the borders are mostly bandits who will suck as much cash out of you as possible while telling you that they are helping you so much.  Thank you Canada and the US for being so efficient and easy.  The worst may have been  missing the customs place in Southern Mexico because it is 100 km North of the border and not marked at all coming in from the North.  This cost us an extra day and was so frustrating to try to find.  Generally the border crossings was the worst part of the trip!
 - All the huge pot holes and speed bumps in Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador.  The roads were absolutely atrocious.  No warnings, no signage, no speed limits, just terrible roads that rattled our bikes and our spines.  Note that Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama are so much better than the rest.
 - The scariest part of the trip was staying at an auto hotel in Guatemala in a really sketch location just across the border from Mexico.  The room was dirty, loud, had bugs, didn't lock, was really hot, felt unsafe and we heard close gun shots in the middle of the night.  We didn't sleep much that night and I have never been so grateful for the sun to come up so we could leave.

My favourite countries along the way were Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.  Costa Rica was expensive and touristy, while the others were dirty and had terrible roads.

Surprises (good and bad):
 - People are people.  Everyone likes to talk to bikers, especially bikers from elsewhere.
 - My little amount of Spanish was enough to get us through everywhere, even in places where no one spoke any English.  It wasn't always pretty and some times had lots of discussions like charades, but it worked.  And my Spanish is getting better.
 - The roads were so bad, I would have never expected it.
 - The borders are so badly organized, inefficient and expensive. Because we were travelling on bikes we had to temporarily import our bikes into each country and then cancel out of that country when leaving.
 - The food really is quite bland South of Mexico, mostly rice and beans.
 - There are some really beautiful places like La Paz Mexico, San Juan Cosála Mexico, La Libertad Nicaragua, Liberia Costa Rica and Coronado Panamá.
 - There are some real ugly, terrible places that I can't believe people live at.  Canada may be cold most of the year, but I'll take it at its worst compared to some places best days!
 - The community of altos Del Maria, where we are renting my friend Kerry's place, is beautiful, remote and home to a huge acreage development for so many expats.

Karen and the kids will each post there take on the adventure over the next few days.
I hope you all enjoyed our posts.
Stew.

PS. Here are some photos of the Altos Del Maria area.

 This is a panoramic view from the top of Altos Del Maria.  

 Watching the clouds roll in.