Back in Calgary

We flew in to Calgary last night and were exhausted after 18 hours in airports and on airplanes.  It is so good to be back in Canada!!!

We have lots of running around to do over the next few weeks, but still have some traveling left to do for my niece Jennifer's wedding, so I am not back to work until August 25th or so.  My nephew, Adam picked us up from the airport. It took us an hour to go through customs, only because a few planes had landed the same time as us.  Just happy we only had to wait in one line instead of 5 or 6.

Our customs officer was great!  Lots of laughing and sharing of a few stories...what a way to get back!

Here are some pictures of the last couple days.

The view from our hotel in tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico.  Nice place with such nice motorbiking roads.  Too bad my bike only did ~60 km/hr on them.

Jada's regular drill.  Finish biking, shower and do homework.

Grade 11 math.  You know you are a geek when you enjoy helping with math!

The folks at Yamaha Tuxtla.  Francisco (right) was a great mechanic, but could only do so much without Kawasaki parts. 

Juan Carlos helped us so much and is selling our bikes for us.  Just some of the great people we have met on our journey.

Guess what Jada is doing?

The whole crew at Yamaha.  Thanks for the help.

Saying goodbye to old friends.  Kind of teary.

Happier now that we got to the right airport. The travel agent listed the wrong airport on our itinerary and without some research and discussion with the taxi driver, we could have missed our planes.

Much better once in the air.

Deep in thought.  It is tough to leave an unfinished journey.  Someday we will complete our loop.

Mexico City Airport.  This city goes on forever!  And lots of smog.

Last flight of the day.  Felt so good to get back to where English is spoken. It will take some time to break us of using Spanish words to answer questions and say hello/goodbye.

Remember to enjoy your journey,

Stew.

Flying Home!

It is with heavy hearts that we have decided to fly home from Southern Mexico. 

My bike motor is shot and we are 900 km from the nearest Kawasaki dealer. We could have the local shop rebuild it here in Tuxtla Gutierrez, but it will take a few days to get parts and mucho dineros to repair. Add to that some potential problems getting Jada's bike out of Mexico and the fact that Karen and I will get new bikes soon anyways. Brian Bowes, we should have just sold them to you and flown from Panama, but then you would be dealing with problems and I would feel bad about that. All our problems are based on one bad service at Consultenos in Panama City). 

If we had more time to wait then it would be different, but Jada has to get back to write exams. I seriously think we will be even cash wise. 

The shop that has been helping us is awesome!  If you are ever in Tuxtla and need motorcycle parts or service then go see the Yamaha dealer. Juan and Francisco are excellent people!  Juan is going to try to sell them for us and already had someone looking at them. Just goes to show that there are good people everywhere. 

So we are heading to Walmart to buy a couple luggages because our bike bags have gone to hell as well and will be donated to the Yamaha shop workers. They are actually getting some good stuff and some very used stuff (Jada's jacket with road rash, 7 year old boots worn to the nails, bike tools, old wrecked scratched helmets, etc.).

See you tomorrow Canada!!!

Remember to enjoy your journey,

Stew. 

Another night in Tuxtula

The bikes took longer than I thought, so we are in Tuxtla tonight as well. 

Nothing stopping us from a big km day tomorrow though. Except maybe my bike. 

The mechanic changed the oil, coolant, spark plugs and made sure the air filters were clean. My bike still has less power than before, so we are thinking that the heat cooked/or coated the valves or rings. This is giving compression problems that can't be fixed without a lot of work and Kawasaki parts, which are tough to get here. 

The bike should fo fine until we get home, but will be underpowered a bit. This will slow us down a little. But we will still get home in 8-10 full days. If we hit really bad weather or other problems then it will take longer. 

We are all exhausted from doing nothing. Except Karen she is exhausted from worrying all day. Jada and I were too busy doing math to have time to worry. 

Remember to enjoy your journey,

Stew. 

Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico

We are in Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico for the night.

My bike was overheating and so we went very slow on a very nice road with 110 km/hour speed limits.  Getting passed like we were standing still in some spots.  None of our bikes have been up to par since we had the tires and oil changed in Panama City.  Looks like they drained most of the coolant out when they drained the oil and then filled the reservoir up but not the radiator, so the gauge showed coolant, but the system was very close to dry.  Karen's was losing power before once it heated up, so hers is getting checked tomorrow and the coolant will be refilled properly just to be sure it is ok.

We found a good motorbike mechanic here who is making our bikes a priority so we can continue North.  The owners speak great English too, which is a big plus. 

We had more frustration at the Mexico customs, where we had to get our new temporary import permits. It took 3-1/2 hours to get through and then driving at 60-80 km/hr because of my bike made this a very low distance day.  Oh well at least we are at the Gulf of Mexico now and the pay road today was awesome.  Great pavement, 4 lanes and incredible scenery!  Hopefully lots like it from here on in. 

Seriously don't we look thrilled?

Totally torqued.

We stayed in Tapachula last night, which was like returning home (we stayed there for 3 nights on the way down when Karen had tummy troubles). We had our laundry done for us because we were really starting to smell bad. Seriously. 

Working on the bikes.  Checking the coolant actually.  Too bad they filled the reservoirs only.  I thought they were all fine. 

Let's see, what has needed fixing this trip?

- first Jada's accident that got her a new windshield and crash bars

- next her starter that got ripped off on a curb

- karen' flat tire in Honduras

- my friend's accident in Panama with my bike (lots of fixing)

- new air filters

- new regulator and coils for Jada

- new headlights for me (originals burned out)

- recharge of the coolant for all of us

- hopefully nothing more to add to this list until we get back.

The hotel in Tapachula. Jada getting ready for the day.

Remember to enjoy your journey,

Stew.

The last four days

June 7

6:00 am start in Escazu Costa Rica.   Jada's bike did really well.....didn't have to change out the battery at all today.  Every time she shut it down, we were so happy when it started.  Always a thumbs up. 

A couple scenic shots of Costa Rica.

We crossed the border into Nicuragua around noon.  Went pretty fast.....two hours exactly.

We paid this little guy a dollar to watch our bikes.  He was pretty happy to have a job to do.

No one was in our face  in Nicaraugua....boarder crossing here is quite pleasant.  Really helped that Stew understood so much more, and we knew what to expect.     

We let this lady help us, by showing us where we needed to go.  She didn't have to do anything else, which was pretty easy money for her too.  I appreciated it....and she was very helpful...it's people like her and the young lad that make boarder crossings so pleasant.  

So we had a full day of riding in Nicuragua, wanted to get as close to the other boarder as possible.  So we stayed in a Little shit town called Leon.   Wasn't sure we were going to get a place to stay, but we found one.   

You have to remember that this is day one of Jada's bike getting fixed.......like I said, it started the whole day......but when we stopped for gas at Leon, it would not start up again.

So we ended up push starting it....then taking about half an hour to find a hotel.  Was so happy when we did......didn't matter what it looked like as long as it had two beds.  We had quit riding around 5 pm that night.  So we got in a good 11 hours of riding.  Didn't take long for us to fall asleep.

June 8

Up at 4:30 am to start our day.  We swapped out my battery for Jada's, so my bike could charge it.  We unplugged Jada's head light, with her riding in between us, she doesn't need it just yet.  Plus, we don't want to drain the battery with things it doesn't really need.......trust me, she fits in better with a non working head light......  We just wanted to test out if this would help.

We were on the road by 5:30.  Hit the Honduras boarder at 9 am......we got through this boarder in an hour and fifteen minutes.....a freaking record!!!

We drove until we found the hotel that we stayed at on the way to Panama.  Thought it would be great to have lunch there.   Was busier there this time....last time it was just us.  

Jada's bike is still starting.....relief....no having to take luggage on and off the bikes......what a pain.

Funny how the start of an engine can make your day.

We drove through Hondouras today right to the El Salvador boarder.

El Salvador took us 4 hours.    OMG, the people that hound you is unbelievable!!!  This border is very corrupt.   I will have Stewart blog about this, for he was the poor guy that had to deal with them....I seemed to be in the way....wasn't really helping with my temper and language.  

So after the boarder we stayed in San Migel, which was about an hour from the boarder.....needed that amount of time to cool off.   We ended our driving day at 3.  Internet was no good so we couldn't blog.

Instead, stew and Jada swam in the pool, and I sat and had a couple beer.  

We are really trying to make up time from our motorbike troubles.....Jada's bike is working great and we have not had to change the battery at all since unplugging the head light.  Knock on wood it keeps working.

June 9th.

Another early morning.....same time as yesterday......on the road at 5.

We had quite the lightning show in the middle of the night, and a down pouring of rain.  Wow, did it come down hard.   Thank goodness it was all rained out by the time we left.......just drizzled a little bit, not enough for us to put rain gear on.

We stopped for breakfast in La Libratad.  Again, this was a little town we had stopped for the night on the way to Panama. 

The local security.....don't want to fill up and run here.  He was actually a really nice guy.  I made stew ask him for a photo....his Spanish is so much better than me.

The two gas jockeys........really enjoy the people here.

 We made it to Guatamala.............this is the only boarder crossing I had been dreading.  There had been a mix up in paperwork on our way up.   This paperwork screwup really put a dent in our travels.

We got to the Guatemala boarder at 10 am.  We got out of that boarder at 10pm.  We were held up at the boarder crossing for 12 hours.   Plus we had been driving since 5 am.  This made for a very long day.

Before we go into the bad details, I'll talk of a little positive one.

I met a boarder crossing guard, who is a truck inspector....vehicle inspector.  Makes sure all the paper work and vin numbers on vehicles are the same.

Turns out he is also a poet.   I had fun trying to talk with him, and he took the time to talk to me and try and teach me some Spanish words.

He gave me one of his poetry books and signed it for me, and drew a beautiful picture in it as well......

This made my day.....though it was still early in the day..........was only in the border for a couple hours, little did I know I had another 10 to go.

Peter and the poetry book he gave me.   He has a lot of poems that he wrote.  I will try and understand them.

Stewart and Jada....we are still waiting at the Guatemala boarder crossing to get into Guatemala.

This boarder crossing was an emotional roller coaster.

June 10th.

Left Guatemala at 5:00 am. As soon as stews alarm went off, we were all up and ready to leave by 4:45.  Can't leave this country fast enough!

Just hope that we won't have the same trouble getting out of Guatemala........

We didn't........only took 4 hours to get out.

Was so awesome entering Mexico.  I have never been so excited to be here.  The boarder is so clean, concrete everywhere, and it only took us 20 minutes to get through.  

Again, we are staying in the same place as before.  We are at the holiday inn express at Tapachula. 

We stopped for the day at 3.  Got our laundry done, and stew got a phone card so he will have access to maps and anything else.

With that I will call it a night........

Plan on sleeping in tomorrow.....well deserved I think.

What will tomorrow bring?

Karen

In El Salvador for the night.

Well we made it through 2 borders today. Into and out of Honduras. We actually like Honduras, but it is a quick trip through it. We did have lunch at the hotel we stayed at the last time through. 

The border at Amatillo is the most corrupt crossing anywhere in Central America. When we first parked several people flocked to us for a chance to "earn" our business of helping us through the border. 

We picked a mild mannered man who I was ok giving $15 to help us out of Honduras. He was ok, but another guy came up and said that for $35 dollars that he could get us through quicker. I said no and he kept pushing. He was saying that without him I could be waiting for hours to get out of Honduras. Then when I still said no, he said that the police were crazy and might throw me in prison. Then when I still said no, he was talking about how he was in prison in the states. I think by this point he was trying to intimidate me into paying him. I kept saying no, getting heated with him and he finally went away. I think that the Aduana officer intentionally delayed us because the crazy guy gives him a cut. When he left, 10 min later we were through. 

The next guy helping us get into El Salvador (different people for getting out if one country and into the next) pretty much just showed us the immigration Line and then directed us to Customs and wanted a big tip. He didn't even help with immigration and could not go to the customs area. He got $5 tip and es lucky for that. 

After nearly 4 hours we made it through. What a complete pain in the rear end. The other borders gave been so much easier with my Spanish much improved from the way down. Let's hope the rest are easy too. 

Enjoy your journey,

Stew. 

Honduras for the morning

Quick update while we stop for lunch. 

We are in Honduras after a long day yesterday and an early morning today. We will hopefully be in El Salvador near Guatemala this afternoon. And hopefully get through all of Guatemala into Mexico tomorrow. 

Jada's bike is still draining the battery, but much slower. Maybe only one battery change per day. We will see. 

Internet might be unavailable for a couple or more days. We will post when we can. 

Enjoy your journey,

Stew. 

Still in Escazu Costa Rica

Had a nice relaxing morning today.....was a bit anxious about Jada's bike....okay a lot!  Had a great skype conversation with Brandon and Fiona.   Brandon is doing really well, and really happy he isn't with us!

Okay....I'm positive this is our last night here.

We thought the bike would be done at noon.  When we got to the garage, it was still taken apart.

Stew was a little upset, but I was okay with it.  My thought, they are going through everything and making sure it is done right......or, if we wanted it done at noon, it would be done fast, and with problems down the road.   These guys were thorough, and really made sure everything was working when they were done.  We sat in the back and watched them work the whole time.....well, not the whole time, we went for lunch, then had a few games of Yahtzee on the quads that were waiting to be fixed.

A friend of the owner came over and spent some time with us, and showed us some photos of some of the local spiders and snakes here......I was totally grossed out!  There is a cave spider that is huge and looks like it had sex with a scorpion.......ugly!!!  I'm okay with not living here, plus, I never plan to walk into caves.

Basically we were kept busy, and had great conversations with other customers.  These two mechanics worked really hard, and I really hope it all paid off.  We will find out tomorrow!

We left the garage at 5:00 pm.  Stew booked us at another hotel right off the high way we need to take.  We plan on getting up at 4:30, and leaving as soons we see some sun light.....so gone by 5 am.   Our plan is to be in Nicaragua in the afternoon.   Thought it would be too long of a day to go to Honduras.    I will be less anxious about Jada's bike, once it goes through a whole day without killing the battery.......we will all be holding our breath a bit.   If her bike doesn't start in the morning, that means it has not been fixed, battery is being drained off something, and we are basically buying her a plane ticket home.   Jada really wants to finish the bike trip with us......hard for her to quit just as we got started.

I am just repeating myself now, so will add some photos of today, and call it a night.

It's noon.....time to go to the garage from our hotel.....hoping the bike will be ready!

How the bike looked when we got in at noon.

Stewart, a little disappointed it wasn't ready........we are all just ready to make a mile!

Jada sitting on one of the quads typing her thoughts on her phone.

Sitting at a beautiful little cafe across from the mechanic shop.

Enjoying an iced coffee while waiting for our lunch.  Loved that they had flowers on the table that looked like tiger Lilly's to me.

Cheers to a day that might not have the kilometers we wanted, but to a time of bonding and reassurance that the worst will hopefully be behind us.

Stew, booking our hotel for the night, and navigating us for tomorrow.  Thank you!  You're awesome!!

While waiting for Jada's bike, the sky opened up......torrential rain....was really happy Jada's bike wasn't ready yet.  By the time it was ready, it was pretty dry again....yeah.

The sign for the mechanic shop we were at.  I highly recommend these guys to anyone driving their bikes through Central America.   We should have gotten our oil changed here.   I know I maybe happy too soon, but, these guys work hard.....and with working on nothing but bikes....My faith in them is pretty high.

Two mechanics are by Jada's bike, the owner is the short guy to the far left, his friend is by me and Jada.  Stewart is in the background......had another one of his friends take the photo.

Almost done....just making sure everything is working......

The owners Motorcross bike.  He was number one in Central America, but is now number two...his son is number one.   And his name is Araya.   I think we came to the right garage!!     Thank you Ana Cecilia for finding this place for us!

We will see what tomorrow will bring us!

Until then......goodnight.

Karen

Taking it easy in Escazu Costa Rica

Wasn't sure where we are.  But we are in Escazu Costa Rica.....just sitting in the hotel room waiting for noon to hit, so we can check on the progress of Jada's bike.

I'm hoping as well, that we will be able to chat with Brandon back in Calgary.  He has been finishing up his distance learning courses back home, and writing finals.  I'm really hoping he'll be done by the time we get back!   Will just be Jada still in stress mode for a while.....bike for now.....studies continually hanging over her head.

So we went for supper at Hooters.  They didn't have salt and pepper wings on the menu, but I had to request it.  Pretty sure they thought I was weird......man they were good!   You would have liked this restaurant Brandon......pretty, pretty girls!

Started raining while we were eating, so thought it would be a great idea to go for a swim after supper. I was really hoping for a hot tub.

Got to the pool, it was still coming down pretty good....didn't matter, we were going to get wet anyway....stew and Jada jumped in......they were trying to coax me to jump as well.....but with the chattering of their teeth, I was like......NO WAY!!  They only lasted two minutes in the pool, was pretty cold.   I was disappointed there was no hot tub.  So thought a bath would be okay....was miffed the plug for the tub didn't work.......sigh.......oh well, at least they had hot water....will be going into countries where that won't be an option.......will be quick cold showers after this.  That's if we can get going!

Well, we will see what today brings!

 Stew and Jada, sitting on the deck outside of hooters.  Our hotel is just in the background. 

 Our Costa Rican Hooter Girl.  Spoke a little English, and makes me look so old....lol.

 Jada and I having a giggle fest, for we had each just burped before the picture was taken.

 Stewart and Jada trying to convince me to jump in......yeah right, looks warm to me!  

 In the Elevator to get to our room so Jada can have a hot shower to warm up.  Wasn't sure if it was safe to get in a closed space with these two.....cold and wet, does not mix good with warm and dry!