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