Eagles South of the Border

Welcome to the Jungle

2008-07-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

After Chichen Itza, we went to the gulf side for a night in Campeche then on to Palenque for some of the most impressive ruins we saw. For the structures themselves, but also for the surroundings. The rolling hills of the highland jungles were breathtaking. It was also about the hottest we've ever felt in the jungle of Palenque. We walked from our campsite at the Mayabell along the road that climbed a few miles to the top of the hill and the ruins. It was just before 9 am in the morning, but it felt like it was about 120 deg. with 110% humidity. So, no, I haven't been for a swim in this picture.

The carvings on some of the buildings were quite impressive and meaningful. Still don't know what the T was for tho.

Nick, off in the distance, had some great time to "zone out" at this site. We all had to take some time to let the significance of where we were standing soak in. Just like in Tikal, we could almost hear the pulse of the old Mayan culture in and around the ruins.
Ahhh, the day in the jungle made the next day all the sweeter. On our way to San Cristobal de las Casas, a mountain town over 5,000 feet, we stopped at two sets of falls. The first place we had all to ourselves. A perfect swimming hole and a place to walk behind the falls.

The view from behind the falls...

Bringing the tradition of the cairn to Mexico.

The next place we stopped for the day was packed with tourists and local families and was a series of beautiful turqoise blue falls that stretched far up the hillsides. There were countless pools and a couple rope swings to monkey on along the way.

Lost in translation?? This was by the set of falls in the picture above that was roped off for swimming...

More pics back in Mex

2008-07-19T15:34:00.000-07:00

From the border crossing from Belize into Mexico, we only had a couple days to make our way to Tulum to pick up Nick Walker...a friend living in Denver now who jumped in the van for a month. After a quick overnight in Tulum (since it felt like an extension of Cancun craziness) we moved inland through the Yucutan. We stopped at a wonderfully refreshing cenote (swimming hole), especially so since it was over 110 degrees in the Mexican jungle. This cenote was a little built up and more commercial than some of the others we stopped in, but no less beautiful. Set a few hundred feet down in a cave with vines hanging down and through the opening...
The water itself was amazingly clear and filled with hundreds of black catfish. They also had a diving platform that we couldn't get enough of.

From there we saw our first set of Mexican Mayan ruins...CHICHEN ITZA. Saw a light show the night before recreating how this temple was made in accordance with the calendar the Maya are so famous for. With exactly 365 steps and a light and shadow event that takes place on the spring and fall equinox showing a snake coming up and down the stairs. The ancients really did their research before building anything.
This was in the ball court, where evidently the Mayan taste for blood even extended to their sports. They were known to slaughter the captain of the losing team and sometimes the entire team at the end of a game. That had to bring on some friendly competition.
This is believed to be one of the sacrificial platforms. Hard to tell why! If you didn't lose your head here, you might have been pushed into the cenote of death a short distance from the main plaza, where among bones of the poor souls pushed in they have also found countless amounts of gold, silver and jewels given up as offerings to the gods.

Back to the States

2008-07-06T08:02:00.001-07:00

We are officially back in the good old USA. We crossed the border into Arizona a couple weeks ago now. The first few days back were blazing hot until we met Angie's parents in a Scotsdale resort to soak up some pool time and A/C. Walt and Sharon then jumped in the van to camp for a few days through the Grand Canyon and Mesa Verde Nat'l Parks. We stopped in Durango along the way to ride the Narrow Gauge Train along the river up to Silverton...quite a ride.

We are currently in Colorado Springs and have been treating ourselves the last few days to another plush hotel. Said a sad goodbye to The Johnsons yesterday and we are on our way out this morning and back to van living. We are camping in Colorado for the next month!

Have some catch up to do on the last month in Mexico and getting some more pictures posted! Will get some up soon! Love to all and more to come...

Belize

2008-06-17T11:10:00.001-07:00

We were only in Belize a few days, but would have loved to stay longer. It is a beautiful, lush country filled with such friendly people. The first day we were there, we went in search of a National Park called Five Blues Lake. The only thing we had on it was a Lonely Planet write up. Unfortunately, it seems that right after they listed it in the book, the park pretty much closed. We drove on some pretty run down, overgrown backroads to get there only to have to turn around to find some place else to stay for the night...

We ended up at Ian Anderson´s adventure park on the Humingbird Hwy for the night instead. We were pretty tempted by the cabana´s and treehouses they had on their property, but opted for another night in the van to save $$. They light their jungle property up with Tiki torches every night...

Without very much information on the town, we set our sights on a place called Placencia. It was the description as ¨The Caye you can drive to¨ that got us. It was well worth the drive of 25km on rough dirt. We found the most peaceful campsite run by a couple from Oregon and loved the small town at the end of the road. This place definitely felt like a honeymoon spot.

Placencia has been listed in the world record´s as having the world´s smallest main street. It was built before the road came down into town. And everything pretty much still centers around this street, that is just a couple feet wide...

On our way back from Placencia we stopped at Blue Hole National Park for a few swims in the natural swimming hole there. The crystal clear water flows out from an underwater cave.

From here we pretty much drove to and stayed just south of the border crossing back into Mexico. We weren´t quite ready to leave and would love to come back to Belize someday...with some more money! With gas over $5 per gallon it was a hit on our tight budget!

Tikal

2008-06-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

Tikal!! This was our first ruins experience and it kind of spoiled us. We wondered around here for a day and a half and found it really fun to finally sleep in the jungle. There are some crazy noises in the jungle. This was our first time hearing Howler monkeys! They sound like they are about to attack like a lion. They are crazy little buggers!!! The first night we were in the ruins, we pretty much had them to ourselves right around sunset. We were able to climb Temple V and felt on top of the Mayan world.

There was so much to see here with an expansive timeline in history. You can´t climb up the actual stairs of the largest temples anymore. But the three that you could climb up were by a sketchy scaffold stairway system that felt wobblier than if you went up the stone steps.

Temple IV, remember the location of the rebel base from Star Wars? Look familiar?

On the top for the sunrise tour. We hiked in around 5am before sunrise. As we walked in the jungle was coming alive with the morning. All the birds and monkeys and bugs making so much music in the morning. We sat in silence for about 30 minutes atop Temple IV and just listened. Amazing!!!

The sun was trying to make it´s way through the clouds...

and we were trying to wake up!!

View of the Grand Plaza

Temple I This is actually an ant trail. We saw these all through the ruin site. They are making highways...it was crazy!

We´re ready for our Lonely Planet picture...

Photos from Guatemala-Panajachel to Semuc Champey

2008-06-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

We have finally had some pictures downloaded to disc and have some computer time to get a posting up. These are all pictures from our time in Guatemala, a country we loved every step of the way. It is a very diverse country and still rich in traditional culture. This is the view across Lake Atitlan that greeted us out our door every morning. The lake was perfect glass every morning, making us wish we had towed the wakeboard boat with us!!

Language classes everyday took place in the school's garden with our teacher, Patricia, who has lived in Panajachel her entire life. The farthest she had traveled was to one of the small villages at the base of one of the volcanoes across the lake.

We were able to walk into town everyday from our campsite up and over the hill from town. This is the view looking back to our campsite on one morning's walk...
The nightlife and bright colors of the streets of Panajachel. The food was great and just as cheap to eat out as to buy groceries and cook, so we took advantage of that! Especially since a nightly rain would make cooking out at camp a little hard.

After leaving the lake, we got off the "beaten path" for a few days and were on dirt roads that took us into some of the most beautiful areas of the country. But ended up being quite a commitment...we were driving about 10 km per hour on some crazy back roads, but it was very worth it. First stop was the caves at Lanquin. They are lit for the first few hundred yards past the entrance and the locals have labeled all kinds of formations within the caves including a monkey face, an Eagle, a skeleton, and the Virgin Mary.

This is the view through the entrance to the source of the river flowing from in the cave that we found out was the drinking source for the village below.

Every night just at dusk, the caves come to life with thousands and thousands of bats coming out for the night. There was no trace of them during the day while we toured the cave...

Our next stop was an area called Semuc Champey, one of our favorite spots on the entire trip. It was a short hike into a series of limestone swimming pools that you can swim in and walk through. We both decided that a spot like this in the states would have been fenced off a long time ago.

The pools alone were so refreshing after a hot day in the car and were so amazingly beautiful...BUT...

It was when we realized we were in fact swimming on a limestone bridge that had formed over the river below that this place became truly magical. The bridge itself was almost 1,000 feet long with countless peaceful pools and waterfalls running through it. You would never know there is a river raging beneath it! Here is a picture of the river as it starts to flow underneath the bridge...

Even though pretty beat from the day we decided to make the hike straight uphill to the Mirador, Spanish for a lookout. The hike litterally went so straight up in some places that ladders and steep stairs had been installed. The view from the top made it all worth it.

Back to School

2008-05-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

We are already coming to the end of our Spanish classes in Panajachel, Guatemala. We can´t believe how much we´ve learned in a week, but still have sooo much to do and need a lot more time to study and figure it out...we say over and over again that learning a language is hard, we feel like we´re back at work!! Our classes are for four hours every day and then we have homework each night that takes at least that long. Whew! But we couldn´t have picked a better place to study. Waking up to Lake Atitlan out our ¨front door¨each morning and studying Spanish in a beautiful Guatemalan garden every afternoon...it doesn´t get much better...so maybe not quite like work. Our plan is to be here at least through the weekend and then begin our exploration of some other areas of Guat next week!

Backing up a couple weeks, here are a few pictures to re-cap after our time inland in Mex as we worked our way down to Guatemala...

This was the beach view beyond our camp in La Ticla and a pretty photographed spot as we´ve now seen the same picture in a couple surf guides. The waves at Ticla were HUGE while we were there, double overhead at times! Blake took the challenge and hit the surf a few times and King Neptune wasn´t very nice to him.
We were so lucky to see our first sea turtles in Ticla!!! We COULD NOT believe it, but they were coming up on the beach during the day just down from the town. We kept our distance, but learned within the next few days that the people of Mexico don´t really follow this rule...

The National Geographic movies are right. It IS quite a struggle for each turtle to make their way back to the ocean. It is HARD to be a mother!!! This is the path of one...From Ticla, we said a very sad goodbye and parted ways with our caravanning friends, Tiffany and Danny. They were headed back up to the states and we went the other way to work our way back down the Pacific Coast. We drove on to a small town called Maruata for a night. This is an aerial view of town from the top of one of the cliffs that surround the bay. Look closely to pick out our van!

The beach at Maruata...

We met a pretty fun group just after we pulled into town that insisted that we sit down with them for dinner which turned into the rest of the night. They had hired a live musician for the night, so we were serenaded with traditional Mexican music all night. He was even taking requests...Matt and Norah, bet you can´t guess what we asked for!! Don´t get too excited tho, we still don´t know the words.

We took a walk that night to look for more turtles and ran into a group of Marines that patrol the beach for the same reason. However, they actually harvest the eggs just after the turtle is finished and then pretty much carry her back to the sea. This tortuga was probably 3 times the size of the one we´d seen in Ticla and laid about 100 eggs!

Blake helped carry her back! So much for keeping our distance.

We made one more stop along the way at Barra de Nexpa and both got in the water for some surf here!!

On the Road Again

2008-04-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

Just can´t wait to get on the road again...We are officially on our way further South and into Guatemala. We should cross the border in a few days. So far we´ve logged two big days of driving and are spending the night tonight in Puerto Escondido. This city marks the most southern point we´ve marked on our map so far, when we were here about two months ago now. Wow, it really does feel like just the other day that we were on this beach. Time is starting to fly!! BOOOOOO!

Barra de la Cruz, Oaxaca is our next stop and from what we´ve heard along the way a pretty friendly little surf spot. We plan to spend one or two nights there and then the next two nights along the way to the border crossing. Our Spanish immersion classes start bright and early this coming Monday morning at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala...that we are told looks a bit like the picture above. The lake is a mile high and surrounded by three volcanoes. The lake itself was formed by a collapsed volcano cone. We are getting pretty excited to see it ourselves!! We´ll take plenty of pictures of our own along the way...

Putting the Van to the test

2008-04-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

After our tour of the volcano, we all headed to a small lake called Zirahuen even further inland. We had no idea where we´d be staying for the night and after a partial tour around the rough lake road, all decided to head back to a small campground back in town, even tho it wasn´t too much more than a grass lot. While we were looking at maps and possibly thinking about heading for the coast, back the other direction, that same day, we were approached by a man we came to know as ´The Godfather´. It seemed he had mangaged to get his jeep stuck partially in the mud and partially in the lake while trying to pull his boat out...I have never seen a car so stuck, but Blake was right in there with the van and had it pulled out within just a couple minutes. For our help, The Godfather and his family insisted that we join them for the evening at their house, just up the road from the lake. It happened to be Good Friday, so the family was so happy to welcome us into their home. They proceeded to feed us the BEST Mexican meal we've had yet, complete with the freshest tamales, a fish soup, a cactus salad, shrimp ceviche. To top it off, they served chocolate cake and apple pie for dessert. Felt like Mexican Thanksgiving!!

Here is the view of the lake and our caravan from the fifth floor of their house...

'The Godfather" insisted on taking us for a backroads ride in his jeep that started it all. He took us to his avocado farm on top of the hill overlooking the entire village...

A shot of their 'vacation" home. We ended up camping on the street just in front of their house, which also turned out to be in front of a chicken roost as well. I don't know who said that roosters only crow at sunrise because that is very far from the truth...They crow ALL night long!!

And here is a shot of the entire Familia...

Who's up for a Caravan? How it all began...

2008-04-11T13:03:00.001-07:00

We met our caravanning partners, Tiffany and Danny within a few days of being back at Saladita after heading back up the coast from Puerto Escondito. We began to enjoy cooking together and spending afternoons of surf, hammock time, and slacklining together. Sunday Brunch seemed to happen day after day...

Meeting new friends doesn't get much better than over a beach side potluck. This was a great way to get everyone together, over a combination of good food, a pinata filled with Mexican candy and a beach bonfire complete with roasting marshmallows-something we never thought we would do in Mex!

Ahhhh another day in the surf, going to the very end...

Ocean Potion hour became an afternoon regular with the girls. It´s great to have a partner in crime since Blake fries like bacon in the sun!

A day trip to 'The Ranch' was a great afternoon getting to know some new friends and checking on some larger than life waves, with the big swell that was in that week. Always on the lookout for a little Smith representation and leaving some of our own along the way! Hi to EVERYONE back at the office!! Missing you all and enjoying hearing all the big changes happening.

The slackline got some good use these days with a little friendly competition to push everyone along. And we figured if it helps us in the surf, we´d take all we could get!

The Eagles, Danny and Tiffany y Las Moñtanas

2008-04-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

We left the beach for Semana Santa and headed into a moutain town called Uruapan. We were pretty lucky to find this oasis campground just up the hill from town. Billy was happy to be parked for the week, while we were taxied around in Tiffany´s commuter, R2.

Town itself was in full celebration mode by the time we got there to see some of the festivities on Palm Sunday. We saw some of a processional of indigenous people from around the city and enjoyed the town square that had been transformed into an artisan´s market that seemed to never sleep.

The market had a bit of everything from pottery, to guitars, baskets and day of the dead statues to shoe shiners. The colors on everything were so bright and vivid and full of life, showing some of the true colors of Mex and the culture of all the surrounding villages. We ended up looking at guitars here but took a day trip to a town called Paracho, known as the Mexican capital for stringed instruments. We bought a guitar from a craftsman in town that had been building guitars for 35 years.

Couldn´t get enough of taco alley in the city. At 5 pesos per taco, it´s so hard to say no to just one more.

After some time in the city, we really headed to the mountains and to an active volcano outside of town. Volcan Paricutin formed in a farmer´s field just in the last 50 years, burying two villages in its path. The farmer, in effort to try to save his land, tried to fill the volcano in with a shovel as it rose out of the ground.

This is the only remaining evidence of the villages that were in the path of the volcano. A church that is buried up to the second story.

Take note of Danny (who has interest in joining the Mexican circus) in the bottom left hand corner. Estamos bromeando, Danny. We know your feelings about the circus!

This is the crater itself, that is still very much alive and steaming. The hike provided some much needed exercise after sitting around on la playa and a beautiful view of the area.

Acapulco to Puerto Escondido

2008-03-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

Still trying hard to catch up on getting some pictures posted. These go back to some time in Acapulco where we toured Fuerte San Diego, a fort with great views of the entire bay, stopped into a mask museum with masks from around the world and saw the infamous cliff divers just after sunset.

A self-guided tour through the city took us the long but defintely the most scenic way around...

Diego Rivera spent the last years of his life on this quiet block in the hills of Acapulco where he worked on these larger than life mosaics. We thought we would never find them as we wondered the streets of the city and people in the neighborhood couldn´t even tell us where they were because they didn´t know they existed. Getting directions for anything around Mexico is always a crap shoot.

After a sad departure from Matt and Norah at the Acapulco airport, we stayed a couple more days and then took off for Puerto Escondido. We really liked the town itself, but were not quite ready to tackle the Mexican Pipeline with our surfing skills. So we took advantage of some of the other things the town had to offer like an air-conditioned movie theater with only nine seats...and free popcorn! We saw a 1973 classic starring Mr. Jimmy Cliff. The whole night was pretty entertaining.

This spot was just down the block from where we camped in Pto. Escondido and was the most picturesque spot for every sunset. You can kind of make out the lighthouse that is just to the left of the sun.

Where we are now...We´ve left the inland mountains (more about this part of the trip to come) and have been back on the coast in a spot called La Ticla for the last five days. We just parted from our caravanning ways with Tiffany and Danny this morning. They are headed back to the states in the next week. And we are headed South again! Not too sure where yet, but will make our way slowly down the coast this time...in search of waves....and that perfect Mexican coastline.

Enjoy the rest of the winter for us...

We got some more photos for youts!!!

2008-03-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Ang in the infamous mask museum of Acapulco, featuring masks from Mexico and around the world. We would have loved to run around with these on and yell boogy woogy to some of the Mexicans who are looking at us like they have never seen a gringo. Most of the looks are friendly but sometimes it feels otherwise. So we just give em a big smile and say Hola, Que Tal.

Ahhhh! The mexican wrestlers. We went to A mexi wrestling match in Zihuat. The only thing we can say about this night is that if you have never been to a match, make it a point to do so when you can. You will never see anything like it again. Front row is best!!! Make sure you tip the guy with the coldest Modelos and he will make sure that your beer doesn´t get below half full if you want. We only had a few but others where having one.

They would yell to the crowd if you didn´t move fast enough. Move it buddy, Move it!!! Needless to say white plastic chairs went flying and people running in all directions. I am still trying to pull a picture from email that Beechinor got with the wrestler on top of a guy in the crowd that didn´t move fast enough. Anyone? Anyone?

From the top ropes!! Some of the moves that these guys had in there bag of tricks was really cool. Very impressed by the showmanship these guys have. From comidy to dropping the house!

And ohh yeah. Don´t forget about souvys!!! Everyone needs one of these and some popcorn. We´re gonna get you sucka!! We will try to get a few more photos up on the blog because they are some goodies.

Picture Re-cap

2008-03-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures from our trip so far. The one above is from Valentine´s Day as we were living the high life in Zihuat, treating ourselves to a day of amazing food in the city. Started with brunch at this seaside restaurant on Playa la Ropa...

And finished the evening with a fresh tuna dinner at a restaurant directly beside a crocodile lagoon, where we saw this 10 footer swim buy as we ate crepes for desert...

These are back from Saladita when we were challenged to a game of soccer by a group of 10 year olds. Whew, it didn´t take long for us to realize how out of shape we were and how well Mexican kids can play futbol. The stakes were set as winners take all...our Superman piñata and a bunch of stickers. As you can see the kids claimed victory over the gringos. And we walked around pretty stiff for a few days.

The kids hung around the rest of the day and started making themselves at home around the van...

We´ve Moved!

2008-03-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Semana Santa!

Even though our original plan was to be in La Saladita for at least a month, we had an offer we couldn´t refuse...to CARAVAN!! We met a great couple at the beach, Tiffany and Danny, and after getting to know them in Saladita decided to travel inland together. We were drawn by the chance to be a part of some of the celebration surrounding Semana Santa, the Mexican Holy Week that begins today on Palm Sunday and goes through Easter. A smaller mountain town called Uruapan is where we are now calling home. We´ve been here three nights now and are around town today soaking up the excitement around multiple street processions of indigenious people in beautifully colored costumes and traditional dress, that will kick off the weeklong celebration.

From here we are planning to visit a volcano just outside of the city that buried two villages back in the 1940´s. Then are headed to a town called Paracho that is world renowned for making stringed instruments. We are possibly in the market for a Mexican guitar, one more thing for us to learn along the way...

Missing everyone,
The Eagles

Lovin´ La Saladita

2008-03-07T10:44:00.000-08:00

Hi All,

Just want to say a quick hello! We are in town for an afternoon of taking care of business and re-stocking. We are completely removed from all communications on our quiet little beach so have lots to do on a trip into Zihuat.

The beach at La Saladita is treating us very well. We´ve been getting in the water almost everyday to work on our surfing and have been trying to work on some Spanish skills with some of the locals. Have met some great new people that were in camp for the last week. We all got together for a oceanside potluck one night, followed by a piñata celebration and bonfire complete with roasted marshmallows. Felt just like home and Taco Tuesday!

Will get some more pictures up soon.

Much love,
Blake and Angie

Where is Beach Parking?!

2008-02-28T12:32:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures from the nine days we spent at La Saladita with Matt and Norah, who we now lovingly refer to as Beach Parking (a combination of their last names Beechinor and Parkinson.) We had such a great time with them and definitely miss our caravan partners! Henry says you both have an open invitation to come back on the vancation whenever you want!!

This is Mateo´s Birthday night and our first night in Saladita. We got into town and immediately got in the water for a while. Went back to the van for a quick change and headed out for a good Mexi dinner at one of the 4 restaurants on Saladita beach.

The break at Saladita...that is now calling our name to come back...and we are answering! We´ll be there tonight.

The sunsets are picture perfect every night...

Last night we stayed in a small town called La Carrizal, about 30 km north of Accapulco. We drove to Zihuatanejo this morning and are here for the afternoon, taking care of some business and re-stocking supplies. We are headed back to La Saladita tonight, which is about a half hour outside of Zihuat. Our plan is to be there for the next month or so! We will be in town once every week or so and will keep everyone updated. It has been so fun reading comments from everyone on the blog!

Valle de Bravo

2008-02-24T16:59:00.000-08:00

These are some pictures from our weekend in Valle de Bravo, a small town set in the mountains about two hours outside of Mexico City. The surrounding mountains almost brought back some feelings of around Idaho with big trees and a beautiful lake right in the center of town. The town is the annual host to a few weeks worth of paragliding competition, that draws the world`s best including Matt Beechinor and Nate Scales from back home in ID. We can see why they keep going back there year after year. The town has a great, almost European feel.

These are a couple pictures from the rooftop of the apartment where Matt and Nate stay every year. We were able to park the van right in front of their place on the street and take advantage of some free camping.

Blake couldn´t resist some pics of these. And claims they are going to be our next "van" remodel. They would definitely handle the roads down here better than our 91 Ford, with 6 wheel independent suspension.

The takeoff everyday for the 150 paragliders in the comp, was from the top of a ridgeline outside of the city, with some amazing views of the country. This is Matt at launch...

Landing Zone on the last day of the comp was right by the lake. Pretty scary some years for some guys that overshoot the landing and end up in the lake. Matt came in first on this day of the comp and ended up boosting himself into the #1 ranked position in the US!!!!

On the day we left Valle, we drove up to the butterfly reserve that is home to millions of returning Monarchs year after year that migrate as far as into Canada and come back to the same tree each year in Valle...it takes 4 generations to make the trip each year!!

Pictures, Pictures!!

2008-02-20T16:49:00.000-08:00

Here are just a few of the many pictures we have started to take along the way. The first couple are from Seattle, as we began on a little side trip, to see some very special people along the way and start the trip out right!!

This was the first night we made it to the coast, after the first few nights spent at Pemex Stations. This camping area was such a welcome site and so beautiful that next morning when a low fog set in among the countless palms.

Our third night along the coast, we were lucky to stumble into the small beach town called Troncones. We pulled in right at sundown and just in time for this shot...

This is the top of the pass, driving up and over the Sierra Madres on our way to Valle de Bravo and ultimately Mexico City, to meet up with Matt and pick up Norah.

We are currently just outside Acapulco in a place called Pie de la Cuesta and are taking off further down the coast in the morning. Hope to have a few more pictures up soon when we find a faster internet connection!

Back to the Beach

2008-02-08T14:17:00.000-08:00

Hi All,

We have now been "living" on the beach outside of a small town called La Saladita for the last 5 days. There is a great left hand point beach break, perfecto for us beginners to learn to surf. We have been able to pick up on all the in´s and out´s of the surrounding area from a couple of the local Canadians who have now been living and camping in the same spot since before Christmas. Very sleepy town with no phones or internet cafe´s, so we are in Zihuatanejo for the day to re-stock on food and water and get in some city time (including a little shopping for the girls). Zihuat is a pretty fun town, and we will def. be back on our way down to Acapulco when we take Norah and Matt to the airport. :( It has been a blast having them along on our travels for the first part of our trip and figuring out Mexi life together.

We´re off to the SuperMercado for some more sunblock and aloe! We´re going through it fast, the sun is hot south of the border! Hope the winter is treating everyone well, let us know if the snow is still flying fast and make some turns for us...we´ll do the same for you...in the waves!!

Love to all.

We REALLY are South!

2008-02-02T15:03:00.001-08:00

WOW,

After driving for the last week, we are finally in the almost deep South of Mexico and have a minute to breathe and update everyone on our travels thus far. We did cross the border last Friday afternoon and spent the first couple nights in Pemex gas stations, the monoply on Mex gas. Made it to the coast on Night #3 to a great makeshift camping and caravan spot filled with Canadians and Americans. A welcome and very safe spot after a long day of driving and the sun disappearing on the horizon. I think we would have been sucked into the place for a while, if not for the big push to get to Mexico City. Had a few more loco driving days along Mex 200, the coastal road that somewhat follows the coast, but more than anything winds through some crazy mountain areas. Ended up in a great small town called Troncones, about 30km North of Ixtapa and had a day to relax before the big push on to meet Matt Beechinor in Valle de Bravo, where we are this evening, Whew we made it!!

We did end up doing the drive into Mexico City yesterday to pick up Norah Parkinson, even after the offer of some guys in Valle offered to have a taxi go pick her up. We knew it was part of our whole experience and we couldn`t miss out on driving through the largest city in the world. There are no words to describe how insane trying to navigate through the city and avoid the millions of people that seem to be on the same road at the same time with you, all fighting for pull position. It is chaotic to say the least and def. kept us on our toes. It took us twice as long to get there and back than anyone predicted, not taking into account Friday afternoon traffic. Plus having our first encounter with "La Polica" for supposedly not being able to drive in the city with our license plate # on Fridays. We called his bluff tho and were let off after a bit of an argument. It`s all part of the fun!! Made it back to Valle de Bravo safely last night and had a relaxing morning around the town square. Then headed over in the afternoon to see the final landing of the Pre-Worlds for paragliding by the lake, where Matt pulled in first for the day!!! A great day and a great start to the next 20 days with Matt and Norah...we`re on our way back to the beach very soon!

Love,
The Eagles

Headed South (really)

2008-01-24T18:58:00.000-08:00

Hello from sunny Tucson, AZ...

YAY! We are truly headed south and made it through a big night last night a good drive today to get from SLC to Tucson today. We spent the first night in the van last night since we left Idaho before Christmas. We drove over a pass just outside of Cedar City, UT that had what looked to be about 10 feet of snow piled on the side of the road. It looked taller than the van in places anyway! Ended up camping on the other side of the pass after giving a big "holler" into the Grand Canyon...at night with a full moon on it was quite a sight. It was still snowing by the time we rolled into Flagstaff this morning...but the snow stopped on the other side of the city and we've officially hit some warm weather. It's still in the 50's here in Tucson after sun down! Such a strange feeling.

We just treated ourselves to a nice Italian dinner at a small restaurant in the heart of downtown. Met some really nice people that gave us nothing but good wishes (and some free food!) for our trip. Are taking care of some last minute business tonight and are crossing the border manana!!

Love,
The Eagles

Heading South (kind of)

2008-01-23T10:42:00.000-08:00

Hi All,

We left Spokane, WA last Friday afternoon after a great stay with Blake's parents. We spent many hours still in prep for the trip...Blake working on dialing out the van. It's never been better and is pretty much an entirely new machine. Billy as we lovingly call our 1991 Ford Sportsmobile now has new shocks, suspension, brakes, radiator and hoses. And a custom rear storage bumper/back patio/trunk/stage/dance floor/hot tub. Yep, it's that big! The front also got a new nose, a new spare tire carrier that we like to think looks pretty intimidating in your rear view mirror. All with so many thanks to Blake's dad for his time and the use of his heated shop in Spokane. Also, thanks to Kitty Eagle for our new custom, upholstered bed cushions.

From Spokane, we took off to Seattle for the weekend to stay with Andy McCabe and Kathleen Costello. So good to see you guys and thanks for the hospitality. Congratulations again, your's is going to be the wedding of '09!! This picture of Billy was taken in front of the McCabe's house. We woke up early Monday morning to a beautiful sunny Seattle morning and hit the road. With the backdrop of Mt. Rainer for a sunrise, it wasn't so bad :) Drove on to Bend, OR for the night and to stay with the Pisani's. We met Scott at the Deschutes Brewery for a coldie and then went and met his wife Stephanie and their new baby Emily at their new home. It's been a while since we've seen them, so it was so good to catch up and see how everybody is doing! Tuesday morning...back in the van...and driving again. We decided to put in a big day and drove into Salt Lake City to stay with the Jonny and Idie Atencio and little baby Ellie. Got in kind of late so headed to bed for some much needed rest. Woke up this morning for a relaxing morning in the Atencio's, complete with pancakes and coffee...and some new music for our Ipod! They have a great view of the city from their house and are getting settled into the SLC area. Thanks for a good stay, Atencios.

Our next "move" is to continue driving south into and through Arizona with plans to cross the border into Mexico through Nogales on Friday morning. Our goal is to get to Mexico City by Feb. 1st at 4:00 to pick up Norah Parkinson...don't worry, we'll be there! From there off to Valle de Bravo to pick up Matt Beechinor from his paragliding competition. The Canadians are jumping in the van from there and we are off to the coast. Hope to be able to update before then, until then, take care and we'll talk to you soon.

Leaving town and a Christmas Celebration

2007-12-25T22:43:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

We finally made it out of Idaho on Saturday, December 22nd. Just a week after we had originally planned. So we were feeling pretty good about it! We got a pretty late start on that night and got out of town around 9:00 pm. The road conditions were full on winter travel, with bad ice and snow. And with Blake pulling a U-Haul behind our van, it was quite the slow going trip. Nothing like pulling an extra 15 feet behind you on a sheet of ice. At one point I saw the van go sideways on the road and the trailer continued on the other way! Whew, a close call that kept us on our toes for the rest of the trip. We got just to the Oregon border around 3 am and decided we had to stop to catch what sleep we could.

After a few hours of shut eye, we went on to Cove, OR to see friends Dan and Michelle Cregger and to drop off our dining room table for them to babysit for year. And of course for a much needed cup of coffee! Thanks again Creggers, hopefully next time we can stay for longer. We knew our friends Shane and Becky Kinman were in the La Grande area as we came in, but didn't know they were going to be right across the street shopping as we filled up on our way out of town. We got to meet up with them and give them one last hug before we got on the road again. It was very tempting to stay the night with them too, but had to get in front of another storm that was on the way. We drove the rest of the day to finally get into Spokane, WA 24 hours after we left Hailey. We've had a couple wonderful days relaxing and now celebrating Christmas day with Blake's parents. We'll be here for a couple weeks as we put some more work into getting ourselves and the van fully ready to go!!

One month out

2007-11-14T08:26:00.000-08:00

We are now one day and one month from our go day! Where has the last month gone? We still have a lot of things to get done, but some things seem like they are falling into place. I leave this coming Saturday to head out East for a few weeks to visit friends and family for the Thanksgiving Holiday. I'm really looking forward to having some time to see everyone before we set out, but at the same time am having a hard time leaving Blake with so much still to do. The week I get back is going to be crazy! We are trying not to stress on finding a renter and thinking about moving all the stuff we have somehow acquired in the last few years. There have been a few stressful moments, but we have to keep reminding ourselves that things will continue to fall into place!

This picture was taken by some Hailey friends, Chad and Becky Brown, after a yummy slow-cooked dinner over at their house. And they offered up their surfboard as a donation for our trip! They are asking us to keep it "happy and well traveled" for them over the next year. Thanks again, Browns!

Our First Entry

2007-10-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

We are a little less than 8 weeks out from our set departure date of December 15th!! And the countdown is going fast. As we are trying to check some things off the list, we are getting our blog going to be able to easily stay in touch with and update everyone on our travels through Central America this coming year. We have talked to so many of you about our trip and can't wait to share our travels and pictures with you through this blog!!