SPOT round two!

Our SPOT has been stolen once again. And unlike the first time, there will be no tales of a rescue mission, no reunion pictures and no more updates for a little while. In the meantime I present ¨Christie SPOT!¨ Christie standing in for in spot´s absence, index finger is in Granada and pinky finger in Liberia, Costa Rica where we hope to have another unit. After our first go around with spot, we learned not to leave it alone, so on Christmas morning we stopped at an open courtyard in front of a church with the intention of sending a signal. As the unit was sitting there a bicycler pedaled by and grabbed it. This has happened before, people not sure what it is and curious, with us right there, we though no big deal and asked for it back. He pedaled more quickly down the ramp and down the street with Christie and I chasing on foot. Our hostel was 1/2 block away and the clerk ran outside at our yells, but could not stop the cyclist. A few minutes later we settled on the fact that we were out of luck.

Travelling through Nicaragua, the most impoverished Central American country, has opened our eyes to more of a survival mentality. Where people once looked out of curiosity, we are finding more people willing to take out of desperation. Maybe the 2 - AA batteries can be exchanged for something worthwhile......maybe the unit can be sold as something other than it is. In the end, we continue to learn the ropes in the countries we cross.

In the meantime, we have slowed significantly and are spending Christmas to New Years with my parents. We are enjoying seeing Nicaragua through their eyes after spending Peace Corps training in the area. Oh, and they helped Santa deliver a rear cassette, chain rings, brake pads, tires and other goodies he knew we needed!

Happy New Year! We have very simple resolutions this year, spend more time together and bicycle more!

Hurray for Honduras....Now Nicaragua

What do you know about Honduras? The latest has been the former president exiled, re-election turmoil, political corruption, and of course the banditos. What WE know about Honduras....wonderfully delightful people, breath-taking scenery, and welcoming "Bueeennnnas!"around each bend in the road....oh yes, and the steepest gravel roads we have encountered thus far. The midway point of a 1 1/2 hour climb up a mountain that followed a river cutting through a deep valley. Pretty spectacular after we got the sweat stinging our eyes wiped away.

Getting directions Honduran style: Eric with stick and dirt.

Greeted in the central park by two very curious boys in Copan Ruins.

This little girl, thou small, has a big stick and a big herd of cattle to tend.....we weren´t about to mess with her. Keep moving!

Supper time is always a highlight. Our little stove is a big hit and the topic of many conversations. Here we found a piece of ground to camp on behind the local police station.

A stop for a mid-ride snack turned into entertainment for a group of kids at the playground.

Solar drying at its best. Hope she washed her feet! (Kidney beans take 3 days to dry.)

A school bus in rural Minnesota or the local bus on a main road in Honduras??? Old US school buses get a new life down here. We saw one a few days ago that was from Owatonna, MN.

Another tire change as the 2 bulls and cowboy stroll down main street. This rear tire lasted about 900 miles. We were happy to catch it early! A little more rural in Honduras. The mainstreet into this village doubled as a bikewash. Christie was high and dry on the pedestrian rope bridge.

More kid-os!

Another excellent warm shower stop. We had fantastic hosts 5 nights in Honduras and Nicaragua. Here, our host and roommates work at NGOs in northern Nicaragua.

Natural billboards: "Cristo viene, estas listo?" (Christ lives, are you ready?)

El Centro Solar offers classes on how to make solar dehydrators and solar ovens for locals and travelers. This is a great sustainable technology for the rural areas because people spend a lot of time and energy collecting firewood, not to mention the improvement in air quality in the home. Fun for us to get some ideas for our future kitchen.

4 days in language school was a larger challenge than we expected. After 4 months of total freedom and near constant movement, it was difficult to be confined in a classroom for 4 hours a day. We had an excellent teacher who was so patient and endured hours of ummms, aaahhhhs, and mispronunciations galore. (Note the intense concentration.)

...............and the glee of revelation. (Note E´s expression of "fiiiiinalllly".)

Our final night in Esteli was a wild event to start the Christmas celebration. Packed streets with a parade and bands, stages with dancing santas and pounding music that competed with the fireworks to rock us to sleep.

So we are nearing the end of an eventful year. We will celebrate Christmas with Eric´s parents in Nicaragua, then christen the New Year with Christie´s Mom and Sister in Costa Rica. We have been wonderfully blessed through our months of transition and travel and are thankful for the peace that we experience through the birth of Jesus Christ.

We wish all of you a wonderful Christmas!

5,000 down along with Guatemala

What started on the Red Jacket Trail out of Mankato, MN 4 months ago has now reached a milestone. While the focus of our trip is on people, today we celebrate the mileage - 5,000 miles- as we cross another border.

Coming out of the tree tunnel as we wrap up Guatemala, we hit 5,000. Our short jaunt through Guatemala was little more than a week. The Central American countries are coming at us fast. Each with something new to see and different challenges.

In Mexico people were interested in our trip, but it was usually one or two people at a time who approached us. At an early rest in Guatemala, Eric went to grab some food and returned to find Christie surrounded by a group of 30 people interested in what was going on.

The scenery in Guatemala has been beautiful. This is a most common site as we pedal through, houses, mostly dirt floor and thatched roofs, tucked into the mountain side. People busy washing clothes, working fields, cutting firewood, and carrying water.

A new country and new challenges in finding food. The grocery stores in the areas we´ve crossed are bare bones and fairly expensive. We now take additional time each day to search out a market, then bargain for the food we want. It´s required a quick learning curve.

Coming out of the jungle. To get to a camping location on Rio Dulce it was necessary to conquer the swinging bridge course. The two plank widths carried JoJo and BOB to the waters edge.....

And at the waters edge we found a group of sailing Minnesotans (who call Mankato and Rochester home!) coming from South Africa, to share in conversation and watch the Vikings game with.......

Instead of our routine dorm room, they treated us to a beautiful cabana over the water. The next morning, we loaded up JoJo and BOB in their dingy so we wouldn´t have to conquer the swinging bridge again. We had an amazing experience. Thank you!!

Our personal escorts to our hotel after asking them for directions.

The main market trade area for Western Guatemala, Chicamula. Busy, noisy place!

Guatemala has been more of a cultural challenge than we expected. A simple border crossing resulted in a different world where we needed to re-learn how to get food and find places to stay. While still speaking Spanish, many different words were used or spoken in a different manner. While we had some of our best cycling days of the trip, good temperature(85-90), scenery, our people interactions were not as rewarding. We have encountered more people begging for money as well as prices changing when it comes time to pay. The most challenging part of this trip will not be the cycling, but the internal conflicts we feel in how best to interact and "help" in a sustainable way. We pray for those here that God´s love is evident and they find peace in their day to day challenges. Even though we fight with the internal struggles that are presented, we believe one of the purposes of this trip to to let the world impact us in beautiful, as well as, difficult ways. We hope the sound of the jingling cup will mold us in unexpected and positive ways.

SPOT this

Apparently we have a following. Over the last few weeks we slowed down as Christie had a stomach sickness that knocked her out. In the process we had a lapse in SPOT activity and have since received many questioning comments. So yes, we are still alive, making forward progress and having a fantastic time meeting people! We are now 2 biking days away from Guatemala and are looking forward to adding a new flag to our BOB trailer. We have yet to "follow the rules" for any part of this trip, so why start now.

Victor and his family saw us pedaling by his bike shop. He insisted we drive to the pyramid sites near his hometown. We enjoyed some "family time" with this clan. The thoughtfulness in seeing strangers pedaling down the street, making an effort to befriend, and create a whole afternoon just for us felt so gracious. We have grown from your genuine kindness Victor. THANKS!

Back to the heat. We rolled out of the mountains (approximately 8000 to 9000 feet) and dropped 4000 feet over the next few miles. We are currently back at sea level and in the hot and humid rain forest.

Our second warm shower stop (international biking community). Juan and his family were fantastic hosts. We had a few additional days with him as Christie was recovering. Loved playing Jenga with the girls and the wonderful food out of the family Restaurant.

A view from the top. Many of the cheap hotels ($8-$10 per night) are in the center of

town. This has become one of our favorite pic-nic locations....on top of the roof (where most of the laundry is washed and dried). This doubles as an excellent location to send SPOT signals from.

Company. This local semi-pro cyclist rolled with us for a few miles on the highway.

The waves, thumbs-up, and honks continue as we roll. These guys stopped roadside and waved us over to stop, took our picture and we took theirs. Fun times.

The exact quote from Eric as we passed...."I know how that guy feels." (What a stinker.) This town was filled with taxi bikes taking people here and there.

Fun to help these girls with their English homework while they waited for the bus.

Climbing the AD 600 Mayan ruins of Palanque. Quite spectacular against the rain forest and howler monkeys.

This could have been home if we were 2000 years younger.

Instead, this cabana is home for tonight. Eric is always working to keep JoJo in tip top condition. Pretty beautiful setting with the stream out the front door and rain forest all around. This is the first place we have found other travelers like ourselves. Met 2 guys from the US, bought a bus, converted it to a camper, and started driving south until the bus broke down in Mexico, so they flew to Colombia and traveled around for a month, now back in Mexico to get their bus. 2 Australia girls have traveled through Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador, and now in Mexico. Interesting to share stories.

So here we sit a day away from the Guatemalan border. We have spent more time and covered more miles in Mexico than the US. This part of the ride was filled with more unexpected than expected. Our surprises:

• Scenery and landscape is much more diverse and beautiful than we expected,
• We have felt extremely safe. The majority of people we talked to in the states were extremely scared of travelling through Mexico......our experience, fantastic!
• More temperature extremes. Elevation will play a huge role in the rest of our journey. The curse of being flatlander Minnesotans.
• People, people everywhere. Part of this is our route choice, but we have been surprised by the number of and size of the cities.
• Bike problems. After rolling fairly pain free through the states, the bike has been a little more of a challenge than we were hoping. Looking forward to a Christmas overhaul.
• Families. We knew of strong family connections, but experiencing it firsthand is fantastic.
• People. The highlight of our trip continues to be people. There are good and bad people everywhere. Our contacts have been extremely positive and we are blessed to have such wonderful encounters.

So as we roll into another country we send out Happy Thanksgiving greetings to you. Please pass the pumpkin pie.

Going around Mexico City

I didn´t know milk crates were approved as baby seats. Maybe I should consider that for the stoker seat on JoJo.

Stoker tryouts. We had fun with the people in this small village. Gave us some delicious homemade tamales. Were also excited to teach us about the many ways corn is used in cooking.

One of the many bakeries we have taken full advantage of for carb loading. The oven here is about 15 feet in diameter.

For having the biggest city in the world, we are surprised by the farming methods. We have seen a minimal amount of farm machinery. Horses, donkeys, carts, hoes, and machetes are the rule. Many times we pass shepherds with their sheep dogs too.

Our bike shop friend. Victor saw us bike by his shop and had to say hello. He led us by bike to a good place to stay and has offered to bring us by car to ruins just outside of Mexico city this afternoon.

Local cuisine. I bellied up to bar for a little meat. The older gentleman assured me it wasn´t that hot. Within a few minutes I was searching for water.....lightweight!

How many bird cages can you carry on your back? Impressive.

A memorial to a priest during Day of the Dead on November 2. Many families created similar memorials in cities all over Mexico to loved ones who have passed away.

Creating the memorial is hard work! People had huge armfulls of flowers.

The market smelled beautiful. Pick-up trucks loaded with flowers came in to the city to sell.

A few ¨pings¨ on a downhill led us to these guys. During a 1000´curvy descent we broke 3 spokes and wound up in front of Jimmy´s house. Turned out we needed an additional .5 cm on the spoke length for our new rear rim. Initially we thought we´d have to bus into Mexico city, but once again we were blessed with local grace. Off to the bike shop, only 10 miles away, with the rim and after trying all in stock he pulled out a die for cutting threads. New spokes cut to length! We were off an rolling again (with 6 spares) within a few hours.

It´s good to have options. We have been trying to learn from the locals and are currently looking for a horse.

A road to our own. This is the new highway that isn´t open yet. We were told by the construction crew we couldn´t go through, but after flashing our smiles and asking several times for directions, we were allowed to pass. The traffic was fantastic!

We´ve seen a few of these signs with a single racing bike and a line through it. Good thing we´re on a tandem. It doesn´t appear to be an enforced rule.

As we moved closer to Mexico City, toll booths started questioning a bike on the road. We´ve taken the ride quick, smile and wave approach. So far so good. We haven´t been chased down yet.

Lakes in the highlands. Cool weather, riding through clouds and mountains beyond mountains. Fantastic.

Closing down for the night. The owner of a store let us camp in his back yard. We could get used to this!

We endearingly named him ¨Verdeito¨ (little green guy). He rode for a few miles, then we parted ways.