Author: Katherine Anderson (Page 2 of 4)

Camping at the hostel.

Saturday morning, we pulled out of Akumal and headed south towards Chetumal, which is the closest city to the Mexico/Belize border crossing.  We stopped for the day in this little town called Bacalar which is the municipal seat and largest city in Bacalar Municipality in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo and is about 40 kilometers north of Chetumal.  It’s a cute little town and one I’d recommend coming to visit  before going to the Playa del Carmen area.   The road here was almost just as boring as the roads around the Playa del Carmen area but once we got here to Bacalar we found a cute little hostel that we are camping in for the night for 95 pesos per person.

As we drove into town we were both kinda of surprised to see a couple, walking across the street. He was tall, white, and wearing denim overalls, flannel shirt, and a straw hat with a brim. The woman was wearing a white mesh bonnet, full modest blouse and full pleated skirt.  And they didn’t even look that hot.  As we watched them go by we saw another woman sitting in a horse drawn wagon in front of  a store and the couple got into a second horse drawn wagon and rode away. It was a strange site to see considering where we are and upon some research I found out that there is a local Mennonite community very near here.  Also discovered that Bacalar is another pueblo magico town.

Chetumal boardwalk photo

Chetumal boardwalk photo looking out over the water.

Saturday night we rode into Chetumal the closest city to the border of Belice.  Apparently in Mexico, Belize is spelled Belice. The turn off for the border crossing is about 5km before Chetumal so we just noted where it was and drove on past.  Our goal was to hit a gym tonight but we arrived too late and the gym was closed.  Gyms here in Mexico tend to close early on Saturdays and then don’t reopen until Monday.  Personally I am kinda glad as my abs are sore from the workout Friday in Playa del Carmen but don’t tell Milton.  We ended up getting some ceviche to eat for dinner and then walking along the boardwalk.

Children’s playground along the boardwalk.

Sunday morning we woke up early after a semi restful night camping.  Broke down out tent and had the bikes all packed up and ready to roll by 8am.  As we rode we both finally noticed that the sky towards the south looked dark and then the raindrops started.  We decided that we’d find a hotel to stay at and cross over into Belize the next day so we continued on into Chetumal for breakfast.  By the time the weather seemed to clear up. After breakfast we headed off to make copies of some paperwork and as we were riding we rode past a group of bike riders standing on out front of a house so we flipped around and talked with them for a few minutes.  They were on there way to a ride that was a benefit for local children. They gave us some cool t-shirts (thanks guys) and we continued on but they did tell us that the weather would probably be fine for us to cross today.

We had heard such horror stories about long border crossing lines that the idea of standing in the rain was not appealing but neither was standing in lines in the hot sun either but as we arrived at the border there were no lines at all.  The night before I had done a internet search on the Mexico/Belize border crossing and got lots of different info so I finally ended up downloading a ebook I found called Central American Border Crossing Guide by rtwPaul. It was a huge help but some things had changed since he wrote this and I think for the better as it was relatively smooth.   As we pulled up to the building the man told us to pull around to park then return with our papers.  We tried to explain at that time that we did not have my tourist visa but it got confusing so we just did was he asked and parked in between two big white buildings.

When we came back to his little kiosk sized building, which was thankfully  air conditioned room, he first took my passport and then asked for my tourist visa receipt.  Again we explained we didn’t have it and that it was stolen when our bikes were stolen.  We kind of went back and forth for a few minutes trying to get him to understand and then he told us we just needed to pay it again which cost us 25 USD, no biggie and I happily paid it.  Milton gave him his paperwork, he processed it and we were on our way to deal with the bikes which was in the building just across the street to the right of where we had parked.

When we entered this building we finally saw a line of people, but luckily this was not our line.  The line we needed had one couple at the window so we were next in line.  When it became our turn, we explained that we were living the country and needed  our temporary import paperwork processed but that also we didn’t have any for my bike.  She asked us to  bring our bikes around and park in front so she could process the bikes.  We also showed her the official paperwork were received from the Ministrio of Publico in Penjamo and the newspaper articles.  Again she asked us to bring the bikes around.  After we brought them around, she looked at the sticker on the  windshield, matched th VIN number, took some photos, scanned the sticker, and peeled it off.  Next came my bike and she repeated the process.  We went back in, I filled out a short form as to why I didn’t have my paperwork and she said our money would be refunded to our bank account.  YIPPEE!!!!

As we left the building we met a young couple traveling by car down to Panama (I think) we chatted with them for awhile. They were from Australia, or at least he was.  Our Motodawgs sticker made the cut to be put on their car.  

We got back on our bikes, and continued on over a bridge and pulled over to the first white official looking building that we saw but it was empty so we continued on until we came to a roundabout and saw more official looking buildings off to the right so we headed there where we were told to park and go in to get to present our documents to enter the country.  We were also told that we had to go see the agriculture department, which had a office inside, to bring Jackie into the country.

Upon entering they had a tourism desk right inside the door and then just beyond that they had two kiosks each with two desks behind glass partitions. In between the two was a walkway that opened up to large room with an open desk where people declared what they were bringing into the country.

We got into line to show our passport and we were each given a short form to fill out asking all the basic information, who we are, where we were coming from, nationality, where we were going, and our mode of travel.  I fill mine out and got back in line where the border agent, who was black, wanted to know where we were going.  I had written down traveling south thru to Guatemala but he wanted a specific place we would be staying in Belize.  He told us he needed an address to put in his computer so we went back to the tourist desk and quickly found a hostel and wrote that down even through we had no intention really of staying there.  It worked and another border agent, also black, processed our passports, stamped them, and we continued to the next area, agriculture department. Milton made a comment to her that he hadn’t seen so many black people in one place since we left the states and she laughed and said that Belize is the only country in Central America that has a large population Creoles.  This large population is predominantly from the European settles who came to the area back in the 18th and 19th century and brought slaves here to work.

At the Department of Agriculture, the worker asked us if we had filled out the application to bring the dog into the country and we told him that this was the first that we had heard about it and asked him where we could get the forms.  He said the forms could only be gotten online and then after they were reviewed by another agriculture department in another city (Belize City possibly) they were forwarded to him.  He said we could not do it right there and that the process usually took 3-4 years. Oh shit, we asked him now what that we were already there.  At first he didn’t really give us an answer so I was beginning to think there was no solution and we’d have to go back to Mexico but then he said we  since we were already there we could pay a fine for not having the proper paperwork and upon inspection of our papers for Jackie Dawg and a brief physical inspection we could bring her in the country.  When we ask him how much he said 110 belizean or 55 USD. which we happily paid and after about 20 minutes of him doing paperwork and me bringing Jackie in for inspection (or a minute she was sweating the rectal exam but they bypassed that, she got lucky) they signed off on her and gave us paperwork to show if we happened to be stopped. On to the next step, customs to declare our bikes.

Our next step was customs to declare our bikes.  At this department, they reviewed our passports, bike titles, filled out some paperwork, had us read some rules, gave us some paperwork, and then came out to the bikes and searched through a couple bags then signed off us off and sent us to get the bikes sprayed. After the lady left us we did had a younger man who came over to say we needed to pay a 15 USD per bike and at first we weren’t sure if he was scamming us as he approached us at the bikes rather than inside and no one else mentioned this fee to us but he was wearing an official uniform and it was only a total of 30 USD so we paid  it.

When we arrived to get out bikes sprayed we had one car in front of us but they were just finishing up.  We went inside this small building, paid the small fee, and took Jackie off the bike so she wouldn’t get sprayed also and the whole process took less than 10 minutes. From there we only had one more step which was to get insurance.  This took a little longer, probably about 20 minutes, and then we headed south into Belize.

Once in Belize, we noticed a definite change in scenery.  Many of the houses were built of wood and up on sticks. The houses in  Mexico are mostly cement or adobe.  There was lots of grass around the houses and the majority of it was well maintained.  In Mexico there was lots of dirt and cement.  There was very little garbage on the roadways and it was mainly only in the first 10 minutes of entering Belize.  Garbage was common to see on the roadways in Mexico.

Corozal Belize

We entered the little coastal town of Corozal where we had lunch.  At once we noticed that people were speaking in English primarily and they definitely had a caribbean influence to the speech.  It was refreshing to hear.  The restaurant we stopped at  was right across from the water and the water was this amazing green color.  People were riding beach style bikes up and down, the pace seemed much slower, and people just didn’t seem in a hurry.  It was a nice change and a change was definitely something we both needed especially after the long straight stretch of road with nothing to see coming thru the Yucatan.

House on road between Orange Walk and Belize City.

After Corozal, it was early afternoon, but we decided to head further south and search for a place to stay.  After looking at the map and talking to a local we decided to shoot for the town of Orange Walk where we are now. It took us about 45 minutes to get here , the ride was beautiful as we rode through sugarcane fields beautiful little towns with large green lawns and little wooden houses up on stilts. We were riding away from the coast and many of the houses were still being built up on the stilts so don’t think it is for flooding but can’t think why else they would be doing this.

House on stilts.

Found a little hotel in Orange Walk where we have decided to stay for a couple of days before we head further south.  This little town is cute and has a very sleepy feel to it. Our hotel is clean and nice and they had absolutely no problems with us having Jackie.  We’ve planned to take a boat ride to some local ruins and will take lots of photos to share.  Although we loved Mexico, it’s nice to be a little further along now and officially into Central America.

Bikes right outside our hotel room with cable lock on.

Looking out from our hotel.

Another view from hotel.

Awesome wheelchair we saw at the orthopedic doctor’s office.

Statute of mother breastfeeding on town square. I am sure this would be considered inappropriate by someone back in the states but I love it. Saw a few large statutes similar to this in Mexico also.

Bike delivery just like in Mexico but haven’t seen as many here.

View across the square.

I have been doing more updating on the Motodawgs Facebook page lately because, for some reason, I have been unable to upload picture to the blog site.  Unfortunately, I have no idea how to fix it but I do have a email out to our technical support person in Puyallup and hoping he can help me.  We spent three days in the northwest area of the Yucatan relaxing at the beautiful Flamingos Inn Bed and Breakfast where I got to  enjoy a beautiful ocean view from our balcony.  Early mornings  consisted of yoga and meditation on the balcony, watching dolphins play,  mid-morning swims, walks along the beach, then sun bathing and lounging by the pool in the afternoon.  Rough life, but it sure felt good after spending some long hot, hot days on the bike.

As the weather has gotten warmer we’ve tried to start our traveling days earlier and end them sooner to beat the heat but we are finding that with Jackie Dawg, we sometime have difficulty finding hotels that will take her.  We had a easier time up north and along the west coast of Mexico.  We have debated on sending her back up to Washington as we do worry about her and the heat.  Fortunately, we have wonderful home and family for her to go spend some time with while we continue with our journey if that is what we decide to do.  We definitely are both having mixed feeling about keeping her here with us but having her here is a comfort to both of us so we are as yet undecided but try to stop sooner and for a little longer now to give her time to rest.

After spending three days on the beach in Chuburna, which is about 30 minutes northwest of Merida, we are now in Akumal, Mexico which is about 30 minutes south of Playa del Carmen.  We have a simple two bedroom apartment/cabin at a place called Camp Akumal which we will call home until Saturday.

Yesterday’s drive getting here was about the more boring drive we’ve had so far.  We decided to take the toll road so we didn’t even get to go through any beautiful small pueblos like we normally do.  Along the ride my speedometer/odometer cable vibrated loose and the inner wire fell out (same thing happened to Milton a while back, so we had been using mine to know when to fuel up) so now we have to go by either looking in the tank or just fill up every 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

There are not many fuel stops on the toll road and we ended up missing one and I was not paying attention to the miles on my tank (speedometer/odometer cable still attached at this time) and next thing I knew, Milton was on reserve.  We always carry two MSR small bottles of fuel with us so we continued on but then we came to a sign that said the next services were about 150 km away we flipped around and headed back 44 km to get fuel, (my cable came off somewhere along the return).  Milton did end up running out and we had to pull over to put fuel in his bike but I never even had to switch to reserve,, guess I get better milage than him.  After refueling and eating a horrible lunch at the little restaurant, we continued on.  The butterflies were thick but besides looking at the butterflies coming towards us as we rode, the trees and bushes along the side of the road prevented us from seeing much of anything else  We were able to see the dark clouds overhead that were accumulating though.  My one sight that I did see that broke up the monotony of the road was a herd of cows lumbering single file along the overpass.

Eventually we headed slightly southwest toward Playa del Carmen after deciding to skip Cancun entirely, and noticed that across the highway were strung rope ladders with the rope ends running out into the trees.  Took us a few minutes but we finally figured out they had to be crossings for monkeys.  We did get to see one large monkey sleeping in a tree but didn’t see a single monkey using the rope ladder to cross the road.

We made a quick stop in Playa del Carmen for some groceries and as we were pulling out the rain drops started but only briefly but as we rode further they clouds opened up again and we were riding in a tropical downpour.  Luckily it was warm but it was hard to see, the roads got slippery, the thunder loud, but the lightening was beautiful.  Had to do a U-turn a few times in the highway before we finally figured out where we needed to go.   Milton ended up going down due to the slick pavement but was unhurt and after that I rode even slower.  Eventually we found our way safely to Camp Akumal and now we are all tucked in, bikes parked in front of the cabin, with Jackie Dawg sleeping comfortable on the couch.

Last Monday,  we got a message from our friend, Rene, in Guadalajara saying my bike parts had arrived.  To get the parts, a friend of Rene’s, who lives in San Diego, CA and works in Tijuana, picked up the parts at a bike wrecking yard in Chula Vista, CA, carried them across the border and shipped them via DHL to Rene’s house.  This whole process took just over one month.

On Tuesday morning,  after taking care of some business back in the states via phone calls and the internet,  we were finally able to pull out of San Miguel just before noon which placed us in Guadalajara late Tuesday afternoon.  When we arrived to Rene’s house, where my bike was being stored, we opened up the box of bike parts and noticed that two of the four plastic parts were black, two were blue, and there was no hardware included.

Now I realize that the actual color of the bike is just a cosmetic issue and has no impact on how my bike operates, I still wanted the bike all one color and that color was black.  Luckily, Rene has a friend for just about anything so of course he had a solution for me.  This solution came in the form of his friend, Eric, who has an auto painting business.  After a quick phone call to confirm, we agreed to have the parts to Eric the next day.  In the meantime, we started where we could and Milton got me disassembling a few things and taking off bolts that needed to be removed so we could get to certain parts of the bike.  While I did this, he reassembled the choke housing mechanism. This took us until probably about 8pm and then when Rene’s nephew came by, we offered to pay him to watch Jackie overnight (as the hotels in Guadalajara tend to frown on dogs) and then we went back to the hotel we stayed during our last visit a month ago.

Wednesday, after having breakfast at the mercado by the hotel, we went back to Rene’s house.  We didn’t get there until almost 11am and for the next few hours Milton worked did what he could on the bike, which included reattaching the rear blinkers and some other miscellaneous things.   While he did that, I did some dishes for Rene’s mom.  She had spent the last few days at this hospital with his dad who had surgery and I figured the least I could do was make sure she had a clean kitchen to come home to.  Other things that Milton did to the bike during that time was to remove the old spring out of the bike, run errands for miscellaneous nuts and bolts, and right before lunch we dropped off the parts to be painted.  When we dropped off the parts to be painted we found out Eric was only going to charge us $400 pesos, which was just over $22 US dollars and they’d be ready that next day for pick up.  Can’t beat that price!!

That afternoon, Rene’s father came home from the hospital after a couple day stay for a toe amputation and being the good wound care nurse that I am, I attempted to get a look at his foot.  We had a language barrier but I finally figured out that it was the 2nd toe that was amputated and not the great toe as I had initially thought.  The dressing was intact and the dressing change was not due to happen until the next day, so I made a mental note to check back the next day.  The last thing we did for the day was take the shock and the upgraded spring to a local bike shop to be which was also supposed to be ready the next day.

On Thursday, we continued working on the bike, putting the pieces back together.  While doing this we discovered that we were missing some of the necessary pieces needed to attach our panniers so we went and found a place to fabricate them for us.  Milton continued to put the puzzle pieces together, reconnecting wires, finding the right size bolts, etc.

In the afternoon, I caught the tail end of Rene’s father changing his own dressing and saw how difficult it was for him to do because of the location of the wound on his foot and how extensive the it was. I knew that this was something that he would not be able to do without help and this was a way that I could pay them back for storing my bike along with a good portion of our belongings for the past month.

With the use of google translator we relayed to the family that I was a wound care nurse in the states and I wanted to help them with the dressing change so it would be easier for them.  They were agreeable to my help but since the dressing was already done for the day we left it alone.  They brought me the discharge instructions to review along with all of the medications that he was sent home with and I went to work translating.  I found out that the actual wound care instructions consisted of one line of about 7 words and he was to follow up with the doctor in 2 weeks.

The wound care instructions consisted of wash with soap and water and use a antimicrobial spray cleanser but nothing about how and when to do the dressing change itself.  I quickly did a search for wound care on the internet and found a basic instruction sheet, made a few changes, then used google translate to convert it to Spanish.  We got his nephew to print it out so they would have it to use as a reference guide.  That evening, before we left, I told Rene I’d go to the Farmacia and bring supplies back the next day.  Just as I was getting ready to walk out the door, his mom showed me a topical gel that she said the doctor wanted her to use but they weren’t sure how to use it or how often it was to be applied.  I took a photo of it so I could research it but before leaving, I double checked the discharge sheet to make sure instructions weren’t buried somewhere in the paperwork.  I couldn’t find any mention of it anywhere.

Earlier that same afternoon, Milton had taken his tennis shoes shoes to be repaired at the local shoe repair shop and while there, two stalls down, was a seamstress so he dropped off some bike straps that needed to be repaired also.  After doing this,  he discovered that none of the parts that we were waiting on would be ready until the next day.  We were rather bummed, Milton especially, but with it being out of our control, we decided to go with Rene to the KLRos meeting that night.

The ride through Guadalajara was crazy with it being like a game of follow the leader.  Where Rene went, we went.  When he cut lanes, we cut lanes.  When he drove in the opposite lane to get to the front of the line, so did we.  Stoplights really didn’t mean anything, if it was clear you just went. I also discovered that actual lanes didn’t exist, if a car or bike could fit, then it was a lane.  Sometimes I just closed my eyes cause I didn’t want to see what we were trying to squeeze between, around, or in front of.  I found it was better if I just didn’t look.

We stayed for only part of their club meeting (the social part of it) but we got to meet some really nice guys and check out their KLR bikes.  Most of the bikes there seemed to be mainly city bikes but there was one club member that we met that had  been on a some long distance trips down to South America and up to Alaska and he had what appeared to be a great mounting system attached to the underside of his front fender for his after market lights.  It looked like it might be the perfect solution for us, so far, the lights we had mounted had vibrated apart so we needed a better system.

When we got back to the hotel later that night, I attempted to research the medication but I had little luck.  Most of what came up was in Spanish so I used google translator a lot but I couldn’t find much out except it was indicated for use with things like anal fissures, uterine cervical cancers, ulcers, and then below it would say for external use only with no information on how to apply.   Boy was I getting confused, so I decided to try to figure it out the next day.

On Friday, I picked up supplies at the Farmacia  which was just down the street from the hotel.  But when I arrived back at Rene’s house, I told them that I didn’t want to change the dressing until we figured out how the gel was to be applied. I asked if they could call the doctor and ask him but it sounded like this was not a possibility, not sure why.  Rene did say he had a doctor friend who worked close and we could go ask him.  I told him I wanted to go with him but he had to drive slow and stay off the sidewalks. He laughed ag me but agreed, so off we went.  Unfortunately, his friend was not in so back to the house we went.  As we pulled up to the house, I remembered that one of the doctors that I worked with in Washington was from Argentina and that he might be able to help me.  I sent a quick text to him and within 10 minutes, he responded telling me it was a mild and should be safe to use in the wound.  While I was waiting for his response, I also confirmed it with a fellow wound care nurse so I felt confident with using it now.

Late that morning, I showed the part of the family how to set up a clean field, how to clean the wound and surrounding foot, apply the medication, pack the wound, and apply the secondary dressing.   We also took a photo of the wound so they would have it to compare to later dressing changes and talked about the importance of keeping pressure off of the area.  Thankfully we had someone there to help translate and I asked him to come back for the evening change when we’d also have the daughter there to watch the change.

After I was finished with the dressing change, I ran down to a small local Farmacia a couple blocks from the house to pick up a few other supplies I forgot to pick up earlier. After, I went to another local shop across the street carried household supplies and purchased a small plastic tub to keep all the wound care supplies in.  This would help to keep everything in one place and make it simple so they could just grab the whole box when it was time to do the dressing change and everything would be right there.  It felt really good to be in my element and use some of my nursing skills.

Meanwhile, during this time, Milton continued to work on the bike.  He picked up the metal pieces that we had fabricated to attach my other pannier.  At some point, Milton took a break to deliver some metal pieces to Eric who agreed to weld them together for us so we could make our own mounting system for our lights.  Our painted parts still weren’t quite ready so Eric said he’d deliver them to us later that day.

When the painted parts arrived, Milton put them on but right before it was completely assembled, he noticed that some wires were caught between the dash faceplate and the headlight housing unit so he had to disassemble all of the pieces he had just put on to remove the wires and then reassemble it all over again.  Luckily it went much quicker the second time around.

Later that afternoon, Milton was finally able to ride my bike around the block for a test run.  While he did that, I started to pull out some of our belongings that had been stored in the corner of their house for the past month.  We loaded up some of our belonging and then we both rode over to the hotel.  Before we left, I changed the dressing one more time with their daughter, Lucy, present to watch.  We used an interpreter again who was a huge help in reinforcing my instructions to them.  Before I left for the night I asked them if they felt ready to take over tomorrow with me there to talk them through it if needed.  They said they felt ready.

It felt so good to finally be able to ride my bike and I had a huge smile on my face.   Initially, I found I was still shifting with my heel, as it had become a habit after breaking my foot, but with conscious effort it didn’t take long to break the habit  My front tire felt like it had a slight wobble to it but I couldn’t tell if it was my imagination or not but I did mention it to Milton.  After we got back to the hotel, we both agreed that we could feel a little movement in the front tire.   When we first got the bike back, the thieves had removed the front tire and it must not have been tightened up enough when the tire was put back on.  We’d take care of it first thing in the morning.

Saturday morning, while Milton went over to pick up the mounting bars that Eric had welded for us, I watched Lucy change the dressing and with only a few reminders from me, she did great and I felt she would have no problem.  We picked up the straps, dropped off some others as both our tank bag straps had been cut off.

By late afternoon, everything was loaded up on our bikes and we were ready to travel.  We debated on waiting and leaving in the morning but both of us were anxious to get moving again.  We both found that we had become attached to this wonderful family so saying goodbye was bittersweet but we felt the urge to ride, at least for a couple of hours and we agreed we could get a hotel further down the road.  This time, as we left Guadalajara, we left on two bikes instead of one and with satisfaction that this bump in the road did not stop us from continuing with our dream.

“I believe in the good things coming” is a line taken from a song from Nahko and Medicine for the People and has been our motto for this trip and the good things are still coming in spite of our recent misfortunes. On Friday, we got good news and were able to recover all three motorcycles. Two of them are in good condition with only minor parts removed but the third, has major damage. This is an incredible stroke of luck and due to the hard work of many people. We want to thank all the local people who have helped us, stopped to talk to us on the street with suggestions and encouragement, the police who recovered the bikes, all the motorcycle riders and groups in Mexico who helped by spreading the word and providing encouragement when we were getting discouraged, all our Facebook friends (old and new) who kept posting and sharing.  So many people played a part in this and made such a huge impact by letting the thieves know they would not be able to use our bikes without being noticed. We also want to thank the US Consulate for making calls on our behalf, to Mike in San Miguel for using his contacts to help us, Luis who helped interpret and get things moving faster at the Ministerio Publico and Juan Pablo and his friend who helped get Kathy’s bike out of impound, since it was not rideable, fed us at his restaurant and wouldn’t take any money for it.  Without ALL of your help we would not have gotten any of our bikes back or been able to stay as positive through the process.

So now its time for us to take a deep breath and regroup.  We have two bikes in good shape and one that is basically destroyed but fixable.  At this point we are thinking of taking the bikes back to Guadalajara where there are Kawasaki dealers and a better likelihood of finding used parts as well.  We did end up getting a lot of our riding gear back and some of the camping gear, but we are still missing a lot of important items and since we only packed what we needed we will have to gear up again as well.

As you can see from the pictures below, Kathy’s bike is in need of major work and the money friends and family have donated will be a huge help in having it rebuilt as well as replacing the necessary camping items and riding gear.  These are some hard lessons learned that we will not repeat. My business coach would ask my to “re-engineer the whole situation” and find out what we could have done differently to prevent the situation and boy have I re-engineered this situation many times. These have been many hard lessons learned for me and the rest of us.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.  Our spirits have not been broken and our love and respect for this country and the wonderful people that we’ve met along our journey has not diminished but only grown. Kindness and good people win again.

Much love to all

P.S. Jackie Dawg is a happy, happy camper since her sleeping bag bed was one of the recovered items.

Got most of the plastic parts back but many have been cut through or were just broke off the bike so are they are now unusable.

Front view of the bike, you can see the broken plastic pieces there that are still attached.

All controls on the bars were destroyed, and they removed the grip on the left, no idea why other than to do as much damage as possible.

Other view

Full view of bike, only plastic piece they didn’t remove was the front fender, probably just didn’t have time yet.

Sorry everyone that my updates have slowed down.  We have had very limited WiFi ever since we left San Blas on February 16 but I am finally getting my posts done from some of the other places we visited.

Leaving San Blas

From San Blas we continued on down the coast on Ruta 16 until it connected with Ruta 200, taking it easy and trying to stay on pavement because of my foot.  The drive along the coast was gorgeous but eventually the road took us inland a bit and as we travelled through a couple of small villages we decided to try to find a playa again. In one of the villages, Ixtapa de la Concepcion, Nayarit, we just kept heading west on the roads and lo and behold, before long we were no longer on pavement any longer.  Damn!! Loose gravel roads to begin with but eventually as we got further along the way, we began to hit patches of sand which at this time still caused me to hit my brake instinctively.  Ended up falling twice on this stretch of road and I have to say I am getting damn good at falling.  The learning curve on riding off road is steep for me right now but as Milton keeps reminding me, I will be a really good rider at the end of this journey. We never did reach the playa but on the way back after my last fall, where I had a mini breakdown, Milton made me repeat mantras the entire time.  Things like; I love riding on dirt roads, this is fun, I am a good rider, I look ahead at where I want to go, sand is fun.  Did not fall once on the way back and even had to navigate around some obstacles.  My confidence increased slightly and when we reached Ixtapa de la Concepcion, after buying cold drinks at a little store, we had a wonderful lunch before continuing south.

We stopped at this little store and got drinks right before we ate lunch. This is the store owner and her grandsons.

This is the owner if the little restaurant we ate at. Think he was a little tipsy as he and his friend were trying to get me to stay with them.

The wife at the restaurant. Very nice family.

Us with Louie and Elaine and two of their friends (mother and daughter duo)

Our destination when we started out that morning was Sayulita.  A good friend of mine raves about Sayulita and so I was sure that it would be a place that I’d like also and we’d stay there for a couple days.   In the early afternoon we pulled into Sayulita and I was completely blown away by the number of tourists everywhere.  Many of the signs were in English and the streets were lined with cafes and the types of stores you’d see in upscale tourist areas. Definitely not for us but we did find a nice beach to swim in for a while.  While we were swimming in the ocean, we, of course, asked these two women near us where they were from and one said Berkley so we told her we were from Humboldt in Northern California.  They said that they were here, at the beach, with some friends from Humboldt.  They asked where exactly in Humboldt and we told them Redway and they said their friends were also from Redway.  Turns out it was a couple that has known Milton since he was a young boy.  We had a great visit with them and I know that Milton really enjoyed talking with someone who could share stories with him about Milton Sr, his father, who passed away a few years back.  After we said our goodbyes we quickly left Sayulita without stopping.

Milton and Elaine, turns out she was one of his teachers in elementary school. Small world.

From Sayulita we headed towards Puerta Vallerta and it was getting towards early evening by the time we got close.  About 15 kilometers outside of Puerta Vallerta, we saw a Farmacia so we stopped and were able to get some emergency medicine that we can use if Milton has another severe asthma attack and we aren’t near a hospital.  Also, while there we were able to buy a steroid that I can give him in injection form which will buy us some more time.  Hopefully it will never come to that but it makes me feel a lot better just having it. That night we stayed in Bucerias and had the best meal, wish I could remember what it was called. I’ll have to start writing down the names when I find something I really like.

In the morning we went into Puerta Vallerta where Milton discovered that it has grown tremendously since his last visit so we didn’t stop much.  We did stop at the local Walmart hoping they might have WiFi and to buy a coloring book for my Grandson Niko. While there I bought a couple extra children books and Milton bought some little cars that we can give away but never was able to get the coloring book. Oh well, he’d probably color all over my parents wall with it anyways.   While in the parking lot we, of course, got to talk to a lot of people because most people are curious of where we’re from and going to. It’s always fun to see the excitement in people’s faces and sometimes people even tell us they’ve been wanting to do something similar but most people say in a van or RV and not on motorcycles.

Milton and Dennis talking guns with the police.

Couple of tourists we met, think they were from Canada. Very nice couple, we talked for quite a while.

Another very nice couple we met, think they are also from Canada.

We also stopped so I could FedEx a birthday gift home to my daughter and a book for Niko.  Everything sure takes longer with the language barrier but I have a translator on my phone that helps out some.  In the downtown tourist areas, I did notice that the majority of the buildings were white and not colored with bright colors like in the smaller towns.  Not sure if this is specifically for the tourists but I definitely like more color.  The streets were cobblestone which was fun riding on with all of that traffic and a challenge with the stopping and going because I don’t have much traction on the foot that is wearing the walking boot.  The road south, Ruta 200, out of Puerta Vallerta was again beautiful with expensive houses that were amazing to look at.  Not long, we got far enough away that we began to see little roadside food stands again, which is our favorite place to eat so what did we do, we stopped to eat.

As we drove further south we finally reached an area where many of the palm trees were broken or severely windswept. As we got closer to towns, we noticed piles of bricks and tiles laying on  the ground and houses without walls and roofs. These were the remnants of hurricane Patricia that just hit the area last October.  I talked to a local who said there were no casualties reported that he knew of but the one person did drown after going fishing too early after the storm. I wish I had taken more photos of the area but after a long day’s ride sometimes taking photos is the last thing on my mind.   As we were riding down the long hill we could see the town of Agua Caliente Nueva at the bottom of the hill. We decided to stop there and see exactly where we were on the map, how far we still needed to go to get to Barre de Navidad, and get something cool to drink.  The town was beautiful with colorful buildings exactly how I like it.  We had delicious pina popsicles with huge chunks of pineapple in it.  It tasted so good after a long hot day of riding.  While there we met a couple of local teens who allowed Dennis to take their pictures.

Us with “G”, he played a crucially important part of our journey.

As we were finishing, a young man (mid 30’s), pulled up in  a pickup truck and spoke to us with perfect English and a drawl to his voice.  This surprised us, and we discovered he spent many years living in North Carolina.  He told us he goes by “G ” in the states because his name is rather difficult for us gringo’s to say, me including, so I only remember him as “G”.  He told us that we can’t leave this area until we check out the most beautiful beach which is just down the road and paved all the way.  And he said he was just there a couple days ago and there were some campers on the beach so we could camp there.

After leaving him, we found the road we were supposed to turn off on and we drove through groves on palm trees and as we got closer to the coast the damage from Hurricane Patricia became more evident.  No one was left untouched and all around was evidence of the community working together to rebuild.  Now as if our journey hasn’t already consisted of amazing experiences, on my next post find out how “G” was placed in our path for a reason.