Happy New Year 2015

This seems like an appropriate time to reflect on another great year of travel.  7,087 miles to be exact. And once again it begins in the same exact location as last year, our happy place here in the Anza Borrego Desert.  This coming year marks the beginning of 20 years of full-time RVing.  What lies ahead, where will we go, how much longer can we do this??? So much to ponder!

Each link represents a month.  It was hard to pick just one photo out of so many beautiful places, so you'll have to click to see more!

January 2014: Anza Borrego Desert

Sunset at Fonts Point

February 2014: Anza Borrego, Lake Cahuilla, Kofa NWR, & Ajo

Kofa NWR, a new favorite boondocking site

March 2014: Tucson, Yuma, & Algodones

We love our hikes at Tucson Mt. Park

April 2014: Pismo Beach to Petaluma

Beach combing in Pismo

May 2014: Brannon Island, Bodega Bay, Petaluma

We have a nice site at Doran Beach in Bodega Bay

June 2014: Calistoga, Sacramento, San Francisco, Petaluma

Calistoga, CA for our 20th anniversary

July 2014: Half Moon Bay, Loomis, Petaluma, Humboldt County, Oregon Coast

Cape Blanco, OR

August 2014: Port Townsend, Vancouver, Anacortes

Taking the Sea Bus to Vancouver

September 2014: North Cascades, Charbonneau COE, Joseph, OR., Painted Hills

Our site at Charbonneau COE Park on the Snake River

 October 2014: Granada, Nicaragua

View of the old colonial city of Granada from the bell tower of Iglesia de la Merced

November 2014: Petaluma, Family time, Farmers markets

Our family at Thanksgiving

December 2014: Half Moon Bay to Anza Borrego

Half Moon Bay State Beach

We're back, safe and sound, enjoying the delights of Petaluma~~

Playing catch-up is never fun after a long hiatus between journal postings.  We arrived in Sacramento on Halloween Eve, an hour late in a torrential downpour of much-needed rain. Dear daughter Steph picked us up after a long day of work and navigated us safely back to our lovely little home.

We spent a wonderful weekend with our Loomis family; unpacking, washing, sleeping unencumbered by roosters and church bells, eating more wonderful meals, sharing our experiences on the trip to Granada. We had a marathon of watching Homeland Season 4 episodes to bring us current.  We thought about the holidays and travel.  We both got sick!

No, not Ebola-type sick, just yucky cold, congestion stuff.  We ran out of our miracle immune booster, EpiCor, about two weeks ago, and Voila!  Neither of us had had colds or flu for the 6+ years we've been taking since meeting our friend Walter, another RVing buddy, out in the Anza Borrego Desert all those years ago.  Walter is a bit of a health nut and preaches about the benefits of supplements and holistic practices.  However, I obviously did not pay enough attention to the seminar on gut issues, as this is becoming more of a re-occurring condition for me.  More on that later...

The following Monday we drove the 90 or so miles to Petaluma and our parking for the month of November.  We were greeted by Janis, the best Park Host and super good friend, and long-time buddy/full-time RVer Al, who was spending a few days here in transit. Al came bearing goodies of the best kind, thick rib-eye steaks and a bottle of my favorite Bogle Cabernet.  Son Norm stopped by for a visit on his way home...it was a good day.

We are surrounded by Autumn colors

We soon got back into Petaluma mode!  Walks around Shollenberger Lake, now dry as a bone, visits with the family...I even fixed them a Nicaraguan dinner one night; steak churrasco, spicy cole slaw, and rice and beans, of course, and they reciprocated with delicious, juicy chickens prepared in their smoker.  Rusty and the boys (his yellow labs) arrived for several days, en route from Anacortes to San Diego.  We had dinner with Patrick at a wonderful, new (to us) restaurant, Aqus Foundry Wharf, and we met new friends Kim and Else.

Shollenberger (dry) Lake bed, once fed by Ellis Creek

Adjacent to the Petaluma River & tidal marshlands (high tide)

We became fast friends with Kim and Else, also full-time RVers, who plan to stay here through December. Kim is a walking, talking hunk of probiotics who soon infected us with bacteria of the fermented kind.  We are rapidly becoming Cultured Food fanatics and eager students to Kim and Else's teachings.  Their motorhome is a living laboratory of yummy stuff brewing and I have sampled the best kefir, kimchee, kefir cheese, and sodas made from kefir whey.  We plan to soon start making our own and will be getting together with Kim for a step-by-step demonstration of his kefir process, hopefully documented here.  I think my grumpy guts are in for a makeover!

Petaluma is packed with good restaurants, organic markets, and sustainable family farms and dairies. Thistle Meats, a whole animal butcher shop serving only locally-sourced products, became a much too frequent stop.  There have been many visits to farmer's markets and local farms for seasonal, fresh produce.  We took a few pictures along the way....

At Green Stings Farm, featuring pomegranates & squashes

The East-side Tuesday market

We are now looking forward to more visits with friends, a birthday party for youngest granddaughter, Liliana, just turning 5, next weekend in Half Moon Bay, and a big family Thanksgiving celebration at Norm and Wendy's before leaving for the desert.  The temps are falling fast and the furnace is burning longer, and these tires need to be rotated!

Written on the fly~~Redux

Another 4 am wake-up for our drive to Managua and departure for Houston. Another 4+ hour layover in the comfort of the United Club, where I sat ruminating and collecting my thoughts on our last week in Granada.  I foolishly thought I could write a quick blog post, though the WiFi connection was sketchy.  I then proceeded to publish the update, only to thankfully check before our departure and see that more than half of it had been deleted. Thus you may have received an update notice to a non-existent posting, as I quickly retracted it.

Our departure was delayed by 45 minutes, the airplane full with nary a seat for standbys, then on to Sacramento.  We arrived at 8:45 pm and were gratefully picked up by daughter Stephanie and, in a torrential rain downpour, had a frightful drive to Loomis where our lovely little home was parked.  

A quick check revealed that our house batteries were dangerously low though we had been connected to 20 amp power which is plenty for us with all power systems off, or turned to gas.  I quickly got the generator powered up while Howard weathered the storm to track down the problem; quite simply a circuit breaker blown (how and why we don't know), and quickly restored.  Another very long day!   

Parting thoughts & shots:

I did hit the 3 week wall with all the usual symptoms and laid low for a couple of days.  We have a great condo with full service kitchen and cooked a lot of our own meals. We ordered one very special dinner from Ana, one of the staff plus a caterer, who delivered delicious steak churrasco, a popular Nicaraguan meal, with all the trimmings of gallo pinto, fried plantains, and sauces, to our condo.  

You'll notice the pizza box above on the counter, and there is a funny story that goes with that.  I wasn't eating much so Howard, who speaks no Spanish, took off to order a pizza delivered for the night's World Series Game.  By now we know the SF Giants won against a very formidable Kansas City Royals team.  The pizza arrived and he dug in...Hmmm, this tastes like tuna fish!  What did you order? Marinara, I think.  Well, I checked the menu and it turns out he ordered Marinero, as in marine, (not to be confused with marinara, as in the tomato sauce) and the topping was indeed tuna fish!! 

There are nine 2 BR/2 BA units in the Hotel Xalteva complex and over the course of our month we met many of our neighbors, all a great bunch of folks from all over the world.  We so enjoyed getting to know them and exchanging stories and travel adventures.

There were a group of 6 missionaries from Sup of the Lord Ministries, led by pastors Tom and Deborah Gibson. They were a terrific group, mostly Central Americans, fun, friendly, and very inspirational.  Tom jokingly said one day when I commented on how much fun they were having that "we're not lemon-sucking Christians"! They preached all over Granada and Managua, often 2 or more times per day, as well as meeting with groups and counseling those in need.

There were two young Dutch women next door, both medical doctors, here to complete a mandatory in-service volunteering, before returning to Holland to start their internship. They were assigned to a very sub-standard facility in OBGYN at Masaya Hospital.  They told of dirty sheets with 2 women sharing a very small bed, one bathroom for the entire hospital consisting of literally a hole in the ground outside. This is in serious contrast to the internationally renowned Vivian Pellas Hospital located in Managua which offers membership packages for foreign visitors and relocated ex-pats for services costing a third of what we pay in the US.  There are also several fine clinics and hospital in Granada.

Just a few days before our departure, Bob and Kim, Canadians now living in Costa Rica, arrived on a fact-finding mission to check out the area for possible investment and/or relocation; and of course to see the gorgeous surroundings.  There is a great website written by a local couple, Amy and Darrell Bushnell, that offers a wealth of information for anyone thinking of relocating to Nicaragua:  Nicaragua Guide.

We absolutely loved the area and will probably return but would certainly arrange our itinerary to include shorter stays in more locations throughout the country.  One very noticeable difference between the areas we visited in Nicaragua and those of Mexico and other Central American countries was the clean streets and lack of garbage dumped by the side of the road.  We also felt safe in our surroundings though would certainly not push any limits by visual displays of expensive jewelry or equipment.  Theft can be a problem in certain areas.  

Back to our final week:

We lolled by the pool and worked on our tans!  I finished reading Edge of Eternity and actually really got into the ending.  Howard read and really enjoyed God's Middle Finger: Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre, thanks for the recommendation, Cheryl.

We enjoyed passing parades celebrating various Saint's days, though got a bit concerned when what sounded like gun fire, though probably were fire crackers, went off throughout the previous night and continued during the day!  We later learned this was in honor of La Fiesta de Los Aquizotes, similar to Day of the Dead!  Very colorful...

We strolled around town for some parting shots:

You can barely see the top of Mombacho Volcano, usually completely covered in clouds

This simple façade contains a beautiful colonial home with courtyard.  They even have a garage!

Garbage pick-up!

School kids at the Square & Cathedral

Howard contemplates a Hot Dog

Along the Square

We had one last visit to Iglesia de la Merced to climb the steep, winding stairway to the view at the top in the bell tower....

La Iglesia de Merced

Capella de Maria Auxiliadora (blue) & Xalteva Iglesia in distance

Rear view of Iglesia de la Merced

Catedral de Granada with Lake Nicaragua in background

Our last day before departure was very emotional for me, saying our goodbyes to the very best staff ever.  Our month was very good indeed.  We probably would not retire here nor invest, but could certainly return!

We're back in our motorhome heading for Petaluma, family, friends and Thanksgiving.  It's really nice to be back!   Lynda.....

Seeing some sights, settling in, the 3rd week syndrome~~

Sightseeing:

A street scene in Masaya

With an eye on the weather, which changes hourly, we scheduled a full day of sightseeing with one of our drivers.  We decided on the Classical Tour, with some modifications. We nixed the Masaya Market as it was hot and crowded.

First was a driving tour of Los Pueblos Blancos, a group of small villages that represent the heart of Nicaragua with strong pre-Columbian roots and traditions.  Each town has its own patron saint, its own fiestas, its own artisan traditions like hammocks, pottery, ornamental plants, etc.  We stopped often for photos and to look into the shops.

Church in one of the villages

Little did we know when pulling into a questionable alley in the village of San Juan de Oriente and entering a modest home and workshop operated by Valentin Lopez, Taller y Escuela de Ceramica, what a treat we were in for.  We immediately migrated to the "gift shop" displays, only to be re-directed in Spanish to come sit down and watch.

What followed was a demonstration of the creative process of one piece of pottery from start to finish, which if I understood correctly takes about 10 days.  The very basic tools consist of bicycle spokes for carving designs, natural pigments from different regions around the country, brushes made from hair for painting, and sea rocks and cocoa beans for polishing.

 I put together a slideshow from my Picasa album to demonstrate what we observed:

Our goodies, taken from the computer

And this is what we bought!

Posing with pre-Columbian art on the steps of a display in the village of Catarina....

Resuming our tour we gradually gained altitude as we head to the Mirador de Catarina, an overlook of Laguna de Apoyo,  a crater lake formed some 23,000 years ago by a strong volcanic eruption that left a hole measuring 6 km in diameter.  It is a crystal clear turquoise though on our visit the clouds and reflections presented a whole new perspective on the lagoon. It sort of looks like boiling water, or frothy waves...

We had to get in the picture..

Now we get to the exciting part!  I have been so looking forward to visiting Masaya Volcano National Park, possibly with a touch of trepidation.  It is quite active, spewing great quantities of sulfur dioxide, and we drove right up to the rim, climbed up to top, and peered into the bowels of "La Boca del Infierno", as it is locally referred to.  All cars must back into the parking area so as to face heading out, and I noticed our driver did not turn off his engine.  There are a lot of superstitions attached to this place, so best be ready for a speedy retreat!

On the brink of "La Boca del Infierno"

The cross, La Cruz de Bobadilla, named after Father Francisco Bobadilla, was planted on the lip of the crater in the 16th century to exorcise the devil!

For the grand finale to our day, we drove way down to the lake from which we were earlier perched for a view, to have a late lunch before heading back to Granada.

Lunch by Laguna de Apoyo

Why so many pictures of me?  Cause it's how I spent my birthday!!

How appropriate...posted on my Facebook page.  Notice the  "Age Limit"!

On another day we headed down to Lake Nicaragua for a boat tour of Las Isletas.  The islets are a group of 365 small islands, volcanic in origin, and formed when Mombacho blew its top thousands of years ago.  Most are covered in vegetation and rich with wild life.  Many are inhabited and several are privately owned.  No we didn't see all 365!  And yes, Mombacho is on the must do list.....

 Settling in:

Being here in Granada for a month allows us to settle in and pace ourselves.  I must admit that the heat and humidity can be fierce and we have to time our outings appropriately.  An overcast day is great for walking into town but not good for photography.  

Another obstacle for me is acclimating to the local diet. Not that I haven't absolutely loved the food, quite the opposite. I insist on experiencing the comida tipica, the street food (carefully, and with recommendations), drinks, and different restaurants  It's just that my IBS has kicked in with a vengeance.  Seems that any change in diet, climate, location...who knows, gets my wimpy guts groaning, especially at night, when I'd like to be sleeping!  

We spend a lot of time sitting on our patio or by the pool, swimming and reading.  I am somewhat struggling through Follett's Edge of Eternity, the 3rd and final in his Century Trilogy, but I am 90% complete and can then start reading something mindless and trashy!   Also currently watching our SF Giants play in the World Series.  Vamos Los Gigantes!

The 3rd week syndrome:

This is when we usually hit the wall when away for a month and start missing the freedom of the road, coming and going as we please, familiarity, our things...meager as they are.  This trip is no exception.  We have both decided a month is just too long for us in one place, and we would have been wiser to add a couple of other destinations to the itinerary.  The coast, for instance, is several hour's drive each way.  Better to have found a place there to stay for a week.  And then there is the Caribbean side; a whole different environment.

Our surroundings are wonderfully accommodating and quite beautiful and the staff attentive to our every need, and so much fun to be around.  They absolutely insist on speaking Spanish and are constantly correcting me, especially my verb conjugations which are always in the present tense. Howard doesn't even try!   They teach me phrases common to the Nicaraguans but not used in other Latino countries. 

 So I will leave you with Como amaneciste?  The verb amanecer means to dawn or wake up, and is typically used to ask how did you sleep, or wake-up....

Como amaneciste?  Bien....I hope!