Life on our open road, after 6 months, is just that- life. Our daily adventures have not grown tiresome to us, like a chore we must do, in fact with each passing day these discovered moments become a more wholesome nutrient for our souls, enriching our bloodstream with new vistas of mighty peaks piercing the [...]
From mighty Laguna Quilotoa, we headed back to the coast, aiming to start at Manta and surf our way south. Along the ambling highland roads, patchwork fields were seemingly endless, and around one of the many turns, was a woman and her pre-teen daughter roadside with large bags of potatoes waving their hands for a [...]
From Mindo, we snaked our way into the lush lowlands of costal Ecuador. Adam drew a surf map from online research; we pulled into the first stop on the map in a small village, peeped the waves, deemed it flat, windy and the dirty beach uninviting, reversed for a 3 point turn and heard an [...]
Change is the biggest constant in our lives right now and the tented market city in Otavalo’s Plaza de los Panchos constantly changes- rain flaps up and down, vendors here one day and gone the next, new wares bought and sold. We were part of the mayhem- friendly bartering for the van full of items [...]
Through the whispy grey clouds, a streak of sunshine broke through, revealing a burst of neon green, as we wound our way through the verdant peaks. The Andes are a no joke mountain range, and we are just getting into them… the scale of it all is just breathtaking. This portion of southern Colombia is [...]
No longer alarmed by men with machine guns, local military patrolled Boca de la Caimanera, where the Caribbean waters lacked the vibrant hues we hoped for, but were nonetheless quite nice. The FARC, Para-military and Colombian Military all wear similar uniforms, the difference being the opacitiy of the uniforms, which only a very trained eye [...]
Up, up and away, we departed North America, bound for a new continent! Into the whipped cream clouds above Cartagena de Indias, Colombia we descended in the airplane. Stepping out into South America, we took an exhilarated breath of humid Caribbean sea air, and headed into the next chapter of Our Open Road… Taxi bound [...]
Another border crossing brought us up from the steamy jungle and into the mountain fresh air of Boquete, Panama. We camped beside the river at a clearing just large enough to parallel park the van. Colette threw rocks into the babbling river, and we relished the breeze that drifted off the water, even layering up [...]
Adam had adventured to Costa Rica ten years ago and contracted Dengue Fever from an evil mosquito on the last leg of his trip. At the LA County Hospital they had no idea what to do with him, and he suffered thru 9 days of intense fever & shakes. Nevertheless, he was very excited to [...]
Crossing the border into Guatemala required more effort than simply driving into Baja. This being Central America, things work at a different pace. We have come to expect and accept that, arriving early in the day to allow for the guaranteed inefficiencies. No need to bore you with the details, but it eventually got sorted [...]
