Thanksgiving with Granpa (or my Daddy)

Well, this is the 1st holiday without my mom. Since she has not cooked for the holidays in well over 20 yrs, I was not missing her as much as I thought I would. My dad (i.e. gramps) came down from LB and managed to have a good holiday with us. We went to my cousin Vero's house for dinner (in which I am trying to be on time now, she said she wanted us sitting down at dinner at 1 PM, I arrived at 12:15 PM, only to find that I surprised her still in her pj's and needing a shower still, Sorry about that Vero!) and Joan's for desert. I think my dad had fun, but honestly, he would have gotten so much more out of everything if he knew sign language. That way I could have signed for him, and he would have been able to participate in the conversation.

Can I suggest that to him without getting his goat? We'll see...

John went to Baja Thurs. night and should be back Monday morning. Swell coming in so fast, that they (he & Cooley) decided to NOT take the boat. Took Kit Kat, and now I miss them both.

sigh.

Disneyland = Migraines

Well, we survived going to Disneyland for the weekend. As we were leaving on Sat. morning at 7, I got a call en route from Laura, who was meeting us at the Disneyland Hotel. Yes, the original one (the hotel and laura). She sounded horrible and was complaining of a headache. Since I travel no where without a supply of advil (the only thing that cuts a migraine for me), I assured her that help was on the way.

It was only as I was turning onto disneyland way that I realized that I had majorly screwed up! I had told my dad by email that I was going to meet him at the Matterhorn at 9. Yet, I had his ticket. Thank goodness that he thought the matterhorn was a hotel. So he had all ready emailed me to say that he would meet me by the main gate. At 9.

I got to the hotel at 8:45, ran up to give Laura some advil, ran back down to grab as many things as possible from the car (I had hit CostCo for so many snacks that you would think I was packing for Central America trip all over again), ran back up with some water and crackers so that the advil wouldn't upset her stomach. And then realized that it was 9:30 and my dad was just sitting out there. By his lonely old self. At the main gate. ugh.

So I left the kids with Laura and MacKenzie (henceforth referred to as Kenzie), ran to the monorail, got off at Tomorrowland at a jog, ran to the front gate, found my father(at 9:50, 50 min. later than I meant to), walked as sedately as needed for my 79 yr. old father, all the while, worrying for my poor friend was sick and stuck in an hotel room with 3 active kids between the ages of 9 & 10. Got to the room with said father in tow, found out that Laura had taken the advil, had barfed while I was gone but was a tad bit better but not enough to go into disneyland, realized that it would make Laura better, faster, if I just got everyone out of the room (OK I am going on what I would have wanted at this juncture and I can assure you I would have been willing to send my kids into d-land with almost anyone at that point), and got the kids into d-land with dad in tow again (how much could that have been for him, i wonder??).

We had a lovely time with Vera, Brian and Glenn for a couple of hours before we heard from Laura, back from the dead, and we met up with her. Had a great time with all of them. Dad had to leave at 5 (he is after all unused to all these people bumping into him and walking all that way) so we upgraded him to an annual pass so that we can all meet up there for future trips, in the uncrowded weekdays, and he went off on his own, home. Lost the deBolts at 7 when they left us there. We went back to the hotel for a snack and back for some night time fun rides. Missed the Halloween Fireworks, that are supposed to be awesome but you need to actually get your place to stand or sit or kneel in about an hour ahead of time, something that we were not willing to do. Thank goodness Laura can go on the whiplashy rides, as I cannot.

Sunday found us there having a blast again. Did I mention that it was really crowded both days? I was being bumped and jostled at every step. I managed to find a t-shirt that I loved with Tinkerbell on it, a t-shirt for Leo with Grumpy on it that I really loved, and Teresa managed to buy a robotic type Pluto that she really loved (OK, I don't love that, but it was a good 2 out of 3). Got our 2 day park hopper tix upgraded to annual passes, got the tobins over to the John Wayne airport in time for their flight (does in time mean 2 hrs. early?) and headed home. Got home to take a nap (did I mention that I slept in the same bed as Teresa the massive sweaty but cute girl and Leo the active leg thumper boy?), got up and hobbled out to the car to start unpacking (hobbled? Did I mention that my hips and feet were complaining at the loudest possible volume that your body parts can?), managed to get a lot of stuff out of cute honda before suddenly being hit by a migraine.

Migraine only managed to be a problem for a few minutes, as kids were in bed by 8:30 and we were in bed and asleep by 9:30. Woke up at 7 AM this morning, much improved.

Do I regret going to D-land because of the sore hips, feet and migraine? I will have to make sure that I get regular snacks when we go next, make it only one day at a time, make it during less crowded time periods (middle of the week), and try to do yoga regularly until then, and lose some weight and get more exercise. Yup, doing d-land will make me try harder to be better to my body. Who would have thought that would be the result of a 2 day trip there? tee hee

Are we legal yet?

Due to forgetting to pick up some ink cartridges in time, I ended up waiting until the 5th of Oct. before I filed our paperwork for GG Learning Academy (Get a Grip) for the year. We have now been Homeschooling officially (but not legally, oops I mean that legally we are a Private School not homeschoolers, since homeschooling does not officially exist in California) for 5 years now. It seems like yesterday when I enrolled Leo in First grade in our private school. Wow. All that learning. All that fun.

Later this month, we are going to have one heck of a week. I really mean that. Learning is so much fun!

Is that all there is?

Well, my mom died at midnight on Tues. after the kids and Tia Rosita and I all had visited. It was an appropriate time for her to go and went she did, in her sleep. Yeah, I want to go that way.... OK not the same way. My mom abused that body of hers with fioranal (a combination of tranquilizer and aspirin given to many people with migraines in the 70's) and then OTC aspirin products and her kidneys just gave up. So no, I am taking great care of this body (can we say sometimes I am obsessed?), trying not to gain too much weight, not to eat all the wrong foods, and not develop diabetes or lose kidney function.

The last day she was alive, she recognized my kids, my aunt, and I made a joke with her on the way out. Hopefully, she wasn't her normal pissy self and wasn't offended by that last joke. I can't tell if she even heard it, she was so out of it. Apparently, while we were there and I was in an office signing paperwork, she was screaming in pain from the nurses moving her to prevent bed sores. Wow. I was going to look into heavy duty pain killers but was afraid that they were not compatible with dialysis.

The dr. did try to prepare my dad and me for the fact that my mom was on her way to the big Exit in the sky. But she said, maybe 6 mos. And maybe we might want to look into taking her off dialysis, and yes it would shorten her life, but it would give her more energy and better quality of life.... Hey! I didn't want to make that decision, and neither did my dad. We looked at each other like two cartoon characters, "you want to choose, cuz I shore don't!" So mom took that decision away from us, thank the stars that shine at night.

I am so hoping that she is up in heaven (OK, I don't really believe in heaven like most people do, but go with me on this....) and she is drinking a big margarita (on ice with salt, thank you very much) with a big huge piece of pastry in the other and is laughing and smiling on all of us.

IF i think that we are all part of a bigger soul, or as I put it, a master soul, and IF our lives here on earth are an attempt for the master soul to get a life experience, well her master soul just got one whopper of a life experience that most people would not choose to have. Its as if we choose a movie to go to, sometimes we want a horror film, sometimes a comedy, sometimes a weepy drama, our master souls would be choosing lives like that. Hers wanted the bitter, unfulfilled life and hopefully that is it done, she will now be at peace. Because I can't really fathom why anyone would enter this life and choose to be unhappy.

Me? I choose happy. You? Choose what you want.

Mom still in hospital

So it was occurring to me while I was visiting my mother in the hospital yesterday that she is nearing the end of her life. She was lucid enough for 90 seconds at a time, falling asleep mid sentence, and I was trying to quietly freak out on my own. Wow, she has no neck. Her mouth does not seem to want to stay closed, although I see her making the effort. She is falling asleep with her eyes partially open. Her color is waaaay off. Her skin looks like crepe paper.

This is someone that abused me while I was young. As I watch her sleep, I try to figure out what I am really feeling. Sadness? Yes, I am feeling sad for her. She seems to not have gotten anything that she was hoping for in life. Well, maybe that she became a mother, but then she didn't know what to do with those feelings and took them out on me. She is a grandmother, and I used that on her to try to shake her out of her ennui, to make her want to get better by saying that the kids cannot visit her in the hospital and that they did want to see her. If she worked to get better, then they would release her to the rehab center and the kids could visit her there. She nodded, but I really can't see how much she is struggling. She seems to be drifting off.

Is it wrong of me to feel that that would be a nice way for her to go? Just keep going, don't come back mom... because what would she be coming back to? She and my dad don't even talk to each other any more, as far as I can tell. She can barely see, so her joy in the TV has got to be diminished. She is in pain, but cannot self medicate any more (that put her in the position that she's in now,aspirin- blood thinners until she got a bleeding ulcer).

I have such joy in my life. My kids are great, and I know it. I have a great dog. I pretty good husband (OK, he's great, too) and I am trying to get back into writing. When I am at that age, what will I have looked back on and seen as my greatest feats? And my regrets? I try to live my life right now, with no regrets.

Hoping anyone reading this does the same...

live now, no regrets

my mom can't stand me

OK, I know I am not the only person out there with this problem, but here it is, bald and unvarnished - my mom can't stand me. She may love me (that was indicated by my father this past week) but she cannot stand me. To live with me, should my dad die first, would probably guarantee both of us a lot of stress.

But let's back up for a moment - why would I be having this conversation with my father (who happens to still be married to my mother)? My mom was admitted to St Mary's hospital for a bleeding ulcer. My dad told me that my mom and he for once, were not fighting and that all of the sudden she spontaneously starting vomiting. The "spontaneously" is important to that last sentence as she frequently induces vomiting. My dad just saw that the vomit, all over the bed spread as she was in bed at the time, was black and thought "wow, that's weird. Black Bile?" and tried to get her to go to the hospital with him in the car. She refused and insisted that he call 911 and have the paramedics transport her. So he did, they went and she is still in the hospital 6 days later. She needed 3 units of blood, that is how much she lost. She passed quite a bit of it through her intestines (yes, that is a nice way of putting it, eh?). All of her symptoms were masked through previous behaviours, lack of noticing on her part, or OTC medications she is taking by the handful.

Now I am trying to et her released to a respite facility to build up her strength before being released to my 79 yr old father, who cannot lift her 4'10", 170 lbs. frame. She refused to go in a wheelchair to dialysis yesterday, so I can just imagine what will happen should she need to go to the bathroom while at home. She also seems to not be able to see right now. She is confused, she seems to be uncomfortable.

It must be hell to grow old. I look at her and just see what I should not do in my life. I also find it incredibly hard not to think "wow, she was so mean to me when I was young. Why should I go out of my way to see her now that things are going so awful for her?" and then immediately feeling guilty for having these thoughts. ugh.

I don't know if this is the beginning of the end for her (or some awkward middle place) yet, I do know this - she is going to be very afraid of the end, and for that, I need to place my feelings aside and just be there to hold her hand and comfort her. Please let me be able to do that! Biting my tongue goes only so far! LOL

explain this

Why am I at the pool all the time? When I am on one of our trips, I miss the comradery but I am glad that we have next week off.

Why is it when I ask conservatives if the health bill just throws the cost of indigent care from where we pay for it now through higher costs in health care that the doctors and hospitals put on pay from the pocket people or people with health insurance onto the gov't (OK yes, we are still paying for it, but at least NOW indigent people can go and get preventative care instead of Emergency care which is cheaper), they have to tell me that the federal gov't should not be in health care (I had it pointed out to me that the federal gov't should not be in health care because of the 10th right in the Bill of Rights)? Is that really answering the question? We pay for health care for the uninsured now. Right?

Why is it when I tell my kids to not talk back, they talk back some more? I feel like telling them - Just. Shut. Up. But of course, that is not nice. Yeah, right.

Why is it when someone complains about something and I tell them that I'll look up why that is happening, they write back "oh ha ha"? "Oh ha ha?" What is that supposed to mean? I hate to complain without also looking for a way to fix it. Is it just me?

Why is it I have the time and the inclination to write on the internet and yet I am shrugging off writing my book?

namaste

toni

JO Max meet over!

Well, we got the kids over to Chula Vista for the JO max meet this weekend. Getting up was no problem for me or the kids (me-5, kids-6) and they did both well and not so well.

T Times -100 IM 1:45.79 (dropped 2+ sec.)

50 Free 43.06 (added 1+ sec.)

50 Fly 52.32 (added 3+ sec.)

50 Breast 53.42 (dropped 8+ sec.)

50 Back 50.68 (added 2+ sec.)

100 Free 1:32.63(dropped 7+ sec.)

L Times - 100 IM 1:59.89 (dropped 10+ sec.)

50 Free 46.32 (added 3+ sec.)

100 Back (DQ)

50 Breast 1:01.09 (dropped 11+ sec.)

50 back 50:43 (dropped 1+sec.)

100 free 1:41.63 (dropped 10+ sec.)

Can you see the problem? That's right, for the 1st time ever, L beat T in a time. The 50 Back. She cried. He said, cool, whatever, mom! I didn't know whether to be horrified for T because she works so hard and L seems to lope along, always thinking to himself that she is stronger and faster forever OR to be pleased for L because he HAS been paying attention in practice and is starting to show something for it.

So much fun to be a mom (yes, I am rolling my eyes at that)...

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!

from "Finding Nemo" Dori's song

sailing while sinking into sore throat he**

well, today was an interesting endeavor that will affect how we do on our next trip... John is busy looking for the perfect boat. We are almost sure that we will get a Gemini 105 (google that) a catamaran that is designed with a family in mind. He is busy trying to figure out the financial aspects of it, what we will need to do to the boat and so on...

I, ... ahem, I took a sabot sailing lesson today. Yes, I, who used to own a sabot and sailed it around the san Pedro boat marina where we kept La Sonadora (our 25' piver trimaran), I took a lesson in sabot sailing today. And I learned a lot. Unfortunately, T who is the best daughter ever and loves to share things with me, gave me her summer cold and it decided to rear its ugly head this morning. But not enough to make me want to cancel (and pay a cancellation fee) this afore mentioned lesson. So while I was sailing, my body was becoming achy-er & achy-er until I finally pulled a major brain fart, put myself in irons(where you are headed straight into the wind and your sail is flapping uselessly on the mast) and could not figure out how to get myself going forward again. How could this happen to me? you might ask. I, who lived on a trimaran for 2 yrs, sailed down the west coast from San Pedro to San Diego and then on from there down the baja coast, how could I have put myself in irons (that part is easy and done by many a sabot sailor) and then not been able to rectify it on my own? All I can say in my defense, is that I ended up turning to the instructor and telling him to remind me of what I was supposed to do, and then proceeded to do it.

As I did my "push up" onto the dock, out of the sabot, my achy body and sore throat reminded me of why I even considered canceling this morning. Somehow, it was reassuring to me that I am not an idiot, just a sick person who could not remember what to do until reminded by my great instructor, James. Mission Bay Aquatic Center, you guys ROCK!

Hopefully, this will be a good lesson as to why sometimes a non-relative instructor is good for the soul (of learning, that is!)...

Happy July

For some reason this morning, I got super excited thinking about getting on the boat. We are looking for a Gemini 105. We found one South of Guaymas, about a 10 hr. drive from Nogales crossing in Arizona.

The kids have taken a week of sailing lessons, and later this week I plan on getting "checked out" on the equipment at the Mission Bay Aquatic Center, so that we can have some days sailing in the sabot. Later in the summer, L&T will take an advanced sailing lessons for a week. I will post a couple of pix of the boat next time.

San Diego living and loving it

Well, just wanted to check in and blog about... nothing.  That's right, nothing!  We are finishing up the school year, I am all ready trying to get my hands on some new sources for curriculum for next year, I start my Book In A Month again tomorrow.  Lots of stuff but nothing to really write about.  Maybe next week will be blogging about homeschooling because that is something that I rarely write about and really need to.

I spoke with a woman at a youth workshop being given at the Apple store on Saturday and she asked me about homeschooling.  Seems that her divorced boyfriend has concerns about his kids being homeschooled and I tried to let her know that while I understood what she was asking, it would depend on how much effort her boyfriend was willing to make, and on how good his relationship with ex was.  I think that would make a great article for secular homeschooling.  Maybe I will suggest it to the editor!!

yeah, yeah, yeah about the worms

We have been back about 6 wks. now and I am still convinced that this was our worst trip.  Oh well, I guess time is not giving me perspective on it.  The kids are back on the swim team, I am writing a book in a month with Gimi and Kenda, John is a foreman for Paar.  The dog is now getting used to going to dog beach.  Everything is back to normal.  I am going over to Erika's house to pick up some red worms that she is letting me have so that I can start vermi-composting.  San Diego is warming up, no more upper 40's at night.  I think that saving up for our next trip on a catamaran is happening now.  John is looking at 35+ foot boats and I am really hoping that whatever we end up with, that it gives me a better cooking space and that the kids are happy with it, too.  Even Leo is slowly coming around...sigh.

Guess I am in a better space than back in February.  Groovy.

love to everyone that reads this

toni baloney

San Diego

This will be one of the last posts that I do on Central American trip.  Yeah.  Hmmm.  Since March 17th, I have been trying to figure out what to write.  You see, we drove home from Guatemala City in 6 days.  No, that is not a typo.  Not 16 days, or 6 wks. but 6 days.  And let's say they were not the happiest of days.  Can I say here that this trip was not our most favorite one (or have you not figured that out yet from previous posts?).  So here we are, now with the luxury of being almost a month from said hurried drive home to San Diego, and I am still trying to formulate a nice way to sum up the trip.

I just hate whiners, and it would seem that every post has been that of a whiner!  Ugh.  So now I am trying to come up with something pretty cool to wrap up the trip in writing.  Maybe it will be me climbing a verbal mountain, but I still hafta try, don't I??

And now it seems like I am whining about the weather here at home... sigh.  I can't seem to win here. (insert big smiley face but rueful)

Guatemala City in our rearview mirror

Hey all,

    We are leaving Guatemala City tomorrow morning.  We are hoping to be in 3 different surf spots for the last 3 1/2 wks of the trip.  There should be a swell coming in on Thurs. so we are hoping to be in Tierra Colorado for that swell, then Nexpa or Ticla for the next bit of surf, and then somewhere North of Mazatlan.

Incredible as it seems, we are winding this trip down, down, down.  Wow, sometimes it seems like this trip has take FOREVER, and sometimes it seems like, OK, it is the right amt. of time to go home now, 5 mos.

We are really missing our friends and family.  It helps so much that we are seeing Gwyn and Julie right now.  I know John is not missing the hustle and bustle of San Diego, but I am missing all sorts of things... Baskin & Robbins chocolate mousse royale, the Vons store, Trader Joe's, going to Balboa Park for the museums, going to Ocean Beach, Jen and her girls (Hi!), our parkday group!, Gimi and her girls, dog beach, the ZOO, my book club, my familiar surroundings in the trailer!  The La Mesa Library!

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods,

toni

Back in Guatemala City

Well, we made it back to Guatemala city.  This last border crossing was our fastest and our best.  I guess that we are finally getting good at it!  It took all of an hour and fifteen min. and it only cost us 40 quetzales (about $5 US).  We are now visiting SIL and then will be back on the road to check out some new places in mainland Mexico and back to some old favorites.

We stayed at El Zonte, in El Salvador and got a relaxed vibe from it.  we stayed right on the point at "Raul's" a great guy who is 60 and you would never guess it.  He has two adult sons, Ernesto and Moyo who are pretty good surfers.  Hung out with some canadiens (hi Jason and Heather and Shana) and a guy from Alaska (hi Mateo).  Food was pretty good there and let's face it, E.S. is cheap, cheap, cheap!  Meals were $5 or less, can stay in A/C rooms for $20 US or less.  Internet is a buck an hour.  Can't beat that.

Hope all is well in Obama land,

toni

what happened to the boards???

We took the ferry over to the Nicoya peninsula (the Guanacaste on maps) and the roads are horrible over there!  We got so shook up on the roads that 1) a ceiling fan got knocked off, 2) the boat started to come off the rack twice, 3) the surf boards came off the rack just as we passed another car (good bye 50,000 colones about $100 U.S. to pay for the scratches and slight dent) and finally 4) the boards came off in such a way that we lost them, but still retained the soft board that Teresa uses and John ratty old long board.  Ugh.  We drove back but were told by a Tico that a couple of gringoes (that we know we passed) grabbed the boards and split!  Oh well.

We came back to the Jaco area to buy an used board and then NOT go back to the Guanacaste and will head towards the border tomorrow, but surf near the Nico border for a day or so.  

Not sure how long we will be in Nicaragua, maybe a week.

Health and happiness,

toni

Travel thoughts

Real quick, thought I would add to my list of things to do and not do in Central America...

Do not bring your dog with you over all these borders.  It is a big drag on time and money.  Then again, I do love having Kit kat with us.

I love, love, love my Dr. Braunner's peppermint liquid soap and it has helped me deal more with camping and the heat, than any other thing.  Wet the rag, put a few drops on, rub on all sweaty parts of body until clean and not sticky.  Repeat as necessary.  Honestly, I love it.

When I get bored of drinking water (hey, being a hypoglycemic is not fun.  I can't have caffeine, OK so I cheat on this with some coffee once or twice a week, and I am not supposed to have sugar.  This severely limits my ability to buy anything to drink in CA- sigh) I have taken to making individual drinks in spare gatorade bottles, with water and a tea bag and then make sun tea.  I still have Trader Joe's organic mint tea bags and Good Earth decaf tea, and between the two of them, well I am loving them.  Good for me, and tastes great, without the caffeine, or the calories of sugar.  Yay.  I am finally not grumpy all the time.

And neither is John.

peace and health,

toni

Costa Rica thoughts

Hey all,

  We're in Costa Rica after 5 days on the Caribbean side in Panama on Bocas del Torro Island (rained on every 3 hrs. and just dumping rain!) and then 9 days on the Pacific side of Panama at Santa Catalina (beautiful, surf was in, Brazilions came by the 6-pack, and rained on us 4 times there and again, dumping rain with lightning added for effect!).  We went to Pavones, then onto the Osa Peninsula, saw coati group of 15 running by the road with their funny way of holding their tails upright, more Morpho butterflies, lots and lots of scarlet mackaws, saw some cupuchins so close that I could see the expression on their cute little faces.  From the Osa, we went to visit our friend Brain Skinner, who lives around Dominical.  We stayed in the area for 3 nights, but finally, the trash strewn beach bummed us out enough to move on.  Let us say, we just love Uncle Brian!

From there we looked up our friends the Smileys, Dorian and Angelina.  Well, were we ever surprised to see that Angelina has been cooking something up for the past 34 wks.  A baby named Coral, and we can't wait to see pix on their blog when she comes!  We got the privilege of celebrating Angelina's birthday with her!  Yay!

We are hoping to do a major shop in Jaco (5 min. drive away) and then the ferry from Punta Arenas to the Nicoya Peninsula for some surf on Sun. Mon. Tues. and then some pretty places beyond!  We are having so much fun on this part of the trip.  We are hoping to be in Guatemala City sometime in mid. March and then home for tax day.  Not sure if that will completely work out like that, but we are hoping.

Peace and health to everyone who reads this!

toni

Sorry, no internet in Santa Catalina, Panama where we were for 10 days or Pavones, Costa Rica where we are now.  We are slowly trying to head home.  We are trying for the Osa Peninsula today, to camp and fish off the beach outside a huge national park.  That may be our only chance as the dog is not allowed in any of the national parks in CR.

      We saw a troop of squirrel monkeys outside our restaurant the other day in El Golfito, they were so cute with their red bodies and little white faces.  We saw a toucan from about 4 feet away and took pix that I will post when we have the ability to do so.  Outside the cabina that we stayed in here in Pavones, there is a lavender orchid tree and red-orange passion flower vine.  So beautiful.  Again pix to be posted when I can do it.

       The surf is not cooperating.  Flat, flat, flat.  Hopefully on the end of the peninsula there will be something, if just fishing for John.  Humidity was killing me, but after 4 days of AC, I am in a better mood.  At least to finish up the trip.  Hope all is well in US, we will see you before tax day!

IMPORTANT< DO NOT BRING DOG!!

Yeah, there, I wrote it.  We should not have brought our dog.  She has cost more at the borders than for us to cross, crossings would go half again as fast for us without her, and when it is raining outside, she brings more wet in with her.  I'm glad that she is with us, but honestly, most people should be warned... no pets at border crossings!

Porrujas or Chitres

One thing all people coming to the caribe side of Costa Rica or Panama should be ready for is the porrujas (the name in Costa Rica) or the chitres(Panama's name), which is a biting no-see-'um, very small black horrible thing, which leaves a very itchy bump behind.  They are so small that they float through the screens, so there is no way to keep them out.  The Off! 40% Deet seems to keep them from landing on us.  I am using Hilands homeopathic tabs, for bee stings and insect bites for relieving the itching (worked in 15 min. for me) but did not work on the kids.  Our anti-histamine anti-itch cream worked a bit for Teresa and Leo, as did just plain old witch hazel.  Only problem is that you are constantly re-applying those creams or the lotion, whereas the homeopathy seemed to work for me up to several hours.

Be prepared.  We were, but not for all things, I guess.

more on Isla Colon

For those of you that might be following the blog for more practical purposes, like finding out about costs or restaurants... The ferry over was an hour and a half and cost our 3500 dodge ram $55 U.S. (panama uses U.S. currency as does Nicaragua) to cross.  

Our 1st night on Isla Colon, in Bocas Town, we went out to dinner at The Casbah.  Fantastic food!  We had 2 different appetizers, bacon wrapped shrimp and tuna carpaccio.  I ordered the penne and shrimp and John had the pork tenderloin in rosemary and white wine sauce.  Great food.  Kind of pricey but definitely worth it.

Last night we went to Pizza Libre, where all the dishes had humorous names like "Mother Teresa" (all I remember is that it had goat cheese on it) and the "Che Guevera" (3 cheeses, parmesan, mozzarella and bleu).  I ordered the "Obama", black olive and bacon.  I loved it!  Both for the taste and the humor.  John ordered the Garlic and Shrimp and might have been called the "Benazir Bhutto".  Nothing like a French chef's sense of humor, eh?  LOL

Isla Colon, Panama

Hey all,

  I am emailing from Isla Colon, Bocas del Torro town, Panama.  Its been raining since we left Costa Rica, off and on all day long and all night long.  Being in the camper has not been all that much fun what with the humidity, inability to be dry and lots and lots of rain, but little or no waves.  John not getting what he wants, and we are all tired of rain.  Tomorrow, we will take the ferry back to the mainland and go over to explore the Pacific side.  We think that since there is no "dry" season on the Caribbean side, but there is on the Pacific side, we should be a bit happier and drier.

The island is pretty cool with its mixed people from latin america and the caribbean island peoples, everyone who lives here speaks both Spanish and English (or patois).  With so much rain, should it surprise anyone that everything is so green here?  Lots of cool frogs, (including the one named after the noise it makes, the tink frog!), monkeys in the trees just cruising around.  The roads are just one big mud pit, so walking on them is almost impossible in flip flops, since they just suck off into the mud.  Lots of grey sky, and lots of humidity.  When the sun does come out, hello! it is fierce!

We met a cool family, Jed and Ruth, with Jayden, Cora and little Adia.  They are buying some land on another one of the nearby islands.  Thanks to them, we are showered and have the laundry done, but we are still not totally into all this rain.  Since they are from Northern Calif. they don't mind the rain and love that they are here until April.  Thank goodness they are as kind as they are!  We are baja rats at heart and are totally missing the desert clime....sigh.  Hopefully, Jed and Ruth get what they want, and when we return  back to where we will get what we want.  Waves, anyone??

pix

pix from the camper

Did we say that it was crowded in here?  this is the camper on a night where John was reading to us.   Nights are filled with reading, writing, playing scrabble, chess or quarto or card games.  Yes our little "Casita" on wheels is serving us well.

Back in San Cristobal

Here are the kids with one of the Mayan actors that performed in a play that we saw called "Palenque Rojo" and an image of a really elaborate-carved face of a church of San Cristobal's at night.

Photos from Palenque

It was very hot and humid here in Palenque, after being up in the mountains in San Cristobal.  We are right in the jungle, it grows up to all of the ruins.  There were underground tunnels, lots of lots of buildings to go up and down (my thighs remember well!) and it was a great experience!

pix from San Cristobal de la Casase!

Who says that Central America is colorful?   San Cristobal de la Casas around Christmas time-  The narrow streets with our camper dominating one, and one of the churches (yes, I know that it is sideways, I cannot figure out how to turn the image!!

pix from La Ticla

La Ticla was a great place to camp...beautiful, right on a river and here are some sunsets...

pix from earlier in Baja

John and our beautiful and very willing to have her tummy rubbed akita, Kit kat

More pix of Monte Alban

Here is one of Teresa

More pix of Monte Alban

 One of me chugging up the stairs of the North wall.  It was a very hot day and wearing the hat and the wrap over my arms was a good thing.

Teresa, my little pink thing, had no trouble running up and down those stairs.

Monte Alban

Here is a photo of the pyramids at Monte Alban and that would be Leo the wonder boy in the foreground.

Do I have to be sick??

OK, now I know I have been complaining just a bit too much, but really!  I am so sick of being sick!  My friend, Carol, has chastised me for traveling and being sick at the same time.  Well, I didn't plan that, I can tell you that much!  I do understand her concerns, as we are not coming home for another 6 mos. it seems at this point.

We are still coughing our way through the nights, but I think we are getting better every day.  If we get down to the beach, into some warm weather, I should think that we will get better faster.  At least I would hope so.

So next stop, El Salvador.  That is after my husband John and his sis get to watch their Chargers win or lose this Sunday.  John has found a spot that is close to the border between Guatemala and El Salvador, on a white sand beach that has a lagoon.  I think he is hoping to use the boat that we have lugged all the way from San Diego and used just a few times so far.  And I think he is hoping for some good fishing.  I could use some fish tacos and that is always a good thing to have fresh.

Although Guatemala City is not the safest place to be, it would seem that we have had an easy time of it.  We have visited some very high end malls here (something about a Donna Karan store, 2 Tommy hilfiger stores in the same mall, Guess, and a payless shoe source all next to each other seems strange to me!) and eaten at some cool eateries (ate a mexican restaurant called Frida Kahlo's) and we are ready to rough it again.

Keep healthy everyone reading this!

Guatemala City

Well, we made it into Guatemala a week ago Monday.  We managed to stay in one of the most dangerous cities in Guatemala that 1st night, Huehuetenango.  Guess there was a shoot out there 2 wks. ago, something like 9 people killed.  None of them tourists, I might add.  The next night we stayed on Lago Atitlan, where there are 3 volcanoes and it was very pretty there.  Lots of biting bugs.

From there we went to a beach called Sipacate, a mellow little beach area, and camped New Year's eve and day all the way through yesterday.  Black sand beaches, 80 degree weather, lots of humidity, and lots of cool people.  The army came out and checked us out (for our safety) on Fri. night at 11 PM with lots of flashlights and didn't even try to talk to us.  Lots of ash in the air there, though, and our coughs are still going strong, maybe due to that.

We got into Guatemala city on Monday in the afternoon.  Big city, lots of traffic.  Managed to get to the U.S. Embassy to look up my SIL and then waited for her so that we could follow her to her house.  Ate at another Taco Inn (last one was in Oaxaca City), and had the Alambre, shared it with Leo.  Trying to clean up all the ash that got into the camper, wash the dishes and clothes and then will manage to start cleaning the counters, stove, cushions and floor from the mess that it looks like right now.  That ash totally made everything grey.

We are planning on El Salvador from here on the Pacific side, not sure of the beach just yet, but we are discussing it and plan on making a decision soon.  Hope everyone is having a great New Year.

toni