Good times with the Hartling-Gill family

Our friends from Whitehorse, Mike, Alice, Charlie and Ruby, took some time out of their Nicaraguan tour to visit us in San Juan Del Sur for a few days. Mike blessed us with his bionic birding eye and unique ability to communicate with Brahman cattle, Alice discovered the best bakery in town and treated us to delicious sweets for breakfast, Charlie kept us laughing with his unique entrances into the pool and Ruby shared her 7th birthday with us. Thanks for the visit guys we will miss you this year!



Chicken ready bock bock (don't ask me why they would yell that!)

Undersand

Leyla and Alice explore Playa Yankee

Mike sports his new shades at happy hour

low tide at Playa Yankee





Playa Maderas sting ray harvest

Mike demonstrates his cattle whispering skills

Howl no more

Kids Egyptian sand temple at Playa Remanso



Buds



Rivas and Lake Nicaragua

The city of Rivas has become our go to place for supplies that can't be found in San Juan Del Sur. Rivas is located about 30 km back towards Lake Nicaragua and the Pan American highway. It is a pretty drive through farm lands and small villages. Tremendous winds blow across the lake and numerous wind generators have been installed to power the region. This is a windy time of year in Nicaragua and we have wondered numerous times if the roof was going to blow off our thatched roof house! Rivas has a large market area that is very crowded with vendors, horse, human and gasoline-drawn taxis. We enjoyed a tour of Rivas in one of the horse-drawn carriages. Located about 5 km away from Rivas is the town of San Jorge and the ferry terminal for boats crossing to the volcanic islands in the lake. Bring your Gravol if you book onto the passenger ferry; it was bouncing around like a cork as it plowed through the massive waves on the lake.

Dos Amigos

Rivas express

Ready and waiting

Plantain capital of Nicaragua

Love these handy homemade BBQ's made with recycled materials

The feed store



Urbina bus



Pizza bikes

chica with melons

Nicaraguan chariot

sand shadows

boat on Lake Nicaragua

unfortunate fish

Lake Nicaragua with volcanos

Fancy

The View

Life in San Juan Del Sur is living up to our expectations. Our place is about 15 minutes south of town, high on a ridge looking southwest towards Costa Rica. So far our days have been spent discovering the beaches in the neighborhood and body surfing as much as possible. Home school has started in the mornings from 9 - 12, which has its growing pains but we will figure it out. One thing we have learned is that you must keep a clean kitchen. The ants know everything and are watching all the time. The moment you leave food out these tiny little ants establish a optimal route and get to work. Above all, minimal clothing is required, night or day. You have to love that after a good spell of Yukon winter.

The view

Wow the large bag is really large!!

Fresh Mackerel for dinner

Lovely Leyla

Sunset on our boy

Tranquilo

Enticing

Pan-Americana!

We have arrived in Nicaragua!! The last few days in Alberta were wonderful and we thank our family for the great meals, drinks, conversation and the all important lift to the Calgary airport in a snow storm. Vic navigated Deerfoot Trail like a seasoned veteran admist all the fresh snow. We spent last night in Houston, which I wasn't terribly sad to leave, especially because of our cab ride to the hotel. What is with the lazy and down right confusing cabbies in Houston? It is all part of the experience I guess. Today was touch down in Managua where we met our vehicle and the great driver Dennis who drove us to San Juan Del Sur. It feels good to be back in Central America after many years away. The last time I drove on the Pan American highway, avoiding chickens and customized school buses was 20 years ago enroute to Costa Rica. San Juan Del Sur seems like a fun town situated on a beautiful crescent-shaped beach in southwest Nicaragua. It didn't take us long to drop our luggage off and head to the beach. We strolled in the surf and then settled into a beach front restaurant for an early dinner. You just can't beat fresh lobster and mojitos!! For desert we took in our first Pacific sunset of 2013, I can't believe we have 6 weeks of this!! Tonight we are staying at La Posada Azul about a block off the beach. I highly recommend this lovely boutique hotel  http://www.laposadaazul.com/ for anyone traveling this way. Tomorrow our house rental starts so we will be hitting the grocery store and loading up with supplies! Adios!

Sullivan says hello to the Pacific

Premium

San Juan Del Sur bay

Happy

Local lobster

Sofia the beachcomber

Eye Candy in the Ice Fields

There is a feeling of excitement, comfort and home being in the Rockies. Something about the fold and thrust belt, its ragged ridges, bedded cliffs and aprons of pines. It really is hard to get enough. A delicious taste of eye candy lay before us from the slopes of Marmot Basin on New Years day. This is a great ski hill that gives you an expansive view of the Athabasca River valley. The lifts are fast fast and the terrain highly variable. Leaving Jasper was not so difficult because we were heading down the Ice Fields Parkway. First we had to say goodbye to our friend Anne Williams who works as a naturalist in Jasper. We haven't seen Anne in 9 years so there was lots to catch up on. Funny how it didn't feel like 9 years and it was nice to see that Anne is still Anne with her bright, friendly smile. Hopefully it's not another decade before we share some time again. The drive south towards Lake Louise on hwy 93 was truly spectacular. Some of the nicer slopes were carved by skiers and well-worn trails lead to towering ice climbs. Snow avalanches were dispersing their way down the banded cliffs, which added to the excitement. I think the real excitement for Sofia and Sullivan though was stopping at the Candy Store in Banff. I love that place and I love how it hasn't changed one bit since I was a kid. The jaw breakers are still enormous and the assortment of candies by the 1/4 pound bag is dizzying. We pulled into Okotoks and the grand parents house yesterday evening. We have a week here to take care of business and visit family before heading to Nicaragua. It has been a great start to 2013.

Taking in Marmot Basin and the Athabasca Valley

A quick farewell skate ski with smiling Anne

Home

Whirlpool One Skate for Peggy

Yesterday evening, after 2000 km since leaving Whitehorse, we rolled the rig into Jasper. The drive from Fort St. John was easy going and the best part was our approach to Grande Cache when the sunset behind the Rockies. This is our recreation destination #1 and we are stoked to be here. Today we ventured down to the Whirlpool valley south of Jasper on hwy 93A for a skate ski. We set out from Meeting of the Waters and ended up at Moab Lake for a round trip total of 18 km along a gentle-groomed road. The kids and Sonnet were real troops and well ready for dinner when we returned to the hotel. Now its time for some celebration as we bring in 2013. Happy New Year everyone, we wish you all health and happiness in the coming months. This blog entry is dedicated to my good friend Peggy Carels who passed away earlier today. We love you Peggy...

Grande Cache glory

Sullivan and Sonnet cruising up the Whirlpool valley

Sofia and Sonnet stop to take in the view and some beef jerkey

Does it get any better!!

Goulash in the Northern Rockies

We are 2 days into our drive to Jasper and it has been beautiful. Our pre-dinner soak at the Liard Hot Springs yesterday was more than welcome after a 7 hour drive. We soon realized that there is probably a system for rustic hotspringing such as what to wear (or not wear), undressing at warp speed and organizing your stuff for the brisk exit. The scene was very tranquil with only a couple other hardy souls enjoying the full moon rays through the frost laidened trees. Our accomodations were another 40 minutes down the road at Muncho Lake where our friend Rosie has a great cabin overlooking the lake. As we approached the lake the temperature was still cold at -20 and we thought about bailing on the cold cabin and opting for the Northern Rockies Lodge. Then something very unusual happened, it went from -19C about 2 km from the lodge to -3C at the lodge! It was down right balmy and the cabin was back on. First we needed food and pulled into the Northern Rockies lodge at 20:30 making it just in time before the kitchen closed. We were all super hungry and inhaled our delicious goulash, spatzli and steamed veggies. This set us up for a very peaceful sleep at Rosie's. The beautiful driving and abundant wildlife viewing continued through the northern Rockies and out onto the plains towards Fort Nelson and Fort St. John. No those are not Christmas tree lights out in the middle of the forest, they are oil and gas rigs, busy with people hard at work doing their thing so folks like us can roll up to the pumps and continue our adventure, much appreciated.

Liard Hot Springs

Frosted trees desparately reaching for the hot springs

Thanks Rosie!

Northern Rockies

North of 60 auto glass art