Happy Thanksgiving

KS-Thursday

To start off this Thanksgiving day post,   Id like to list a couple things that I'm thankful for,

-A loving and supportive wife who lets me do things like motorcycle trips to the end of the world
-A friend who will go along on said trips
-Motorcycles to take me to explore far off places
-A good life on the farm, which can be adapted to allow such trips
-And God, who guides and protects me in all aspects of this crazy life

So,  Happy Thanksgiving from El Salvador,  last night was one of the most beautiful settings we've had on this trip,  watching the sunset over the ocean from the elevated deck at our hotel area.  After a very restful night preceded by spotlighting for turtles, I woke up and went out to take a walk down the beach.   There were some surfers out in waves, most of them were not having much luck as I watched a couple monstrous waves break right on top of them.  Chip joined me for a leisurely breakfast overlooking the beach,  we knew we didn't have too far to go today, just wanted to get within reach of the Honduras border for tomorrow. After all, it would be foolish to try to cross a border on Thanksgiving Day, with all the extra holiday traffic, and all the senior border guards being let go early to go home to eat turkey and watch football. Right??  It was just before noon we rode out of the gate,  a real late start for us.  A fuel stop later on revealed that I have reached a personal best of 60mpg, Chip's bike is matching fuel economy, but has been experiencing some pinging at lower elevations.  Might end up opening the carburetor once more to try to adjust the fuel curve, again. I think I could rejet that carb blindfolded now after the practice Ive had.  On our trip around the world three years ago, the fuel injected BMWs never gave as much as a single hiccup through every elevation and temperature we crossed.  We got spoiled by the so called "problem prone over complicated bikes" the only problem that could have been blamed on BMW was a bad headlight switch, solved quickly with a wire nut, and later fixed at my home shop.  A flat tire, and a blown rear shock (not a factory part) were the only others.

 Back to the Suzukis at hand.  An easy ride just inland from the coast eventually led us up across the mountains next to a volcano.  The cooler air was welcomed as we wound up through the trees, passing cows, trucks, dogs, and motorcycles as is the norm.  A couple bouts of traffic in some smaller towns had us finally back out onto open road.  Our stop for the night is a hotel in Santa Rosa de Lima,  about 10 miles from the border.   Secure parking, air conditioning,  and beautiful rooms are a bit unexpected. We've grown accustomed to slightly more 3rd world accommodations lately.  In fact, this room could be confused with a nice hotel in the US,  except that the shower only has one valve, for water, no temperature control, you get what you get.

Tomorrow will be a fun day, and by fun, I mean it will be like black Friday shopping.  A lot of waiting in lines, hoping to be told that the one thing you want, will be available.   For us, that "one thing" is entry into their country,  and we might even be a bit on the greedy side, because we want it from both Honduras and Nicaragua, in the same day.  Its like trying to get the big sale item at two different stores, but unfortunately the two "stores" are separated by a hundred miles of questionable road.  So it will be extra portions of patience at breakfast, and que up a couple good songs in the brain to keep you from losing your melon and screaming at someone in a language they probably don't understand, or even care to when presented at them in such a manner. 

If the day goes fairly well tomorrow, we will be spending the night in a hotel somewhere in northern Nicaragua. If it goes poorly, we'll be spending the night in a jail in Honduras.  I'm putting my money on the first option.   Our plan after that is to go visit some missionary friends of mine who run New Day Ministries outside of Managua.  Its been a couple years since Ive been there and I'm
 anxious to see the changes they've made (and maybe do some laundry).

So once again, Happy Thanksgiving, be thankful for what you have, because there are a lot of people in this part of the world, and many others, who have far less.

Still have room for more

Morning walk on the beach

Heading towards another volcano