Van repaired, showered and well rested from our stay at the car wash, we set off for Volcan Ceboruco. It was pretty wild. First we drove through Jala, a tiny town in which every single person that resided there must have been on the main cobble stone road leading to the volcano as we drove through. Having endured the maximum of awkward stares possible, we finally started heading out of the town and up towards the volcano. We followed the extremely steep single lane (if that) cobble stone road around its meandering bends and blind, switchback-like curves wondering with each one when we’d hit some impassible obstacle and have to drive it in reverse for who knows how long. The van prevailed though and soon we were at the “visitor center.” (more…)
North America
North America
La Buena Ola!
About a billion years ago, the first multicellular life existed on our little blue dot. I can understand the unit of measurement known as a ‘billion’ in a mathematical way, but it boggles my mind when speaking of it in terms of years. I suppose that’s because we humans think about years mostly in terms of, or relative to, human history and individuals’ lives. It’s not until you talk about science that you have to consider years beyond the existence of human ones, and the Earth’s geological time is beyond massive. Anyways, it took another 6 or 7 million years for something besides a plant to finally crawl out of the ocean and exist on land. To put that in perspective, modern humans have been around for a mere 200 thousand years. So, for 6.5 million years things have been evolving in the ocean. 6.5 million years of things with sharp teeth, stingers and the ability to breath underwater. (more…)
Two Months on the Road and Counting!!
We’ve been on the road for two months now. It’s amazing how things have transitioned and progressed in that time. We’re masters of living in a van and quite accomplished at stealth camping. The money we save translates directly to more fun, amazing food, and cold cervezas (still my favorite Spanish word to-date – especially as it gets hotter and hotter the further south we get)! And did I mention the amazing food?!?! It is unbelievably good! Every time we get a giant bowl of ceviche on the side of the road, buy some fish right off the beach from a fisherman, or more recently, take a stroll through the bustling mercado, it seems to get better and somehow, even cheaper! More on the mercado later… (more…)
Hey There Little Guy and Despite What You Might Have Heard, We’re Not in a Mexican Prison for Drug Trafficking!
Having escaped the sand trap and bailed on our plans for The Wall we head for the Baja Sur, the Southern half of the Peninsula. After another military checkpoint (nothing makes us feel safer than 16 year olds with machine guns by the way) we come upon a gigantic Mexican flag, a military base, and an official crossing into the Baja Sur. Here we are stopped and asked if we have any produce or plants on board. We say no despite the Christmas Tree in plain sight by the dash, pay the 20 pesos to have the bottom of our van sprayed with something, and we’re on our way. (more…)