GUATEMALA March 5-15, 2012

Monday, March 5 we left for Los Angeles to begin our 10 day trip to Guatemala.
I had found only one direct flight to Guatemala City, an over night leaving at 11:00PM. We didn't mind the late flight as we got into the city about 5:30 AM  their time (3:30 to us) and we were able to check into our room at the Barcelo and get some sleep. We were traveling with Caravan Tours which meant once we got to Guatemala City everything from then on was planned and taken care of for us. It's a wonderful company offering a great 10 day trip for a fantastic price! Our friends, Maria and Frank Penner from Pacific Grove, CA joined us late that evening.

We spent 2 days in Guatemala City, relaxing at the hotel our first day then visiting the National Museum of Archeology and Art Museum on Wednesday. 

We saw amazing Mayan artifacts and began our introduction into the incredible Mayan culture. 

Jade Mask

Interior courtyard of Museum

Paul waiting while Maria and I explored the Art Museum

Later that afternoon we had a tour of the city from the modern area of our hotel to the historic downtown.  
Thursday morning we boarded our bus for an early departure into the Guatemala highlands northeast of the city. In the distance we could see several of the 37 volcanoes in Guatemala, 4 of which are still active.

Along the drive we saw crops still being hand-tilled and grown on impossibly steep hillsides, even an ox drawn plow preparing a field.

Our first destination was the colorful village of Chichicastenango 

and a visit to Santo Tomas Church where Mayan and Catholic rituals are blended together; Mayan offerings burning along the center aisle while all around are Catholic statues and altars. Amazing! 
As we left the church a funeral was starting up the steps. 

The casket being carried through the crowded village on the shoulders of the men then on up the steep steps. It was also market day so the booths were filled with beautiful crafts.

We wound through the market and then stepped into a small courtyard and found a woman sitting under a tree using a backstrap loom to weave beautiful wall hangings...and I did a little shopping 

Out another doorway was this view of the cemetery. So colorful! 

We had seen several of these colorful cemeteries along the drive. Such a unique part of the Mayan culture. The turquoise and green signify and adult member of the family, white and yellow indicate the passing of an elderly member, pink and blue are reserved for deceased children. They often bring some alcohol to the cemetery on Sundays visiting as an entire family...it's not mournful as they tip the bottle to the earth do the deceased can get their share.




After 3 hours visiting the city we continued on to our next 2 night stay overlooking Lake Atitlan, 5000 ft above sea level. What a gorgeous hotel with gardens EVERYWHERE! I could have stayed here for weeks!

Hotel Atitlan

Sunrise view 

 I got up early Friday morning to enjoy the solitude of the gardens. We took a morning cruise across Lake Atitlan to one of the many Indian villages, Santiago Atitlan. Beautiful local Mayan people in traditional dress.

Yes, a new purple scarf for me!

Lush coffee trees with berries, an organic plantation

Saturday morning we drove into the picturesque and world famous coffee growing region of Guatemala with a visit to a coffee plantation and coffee museum at Finca La Azotea.

Beans set out to dry on the ground

The small independent plantation also had a museum showcasing Guatemala's unique musical instruments. We were treated to a concert on the lawn.  These 3 brothers were actually going to be in Las Vegas the following week to be part of a Latin talent show. 

Our next location and beautiful hotel was the elegant Porta Hotel in Antigua, a colonial city and Guatemala's capital for more than two centuries.

 It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the best preserved colonial cities in all of Latin America. We loved it! 













While we toured the city we came to the village laundry area still in use today by local women.

In one of the churches we visited we saw this beautiful art work on the floor near the front altar.  It is made of dyed sawdust and created for the Easter holidays. Around the outside were many fruits and vegetables.

Since we were visiting during Lent we saw an amazing local procession on Sunday, unlike any I've ever seen. Hundreds of men and boys dressed in purple robes carrying an enormous wooden religious float balanced on their shoulders. They had been walking from a neighboring village from early morning and arrived in Antigua mid afternoon.  The procession wouldn't return to the village until close to midnight.  It was something to see!

From Antigua we traveled to the Caribbean side of Guatemala, a long drive into the lush jungle and along beautiful waters. 

We had a 2 night stay at the Villa Maya Lodge set on a 67 acre nature preserve. 

The lake view from the lodge; it even had a resident crocodile.

Paul's favorite chair on the whole trip!

The base of the banyan tree

Our primary destination for the entire trip were the Mayan ruins of Tikal with its towering pyramids rising above the rainforest. Tuesday morning we were up early for the drive to Tikal.

No, we weren't arrested...just trying to channel some of the mystical energy  of the ruins.

Returning to Gutemala City on Wednesday we stopped at Quirigua, a remarkably preserved Mayan archeological site. 

The 10 day trip was now ending but what an impressive visit to a beautiful part of the world! The people, the landscape and the history, we loved it all!

We returned to LAX and on to San Luis to pick up Foster and our motorhome, refreshed and ready to see more of the beauty and history of our states.

San Luis Obispo Feb 22-March 5, 2012

Wednesday afternoon we were back at our favorite campsite in San Luis, the Orange Grove site at Jim and Carolyn Park's house! It's so quiet, lovely view of orange trees and we even have our own private little entrance, we just love to stay there. 

Once we were back in San Luis we had a few days to enjoy friends, dinners and movies while putting more things on Craig's List! We had about a week before we'd take off for a 10 day trip to Guatemala with friends, Maria and Frank Penner, so there was a lot to do! 

We decided we should go ahead and sell our little brown 1960 Mercedes, a very hard decision since we have owned it for almost 42 years. 

We both felt it was better to have it go to a new owner than to worry about storing it  until..? We took our last outing in it one evening driving with Jim and Carolyn to Jocko's in Nipomo for a tasty steak dinner.  We did so well until coming home when we ran out of diesel! AAA came to our rescue with a gallon or so to get us home. It was always my "school" car for so many years going to Los Ranchos and back to Shell Beach.  

We also knew we needed to sell Paul's VW trusty work van. 




Paul thought he'd have better luck selling the MB on eBay so we got it listed and started the week long auction. We put the van and other miscellaneous things up on Craig's List. While he was busy cleaning and polishing up the van to show prospective buyers and sorting through his tools, I had fun visiting with friends. Katie Bauer was in SLO for the same week so there was lots of catching up to do.

I also had a chance to see my Wednesday morning Breakfast Club friends and our littlest member, Ellie Devitt. Since I'm not there as often she doesn't recognize me but does  warm up as the morning goes along. Here she is with Kathie Haley. 






After breakfast Nelda showed us her brand new car, only 2 days old in the photo! What fun!

After the rainy Wednesday, Thursday morning was bright and sunny and a perfect day for walking along the cliffs in Cambria with Carolyn, Annette, Anne and Linda, followed by lunch in Cambria.

Yes...cold,  but so beautiful. 

We had dinner Thursday night with our dinner group at Tony and Anna Evans' house...and a chance to finally meet little Zora! 

What a fantastic evening laughing and sharing delicious food. I was so proud of having baked 2 pies in our motor home oven! A first for me.



Saturday was the annual Women's Shelter Benefit Fashion Show at Madonna Inn and a perfect time for Sheri and I to go once again! We had a wonderful time, so much fun. It's amazing how professional the performances are!!! It had been many years since we'd gone to the show and this was perfect... Just sad I didn't get a photo of us!

Then it was time to start thinking about packing for our trip to Guatemala. I love to travel but I always put off the packing since its my least favorite thing to do! But with Paul out doing errands, (and a stop at his favorite coffee shop in San Luis)

I buckled down to staying focused and getting it done. We wanted to leave mid day Monday so time was flying by and there's nothing as hard as packing 2 suitcases in a very tiny space. So that took up the rest of Saturday afternoon and a nice feeling once the cases were closed and zipped.

Sunday we took Foster up to our wonderful friends, Laura and Eli Afana for his holiday at their ranch. As soon as I opened the car door, Foster jumped out and ran straight for the glass door, he sure knew where he was! We had a great visit over dinner in town before saying good bye. How lucky we are that Foster has a loving second home with them, (even if their cats don't agree).

Monday morning there we still some loose ends to take care of before leaving for LAX, our flight was leaving at 10:45 pm, a direct flight to Guatemala City.  We left the motor home parked at Jim and Carolyn's. An exciting 10 days awaited us. 

Oceanside to San Luis Obispo February 16-Feb 22, 2012

Back tracking to our last blog,  we were headed north along the coast with a stop to visit our nephew, Wesley, and his wife, Alena. We planned to stay 4 nights at the Fullerton Elks Lodge, a perfect location for visiting So Cal! There are 6 sites on a hill with a recently renovated Elks Lodge. Once we set up our home we visited the Botanical Gardens at Cal State Fullerton and had a lovely afternoon.

Wes lives in Tustin only a 10 minute drive for us. He was busy studying so we did some sight seeing before connecting with him on Saturday. Friday we visited an amazing exhibit at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana, Warriors, Tombs and Temples: China's Enduring Legacy.  

The exhibit featured life-size terra cotta warriors along with artifacts from the excavated imperial tomb compounds from several dynasties. 

 We spent the afternoon in the tiny town of Orange and loved this fun building we spotted as we drove into town.

I checked out the website, Goldstar, to see what events were going on in Orange County that weekend. Goldstar is a fantastic site to find 1/2 price tickets to a variety of events and productions in large metropolitan areas. I found a dinner show, Battle of the Dance, a dance competition between Irish dancers and dancers of the Flamenco. What incredible talent and a fun evening!  I also found a Jazz Brunch for Saturday morning at the Newport Beach Jazz Festival. 

By Saturday afternoon Wes had finished his studies so he showed us his preferred method of travel to school...his motorcycle

had coffee at his favorite coffee house: 

and then all around his campus at UC Irvine.

 

We ended our day with a delicious dinner out with Wesley and Alena at one of their favorite restaurants and said our GoodByes the next morning after breakfast in Fullerton.

We left Fullerton for Simi Valley to pick up a new addition for our motor home, a screen porch Paul found on Craig's List. From there we took a new route which dropped us down into Camarillo to spend the night with dear friends, Sue and Rick Reichel.

 Sue was my Student Teacher so many years ago and we've been so lucky to have stayed friends through the years. It was such a wonderful stay...we never run out of things to talk about, funny how that happens!

Monday afternoon we moved to our favorite beach campsite at Rincon Beach. 

 Staying 2 nights gave us time to ride our bikes into Ventura to visit San Buenaventura Mission, the ninth and last California mission founded by Father Serra and the 12th we've visited...only another dozen to see.  The gardens were lovely.

 Across the street was the Museum of Ventura County 

with a remarkable exhibit of miniature historical figures by George Stuart. 

 

Extraordinary figures, no more than 10" tall and yet every detail was extraordinary! From the bio I read he has made over 400 of these figures from throughout history, the ones we were viewing were from the Renaissance and Reformation Period. The displays are rotated throughout the year...another reason to return another time.

 So glad we had stopped on our bike day in town, but since we had spent so much time seeing sights and having lunch, the wind had picked up which meant we were driving into it all the way back to the beach!!!! A very good workout!

Evening sunset was spectacular that night! Clouds gave off such amazing color as we sat around the campfire.  I do think this is one of the most amazing places to camp along the coast and can't believe we hadn't ever tried it before this year's travels.

The next morning it was time to pack up and get to SLO. 

Now that I'm back into the swing of things I'll get all the last month's adventures up! I actually forgot how much I enjoy logging our travels...it is after all, my only journal of this Gypsy Life!