tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61416856533847207222011-08-01T13:34:52.794-07:00Leah, a registered nurse. David, a civil and structural engineer. Both living in Seattle. Together they decided to uproot, trade their cars for bicycles and head off on a journey of world and self discovery. "Lets start in Mexico and head south..."Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.comBlogger411100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-12160680749210722232009-02-05T08:24:00.000-08:002009-02-05T11:50:53.283-08:00

An opportunity to top off our Central American bike tour (the biking portion) with a real cherry hadpresented itself when we met Javier, the cyclist from Cerro Punta (before New Years). He told us of a group ride that he was going to participate in from David to Las Lajas and back (a century ride - 100 mi.) along the Pan-American highway. Our travel plans were again altered in order to join what

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-71413539854890418242009-01-24T08:55:00.000-08:002009-02-04T16:08:22.277-08:00

After the Los Quetzales hike, we set off on leg #2 of our Panama journey- cycling the Azuero Peninsula. We decided shortly after entering Panama that we wouldn't ride to Panama City because the only route there would require hundreds of kilometers of riding on the highway. So, we'd do sections of riding and sections of backpacking/ bus riding to get to the city. We set off from Paso Ancho all

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-91197364146898203412009-01-09T10:55:00.000-08:002009-02-04T16:02:52.418-08:00

After one week off our bikes on the Osa Peninsula, we were excited to get riding again. Once we arrived back in Palmar Norte, we walked all over town looking for a thank you/ Christmas gift for Alcides and asking people what would be an appropriate gift. To our surprise, multiple people suggested an lamp (like a bedside lamp) or knick-knacky house decoration. We couldn't picture Alcides, a tall,

Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794640891557023188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-63401472975259808582008-12-31T13:12:00.000-08:002009-01-01T20:33:48.633-08:00

Since before coming to Costa Rica, we had heard multiple people rave about the scenery and wildlife in Parque Nacional Corcovado, located on the Osa Peninsula in Southwest Costa Rica. Everyone said it was not to be missed and so we brought our backpacks knowing that we'd be spending time hiking in the area. As we got closer to the Osa Peninsula, we realized timing was a bit of an issue as Leah

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-82277394621746774722008-12-26T08:11:00.000-08:002008-12-28T09:09:12.936-08:00

The warm, humid air hit us as soon as we stepped off the plane in San Jose, Costa Rica and brought us right back to where we left off, bringing our mental state to match our physical location. Our alter-egos began to resurface and the itch to get back on the bikes was back. But before resuming our bike tour, we took a side trip to meet up with David´s cousin Becca, who was reportedly in Parismina

Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794640891557023188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-39388007870332913712008-12-04T10:00:00.000-08:002008-12-08T16:51:18.960-08:00

It has been 5 months since we were in the Guanacaste Mountains... and subsequently since our last blog. Throughout this time, our whirlwind adventure continued, but landed us back in Seattle, although a bit unexpectedly. Here's a quick summary (mostly in pictures):After riding along the North side of Lago Arenal, we headed South into the capital city, San Jose via Fortuna and San Ramon. We

Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794640891557023188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-23710260985995521482008-09-16T10:59:00.000-07:002008-09-16T16:09:31.375-07:00

Its nice to know that there are still companies out there that not only make excellent products, but also still care about their greatest assets, their customers. This is the story of our experience with Katadyn and Optimus, sister companies that make, in my opinion, some of the greatest outdoor equipment available. In the summer of 2004, I bought the Optimus Nova backpacking stove from

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-74969473529544969482008-07-08T17:48:00.000-07:002008-07-18T08:28:40.027-07:00

While staying at the hot springs in Miravalles, the manager, Alex, had given us a suggestion for a route, a "shortcut", over the Guanacaste mountain range that would be "an adventure." He told us of a road that went over Cerro la Giganta (The Giant Hill). The road, on the map, was surely a short cut as it traded at least 50 kilometers of riding on paved roads for what he told us would be 4kms of

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-85391014819402666812008-06-28T14:48:00.000-07:002008-07-02T19:18:56.785-07:00

We arrived into San Carlos, Nicaragua at 5 am just in time to see the sun rise over the Rio San Juan. It had been a smooth ride, but we had gotten little sleep-- the old school Sylvester Stallone movies dubbed in Spanish didn't help. We found a hotel room at 6 am, ate breakfast, and set out on a walkabout around the town. It had a bit of a border town feeling, but was nice enough. Leah wasn't

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-69429942631839540082008-06-27T14:56:00.000-07:002008-06-27T16:41:22.655-07:00

After almost two months of living with Enrique in Managua, we decided it was time to pack up and leave. But first, Enrique got a taste of bike touring around the neighborhood on my trusty bici I have recently named "Blackie." Pronounced, Blah- KEY, as every single black dog is called on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua (not joking). Our time there was filled with two weeks of awesome

Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794640891557023188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-50381092955451903332008-06-04T13:33:00.000-07:002008-06-07T10:43:25.745-07:00

Our time at the Corn Islands was filled with adventure...ok, not really much adventure. After arriving we walked (from now on you can assume that anytime I mention going anywhere, we were either walking or running- the former, for the most part) from the leeward side of the island to the windward side, about a 10 minute walk. We found a place to camp in a very busy part of the beach where the

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-64793326258021689572008-05-28T13:52:00.000-07:002008-05-29T15:50:34.077-07:00

Since arriving in Managua, we have explored and experienced many things. Some of these things have been in Managua and other things in other parts of the Nicaragua. To make a very long story just a bit shorter, I'll touch upon some highlights.Just a couple of days after arriving in Managua, another good friend, Steve, flew in from Ecuador to spend some time with us before heading back to the

Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794640891557023188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-17947776277805500432008-05-19T09:32:00.000-07:002008-05-20T14:52:23.355-07:00

The border crossing into Nicaragua at Las Manos is located at the top of a very steep and long pass. This means pain leaving Honduras, smooth sailing entering Nicaragua. We passed more than eighty semis parked on the side of the road (I counted them) and we were thankful that it was a Sunday and the commercial border crossing was processing extra slow, keeping the traffic to a minimum for us.

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-8929894531673174172008-05-15T10:42:00.000-07:002008-05-19T08:48:17.629-07:00

Before writing of our travels in Nicaragua, I must add this story. It's one of my favorite memories from Honduras. Hopefully, it's not one of those you-had-to-be-there to get it kind of stories.At around 10AM cycling out of Villa San Francisco, we came across a watermelon plantation. There was a huge shelter packed with watermelons, thousands of them. It was already hot and we decided that it

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-89625689880847102002008-05-15T07:45:00.001-07:002008-05-19T07:50:38.057-07:00

After getting some good shut-eye in La Paz, we headed for Tegucigalpa where we would meet up with our friend Isai (the bike tourist from Mexico). Unfortunately, to get from La Paz to Tegucigalpa one must take the highway, and a very busy section of highway nonetheless as it enters the capital. So, not wanting to repeat a very noisy and at times death-defying ride (like we previously endured on

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-56080412500675112032008-05-13T15:34:00.000-07:002008-05-13T17:54:03.568-07:00

We decided that leaving our tent out for the cows to kick and the dogs to pee on wasn't the best option so we packed everything up and headed to the safest place in town, the police station. They locked up our bikes for safe keeping and we headed off for another type of overland journey, walking on the mountain trails headed for another aldea (small settlement). We were headed to Pueblo Nuevo for

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-59756485589252111332008-04-25T13:08:00.000-07:002008-04-25T17:05:05.311-07:00

We left La Esperanza for a rolling ride through the hills toward Marcala, the biggest town between Esperanza and Guajiquiro. As we rod along the dirt road we enjoyed the sights that the mountains had to offer as well as the friendly highland people of Honduras. We always enjoy riding the dirt/backroads because it is almost always a more pleasant ride, the scenery is better, the traffic less, and

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-10494961757619231022008-04-23T15:22:00.000-07:002008-04-25T15:09:59.029-07:00

Oh, so much has happened since we last wrote, we have passed all the way through Honduras and half way through Nicaragua and are now in Managua with my good friend Enrique Castegnaro that I attended the civil engineering program with at Seattle University. Enrique just moved here to Managua about a month ago to work on an engineering project. But don't worry, I'm not just going to deprive you of

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-56767229640388454072008-04-01T18:34:00.000-07:002008-04-08T11:47:58.417-07:00

The day before we left Belize for Honduras, we met a man named Escalante who told us repeatedly, "Honduras is busy. Everyone is busy busy, all the time." At the time, we didn´t think much of his statement because people tend to repeat themselves in conversations A LOT in Belize. But, this has proved to be more true than we imagined. As soon as we docked in Puerto Cortes, money changers and taxi

Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794640891557023188noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-28716478294071748672008-03-29T16:54:00.000-07:002008-03-31T22:00:27.700-07:00

Since so much has happened in the past few weeks, it´s hard to start knowing that I will likely leave out so many details. Hopefully, this blog will provide some justice to the experiences we have been having.We had planned to spend a few weeks in the Peten area of Guatemala taking Spanish classes, but unfortunately after one week we decided to hele-on out of there because our teachers weren´t

Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794640891557023188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-32451883488941629442008-03-20T19:24:00.000-07:002008-03-20T20:48:43.079-07:00

Well, trying to at least. I´m not sure how many of you reading this blog have ever had the experience of sleeping in some small, rural town in a developing country, but in my experience there tend to be certain reocurring themes such as roosters, dogs, and crickets. The following is an account of trying to sleep on our last night in San Jose.To start things off I`ve got a little bit of a head

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-20774270374221607692008-03-09T15:28:00.001-07:002008-03-09T15:42:13.933-07:00

flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Enter Pine Mountain Ridge Forest Reserve, originally uploaded by sanuzbord. Hills, bumps, and heat best describe our 50 km ride up to Mountain Pine Ridge. We passed through two small villages, otherwise lush green forest

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-8996508049786491042008-03-09T15:26:00.001-07:002008-03-09T15:45:09.869-07:00

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Our incredibly generous hosts in Gallon Jug, Mike & Jill, originally uploaded by sanuzbord. Our original plan was to leave the day after "The Gallon Jug Day," but to add icing to the cake or shall we say sprinkles to the

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-13881108227894578472008-03-08T17:03:00.000-08:002008-03-08T17:26:54.592-08:00

The stars are in alignment for us. Let us tell you about one of our "luckiest" days yet we have titled "The Gallon Jug Day." First, I'll give you a little background information on Gallon Jug, Belize (from the information that I have). The area that Gallon Jug is in is owned by Mr. Bowen, THE corporate business owner of Belize-- he owns Cocacola, Belikin Beer, Crystal water, Ford, and some

Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794640891557023188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-4810730258690420172008-03-01T10:59:00.000-08:002008-12-09T01:08:08.547-08:00

At Don Abulto's we were lucky enough to meet Eduardo, his son-in-law. His family is from Orangewalk and they were gracious enough to put us up for the night (as well as store our bikes when we took the bus back to Chetumal and feed us some great Belizean food). Also in Orange walk we met Hernan who owned the biggest bike shop in Orangewalk and also owns a cycling team, Team Typhoon. They were

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-69429483070087938362008-02-26T19:00:00.001-08:002008-02-26T19:00:38.569-08:00

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } First border crossing, originally uploaded by sanuzbord. Ok, so no luck with my ATM card, luckily Leah's will cover us, enough about that. Back to the story...We arrived in Chetumal and stayed the night talking with Luis

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-86127597806810990592008-02-25T19:14:00.001-08:002008-03-01T10:59:38.994-08:00

Friends in Bacalar-- Gunnar, Jaqueliene, Jacqui, Leah, David, originally uploaded by sanuzbord.Well, it´s not that we haven´t left Mexico, we did, yesterday. We just returned to Mexico today for a couple of reasons, but mainly just one. In classic David fashion I went and left my ATM card in the machine in Chetumal and we came back to see if we could get it, we´ll find out tomorrow and head back

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-34582907381963930702008-02-09T15:51:00.001-08:002008-12-09T01:08:08.597-08:00

Taking our launcha across the laguna from Punta Allen to Playon, originally uploaded by sanuzbord.Since Tixkokob, we have traveled many kilometers. We first went to Izamal, then Valladolid, Coba, Tulum (sort of), Punta Allen, the Sian Kaan Biosphere, Felipe Carillo Puerto, Los Limones, and now Bacalar (big breath). Granted, most of those places we only stayed one night in.Izamal-- three nights.

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-71111807272131887612008-01-28T14:13:00.001-08:002008-01-28T14:13:16.712-08:00

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Fiesta time! The whole Canul Family, originally uploaded by sanuzbord. Well as all things must end, our time with the Canul family must too. We are leaving tomorrow for Izamal. We have spent longer than we thought we would

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-81492341775070064242008-01-22T15:20:00.000-08:002008-01-22T15:51:19.485-08:00

We´ve made it to Mexico! We arrived in Merida last Thursday and spent a few nights in Merida getting acclimated and putting our bikes together. Surprisingly (or maybe not so much so), it took us a couple of days to put everything back together and smooth out all the things we didn´t think to do in the states. Merida is a really cool city. Every weekend there are activities going on in the

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-26940990086561010482008-01-16T23:40:00.001-08:002008-01-16T23:40:42.922-08:00

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } The crowd gfathered 'round us, originally uploaded by sanuzbord. Well everyone, it is the final few hours before we leave Seattle... and the country for a long time. Today we ran more errands, canceled our cell phones (I

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-16806671271127687592008-01-14T01:46:00.000-08:002008-01-14T03:06:32.867-08:00

So it's 1:30 AM, everyone's been asleep for at least two hours and I just can't. Too many things going on in my head. Practicing Spanish, thinking of last minute errands, thinking of family and friends, all on top of hearing Mike snore in the room next to ours. So I get up and try reading to fall asleep, I pick up The Odyssey, not working. So I figure I'll blog a little about what's going on.The

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-9542528509879357202008-01-09T12:16:00.000-08:002008-01-09T13:29:12.544-08:00

After almost exactly one month Leah and I are leaving Hawaii tonight. From here we head back to Seattle for 6 days where we will be finishing the overhaul on our bikes, packing stuff in our panniers, realizing we have WAY too much stuff, throwing stuff out that won't fit or we don't think we will need.No matter how many blogs or books we read on bike touring, how many packing lists we check out

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-43905858664102782632007-12-31T19:16:00.000-08:002008-12-09T01:08:09.635-08:00

Take a peek at what we've been up to in Hawaii. Below are some snapshots. If you like what you see, click on this link to see some more!Leah dives for pirate booty to fund our trip.Just hanging out at the beach.Leah the poser on a hike up Hualalai, into the cloud forest, where we also saw craters and boars along the way.Looking down into a crater as the clouds roll in.

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-32667636737809199482007-12-27T23:41:00.000-08:002007-12-29T14:13:18.803-08:00

So, we've been in Hawaii for two weeks or so now and maybe you're wondering what we're up to. The answer is, pretty much what you think we're doing here. Beach-going and all the activities associated of course, Rosetta Stone Spanish lessons, reading, spending time with the fam, Christmas hullabaloo, and lots of little errands to get ready for our departure.So, let me tell you a little story

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-19185982246560970392007-12-12T13:41:00.000-08:002008-12-09T01:08:10.657-08:00

After we arrived in SLC and stashed our stuff at my dad's place we stayed a couple of days with Jamie and Ryan, my eldest sister and brother-in-law. While there we experienced unbelieable weather with temperatures in the 70's and went for a sweet bike-hike-bike up city creek canyon with SharkyMarky.We then headed to sunny Palm Springs, California to meet up with my Mom, Gary, Grandma, Norm, Sarah

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-45194161672352812532007-11-27T09:34:00.000-08:002008-12-09T01:08:11.001-08:00

After packing up all our belongings (or selling them, namely our cars) in Seattle, cleaning our rooms and stuffing it all in a 16 foot budget truck (actually we really didn't even have to stack anything, the truck was WAY too big.)We headed off down the road for Utah on a somewhat meandering path. With me at the wheel (Leah was too young to drive the rental) we headed for our first stop - Eugene,

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-29493685764306619122007-11-27T09:05:00.000-08:002007-11-29T08:18:00.536-08:00

Our going away party was AWESOME! For the venue we chose the Eastlake Zoo Tavern. It was only our second time there, but we were treated like regulars by the owner, Howard. He is a great guy, if you get a chance go in there, have a beer play some pool, shuffle board or darts, but bring CASH!We had a great turn out. There was family, people from work, college, triathlon team, and other various

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-11042346931405306982007-11-09T17:25:00.000-08:002007-11-11T22:46:45.606-08:00

I've been unemployed for one week now. Friday, Nov 2 was my last day at KPFF Special Projects Division. Working there has been a great experience. I started there in March 2006 as an intern.I have learned a lot working there, not just about engineering but about:working workplace dynamics interacting with coworkers deadlines slow days water cooler conversations commuting (by bike) managers (good

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-25445507303176034982007-11-09T15:20:00.000-08:002007-11-09T16:39:27.113-08:00

Well, it's official, I am currently unemployed. My last day was yesterday and I already feel like a different person. I am divorced from the 6NE family and don't have anything I HAVE TO do anymore. Weird. It's a lot more sad than I thought it would be. It sort of feels like I'm jumping ship and leaving my coworkers to fight off the pirating IVDAs and asshole residents from taking down our

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6141685653384720722.post-25711749431607959782007-09-27T12:30:00.000-07:002007-10-16T12:39:57.841-07:00

"Hahaha, you just asked him if he had a secure box to put our tricks in!!!" Ryan translating David's attempt at Spanish"What is that you guys? Oh my gosh, its FROLLICKING!" - Leah"Leah won't floss with me!" - David"Oh! Ah! Ow! You guys! Ow! I've got ants in my pants!" - Jamie"I pulled you over for two reasons. The first one....ummm...you were parked facing the wrong direction and the second one..

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13463056409399434824noreply@blogger.com0