Back to the Mainland

March 10 - 14, 2008

The morning ferry ride from the island to the mainland was much smoother. It took us longer to retrieve our luggage than the actual ferry ride. The luggage claim area is chaotic and everyone should experience this at least once. Nuts!

We had lunch at the Lodge at Pico Bonito. This is one of the small luxury hotels in the world and there were no prices on the menu. Our tour of the butterfly farm, serpentarius and lunch cost the four of us $80. Way too much for Honduras.

Next stop was the city of San Pedro Sula where we overnighted before heading to Copan Ruinas. Mom did some more shopping in the City Mall which is like any other mall in North America. We even had supper at Tony Romas.

After a 3 hour drive we arrived in Copan Ruinas. Found a great little hotel for $25 per night. Walked around town making plans for the next few days.

Visited the Macaw Mountain Bird Park and Reserve twice. This was the hi-lite of the trip so far. Spent a morning at the Copan Ruins.

We had a traditional 4 course Honduran supper at Hacienda San Lucas which overlooks the town of Copan. We watched the sunset and the white egrets fly to their nesting tree for the night. Our meal was cooked on a traditional wood stove and each course explained to us by the hostess.

More shopping in town with a visit to the local market. The fruit and vegetable displays were so beautiful.

On our final morning in Copan Ruinas we went to an outdoor coffee shop across from a bank. We've never felt that well protected having cofffee before. Note the firearms in the picture.

Trip to Roatan, Honduras

March 3 - 10, 2008

After a very turbulent ferry ride we arrived on the island of Roatan. It was not what we expected nor as developed as we had imagined. Settled into our first hotel, Casa Calico. Spent the first day checking out the shops and restaurants and what activities were available. Rented quads and spent the next day cruising the island. It was so hot, Ed got a burn on his wrist from the sun reflecting off his watch.

The boys went fishing and got skunked but saw a marlin teasing them nearby.

Our second hotel was on the ocean with a pool and a generator. The power goes off almost everyday and without air conditioning it is very uncomfortable.

Cabbed it to the premier beach, "West End". The beach was very nice and not to overcrowded with developments.

The last few days were rainy due to the "Norte" which forced us to be lazy but the break from the heat was nice.

Mom and Ed arrive in Honduras

February 25 - March 2, 2008

This week we are showing Mom and Ed where we have been living over the past year. Our friends, David and Roberta had a tea dance so Mom and Ed could meet the rest of the group living around Lago De Yojoa.

After touring some of the the sites around the lake we visited the kids at the orphanage. The mission group we worked with last year were working on site. We invited them and the kids to the lake for an afternoon of boating and swimming.

Rebuild house in Los Andes

February 19 - 24, 2008

We helped a mission group staying at Pan American re-build a house for a family in a town called Los Andes. This is a poor community in the mountains above Las Vegas, Honduras. The family of six were living on the Pan American campus after losing their house during the rainy season and their eldest daughter had recently passed away due to kidney failure.

Many local kids and adults came to watch the "gringos" build a house. The bottom 4 feet was done in stucco and the top in plywood. A new door and one window. There was enough plywood left over to make shutters, a table and shelves. Nothing fancy, but it will keep them out of the elements.

Photos from the Nicaraguan rally

HD Rally in Nicaragua

February 13 - 18, 2008

We are headed for Tegucigalpa early for a well deserved service for our trusty Road King. The gang is leaving from the dealership early Friday morning. We are pumped for our first Central American rally. Someone told us there should be a couple of hundred bikes at the rally. He then looked at us and said, "doesn't sound like much to you, does it?". We don't care, we've been riding alone for so long it will be great to ride with our new friends from Honduras.

Lito, the owner of the HD shop, led the group of 15 headed for Managua, Nicaragua. Good friends of Lito's, Dale and Peggy from Minnesota are on their new Screamin Eagle Ultra. Small problem at the border. We did not have our permit, which both of us swear up and down we never got. For awhile it looked like we were not going to get across but a 500 lempira note ($25.00) made all the difference. Guess it looks just like a permit! Those that waited for us at the border made up for lost time. The rest of the ride was FAST and FURIOUS!

Arrived in Managua and managed to get a great room for a great price thanks to Guillermo, the owner of the HD shop in Managua. He remembered us from our visit to his shop last year.

Friday night was a group ride through Managua to the Galleria Shopping Mall where the entire upper parking lot was fenced off for the bikes and a party. Locals were paying to enter the area to see the bikes and as we found out, to sit on whatever bike they choose. There was a live band and plenty of free rum and beer for rally participants.

On Saturday we left for a group ride to San Juan Del Sur. No one rides staggered or in formation. Anything goes and it's freaky. We only got run off the road once, with minimal damage to the bike. We now have a scratch on the left hand saddlebag to match the one on the right hand side which we got at the Guatemalan Honduran border thanks to a Mexican on a BMW. Nobody got hurt, that's the important thing. One guy ran over a dog and went down. He was not wearing any gloves or leathers so he had plenty of road rash.

We staggered back to our hotel room after the beach party in San Juan Del Sur. The group is leaving early to ride all the way back to Tegucigalpa. All in all our first rally in Central America was very impressive, alot of fun and we met many new friends from all over CA.

R&R at Lago De Yojoa

January 29 - February 12, 2008

After 30+ days on the bike we settled into our bachelor pad on the lake. Visited with our friends and the kids at Pan American. Talked to the HD shop in Tegucigalpa and heard about the upcoming rally in Nicaragua. Going riding on February 13th!

Copan Ruinas to Lago De Yojoa

We didn't see everything in Copan Ruinas but knew we would be back in 4 weeks with Mom and Ed. In 3 hours we would be at our final destination for the next 4 months, Lago De Yojoa.

This stretch of highway is the worst we've ridden with lots of pot holes. We had to ride very defensively.

It was exciting to be in familiar territory and great to see the first view of the lake.

We were met by Kenny at Honduyate and saw our new bachelor pad for the first time. It is really cute and all we need to enjoy our time at the lake. Spent the rest of the day catching up on news with Richard and Kenny. The next few days will be spent contacting our friends to let them know we are back. Looking forward to seeing everyone again.

In 31 days we have travelled 5000 km from Laredo, Texas down the west coast of Mexico through Guatemala to Lago De Yojoa, Honduras.

Macaw Mountain Bird Park

Our day in Copan Ruinas

Our first tour was of the ruins in Copan. The ruins are much smaller than Tikal but have many more monuments and much more detail in the temples. Our guide was very good with a sense of humor. He said at its peak the stones were the color of the macaw and 20,000 people lived here. As is the suspicion in Tikal, the people left due to drought, starvation and illness.

Our next stop was the Macaw Mountain Park. The birds here have been rescued or brought in by owners who can no longer care for their pets. The park is very nice with a swimming hole and the owners sell souvenirs and their own coffee to pay for the care of the park and birds.

We found the local HD watering hole. The bar has Harley paraphanalia everywhere and now has a Heritage HD dip dot on its beer cooler.

Jutiapa, Guatemala to Copan Ruinas, Honduras

We are headed for the Guatemalan/Honduran Frontera El Florido (border) today. The highway improved considerably. The scenery was typical until we came over a hill and entered a mountainous area. Beautiful greenery with the road winding through the red rock mountain side. Just before before the border it rained on us for the first time since we left Texas. We pulled over to put on our rainsuits with a local family watching us curiously. While we were doing our paperwork at the border a group of Mexican BMW riders arrived. One cut in too close to our bike and side swiped our saddlebag with his. The alarm went and we went to investigate. The Mexican acted like nothing happened. Really just a few scratches so no issue made of it. He could of least said he was sorry but didn't. The paperwork went smooth with no banditos asking for money to process paper. It rained from the border to Copan Ruinas and we pulled into the first hotel we saw. There was a garage for the bike and the rooms were nice. Only $25 per night. It stopped raining right after we parked the bike so we went to the central square where we met a couple from Alaska. They are in Copan for 2 weeks living with a local family and taking Spanish lessons. Bought a local map and started planning our tours for the next day.