Moto a Guatemala

Adios Guatemala!

2008-08-22T00:53:00.000-07:00

Its finally come.... and Im feeling a tear coming on. I am sad to leave this beautiful country. I am leaving Guatemala this morning at 6:25 a.m. by airplane.... how boring, I know. I have grown to love Guatemala. The culture, the traditions and most of all the Amazing and purely crazy people. Guatemala you welcomed me with open arms and treated me so well I will return one day. Im so grateful I spent my summer here. Ive learned so much and my eyes have been opened to so many different things words canno't explain. My favorite part of this trip was volunteering in the orphanage. Those kids are so wonderful, so full of life. They have next to nothing but yet they make the most out of what they have. The children survive off of one another, care for eachother and hold eachother together. I hope and pray each one of those kids makes a better life for themselves after they leave the orphanage. They all deserve it. I couldn't Imagine growing up there. Those kids are stronger than I will ever be.

This Journey has been amazing one that will go in the record books as the greatest travels of my life... I never ever ever thought I would drive a motorcycle 100 miles let alone 5,000! I sure am glad I bought that motorcycle. Thanks David for convincing me that driving to guatmala would be the greatest thing we would ever do!! your the best brother in todo el mundo!! Thank you for keeping me alive, watching after me and gathering my belongings on the highways. I love you!!

Shawny... what can I say?? Crashes, Maps, Speaches, and paint jobs. Im always laughing when Im around you. I have had so much fun traveling with you, When you get home Ill be the first person to help you gather thousands of people for your master plan to bring down Wal-Mart.
I love you both and have an amazing time embarking on your next adventure rescueing the Panomobile in Costa Rica!! http://www.bringinghomethepanamobile.blogspot.com/
Check it out!!

To the lovely Janet Lee, Thank you so much for taking us in to your casa and being an amazing friend! Your the most inherintly good person I have EVER met. Love you and I hope I get to see you again. It was so fun to travel with you every weekend thanks for the great times. mucho gusto and Suerte Vida!!

Thank you to all my friends who supported me in my crazy Ideas and believed that I was actually driving here. (Hill's really the only one who believed) Buuuuut, to the others I understand I would have laughed too. I love you all and cant wait to see you soon!!!

Mom and Dad..... I know we gave you heartattacks and kept you up in the middle of the night but thanks so much for not slashing our tires before we left. That would have delayed us just a little bit. Im so Grateful for your prayers and support. David and I didnt mean to ignore your begging pleas not to go but we had a journey to fullfill!! I hope you both understand by now and appreciate our spirit of adventure..... I love you and cant wait to give you hugs!!

Lexi, Anna, Aaron, Chris, Becky and New Baby I cant wait to see you!! Ive missed you all so much. Thanks for your support, Good luck wishes and, kisses and hugs!
I Love you mucho!

Farewell Guatemala until next time DIOS CON TIGO!!!

!!!!ADIOS!!!!

Guate Vs USA

2008-08-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

El Estadio Olimpicio

Cheering for Guate so I wouldn't get shot. We chose not to sit in the US section because we didn't want to get rampaged after we won!

only in Guatemala will you see grown men in diapers.
I Love this place.

IM FREE!!!

2008-08-20T13:07:00.001-07:00

After a long awaited, depressing, sad, boring few weeks, I finally sold Che!!!!!!!!!! (the motorcycle). I now am free to leave the country, I feel like a bird with new wings! I will return home soon,
but before I leave this magical land I am going to the Guatemala VS. Estados Unidos Soccer Game tonight!!!
Im so excited Its going to be an awesome game and a really exciting way to end my travels!

Murder Central Rio Dulce

2008-08-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

This is a really old castle with cannons surrounding it...

Murda Hostel

Here I am still in Guatemala... Its ok but Im getting really antsy to get home and hang out with my friends... also I start school on Thursday so I should get back!
I still have had no luck selling my motorcycle and Im getting to the point where I may just give it to a poor guy sleeping in parque central.
This Last weekend David, Janet and I drove to Rio Dulce.. the prettiest river in all of Guatemala.... possibly Central America. It empties into the caribbean between Belize and Honduras. We arrived at the hostel to find it almost vacant. There were 30 dorm beds all of which were empty. It was Friday night and the place looked like a deserted building. We thought it may have been a slow weekend.... little did we know. Janet and I sat down to eat when the server came to take our orders. We had read about an incident that happened that week near the hostel. A couple was attacked on their sail boat by pirates, the couple didnt have enough money to give to them so they killed the husband with machetes and seriously injured the woman. We were interested to know if this was the correct story and asked him about it. He then went on to say "yes that happened but......you didn't hear about what happened here??" hmm no we hadn't, but he wouldn't even tell us he just left us hanging. Curious and anxious to know Janet and I ran up to the internet to search the noticias (news) We found a short paragraph about a local prostitute called Queen of the South and her 14 year old son who was a drug lord. The two of them had been shot in the bathrooms 2 nights before we arrived. Our nights rest was the worst we have ever had.
The next morning eager to get out of there we took a boat ride down the river. The river is Gorgeous and the people there have the most incredible house. It was amazing to see how the locals live... commuting by little conoes and boats.
We stayed in Livingston, the majority of the people are Garifuna and its much more surreal than the other places I have visited. We had a wonderful time, Despite our friends bag was stolen from the window in her room.
We returned to Guatemala city last night and now I am back to trying to rid myself of this motorcycle. wish me luck and hopefully I will see you all soon.
Peace and Love!

Honduras and Back

2008-08-08T07:24:00.000-07:00

This Last week and a half has been the nightmare of our trip and an adventure that has put us into a slump of misery. We walk like zombies, read for hours, and our tempers are on the verge of rage. David is snappy, Shawny is going insane with boredom and, I am seconds away from jumping off the balcony that is calling my name. Its been a wonderful few weeks! haha

Heres the short story
2 weeks ago we packed up our things and headed to honduras riding 360 miles to sell our motorcycles. After long hard days of work we had them sold.... for alot of money! Unfortunately it is illegal to import a vehicle over 10 years old and impossible to bribe someone to get the papers. I had 7 days to sell my motorcycle before my flight left from Honduras. After exhausting long days trying to pirate up hundreds of solutions and work our way around the rules. We had enough of Honduras and packed our things and rode 360 more miles back to the beautiful lands of Guatemala. We left the day before my flight in Honduras. Im really sad I didnt make it home. I really hated that day STILL riding a motorcycle on the 5th of August!!! The only thing that kept me sane in Honduras was going to the dirty beach and sneaking into the nice hotel to swim and lounge for hours on end to pass the time. I made friends with Guadalupe the security/waitor who I convinced him I was staying at the hotel, he welcomed me with open arms everyday.... little did he know I was just skeeming my way around.
Meanwhile here we are in guatemala city, the crew is hanging out at lovely kind generous Janets beautiful apartment. We are doing everything we can to sell the bikes here. The rules and regulations make it so difficult to sell anything here hopefully they will sell soon. I long for the day I can return to my family, friends and, the valley of zion. haha Until then VIVA GUATEMALA!! Im still here and going to soak up every minute of this amazing country.

Fotos De los fin de samanas

2008-08-06T17:41:00.000-07:00

Coban
Semuc Champey
BAT CAVES!!

Grant!

As the sun goes down and the night begins the bats swarm free.
There is a huge cave in Lanquin, it was so fun to explore and when the bats started to leave the cave we all stood at the opening and watched thousands of bats swarm around us.
It was one of the craziest things ive ever seen!!

Copan Ruinas

Shawny taking a nap on top of the ancient mayan temple dreaming of the sacrifices that took place on the bloody alter in front of him....

JUMP!

Mayan temples and stuff

Xela!

Monterrico

cars on wooden planks??

this Pelican was on crack

Party Bus!! scariest bus ride ever.

Adios Niños, Adios Lago

2008-08-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

Until next time blessed Lago de Atitlan

Thanks for the best breakfast ever Juan Carlos.

Tracy and I stayed at the most beautiful guest house my last night at the lake... It was paradise.Thanks to my most generous friend Juan Carlos

biron hates cameras.

Look at this cutie. . Edwin Josue

Dulce

Anna Skeet

Abrham

Abrham and Dulce

my last days at the orphanage were hard for me to leave I miss the kids so much! I always had such a great time with them. They need so much and get so little I wish I could do more for them. They all deserve to be somewhere better. The orphanage was run so poorly I felt so badly for the kids, They didnt have running water, the little toddlers were given so little to eat they never had any energy, and the donations were hardly ever being used. . The orphanage is in need of someone who can better organize and commit to making it a better place for the children to live. I hope and pray someone who has the resources to better the orphanage comes along soon. The kids need it.

My experience was wonderful I enjoyed every minute of it. I have so much respect and admiration for Tracy. . . who has been at the orphanage volunteering for the last 2 months and will be there until october. I dont think I could be there for that long. your an amazing person Tracy!!

thanks to everyone who brought donations to my house to send down. And thank you mom for sending those to guatemala.

I hope to volunteer at other orphanages and do more projects throughout my life. I want to make a difference in peoples lives.... .

Feliz Viajes

2008-07-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

The next book in our adventure begins.... We are selling our motorcycles in Honduras.. hopefully.
We traversed all of Guatemala yesterday and we are about an hour away from La Ceiba the northern Coast of Honduras. we are over 4,000 miles into our journey and the day we left in May seems like a year ago. I am flying home on the 5th of August that is if I can get out of Honduras without a motorcycle. (mom dont stress ha) pray I can Pirate up a solution.
Todays Events.... I dont want to forget. .

1. Piña Panqueques
2. I almost got run over by a red diesel truck
3. Cowboys Lasoing bulls in the middle of the highway
4. David almost died in between 2 trucks going opposite directions.
5. Shawnys tire almost blew up because it was so bald. (he got a new one!)
6. Driving through San Pedro Sula we came across a big event.. a truck with about 30 gun shots in all the windows. and hundreds of people surrounding the incident........ Pretty Scary!
7. Shawnys headlight went out. and now we are at a hotel in a sketchy city near the most dangerous city in Honduras.

Its been a good day.

Fin De Semanas

2008-07-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

goodness! It sure has been a long time since I have written, Where do I even start there is so much that has happened in the last few weeks I dont think I will be able to catch up... here is a short summary of places I have traveled on the weekends. . . quick update.
Monterrico- Guatemala Beach!--- scariest micro bus ride of my life, I literally thought my life was over......, Parties at the beach..., Free Gallo shirts for kisses, and flat wooden boats carrying cars on a river. who would have thought a piece of wood could hold 2 cars on water!!
Semuc Champey- My number 1 desired place to go in Guatemala... FLOODED the weekend we arrived, and the way back was shared with a bus full of 12 smelly drunk Euro's. Worst bus ride of my life!! The good news... Bat Cave explorations, Pink Hostel with the wonderful story telling Felipe, tubing down the river, crazy fun truck rides and a beautiful hike.. .
Antigua Worlds best nachos and banana bread, Scary guatemalan carnival..... techno bumber cars and The Ring of Fire!!!.. another time I thought my life was almost over. I dont recommend going on carnival rides in Central America. we came to the conclusion that the bad rides that aren´t approved in the states are shipped down here. . . haha

Copan Ruinas!

2008-07-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

Me, David, Janet and shawny road tripped it to Copan Last weekend. Lucky we had Janets car so we didnt have to take a bus the whole 8 hours. . although we did get a flat tire we made it safely and were able to bring the car back to Guatemala without getting in trouble for bringing the car to Honduras illegaly... . We lied about not having a car so we didnt have to pay the fees! woops haha. Copan is a very famous site for Mayan Ruins in Honduras.... It was really amazing to see the temples and ruins that had been discovered there. I could only imagine stumbling across these beautiful creations. . . well they actually dig them out of the ground. . . its kinda a huge project.
I wish I had more pictures now. it is sort of hard to describe what they are without photos. . ill have some soon.
It was really amazing to learn about the Mayan Culture in Depth and actually see for myself the amazing history of the temples and pyramids I learned about in grade school.
when I was standing in front of the enormous stairs of the temples and pyramids i couldnt help but think of the scene in apocolypto where the guy is sacrificed and his head gets rolled down the stairs.... Im sure it wasnt the same but thats all I could imagine.....

Antigua

2008-07-01T11:13:00.000-07:00

Galeria De Arte

Pacaya

Nosotros vamos a Antigua,
we rode our bikes to Antigua last weekend.... Antigua is the Oldest City In Central America Founded by the Spaniards. . . Its so beautiful. The ancient architecture, cobblestone streets, Flaming Volcanos, Giant Market, and Amazing Nachos I was in love with Antigua the minute we rode into town. Shawny, David and I met up With my Friend Tracy and Davids friend Janet.
The first night we stayed in a really creepy but very nice hotel and cooked our own dinner in the kitchen... by creepy I mean there were naked baby Jesus´s in a huge glass case and Jesus statues all over the hotel halls and lobby. . . adise from that it was like stayin in a museum.
The other 2 nights we stayed at a hostel called jungle party. It was certainly a party. free amazing breakfast and hot showers!
We Trecked up pacaya Volcano. Its an active Volcano outside of antigua... Tracy and I were lucky enough to get a free horse ride half way up and somehow I managed to snatch a free ride half way down. When everyone got to the top of the volcano it was a sight I will never forget and a The most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life...... Flowing Molten LAVA!!! making a volcano with vinegar and baking soda doesnt even come close.
It was like I was in an episode of Planet Earth. My dreams of making a banana marshmallow chocolate smore were soon crushed when It started to down poor. Although we did manage to roast a few mallows and stick them inbetween some chiky galletas! They were the best tasting marshmallows I have ever eaten. there is no comparison between campfire marshmallows and LAVA cooked marshmallows. . .

Los niños!

2008-06-25T13:30:00.000-07:00

Carlos..... isnt he so Cute!

Casa De Sion Orphanage

Caminar

Monica

Almuerza Lunch Time

Me and Anna Maria....

The Boys!

The kids at the orphanage are so sweet and fun! I have been there for almost 2 weeks now but I still cant remember everyones names.... they are hard! The Kids go to school in the afternoon from 12-4. During that time I help with the babies its very quiet at the orphanage at that time... I like going in the morning because Its more lively with all the kids around!
there are only 3 volunteers at the moment. Me, Tracy, and Heather. I met them a few days ago Tracy is from New zealand she will be here till september and Heather is from Texas, im not sure how long she is staying.. Tracy and I have been hanging out its nice to make new friends here. We have some adventures planned to travel around guatemala and see all of the beautiful places here. We are going to Antigua this weekend to climb an active Volcano.... we hear you can roast marshmallows at the top!! Antigua is the old capital of Guate... The city is very historic in Central America and supposedly the prettiest city in Guatemala.
We also Have a motorbike trip we want to take all around the lake to see the villages. There are 12 villages around the lake.

FoToS

2008-06-22T18:41:00.000-07:00

Futbol

I love the Mayan Culture.... If I was carryin this on my head my neck would break! The women here ar so strong and prime examples of working women.
It is so neat to walk around the streets and see the native mayans wearing the traditional myan clothing bautiful colors and hand woven textiles!

This is the house I have been staying at..

San Pedro La Laguna!

taste of paradise

Shawny giving his lectures about corporate America while he just finished taking a sip of his Coca cola haha

we all got soaked on the way to San Pedro! Hannah(not the one i live with), Me, Shawny, Janet

Moto

Pretty San Pedro

We came back from San Pedro and there was foam all over the lawn......
They ate Davids seat!! haha

Learnign how to fly . . .

Cute old men building houses

This Is what I call Vegetarian Heaven!!

Cute Little ninos

Narnia - -- I sorta needed to pull my pants up!

rididng in Xela!

Rididng through mexico was so beautiful and then you look on the side of the road and this is what you see everywhere!! So much trash. Its really sad to see a beautiful place with so much plastic all over the land.... People arent really educated about what to do with their trash and they will throw it anywhere they please.

Wonderful I had so many great photos to upload and my camera just died.. .... ....
I hate batteries!!!

Thanks for looking at my photos, check out the ads to the side and choose your own adventure there are some really cool sites!!

Sun and Rain

2008-06-21T10:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, My new home is Beauty! I have just been settling in and getting to know the town and the orphanage this week. Pana is filled with tons of hippies and it is really touristy... aside from that I love being on the lake..... Its not my favorite place I have been but I did come here for the orphanage so I dont mind it so much. Today we are going to San Pedro La Laguna I have heard its really pretty there. We will take a boat and hopefully the rain hold up till later this afternoon. It rains everynight!! I kinda like it. Its really sunny and hot in the morning and afternoon till about 3 then it starts raining really hard!
The kids at the orphanage are so cute and fun!
Its really hard to remember all their names.... there are about 32 of them there I am not sure exactly how many...
I have been helping with the babies this week because the woman who cares for them finished working there the day I arrived. They hired a new woman and she has a 1 1/2 year old daughter named lucia that comes to the orphanage with her. She is a doll!! The little babies names are Edwin he is 2 months old, Lidia is 3, Im not sure what she has but she is about the size of a 1 year old.. her legs are tiny and she cant move her arms very well... She is really cute! Alejandro or noah he has 2 names... im not sure how many months he is..... and Carlos is 14 months. I have been taking him on walks alot because he never wants to stand up and walk...... Im trying to get him to walk more and get his legs stronger so he isn't sitting so much.
I have also been playing with the younger kids ages 4-10 they are really funny and have been teaching me tons of spanish.
Ill have pictures posted soon!!

FActs YO!

2008-06-17T18:46:00.001-07:00

Ha my brother is pretty cleaver...
I was going to do a fact/count list but he beat me to it... I guess it saves me the time and effort.....
Read on and enjoy.....

Heres some FACTS about the ride here:
1. we rode 3700 miles
2. in 20 days
3. about 40 gas station stops
5. 6 pairs of sunglasses lost
6. twice Alicias I pod fell out of here pocket while riding 40mph plus, the second time it hit me in the face and then got smashed by a truck
7. Shawny wrecked 5 times and dropped his bike 10 times
8. Alicia wrecked 2 times dropped her bike 37 times
9. I wrecked once "in the mud" and dropped my bike 2 times I win!!
10. 0 flat tires
11. 400$ in tolls
13. gas is cheep in Mexico like 2.75 a gallon
14. gas in Guatemala like 5.50 a gallon
15. pairs or shoes lost or thrown away 7
16. number of "mexicos next top model" contests attended on accident, 1
17. number of romances on this trip, 0 we smell bad, like gas and exhaust and B.O.
18. number of times honked at just to say hi 1 million and 67 times
19. number of ponytails right now 3!
20. number of times Alicia burnt here legs on the exhaust pipes 77
21. finally making it to Narnia/Guatemala...... priceless

My ipod had been dropped once on my bike and it recovered. . . . the second time I didn´t get so lucky. I watched it get smashed by a truck on a bridge in the middle of crazy Guadalajaran traffic.. Driving from Guadalajara to Guatemala without music was miserable.

Lake Atitlan

2008-06-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

Driving to Panajachel

My room

My new home.

How Cute is this.

I Journeyed from Xela Quetzaltenango on a crazy chicken bus.... The bus is for locals really and I guess you rarely see travelers on the buses and almost everyone gets robbed... Thats what I heard After I got off! The Ride was crazy!! They are school busses and they pack in as many people as they can fit three to a seat and so many people in the isles. . . . and then they drive as fast as they can through the windy mountain roads. . . it was a really funny adventure and one i wont forget.
I arrived in Pana Lake Atitlan sunday afternoon and was met by hannah the orphanage owners daughter. I am staying at her house. It is so cute and I am so excited to be staying here for the next while. The lake is absolutely breathtaking I walk down every morning to the lake it is just a minute walk from the house.
Yesterday we went to the orphanage for a little bit to get aquainted the little kids welcomed me with many ¨hola Alicia¨ They are so cute. I spent some time with the babies.. they are so precious.
Edwin is 2 months old, his mother left him on the street and by the grace of god someone found him in time. . he was 1 month premature and the hospital took him in from there and he was put into the orphanage at six weeks old..
Carlos is another little boy I got to know yesterday he is 14 months and the cutest little boy i have ever seen. He is really shy but as soon as I walked over to him he put his arms out and wanted me to hold him. I am so excited to be a volunteer at the orphanage.....
It is going to be a wonderful experience.

Oh sweet Oly

2008-06-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

Our First night in Guatemala it rained harder than I have ever seen in my whole life...
And as we were getting ready to go to sleep a slight earthquake rumbled beneath us!
It was not scary but It was definately an interesting night.
We stopped as soon as it started to rain and found a little restaurant next to the road called olys
oly is a sweet little old lady who offered to let us set up our tent on her front porch to stay out of the storm! She welcomed us with open arms. People are so generous here, I love Guatemala!!!
Today we Came to Quetzaltenango. The Drive here was so Beautiful we drove through the mountains and through the cuttest towns. The city is so Cool and the streets are all cobblestone! It is suprisingly cold here but It is so nice to have a break from the mexican Heat! I loved mexico but I think I love guatemala much much more!

GUATEMALA!!!

2008-06-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

Today we arrived in Guatemala!!! can you believe it?! I surely cant!
The border was CRAZY!
we were surrounded by so many people!!
I dont have much time to write so I will write more later but it rained on us for 4 days and 2 out of those4 we stayed in Puerto Escondito waiting for the rain to stop. It rained really hard one day and all of the streets were flooded with so much water. It was really fun and we met some really cool travelers who welcomed us to set our tent up next to theirs.
We stayed under a hut at the beach and even had to dig some trenches to keep the water from taking over our hut. Its been a crazy journey to Guatemala and once we crossed the border I felt like it had all been worth it. Guatemala is beautiful. Imagine Narnia and Neverland put them together and you have the magical lands of Guatemala. Its so green and lush here!!
Tomorrow we are going to Lake Atitlan where the orphanage is. I am so excited to get off of my motorbike and stay in one place for a long time!
Love You all
more to come soon!!

At the border. People trying to rip us off selling coupons that will make our motorcycles legal to drive in this country

Beauty! I am amazed at each town and city we drive through... They just get better and better!

Narnia Land

Streets

Our Last night In Mexico. The sunset blessed our eyes.

we almost stayed here.

Our friends In puerto Escondito. .
Monica, Juan Pedro, Nacho, Israel, and I cant remember the other kids name.....
Saving the Tent From the river... We had to dig a trench and build barracades!
Monica, Nacho and, David Digging their little hearts out.

Our Beloved Hut!

Playa Azul....

2008-06-06T13:56:00.000-07:00

These nice hombres are fixing my moto right now. It has been having some ridiculous issues......

Like it doesn't start! oops! They told us my bike is worth double what I payed for it in the US so i might just sell it and live here all summer long...

We have found that If you buy dinner from someone who has a restaurant they are so generous to let us stay at their place! dinner and a night all in one! This Is last night at yasenia's she was so nice and gave us dinner and stay for only 10 dollars!

I love that everything here is painted so bright!

It just makes me smile.

Tecuanillan beach

2008-06-05T17:12:00.000-07:00

Finally to the coast and endless palm trees!

camping under the sand patio...... this is the beach outside the hut

davids crazy tan lines!!

I look stupid in this but this is what roads we have been for the last 5 hours and for the next 5 days in mexico its beautiful !!!
We finally left guadalajara i think the city cursed us!
I cant even write about it ill get too frusturated. Last night we drove to the coast to a place called tecoman. it was beautiful we pulled in and my jaw dropped to the floor. I have never seen so many palm trees in my life. There weremiles andmiles and miles of palm trees field of them side by side. We founda really secluded and sort of broke down beach town. it is just abandoned beach huts and a few little shacks that are open for food. We ate at a little shack and met really nice funny people that let us stay under their restaurant patio hut for free. Today we have been driving for a loong time but the road we traveled is honestly the most beautiful road have been on in my whole life. It was so hard not to stop at all the pretty beaches. We passed some really cool villages. I would surely be content with moving here and building a hut near the beach I really dont !

Guadala huh?

2008-06-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

This city is full of weird creepy stuff.
this is a costume shop.

hotel del centro we had to park in the lobby so our bikes wouldnt get stolen!

Cathedral

Guadalajara centro

Its been a crazy few days.... Aside from wandering aimlessly in a huge city in boiling hot weather its been a nice stay. We came to Guadalajara City yesterday. Its a really amazing city and very pretty. The buildings are so neat and today we explored the Cathedrals and other sites in Guadalajara centro. I love the old architecture here and the cute buildings. We tried going rock climbing today but couldnt find the rocks. At one point searching we all got sperated. We were about a half hour away from our hotel and I was wandering around trying to find my brother in this huge city I have no idea how to get around. In that time I went in circles for 40 minutes and while I was trying to turn the opposite lane started going on my green light. (everyone here starts going like 15 seconds before the light turns green) I had to slam on my brakes and the brakes locked up and my bike fishtailed and slid out from under me. I was in the middle of the intersection just standing there looking at my motorcycle cuz I am not strong enough to lift it up myself. After about 5 minutes someone finally came to help me. I didnt get hurt luckily I was quick enough to jump off. People are not nice here when it comes to driving. I never knew it could be so intense. It seems like everyone is just out to run us off the road or run you over! No patience at all! It took us all 2 hours to get back to the hotel because traffic is crazy here! good thing we were all smart enough to find our way back or else I would probably still be roaming around. Tomorrow we are going to try and rock climb again but who knows if that will happen it seems like everytime we try to find something people give us the wrong directions or have no idea what we are talking about. We are also leaving Guadalajara and heading back to the coast! Its too hot in Mexico not to be by the ocean. I probably would never come otherwise.
The scenery has gotten so much prettier as we travel south. Its pretty ugly up north. There are alot of cactus and desert like plants. I didnt really like it so much. mostly because it was 100 degrees plus and no water anywhere. Further down there are really nice plants and its getiing tons greener. After Mazatlan I have seen alot of burros (donkeys) on the side of the road. I really hope we dont hit any!! The small towns we pass through are the biggest eye openers to me, small huts and dirt roads everywhere they live such simple lives.
We are staying in a hotel downtown because it is too dangerous to camp around here. The hotel attendants have us keep our motorcycles in the lobby of the hotel because they said they will get stolen if we keep them on the street.
Our hotel room looks like something straight out of a horror movie. (dont worry mom its safe)
2 little beds and a creepy little chair in the corner, nothing else. Its kind of fun though I like staying in crappy hotels it makes the adventure 10 times more interesting and worth while!
Ill have more pics soon.

Pictures!!

2008-06-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

Houses how cute is antonio!

Riding Horses at Tres Hermanos Ranch.

We stopped to see if we could camp in their yard and they took us on horse rides and let us stay in their ranch hut! Hector was 17 his little brother antonio is 6 and juan was 16. They cooked us dinner and taught us some spanish!
It was an awesome night concidering we stopped randomly.

Antonio Is my favorite little nino I have met He rides his horse everywhere!

Riding On bridges is really fun.

Mazatlan!

Camping a la playa

We went to a club to go dancing everyone said it was the best place to go.... David and I bought our tickets to get in.... and this is what we walked into.

Davids face was priceless and I laughed for an hour.

It turns out it was Mexico's next top model contest!

There were girls too but this is the best pic! haha

Casa De Sion

2008-05-30T23:52:00.001-07:00

For those of you who don´t know I am on my way to Guatemala. Yes I am driving....... a motorcycle... The ride is for my own holiday and to have a good time with my brother David. I am halfway there and my purpose once I arrive in Guatemala is to volunteer in an Orphanage in Guatemala City. The name of the orphanage is Casa De Sion. I found them through a Google search.... come to find out a few of my friends went there last summer and loved it... The orphanage is in need of volunteers, donations and supplies. The amount of kids is rising in the orphanage and they don´t have enough room for all of them. the new building is not yet finished. . . . But they canno´t refuse the children. If you would like to donate or help Go to safehomesforchildren.org or email me if you would like some more info...
Help The children :)

PS If this is your first time on my blog read from the bottom up... the top is my most recent Thanks!

Sonrisas de LALA!

Todos Los Dias

2008-05-30T21:32:00.000-07:00

The Very skilled mechanicos who helped us fix my moto!

camping in the mexican desert isn´t so bad afterall

San Carlos beach!

It was sooo nice to see and jump in the ocean! It was really beautiful. We went to a beach in San Carlos and I now look like a tomato! The sun is so strong here in the 10 minute drive back from the beach to the hotel I got the ugliest farmers tan from my shirt! Today we made it to Mazatlan... your jealous I know...... shoot we haven´t even seen it yet... we got in at 9 tonight. We have been riding since 7 O´clock this morning. Our only stops were gas and lunch.. We rode a total of 460 miles today. I can´t feel me butt and I am deaf from the sound of my motorbike.
The journey was long and hot from guymas at times I felt like I was going to pass out on my bike... I feel so dehydrated even though I have drunken, drank. drinked ya at least 4 liters of water today....
Im sure tomorrow will be well worth the long ride.. Everyone here says the beaches are ¨mas bonitas¨
Before we arrived at the border I was getting really nervous about how Mexico would be... everyone at home (mostly mom and dad) says ¨dont go there its too dangerous ,crime is high, you´ll get killed, blah blah blah¨ but I think it is definatly over exhaderated I don´t feel threatened or feel like people are are just going to shoot me or grab my bag off my back. We have met alot of really nice people and they have been really helpful... they call us loco when we tell them we are riding to Guatemala.. we may be crazy but we have made it this far and that is a huge accomplishment if you ask me... ´
Yesterday was really frusturating because I left the lights on my bike and drained the battery (of course) so we had to take it to the servicio guys and it took a few hours to charge it fully then we ran into some more trouble and were delayed another 2 hours fixing something else., meanwhile I lost all my pesos and dropped my video camera on the ground....... then as we were finally pulling out of town at 6 pm my ipod somehow made it´s way into oncoming traffic haha it couldnt have been a more stressful day its a good thing we have better days ahead of us..... Total miles so far is about 1,600 but we haven´t been taking great count considering shawny´s odometer stopped working a few days ago... and I can´t keep count for the life of me.
Our next stops are Puerto Vallarta, Aculpulco, and maybe some places inland to rock climb. It is still a shock to me that I am really here and how I got here, but I am surely loving every minute of it. I hope I can get some photos up soon keep looking!!
after reading this it all sounds a bit crazy but I promise we are safe and having a wonderful time!

PS..... Check out these adds on the side!

Love you all and take care

1,000 Miles and more to go....

2008-05-28T14:36:00.000-07:00

WOW!!!
This has by far been the craziest trip I have ever taken.
It started off with us leaving Provo around 6pm .... we hit rain and freezing cold weather. As you could imagine It would be miserable on a motorcycle. It was just that. We settled in at a hot pot thing and warmed ourselves up there. We dint make it too far that night considering I was almost falling off my bike becasue I was shaking so bad...
we pushed on through and made it into arizona the next day. We stayed in lake powell and drove all the way to tucson 420 miles!! by day 4 we were ready to hit the border. I seriously cant believe we have made it this far but to those who doubted us....... WE MADE IT TO MEXICO!!! the border was really intense in Nogales im not going to lie I was scared and wanted to get out of that border town as fast as I could. Now that we are further from the border I feel less scared and more excited to travel down the coast. Last night Was really crazy we took a really crazy dirt road out to the mountains and camped. I was certain we were going to get rampaged by banditos. I felt somewhat safe sleeping next to shawny and David but I was still up all night listening for trucks to come rolling through. haha

Today we are arriving in Guaymas. THE OCEAN!! I cant wait we are about an hour away. Its been ages since I have been to the beach and I am ready to Get my suntan on.
Being forced to speak spanish is really fun but at times I feel so stupid when I dont understand people I catch myself just staring at them like an idiot haha. It will come with time right?!

Thus far Shawny has Wrecked his bike on the side of the freeway....
tipped it twice and all the lights are pretty much broken off his bike...
David´s bike was being really annoying because it wouldn´t go sometimes while we were on the freeway but no worries he fixed the problem today!
As for me..... Wellll I know it sounds stupid but this is the 7th day I have ridden a motorcycle in my whole life and I am feeling really good about it now apart from the 100´s of stalls and I have dropped it 4 times in the last 2 days....
haha
All is well I wish I could write more but on to the beach we go!

Guatemala Here we come!!

2008-05-24T16:37:00.000-07:00

Its Saturday May,24
We are leaving in a few minutes.
after shawny gets the money he left at zachs...
of course.
Well until next time Pray fro us and hope we make it to STG!!

MOTORBIKE MESS!!

2008-05-22T12:20:00.000-07:00

Hmmm Its been a few weeks since we were suppose to leave and some how I have already owned 3 motorcycles this month... Call me crazy I know. I never thought in my whole life I would own 1 let alone 3.

The first one was giving us some troubles like me never riding it, and the first time I got the confidence to ride it I didn't even make it out of the driveway before knocking it over. It weighed at least 600 pounds! Within and hour I had it sold.

Here I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to find a new bike... We looked at every motorbike on KSL in my price range.. And they were all horrible!

I found one in Logan that might suit my needs of a small bike I could actually hold up.

So David and I got on his motorcycle at 8:30 in the evening and started our journey up to Logan... What were we thinking. Im still not sure. The drive was long, cold and, we were terrified of losing our lives to a deer in the canyon. We finally got there and the bike was small, But I guess we felt like we were obligated to buy it because we drove all the way to Logan to get it. Wow. That was one of the many stupid decisions we have made thus far. I had never driven on the freeway, and was still so scary at driving motorcycles. I drove that bike all the way back to Alpine. We didn't get home until 2:30 the next morning. The bike was a bit scary on the freeway and the whole time I was thinking why did I buy this horrible motorbike? I sold it at 11am that morning.

Again there I was without a motorcycle!!

I have come to the conclusion that David and I together make the most horrible decisions always.... making life so difficult for us all the time.... But we finally made a good decision with the new bike I just got!

After looking at hundreds of bikes I finally found one that is perfect for me!

The Idea

2008-05-14T02:35:00.000-07:00

My Brother and I had this crazy idea to pedal bike to guatemala and volunteer in an orphanage there..... That idea didn't get too far after he broke his foot....

While my brother was in Thailand I emailed him as a joke saying we should ride vespa's there instead. He replied back by saying "Let's Ride MOTORCYCLES!!!" Literally I Laughed Out Loud.

Well Guess what......

I bought a motorcycle.

And so did he.