Back in Guatemala (Whew!)

We had an eventful last couple of weeks and I never got around to doing another update. So here's a rough sketch...

Thanksgiving with the family & unplanned road trip to Atlanta... We had been looking forward to Thanksgiving in St. Augustine to see all of Sherry's family at once. But Sherry's Dad got sick with acute pneumonia just before Thanksgiving and was unable to come down. By the time Thanksgiving was over, he was in intensive care with pneumonia in both lungs and some internal bleeding. By the end of the weekend he was on a respirator and in very serious condition. Sherry & her brothers jumped in her
brother's motor home and made a quick trip to Atlanta to see him, and Dave followed Sherry up in his car a day later. But we only stayed 2 days because we were just getting in my sister's way--she had his care well in hand and didn't need more people to care for.

It was nice to see Sherry's sister's beautiful new house in Fayetteville, but not under those circumstances.

Pictures of the family Thanksgiving can be found here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/DLSAJ0ZkU5rCNf863

For awhile it looked like Dad was going to pull through, but he passed away quietly in his sleep on December 2.

We pushed off our planned December 6 return to Guatemala to December 9 so we could attend the family memorial service in the Keys. Again we enjoyed spending more time with Sherry's scattered family, but it was a very sad time saying goodbye to Gordo.

Pictures of Gordo's send-off can be found here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9I3kRAEZpbykjBfE2

On Sunday, we drove out from the Keys and direct to Ft. Lauderdale airport for a late night return to Guatemala via San Pedro Sula, Honduras (the only reasonably priced airfare we could get on short notice--our December 6 Spirit Airlines flight had been bought at such a discount that it was cheaper to abandon it than to change it). The flight into San Pedro Sula is pretty cheap because it is such an inconvenient time... You land at SPS airport at 12:30am.

I couldn't find much information about hotels in San Pedro Sula or the bus trip to Guatemala. We did manage to book a hotel and a shuttle from the airport via email ahead of time... good thing, because there were no taxis that late at night. And finally got some advice from other cruisers on the Rio about the bus trip.

We only got about 2 hrs sleep as we had to be up at 5am to catch the 6am once-a-day bus that goes to Rio Dulce. Though the 'crow flies' distance from San Pedro Sula to Rio Dulce is only about 60 miles, this is 'only' a 4 hour trip with an easy change in buses. But between a road that goes around the mountains, and 3 stops at the border for Honduran and Guatemalan Immigration, we were estimating 5 hours. We thought we were home free when we got to the crossroads, only 20 miles left on a straight
road to the Rio Dulce.

But the bus we were to change to got delayed, due to a traffic accident up the road. After about 2 hours, we finally gave up waiting for the bus we'd already paid for, and hired a passing van to take us and our 4 HEAVY suitcases the last 20 miles to the Rio Dulce. We finally arrived about 2pm, in the midst of a downpour. So Dave and I sat in the Rio Bravo bar annd had a pizza with Dave's friend Paul, who was there to give us a ride back to the boat.

We were happy to find Soggy Paws in good shape... except for the thin film of grey-green dust (mold) coating the interior, and some bright green mold in the low spots around the deck.

We are REALLY REALLY glad to be back. (Sherry started saying "I can't wait to get back on the boat" in about mid November).

Sherry's daughter Nicki arrives by plane in 2 days (Friday Dec 14), so we're furiously cleaning and getting the boat ready, as well as making travel reservations for travel with her around Guatemala.

Gator Football / Boat Show / Shopping!

Sherry Hanging out at the "Hub" at UF

(waiting for game time)

Nothing Like a "Gator" Game

Dave Pricing New Dinghies at the St. Pete Boat Show

This is what we call "Civilization"?

We have been having GREAT weather here in Florida this week, cool and sunny.

Gator Game: Yay, lots of fun! The Gators won convincingly, and so did the 'Noles and Navy (Dave's teams).

Boat Show (Strictly Sail St. Petersburg): On Sunday, light attendance. Fun socializing with several old friends manning booths. Poking around the displays looking for something new (not much). Beautiful weather!

Shopping: Walmart, Bealls, Target, West Marine, Office Depot, etc... We have already filled one large suitcase with the stuff we've bought, and still have a few more items on our list.

I4 Traffic: Bleah!!

Our plans for the month: Thursday we drive across the state to Melbourne for the WRCC and SSCA gatherings, with hopefully an appearance at MYC too on Friday night. We'll be based in the Melbourne area until Dec 5, with some side trips around Thanksgiving. We have a bunch of doctors appointments and social activities lined up, and we need to attend to Sherry's 2 rentals (anyone want a 2 BR / 2 BA furnished condo on the beach in Indialantic?)

Back in the U.S.A.

We got up at 4:30am and were at the airport at 5:30am. The Guatemala City airport has been recently upgraded and it looks pretty much like any other airport.

Security wasn't particularly stringent at the Guate airport. For example, we saw a bag left by itself up near the front of the line at the ticket counter for nearly an hour--this probably would have triggered a massive security incident in the U.S. And I got through the security checkpoint without any hassle or a close look at my stuff. I was carrying a laptop and a backpack with lots of wires and electronics. And nobody questioned my water bottle. (However, later, Spirit Air had their own bag search as we got on the plane, and they did confiscate my water bottle there.)

The Spirit flight was uneventful. Our tickets, booked online a couple of months ago on SpiritAir.com cost only $99 round trip, but then they added all the Government taxes on both ends, which brought the price up to about $210 pp (still VERY reasonable).

However, this price does not include any checked luggage. Checked luggage costs $5 per bag if reserved ahead and $10 per bag at the airport. They do no free snacks or beverages, but will sell you the average array of stuff for $3 a can (credit cards only).

Our bags arrived on schedule, unmolested. We'd taken the precaution of using a cable tie to tie the zippers together, so we could tell they had not been opened.

The trip through Customs and Immigration was no problem, and efficiently managed in fairly pleasant settings, and by 1:30pm we were in our rental car headed out of the airport.

Dave had planned a couple of stops in Ft. Lauderdale on our way out.... At the Sailrite store, his favorite sushi place for lunch, Sailorman, and the watermaker place. We struck out on the first two. Sailrite has closed their Ft. Lauderdale store (too expensive to operate, not enough true cruisers to support it). The sushi restaurant had been levelled and there was no indication that they'd relocated somewhere else. A large CVS pharmacy was under construction.

After finishing our business in Lauderdale, we hit the road headed for Dave's college roommate's in Clermont, where we'd stored Dave's car. We enjoyed a nice night a Jimmy's house and left for Dave's cousin's house in Largo in the morning.

We had one little wrinkle we forgot about. When we stored Dave's car, we had to turn in the license plate, so they didn't suspend our driver's licenses when we canceled the insurance. We'd forgotten the paperwork--left it on the boat. However, the county tax office in Clermont had it all on their computer, and in 5 minutes we had a new tag and we on our way. Dave had activated the insurance via phone on our way out of Ft. Lauderdale.

We dropped the rental car at the Clearwater Airport and made it to Bryan's (Dave's cousin) house in Largo by noon.

Our plans are to stay in the area here until Thursday (Nov 8) and then head for Melbourne, to attend the SSCA Gam. We'll make Melbourne our base for the next month.