The end of our trip - Nicaragua and El Salvador

Unfortunately here we are at the end of our journey. I didn´t know what to say in the last posting so I let Julia speak for the both of us. I´m not good with sad times and can only say that my Grandfather will be greatly missed. He was an incredible man and a huge inspiration to who I am today. I can only hope that one day I will make my grandchildren as proud as I was of him.

Thank-you to everybody who followed us and to all the kind words sent to our guestbook and emails. Thank-you to all the people who have taken us in along the way and showed us kindness, sincerity and open-heartedness. This trip has truly been amazing and has given us great insight to who we will continue to be. Thanks to my in-laws for their support as well as the upbringing of such an amazing, determined, and strong woman. Last but certainly not least I´d like to say a special thank-you to my parents for their continuous guidance and whom without, I would not have had the courage, open-mindedness and determination to have completed this trip.

We would like to invite everyone to attend a charity slideshow presentation that we will be hosting towards the end of May in both Calgary and Edmonton. We will post the date and venue hopefully by mid April so check the blog again in three or four weeks. Thanks again and we wish you all the best.

Nicaragua

This is Julia writing on Steve's behalf. I'm pretty much just going to sum up what I wrote in my latest email update, but in case that was too long for you, here's the shorter version. Nicaragua has been our favorite place in Central America so far. We challenged ourselves and hiked to the summit of a 1600m high active volcano, an endeavor that took us just over 4 hours to climb to the top, and a little more to stumble back down. The view of the 400m wide crater was worth the effort (we think), but we're still feeling the effects a day and a half later - walking is difficult and we curse under our breath every time we have to go up or down stairs.

We've managed to survive off of fried rice with beans mixed into it, greasy chicken, and cabbage salad. Occasionally a piece of fried cheese is laying on our plates, waiting for us to eat it so it can get to work clogging our arteries. Thank goodness there's a ready supply of fresh fruit juice to wash it all down!

At the moment, we're in a very cozy town called Granada, which we're finding out is the place to be in Nicaragua. Once our leg muscles are functioning more than at 20% we'll be on our way to Honduras.

Although our time in Nicaragua has been surprisingly wonderful, we've also had to deal with some terrible news. Steve's very active and energetic grandfather has been killed in a hit and run accident while he was out walking his dog. We are both still in shock, and have arranged to fly home early in order to attend the funeral in Vernon and be with his family. It doesn't seem real.

We will be flying to Canada from El Salvador.

Life works in mysterious ways. I believe in angels, and know that his grandfather will be watching over us as we complete our year-long journey. We are extremely fortunate and blessed to have had the time we had with him. A retired bush pilot who once built his own plane in a barn next to his house, Steve's grandfather led a very interesting life and made his dreams a reality. He has been an inspiration to us and is another example that anything is possible. He will be missed.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica....what can I say? Very hot, plenty of hills and expensive food. All in all very good times! Hitting Nicaragua tomorrow and looking forward to being one country closer to home!

Panama

Humiliation is when you're riding your fully geared bike down a very busy street and the entire rack falls off. Everybody and their dog stares at you and the only thing you can think of is, how the hell do I get out of this mess with my dignity still intact? This sucked and I'm sure glad it happened to Julia and not me. Luckily we were able to patch it up quickly and get out of there without too much trouble.

Not much else to say except easy riding...with a little wind, nice people and good food! We're now in Costa Rica where we hope to hit some beaches before making our way to the next country....