Reflections on Half Way
18 July 2011
First of all are we half way? Well most of you know, Sound Effect is doing the big "U" , west coast to east coast via the Panama Canal. Are we half way? We have come over 6000 miles of a 10,000mile trip, we are 11 months of what probably will be a 22month trip and we are 350 miles from the Panama canal.
We won't really know where half way is until we finish so give me a break and allow me that we are half way.
Has the trip met our expectations? Yes and in some unexpected ways. First of all most of you know that we have been seriously planning since 2005 and dreaming from about 1985. We have read the guide books and talked to everyone we could about where to go and what to see. We read articles and blogs, attended boat show seminars and have done everything else we could do to prepare. Some of the places we planned to visit and did, met expectations, and some did not, but the most interesting thing is that the most memorable places and people we met were spontaneous events and not planned at all.
For example, In Moro bay California tied up to the yacht club pier we met a man who helped us get a diver, filled our propane tank, and invited us to the yacht club event that night. The next day we met a couple at church who insisted on hosting us for the afternoon to visit the mission at San Luis Obisbo and see the sun shine for the first time in a week.
Another example is the Copper Canyon Mexico trip. We had a rough plan to visit but simply got on the train with no reservations, stopped for a night in El Fuerte a wonderfully preserved colonial town, and got off at the end of the line and found an inexpensive guest house. True we were travelling in the off season at a time when Mexican tourism is down but it proved to be an adventure.
The latest example, are the immersion classes in Antigua. We heard about the opportunity for immersion classes and decided to do three weeks. We applied on line for classes and asked for a host family. We had no recommendations for a school simply chose a web site. Then we set off to San Salvador without reservations, got a bus to Guatemala city, spent the night in a six room hotel in the bus station and continued on to Antigua where we had a wonderful 3 week experience.
We will continue to plan the year ahead deciding where we would like to visit and when but we trust that in the year to come the spontaneous experiences will once again be the most memorable.
While I write this we continue to stay put awaiting weather and doing boat chores, check out the latest position report and google earth we are anchored off a former penal colony on the island and you may be able to see the remains of the buildings we explored yesterday.