The best of times, The worst of times ( Mostly good :) : December 2013

Ready to head out for our road trip.

One of the deeper rivers that we crossed

Our first water crossing

So one of the things on my "bucket list" to do while were are in the DR is to ride the moto cross country to San Juan de la Maguana. When we normally drive there, we go through the capitol and it is about 325 KL. If you could fly direct, it would be about 60-65 KL. I did some looking on Google Maps and on Thursday morning at 8:15 am, Marcy and I headed out on my 225cc Yamaha. The first 50 kl went really well, newly paved road wide enough for three vehicles. Then we ran out of asphalt. From there on it was mostly 1 path for a moto. Some spots a truck could have driven, but for the most part it was only intended for motos. We drove through rivers and streams, 3' wide wooden bridges. Several places it was steep enough that I am not sure I could have made it up without Marcy sitting on the luggage rack sticking out the back for weight (and she doesn't weigh much). We arrived in Bohechio at 3:00. We spent 1/2 hour catching up with the lady that cooked our meals for us when we were there to build a church for them back in 2004. That was my very first time in the DR. It brought back lots of memories of my two weeks there, missing Marcy, our 4 month old foster baby at the time. All the new sounds, the roosters, the dogs running wild at night, the cows in the street roaming free, the donkey braying at night. the hot, sticky, humid temperatures, taking our daily swim/bath in the river (the very one we had just crossed 4 times on our moto), eating things that I had never heard of and realizing just how much taste Ranch Dressing can cover up. hearing over and over again "it tastes a lot like_____". Just a whole lot of memories came flooding back all at once as we pulled into town with wet shoes from crossing the river and dirt on our faces from the dusty roads.

We then took off for San Juan de la Maguana, our destination, to see Dan and Kari and Nicole Eby at the Solid Rock Guest house. We arrived there about 4:00 and spent a little time chatting with Kari and then it was off to our Hotel/hostile. Marcy wanted pizza for dinner so I figured that after putting up with my crazy idea of riding moto all this way, that was the least I could do for her. We found an internet cafe so I could find a different route home, not going through Bohechio, 145 kilometers, one way, up, down, backtracking, switchbacking, sliding down the slopes, spinning up the slopes. It was a wild ride to say the least. After a semi-good night's sleep, we had breakfast and did a little sightseeing around town, and headed back for Jarabacoa. It is hard to capture the view from a camera but back in the hills where the roads are almost non existent, the view even made Marcy comment on it. We arrived back home about 4:00 - 425 kl, sore rears and a really dirty bike later. It was a great time had by all. Would I do it again? I don't know, maybe. But for sure not without getting a new back tire with more tread.

While we were out having fun on the moto. Karen, Janae and Nina were back home defrosting the fridge at Genesis, cleaning out closets at our house and doing some deep cleaning that needed to be done. She still claims that she had more fun that I did. I would really question that.