The long and winding road that leads to San Cristobal

Hi Folks! January 31, 2005 We are in San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico. We are very close to the Guatemalan border, but will probably spend tomorrow around here. Perhaps take a trip up to Palenque before hitting the road again. We were crawling along at a snail-like pace until we decided to use the toll roads. Now we are like Grease Lightning. San Cristobal is a truly beautiful city... an old colonial city full of great architecture and an amazing cultural history which I will not burden you with at the moment. People are still being quite helpful with directions, especially help with locating our connections to toll roads, called autopistas here. Anyhow, we heard that one of Ancho's siblings is talking trash about the dangers that will befall us in parts ahead. Thus far ETHAN, we still have our spines.

The truck is in decent shape and we are too. Ancho is dying for some fruit right now so we are off to the market.

Much love,
Ancho and Lefty

Flying Indians and Traffic Faeries

We just came to Papantla, Mexico and watched Totonac (sp?) Indians swing backwards by their leg off a 70 foot pole while a guy stands on top playing the flute and drum. Impressive! We have twice been led through cities by total strangers who took pity on us when they noticed we were lost. They then led us through town to the road we needed and then waved us on. We will give a more complete update with pictures at some point in the future. We still have our spines. Ancho. Lefty would like to add that Papantla is a great town on a Saturday night especially when it´s the end of January and she can play on the internet in an open air internet cafe with a short sleeved shirt on and feel oh so good and warm. The weather has been very good to us and the people as well. Mexico is a great country to visit and I think all of you should get your butts down here as soon as possible before the gringo invasion. The little Toyota is a trooper. We are happy folks today. Kiss kiss, Lefty

An intense conversation with a tree

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Originally uploaded by ancho and lefty.

After hours of stale air and stale car conversation with Lefty, Ancho begs a tree for a hint of tantalizing dialogue.

The Weather's better in Texas

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Originally uploaded by ancho and lefty.

Wouldn't you know it, like everything else in the world, the weather is better in Texas as well. Notice JWA's lack of a shirt. Austin was like Portland, OR... only warmer and sunnier.

Arkansas BBQ tastes good

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Originally uploaded by ancho and lefty.

Lefty gained five pounds from BBQ alone on the pitstop in Forrest City.

Cold Kentucky

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Originally uploaded by ancho and lefty.

Can't say we're sorry to leave this weather.

Ancho and Lefty Have Left the Building

We hit the road yesterday. Took a great (sunny) drive down the Bluegrass Pkwy all the way to Fulton (which by that point is the Purchase Pkwy) then past Memphis and on into Arkansas, home of former great president William Jefferson Clinton (remember the good old days ?). I have to say that Kentucky is a damn beautiful state. The drive was really a fitting way to leave the commonwealth for such an extended period of time.

I just ate a ridiculous amount of Barbeque Ribs from Willie Mae's Rib Haus in West Memphis. The ribs were delivered to me in Forrest City, Arkansas by my friend and partner in crime, blogname Biscuits. I am staying at the home of Biscuit presently. It is a gorgeous day- sunny and 45 degrees or so... a welcome change from the horrors of Kentucky in January. Ancho has spent the day outside trying to achieve maximum packing efficiency in the back of the truck. (I believe he will be victorious.)

I have been going outside to occassionally play fetch with the big yellow lab named Ajax. Later today, a walk out in the country. Ancho and I are heading to Austin, TX tomorrow. Kiss kiss, Lefty

Bronchitis Blues

I (Lefty) have bronchitis. It is unfortunate. I also have laryngitis... which keeps me quiet for the moment. Anyhow, the voyage is delayed until recovery is achieved. (Saturday perhaps?)
Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Pieces parts

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Originally uploaded by ancho and lefty.

Ancho took photos of things under the hood before he took them apart. He's perty smart.

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Originally uploaded by ancho and lefty.

The topper equipped with what Ancho calls a "cracker" Thule storage rack on top. He made it from scrap on the farm. It was rusty and I made him paint it.

The Final Countdown!!!

Well, the truck is out of the shop and we did our duty at the dentist, painful though it was. We are now trying to master blogging and getting our photos on here (hopefully only the really worthy ones). We push off from Bath Co. in a few days. Ancho is in war mode and has been captain fantastic with the truck. In preparation for our journey he has changed the power steering pump, installed an alarm, built a place for the speakers that have been sliding around behind the seat of the truck for several months, installed fancy shmancy headlights, back-up lights, and license plate lights, gone to the salvage yard to get a used rim for our second spare, the list goes on and on. Overall, he helped us save a bunch of money in preparation. Mitch's Autoshop did the rest (new cv boots, a tune up, oil change, the list sadly really does go on). We have (alright Ancho has) some more stuff to do to the vehicle, like build a better platform for the topper and devise a locking scheme for the toppper and the tailgate. We also have to improvise a license plate for the front of the Truck because apparently most civilized nations require all autos to have license plates in the front and back (go figure). I got the final approval for my research protocol today from the Office of Research Integrity- a final bureaucratic hurdle and that was a big relief. The point is, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! Several months ago, I was a little skeptical that we would ever get it all done. Thankfully, we have. Can't wait to have more exciting matters of travel to write about come Monday.
Hope all are safe and well. Kiss kiss, Lefty

The Cynic + Anthropologist on a Lengthy Road Trip

We depart in 9 days. This is our first attempt to establish a blog site to pen our experiences on the road from Owingsville, Kentucky to San Ignacio de Acosta, Costa Rica via the Pan American Highway. We hope this works so that our friends and family can keep up with our travels. Happy New Year everyone!

Getting ready

Is this thing on?