24-Nov-2009 3818 miles since Utah.

North to go South. West to go East.

Seems like we've done a lot of that lately. We are at about 15 degrees N latitude and can't seem to get lower than that despite having covered several hundred miles. Tomorrow we still have to go North for a while but should end up heading seriously south and east after that.

After all those easy border crossings we got a taste of serious bureaucratic paperwork, inefficiency and bullshit today. Getting into Honduras took some effort. And money. The thing I worry about is you leave one country, signed out, done, telling them you are not coming back and then you are in a no-man's land between countries till the other one lets you in. We were in this no-man's land for 4 and 1/2 hours today wondering if we would have to camp out in the duty free store's little 4x4 yard. I knew we were in trouble when we checked out of Guatemala and this no-man's land was about 7 miles long, with trucks parked on both sides the whole way waiting to get in. The path through these trucks was just barely big enough for one car with vehicles trying to go both ways. After a while we started counting trucks that were able to get through to Honduras. I think we got up to 3. Maybe 4. So, all in all, us getting through in 4 and 1/2 hours was pretty good. One guy that Nick talked to had been 3 days trying to get out of Guatemala and he hadn't even started the Honduras stuff yet. I don't know how anyone does business down here. I guess you have to know the right people to pay off.

Enough of that. I cannot say enough about how absolutely beautiful these countries are. Every time I think I've seen it all a whole new scene opens up before us. It took about 10 seconds to forget the bs we had just been through at the border once we were on the road in Honduras. We immediately started winding up and up and up into the mountains. This road was steeper than any we had been on and was a serious truck killer. 5 broken down vehicles, sometimes appearing right in the middle of the road around a curve. It is so steep that one truck lost its brakes and was piled up at the bottom of a long stretch. Must have just happened. So, every time I think the mountain roads here have given us all they've got we get a taste of something new. Today it was 20% grades to go along with the curves and potholes that you couldn't see until you were into the curve plus the occasional broken down truck parked in the middle of the road. Just enough good stuff to prove that your heart can be stopped and it will start itself again. Glad I got to learn that about myself. I keep worrying about that front tire but I'll get it replaced before I need to somehow. And anyway, I haven't used any rubber off the middle of it for about 2000 miles. Its all been off the sides. No better way to get the most out of a motorcycle tire.

Seriously though, this place is amazing. Every time I start getting a little anxiety about crossing into a new country, I only get it proven to me how unique and interesting they each are. In Honduras, and Guatemala, we are more than mildly interesting to these people but in a very benign way. They look, they smile, they wave. It is cool.

The pics are the town of Esquipulas on the Guatemalan side. The next one, Nick says should be titled, "see, he does have some patience" as we wait for bs to allow us into Honduras. My new Honduran buddies as we are finally allowed to enter Honduras and a beautiful valley as we are coming down from truck killer mountain. I tried to get a good picture of some of the crop "fields" but it didn't turn out very well. I don't know what they are growing on some of the 60 degree slopes, but we're talking some tough farmers. Hope its worth it.

We are at a town/almost city called Santa Rosa de Copan it is as pretty as its name. Nicks bike topped 40,000 miles yesterday and mine topped 13,000 at almost the same time. All systems are go.