Road Trip!

Last Monday-Wednesday me and 5 others from the Ranch took a little road trip to Copan. It was 4 single adults (Tammy, Sara, Steve, and myself) and 2 boys from the Ranch (Brayan and Obed.) Copan is 7 miles from the Guatemala boarder. It is also the town that hold the Maya ruins. It was a great three days and was awesome to have the chance to visit other parts of Honduras.

Lake Yajoa

On the way to Copan we took a short pit stop at Lake Yajoa. Lake Yajoa is the largest lake in Honduras. We had time to stretch our legs and enjoy the scenery. Across from Lake Yajoa is a little rest area with a HUGE tree house and a playground. We climbed the tree house and had an awesome view from up there. I finally convinced Sara and Brayan to play on the teeter-toter with me. It was fun!




Copan

So we got to Copan after a 7 hour car ride. The ride didn't take to long and it was really gorgeous view. We stayed in a cute little town nestled in the mountains. Our hotel had a pool and we were able to swim and play tag in the pool at night. We ate at a local restaurant that served Mexican food. It was the best meal I have had since Christmas. It had great service and fantastic food. We also got to shop around the town.


Waterfall

Shortly after arriving in Copan we set out for more adventures. We heard that there was a waterfall close by, so we set out to find it. We drove around a little and felt kind of lost but finally came to the path that lead to the waterfall. We hiked down the mountain a little and came to a "bridge" we had to cross it to get to the falls. It looked pretty old and shaky but we made it across alive. The falls were really pretty and covered by a canopy of trees. I was fun because the water was really deep by the falls and we could swim. We also found a really cool spider. Brayan, Obed, and myself also climbed a really cool tree.




The Ruins

On Tuesday morning we started out to see the Maya ruins. We had a tour guide and she was able to tells us about what the different statues and stuff represented. It was a really cool experience, and I felt like it was something not many people could say they've done. In a lot of ways the ruins reminded me of Egypt. They had all kinds of cool statues, buildings, houses and tunnels there. The tunnels were under or in the structures and often time a burial place. Everything there was carved in such intricate detail. Our guide told us that everything use to be colored but over time all the color faded out of the stone. On a few things you could still see the color. It was very beautiful and I enjoyed seeing everything.




Horseback Ride

After the ruins we all took a 3 hour horse ride up into the mountains. I was really fun because we were allowed to run them or do whatever, which was really cool. I love to ride horses. It was a really fun experience to have in Honduras. Our whole trip was a blast, and I'm so glad I went.

Swimming with Spiders

This beauty was part of the scenery that captured our attention as we swam in Copan. We saw the spider near the bottom of a waterfall we visited. The spider was bigger than my hand, making it the largest spider I've seen up close. While I don't know what type of spider it is we all agreed that is had to be some kind of poisonous spider. It may be something in the tarantula family but was much skinnier than the other tarantulas I've seen in Honduras. Your guess is as good as mine.

South Beach

Last Friday I went to the south coast of Honduras with a bus load of people from the Ranch. We had a sewing team at the Ranch and the team treated all the kids that completed their sewing projects to a day to the beach! It was a really great idea and we all had a lot of fun. It took us about 4 hours to get to the beach. We spent the afternoon swimming in the ocean and catching the rays. I think that it goes without saying that the boys brought a soccer ball and played soccer on the beach. We also brought a frisbee, and others enjoyed a game of frisbee with sand between their toes. While the south coast doesn't compare with the north coast (the islands) it was still really pretty. One thing that I really liked about the beach we went to was that there were large trees right on the shore. The beach had these gigantic trees just sitting right there, the trees were dressed with hammocks, making for a very relaxing resting place. When you looked to the sky you were graced with a beautiful canopy of leafs. I think there is something so romantic about big old trees. We returned to the ranch last that night. It was a really fun day. It was great to get off the Ranch for the day and enjoy the kids with different scenery.

Scorpion

Here is a picture of a scorpion I saw in a public women's bathroom on the south coast of Honduras. I have learned not to be surprised by anything here.If you look closely at the picture you can see lots of tiny baby scorpions on it's back. It was really cool to see in person! Honestly, I was really excited that we found the scorpion, since I knew that they live here but hadn't seen one before that day! ENJOY!!!

Quilt

Since moving to Honduras I have learned so much more than I thought possible. I have come to realize that everyday holds the opportunity to learn about or learn how to do something new. I think that many people believe that once you finish school you finish learning. I think that in my subconscious I kind of believed that too. Well, my thinking has completely changed, that's for sure. I now believe that you can learn more out of school, than in it. Of course there are certain things that are necessary to go to school to learn about, but there is so much that you can learn if you just look around yourself. I find that most people are willing to share their life experiences with you, and are often eager teach what they know. You can learn so much if you are a good listen and student. I have most recently learned about quilting. At the Ranch we often have teams come down to help with various projects, and the last team we had was a sewing team. This team has been coming for the last few summers to teach our kids how to sew. They are a remarkable team, and our kids look forward to them coming each year. This year the team came for two week and had some "adult" sewing time, giving me the opportunity to make a quilt. It was a really fun experience and one that I will never forget. I really liked the process of making the quilt and seeing it change. It went much faster than I thought it would. Of course, being my first quilt it is a very simple design, but I really like it. I also made a matching pillow. I found that the work was very rewarding and hope to make more quilts in the years to come. I am very grateful for such a fun learning experience.