December 26th through January 1st 2017

December 26^th through January 1^st 2017: What a great week we have had with the visit of our daughter Kate and our son-in-law, Bryce.  They arrived Monday morning about 10:30am and we immediately hit the road to Rio Dulce. 

Bryce and Kate arriving.

We stopped on our way at the Mayan ruins at Quirigua.  This site has a lot of very ornate carved stelea and carved stones.  It was nice to walk around after being in the car for 4 hours.  We arrived in Rio Dulce at 5:00pm and the San Felipe Castle closed at 5:00pm and it also started to rain really hard. So we did not get to visit the castle.  We had a nice dinner and then played 5 Crowns by the pool. 

In front of one of the stelae at Quirigua.

Quirigua.

Playing 5 crowns after dinner in Rio Dulce.

At our hotel in Rio Dulce overlooking Lake Izabal.

Tuesday we got up and got on the road early.  We arrived at Tikal about 10:00am.  We visited the ruins in the park until Mom and I could not walk any longer.  

A wreck is not a good thing to come across.  The roads are narrow and very winding. 

In back of temple #1.

View from Temple 4, looking towards temples 3, 2 and 1 in Tikal.

Bryce and Kate in Tikal.

Temple #1.

Mom resting while Bryce and Kate explore.

I joined her.  I love my selfie stick.

Two girls having their Quinceanera pictures taken.

We visited the lost world and felt right at home being lost ourselves.  We left our map of Tikal in the car.

It is easy to see how the jungle will take over and cover everything if left alone.

Wild Turkey wandering around Tikal. He is looking for the lost world.

This mask was on the front of a temple that was built over and covered up for centuries.

Drink break at Tikal.

Temple #5.

We wanted to do a zip line before they closed, so we drove for about 20 minutes to the entrance to the park.  Right at the entrance is Canopy Tours Tikal, a series of zip lines built in the jungle.  We had a blast zipping through the jungle with our guides Alberto and Bryan.  Bryce and I went “Superman” on a few of the lines.  There were 9 lines in total.  Afterward we had lunch/dinner at the restaurant adjacent to the zip lines.  

All harnessed up ready for adventure.

We are in the trees.

Superman!

Mom loved it and says she wants to do this again.  Not.

Click below to watch us Zip Lining

  Zip Lining through the jungle.
Superman

Click above to watch Superman

Lunch/dinner after our zip-lining.

We finished up about 5:00pm and headed to El Ramate about a 30 minute drive towards Flores.  We stayed at La Casa de Don David.  We found this hotel on line and it was ok, but we had no hot water and will look for a different hotel next time we visit Tikal.  It was right on Lake Itza de Peten and had a nice view of the lake and after dark they had a ring of fire display that was kind of fun.  We went to bed tired and happy from a fun day.  

Our hotel in El Ramate.

View of Lake Peten Itza.

They should have played Johnny Cash singing "The Ring of Fire".

Wednesday we were back on the road early.  We went back the same way and stopped in Rio Dulce so that Bryce and Kate could visit the castle.  We arrived back home before dark after a long 10 hour day.  Thursday we went to the temple and did sealings for some of the family names I had ready.  It was so nice to be together in the House of the Lord.  I officiated for some of the sealings and then had one of our sealers take over. 

Thursday morning at the temple.

Temple grounds.

We then went downtown to the main plaza and the central market where we all did some after Christmas shopping.  I bought some beautiful bags made from huipiles for my daughters and daughter-in-laws.  It was Kate’s birthday a few days ago, so I told her she can have first choice and then the others will have to draw numbers to see who gets to choose next.  We had sent some things home in a similar bag a few months ago when my siblings were here and all of the girls admired the bag. So a belated Merry Christmas to my girls and the boys will have to wait for a tie or something.  

Central Plaza and the palace in Guatemala City.

Inside the cathedral.

We tried to visit a couple of museums but they were closed for the holidays.  We went to lunch/dinner and then walked around one of the big malls here in the city.  It was a restful day and we felt recuperated and ready to hit the road again.  Friday we drove to Panajachel next to Lake Atitlan.  Getting to Pana was an experience.  We encountered a 50 minute traffic jam trying to get through Solola.  It was the local market day in Solola and a holiday and I think everyone from 50 miles away had decided to go to the market.  This market is full sensory overload with mostly indigenous people buying and selling everything imaginable.  I dropped everyone off on the road so they could walk through this market and experience the local culture.  I had to drive around for 30 minutes in bumper to bumper traffic because there was no place to park.  

While I drove around, I got some great pictures of how the women carry everything on their heads.

Market in Solola.

Click below to view outside the market
        Market in Solola

Click above to view the market

Stopped at an overlook of lake Atitlan.

After lunch in Panajachel,  Bryce and Kate enjoyed the artisan markets and Mom and I even found a few things to buy.  We left Bryce and Kate shopping and drove to the grocery store to buy candy to hand out to children who line the road during the New Year hoping for treats. We then drove to Hotel Atitlan and checked in.  Bryce and Kate arrived by moto-taxi.  We all ended up in the hot tub overlooking the lake.  This is a beautiful hotel with the most amazing gardens and view of the lake.  It is one of Mom’s happy places. 

Looking back at Solola on our way to Panajachel.

Pizza for lunch in Panajachel.

Going to the hot tub.

Archway leading into part of the gardens at Hotel Atitlan.

Sunset from our balcony.

Saturday we drove back to Panajachel and took a boat to Casa del Mundo, a hotel that you can only get to by boat.  It was about a 20 minute boat ride.  We asked the boat to wait and we climbed up a lot of stairs and had breakfast overlooking the lake. It was good food and a great view.  We took the boat back to Pana and headed to Antigua.  

The boat ride to Casa del Mundo.

In a boat, on our way to breakfast.

Casa del Mundo, where we had breakfast.

View of Lake Atitlan from Casa del Mundo.

The hotel was charming.

We will be back to this beautiful spot.

This trip is their 10th anniversary gift to each other.

This was our captain and his helper.

We had fun handing, or better said, throwing candy at some of the children who were by the side of the road waiting for treats.  We were not aware of this tradition where the children in the remote areas of Guatemala wait by the side of the road on the days right before the New Year.  It was fun to spread some joy.  We should have bought more candy.  We felt bad after we had passed out what we had bought and saw there were still many hoping for a little candy. We spent the rest of the day in Antigua visiting a church and convent destroyed in the earthquake of 1773 and doing more shopping.  Kate and Bryce also visited the Chocolate Museum and learned about the cacao beans and how to make chocolate.  We got back home just as it was getting dark.

The ruins of the convent of San Francisco, Antigua.

  

In front of San Francisco.

Sunday we went to church and then to the airport to say good-bye.  We wished they could have stayed longer.  We had our passports with us so we were able to go into the airport and help them get checked in.  At the counter we found out that their flight was delayed and they would not make their connection in Mexico City.  So after a lot of waiting, it was decided that Aero Mexico would rebook them on Avianca and they would fly to El Salvador and then to LA and then to Las Vegas where their car was.  They will arrive at 1:00am and will have to find a hotel and then drive back to Bountiful on Monday morning.  This added an extra flight to  their trip home.  We had an amazing time together.  We have packed a lot into just a few days, but we have loved every minute.  We need to thank Ed and Cindy Hansen, Bryce’s parents, for taking care of Kimball, Stanford and Abby while their parents were here with us.  We are so blessed and are constantly blessed by the goodness of our children.  We love who they have become and who they are becoming.  It is a process not an event.  Happy New Year to all.

Thanks Kate for your help with my Christmas puzzle.