Food and Drink Planning to drive from LA to Patagonia next year (looking for copilots) - Page 11

scho63 · 05-01-2018, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suzzer99

Ideally? $60. Realistically? Probably closer to $80 or $100. Although last night was $14 stay and tonight is a whopping $25 with A/C. And beers are a buck. So that helps with the average.

It adds up quick. Looks like 95% fun and 5% aggravation with things like broken ferries and road block shakedowns. That's well worth it!

Stay safe and enjoy the photos/stories. Hopefully by the end of the trip we will be seeing some topless photos of your friend and a "Dear Penthouse" type story.

suzzer99 · 05-01-2018, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scho63

It adds up quick. Looks like 95% fun and 5% aggravation with things like broken ferries and road block shakedowns. That's well worth it!

Stay safe and enjoy the photos/stories. Hopefully by the end of the trip we will be seeing some topless photos of your friend and a "Dear Penthouse" type story.

I actually enjoy the slowdown aggravation stuff because it makes a good story and there's usually something interesting going on nearby. Even the border crossings have been kind of entertaining for the same reason. However if I had to do it all over again multiple times that would get annoying.

**Easy 6** · 04-30-2018, 05:22 PM

Your blog posts tend to be extremely long and involved, with a lot to take in

So by not posting each entry every week or so, you've now put us all behind the 8 ball with a shitload of catching up to do... its extremely inconsiderate of our time and feelings

suzzer99 · 04-30-2018, 08:11 PM

Each post takes me about 10 hours to put together from start to finish. So imagine how behind the 8-ball I feel right now

SuperBowl4 · 05-01-2018, 11:52 AM

I wouldn't go on that trip if you gave me CHIEFS season ticket on the Club Level

patteeu · 05-14-2018, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperBowl4

I wouldn't go on that trip if you gave me CHIEFS season ticket on the Club Level

I know, right? Can you imagine no air conditioning and people who can’t even speak English. Why not just shoot yourself!

suzzer99 · 05-01-2018, 11:04 PM

Turns out being stuck in Leon where it's about 125 degrees is good for my blog writing. I just park myself at the air-conditioned coffee shop for hours at a time.

Get moving Easy 6, this is a long one - finishing up Guatemala: http://ushuaiaorbust.com/2018/05/01/...-lake-atitlan/

NSFW

Spoiler!

**Easy 6** · 05-02-2018, 05:01 AM

We'll check it out after work this evening...

suzzer99 · 05-07-2018, 04:56 PM

El Salvador post is up. Papusas! http://ushuaiaorbust.com/2018/05/04/el-salvador/

suzzer99 · 05-13-2018, 09:15 PM

Adventure travel update! I'm currently stuck in Bluefields on the sparsely populated Atlantic side of Nicaragua for an extra 5 days (hopefully not more) due to mass protests and roadblocks that basically block all car traffic from the Pacific to Atlantic side. The roadblock at Nueva Guinea went up at noon Thursday. I showed up at 4pm.

If my flight from Corn Island hadn't been delayed from morning to afternoon - I probably would have just made it. Or just missed it by like 5 minutes, which would have been really painful.

I spent the first night in my car along with everyone else - hoping they'd open up at some point. Btw in case you're wondering my 2007 FJ burns about 4 gallons of gas over 12 hours idling with the AC running. Then in the morning I gave up and went back to Bluefields. The minimum I heard for the roadblock was 2 days. There seems to be a word-of-mouth schedule to these things, but it changes a lot and no one really knows for sure.

The only thing I know for sure is there's a Managua/Bluefields bus trapped in Bluefields. When that moves I know the road will be open. I've got a local guy here keeping me up-to-date, for which I'm buying him a few meals. He also told me there's no panga boats to La Rama - not that that would help me much. Although he told me there were no flights to Managua, which is wrong. But he knows the panga captains so I think he's accurate on that.

Nueva Guinea to Bluefields is about a 2 hour drive but through some gnarly construction that gave me a flat tire the first time. I have since aired down to 20psi and been fine. This time it was raining on the super-slick clay mud. The mud is so slick literally you can barely stand up on it. I drove on a small patch and all 4 tires spun for a bit when I got back on the pavement, until the mud burned off. They were towing cars uphill to get through it. I saw a road-grader towing a bus towing a car.

So there's another fun factor to worry about - might get trapped by the rains. The cool part was they picked my car out of the whole line to be the first one down the hill. People were walking by remarking - "cautro por cuatro". It would be fun to try to get up it sometime. When I came back the next day they had spread rocks around and it was much better.

I went back to the front lines today and saw all the same people - no one's moved - even people in nice cars. The line was actually shorter than when I left the previous morning - as like me plenty of people gave up and went somewhere else. There are makeshift campsites all over the place. Multiple people said 3 more days. So I came back to Bluefields again. So frustrating because it's like a 5 minute walk from where my car is stuck to where I want to be. They don't block foot traffic, bicycles or horses - only motorcycles, cars, buses and trucks.

Myself and my car get a lot of attention in that line as the only gringo with a weird car they never see, and with USA plates - and people get drunker and want to joke around with me more as the night goes on. It's good natured and I'm sure it's most likely safe, but I felt a little like a sitting duck. I did see my drunk neighbor who kept calling me gringo and was making me a little nervous from the night before. He had gotten a hotel room and cleaned up, and was very nice during the day.

It's hard to tell the spectators and trapped people from the protestors - maybe that's by design. Except for a couple guys walking around with makeshift rocket launchers. They fire these throughout the night as fireworks - but were also firing them at cops (and getting shot at for it) in the protests a few weeks ago.

So by my guess it's maybe 30 protestors, a few of them armed with glorified fireworks. I didn't see any other weapons. But I did see some people in the back of a truck with a serious military rifle - driving towards me, about 20km away from the scene this morning. No idea what that was about. If everyone who's stuck just banded together I bet they could push these guys off. But maybe then hidden weapons come out or something. I've heard most of the other roadblocks at least let people trickle though - not this one.

Hopefully I get out of here Tuesday or Wednesday - if civil war doesn't break out.

https://www.vostv.com.ni/nacionales/...-en-nicaragua/

Hanging out in our new home away from home. I moved the tanks to upright, but they were empty until now. I filled them just in case of emergency, and now they're denting the roof a little. I think I can put one of the extra roof slats under it. Or try to find a 1x4 tomorrow.

suzzer99 · 05-13-2018, 09:16 PM

But on the plus side I'm getting caught up on my blog. I'm finishing up on the blog posts now. http://ushuaiaorbust.com/2018/05/13/honduras-pt-1/

Where else can you get beautifully shot food porn like this?

Also there's a weird naked guy story - but sadly no pics.

patteeu · 05-13-2018, 09:20 PM

My daughter was supposed to go on a mission trip to Nicaragua next month but they’re going to Ecuador now instead due to the unrest.

suzzer99 · 05-13-2018, 09:39 PM

Yeah it doesn't seem to be a one time thing. A lot of people are talking civil war. I think if Ortega agrees to run again it will end. The military and police aren't backing him very strongly. So who knows.

patteeu · 05-13-2018, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suzzer99

Yeah it doesn't seem to be a one time thing. A lot of people are talking civil war. I think if Ortega agrees to run again it will end. The military and police aren't backing him very strongly. So who knows.

Stay safe. Good luck.

suzzer99 · 05-13-2018, 09:43 PM

So far nothing's made me fear for my safety except my concerns about getting all the attention as the "wtf is this gringo with US plates doing here?". The protestors aren't targeting me.

But yeah I'm just looking to get my car out of the country ASAP at this point. In retrospect driving across to the Atlantic side, and then ignoring warnings about protests on May 10th was a bad move. But literally the only kind of protest that could have affected me is this - blockading one side of the country from the other. No one was predicting that.

The owner of the hotel I'm at says I should have gone up to the front and asked them to let me pass as an American. From every other gringo roadblock encounter I've ever read about, that wouldn't go anywhere, and would just draw a lot more attention to me. He also said I should call the US Embassy. So I emailed them tonight. We'll see what they say.

04-30-2018, 05:22 PM	#3
Easy 6 pie is never free Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: the drivers seat Casino cash: $3557775	Your blog posts tend to be extremely long and involved, with a lot to take in So by not posting each entry every week or so, you've now put us all behind the 8 ball with a shitload of catching up to do... its extremely inconsiderate of our time and feelings
Posts: 91,845

04-30-2018, 08:11 PM	#4
suzzer99 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: L.A. Casino cash: $2794284	Each post takes me about 10 hours to put together from start to finish. So imagine how behind the 8-ball I feel right now
Posts: 27,285

05-01-2018, 11:52 AM	#5
SuperBowl4 MVP Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: HERMOSA BEACH,CA Casino cash: $8024900	I wouldn't go on that trip if you gave me CHIEFS season ticket on the Club Level
Posts: 13,576

05-01-2018, 11:04 PM	#7
suzzer99 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: L.A. Casino cash: $2794284	Turns out being stuck in Leon where it's about 125 degrees is good for my blog writing. I just park myself at the air-conditioned coffee shop for hours at a time. Get moving Easy 6, this is a long one - finishing up Guatemala: http://ushuaiaorbust.com/2018/05/01/...-lake-atitlan/ NSFW Spoiler!
Posts: 27,285

05-02-2018, 05:01 AM	#8
Easy 6 pie is never free Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: the drivers seat Casino cash: $3557775	We'll check it out after work this evening...
Posts: 91,845

05-07-2018, 04:56 PM	#9
suzzer99 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: L.A. Casino cash: $2794284	El Salvador post is up. Papusas! http://ushuaiaorbust.com/2018/05/04/el-salvador/
Posts: 27,285

05-13-2018, 09:15 PM	#10
suzzer99 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: L.A. Casino cash: $2794284	Adventure travel update! I'm currently stuck in Bluefields on the sparsely populated Atlantic side of Nicaragua for an extra 5 days (hopefully not more) due to mass protests and roadblocks that basically block all car traffic from the Pacific to Atlantic side. The roadblock at Nueva Guinea went up at noon Thursday. I showed up at 4pm. If my flight from Corn Island hadn't been delayed from morning to afternoon - I probably would have just made it. Or just missed it by like 5 minutes, which would have been really painful. I spent the first night in my car along with everyone else - hoping they'd open up at some point. Btw in case you're wondering my 2007 FJ burns about 4 gallons of gas over 12 hours idling with the AC running. Then in the morning I gave up and went back to Bluefields. The minimum I heard for the roadblock was 2 days. There seems to be a word-of-mouth schedule to these things, but it changes a lot and no one really knows for sure. The only thing I know for sure is there's a Managua/Bluefields bus trapped in Bluefields. When that moves I know the road will be open. I've got a local guy here keeping me up-to-date, for which I'm buying him a few meals. He also told me there's no panga boats to La Rama - not that that would help me much. Although he told me there were no flights to Managua, which is wrong. But he knows the panga captains so I think he's accurate on that. Nueva Guinea to Bluefields is about a 2 hour drive but through some gnarly construction that gave me a flat tire the first time. I have since aired down to 20psi and been fine. This time it was raining on the super-slick clay mud. The mud is so slick literally you can barely stand up on it. I drove on a small patch and all 4 tires spun for a bit when I got back on the pavement, until the mud burned off. They were towing cars uphill to get through it. I saw a road-grader towing a bus towing a car. So there's another fun factor to worry about - might get trapped by the rains. The cool part was they picked my car out of the whole line to be the first one down the hill. People were walking by remarking - "cautro por cuatro". It would be fun to try to get up it sometime. When I came back the next day they had spread rocks around and it was much better. I went back to the front lines today and saw all the same people - no one's moved - even people in nice cars. The line was actually shorter than when I left the previous morning - as like me plenty of people gave up and went somewhere else. There are makeshift campsites all over the place. Multiple people said 3 more days. So I came back to Bluefields again. So frustrating because it's like a 5 minute walk from where my car is stuck to where I want to be. They don't block foot traffic, bicycles or horses - only motorcycles, cars, buses and trucks. Myself and my car get a lot of attention in that line as the only gringo with a weird car they never see, and with USA plates - and people get drunker and want to joke around with me more as the night goes on. It's good natured and I'm sure it's most likely safe, but I felt a little like a sitting duck. I did see my drunk neighbor who kept calling me gringo and was making me a little nervous from the night before. He had gotten a hotel room and cleaned up, and was very nice during the day. It's hard to tell the spectators and trapped people from the protestors - maybe that's by design. Except for a couple guys walking around with makeshift rocket launchers. They fire these throughout the night as fireworks - but were also firing them at cops (and getting shot at for it) in the protests a few weeks ago. So by my guess it's maybe 30 protestors, a few of them armed with glorified fireworks. I didn't see any other weapons. But I did see some people in the back of a truck with a serious military rifle - driving towards me, about 20km away from the scene this morning. No idea what that was about. If everyone who's stuck just banded together I bet they could push these guys off. But maybe then hidden weapons come out or something. I've heard most of the other roadblocks at least let people trickle though - not this one. Hopefully I get out of here Tuesday or Wednesday - if civil war doesn't break out. https://www.vostv.com.ni/nacionales/...-en-nicaragua/ Hanging out in our new home away from home. I moved the tanks to upright, but they were empty until now. I filled them just in case of emergency, and now they're denting the roof a little. I think I can put one of the extra roof slats under it. Or try to find a 1x4 tomorrow. Last edited by suzzer99; 05-13-2018 at 09:37 PM..
Posts: 27,285

05-13-2018, 09:16 PM	#11
suzzer99 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: L.A. Casino cash: $2794284	But on the plus side I'm getting caught up on my blog. I'm finishing up on the blog posts now. http://ushuaiaorbust.com/2018/05/13/honduras-pt-1/ Where else can you get beautifully shot food porn like this? Also there's a weird naked guy story - but sadly no pics.
Posts: 27,285

05-13-2018, 09:20 PM	#12
patteeu The 23rd Pillar Join Date: Sep 2002 Casino cash: $10019237	My daughter was supposed to go on a mission trip to Nicaragua next month but they’re going to Ecuador now instead due to the unrest. __________________ “Boy, you all want power. God, I hope you never get it.” - Lindsay Graham
Posts: 110,871

05-13-2018, 09:39 PM	#13
suzzer99 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: L.A. Casino cash: $2794284	Yeah it doesn't seem to be a one time thing. A lot of people are talking civil war. I think if Ortega agrees to run again it will end. The military and police aren't backing him very strongly. So who knows.
Posts: 27,285

05-13-2018, 09:43 PM	#15
suzzer99 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: L.A. Casino cash: $2794284	So far nothing's made me fear for my safety except my concerns about getting all the attention as the "wtf is this gringo with US plates doing here?". The protestors aren't targeting me. But yeah I'm just looking to get my car out of the country ASAP at this point. In retrospect driving across to the Atlantic side, and then ignoring warnings about protests on May 10th was a bad move. But literally the only kind of protest that could have affected me is this - blockading one side of the country from the other. No one was predicting that. The owner of the hotel I'm at says I should have gone up to the front and asked them to let me pass as an American. From every other gringo roadblock encounter I've ever read about, that wouldn't go anywhere, and would just draw a lot more attention to me. He also said I should call the US Embassy. So I emailed them tonight. We'll see what they say.
Posts: 27,285