Off For The Summer

We are back in the United States. We will not be making any additional blog entries until we return to Guatemala in mid October. Everyone please enjoy the summer.

In Memory Of Bill

William R. Merrick, age 59, of Covington, PA, died Sunday, June 6, 2010 in Lindley, NY. William was born January 8, 1951 in Wellsboro, PA a son of Varley and Gladys (Karns) Merrick. William was an accountant for Ron Baltzley Hardwoods in Covington, PA. He was a U.S. Army veteran having served during the Vietnam War.

William is survived by mother, Gladys of Lindley, NY; a son, Chad Merrick of Wellsboro, PA; a daughter, Alicia Merrick of Wellsboro, PA; three brothers and sisters-in-law, Mark (Brenda) Passmore of Marion, NY, Richard (Maggie) Passmore of St. Paul, MN, and Norman (Linda) Passmore of Broadview Heights, OH.

October 2009 Blog Posting - Bill's Visit With Us On Ariel

Last Days In Guatemala

We are now in Antigua, Guatemala, making a brief stop on our way out of Guatemala. We will write about Antigua when we return to Guatemala in October. For now we are just getting ourselves an advance review since we plan to spend two weeks here at Spanish language school when we return.

We spent the past couple weeks getting the boat ready to leave for four months, but we were not so busy that we did not have time to enjoy the area and spend time with other cruisers. We were down to two couples, us and Bill and Pat aboard Mobetah, but then two additional boats came in to Monkey Bay - TiTaRo a big catamaran from Munich, Germany with Theo and Rosemarie aboard, and then Calusa with John and Robyn aboard .

We visited a fort just a short distance past the bridge and only about a 15 minute dinghy ride. Castillo San Felipe dates to 1641.

Pictures - Castillo San Felipe

This is a Boa Constrictor that stayed in the same spot next to our kitchen area digesting it's last meal which we think may have been a bird. The large bulge has since disappeared.

Some of the devastation caused by the flooding from tropical storm Agatha is very near the Rio Dulce, just about 30 minutes away, but on the other side of the mountain. As is typical, the cruisers came together to provide food and clothing which was gathered in town and trucked in to the effected areas each morning.