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ANTIGUA - Good lord, you can get anything here! We've had a candellit Italian dinner, been to the movies, eaten dark chocolate, and had felafel ALL within a 3 day period! Antigua is one of those charming cities that has gone international... its a mix of travellers and locals: gringos studying Spanish, five-star travellers from Texas, rich Guatemaltecos, and ancient Mayan women selling their textiles. The hotels are nice, you can get any kind of food you want, and theres good shopping... ahhhhh! And despite its being a major hub on the well beaten travellers path, it is still incredibly alluring. The streets are cobblestone, a crumbling church awaits at every viewpoint, and the eaves are still supported by ancient beams that somehow have remained in tact through multiple earthquakes. All in a lovely setting surrounded by volcanos!
Heres a few pics of where weve been the last few days! We also had quite the adventure on one of the aformentioned volcanoes, but Ill let Tom tell the story! Miss y'all!
A gorgeous church in the center of the city...
A typical streetscape: notice that the background, a giant volcano, is simply too massive to fit in the picture!
A church that was destroyed by one of many earthquakes that have ravaged the city.
A convent that is now a five-star hotel!
Tom taking advantage of there being a chocolateria in town...
And... a donkey visiting with the local circus!
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RIO DULCE - So I mentioned earlier that there are a lot of boats here, right? Well I think this place is going to get us in trouble. Anna loves sailboats, and I'm a big fan myself even though I know nothing about them. She's got some sailing and racing experience and, unlike myself, knows how to tie that funny little knot that keeps the sails up and the dinghys from floating away.
On the first day at Tortugal I saw the most unique boat parked right out front in a nice little slip. It was named 'Skol' and I wanted to check it out but I felt funny lingering on the dock because 1. I didn't want the skipper thinking I was scoping out his boat, and 2. you're not allowed to just linger all willy-nilly on the docks back home unless you've got your own set of keys. Anna assured me it wasn't really a big deal so we looked at Skol for a few minutes and then took a walk around. It looks like one of those old style english coupes with the really long hood... check it out...
On the dock I was impressed with myself for recognizing the different hull types and rigging setups of the various boats. I saw a gorgeous cream colored boat with two jibs and I asked the owners if it was a 'cutter rig'. It was, and that's how we met Michael and Linda from San Francisco. They've got a 38 foot Island Packet they bought new and have been living on for the last seven years. Linda asked us to come by for a drink and a tour before we left Tortugal and we were on cloud nine.
The next day it was raining, and as luck would have it I was upstairs checking email when this woman - who I recognized as being one of the owners of Skol - came in and accidentally shut off my computer while turning hers on. We got to talking and she invited us onboard for a tour! I was psyched... it would be the first sailboat I'd ever stepped on - well, besides the little sunfish we've got up in Sunapee.
The Skol owners were great and gave us a heck of a good tour even though it was 5pm and they were leaving very early the next day. Their boat, a 50' 88 Mikelson, was more like a luxury New York apartment. It had a raised pilot house that was hugely spacious, three heads, two very nice and large cabins, a wood stove, and even a washing machine! Bill showed us the equipment to make fresh water, the online charting system integrated with gps and radar, and the other electrical and charging systems.
That night at dinner we got to chatting with Tom and Mary, two very nice and friendly folks from Louisiana, who invited us to sit with them. He's an ex-engineer and she's an ex-yacht broker. They were very sharp and funny and shared many of the same views we had about energy, politics and all that other stuff so we hit it off pretty well. As it turned out, they own a 50' 1979 Gulfstar - 'Carpe Diem' - anchored off the marina and had forgotten their flashlight so I gave them mine for the trip back. They offered to take us aboard the next day at 10 for a tour! It just keeps getting better!!
Tom showed up at 10 am sharp, took us back on their old red dinghy  , and they showed us the boat. It was different but just as amazing as the Skol and they ran it with more of an old school mentality. Not as many fancy gadgets but Tom and Mary knew their stuff and their boat. It had a huge aft cabin, a huge bathroom, a head that was converted to a workshop, a very large galley and settee for eating and hanging out, a nice fore cabin and an engine ROOM in which sat a spankin new kubota diesel. The interior was of course finished with beautiful hardwoods and amazing craftmanship... and when I saw the electrics I could have stayed all day! We sat and talked and then took a ride to town with Mary on the dinghy in the quest for Quetzales (there's STILL a shortage of local currency).
The next morning Tom knocked on the door at 10 o'clock... he brought my flashlight back, along with a very gracious offer of a ride on their boat! Anna and I got going as fast as we could and headed out. They needed to run the engines to get the refrigeration going and charge the batteries so they figured they'd take us along and show us a thing or two. What a treat! As we were passing under the giant Rio Dulce bridge Tom noticed us looking to see if the mast would clear and shouted "oh no... OH NO! are we gonna make it... I DON'T think we'll...!!". Then he chuckled and added "aw I'm just foolin wit yall. We've been under here a hundred times." Then Mary let me drive...
Then Mary let Anna drive...
Next, they showed us how to work together to properly anchor a boat. Mary coached Anna at the controls while Tom instructed me up at the windlass (that's the big crank that lowers the anchor). We were having so much fun. We chatted some more, Mary whipped up a nice little lunch and then they brought us back on the dinghy to polish off a fantastic day. That too was full of excitement as Tom fooled and shouted that we'd capsize from the 'Guatemalan Navy' boat's wake.
As if the day couldn't get any better we swung over and saw Michael and Linda that evening. She invited us aboard, made us drinks, and we all sat on the cockpit chatting for a bit. Then we headed below deck for a tour. It was amazing... 12 feet shorter but almost as spacious as Tom and Mary's with a gorgeous wood interior and the same amazing teak/holly floors as the other boats. I particularly liked the kitchen layout and the huge head with a shower! At maybe 420 sf of interior space, it was like a cozy studio apartment.
Anyway, Michael and Linda were awesome. He's retired from ups and now manages his real estate holdings while she's an accountant. Michael - the designated cook onboard - whipped up some fresh salsa and we sat around eating and laughing for hours. They sailed down from San Franscisco, through the Panama Canal, and are heading up to the east coast where they'll probably sell their boat. Hopefully we'll be back in time to give them a proper Boston tour. |
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LIVINGSTON - Anna and I left Belize by boat from Punta Gorda and landed in Livingston Guatemala for a few nights at Casa Rosada. Livingston is a pretty little town at the mouth of the Rio Dulce and is only accessible by boat. We found a local guy to take us across once we got through customs, no small feat since the only lady on duty was in a very bad mood. Here's a shot of us at the dock ready to cross the border...
When we walked from our hotel - which by the way was right on the water - to the town center we kept getting this very strong fish smell. After some careful examination we discovered the source... not sure what they do with all this stuff but they leave it out to dry in the sun and it sure is stinky. We saw more than a few dogs enjoying the fallen scraps.
After a couple of days of relaxing we decided to get off our butts and make our way upriver to the town of Rio Dulce, also known as Fronteras. Every town in Central America seems to have more than one name and Rio Dulce was of course no exception. To get upriver you jump on a collectivo, but this time it's a boat or lancha instead of a car... kinda neat if you ask me. Anyway, the ride upriver was gorgeous... there were 1-200 foot high limestone? cliffs covered in green jungle. Large white birds and giant pelicans hung out in almost every tree you could find and the river was full of local fishermen in their wooden dugouts using hand lines and nets.
We had met Bob and Joanie at Casa Rosada and they recommended a place to stay called Tortugal Marina. We thought it was strange that it was called a marina but when we got to Rio Dulce we understood... there were sailboats EVERYWHERE. And they were gorgeous... apparently Rio Dulce is a mecca for sailors around the world. Situated well upriver from the ocean and surrounded by mangrove, it offers safe harbor from the devastating hurricanes that blow through. The other benefit is that compared to marinas in the states, the rates here can't be beat. Anyway, with all the boats around Anna was in heaven and I figured we might just be here for a little longer than we'd originally planned.
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CAYE CAULKER - Sadly, our time with Kathy and Jim came to an end all too soon. But we had Leigh for a few more days... hooray! We went back to Caye Caulker for a bit more island time.
Sad goodbyes to Kath and Jim:
We stayed at a really charming place on Caye Caulker called Maxhapan... our host Louise was delightful! She had quite the green thumb and gave us all coconut water to drink.
AND free bicycles to tool around on, to Toms great delight!
Quite possibly the highlight of our stay with Leigh on the caye was the discovery of Adrian - the bartender and whiz of fancy fruity drinks. We appreciated Adrian greatly over our successive nights of patronization of his establishment. Check out those umbrellas (Tom ate his)! Adrian also pointed out the seahorses who lived just off the dock. (Leigh, your pictures were awesome so I stole some!! )
We also went scuba diving in Spanish Bay, where, amongst the usual characters, we encountered a giant remora. Remoras are big fish which attach themselves to turtles or sharks, and feeds on scraps from the hosts dinner. This one was probably 4 feet long, and was unattached. He kept trying to attach to our legs... silly guy.
We brought a couple bags of oranges to the island, so Tom can make his famous rum punches. Nothing finishes a day like one of Toms drinks made with fresh squeezed orange juice! Aye que rico!
We finished off our week chillin at 'the split' for some sun basking and a bit of snorkeling (frog fish are awesome). Hopefully Leigh picked up enough of a tan to make coworkers jealous!
We were so sad to have Leigh leave us! But it was really great to have her visit and it seems like a good time was had by all! Cant wait to have people come see us in Costa Rica!
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SAN IGNACIO - Since we had a rental car we decided to use it... and drive to Tikal! What the heck right? I told everybody that the roads were 'bad, real bad' in Guatemala. They didn't really believe me at first, but as you can see from Jim's face, they were really bad. The first 25 km or so was dirt/mud and had potholes big enough to hide a volkswagen - of which we hit our share. We also hit a couple of suprise speed bumps too which was fun because every time it happened the girls screamed in the back. Ok, well mostly Leigh screamed. But you know how it goes... one person screams, which scares the crap out of everybody else and they all scream too.
The trip was awesome. This is one of my favorite shots of the girls, just hanging out behind Temple II. Thanks to Kath for some of these great photos! Actually, check out her entire album by clicking here. She really did a very good job of photographing their entire stay with us and it's definitely worth a look.
Here's one of Jim and I doing the same...
Jim and Kath are on top of the world here... somewhere in the Mundo Perdido, or 'lost world'. It was a long way up a lot of very tall stairs but they made it, and are apparently very pleased with themselves 
These are the 'stairs' we climbed up to get to the top of Temple IV... some of the best views in Tikal can be gotten from up there.
The following pictures were actually taken not in Tikal but in Xunantunich, ruins on the border of Belize and Guatemala that we stumbled upon the following day... Jim can't believe he's the first person to have discovered this place.
I tried to give some idea of the scale and height of these structures, but I'm not sure it really comes through...
Here is the gratuitous nasty indigenous spider photo. The thing was so beautiful I just had to take a picture of it. I'd never seen one so colorful.
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BELIZE CITY - It's a bird, it's a plane, NO... it's a big orange Jim! Jim and Kath landed today and Anna and I were lucky enough to see the plane come in. From the observation deck we saw them deplane and somehow - as if we were left-eye-right-eye - Jim and Kath spotted us waving and, well, responded in kind.
At the water taxi station we ran into Nancy and Sara - two very fun and funny girls Anna and I met on Glover's Reef Atoll - and it turned out they were staying on Caye Caulker... days passed and bottles emptied and everybody had fun and got along famously. But that's another story. Here's a picture of Jim, Kath Anna and I on the water taxi... don't they look like they regret leaving 6 degree weather?
The plan was to take a water taxi to Caye Caulker and hang out for four days at this fantastic little 2 bedroom place with a deck overlooking the ocean for four days. They we'd take the taxi back to Belize City to pick up a car, go get Leigh from the airport and the five of us would drive out to San Ignacio for a few days. After that we'd drop Jim and Kath at the airport and then go back to Caye Caulker with Leigh! Quite an ambitious plan but it worked out perfectly. Here's a shot of us at the Real McCaw. Sara and Nancy - look us up when you come to Boston, we'll surely do the same when we get to San Fran!
I think Jim and Kath really enjoyed Caye Caulker... we had another snorkeling experience with Juni (Kath was a real trooper), Jimmy gave us all a lesson or two in how to bargain with the locals, we played games, relaxed, and had some fantastic food. I can't remember all the other great stuff we did but rest assured it was a lot of fun.
At the end of our Caye Caulker stay <sniffle> we went to get the car and then swung by the zoo before picking up Leigh. This is a shot of a fancy kind of toucan from the zoo... this particular fancy toucan from the zoo flew over and PECKED me on the hand while I took this picture. And no, I didn't put my hand inside or even up against the cage... it is a toucan and as you can see has an unusually long beak. The better to peck you with.
Another and significantly more friendly toucan we saw... gorgeous bird, and very funny, it kept flying over to us and flying away over and over and over.
Ran into this guy in the woods. The well trained eye would see that it's a giant cat. Hey now!
Here's a picture of Leigh as she got off her flight... it was so cool to see her see us - once again from the observation deck. We snatched her up and took off for San Ignacio around 4:45, arriving just before dark.
After we got Leigh we raced against dark to get out to San Ignacio. You don't want to drive these roads at night... there are animals all over the place and there are giant pot holes that sneak up on you and rattle your fillings. The next day we decided to all pile into our rental car - a 4x4 Suzuki something or other - and take a drive to Tikal. If you're up on geography you'll realize that Tikal is in Guatemala, but we are in San Ignacio, Belize. That's a driving adventure story for later... stay tuned! |
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GLOVER'S REEF ATOLL - After a week's stay 'in the dark' we're back to the real world. Well, sort of. The week on Glover's Reef was a lot of fun, barring the slightly strange management and the terribly inadequate dual composting toilets. It was nice to unplug for a week and we met some great folks - Knut and Jan from Canada, Leigh and Rob from Canada, Jay and Chilea from Canada, Wayne and Elizabeth from Canada, Nick and Max from Canada - noting any patterns here? - James and Jen from San Fran, Nancy and Sara from San Fran and last but not least Andy and Kate from England. Suprisingly we met few Americans - and none from any of the red states.
These are the crap accomodations they force you to stay in. Actually, we didn't stay in this but we were supposed to... remember my warning about the management? Our reservation was 'mixed up' so we got a 'beach cabana' instead of an 'over the water' cabana but in the end it all worked out just fine. At least we didn't end up paying 30 dollars for a cake (Sorry Andy and Kate)
This is the view from where we actually did stay... not bad
Here is the lovely hut again... kitchen underneath and sleeping quaters and very comfy shady hammock on top up those stairs. As it turned out the beach cabana had a much better kitchen than the water ones (and it was slightly less windy) so was easier to cook our fantastic meals!
Here's a shot of the cabin from the shore...
Back to the management... they've got some weird rules. Here are some of the ones they've posted for your reading enjoyment. I was really hoping to stuff a coconut tree in my pack to bring home. Rats.
I bet you were all wondering how we did dishes on the island, right? Well wonder no more! The stingrays loved feeding on our scraps, we just had to be careful not to step on them.
Overall the island was great and I would definitely go back once I've explored all the other places I'd like to see. The diving was very good, some of the best we've had, but the dive shop on the island left a little to be desired. They didn't seem to keep much of an eye on the divers which is fine if you're experienced but not so good if you're new, as were some of the folks with us. I possibly broke my hand pulling the girls equipment out of the water, while the captain and crew were content to sit idly by and watch. Usually that's their job! The one glowing review I can give is that the equipment was first rate and they give you a dive computer - which you'll need since they don't pay any attention to you in the water.
Here's how we got on and off the island...
The best part of the island besides the gorgeous views of course, was all the cool folks we met. We continued to see many of them after we left the island and it looks like we'll run into some of them again either along our journey or when we get back to the states! That's all I've got... it was so long ago (2 weeks) I can't remember what I was going to write. |
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SAN IGNACIO - So this week, Tom and I learned how to survive on a deserted island! We also learned how to survive incompetent dive operators, but that is another story.
Opening a conch. So a conch (pronounced 'konk') is a snail that, when sauteed, tastes like a cross between a pork chop and a fish fillet. Sounds gross, but they're pretty tasty!
First you get a conch from a seagrass bed or where ever. It looks like this.
Next you make an opening just behind the first row of pointies in the shell, and loosen the conch with a butter knife. (Thanks Knute for the demonstration!)
Then you pull it out! Easy! The hardest part is getting the slime off your fingers afterwards.
This is the part you eat... just trim off the brown covering from the white meat.
Here's the parts you DON'T eat!! Mmmmm.... conch guts. That gets thrown to the rays who cruise the shallows looking for snacks.
What do you enjoy with your conch steak? How bout a tasty coconut? Tom was my personal coconut fetcher. First you find a brown coconut that sounds like it has water inside. There weren't many coconuts on the island we visited.
Then you find a big metal stake in the ground, and use it to pry off the husk.
Next you use your handy dandy coral hammer to knock the coconut. The idea is to hold the coconut aiming the three 'eyes' toward the ground, and strike it around the top.
And voila!
You can grind the meat and soak it in hot water to prepare coconut
milk for your fish curry. Or just eat it plain. Just dont eat too
much cause there's lots of fiber in that there coconut! Next week: how to fix gibnut, the Belizean rodent delicacy!
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POPTUN - Anybody who knows Anna surely knows that she loves horses. Horses horses horses. When we first got together I was shocked to discover that she couldn't ride a bike. Her completely sensible excuse - of course - was that she grew up with a horse instead of a bike. When we visited Garry and Suzy in CA Anna was excited to see Suzy's horses. In our travels as well, Anna got excited whenever we saw a horse in a field, someone riding a horse, or a horse pulling a carriage. Having witnessed all of this horse related excitement, I knew of course that Anna wanted to stop seeing them and actually RIDE one - and after giving it a moment's thought I put two and two together and realized that I'd be riding one too. Oh God.
So the whole idea of horseback riding for me is a little unsavory. My first and last experience with riding was about 15 years ago and it was a not good one. I remember as I approached my horse and climbed on his back he seemed to be showing a very large and intimidating - how would you say it nicely - "fondness for the female horses". Additionally, as we began to ride I began to realize he loved to trot, at about the same time I discovered the stirrups of my saddle were too long and I couldn't stand - do the math yourself. I was a little squeamish about trying again but at the same time determined to show Anna that I could handle it. She, after all, learned to ride a mountain bike for me.
Fast forward to the present. We woke up at Finca Ixobel, had breakfast, and went to the stable around 8:30. I wiped the unpleasant memories from my mind and replaced them with romantic notions of gallopping through the jungle on a grand beast. At the stable our horses were waiting, all saddled and ready to go. Forgive me if I get any of the terms wrong. I skittishly climbed on my horse, his name translates to "White Pimp", and breathed a sigh of relief at having not gotten bucked off yet. Anna and Frederique mounted their horses and in a moment, the guide let out a shout, cracked his horse on the hind quarters and we were off! Or at least they were.
Good ol' White Pimp didn't seem to like moving much at all, and he didn't seem so interested in going for an all day ride with some yahoo (me) on his back. I think also he could sense - and quite enjoyed - that I didn't know what I was doing. He didn't like to trot... I'd kick him and shout and he'd go for a few steps and then slow and walk again. I was probably doing something wrong but couldn't figure it out. There was a lot of mud on the trails and I guess horses don't like mud, so mine would walk around it. Of course, we were in the woods, so 'around it' meant that my horse was actually clearing trees and brush with my body, not too pleasant but I was determined to press on. After about an hour of riding I realized that the stirrups had my legs in a totally unfamiliar and uncomfortable bent position. I guess you get used to it if you're a true horsemen but I felt like my knees were being twisted and torn off.
At hour two I was ready to call it a day, but we still had six hours left. We were riding through many farms, and each time we went from one to the next we'd pass through a barbed wire fence. I suppose it's ok if you can ride but my horse liked to drag me against the wire as we went through. Remember that he doesn't like mud? Well my legs don't like smashing into barbed wire and fence posts.
Finally, after scorching in the sun for hours, crossing a dozen fields of mud, rubbing against some barbed fences, sliding through a rocky river crossing and nearly having been knocked off by low hanging tree branches we stopped for lunch at a pretty little river eddy. I could barely stand, and after a few minutes we started finding the ticks. There was a tick fully embedded in my ankle that I was lucky to pull off with it's head in tact. He became fish food. Then Anna noticed some tiny pin head sized ticks on my waist. Turns out there were about 10 more on me, and we scraped them off. She had some on her too which we also got rid of. I thought of all the lime-disease scares in New England... good times. I spent some time 'bonding' with my horse by feeding it scraps of bread and apple. I guess I hoped I could make it like me and possibly coax it into riding on the trail for a while.
I'll quickly take you through the next four hours - tried to trot, hot sun, horse wouldn't run, more hot sun, my knees killed, my butt hurt, hard dirt road, more non-trotting, more hot sun. I was so over riding and I desperately wanted to be back at the farm. I felt like a man going insane - I was way behind everybody else, caught in a cycle of cursing and cussing at my horse, calling it names and berating it for being so slow and stupid. I was tired of kicking him and trying to get him to run, I began to feel bad because maybe it's feet hurt (they had no shoes) and then I went right back to cursing it again all over. At one point I shouted at it saying that I could walk home faster than I could ride. I sure hope nobody could hear me.
After about 2 hours of thinking we were close to the farm my horse suddenly got some life in his legs. He started trotting without being told. As I was thinking 'what the hell is going on here' the other horses started to run, or canter or gallop or whatever you call it and mine actually followed! Wow, I couldn't believe I was running! I was so excited that for a few seconds I forgot that I had no idea what the hell I was doing or how to stay on. In an instant my elation left me and was replaced with the fear that I was going to go hurling off to the ground and dash my brains on some rocks. I thought 'this is it for me' just before the crazy bastard stopped running.
This sort of run-stop-run thing happened a few more times and the guide explained that the horses were excited to be close to home. I guess he was right because they just kindof found their way back without any direction from us. I finally got the hang of gallopping - without falling off and dying - and it actually started to be fun. Then all of a sudden we were back at the farm. For all the frustration and exasperation I felt all day, the whole thing kindof ended unceremoniously. We got off our horses, thanked the guide, and went for a cold beer. That was it.
Later on as looked back on the whole day I forgot all the bad stuff and was content with having tried it and lived. I was excited that Anna got to ride and hoped that I didn't drag or slow the group down too much with my misbehaving animal. As I showered up that night I felt refreshed and began to think that I would maybe like to try riding again, albeit for a much shorter time. Oh yeah, that's about when we found the rest of the ticks. All in all I think Anna pulled 40 tiny ticks off me and I about 20-30 off of her. It was kindof gross. At that point there was nothing to do but laugh... we were sore, we were tired, we were sun burned and we were absolutely covered in ticks. We joked that we'd merely gone 'tick collecting' instead of horse back riding. Then somehow we decided we'd do it again. |
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DANGRIGA - Hi guys! Well, Tom is doing such a terrific job storytelling that I have been content to just let him do his thing! However, I thought Id throw in a random anecdote every now and again just to feel like Im contributing something. Im a little nerdy and like this sort of stuff, but if you get bored, just skip on to Toms entries, which will keep you in stitches!
So here goes! Todays contribution will be a mini social commentary on Belize. A typical American, I had lumped Belize together with its neighboring Central American countries. But its a pretty remarkable place in many respects. Ive learned that Belize is quite the melting pot. The original inhabitants of the country were Mayans... theres tons of pyramids hidden in the jungle here. English loggers came here early, and were often robbed by Spanish pirates who hid in the reefs off the Carribean coast.
More recently, Belize is inhabited by a mix of other groups. Black people arrived from the Carribean and Africa, mixing with the white population, and created the country's Creole culture. People here speak English, but the Creole dialects make it really tough to understand. Reggae is the order of the day here on the coast.
In the 70s, the government allowed some Asian peoples (including China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) to immigrate, and now there are Chinese restaurants and Chinese grocery stores everywhere! We cant seem to find regular M&Ms here in Dangriga, but if you care for some pickled mustard greens, no problem.
And perhaps most suprisingly, the Mennonites (Dutch/German farmers) arrived from the states and Canada due to persecution there (ahem). In fact, theres a town in Belize that looks like a small farmtown in Iowa, all hardware stores and John Deere tractors. We see Mennonites all the time, as they wear suspenders and straw hats, or sweet floral dresses. Even saw a horse drawn carriage the other day, complete with the red triangle reflector!
Oh, and I nearly forgot. The English colonists arrived with their servants, who were typically Indian. Some stayed, and delicious curries can be found all over Belize! Hooray! Oh, and theres also tons of American and European expats, who were attracted to the Belizean slower pace of life and mild climate. Many are crazy hippies, but all are pretty cool peeps.
All this in a country the size of Massachusetts and a population of 300,000 (no, I didnt forget a zero!). Tiny, indeed!
Anyhoo, Ill stop there before anyone passes out and drools on their desk. Ill leave y'all to get back to Toms stories! I miss you guys!
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