One thing, with all the gals here I don´t have to decide where to go or when to........anything. It´s all worked out before I know what the conversation was about. Two days ago we took a chicken bus to Pastores where there are many shops specializing in leather goods and particularly boots, primarily western, and shoes. The boots are made from a variety of leathers and skins. Some leather is embossed to look like, say, crocodile, and some boots are real croc. Same with snake skins. Cobra boots with the heat on the top of the toe box, etc. I bought a new wallet but by the time the bootmakers saw my size 14 6E clodhoppers they were faint from worry I´d want some custom boots at a regular price. I swear I used to have more dainty feet as an adult but.....

Yesterday got a peek at Valhalla. No, really. The Valhalla macadamia nut orchard a few kilometers outta Antigua by chicken bus. It was interesting to see the trees/nuts/processing and so on. This orchard prefers the more wild trees rather than the cloned variety of Hawaii. No cloning, no grafting. I´m allergic to the nuts so didn´t taste them. Nut oil, etc. They say the Macadamia is perfect for third world countries where they can be grown, no frost, because they get the nuts, the oils, the carbon eating and oxygen giving off, the shade, the compost from the leaves, etc, firewood from the heavy pruning necessary each year, the fine shade, and they produce year around. The tiny flowers on the six inch long catkins are very fragrant.

The fam is heading back to the marina/barn/casa and winter this afternoon so they are shopping ´til I dropped and stopped here on my way home. I´m heading back tomorrow with a 14 hour layover in Atlanta on my way from Guatemala to Oregon. What the..............