Adventures in Nica Driving

Quite possibly the loudest clap of thunder I've ever heard, jolted the entire town of Gigante awake at around two o'clock in the morning on Tuesday.  Miraculously, the power stayed on all night as the storm moved through - it's strength paled in comparison to the initial racket the heavens produced.  We began our day around nine with a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs and homestyle potatoes, then headed to La Vista to meet Rich and Clint.  We all had a nice talk about the progress of the house and what can and can't be done to get it moving along a little bit quicker.  The real issue is the windows.  You can't speed up nature and the drying process takes time.  We've still got about two months before we can call it home.

Over the last couple of days, storm models have been predicting a massive swell for Nica's Pacific waters.  The wave hype inspired us to take a little drive down to Popoyo where a cool little restaurant called Magnific Rock offers a sweeping view of the coastline.  The previous night's rain made the drive somewhat treacherous as we forded a couple of small muddy rivers and climbed a steep hill to arrive at our destination.  The building and view were amazing but the beers weren't nearly as cold as we've been used to and our plate of Dedidos de Pollo was mediocre.  As we ate, storm clouds formed over the hills and the color washed out of the landscape.  Our Trooper needs a motor for the windshield wipers and the puddles we crossed to get to Magnific made us eager to get back on the road before the rain started up again.  We had a chance to snap some cool photos before leaving.  The sepia setting seemed appropriate for the remainder of the day.  On our drive back the car stalled out after we plowed through the last big puddle.  A kind, young local lady helped us push the truck as we attempted to pop the clutch.  After a few failed attempts, the car started up again.  We learned that it doesn't take much water to stall her out.  It should be an interesting wet season, indeed.  The four wheel drive also started acting up on the way back but we think it was just a bunch of mud or possibly a rock stuck somewhere it shouldn't have been because, a couple hours later she was fine.  Did I mention that the waitress at the restaurant tried to hustle us out of our change too?  All and all, we were glad when our mini adventure was over and spent the rest of the afternoon drinking beers at Swell with our friend James.  

  

Restaurant Magnific Rock

views from Magnific

 

more dogs

Sunny, Jason's daughter.

Gigante town