Our day in Panajachel...............................

Here we are WAITING for our ride to come and bring us to Panajachel! Of course they were LATE!! But only by about 20 min. although, they told us to be ready 15 min. early!!

On our way, no car seats, or seat belts! Good thing I didn't know what kind of ride lie ahead of us, I probably would have demanded them!!

We drove through some very beautiful parts of Guatemala. Also, VERY hilly, SCARY steep and DANGEROUS roads! Not to mention the fact that they drive like maniac's here, seriously, we were in harms way SEVERAL times! Once, our driver had to slam on the brakes, to miss a truck that was headed straight for us(and with no seat belts!) We went through several small towns, and what looked like a very narrow one way street, would suddenly have a chicken bus coming right at us, we literally saw one guy bust his mirror off, they get so close to each other! Then the roads have these hairpin turns, with NO guard rails, I could look straight down the mountain! We were winding all the way up and down mountains, at a HIGH RATE OF SPEED, and praying we wouldn't meet anyone on the TOTALLY BLIND CORNERS! It was AMAZING!! The boys were hitting their heads on the windows and we were sliding into each other on the seats. I almost dropped Anaya 2 times, because I was holding on for dear life, and only had her with one hand, not good! But, she was sound asleep, and when she was awake, she was loving it! She is a wild child, the crazier the better! This ride was definitely not for the faint of heart, or anyone who gets carsick on a normal road!!
Poor Spencer(who never gets car sick) tossed his cookies, on the way there out the window!! On the way back, we had a bag ready, however he had fallen asleep, and when he sat up and chucked, I just wasn't ready!! Normally, I have Ryan clean up the mess, because it makes me sick, but I stepped up to the plate and did just fine, cleaning, and reassuring everyone it was ~going to okay, no big deal~ meanwhile, trying hard ward off the feeling myself! But, he was a real trouper, and no one else got sick, so we can't complain, the kids were so good! It was a little over 2 hours one way, so it was a lot of riding, but they did awesome! The pictures can't show how steep these hills are, and they farm on the sides of them, it is so amazing. These people work so hard, and have the most beautiful farm fields, all done by hand!
The main thing we noticed right away when we got out at Panajachel, is their street vendors are RELENTLESS!! Unlike the ladies here in Antigua, they do NOT give up! They follow you forever! These girls sat and talked for about 30 min. until my dad finally bought a few things from them!



We sat and had a little picnic lunch here by the lake, and there were several dogs that came by and begged for food! We saw SO many stray dogs today! We even saw a dead one being dragged from the middle of the road in front of us!
Unfortunately, it was very hazy today, and this was the best we could see of the volcanoes surrounding the lake! We chose not to go on a boat tour of the lake, because we weren't sure that Spencer's stomach could take it!
The boys were having fun throwing rocks into the water. There were several people who just walked into the water, clothes and all! One lady took a bar of soap and washed her hair!
We will have to come back someday, as we didn't get the best views, but we did have a great day, and feel blessed to have seen a little more of Anaya's homeland!