Well folks, here it is: The Final Act. We spent the better part of our last week sitting on the porch, looking out at Lago Nicaragua. Before taking the ferry out to Ometepe we stopped in Granada to re-up on books. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to be found so I had to make do with a copy of Paul Bowles’ autobiography Without Stopping. Did you know he spent the majority of his adult life traveling the world? Gets a fellow to thinking…
The pictures in the gallery below were all taken just outside the small village of Merida, a very peaceful place to prepare for the madness of New York City. We’ll be wrapping things up with one final post after we get back. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading these entries as much as we’ve enjoyed writing them!
Que las vaya bien,
ANTM
Andes Not The Mint dot com 
Omigod those sunsets! have a safe trip home! Hope this is not the last of ANTM! e.g. if you just substitute Alps for Andes you can keep the same acronym!
Love,
Dad W
Dad B says,”If you change out Andes with Gelato, but add the mint, well, you have a very different blog…”
Love, The Dad B
These sunsets just place the perfect closure to a most
wonderful eight months of travel.
Have a safe trip home – I cannot believe that in two
days you both will be having dinner with me.
Hugs and kisses,
mom w.
Guys – I read each and every one of these posts. I am not sure, but I probably did not write any replies on this website, but now that you are at the end I did want to leave a note. Reading this blog (or whatever you call it) was actually an activity I looked forward to every couple of days. It was almost like reading a great book you could not put down. Frequently I would find myself smiling, laughing out loud or nodding in agreement with a well worded post or mentally picturing the situation being described. However, like I feel when I finish a great book, I am oddly a bit sad that it is over. But, at the same time I am excited to see you both and hear bits and pieces of the trip that got ‘left on the editing room floor’. Welcome home!
Love Russ W.
Aw.. that foto of the jetty leading out to the sea seems quite poignant. Why do I imagine you both quietly sitting in deck chairs, blankly staring at the horizon listlessly. Mark sighs, deflating heavily as the burden of rapidly encroaching reality looms. A lizard flickers across his foot. He twitches. Lurches upright. There’s a sudden resolution in his eyes. Fists clench. A bearded chin juts out and he strides purposefully along the wooden length of the pier, eyes fixed on the prize of expansive freedom that glitters in the waves and glows difuse in the idly drifting clouds.
He falls awkwardly and plops into the water. A gangled, sodden buffoon.
Lex sighs, rolling her eyes. ‘ .. jackass..’
He emerges from the salty, slapping waves with quiet dignity. A fish flapping in his breast pocket. Slowly his hands raise. Fingers curling, straightening, assembling. His eyes are wide and wild with furious intensity. The whispered words defy the intangible forces pulling The Journey from his grasp.
‘… waaax palm suckaaaaaah..’
A seabird shits on his head.
Haha.. not sure why I ended that little story above with the seabird.. sorry about that, just made me laugh to imagine that scenario. Anyhoo, back to reading the Travel Awards. Great writing as always, maybe you guys can continue with some sort of New Yawk daily life type blog. Would love to read it.
Hey Mark, Dalton forwarded this to me a little while ago over the summer. That looks like an amazing trip! I can relate to the new levels of cooperation and negotiation that one must be up for when living out of a suitcase and going from place to place with the one you love. I am in Westport, Wa. looking after my folks for a bit before returning to France (hopefully by spring, there are things pending). I will be in NY before doing so and would love to meet up to exchange adventures. I hope your return to NY is not too overwhelming. Culture shock can be hard to deal with, but there are things to embrace at returning as well. Send me an email when you have the time.
Shyleen