We arrived at our destination...Jay Xepoj!

Hello again.  It took us 3 days but we made it.

We picked up our rental car and left from my mom’s home on the morning of August 29^th headed for Houston, Texas. We arrived in Houston around 6pm on August 30^th. The drive was smooth with perfect driving weather; mostly cloudy the entire way! The only excitement we had was Brandon getting pulled over for speeding. He was given a warning and we were on our way. 

Our flight left Houston on August 31^st at 9am. Dropping Kirby off at cargo was emotional as was the plane ride. Jackson took well to his medication and slept for almost the entire trip. Picking up Kirby was a huge relief. When I asked the man at the counter if Kirby had been taken off the plane yet and her told me yes, I then asked “Is he alive?" He laughed at me and told me “Yes."

Brandon and I navigated 3 carts of our crap to the curb where our shuttle was waiting for us. The 3 hour drive to the lake was interesting as the dogs calming medication was in full force. They were very drowsy…but this didn’t stop Jackson from checking out the scene.

We made it to the lake around 3pm but the private boat that we hired to take us from Panajachel to Santa Cruz was not ready so we stopped for take out Chinese food…no way we were gonna cook dinner! The boat was ready for us around 3:30pm. It is the raining season and the lake was choppy! After about 20 minutes of a wet and bumpy ride we arrived at our dock!

We spent our first night unpacking our bags and rearranging furniture.  We started to watch a Netflix episode but both of us were exhausted and we fell asleep at 8:30pm!

We woke up on our first full day early…5:30am. It was great to sit on the patio, walk through our gardens, listen to the birds and the boats go by on the lake, and just ease into this new life. It still feels like we are on a vacation…

The man who helped us arrange our transportation from the airport is from Colorado. He has lived her for 8 years. He and his partner Elaine stopped by around 10am to welcome us. They brought us a cell phone for local use until we get one of our own.

We played at the lake with the dogs and then took the boat to Panajachel for groceries. We went to 3 different stores to find everything on the list. The entire trip took 2 hours from start to finish. We came home just as the rain was starting. My plan was to make a recipe that I had found on Pinterest but the Internet was down the entire night. I made it up and it turned out ok! I have now learned to create a word document with the recipe for nights without Internet! Here is the recipe in case anyone would like to try it...

http://www.juliasalbum.com/2015/02/chicken-and-bacon-pasta-with-spinach-and-tomatoes-in-garlic-cream-sauce/

We finished the night with a game of cards (I was the winner!) and Brandon rocking out to what he calls “great music”…. In bed by 9pm!

 Love,
Katie and Brandon