Nicaragua – Most Extreme Vacation Ever!

I’m a little behind on my Nicaragua vacation blog. I blogged about the first few days but never completed the trip blog. I guess that happens when you’re busy and doing so many cool things. But it’s over a year later and I still remember the trip fondly and I really think it was the most extreme (and unusual) vacation I ever took. The food was not that great and there were times I didn’t feel totally safe but boy what an adventure!

From barely making it into the country since they thought I had swine flu, to bribing the cops out of a traffic ticket even though we couldn’t understand Spanish to visiting a live active volcano where you back your car in just in case you have to leave in a hurry…i.e. avoid molten lava rocks… this trip was extreme! I’ve already talked about these adventures in previous posts so it’s on to new topics.

From the volcano viewing we headed to Grenada. This city didn’t really impress me much as the food was not good and somewhat expensive and I never felt very safe here. But I did enjoy watching some kids doing break dancing for tips. They were really good and I tipped them well. In a way I felt bad for them since they probably had to do this to help their families but they were very fit and seemed to enjoy the work at least. I also met two cute little boys at my hotel. They hung out in front and waited for tourists to give them money. I’m not a big fan of just handing money to people but I did share my fruit with them and took a cute picture and gave them money for that. While taking the picture I could tell one of the kids was trying to find money in my back pocket. Hence some of the reason I didn’t feel overly safe.

We took a boat trip in Lake Nicaragua and saw lots of islands formed from a local volcano spewing rocks over the centuries. These islands were mostly individual homes and some really nice ones at that. It was quite a contrast from the 3 people per bicycle I was seeing on the mainland. Many of the island owners were locals too according to our tour guide. It was tempting to buy an island there but it was pretty expensive and unfortunately the water of Lake Nicaragua is brown and not nearly as appealing as ocean waters.

From Grenada we headed to San Juan Del Sur which I will blog about soon! The best is yet to come as I talk about my unusual massage and Ometepe Island in my next posts.

Cat “Agua Fria Por Favor” Cathy

Single White Female

As a newly single person, I’m back to the online dating sites yet again. It’s entertaining in many ways. It’s like the exact opposite of meeting someone in person at a bar or other social event. In person you know if you are attracted and then you just have to figure out if they are interested and if they meet your basic requirements such as age, education, smoking and kids. Online you know if they meet your basic requirements (assuming they are honest) and you just have to figure out if you would be at all attracted to them.

Here are a few picture observations/opinions for the guys out there:

-Pictures with a big fish. Unless you just love to fish and plan on spending a lot of time doing this I would just leave this picture off. Most women aren’t into fishing and are not impressed by the big fish. If you want to prove you can provide for them then just show a picture with your paycheck!

-Pictures with hot hooters/wing house/insert sexy girl here. Especially when the guy is in the range I’m looking for (over 37) it looks like you are posing with your daughter or just very immature. You aren’t fooling anyone that you could ‘get’ a girl who looks like that and if that’s what you want than I’m not interested anyway.

-Pictures that are self taken using a mirror. If you are serious about finding someone you should put just a little more effort into it. Maybe put on a shirt and have a friend take the picture. Or use this crazy thing called a timer.

-Pictures that are cut in half but still show a portion of the other person (usually the ex). Are you telling me that was the only good picture you had of yourself or that every single picture you took had the ex in them? Seriously, find a full picture of just you or take some new ones.

Ok I’m not trying to be mean to the guys. I’ve been on several dates and most of the guys I’ve met have been pretty nice. I only have a girl’s perspective so feel free to reply with a guy’s point of view and realize this was all meant to be light hearted.

Cat “Somewhere Out There” Cathy

Off Road Biking

I’m bike shopping but I can’t decide between a cross country and an all mountain bike. I came across this funny and also helpful description of the different types of ‘off road’ bikes and types of riding:

Downhill: A race to see who can coast the fastest on a motorcycle that's had the engine removed and then riding a ski lift back up.

Free ride: Downhill without a time clock.

Urban Assault: Trying to justify spending all that money on a mountain bike for riding on the pavement.

Dirt Jumping: Falling off cliffs while holding onto a bicycle.

Cross Country: Riding skinny little fragile bikes expecting to be able to do everything downhillers/free riders do on bikes built with the strength of a road bike.

All Mountain: Overweight XC guys who ride bikes with too much travel and too much weight to really be useful.

I should be insulted since I do a lot of urban assaults but it’s a funny and somewhat true description since I have a way too expensive ‘off road’ bike that spends most of it’s time on asphalt. But I live in Orlando so our overpasses are our hills and we enjoy them the best we can!

Cat ‘for this much money they should have a motor’ Cathy