We’ve experienced many changes this week.

Shortly after we arrived almost 2 weeks ago in Panajachel, Guatemala, (which is located on the eastern shore of Lake Atitlán), we realized that we were tired. Very tired. Road weary. It happens to all travelers from time to time.

Usually road weariness hits after a stretch of covering a lot of territory in a short amount of time. That’s exactly what we did during our previous few weeks in Chiapas. We saw lots of wonderful places, but we did it quickly – changing where we stayed nearly every night. Moving so quickly means having to search all the time for places to meet your basic needs, like where to buy groceries (probably not all in one large grocery store) and where to sleep.

We had planned to take a bit of a break when we arrived here, and once we realized how tired we were, we decided to plan for a longer stay so we can see how we feel once we’re rested.

This looks like a good place to stay for awhile

We searched for apartments to rent during our stay. This took awhile as we first had to decide in which town on the lake to reside. There’s several from which to choose, each with its own unique personality.

We also searched for schools for Quinn. Lately he’s been wanting more time to play with other kids, and when we mentioned the possibility of going to school he got really excited about it.

So now we are all settled into a really nice apartment in central Panajachel. It’s got a lot of desirable amenities – it’s clean, comfortable, quiet, and modern. All utilities are included, including great wifi and a loaner cell phone. We’ve got views of one of the volcanoes right from our deck. We’ve also got access to a nice rooftop deck with more views. Daily housekeeping is included.

Yep, we’re living it up!

It’s nice to have a real kitchen for a change!

Quinn started school on Wednesday. While he isn’t eligible to start kindergarten in Colorado until this August, he was able start here a few months earlier. He loves it. He’s already made some new friends and seems to be really getting into it. They even had a Mother’s day event today that involved the whole school and was quite impressive to watch.

All ready for Quinn’s first day of kindergarten

Quinn made this lovely flower vase for Mother’s Day

On top of all of that, Witt is now gainfully employed again. He just started his new software-contracting job on Tuesday (thanks, Ed!) and has already completed his first (albeit a rather small) task while working over the internet from our new digs.

That leaves me more time to work on our KA Lite software installations here. We have one installation that is ongoing and it’s looking like we’ll have at least 3 more to do while we’re in the area. We’re taking the water taxi to San Marcos tomorrow for our next installation!

With scenery like this, relaxing won’t be too difficult

Are we done traveling? Who knows? Even if we decide to drive north after this break, we’d still have about 3 weeks of tough driving to do before we can rest again. So, we rest now and then see what we want to do. Stay tuned!