04/13/24 Usulután

April 13, 2024

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Well, everything I wrote just poofed away in a Wi-Fi burp. It was probably too long anyway. Here’s the short version. I went much further than I planned to because I’m picky about where I sleep. It’s hot in the lowlands but today it didn’t feel so bad because of wind.

My morning view. I didn’t sleep deeply, the wind was fierce and mangoes would bang the roof

It was just me and the dogs at La Petite Chef last night. This fellow spent the night under my cot. He could be my dog

First breakfast was Nutella sandwiches and windfall mangoes. I picked up a few intact ones and they were perfectly ripe and absolutely delicious

Looking at the Pacific coast in the distant haze

Conditions changed when I turned off the rim road to begin the descent. These kind of stretches were frequent

After finishing my pupusas I thought I should try to get a picture of them being grilled. But by then the ladies were making these cheese filled corn things. They need salsa to be good

Down the road was the juice lady, and I had one of each of what she was selling. She completely approved of that decision. My favorite was the one being served in this picture, maranon (cashew fruit). It unleashed a tidal wave of core memories

It comes in plastic bags with a piece of ice and a straw. Pictured is carrot orange. I also had horchata and “sebada”, a clove, pepper, cinnamon, flour, and strawberry essence concoction

A bug I sawEdit: Bill has identified it as Turk's cap red bug

The general design of the road going down was flat sections done in concrete slabs and the grades in cobblestone. Mostly down but several up and I walked them all

There was a stretch of road with wood shops selling furniture out front

I sat here for quite a while, drinking milk shakes and letting my phone cool down. It stops working when it gets too hot.

More single board tables. The owner told me the name of the wood but I pedaled it out of my head. Starts with “Z”. This table sells for $900, after finishing

I didn’t get a picture of the stretch of road where all that was sold was bananas. This guy was one of the outliers

Maranon. The seed at the bottom holds the cashew nut. It’s dried and roasted and the nut removed. I think the shells crack open during the roasting

I learned all that from this family who are staging their maranon harvest on the shoulder for bagging. They’ll be doing all the processing and selling the roasted nuts

The last 90 minutes was in the dark. Not my favorite time to ride

Today's ride: 62 miles (100 km)
Total: 3,459 miles (5,567 km)

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