The Sprockets :: Latest News

Huntsville to Charleston

The Sprockets — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:18:00 +0000

After Huntsville, we stoped In Sopchoppy, Florida, where we met Robert Seidler.He was quick thinking and within a day had organised two shows, one in Sopchoppy and one in Clarabelle. Both went down well and were very well attended. Apart from performing we explored the natural areas which were outstanding and diverse. All in all a perfect week.

We are now back in Charleston and our feeling are mixed between stress (dealing with shipping) and enjoyment (outing with friends).

We now have a confirmed booking on a ship living Baltimore on the 3rd of June and arriving in Southampton, England, on the 20th.

Between Fletch, Scott and myself, we have started the tedious process of writting a book on this world tour.

We will be going back on the road this Wednesday and are now trying to spend as much time as possible with friends.

Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

Texas

The Sprockets — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:20:00 +0000

Could not blog much as we had to pass the border again, so here it is, back in time.

Whiles we were at Dave and Lindsay's house, enjoying flying on the trapeze everyday, we realised that our 3 month visa was not extendable.

We then had to say good by to our friends and head to Mexico. Although we were sad to leave so enexpectedly, we were happy to be back in Mexico, wich we considered a civilised country in comparison to the USA.

It is illegal to go out to a neighborhood country and enter the States again, but after crossing the big sierra of Mexico from Hermosillo to Chihuahua (doing shows along the way), we heard of a big festival taking place in Austin, Texas. So we took our chances and crossed back into the States at the Ojinaba border.

With our new 3 month visa, we stoped to visit friends in Terlingua, Big Bend park,TX. The place is in the middle of the desert and looks void of people, so we were surprised to stumble in the Starlight theatre in the Ghosttown, wich was filled with people but also had a big and beautifull stage. We talked to Chad and Summer, the owners, and it was decided that we would perform our show Friday (the very next day), Saturday and Sunday. Not only did they looked after us very well, but also promised that the two next weeks ( Spring's break) would be full of tourists (different crowd all the time) so we stayed for another 15 days (forgot all about the Austin festival). We were fed amaizing food, given wine, beer and even Champagne every nights. The locals of Terlingua took us for hikes in the desert. Mike from Desert Sport and the Bloomfield bicycle crew organised a canoe trip in the canyon for us. We had a wonderfull time and started saving for the shipment of the bus back to Europe. The day we left, lots of Telingua people were waiting for us along the road, out of town, and as we drove past , they all took their pants off and showed us their bottom, how can we ever forget them now?

On the Saturday after our departure, we performed in Easther's Follies in Austin and on the Sunday in the Central market.

Now we are back at our friend's house, Woods, in Huntsville where we will do our show this Saturday in his back garden.

You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost.

Mexico

The Sprockets — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 04:18:00 +0000

Well we are back in Mexico and are really enjoying it. Soon we should head to Texas to see some friends and ship the bus back to Europe. Will write and explain more later in the mean time, if you feel like flying www.trapezehigh.com you will not regret it.

Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.

back in the States

The Sprockets — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 03:15:00 +0000

I am afraid that in order to stay diplomatic I will not say much about our travel in California. When we left Vancouver, we had a very nice weekend with some friends who rented a house in Whidbey in Washington State.

In Oregon, Portland, we were very lucky to meet Greg and Teresa, who organized a show for us, and with whom we stayed a week.

Had a nice Christmas in a campground (after being refused entrance in another campground for living in a converted camper and not a proper one, that's California for you).

In Sausalito met a really nice couple and spent New-year eve with them, we also managed to pull off a few busking shows.

Finally when we arrived in LA, Theo's dream came true and we had a wonderful day in Disneyland.

We are now with TapezeHight School north of San Diego and it's the best thing that happened to us in a while. We are back training and being taught Flying Trapeze. It feels like a safe heaven far from Californian rules and regulation, it is a wonder how a state run by a supposedly artist (actor, however a bad one) can be so hard for artists.

By the way, and really sadly, we are now criminals (even thought I really don't feel like one) as sleeping in your vehicle in the street of California is considered an act worth of being put in prison.

Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.

BC

The Sprockets — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 20:59:00 +0000

What a positive day, today was, even so it wasn't a circus one but a mechanical resolve. We went to see the peoples of Grey Line in Victoria. Their attitude was reinvigorating.

In one afternoon we fixed so many little problems with the bus that had been bothering us for ages and now we feel that we are ready for another long drive, or at least the bus is. The way I picture it, it is like an old lady (the bus) who is coughing and have a hip problem and maybe an ache in the ankle and she is crying for attention and today the really goods doctors of Grey Line finally, fixed her up.

Anyway, backing up a bit, after Al.

It is only when we reach BC that we started to perform again. First in Kamloop, then in Penticton , where we met with friends from Mexico, Michel and Loraine Castro. We then went to Powell River to meet up with the Morgansten family, with who we had traveled together for a bit in Mexico. We stayed with them over two weeks. Stephan helped us fix the wood burner pipe, so we are now warm and cozy. They also helped us organize a few show in the area. We ate lots of yummy oysters with them. We felt sad and disoriented when we left for Victoria, which is where we are now.

Monday we will go to Vancouver and back to the States, on the West coast this time

Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.

hw 1 East to West and AL.

The Sprockets — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 01:40:00 +0000

In the last two weeks, we just drove, drove. The highlight of our trip was meeting Al, which we met through a spectator of our show in Toronto that gave us his address as a place to stop. Well, he ended up being much more than that. His house was voted the best house ever by the Sprockets, Theo didn't want to leave. Al is one of a kind, in a good way. Any positive adjective that you can think of, he probably deserve them. It is only unfortunate that there are no more people like him on earth. Because we left with his DVD, his CDs and his book, he ended being with us much of the trip, not only did we have so much fun watching his movie but we had his CDs playing every night and Theo knows nearly all of his songs by heart. I can only wholeheartedly recommend to anyone reading this to purchase them, and if you do buy the DVD, leave it on pause for a while on the disk menu and watch. www.alsimmons.com

We are now finally in BC. It has been so cold at night that we've had to put the oven on in the evening. Because Jo has left, I am now doing home schooling with Theo which mean that I pretty much became a week-end driver.

Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha!
Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo! Games.

ON THE ROAD

The Sprockets — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:40:00 +0000

After travelling for three years (since first arriving in Central America) in the company of Jo, Theo's school tutor and our technician, it was very sad to see him leave on Saturday at the airport of Montreal. So sad in fact that we couldn't stay behind, in Montreal, and decided to go back on the road straight away, direction West.

After an other stop at our friends Dave and Mary, where we pickup Theo school work and a few letters from Europe, we are now driving, driving, driving....

It is a long way to BC

Tonight's top picks. What will you watch tonight? Preview the hottest shows on Yahoo! TV.

The Sprockets — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 02:00:00 +0000

Quebec,the town, was amaizing and it is really only the cold that made us decide to head toward British Colombia.

We were able to park on the Marina, thanks to Patto and Julie, who also have been travelling for the past ten years doing shows, and the last few of them, in a sailing boat.

All the artist there made us feel really welcome and the circus school opened their door to us.They, also, were very warm people. It felt like such a luxury to be able to train all week in this beautifull space , and to be taught Flying trapeze by Pierre and Guy. We didn't want to leave anymore but The dreadfull cold...

After Quebec, meeting with Marie Claude Bouillon from la Luna Caballera, and working with her for the village fiesta of Notre Dame du Rosaire, was a very enriching and pleasing experience.

We are now on the way to Montreal

Be a better Globetrotter. Get better travel answers from someone who knows.
Yahoo! Answers - Check it out.

The Sprockets — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 01:32:00 +0000

we are now back in Quebec as the first time around, we only crossed it to be in time for Kingston.

After the stress of the big city of Toronto, we needed some fresh air and some nice people to surround us so we could reenergised.

What best then to go and stay with Mary and Dave from Avalon motor and even better when our friend Mamsel (which we met in Mexico) and her friend Simon decided to visit us on that same night. They ended up staying 6 days and we had a lovely time.

Leaving on Saturday afternoon made it hard to organise a show for the week end, but late on Sunday we found a campground and were able to do our show that same night.

It was a lazy drive to Sherbrooke with lots of stops for swims, golf and lunches.

We are now meeting other artists and trying to decide our futur step. Will we brave a winter here or head West or even better South??

Be a better Globetrotter. Get better travel answers from someone who knows.
Yahoo! Answers - Check it out.

Ontario,Canada

The Sprockets — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:52:00 +0000

Scott, poor Scott, spent his first night ever in a gell and even had to be handcuft on his way there even so he was perfectly willing to follow. The reason was that after driving a whole day, he had a few brandy with friend in his home and was arested on his way back to the bus on his bicycle. That was our welcoming to Bancroft, I do have to press on the point that he wasn't rowdy or insulting to anyone, his only mistake was the little bit of weaving he was doing on his bicycle, so when the police are arresting totaly honest people, it does make you wonder where the world is going...

Still after that everything went well in Bancroft and the two show we did in the Millenium park were very well received by the audience.

After that we spent a nice few days on our friends land, Dave and Mary (Avalon Motors, Belleville) before going and pick up Sally (Scott's sister) and her childrens, Flora and Ed, at the Toronto airport.

We are now enjoying their visit in the Southern Georgian Bay.

Need a vacation? Get great deals to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel.

The Sprockets — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 17:34:00 +0000

After the Kingston Busker festival, we wondered around the lake Ontario enjoying a moment where we didn't have to rush anywhere. As we stoped in Picton to check our mail in the librairy we stumbled upon Cynthia who had seen our show in La Manzanilla, Mexico. She straight away helped us organising a few shows in the Princess Edward County which ended up being quite successfull with a big turn up of people and lovely audiences. But more than anything we were having a great time, swimming in the lake and relaxing.

The best of all was yesturday evenning at our first ever drive in movie. Of course we took the bus which we parked sideway so we could be on any of the bed upstairs whiles watching our movies. Scott and Jo were on the roof, I was on the back bed (smoking room) and Cynthia, Jim (her husband) and Theo were on the front bed. between and before movies we had the table outside with snack and beers. It was great.

Be a better Globetrotter. Get better travel answers from someone who knows.
Yahoo! Answers - Check it out.

canada

The Sprockets — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 16:04:00 +0000

After an other exhausting drive, we finally made it to Kingston where everything is running smothly.

Looking for earth-friendly autos?
Browse Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos' Green Center.

Maine

The Sprockets — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 16:58:00 +0000

Whiles we were in Bangladesh and Scott was very sick with Malaria, we met the Whittlesey family who took us in their house and pampered us for 4 month as Scott was recovering and we were going through all the stress of shipping the bus. They became like a second family. They now live in Maine and this is where we are, and after 7 years, it is still like being back within your family, and we are still being pampered.

Back in time, the festival in Charleston went well and after that Ron Hallam from "General Diesel" was true to his word. He offered us a great space to work on the bus and the use of his tools. Joe, a mechanic there, was with us when we needed advice, and within 10 days, the bus was fixed again.

We had met so many people in Charleston that it really felt like leaving friends when we finally went back on the road.

On the way to Maine, we went through Charlotte and stayed 3 days with Vic Rabb, probably one of the only person that sells parts for British double Decker bus in USA, and he helped us getting a few bits www.usbusco.com

In Pennsylvania, we stopped one night at Mark's house who is rebuilding a Gardner engine and has a very useful website on British bus www.britishbusclub.org

We then drove nonstop as David and Regine had organized us a show for the 4^th of July. We arrived on the 3^rd in the evening, totally exhausted but so happy to be here.

It's here! Your new message!
Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar.

The Sprockets in the News!

The Sprockets — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 21:40:00 +0000

Just spotted this on the web - It's a nice article about us posted in the Charlston. http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/may/30/its_real_balancing_act/

Plus and another piece in the Spoleto Today Blog with a brillant short video about us as well. Thank you Dan!

Charleston

The Sprockets — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 17:41:00 +0000

We left Wood's house on the 13th of May and our friend Fletcher Crossman (www.fletchercrossman.com) had the opening of his Art exhibition at 6:00pm on the 18th in Charleston (about 1200 miles away), we really wanted to be there for that ,which at the speed of the bus, didn't leave us much time.
Although we were mostly driving, crossing Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, we had fun being on the small back roads (the minimum speed on the interstate is 45 miles an hour).
Unfortunately in Mississippi, we started hearing the dreaded banging sound again and we knew that at least one of the bearing had gone again. Because of the time factor we decided to keep going, babying the engine all the way and feeding it with oil addictive.
Then just as we were about to cross the border into Alabama, an other louder banging sound came and the bus started checking at each turn of the wheel, so we stopped in Heidelberg and were very lucky to meet Nelson from " Heidelberg Service Centre" that helped us for 4 to 5 hours. The nuts of one the back wheels had been loose and 3 of them had snapped so we had to take off the drum and swap them around. Nelson didn't want any payment at the end and only said " remember, good people always meet again" (well! We hope to meet him again)
We had one very bad experience in Cordele, GA, in a Pilot Travel Centre, where the cashier, Deborah, insisted that we stole the $20 Diesel that we had prepaid. She called the Police and for some unknown reason was lying to him and told him that we had been hanging around the pump for 30min before entering the shop. We were shocked especially as we had only stopped there because it seems very cheap so we decided to fill the tank that was already nearly full. The manager finally came out and ask to the policeman to drop the affair and let us go. Scott was angry at Deborah for days after that and made a song about her.

We just made it in time for Fletch opening, and as we pulled the bus over to park, the tire burst, but it didn't matter anymore, we had arrived and could go and enjoy our friend's night and deal with the tire the next day.

A few days later as we were doing a show at the Buist Academy, we invited the organizers of the Picollo Spoletto for them to see what we had to offer. They really liked the show and also, it was very late, they worked hard to make it possible.

So , there we are, in Marion Square, performing our show 5 days a week until the 10th of June, and meeting lots of really nice people.
The Post and Courier has done a article on us where they talked about our engine being sick and one morning I found a card on the bus from " General Diesel" and on the back of it, the president Ron Hallam, had wrote that he could help us to fix our engine. I called him and he seems very nice, so on Monday after the Festival we will drive the bus to his garage and see if we can fix it in time to make the next festival which is in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Be a better Globetrotter. Get better travel answers from someone who knows.
Yahoo! Answers - Check it out.

Texas, Wood's House

The Sprockets — Mon, 21 May 2007 16:17:00 +0000

We did met up with a very nice familly in Ricon de los Guayabitos , Cynthia, Emilie, Ana, Valerie and Martin. It is in their huge garden by the beach that we spent 10 days emptying, cleaning and repainting the bus. That last bit, " the repainting" was once again "Thanks" to Resene from New Zealand that sent us by DHL to Puerto Vallarta over 30 litres of their amaizing paint(Whiles we were in New Zealand, 5 years back,they already gave us as much to repaint the bus). With the bus looking at his best, and after saying goodby to our friends that so nicely looked after us, we drove to Zacatecas.

We stayed 3 days at " Servicio Internacional" garage with our heroes mechanics, Francisco and Martin, where whiles they worked on differents bits of the engine, we kept fixing belly boxes, windows and painted a few more stars. We also, finally, put an oppening window on the upstairs bedroom, one we took from an old school bus and did a wooden frame to fit it in.

In Saltillo we met Juan, an electrician, who helped us fixing indicators lights, Brake lights, whippers ect... After 2 days we went back on the road and a straight drive to Laredo. The customs at the border were very friendly and in we were. The drive to Wood's house was not only a beautifull one but a very pleasurable one, with smoth asphalte(very different from Mexico), which was equally nice for driver and passengers alike.

We did get stop by the police on the first night and very politely asked to pull over until the morning, as we were driving too slow with too little light on our tailgate.

Our next plans from here are the Spoleto festival in Charleston from the 22nd of May to the 10th of June and Kingston Festival in Ontario, Canada from the 12th to the 15th of July.

texas

The Sprockets — Thu, 10 May 2007 20:48:00 +0000

Here we are, back at Wood's house, our friend, in
Huntsville, Texas.But this time around, with the bus
and in much better spirits.
For all those people we've met along the way, that
told us that it would be very difficult to bring the
bus into the States,I am so happy to let them know:
They were wrong.
Back in time, We really enjoyed our stops along the
Pacific coast of Mexico, where we met lots of nice
people and did some rewarding shows, untill we came
into Semana Santa (Easter holliday). The coast, then,
filled up with hollidayers, so much, that you couldn't
see the sand on the beach. Althought it was fun to be
around, the shows became very tiring as the atmosphere
was rowdy.
We did met up with a very nice familly in Ricon de los
Guayabitos , Cynthia, Emilie, Ana, Valerie and Martin.
It is in their huge garden by the beach that we spent
10 days emptying, cleaning and repainting the bus.
That last bit, " the repainting" was once again
"Thanks" to Resene from New Zealand that sent us by
DHL to Puerto Vallarta over 30 litres of their
amaizing paint(Whiles we were in New Zealand, 5 years
back,they already gave us as much to repaint the bus).
With the bus looking at his best, and after saying
goodby to our friends that so nicely looked after us,
we drove to Zacatecas.
We stayed 3 days at " Servicio Internacional" garage
with our heroes mechanics, Francisco and Martin, where
whiles they worked on differents bits of the engine,
we kept fixing belly boxes, windows and painted a few
more stars. We also, finally, put an oppening window
on the upstairs bedroom, one we took from an old
school bus and did a wooden frame to fit it in.
In Saltillo we met Juan, an electrician, who helped us
fixing indicators lights, Brake lights, whippers
ect... After 2 days we went back on the road and a
straight drive to Laredo.
The customs at the border were very friendly and in we
were.
The drive to Wood's house was not only a beautifull
one but a very pleasurable one, with smoth
asphalte(very different from Mexico), which was
equally nice for driver and passengers alike. We did
get stop by the police on the first night and very
politely were asked to pull over untill the morning,
as we were driving too slow with too little light on
our tailgate.
Our next plans from here are the Spoleto festival in
Charleston from the 22nd of May to the 10th of June
and Kingston Festival in Ontario, Canada from the 12th
to the 15th of July.

____________________________________________________________________________________
Don't pick lemons.
See all the new 2007 cars at Yahoo! Autos.
http://autos.yahoo.com/new_cars.html

Up North

The Sprockets — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 19:19:00 +0000

Whiles we were in Playa del Carmen,, we finally decided that it was time to go and visit Cuba. We had been talking about Cuba since about two years, so what a better time than now being so close by.

So on the 15th of January we hoped on a plane with our new Mexican tricycle and our small show, ready for a trip in Cuba(or mor to the point, la Havanna, as we didn't have enough cash to visit further afield). Althought we managed to do 5 performances in 10 days( 2 streets shows, 2 free shows and 1 paid gig), we wont really impressed with the situation there.

We met much more unhappy cubans than happy one and I was left with the impression that all wanted to escape their country in surch for freedom. The best thing that happened to us there was meeting "la Giganteria", a group of street artists.

Anyway we survived the 10 days and were really happy to be back on Mexican ground, but it is the only country we visited so far that left me with a feeling of sadness, and it took me longer than 3 days to get over it.

Now, beginning of March, we are on our way up on the Pacific coast. 3 weeks ago, I hurt my back after a successfull weekend in Puerto Escondido, performing in Zicatela in front of bar "la Flayita". I would love to invent a very glamerous story about how I hurt myself, but I am afraid the truth was only the rope holding my hammac (where I was happilly reading and drinking my beer) that let me down ( on a concret floor).

In the last 3 weeks we have been beach hoping as I couldnt do much. Scott had been the only driver on board and tried to reach an average of 150km a day.

Tonight will then be our first show since then. We are now in a little village North of Manzanillo called la Manzanilla. We have been there for the last week, practising slowly, and getting back in shape.

Don't be flakey. Get Yahoo! Mail for Mobile and
always stay connected to friends.

engine broke down

The Sprockets — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 18:25:00 +0000

After leaving the big town of Mexico ciudad, it was a pleasure bumbling on the road and doing street show in small plazas. As usual the response of the audience was very good.

Then started the Festival season. Our first one was the Cervantino where we were really well looked after by two little cafes, Las Leyendas and El Midi on la plazuela San Fernando, They have made the festival a very agreeable place to be.

It is on the way to the Street Festival of Zacatecas that our nightmare started by a metal banging sound in our engine. We drove very slowly the last 150 km to Zacatecas and made it in time to start our shows. Then when our contract was accomplished we brought the bus to the garage Servicio International in la Col. Buenos Aires where Francisco and Martin took the matter in hand.

We then booked a cheap hotel (During the festival, they had booked us in a 5 stars hotel )and after 3 days, realized that we wont have our bus back in time to go to the next Festival, Monterrey. It was to start on the 8^th of November and it was by then the 25^th of October. Before arriving in Monterrey, 460km from Zacatecas, we had to go to Texas(a further 220km) to renew our Mexican visas (that were about to run out) and work out how we would take the rig and the rest of the show equipment to Monterrey.

We arrived in Texas on the 27^th and spent a week in our friend Woods house between San Antonio and Houston. We were most of the time on the phone and Internet trying to work out how we would fix our engine.

On the 6^th, early in the morning, Wood drove us the 10 hours to the border .Spent the night on the Mexican side and the next morning, after saying good by to our friend Wood, we left for Monterrey where we had a room in another five stars hotel booked for us by the festival. Left Jo and Theo there and at midnight Scott and me were on a bus to Zacatecas where we arrived at 7am. Went to the garage, pick up the rig and the rest of our equipment and back in a bus at 2pm to arrive at 8pm in Monterrey.

Our life at that point had the funny side of changing from 5 stars hotels to really cheap one and struggling on the bus with our 200kg of equipment.

On the 13^th, at 8pm after a very long journey on a cheap bus that agreed to take our equipment on board, we were back in Zacatecas, stuck at the bus station with those very same 200kg. No transport, no place to go

We finally decided to leave the rig in the luggage storage and took two taxis with the rest of the stuff to the very same cheap but friendly Zamora hotel .

The next day Francisco helped us get the rig back from the station and we were back in square one: same cheap hotel, bus broken down, but at least the visa run was done and Monterrey was done (hey that two worry less).

We finally ask Francisco if whiles waiting, we could live in our bus and that was accepted.

On Thursday 16^th of Novembre, we were back in our home, giving endless phone call to Paul Gardner and Roger Harrison, all really helpful.

On Saturday 18th, Francisco found a place that could refill the two bad bearings with the same bland metal and had them regrounded to mesure.That night they worked untill 11pm and when we finally turn the engine on, no banging . I do no think that even Francisco or Martin could understand or see how much we loved them at this point and how happy we were.

We are now on the 24th of Nov taking part in the mexican Juggling convention in Puebla and living in our bus. So far we drove 800km, went up a hill of 3000m and slept at minus 2 with our recently fixed engine and still no banging so we are again a really happy familly

Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta.

We are now in the very big city of Mexico

The Sprockets — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 00:03:00 +0000

Thanks to the independent group of Intercambio International de Arte popular (cienfuegos_rebelde@yahoo.com.mx) we were able to park the bus outside Dona Luz house which is looking very well after us. Theo has made lots of friend in the area and the first thing we noticed here is the solidarity between the habitants of the area Cd.Netzahualcoyolt.

We then decided to organize a little tour of this area. During 5 ends of week we will close principal streets and will present our show with the hat.

Thanks to the various group of artist that we met here, the training space is not missing. Like often during our travel we are very disappointed with the little interest given to us by the French Alliance which are suppose to promote French show abroad.

Because Mexico is so big and that we really want to see it all we are now trying to obtain Artist visas for a year extendable. If we do get them it will be thanks to the various groups of modern circus and the various festivals of Art in the country that very kindly sent us some letters of support.

We are now in a little town called Tulum

The Sprockets — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 19:03:00 +0000

We are now in a little town called Tulum (or rather near it) on the beach in the Caraibes. It is very beatifull around here. Along the way we ve met up with a Canadian familly that travel in their school bus every winter with their 5 kids and a French couple in their tent with their 3 kids and a Danish familly with their 3 kids who travel in their Mercedes van. We are all parked together and eat our meal together like a small comunity and it s very nice, especially for Scott and me who havent met anyone travelling in buses for ages.

Tomorrow we will do the street here in the center of Tulum as the casa de la cultura is organising a small street festival, it will be with the hat so we dont expect much financially but I feel it is important that the local people get a chance to see our show if they want to rather than just the tourist.

Mexico!

The Sprockets — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 21:30:00 +0000

I am very happy to say that since the day before yesterday we are in Mexico. Its very exiting and I am loving it.

The best is our temporal permit for the bus is valid 10 years, ten years... can you beleive it? Which of course means that if we feel like it we may stay ten years :)

We are now in the departement of Chiapas and its beatifull, granted it has been a tiring drive through all the moutains, especially as I have done most of it whiles Scott has been cycling around - keeping him fit. We are feeding ourselves of tortilla de harina de trigo and salad, cheese and guacamole, i love it. The peoples are so far really friendly and the countryside beautifull. Who knows, maybe I will found my nest at last :)

Still in Guatemala

The Sprockets — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 17:25:00 +0000

Hello All,

We are still in Guatemala and are doing very well with a contract here. Next week though we are heading for Mexico and we are really looking foward to it!

a little town called Heredia

The Sprockets — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 21:48:00 +0000

We are now in Costa Rica in a little town called Heredia about 15 km from San Jose and taking part in A Festival del Arte. Unfortunatly and once again we arrived too late so there wasnt any budget left. Every other artist is being paid but us and we are passing the hat. It is the raining season but we are struggling a bit more that we enjoy. but doors are starting to open.

We are now in Costa Rica since yesterday

The Sprockets — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 07:43:00 +0000

We are now in Costa Rica since yesterday. Did our first show in a place called playa del coco but didnt see any coconut yet, just a lot of gringo. we dont like it much and will head off this morning to try to find another place to busk tonight.

In Nicaragua we met a Canadian guy, actually he ran after the bus as we were passing next to his town, heading toward Costa Rica, and told us he wanted a show the same week end. We didnt have much money so he said he would feed us and pay for ours beers intake all week. So we stayed very nice little place with a beautiful little swimming pool. He organised for us a show in the town paid by the mayor plus a show in his place. they were really nice people and we stayed a bit more than a week.

There we were able to fix the bus as the cab was fulling down.This encounter was very lucky for us as we left the place with more than we arrived and still ended up spending all the money we had made in Nicaragua at the border crossing and arrived here with just a bag of rice in the bus, luckily on our way we founded a mango tree and had that for breakfast and rice at lunch time.

We didn't do too bad in the hat so we were able to dine on pasta and wine last night. Everything is going well and we are all happy.