Belize Slide Show...

Here are a couple pics and a slide show of some recent favorite shots around The Maine Stay and Kokomo.  Enjoy.

We recently trimmed out a lot of the "jungle" to get some more sun!

This is my "office" out in our garden palapa... where we spend most of our time.

Return to Belize!

Just returned from a week in San Diego to attend a family wedding.  We love San Diego and visiting family. The wedding was wonderful and Kerianne and Christopher are enjoying a wonderful honeymoon in Australia!  The weather in SD was unusually cold for this time of year and we froze our Belizean butts off!  (And yes, we can both say "Belizean" now... Karen finally and officially has her permanent residency). Temps in the 50s probably seem mild to most of you, but we just aren't used to that. 

The wonderful part of this trip was getting to see family. Our daughter Kristen, her husband Christopher and, of course, grandkids Tate and Eva came from Maine for the wedding. Our son Steven came down from LA as well... and was a great guide! 

Hosting all of this with her usual calm aplomb and efficiency was my sister Deb and her husband Bim.  Amazes me how they put up with all the confusion! 

OK, now on to the "other" stuff... did you know that Cadillac SUVs in southern California exiting upscale shopping centers have bumper stickers that say "goeth intercourse thyself" ???  I guess my first visit to an Apple store (I love my Mac computers) was designed to test both my sensibilities and gadget envy!

I was so blown away by the Apple store... I really did not expect a crowd on a Thursday morning. We walked in to see folks at every station... and I really wanted to bring back a 21 inch iMac. Sorry, too big for carry on.  So, as my tongue hangs out... we leave. Sigh... and then there is the soon to be, but not yet available iPad. Oh well, maybe next trip.

Then again... how do we folks living here in Belize have a clue? We thrive on the ins and outs of daily living.  Can we weld this back together?  Is the table saw blade cutting true enough to finish this project?  Where are the those replacement motor brushes for the router? Is there another safety switch or belt for the dryer in Cabana Suite I ?? How many sheets do we need for the guests coming in? For those of you thinking about coming here... don't hesitate, it's all good.  

Our trip to San Diego yielded scads of sewing goodies for Karen... bags of little things I can't even begin to enumerate.   And I bought three pairs of shoes... and Karen was in the same HUGE shoe store and didn't buy a thing. Go figure.  Then we went to the woodworking tools specialty store (how exciting for Karen and Deb) to buy/order motor brushes, planer blades and misc other stuff. 

And then on the last day before we departed for Belize... we packed our bags.  Except we finally figured out that we could do another bag... four, not three!  So, off we went to the Mall at 8 pm.  And I can't tell you how exciting it is to buy towels and a Moen kitchen faucet at that time of night. That's surely how Karen and Deb must have felt in the woodworking store!  

The trip back to Belize was fairly uneventful.  We breezed through customs and made the last plane on Maya Island Air to Placencia. The Continental flight from Houston was 20 minutes late but as usual, they held the Maya flight till all the Placencia folks were through immigration and customs. It's always fun to watch the passengers (mostly tourists) get so excited about finally arriving in Belize, flying on the great Cessna Caravan 12 passenger planes and ogling the scenery as we fly along the coast. It is pretty spectacular.  Of course, those who rent a vehicle at the airport and drive to Placencia, get an equally stunning trip along the Hummingbird Highway.  

All-in-all, a very wonderful trip... but it's great to be home!

  

Fly Fishing in Belize...

Fred Arbona is one of those kind of folks that make me want to learn a skill, just for the sake of saying I did it. His enthusiasm for fly fishing is born out of years of experience and his expertise is widely acclaimed.  We got to know Fred in one of those strange (but happens so often in Belize) coming together of events.  One of the local Placencia Humane Society veterinarians emailed the membership about finding a place for Fred to park his camper for a couple of months while he scopes out the fly fishing scene in the area. Being curious and having the space in our lagoon marina, we began corresponding with Fred. Fred made the trek down from Arizona, through Mexico (a whole story for later) and arrived last week. His truck and camper set up is perfect... and even holds his small pontoon boat and motor. He has been getting to know the local folks and has figured out more in a few days and made more friends than I would have thought possible. Yesterday, while out with a local guide, he brought back tons of "fish stories" and promises of scads of snook. The bonefish, permit and tarpon better watch out!  More later...