Back to the USA

On the way to Phoenix from Miami we had numerous mini-lightshows of 4th of July fireworks while ascending and descending. We had a very short night after arriving in Phoenix at 10:30pm. We woke up at 4:45am were out the motel door by 5:00am. We had to catch the 6:20 to Seattle. What a thrill to be served beans and tortillas in First Class. Best breakfast EVAAAH!!!

We arrived in LuRue favorite place in the Seattle airport, the N gates. We did a lap around the airport. Walked and "trained" to the C, S, A, and B gates and finally returned to C gates where our plane to Fairbanks leaves (and where there is a Freshens!)

Nearly home again after tropical Belize, stifling Phoenix (reached 118 last week!), and now headed to cool Alaska.

A Day of Surprises

We had time to spare before our taxi came to take us to the airport. So, in those couple hours, we struck modeling poses from Vanity Fair Magazine, which we found in the apartment. Here are two pictures of the women destined to be models.

Our plane landed in Placencia to pick up extra passengers, but there was not enough room for all, so one of the workers told Montana to go sit in the co-pilot's seat. Both LuRue and Montana were very surprised. So, on the way back to Belize City, Montana rode shot gun, watching how the pilot flew the plane. She can now fly an F-16 with no problems.



When we arrived in Belize City, and got settled back into our room, and found a soft, cuddly elephant on our bed. We dealt with it as if it was a normal everyday thing.

The B&B hostess gave us the letter we had been hoping for. It was an official notification from an ichthyologist saying, "You have indeed identified the rare tomato fish. We are thrilled that you have been able to capture an image of an entire family of tomato fish...that is extremely rare." They also said we should put our photo into National Geographic; there's no question that it would win the photo contest. Here is our picture of the rare tomato fish family:

To learn more about this rare fish, go to en.wikipedia.org/tomato_fish

What a day we've had! Ready to leave now...not sure we can take any more of this excitement!

Special Edition-Big Falls Adventure

Montana Zip Lining

LuRue ready to take off

At the Warm Springs Pool

Some Mayan Women Bathing and Washing Clothes

Montana Feeling the Pain of Getting Her Picture Taken

LuRue River Tubing

An Almost Debut

Today was a day full of getting packed. We walked downtown and went to the first, and best Chinese restaurant we have been to. We both got sweet and sour chicken con ensalada. YUM!

After lunch we stopped by the Snack Shack and got an Oreo mint milkshake, which we both decided was the best in town. However, there aren’t many places to get milkshakes in Punta Gorda.

Yesterday, Ray from the Drum School had called and suggested that we come this afternoon to his place to work on Montana’s song. He and his brother, Ivan, were getting ideas on how to combine the song with Garifuna drumming and liked the challenge of combining two different types of music. Ray said, “Once I get started on something, I don’t want to stop.”

We went to Ray’s place at 4 o’clock, as planned, but as we were driving up, he pulled up in his motorcycle and started doing something with a sunflower, almost as if to say,  “I’ve been here all along, you did not just see me pull up on that motorcycle.” They tried to get a hold of the third guy, the guy who plays keyboard, but he was just getting home from work and wasn’t quite ready. We suggested that maybe we should just forget the whole thing, but Ray refused to give up just yet. After we talked it over more, Ray suggested that we should meet at 7 at the Sea Splash restaurant, after their performance at another hotel. The Sea Splash restaurant had a music room with drums, piano, etc., which they were allowed to use.

However, the restaurant turned out to be closed on Tuesday nights, and the man with the key never showed up as promised. We waited for over an hour, but then our hope started disintegrating. Montana introduced Garage Band to everyone else at the table, INCLUDING LuRue. They all seemed very interested in it, but LuRue was too old for that kind of stuff, so she just sat back and asked questions about the Garifuna culture, which is much more interesting than Garage Band!!!  We finally said good night and took a taxi home.

 Some good pictures from yesterday, but too late tonight, so there will have to be a special edition of July 1st photos!

Big Falls Adventure

We’re getting to be regulars on the 8:00am James bus that comes along just a block from the Blue Belize.

Today we were headed for the Big Falls Extreme Adventures. This was the same place we had gotten off before when we went to the Living Maya Experience. Yesterday Montana had called to make arrangements for a combination tour—zip lining, river tubing, warm springs swim, and dinner.

We were the only two guests so got very specialized attention. There were 6 lines to zip across…twice across the river, then we were driven to a location up river to put in with the tubes. As we floated along, we had to dodge some low-hanging trees, but some were good for grabbing & spinning ourselves around. Though we splashed each other, it didn’t matter much as it began pouring rain.

While floating along, we watched women on the river edges, bathing themselves & their children, as well as washing their clothes. Some ignored us, but others waved and called out as we floated past. About half-way through the float, we stopped at the pull-out for the warm springs. A small pool a bit warmer than the river, but nice to splash around in. Back to the river for the rest of the tubing trip. It took about an hour in all.

We finished up at the lodge where we ate lunch…something new & different—chicken, rice & beans, salad, & soda. At least this time there was a strip of fried plantain across the rice.

The bus was due anytime so we left the lodge & got to the bus stop just before another downpour.

It was a day of adventure in more ways than one. A good day we’ll remember!

**No pictures for now, because the internet is being annoying and not letting us post any pictures.