Saturday, October 8, 2011
photo link
many comments have requested a link to photos. if you would like to view photos related to our blog, please contact us by e-mail for a link. luluder@hotmail.com thank you!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Where does the time go?
I can't believe almost 4 months have passed since our last post. We survived our second summer in Belize, traveled back to the U.S. for a visit, took a road trip to San Ignacio and continued with our previous day-to-day activities.
The summer was warm, wet and humid, but it seems we're growing more accustomed to the change and used our a/c much less this year. The rain brought a growth spurt to all of our plants and flowers. The garden provided lots of good veges and our banana tree has delivered multiple clusters of lady finger bananas. Rick even hung bunches of basil on the clothes line to dry. We visited several nurseries over the past few months and now the yard is almost half complete. We even bought a cocoa tree to test our forte for growing chocolate! Now that Fall has arrived the weather is starting to cool down, especially in the mornings, and the water in the lagoon is refreshing again. We're getting lots of lizards, spiders and critters coming around, but so far no negative interactions between the species even though we've encroached on their habitat. A crocodile tried to have one of the chickens for lunch last week, but, surprisingly, the chicken was smart enough to squawk and run! Speaking of the chickens, we're still getting about 40 eggs a week and are able to share with our friends and neighbors. One of the restaurants/bars that we frequent has even started paying us for a dozen eggs every week...that will help with the cost of the corn that the chickens seem to inhale!
In July we set out on an adventure that covered three countries and five U.S. states. We drove from Progresso, Belize to Cancun, Mexico on the first day. The trip was smooth sailing once we crossed the border and dealt with the red-tape there. Belize and Mexico are trying to see who can outdo the other with taxes...we were stuck in the middle! We spent the night in a hotel near the Cancun airport, spent a little time the next morning touring the city and then, leaving our car at the hotel, took the hotel shuttle to the airport. We flew from Cancun to Phoenix, AZ and then onto Spokane, WA where we met our son, Jason, who had flown in from Dallas, TX. The three of us rented a car and, exhausted, drove to the nearby hotel for the night. The next morning we enjoyed a buffet breakfast at the hotel and Jason took us shopping. After picking up some necessities, we drove to Pullman, WA to meet up with Rick's family for our niece's wedding. The next three days were spent visiting/partying with Rick's family and celebrating the addition to the family (the wedding was absolutely beautiful). We had a wonderful time. On Sunday morning Jason drove us back to Spokane airport where we took a flight to Salt Lake City, UT and then onto San Diego, CA. It was there that we were joined by our daughter, Janessa, and Linda's side of the family. We had 3 days/4 nights of visiting and touring San Diego. A great time was had by all. From there a bunch of us caravan-ed to Casa Grande, AZ where we had a quick tour of Linda's parents new house before renting a car and driving to the Phoenix area. We stayed with Janessa in her apartment (thanks, nessa!) and spent three days visiting with as many of our Phoenix-area friends as we could. On Monday morning, exhausted, we were on the road again, headed to Laughlin for a couple of days of gambling/relaxing. Linda got her "Wizard of Oz" slot machine fix and Rick played enough penny and nickle machines to make up for some of what Linda lost! After Laughlin we drove over to check out the now-completed Hoover Dam Bypass...pretty impressive!!! Rick watched so much of the construction of the bypass during his frequent drives to Vegas to tend to his mom's yard that he had to see the finished product. It was a little out of our way, but well worth the trip. From there we drove to Vegas and spent the night at Rick's mom's house. We played a little bit at a local casino, but went to bed early so we would be ready for our early flight the next morning. We flew from Vegas to Phoenix to Cancun and shuttled back to the hotel where our car was left. We had dinner by the pool and then crashed for the night. The final day was spent driving back from Cancun to Progresso. It was a beautiful drive...hundreds of thousands of butterflies everywhere...and no incidents at the border! We arrived home safe and sound and spent the next few days recovering from our 18-day "vacation"!!! A big "thank you" to all who made it possible.
Last week we took another road trip to San Ignacio and visited with our friends, Adam and Mona. We got to see their beautiful new house, played some darts and took a day to visit Spanish Lookout, a Mennonite village north of San Ignacio. What an incredible experience. This group of settlers was allocated land from the government of Belize and turned it into a self-governed, self-sustaining farming/agriculture community. We will definitely be going back there for another taste of their culture.
In-between road trips Linda spent her time baking, cleaning, laundry, sunning, reading, latch hooking, parrot watching (extremely busy season this year!), listening to music, lounging in the lagoon and playing cards/dominos/darts. Rick kept busy with gardening, tending to the two acres of land, cooking new recipes and playing cards/dominos/darts. We're working hard at becoming as self-sufficient as possible and we're having lots of fun doing it. We're expecting visitors in November...Rick's brother and his family and Rick's mom will be here for Thanksgiving. We should have some more adventures to report on after their visit. Until then, follow your dreams!
The summer was warm, wet and humid, but it seems we're growing more accustomed to the change and used our a/c much less this year. The rain brought a growth spurt to all of our plants and flowers. The garden provided lots of good veges and our banana tree has delivered multiple clusters of lady finger bananas. Rick even hung bunches of basil on the clothes line to dry. We visited several nurseries over the past few months and now the yard is almost half complete. We even bought a cocoa tree to test our forte for growing chocolate! Now that Fall has arrived the weather is starting to cool down, especially in the mornings, and the water in the lagoon is refreshing again. We're getting lots of lizards, spiders and critters coming around, but so far no negative interactions between the species even though we've encroached on their habitat. A crocodile tried to have one of the chickens for lunch last week, but, surprisingly, the chicken was smart enough to squawk and run! Speaking of the chickens, we're still getting about 40 eggs a week and are able to share with our friends and neighbors. One of the restaurants/bars that we frequent has even started paying us for a dozen eggs every week...that will help with the cost of the corn that the chickens seem to inhale!
In July we set out on an adventure that covered three countries and five U.S. states. We drove from Progresso, Belize to Cancun, Mexico on the first day. The trip was smooth sailing once we crossed the border and dealt with the red-tape there. Belize and Mexico are trying to see who can outdo the other with taxes...we were stuck in the middle! We spent the night in a hotel near the Cancun airport, spent a little time the next morning touring the city and then, leaving our car at the hotel, took the hotel shuttle to the airport. We flew from Cancun to Phoenix, AZ and then onto Spokane, WA where we met our son, Jason, who had flown in from Dallas, TX. The three of us rented a car and, exhausted, drove to the nearby hotel for the night. The next morning we enjoyed a buffet breakfast at the hotel and Jason took us shopping. After picking up some necessities, we drove to Pullman, WA to meet up with Rick's family for our niece's wedding. The next three days were spent visiting/partying with Rick's family and celebrating the addition to the family (the wedding was absolutely beautiful). We had a wonderful time. On Sunday morning Jason drove us back to Spokane airport where we took a flight to Salt Lake City, UT and then onto San Diego, CA. It was there that we were joined by our daughter, Janessa, and Linda's side of the family. We had 3 days/4 nights of visiting and touring San Diego. A great time was had by all. From there a bunch of us caravan-ed to Casa Grande, AZ where we had a quick tour of Linda's parents new house before renting a car and driving to the Phoenix area. We stayed with Janessa in her apartment (thanks, nessa!) and spent three days visiting with as many of our Phoenix-area friends as we could. On Monday morning, exhausted, we were on the road again, headed to Laughlin for a couple of days of gambling/relaxing. Linda got her "Wizard of Oz" slot machine fix and Rick played enough penny and nickle machines to make up for some of what Linda lost! After Laughlin we drove over to check out the now-completed Hoover Dam Bypass...pretty impressive!!! Rick watched so much of the construction of the bypass during his frequent drives to Vegas to tend to his mom's yard that he had to see the finished product. It was a little out of our way, but well worth the trip. From there we drove to Vegas and spent the night at Rick's mom's house. We played a little bit at a local casino, but went to bed early so we would be ready for our early flight the next morning. We flew from Vegas to Phoenix to Cancun and shuttled back to the hotel where our car was left. We had dinner by the pool and then crashed for the night. The final day was spent driving back from Cancun to Progresso. It was a beautiful drive...hundreds of thousands of butterflies everywhere...and no incidents at the border! We arrived home safe and sound and spent the next few days recovering from our 18-day "vacation"!!! A big "thank you" to all who made it possible.
Last week we took another road trip to San Ignacio and visited with our friends, Adam and Mona. We got to see their beautiful new house, played some darts and took a day to visit Spanish Lookout, a Mennonite village north of San Ignacio. What an incredible experience. This group of settlers was allocated land from the government of Belize and turned it into a self-governed, self-sustaining farming/agriculture community. We will definitely be going back there for another taste of their culture.
In-between road trips Linda spent her time baking, cleaning, laundry, sunning, reading, latch hooking, parrot watching (extremely busy season this year!), listening to music, lounging in the lagoon and playing cards/dominos/darts. Rick kept busy with gardening, tending to the two acres of land, cooking new recipes and playing cards/dominos/darts. We're working hard at becoming as self-sufficient as possible and we're having lots of fun doing it. We're expecting visitors in November...Rick's brother and his family and Rick's mom will be here for Thanksgiving. We should have some more adventures to report on after their visit. Until then, follow your dreams!
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