Lots of changes

Wow! I can’t believe another month has flown by. It was a busy one with travel back to AZ to visit and pack up the house there. We left Belize City on 6/9 and flew to Phoenix with a brief stop in Houston. Janessa met us at the airport (it was wonderful to see you, babe!) We saw some other family and friends while in town…sorry if we missed you, it was a whirlwind! We shopped for appliances and other necessities that either are not available in Belize or are not the quality we desire (thanks for letting us borrow your car, mom and dad). After 10 days of shopping and packing up the house, the 20 foot container arrived on 6/21 for loading. With the help of 2 great friends (thanks Bobby and John) we loaded the container solid and it was back on the road. We tried to sell our bedroom and dining room sets and some dishes and lamps on craigslist without success. Janessa will have to have a garage sale when the house sells (unless anyone knows anyone who needs any of these items).
We left AZ on 6/25, flew to Cancun and took a bus to Playa del Carmen. We had a lovely dinner, walked on the beach in the full moonlight and saw a little bit of the town. We slept like logs that night and in the morning headed back to the bus station for our return to Belize. It rained most of the 5 hour bus ride, but the towns we passed through were quite quaint. Scott met us at the border for the final leg of our journey.
We arrived back in Progresso to a wonderful surprise…while we were back in the USA, Ed, Dee and the crew worked feverishly to complete as much of the house as they could. We couldn’t believe the progress they had made (see photos!) The house is almost move-in ready…just awaiting the arrival of the container with our appliances, furniture and some items we purchased to complete our new home (we just found out that the container may not arrive until mid-late July!). Everything is beautiful!
On that first day back in Belize we discovered that the power had gone out in the RV while we were gone, we had a flat tire on the car and that tropical storm Alex was headed straight for us. We opened the refrigerator and freezer to find everything spoiled and very stinky. After emptying both and washing with a series of bleach, orange cleanser and a Mexican-style Lysol, we still have an odor. Have had baking soda in there for a few days without much luck, so today I’m trying coffee grounds. I’m awaiting an e-mail response from the “Queen of Clean” for any other suggestions. The tropical storm was a threat, so we spent the first night back in the guest house instead of the RV. We got some wind, a little rain and some downed trees, but otherwise the threat was bigger than the storm. The tire was easily repaired with “fix-a-flat” and Dee and I went shopping on Monday to replenish our supplies. Yesterday was laundry, lagoon, relaxing and dominoes for me, but Rick is back at it full speed ahead with assisting on the front porch tile and planting some banana and coconut palms and more pineapples.
We’re back into a comfortable routine and looking forward to many happy years here.