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Taking PopPop Home

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July, 2025

It seemed that everyone I knew had been to Ireland but me.  My husband had played golf all over the country with my son and son-in-law.  My travel buddies had been twice – once with their entire family, including the 80-something grandfather. Even my all-but daughter and her husband had been this past year to celebrate their anniversary.  So when my daughter called and said they had been invited to a wedding in Ireland and would I like to join them, I jumped at the chance.

What made this invitation even more attractive was that my daughter loves planning trips, so I wouldn’t have to worry about flight times, accommodations, itineraries, or anything but what to pack. 

In addition, we would be able to return my newly departed husband to his home in Scotland by way of a ferry across the North Channel from Belfast, Northern Ireland to Cairnryan, Scotland. We would drive to Dundee and place his ashes with his parents’ and his sister’s at the cemetery there.  Out hearts would be glad to do this for him, since he was always a Scot even in America.

The flight was uneventful and we landed in Dublin on a Monday morning.  There was a long line for the rental car, so that delayed us a bit. Even if they are less costly, don’t rent from Sixt. But soon we were on our way, albeit with a few fits and starts as Mike got accustomed to driving a manual transmission car (Nancy had requested an automatic) for the first time since high school.  The switch from driving on the right to using the left lane instead wasn’t as unfamiliar as he had just been in London a few weeks before.

We stopped for lunch in Kilcock in a cafe situated in an old church.  I had potato-leek soup and half a tomato,cheese, and ham sandwich.  The prices were not outrageous, even though the Euro was worth more than the dollar.

My granddaughter, Faye, and I were excited when we drove through Ballinrobe, because she found on Chat GPT that there was a racecourse there.  But, sadly, the races didn’t commence until after our trip.  

The wedding was to take place at the home of Mike’s high school friend, Jimmy, and his bride, Jo. They had bought a property with an authentic Irish cottage, complete with thatched roof and were getting married there, near the village of Westport.

The house Nancy rented was spacious and very comfortable.  We each had our own room, and there were three bathrooms, perfect for 3 women on holiday.  Mike had provided all of us with adapters so we could recharge our phones, ipads, and laptops.  The idea of 11 days with no internet was unthinkable.  We were near a large grocery store, so bought beer, wine, pastries, ice cream, fruit, snacks, milk and eggs.  Mike was happy he didn’t have to give up his habit of shopping every day like the Europeans do.

Our first tourist destination was the lovely Kylemore Abbey.  This country house was built in the 1860’s by a wealthy English businessman and there are several rooms preserved just as they were when the Henrys lived there. After World War I, refugee Benedictine nuns took it over and turned it into a girls’ boarding school.  The best part of visiting the Abbey is the beautiful gardens.  In addition to Victorian designed flower beds, there are vegetable gardens, fruit trees, a couple of fat pigs, Connemara ponies, and the gardener’s small hut with a period foot warmer on the small bed.

Our next day trip was to the Cliffs of Moher, one of the must-see sites in Ireland.  If it weren’t for the mobs of tourists, it would have been a lovely way to spend a day.  The geology of the place must have been interesting, but sadly we didn’t have our geologist with us to teach us.  An informative video presentation would have a welcome addition.  We had lunch in the over-crowded cafe, but passed up the gift shop.  The mist had rolled in and we were happy that we had come early when we could still see the cliffs, the birds wheeling in the sky and the boat way, way down below for tourists who wanted the looking-up view.

The following day was the wedding that Mike, Nancy, and the girls were to attend.  I opted out, even though the Jim and Jo were insistent that I would have been welcome.  It was nice to have most of the day to myself.  After a leisurely morning, I decided to clean up the kitchen a bit.  The sink was full of dishes, and the counter was littered with all our various pastries.  I loaded the dishwasher, swept the floor, and went off to take a nap.  

When I got up, I went to the kitchen to get a drink and uh-oh, the floor was covered in suds!  I had mistakenly filled the soap dispenser with dish soap instead of dishwasher detergent.  I mopped it all up and checked the inside.  The dishes were clean, but suds were still inside.  I rinsed and dried all the dishes and put them away, hoping that we wouldn’t have to run the dishwasher again before we left.  Felt pretty stupid when I told Nancy about it.

We experienced another glitch that you should know about if you travel to the UK.  The Republic of Ireland is a sovereign country.  Northern Ireland is part of the UK, as is Scotland.  Nancy had rented the car in Dublin (Republic of Ireland). The ferry to Scotland is located in Northern Ireland, in Belfast (part of the UK). You can rent a car from any country in the United Kingdom and travel to another country in the UK.  But, and this is critical, you cannot rent a car in the Republic of Ireland and take it to Scotland. That, of course, was our plan.  Nancy had paid for a VRBO in Glasgow, and we were committed to putting PopPop in the cemetery in Dundee. The solution, though costly, was to rent a different vehicle from Enterprise in Belfast, park the Sixt van in long-term parking at the ferry, change vehicles to the Nissan SUV, drive it onto the ferry and use it in Scotland.  I felt awful because I knew this would add several hundred dollars to the cost of the trip.  If it weren’t for taking Ron’s ashes to Dundee, I think they would have just cancelled the Scotland leg of the trip.

Thanks to Ron’s niece, Linda, we had an address for the cemetery.  Had a bit of a bother navigating around the road construction nearby, but eventually found the entrance.  The man working in the office was very helpful and called one of the gardeners to take us to Section 8 where the Laws were. Faye had written a beautiful eulogy for her PopPop, and we were all in tears.  We passed around the container so that each of us participated in placing a portion near his Mom and Dad.  It was a lovely, peaceful spot and meticulously maintained which I was grateful for.  I am making a promise to send them a donation on his birthday each year.

We were on our way back to Cairnryan to get the return ferry when suddenly Mike couldn’t shift gears.  We had just exited the roundabout so eased off the road into a neighborhood.  Mike got us to the curb in the pouring rain and got wet trying to see if there was anything obviously wrong.  Meanwhile, Nancy and Ella set about trying to call the emergency road service number.  Trying to figure out what numbers you have to dial from a US based phone to reach a number in Scotland was maddening.  Finally reached someone and they agreed to dispatch help right away. Five of us in the SUV was uncomfortable; we hadn’t eaten and were getting “hangry”; Faye had to pee; but there was nothing to do but cuddle under our blanket and wait. Mike went to knock on the door of the house where we had parked, explained our dilemma, and politely asked if his daughter could use their bathroom.  They couldn’t have been nicer, wanted to help, and offered to have us come in “for a cuppa.” 

After what seemed a long time, a mechanic arrived, in a small work truck.  So he definitely wasn’t there to rescue us.  Meanwhile,the clock is ticking, and it’s 12:30. We were booked on the 3:30 ferry and had to check in by 3:00.  It was about two hours from where we were to the ferry, so we were getting very anxious. The mechanic took all of two minutes to declare “yeah, this car’s not going anywhere.” He also declared that he was a mechanic for Nissan, not for the roadside assistance company Enterprise used.  So, another long wait (still pouring rain) for the right person to show up.  Now it was decision time: cancel our ferry reservation for 3:30 and get us booked on a later one.  Wouldn’t you know – the 7:30 ferry was sold out, so the only spaces were on the one at 11:30 pm.  That meant we would get to Belfast at about 1:30 am, and still have a 2 hour drive to Dublin.  Nobody thought that was a good idea. We decided that we would have to go to a hotel for the night in Belfast. Another unforeseen expense.  

Skip to the next day.  Slept in a bit and had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel.  We had picked up our original van at the ferry landing, and turned in the other rental.  And were on our way to Dublin.  

Oh, how we wished we had three more days in Dublin!  Fascinating city. We enjoyed a tour on the river by boat which was informative.  The girls probably didn’t know the history of “The Troubles,” and the tour guide helped us understand all that.  There is also a rich history of the bridges spanning the river.

After a lunch at the Old Mill, we made our way to Trinity College.  It would have been nice to explore a bit more, but the day was ending and the girls wanted to get back to the apartment to change and go out to the pubs. It was a perfect day.

We flew home by way of Philly the next morning, but our luggage didn’t.  It was supposed to be checked all the way through from Dublin to Dallas.  Didn’t happen. But, since American Airlines can find suitcases better than our government can track visas, our suitcases were delivered to the house the next day, in time for me to catch my flight back home to Phoenix.

And so ends the tale of taking PopPop home to Dundee.

Tour or Not to Tour

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March, 2025


Let’s go to Costa Rica! Not long after my husband crossed over, I was invited to go with friends on a Gate One tour to Costa Rica and Panama.  Since we had been to Costa Rica years before and loved it, I quickly accepted even though it cost far more than I expected.

What I didn’t know then, but will warn you about now, is that these tours are designed for couples.  There is an extra charge (several hundred dollars) for solo travelers, the buses are two seats on either side, the tables in the restaurants are either 4-top or 6-top which leaves an empty chair reminding of your loss. So the prospect of spending time with my friends and helping each other grieve for our missing fourth, I was often alone while they sat together on the bus, or showed up to dinner after I had already chosen a table that filled with others.

Gate One offers a variety of tours, and this one was a “Discovery” tour.  Reading the description carefully, you will see that it is “moderately” strenuous, and that you should be in pretty good shape to enjoy this tour.  Well, as you may have guessed by now, we didn’t read the description carefully and the tour ended up being endured rather than enjoyed.  One day involved several hours on a bumpy road in the bus, then an hour-long hike into the forest, then an hour- long hike back out. I had to turn around and go back to the air-conditioned bus after about 20 minutes.  At 83, in the heat and humidity, I was afraid I was going to suffer heat stroke. So, read carefully before committing.

Gate One chooses their hotels with an eye toward folks who can afford the tour, and all of our accommodations were clean, comfortable, with excellent service, and good food. On one day that was planned to include lots of water activities (open boat in the sun) I opted to stay at the hotel.  I had a sleep-in (most other days were breakfast at 7 am), a leisurely breakfast, with a pot of delicious Costa Rican coffee, a swim in the pool, and a nap!

While most of our group of about 20 had not been to CR before, the three of us had stayed in a resort at the foot of the volcano, we had seen sloths in the rain forest, had fed bananas to coatimundi, and had been jolted awake by howler monkeys. I hate to say we were jaded, but we had “been there, done that.” 

I had not been to Panama and was keen to learn more about it. What I learned was that having lots of money is better than not. Panama’s infrastructure, including its roads, is 10 times better than in its neighbor.  I’m not sure I heard this right, but we were told that Panama collects $100,000  from each ship that uses the Panama canal. We were able to learn a lot about the canal and could see the evidence of the wealth it brought the country everywhere.  I wish we had been able to spend two days in Panama City, a modern city with architecture, art, science, and water.  

My advice is to rent a car in Costa Rica and book your own accommodations.  See what most interests you, and then arrange a few days in Panama.  If you’re not comfortable being your own travel agent, at least talk to a real person on the phone about the itinerary of any tour you are considering.

On the upside, I met a woman with whom I have a lot in common, and I would never have known her without this tour, so there’s that. 

A City for Everyone

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September, 2023

Look up, up, up to the top of the giant fir trees in Vancouver’s Stanley Park, and forget that you’re in the middle of one of the most vibrant cities in the world.  Vancouver is a city built with thoughtfulness – built to protect the water, the creatures that live in the water, the landscape, the rain forest, the indigenous people who worshipped the natural elements that nourished them.  

Driving from Seattle to Vancouver on a rainy, misty day, we feel as if we have travelled from one planet to another.  From the brown hills of Arizona, dotted with saguaros and cholla, to mountains poking up through the clouds, and trees tall enough to be skyscrapers anywhere else, we congratulate ourselves for finding the perfect place to escape the extreme heat of the Southwest this year.

Once again, my husband, Ron, and I were adventuring with daughter, Nancy, and son-in-law, Mike.  Despite being nearly 30 years younger, they are perfect travel companions.  We have similar interests so it’s easy to find things to do. Also, they are happy to find a supermarket, shop and let everyone eat whatever they want for breakfast and dinner.  We usually found a pub for lunch to ensure Ron could get fish and chips – his standby order.

Nancy would be happy having her own travel agency. She loves the planning, the logistics, the searching for activities and places to see, and even making reservations at VRBOs anywhere in the world.  We were smart enough to purchase tickets to go whale watching before we left.  We wanted to take the ferry over to Victoria, but every one going on our free days was already sold out.  We’ll know better next time.  

The Seattle airport was a genuine nightmare.  I think we were there on a Saturday which is the worst day to be there because that is changeover day for all the cruise ships going to Alaska.  Another blip we won’t repeat.  Once we obtained our rental car and programmed the GPS for our home-away-from-home, we were soon out of the city and surrounded by gorgeous scenery.

In about 2 hours we arrived at the Canadian border.  We all had our passports out, handed them to Nancy, who was driving, and she handed them to the border inspector.  This woman had a few questions for us: do you have any plants in the car? No. Any alcohol? No. Any tobacco products? No. Until Ron spoke up and said he had six packs of cigarettes in his suitcase.  Uh oh.  Now there was a problem.  Since Nan had just automatically said there was no tobacco in the car, and Ron had just basically called that a lie, we were told to park the car, leave the keys in it, and go inside.

Once inside, we sat in a row like children outside the principal’s office wondering what came next.  I thought the whole thing was stupid (and probably said so) since all they had to do was ask Ron to open his bag and show them. But, of course, those suspicious minds thought, “and what else have you lied about?” And, once again, I was angry that Ron’s smoking addiction was causing me some inconvenience.  After about 30-40 minutes, we were called into the office and informed that the background checks on each of us was complete and we were free to go.  Background checks? Good grief. Ron confirmed later that someone had indeed been in his suitcase. We all hoped that that was the excitement for this trip.

We arrived at our house, situated in a very, very upscale neighborhood with some modern, contemporary homes situated on professionally landscaped properties.  We were surprised to find our house had a sunken living room, something we quickly learned to navigate around since stepping off the ledge would certainly result in broken bones!  The interior was similar to being on a sailboat. The walls and ceiling were teak, and the floor was wood tile. Here’s a photo: 

Just a few blocks from the house was a lovely street with a wonderful grocery store.  Not only could we find our favorite foods, but they had an amazing assortment of ready-to-eat meals and entrees.  We rarely ate out since we could choose whatever we had a taste for at the store which saved money.

As we drove around Vancouver, I was impressed with the choices in restaurants available that reflected the many cultures we encountered.  Vancouver is truly a melting pot – people from every corner of the world have made their way here and offer their unique cultural gifts to all. I couldn’t help but wonder how the Canadians manage their immigration policy. 

Granville island hosts an enormous market where you can find every fruit and vegetable imaginable, beautiful art objects created by local artisans, baked treats, chocolate, as well as a food court to die for.  I wish I could go there every day for a week.

Since we are a family interested in science, we had to go to the Science Museum and also to the Maritime Museum, both of which I recommend.  Part of the charm is that you can take a water taxi to both.  I loved the water-centric nature of Vancouver.

We drove to Whistler, a pedestrian village 78 miles north of Vancouver, hoping to ride the Peak 2 Peak gondola up the mountain where the 2010 Winter Olympics alpine, luge, and bobsled events were held.  It started raining pretty heavily, though, and they shut down the tram.  We did manage to have a delicious lunch in the local Irish Pub.

The highlight of our trip may have been the whale watching excursion.  Apparently, whales have their home territory, so in season, they can almost always be found in the same general area.  The tour boats and guides know the names of each one, and can talk about the whale moms and babies just as if we were in a petting zoo at home in Phoenix.  It was windy and wet, but we were outfitted with rain gear and life jackets, so were always safe, even if we looked ridiculous.

All in all, this was one of my top 3 trips of my life.  Although Vancouver is expensive, I would  love to live there, or at least spend months exploring and enjoying the PNW.  

Swimming With the Sharks

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Published March 8, 2014

I cannot believe that I waited this long in my life to go snorkeling!  Why, why, why?  If I had done this sooner, it might have changed my life.  I don’t want to go home – I want to stay here and go out in the water with the fishes, rays, and sharks every day.  Is it too late at 72?

Yesterday we were served breakfast by Oty and Gaby at D’Nest and met a delightful young couple from England who were about to head out for the airport after a 10 day stay in Belize.  Since our trip was just beginning, we asked them what some of their favorite places were.  They told us about Crooked Tree reserve where they saw a myriad of birds including the largest bird in this hemisphere – one with a 12 foot wingspan.  Their description sounded idyllic, so we called and made reservations for two days at the same place they stayed.  I am glad I brought along my long lens.  Maybe I will get some great bird shots.

We are staying at De Real Macaw on Caye  (pronounced “key”) Caulker, the more laid back of the two large islands.  And it is laid back.  Walk around bare footed in your swimsuit with a beer in your hand.  Rent a bike or a golf cart, there’s not a car to be seen.  Boats of every kind for every purpose – except none of them are the huge yachts you see in every American marina.

We shopped last night for food for breakfast and Ron and I made fried potatoes, cheesy eggs and toast for everyone along with good Belizean coffee.  Then we took a walk to see if we could make reservations for a snorkeling trip.  Our host here at Macaw recommended Anwar tours just a bit down the beach. We strolled along til we came to it, and then discovered that he had just filled the boat.  Initially we were disappointed, but made reservations for the afternoon trip. 

After a hot investigation of the rest of the island, we stopped at a bar for a bucket of beer to cool off.  Listened to Alan Jackson singing “It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere” and some Jimmy Buffet, then made our way back to our apartment.  Ron stretched out in the hammock on the porch and I made an short-lived attempt at reading on the couch before dozing off.  After a much-needed nap we were ready to go snorkeling.

I was hesitant about doing this because I am not confident in deep water, but our guide, Omar, was so reassuring and he promised that he would be right there if we had any problems.  We had life jackets, so I knew I wouldn’t drown, but I had never even had flippers on my feet before, nor had I used a mask and snorkel so I was a bit scared of simply making a fool of myself. 

Omar gave me an extra life jacket to hold onto and he kept the end of the belt so he could pull me along if necessary, but I pretty quickly got the hang of it and soon we were both spotting fish and he was telling me what their names were.  The blue tangs were gorgeous and we saw lots of varieties.  I had left the underwater camera on board for the first stop because I didn’t feel very confident about managing everything at once, and later I wished I had taken it because that’s where we saw the most colorful fish.  The second stop was Shark Alley where we got to pet a sting ray and watch Omar plant little fish in empty conch shells for the nurse sharks.  Soon we were surrounded by sharks and rays – it was amazing!

To cap off this fabulous day, we went to the open-air movie and saw “Philomena”. Talk about paradise! Padded benches and adirondack chairs, sand under your feet, and good company – plus a terrific movie, uh, sorry, film, as they say in Belize.

We arrived on Wednesday, and today is only Friday.  How much better can this trip get? 

Sunrise, Sunset

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BELIZE

Published March 10, 2014

Today is Sunday and we have arrived at the Tikal Inn in Guatemala.  Only a few days into this trip and I am ready to tell you that you need to budget about twice as much as you thought to travel around Belize, see the ruins, the beaches, etc. 

There is literally no transportation system in Belize or Guatemala.  We are accustomed to a bus system that is easy to understand and use.  Here, the buses run only twice a week sometimes, or maybe only once a day, so your schedule is just completely shot.  So, you have to hire a driver and a car or take a taxi – and they are not cheap! We had to pay $115 “plus tip” which means $120 or more, depending on what Bill decided to give him, to get from Belize City to San Ignacio.  The taxi driver started out with a quote of 300 Belizean dollars for the trip, which would be $150 US, or $75 for each couple.  In Ecuador, we paid $25 each couple from Quito to Cotacachi which included a stop at the equator and a stop for lunch and was about twice as far.  Then, we paid $100 for the four of us to go from San Ignacio to the Tikal Inn, PLUS $18 to leave Belize going into Guatemala.  Anyway, transportation is killing us.  I guess it’s because gas is $6 a gallon.  The young couple we met the first day said they rented a car and were complaining that it was so expensive – $500 a week plus gas.  Now I think it wouldn’t make much difference.  Thank goodness for credit cards.

So, arrived at the Inn, which is very nice.  The cabanas are comfortable and spacious, and the pool is inviting.  However, everyone comes here to see the Mayan ruins which, in my opinion is a bit of a scam.  They really upsell the sunrise and sunset tours – one of those ” you gotta” deals.  So, $20 entrance fee which is good from 6 am til 6 pm.  So, guess what? They charge extra for the tours because the sunrise is before 6 and the sunset after 6. Cute, huh?,,

Somebody please shoot me if I ever say I am going to see ruins again.  Whether it’s in Greece, Italy, or Central America, they are always up high! Duh, of course they are – the better to see the enemy coming, don’t you know. And my knees won’t let me climb steps anymore.  So hiking up to the temples this afternoon was hot, humid, and painful.  Once there I could see immediately that there was no way I could negotiate the steps to go up to see the sunset, so Ron, Bill, and Verda climbed up and I stayed down on the grass below.

When they came down, Ron and Bill both said they were disappointed in the sunset.  I told Bill they should come to Arizona to our house.  We will give them a spectacular sunset from our back porch and we will even include a free beer for only $10 per person!

Now if they will let us out of here and not hold us hostage for more money, we will be headed back to the beach – this time in Placencia – for more snorkeling!

Placencia

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BELIZE

Published March 12, 2014

Our next destination after Tikal was Placencia, Belize. We had not made arrangements for transportation, which we regretted.  There was a woman at the Tikal Inn who told us, absolutely, that there was no way to get back to the border except by shuttle which would cost us $30 each person (or $120 US).  But Bill and Ron talked to a guy who had a van parked in the parking lot who agreed to take us from there to the border for $75 total instead of $120 total.

Once we arrived at the border and made it through immigration, we had to find someone to take us to Placencia.  Bill made the tactical mistake of talking to a guy on the Guatemalan side who agreed to drive us all from there to Placencia for $80 US.  Thinking that was too good to pass up, Bill gave him the money and said we would meet him on the other side, the Belize side.  Well, of course, the guy disappeared and we never saw him again. The Guatemalans will tell you whatever you want to hear to make a buck. Tip: you are better off renting a car and providing your own transportation. If it costs you a few more dollars, it’s worth it to avoid the rip-offs, the frustration, and the unexpected expenses.

So another taxi driver on the Belize side promised to take us all the way for $150 US.  Jesus H . Christ!  So tired of getting ripped off by taxi drivers!  Now, today, we found out that we could have paid a taxi to take us just to San Ignacio, which was only 10 miles away, then we could have taken a bus to Placencia for about $20 US per person.  Ok, enough complaining.  My advice: stay out of Guatemala.

We arrived in Placencia and checked into Cozy Corner.  Nice rooms with a/c and TV for $70 per night.  And downstairs in the restaurant there is WiFi, where I was even able to download Wake Me Up by Avicii.  At this moment we four are sitting in our swim suits on the beach with our afternoon cocktails, with a cool breeze blowing and the gentle waves trying to put us to sleep.

We will be here til Saturday morning, then it’s off to Crooked Tree.

The Flying Pig

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BELIZE

Published March 11, 2014

Arrival in Placencia

WARNING:  Stay on the road!  This is our taxi after missing the turn to Cozy Corner and thinking he could take a shortcut.  Fortunately, there were 3 Belizeans who hang out near this spot waiting for idiots to get stuck and then charge about $20 to get you out.

But Placencia is a little bit of paradise.  There are no, and I mean NO, signs of the modern world here except for cell phones, signs saying Visa/MasterCard accepted, and a weak, sporadic WiFi signal.  But not a Macdonald’s to be seen, nor a Hilton, Radisson, or Westin.  The homes are small and simple, the restaurants are open to the sea breezes, and all the natives either sell food or crafts or boat tours.

At home we seldom just sit and relax, but here the chairs on the beach under the little thatched umbrellas are so conducive to reading, conversation, or just closing your eyes and letting your mind go blank, that you can’t help relaxing.  Younger and more fit visitors can go fishing, diving or snorkeling when the weather permits.  I would have done another snorkeling day, but yesterday there was a pretty stiff wind which brought rain last night and this morning.  No good for snorkeling.  But my experience in Caye Caulker has made me promise myself that I will go to Mexico for snorkeling (or someplace like that).

Last night we went to dinner at The Flying Pig, a restaurant owned by the cousin of a friend I went to high school with.  It was “all you can eat” spaghetti night.  Patrick was a charming, enthusiastic host and told us how he came to be in Placencia. He was teaching school in California until the recession and at that time his school combined with another school and rather than teaching algebra to 7th, 8th, and 9th grade kids, he was expected to teach 7-12th graders.  Unfortunately his certificate only allowed him to teach up to 9th grade.  So, he went back to school and got a Master’s degree in administration.  Now, he found his lack of experience made it impossible to find a job in school administration.  So, he gave California a one-finger salute, sold everything and moved to Belize.  He’s happy and making a contribution to the community. 

We have one more night here, and then tomorrow we are off to Crooked Tree, supposedly a bird-watcher’s dream come true.  Two nights there, then back to Belize City for the last night before we fly home.

Crooked Tree

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BELIZE

Published March 16, 2014

After four days of relaxing and talking about the kids, the grand kids, the economy, retirement, health, you-name-it, we dragged our rolling bags through the sand and boarded the 6 am Richie’s bus to Belize City.  After so many horrendous taxi rides, I was relieved to be on the bus.

In Belmopan we had a short potty stop, and Verda and I went to find the bathrooms.  Yuck!  Why can’t people in the Latino cultures ever keep anything clean?  How hard is that?  This place looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in 5 years!  Plus you had to pay to use the toilets.  After that, Verda started saying she didn’t want to take any more buses.

When we arrived in Belize City, we would have had to find a bus going to Crooked Tree, figure out how to buy tickets, fight the pushy crowds and endure another two hours on the bus.  Unbeknownst to the rest of us, Ron found a taxi driver who agreed to take us all the way to the Lodge at Crooked Tree for $50 US.  He must have known we were about to have a mutiny.  The car was the typical wreck with no suspension at all, and no a/c of course – at this point we had learned to be grateful if the damn car could make it to our destination.  So off we went.

The driver had indicated that he had been to the Crooked Tree lodge before but when he missed the turnoff, we thought that once again someone had simply told us what we wanted to hear.  Finally we arrived at the causeway out to the village.  In January of this year the floods were so bad they nearly wiped out the causeway.  In fact, we read on Trip Advisor that our hosts had picked up visitors in a boat to transport them to the Lodge during that time.  Creeping along the 2 miles at 0 mph, we finally drove into a small village with multiple trails going off in every direction.  Our driver asked every person, from a middle-aged woman to a 10-year-old boy where the Crooked Tree Lodge was.  Obviously, he had never been to this place before.  Finally we headed down the last set of ruts toward the buildings in the distance.  About 100 yards short of the main lodge, the road turned to mud and puddles.  The driver was reluctant to drive into it since the car was dragging bottom even on the dry parts.  We told him to stay put and we would walk ahead and see what’s what.  Sure enough, we were welcomed by Mick who quickly went to help carry our luggage from the car up to the lodge.  Even the crocodile in the small pond by the bridge seemed to smile and say “welcome to Crooked Tree!”

Off to Ecuador!

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Published July 10, 2012

Sunday morning we heard the alarm on my phone jangle at 4:45 am. We hurried to get dressed, gather our luggage and grab a cup of coffee. Mike quickly spread cream cheese on two bagels for me and we threw the other snacks into a plastic bag, tossed it in my carry-on and hopped in the car for the 30 minute ride to the airport. The countdown was over; we were on our way to Sud America! 

The first leg was routine. Just Phoenix to Houston. Once we landed in Houston, we had a few hours to kill, so we had lunch at Ruby’s Diner where Ron was able to get a real chocolate malt! I had some delicious fried zucchini which probably wiped out all my work on the treadmill for the past month. 

The next leg was Houston to Panama City, Panama. You think the airports in the U.S. are inefficient, wait til you see Panama City. We waited for about 20 minutes for a gate to open up so the plane could park. Then it took another 20 minutes before anyone could get off the plane – never found out why. 

Fortunately, the gate for our Copa Airlines flight to Quito was not too far away. Ron bought some scotch at the duty free shop so that he would have some on the final leg of the flight. We were tired by this time, but the flight to Quito was only two hours and by the time they served our sandwich and drinks, it was almost time to land. Ron complained from the time the wheels touched down til we arrived at our hotel, so I won’t go into how long it took us to get through immigration, get our luggage, get through customs, etc. But finally, there was Bill’s face and arms waving at us. Whew! He had already arranged for taxis to take us to Casa Arbolitta where we would spend the night. Details of our stay at Jenny’s place and our first day of our trip coming tomorrow. Had two glasses of wine at dinner and ready to fall asleep.