Crosswinds

Back in MN

2011-03-03T19:56:00.001-08:00

We are back in MN and the adventure continues....

November 2010

2010-11-17T20:05:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post in case anyone is still watching. I will try to spend some time posting something interesting.

We are healthy and well- working hard and enjoying it.

We are looking forward to seeing Erika and Jason this Thanksgiving. No Christmas holiday plans yet.

Bonita and Freida say "Hello". They enjoyed a visit in August from our friends Krystal and Chris and form Grandmaw and Grandpaw in early October.

Glenwood Springs Colorado

2010-07-17T18:25:00.001-07:00

On Sunday Phil and I went to Glenwood Springs Colorado. Its about a 1.5 to 2 hour drive from Meeker. It is a must place to stop when you come to Colorado! There is a lot of history and, vapor caves and this hot springs pool. It is filled and heated by the natural hot springs water. Water is added to cool it and they do use chlorine, but it is filled with minerals. It is HUGE... and its hottest on the east end (the therapy pool) and cools as it gets deeper and flows west.

The hot springs pool facing east aboveFacing west

The old bath house is now a spa....
I did not drink the water.... Very neat!

the historic Hotel Colorado. Built in 1893A view from the walking bridge of the hot springs bath house. Behind it is the lodge hotel
the top of the Hotel Colorado
I love the red rock mountain sides
Lots of breweries in Colorado! I had the Hanging Lake Honey Ale and Phil had the Vapor Cave IPA

The Amtrak station in Glenwood.Looking down from the walking bridge at the (I believe) the Colorado River
The pool and slides from the walking bridge
The pool and water slides. First built in 1895.
Glenwood is also where Doc Holliday died from TB in 1887. His grave is here too.
I love the movie Tombstone... Val Kilmer... sigh....

New phone number

2010-04-12T22:01:00.000-07:00

Our new cell phone number is 970-270-1538

Please do not add this number to your texting list. Thanks!

Still here....still shoveling snow too...

2010-04-12T21:56:00.001-07:00

Well, I need to get back to blogging...

Spring is here in Colorado, and it was in the 70's today but snow is coming again overnight. Seems like we have had snow each Tuesday for the past 3 weeks. But it melts fast so its not so bad.

I will get some new photos and catch everyone up.

Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T07:07:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post from Bonita and Frieda!Merry Christmas!!!

They can't wait to open presents tonight!

Rooms of the Meker Hotel

2009-12-11T11:39:00.000-08:00

Thank you to Amy M.Ellis-Pakuer for taking these photos for us! This was on the day of our open house and town Christmas tree lighting. I had all the rooms set up with little touches.

As you walk in the front door of the Meeker Hotel, the Lobby
The Elk mounts

Looking to the front door

A look into other "Great Room" part of our lobby. Door to the Meeker Cafe

Our wood burning stove.

From the top of the steps

At the top of the steps, going right.

At the top of the doors.

Our guest lounge

Gary Cooper Suite

It's side room of 2 twin beds

The Balcony Suite

Its side room of two twins

The "Burgundy" room

The Pink Room

The "Brick and Green" Suite- it has some brick walls. Very cool

Its side room of two twins

I learned to make these in Belize. Thank you Des!

The "Cow Boy" Suite

Its side room of 2 twins

The Theodore Roosevelt Suite ~ where he stayed in 1901

Its side room of 2 twins

The Painted Lady Room. Named after the ladies of the wild west.

The green room.

My holiday dishes set up for the open house.

The Garden Room

A table set up for in room dinner for two

That'll Do, Pig, That'll Do

2009-11-26T12:17:00.000-08:00

I have always loved the movie Babe. Well, did you some of it was filmed here? This is the place for the Sheepdog Championship Trials. (www.meekersheepdog.com)

This is located on the courthouse lawn out front of our place. Very neat.I am embarrassed to say that Bonita and Freida went nuts barking at the dog and the sheep when they first saw it. I had a few guests say the same about there dogs too..

Meeker Hometown Holidays

2009-11-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

The next bit of fun will be on Tuesday December 2, 2009n with Meeker's Hometown Holidays. There is different activities gong on under the full moon including the lighting of the big trees out front of the Court House, across from the Meeker Hotel and Cafe. I can't wait to have the trees light up and be able to see them from our apartment over the Holidays

Bonita and Freida went a little nuts watching the boom truck and men putting up the lights this week.

We will be having an open house that day showcasing our rooms with little holiday touches. I think the towns people will enjoy seeing the rooms as how many of us stay in hotels in our own town? Not too often. The rooms are more like a B&B over a hotel room- each with a different theme.

This is the Balcony Suite. the door you see opened to the big balcony on the Hotel.

A table set up for a Romantic Dinner

There is a small second bedroom in all suites that has two twin beds. I will get photos of the little room of the balcony suite this week with the holiday decor... it will have paper snowflakes... so cool.

This is the Gary Cooper Suite This is the little bedroom off the G.C. Suite. More Holiday touches to come. More photos to come later this week.

First and Second Snow

2009-11-26T11:29:00.000-08:00

On October 27 we received our fist snow fall. Reports were that we would receive anywhere from 6-12 inches in the next day or two. We drove to Rifle to our nearest Walmart and bought snow shovels... and people looked at us kinda strange as the sun was still shining. But as we drove back to Meeker, the snow was falling in the mountain tops. This is what it looks like... very neat.

So it snowed about 6-8 inches and it all melted by Sunday, Nov.1. There was just a trace on the ground for the trick or treaters.

The second snow fall came on Friday Nov 13... and it was rain at 5:30 in the morning and by 8a.m. it was sticking to everything. It was another 6-8 inches and in the days leading to the snow we were supposed to get more on Sat into Sunday but it shifted and hit Denver on Sunday with a foot or more in some areas.

People tell us we should have 3 feet on the ground by now. We live in a Christmas Card setting...

The snow is mostly all melted again now, but that makes Thanksgiving feel more fall. I think I heard that we may see some more of the white stuff this Monday?!

I truly love winter and snow. Phil may not be as excited as I am about it though...he loved that about Belize- No Snow!

As they say You can take the Midwest girl out of the snow, but she will always be a bit flakey! ;-)

Halloween in Meeker Colorado

2009-11-26T10:51:00.000-08:00

We have been very busy here at the Meeker Hotel and Cafe! Time just flies by while we meet new people and learn new things. And this little town does so many fun activities, there is always something going on it seems.

Fall is my favorite season and Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. The Saturday before before Halloween, I awoke to the sound of a bob cat tractor on main street. The Chamber and the local furniture store set up a pumpkin patch in the courthouse yard for kids 5th grade and under to come get free pumpkins.

On Halloween itself, the local parks and recreation group host Eats an Treats where all the kids come to trick or treat to the businesses in town and they have a chili feed for them. The kids line up at the elementary school for costume judging and then they make a parade down main street before collecting their goodies. This year the Meeker Hotel and Cafe handed out a piece of candy attached to a coupon for a free corn dog from the Cafe. It was a bit of a nostalgic thing for me as when I was a little girl, we would always get a coupon for a corn dog or small hamburger from Meister's Bar and Grill... and then I worked there for many years in my twenty-something years. It kinda neat to pass on some fun memories. (shout out to Bob and M.M.)We decorated the hotel lobby for Halloween and most of the staff dressed up as well.

Check it out! Canyon traffic snarled after slide

2009-10-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my coworker and I went to run some errands in Grand Junction. This happened either as we were shopping, or just after we left the area. We saw road construction as we were leaving, but it could have been form this...

http://www.kjct8.com/global/story.asp?s=11384047

The Heart of Hunting

2009-10-14T20:48:00.001-07:00

It has been a very interesting time learning little bits about the hunting traditions of hundreds of people that come out to this area to hunt Elk and Deer. The hunting seasons run about 1 to 2 weeks at a time and have about 2-4 days between them. We are starting season 2 on Sat. Today was the last day of season 1. So we have hunters coming in form their mountain camps and people heading out to set up their camps. So town will full and so will the cafe and hotel. We at the hotel have noticed the difference in bookings due to the economy...but its all coming around. Hunting season ends on November 15.

I have met a lot of people from Wisconsin, Alabama, Louisiana, Washington state, Washington DC, Georgia and Michigan. The photos below are of men from MI.... the one on the left from Grand Rapid and the one on the right from the UP.

Unlike WI where you wear your license on your back and in MN where you have to register your kill at a station... they don't do that here. I find that odd. I have been told that people will go back out and use the tag again for another kill as long as they don't get caught... You have to have the tag go to the processor but not everyone has their meat processed. the local "DNR" may call your party to see what you took, but there is noting official... IF I am wrong, I would like to hear more but this is what I am told.

Now, the photos may be kinda "gross" to many...but this is hunting at its finest and proudest moments. Just look at the size of these things! I saw them taking photos out front of the hotel and I grabbed my camera too.

A Walk in the Park

2009-10-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

Today we took Bonita and Freida to the local park on the White River. We had a picnic and went for a walk up the hill side. Its was a beautiful 70 degree day here in Meeker.
This above is the path up the hill to the left in the photo.

There is snow up on the tops of some of the mountains way off in the distance. Denver is getting snow and cold, but we have missed it for the most part... It wont be long I am sure!

Fly fishing. Bonita and Freida want to help

The water moves in different directions... so beautiful.

The "south side" of Meeker

Views as we go up the hillside

The color of the river is teal in places... so beautiful!

Looking back down the path.

From the top of the hill

Bonita has lost a lot of weight being here. She goes up and down the steps 4-6 times a day.

Freida charms all the guests she meets!

They love Colorado!

Ghost Stories...

2009-10-05T19:31:00.001-07:00

We are asked all the time if the Hotel is haunted... Yes... it is.

We know we have a cowboy who has been known to put a log on the fire at night. We have an old woman who cooks in the kitchen of the Cafe as well... sometimes you can smell rice cooking in there. We also have a little blond girl.

The ghost stories I have heard are all of helpful things like them moving furniture to help the maids, taking the arm of a woman walking down the steps, and like I mentioned- being seen putting a log on the fire at night.

Lat week one night Phil heard someone knocking on our apartment door... No one in the hotel... and the door was open in the morning.

This Saturday, I had a moment that made my heart skip a beat. This photo below is our laundry shoot.

This is how it has looked since I started here with the top up. Friday night I went to bed... and when I got up... This is what the laundry shoot looked like... not just that it could have fallen shut...

This latch was closed all the way and the circle part was turned so it was locked!

I choose to believe that the Cowboy looks out for the place and he did this because it should be shut to keep in the heat as the laundry room is very cold down there.

Our Apartment

2009-10-05T18:58:00.000-07:00

These are the steps coming up to the rooms of the hotel.

This is room 16. The Theodore Roosevelt Suite. He stayed at the Meeker Hotel in 1901 while mountain lion hunting. Very Cool!

This is our home. Number 11!
Our living room back to front windows to main street

couldn't get rid of the extra photo... sorry
From the book shelf to the windows. The front door is to the right of the TV. The room is about 15X15. Behind the brown chair yo see is the door to the dining room.

The dining room. It is an awesome feeling having "our things" around us. It was kinda like Christmas going through the boxes and unpacking.

The beautiful windows...nice view too!

That is the kitchen. Small but very functional. Lots of cupboard space! I was surprised that all our kitchen stuff fit in there!

We also have a nice sized bedroom and a small bathroom. We have a closet and a stairway to main street so we don't have to go through the hotel to take the dogs out at night.

Main Street and around

2009-10-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

Main Street! I love little town main streets! Next door is the old Drug Store... its a beautiful gift shop!
Nest door to us is a video store and another gift shop with a coffe shop! A Radio shack, VFW and bakery across the street on that block.

This view is from the big balcony out front of the hotel. This is to the right- its the elementry school. I hear that this is the last year for the school and the county wants to tear it down and build a justice center.... many people not thrilled about this.This view is to the left and across the street. The first place is a framing shop, the next is a floral shop with coffees too, next is a little "mall" that has a sap, hair salon, second hand store, and more. I don't remember the brown building, but the brick building on the far right is our post office. It kinda reminds me of living in Lindstrom in my old little apartment above my old massage business when Phil and I started dating. Its like we are in a bit of a valley with the mountains around us... maybe big hills, I am not sure. But we are near the BIG mountains and its SO beautiful!!This is straight across the street form us. It is the city court house. They have stations that have poopie bags for the dogs. Its a beautiful place to walk the dogs. This is out back of the hotel. Its Hwy 13. Other businesses along this road. Its the road in and out of Meeker.

The Meeker Cafe

2009-10-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

It has been fun to come and start changes in the Cafe. Phil is so happy in the kitchen. We have a wonderful kitchen manager and a good staff that are open to change. We have changed the opening time from 7 to 6a.m. Phil also developed a dinner menu and we started that two weekends ago. This week marks the start of rifle season... so for the next 8 weeks we should be crazy busy. Phil doesn't cook every day, so he is also busy doing maintenance on the building. I love this funky old sign!
Neat old counter and these stools

This is the main area of the cafe. The kitchen is behind me. This is the "dining room" off the cafe. I am standing up on the higher level, near the bar.

The bar is on the right, cafe main room straight ahead, and more boots and the hall to the bathroom to the left. I will get better photos soon.

Things to do with Antlers

2009-10-05T17:36:00.000-07:00

Our T-shirts

The Hotel Lobby

2009-10-05T17:14:00.000-07:00

When you enter the front door , this is what you see. That is our office behind the desk. This is to your left... beautiful etched glass on a half wall separating the lobby into two parts. I call the main part you walk into "the lobby" and the second, larger part "the great room"

This is my view from the desk
This guy.... well, you can read below...
Amazingly BIG!

The big 3 elk. People come in each day just to see them and take photos. This is the Elk Hunting Must Stop place.

Next to the desk going into the "great room" The "Great Room". That is the door to the Cafe as well. The steps to the hotel rooms.

The fire stove

A 34 point buck! (This is for Sassy Lou and B!)

This is a long hallway that goes to the laundry room... there are 4 rooms, a guest laundry room and more storage. This place is HUGE!

A Mountain Lion in the hallway.

Our Address

2009-10-05T16:28:00.000-07:00

Here is our new address:

Phil and Vicki Cross
PO Box 681
Meeker CO 81641

Our phone number is 970-314-3070

The Big Update!

2009-09-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

We have a lot to post since we came home to the States on August 28th. The biggest news is that on September 8 we received a job offer to become the General Managers of the Meeker Hotel in Meeker, Colorado. We hit the road on Sept 11th with our little dogs and the next adventure and chapter in our lives began. A fully packed Uhaul!

Can you believe that someone stole the magnet off our truck? We ordered this magnet for my parents when they got a new van this past spring... we thought it was funny... and then it seemed to fit out adventure.
Pappy (Grandpa) says "Goodbye" to James...
And Grandpa says "See you later" to his Grand-dogs...

Here we go! 8:00a.m. (so much for 5a.m....We slept in a little)

Hello Iowa! I think when you go west out of Des Moines, it is so beautiful! It was so green and lush with rolling hills...

And then came Nebraska.

We arrived in Colorado at 9:30 (cdt), 8:30 Colorado time. The first town was Julesberg. We stayed at a little hotel...

Bonita and Freida thought they were sooo cool staying at a hotel!

They did so good on the day of travel. Slept for most of it.

We took this photo in the morning as we left the hotel. Then we drove into Denver and up the mountains...

and through the Eisenhower Tunnel... then down the mountains, and up, and down....

I would hate to have to use this...

We arrived in Grand Junction to meet our friends Jim and Lois. We spent 2 night there. On Monday morning we went and bought a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee. (Heidi- I think of you as it is "absolutely, positively, have to have it" blue!) When we started driving around on Sunday looking at cars while dealerships were closed,we saw a few things, but we were getting so disheartened as we went back for the sticker shock. We drove to one last dealer and we were approached by a sales man. We told the guy our story of where we came from and where we were going... and Mike our sales man said "No kidding, I was born in Coon Rapids!" I knew we would find our car there. 4 wheel drive and it has heated seats! What more can you need?

I takes about 1.5 hours to drive from Grand Junction to Meeker. (you can fly Msp to Grand Junction!) Once in Meeker we found our new home! This is the Meeker Hotel. Our dining room is the 2 windows you see on the top right...Rounded wall and rounded windows. 15 (or so) foot ceilings... So beautiful. The dogs run the halls like they are so important! They have a bed in our office too. They think all the people who stop by the hotel are there to see them.

Check out the new links about Meeker Colorado!

More Soon

Love P&V

Welcome to Belize City!

2009-08-15T07:20:00.001-07:00

This is the Police Check Point as you enter Belize City. Sometimes they are standing there checking your insurance and registration that is adhered to the passenger side windshield. Sometimes they look at your license. Sometime they are watching for "bad guys" as there is only one road going in to Belize City from the south (or going out south). No one there when we passed

The first round-about. They have many in Belize... they work very well. I know it confuse the heck out of people it they put one in Forest Lake like they were talking a few years ago, but traffic would be better... I love this sculpture.

Another roundabout...

This is the light house that is also on the Light House Beer... (Belikin Lite)

Our favorite place for lunch in BC is Old Belize

No, no thank you....

Its a nice view form the tables where you eat

Beautiful place, well done decor

Hi Phil!

In the heart of Belize City... Ace Hardware. Its Huge inside as it wonders through 3 buildings. It has a little of everything.

The Coke distributor in Belize. Coke products, Beer and water.

My FAVORITE... Stationary house. They have everything that office max has as far as supplies. This is what the store fronts look like through much of Belize City. LOTS of nice shoe shopping!The heart of down town...Belize Bank of BCSee the cruse ship Monday and Tuesday are cruse ship day in Belize. The boats park out there and they send passenger boats out to pick up people and send them on their land adventures trough the area. The Radisson Fort George, very nice!View form our last room at the Radisson They have 2 buildings... this is the cross walk.

Benny's Hard Ware. The only place in BZ that has a pain matching machine. But in was broken the past few months. In the US you would have part and repairs in a day... here it has to be imported form the US, duties paid and can take a few months. Nothing is "easy" here...Its all about patience. A full new level of patience sometimes! ;-)So, Can they do that? Ben the Builder?? I remember how much my nephew Ben LOVED Bob the builder! This is Belize medical Associates. This is where Phil was taken care of last year with his heart issues. This is Dr Gough, Cardiologist. He has been great! Phil had a stress test a few weeks ago just as a follow up being we can afford it here. ($150US) and Phil did GREAT! This is the office of Dr Cuellar. (He is our Nurse Judy's brother!) In his office is his desk area in the front then a half wall where his exam table is. Here you can stop in in the morning and ask to have blood drawn for various test. You meet with him later in the day to go over the results. His fee... $25US. And if he needs you to come back later in the day- there is no additional charge for it. Lab fees are so affordable too...compared to the US. For people in the country who make $35BZ ($17.5oUS) a day its still very expensive!

Dr Cuellar is a funny and kind guy!

This man is selling Craboo.

This is Beauty Plus. It is one of the main stores I purchase supplies for the spa. Has all kinds of shampoos and toiletries and beauty supplies. All products you see at Walmart. Avon is on the shelves here. No "high end" products.

Belize Bank in BC

One day I was walking down the street and I heard a dog barking and knew it was a chihuahua. So, now every time I am in this area of town I stop to see my little friend.

I can't remember his name... He is a sassy little guy who bites but loves to be talked to. He has this little bed on the shelving and keeps an eye on the place.

this is Food and Beverage. It is like a mini Sam's Club. It has a small shopping area, and I believe the rest is a ware house. There are a lot of Chinese people and restaurants in the country so we were able to find many sauces, spices and other fun things here for cooking. This is BTB office. I have not been there but its a good thing to know that the BTB is a branch of the government here. They help protect and promote the tourism industry here in the country. If you would like info about the country see their web page. If you ever have a bad experience in Belize, this is who you would report concerns to.

Donut Shop. The owner said she was from Florida and in this place since the I think (as i try to remember what she told me a year ago) since the mid 70's.

WE stopped here once, but we see her donuts for sale in the big grocery stores. I am not a raised donut persons, I still love my Cinnamon-Sugar old fashion from the Swedish Bakery 3 doors down from my old office on main street in Lindstrom.

OK... this is the subway that closed I think around Christmas this past year. I am SO glad it did. I was told that this was the only place in Belize that was aloud to import all the meats, breads and etc as it is a franchise. Well, we had eaten there about 4 times in total... the first time was great... Ah, Subway like home. Then every time after that they would be out of stuff... and the meats just didn't taste "right" so we stopped going. Then all of a sudden it was closed. In the US we eat a lot of sandwiches... that is not case here. Lunches here are "chicken, rice and beans". We often find that sandwiches are just bread with one little slice of meat and a piece of cheese. Nothing fancy.

This is Chef Meats. VERY good beef (sometimes hard to find here)! And prime cuts of beef are about $2US a pound.

Peppers Pizza. A lot like Dominos.

Did you know that Marion Jones mother is form Belize? When she was in the Olympics and won medals this place was created and named for her in her honor. People we so proud to have a Belizean-American do so well.

But it was in her second Olympic that the drug/steriroid scandel happened and people her were so deeply hurt and sadend. There is talks of this place and other sports facilities and parks getting a major repair in the next year or so. You will see many people after work out walking the track here so it is still in use.

Now keep in mind, ther are often grants given by organizations and other countries to have things built... but that doesn't mean that there is going to be funding by the country who receives it to have the upkeep. So, its easy to look at a place and think "why did they let it fall apart" but the truth is there is no money to up keep it... Another example is when someone donated lights for a basketball court in a village. Wonderful thought and gift! People can play basketball at night! BUT who pays for the electricity? So the lights are not on. You want to send books or school supplies to a school for a doantion... but who pays the duties when they arrive? Everything takes planning. So, when you see something when you travel in a 3rd world or developing country that doesn't seem "right" in our North American eyes, you have to look through their eyes and understan their culture to see how beautiful it truly is.

This place was my "saving grace". Its like a mini Target. And in fact my bath towels are Target brand. They have a wonderful kitchen section, housewares, bedding, curtains, toys, electronics... everything! We have learned to live with far less shopping... but its still nice to just go and look ... men don't always understand that, but you ladies know what I am talking about.

So that is our view and favorite places of Belize City.

Belmopan... a few of our favorite things...

2009-08-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

This is Builders Hardware... They have Dutch Boy paint! And its big... not like Menard's, but bigger than a local Ace hardware.
Dainty Bakery! Great fresh breads! We don't eat bread every day so we like to have the nice whole wheat french bread with a nice meal.

Its in this little strip mall that also has a good coffee shop. The strip mall faces Brodie's picture below and between is a nice little park. Belmopan is the Capital of Belize. It has more housing communities that resemble that which you see in the states.

Brodie's! They have good groceries selection... much more variety than in Dangriga. They also have nice household things like bedding, dishes and decor.

This is the Art Box. It is as you leave Belmopan on the way to Belize City. It one stop souvenir shopping... but the building inside is so uniquely done its worth the stop.

Cool floors!

This is the hadn sink outside the bathroom!

Way cool!

Hummingbird Highway before Belmopan....

2009-08-14T14:30:00.000-07:00

We see a lot of orange farms along the way to Belize City. I just love how these things grow on the trees. I remember having a tiny little plant thing like this that grew on a magnet... who didn't have one of those?

When Phil and I first arrived n Belize in Oct 2007 Charlie and Pat picked us up at the International Airport. WE drove the Hummingbird Highway for the first time. It is SO beautiful!! and above is a photos of "Suicide Tree" as Pat and Charlie call it. If you miss the curve coming either direction.... oopsand this Desiree told me she calls Suicide Hill. (not knowing about suicide tree). Semi trucks come down and take the center to cut out the curve ... makes me nervous... this view is "going home" from Belize City... And this is the Sleeping Giant. You only notice him form the "coming home" view. Very cool. I am sure the Mayan 's worshiped and feared him.

Shell Station

2009-08-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

I think it will be easier for me to show some of our favorite things in little sets. We will see what I have tie for at the end of each day or early in the morning...as we have lots to post.

This is our favorite gas station... we always stop on our way to Belize City.

These are the people we see the most. Phil gives them a hard time and they always smile when they see us. Great service with a smile!
In the glass case are the chicken sandwiches. If something comes on a bun in Belize, it is called a burger... so actually this is a Chicken Burger.

It has shredded chicken, a little jalapeno/onion relish and a smear of cheese sauce...sometimes. Today's did. We love these things. That would be about as close to McDonald's or a chuck wagon as you can get. But no preservatives and additives like in the States.

Yumm! On the way to Belize City!

Phil's Shower...

2009-08-12T08:54:00.000-07:00

Jim and Lois- you will be glad that you are summering in Colorado! Phil has his new favorite thing about renting the ittle brown house... the out door shower.

Every day after work, Phil comes home and heads to the -well, I say Back of the house, Phil says front of the house... and takes his shower.

Non of our neighbors are in their houses right now... Lucky neighbors....

I saw a Parakeet!

2009-08-09T06:45:00.000-07:00

For a long time I have heard that parakeets are wild here in Belize. I have heard many many times the familiar loud chatter they make... But today on my way to work I saw one! It was a blue one... no doubt a relative of Misty, my Mom's second (an final) parakeet.

The Time Has Come...

2009-08-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

With mixed emotions we announce that we have given notice at our jobs and will be moving back to MN on Aug 28.

We don't have a lot of details yet but know in faith that all will fall into place.

So for now, we continue to enjoy our time here in Belize. Watch for more post of some of our favorite things and little stories to share.

Love PandV

What have we been up too...

2009-07-31T17:41:00.000-07:00

Time sure does fly.

We are in the final month before our trip home to MN and a visit to the UP of MI. I think that is on our minds the most. Family Vacations, friends, good food, and 2 little dogs.

We have been riding our new bikes to work each day. Yep, we have the coolest bikes on the block with fenders and a head light. Strange riding in the dark. But we have been luckly to not have any rain in our area for the past almost 2 weeks. The last post of the rain that came, well it flooded the road so we had to got through about 4 big puddles with no dry land around. Those puddles come form the marsh land on the non sea side of the road. One rainy night we did take the little red truck back to the house as we were doing our laundry at the resort...a crocodile crossed the road!!! SO... I don't like the idea of riding in the dark it there is water on the road.

The following photo is of the repaired road... they filled one of the big puddle area. Yes, this is repaired. Many of the dirt roads in Belize are like this...or worse. It takes 45 minutes to get from Hopkins to Dangriga... what would be 20 minutes on all paved US style roads. The dirt roads is the main reason why.
We don't go-go-go like we did when we first moved to Belize. WE go to Dangriga about once a month to maybe every other week. You plan every trip wisely... Driving is just not that fun.

Lets see... We are missing our friends Jim and Lois who are summering in Colorado and our friends Tony and Angela who are back in Alaska for about 6 weeks. Rugger is missing his Mommy and Daddy too... But Aunt Vicki and Uncle Phil are trying to spoil him!

So it mostly just Phil and I together... we love the game Phase 10 (and challenge Erika and Bridget to a wild card marathon in MI.)

Phil fixed the AC after the first week of being in our house. This week he fixed the washer and dryer! He even washed out the green water that was in the washing machine. What a great husband! He likes to surprise me with projects he finishes when I am working...I had to work a few days that we are normally both off. He also killed the first scorpien in our house. They do say if you see one, you have more. So we do keep our eyes open...

Also we are following closely Phil's nephew and his family as they go through the start of Chemo. Know that we are thinking of you and lifting you all up in prayer! www.caringbridge.org/visit/johnverly

SO I need to also get more photos of Hibiscus. I thought I got a photo of them all, but have found about 3 more I missed just on the resort grounds.

Another cool thing is I have had some guests staying at our resort tell me that they have been following our blog! So if you are coming to Belize and staying in the Hopkins area- drop us a line!

More soon!
~V&P

Hibiscus of the Week, Week 15

2009-07-22T07:15:00.000-07:00

Hibiscus of the Week, Week 14

2009-07-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

Hibiscus of the Week, Week 13

2009-07-10T07:14:00.000-07:00

Rain Over the Sea

2009-07-08T10:06:00.001-07:00

It was raining this morning. Thunder and lightning too! I

ts been a while since we had a thunderstorm roll through.
Our little house has a tin roof. I was awoken to this "strange loud noise" at 3 this morning. The building we lived in at the Resort was all concrete and we couldn't always hear rain and thunder. So it was strange this morning as I tried to figure out what was going on is a half asleep state.

More rain came in around 6 this morning....

When you see this coming you have about 5 minutes to shut your windows! Its the distance that makes it look so cool, once it close enough to you the sky just looks gray.

Sugar Cane

2009-07-08T09:57:00.001-07:00

The norther part of Belize is know as the cane area. Once upon a time it was more in the southern area, as the old plant form the 1800's in here in Sittee River. Hence, Orange Walk district and town was then the orange grove area... now its this area. Funny how things go.

Here are some stocks of sugar cane. I remember seeing it for sale in Rainbow in Forest Lake, so give this a try sometime.

This one has a shoot, so we will plant it. I guess in 6 months it will have mature stocks.

You cut above or below the joints, then stand it up and slice off the green. Cut into sticks. You just chew on them and "drink" the sweet water. We have had them soaked in Pineapple Juice and put into a drink as a swizzle stick. Very nice!

Dangriga Town

2009-07-08T09:16:00.001-07:00

Here are a few places in Dangriga we frequent.

The post office Our PO Box
OK the first set at the 01-100 or so. the next set is the 200's and the third set are the 100's.

Most all the restaurants in the Hopkins area buy fresh corn tortilla from here. They use them for fresh chips... Good stuff!

Making corn masa

This is what forms them, cooks them and then sends them down the line to be packaged and sold.

Our favorite place... A&D hardware.

You order all your things at the counter, they write it up, then another person checks the receipt then you go over to the cash counter to pay. So the other day it took about 45 minutes to get 5 items. But the guys who work there are very helpful and fun to visit with. They keep a tight system on their inventory, that is for sure!

They call Phil "Mr. Spa" sometimes.

You have to time any trips to Dangriga very carefully. All government businesses close form 12-1 or 1:30. Many of the stores as well... like A&D, but the "Chinese stores" (most little groceries stores) stay open. Also if you are not at the front door at 7:50 when the bank opens... you can expect to stand in line for at least 30-60 minutes to get to a teller. If you go just before lunch or in the early afternoon, its not as bad. Never go the day before a holiday! And Mondays and Fridays are not so good either.

Summer Windows

2009-07-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

I remember growing up as a child and watching the tree frogs sit on our window screens on hot summer nights and catch bugs.

The other night we came home to this in our window... I think I like tree frogs better.

The underbelly of a Wish Willy

Critters'

2009-07-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

So when it rains, the ground fills with water and these little guys come out. Crabs. I guess they are a land crab. You see their holes everywhere in this country! And so in the evening they come out and kinda try to take over.

I have seen them come into the dining room at JRl and the other night here were about 20 on Tony and Angel's deck.

The other night we were there, there was just a few.
Some do get very big. We have been told that a claw from a big one could pop a tier. I have gone for my walk in the morning and the have run at me instead of from me. Silly little things.

Right now at the Almond Beach Pool we have a hatching of baby iguanas. They love these purple flowers.

That same morning as I took the photo of the iguana, this humming bird was just feet from me. My lens was still "foggy" from coming out of the AC. Very beautiful!!

Sun Sets

2009-07-04T14:16:00.000-07:00

Just a few shots off the dock at Beaches and Dreams the other night. So beautiful the sun set. It almost like the sun setw to our North this time of year.
Thunder cloud

Hibiscus of the Week, Week 12

2009-07-03T07:13:00.000-07:00

A MN Cabin on the Caribbean Sea

2009-07-02T06:29:00.001-07:00

We decided to rent a house down the road about a mile from the Resorts. The price was right and its nice to have a place all our own. We moved in on the 29-30 of June. Can you believe it took 3 trucks loads to move us from a one room apartment to the little house? And that is no furniture being moved. We have purchased a lot of things along the way... mostly kitchen things as we love to cook.

Now, being I have never lived on a lake I don't know the answer to this... I call the front of the house the side that faces the road... Phil says the front faces the Sea or Lake back home. So if anyone has the correct answer, let me know. So we will make it fare and call it the road side and sea side...

This is the view as you walk into the house form the road side. This is before we cleaned it up. It even smells like a MN cabin! Nice BIG kitchen! Lots of cupboard, a 2 sided sink, and a DISH WASHER! The oven and stove even have a broiler!!!! Its so great! Below is the sink and stove... there are vines growing in the window... we hope on our next days off to have someone help with the much needed yard work.

Below is going out the door to the road side and the little door to the right is the bathroom.

HUGE fridge too! Bedroom door just past the fridge.

Then the bed room: Remember, this is before I have cleaned, moved furniture and set up my bedding. Bedroom connect to bathroom as well. it is also, as a bonus, the hottest room in the house!

King size bed. nice and firm!
We went form one short dresses with 3 drawers to these to babies! The furniture is made by the Mennonites. Beautiful stuff!

Notice the AC in the wall. Well, it doesn't work. And that leads to a "Well, that's Belize" story. I guess these things have a frame that mounts into the wall. The AC's are screwed into the frame for shipping purposes. When you install one, you unscrew the unite form the frame, install the frame then slide in the AC unite. Well, not so much in Belize... Phil has found many AC's that are still screwed into frames with shipping screws and installed into the walls...as the one in our little house. But to add to the wonder of it all, the wood trim around the AC is GLUED ON TO THE WALL!! Above, looking back to the road side door. Got to love our table and chairs! And this is the "family room" or "TV room"... The TV works!!! It takes a bit to warm up and have the picture come in clear... Anyone have that at their cabin too?

OK... if you walked all the way to the end of the house, this is the last part. The old porch that was finished into a room. You can see the air matres in the corner... we have been sleeping there in the evening breeze... very nice. Then we are up with the sunrise. I love this room! We play cribbage here, read books and I have my morning coffee looking out to sea. This is the little screen porch that has another door going outside to the Sea Side...

Front of the house... I mean Road Side of the house. Notice all the weeds. Yes that is a nice garage. It has a broken washer and a broken dryer fully included in the rent! :-) Phil is going to do his best to fix them. Please also not the nice big beautiful beach house to our left. Most of the houses in this area look like that... ours is one in a million! And for sale! I think like 400,something...
This is the side yard. These are hibiscus and another flowering bush... that is the vines that are growing into the kitchen windows. We plan on making it look good over the next few months.

So this is the Sea Side below

It has a shower on the back, that kinda nice. I washed all our plastic furniture outside there this morning before work. The sun dries things fast.

And there is our beach. We are in a shallow area so it take a long walk to get to where you can swim free. The beach needs some TLC too... lots of a"stuff" to clean up.

So, that is our latest.

Tickets to Minneapolis... Check!

2009-06-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

We are getting SO EXCITED to come home!! I purchased our tickets today... We will land in MSP at 9:56 p.m. on Friday August 28, 2009.

We depart back to Belize on Friday September 11, 2009 at 6:40 a.m.... maybe with two little dogs too! Got to love being at the airport at 4 in the morning!

No itinerary set yet... we plan to go to MI the first week after a Cross celebration on the 29 or 30th. But there is an Aerosmith Concert n the 8th that we may see or at least got to Minneapolis with friend who are going and enjoy the city for a night. Grandsons to kiss and take to the water park! A little shopping.... Lunch with the ladies.... Lots of gathering with family and friends... Its a lot to fit into 2 weeks!

Please Pray for John

2009-06-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

We ask that you bring Phil's nephew John Verly into your prays as the Verly and Cross family go through this very difficult time. John has a newly found brain tumor.

Here is the link to his Caring Bridge web page. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/johnverly

Many of you who were at our wedding reception may remember him as our "Master of Ceremony". He is a vivacious and fun young man, filled with Love. Please pray for him and his family.

Cousin Sam, John and his sister Nancy

Hibiscus of the Week, Week 11

2009-06-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hibiscus of the Week, Week 10 (falling behind)

2009-06-21T07:09:00.000-07:00

I wish the pink color showed more, its a "Hot Pink". Beautiful!

Birthday Boy in MN

2009-06-20T13:57:00.000-07:00

Guess Who is TWO Today!
http://mamabelly.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday James!!!
Love
Pappy and Nana

Cheeseburger in Paradise!

2009-06-18T11:30:00.001-07:00

I can see some of you just rolling your eyes in disbelief

and some of you totally understanding our joy!

A few weeks ago now our friends Jim and Lois headed back to Colorado for a little getaway. When we were asked if there was anything we needed from the States we were quick to respond with McDonald's Cheeseburgers! And while they were gone the had emailed me with a question and my response had between every third word {cheeseburger} the old subliminal trick!

Now, I know what you are thinking... who on earth would eat a cheeseburger that came all the way from the States to Belize? Wouldn't it be "bad" by then? Well, I think that our stomachs have just about adjusted to anything from living here. So often foods that are prepared sit unrefrigerated for hours until sold. Hey, we don't live in North America. Things we view as normal in the States, just are not the norm around here. So, Preservative filled Cheeseburgers sitting for 4 hours on a flight and drive formTexas to Belize... no problem!

The cheeseburgers arrived this past Sat... and on Sunday we were invited to have a cocktail with Jim and Lois at Tony and Angela's. I had no idea that the subliminal trick had worked! As a total surprise to me, (they let Phil know the plan so we didn't make dinner plans), ketchup and mustard first arrived to the table. I thought they were joking until a larger tray of Quarter Pounders With Cheese were set in front of us! I was so excited! So Phil and I ate 2 each... and had the stomach ache to prove it for the rest of the night and the next morning... Overdose!!! The last time I had McDonald's was late March when Phil and I went to Mexico. Before that was October 2008 and before that was last fall when I was home. So... for those who love the Golden Arches the way I do... you can just feel my joy. But at the same time, there is a reason I think we have both lost weight living in Belize.

It was a great treat, not as good as fresh, but WONDERFUL none the less!

Lois, Phil, Me and Daniel. Photo by Jim

Welcome Ruger!

2009-06-14T14:35:00.001-07:00

This is Ruger. He has a new home with Tony and Angela at Beaches and Dreams! He arrived on Friday form Minnesota!! He was born and trained at Autumn Breeze kennels in Isle, MN.

He is such a sweet dog!

Love his markings

My friend....

2009-06-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

This is Horacio. He is a wish willy. He lives under the sidewalk by the spa. Wish willy are lizards that may be related to iguanas, but live under concrete and in roof tops where iguanas live in trees and gardens.

I talk to him every day and even toss him a fresh flower or two. I think its so cute that he gets little flower crumbs stuck to his lips.

OK... I have been away form my dogs too long! Phil teases me that I will soon be hand feeding him and have a little pink sweater for it.

Three More....

2009-06-10T10:23:00.001-07:00

So we have had 3 more earthquakes in this past week. Maybe just after shocks. To be honest, we slept through them all.

Hibiscus of the Week, Week 9

2009-06-08T07:08:00.000-07:00

Rainy Season...

2009-06-01T06:43:00.000-07:00

When we moved down here last year we were told that you could set your watch to Rainy Season starting on June 1st. Last year it started to rain on June 1 and we had the flood on June 2nd.

Today I woke up to hearing thunder... and it is raining...and it is June 1st.

This is where I was planning to spend my day off... sitting in the sun. Oh well.

Happy 41st Anniversary to my Mom and Dad!
Lots of Love!

from the earthquake...

2009-05-31T07:26:00.000-07:00

This is a boat house down the road form us. It is still under constructions. It has some damage form the earthquake. You can see where things pulled apart. I guess there are a few more down that way that were affected by the quake. Mostly still under construction.

I still can't believe that there was so little damage to the area... We are so lucky and blessed!

I wonder if they will be able to repair it or if they will have to tear it down.

It is a boat house. It is on the channel that connect to the Sittee River. Across the street is the main house... very big and beautiful. All the houses in this part of the development have their home on the sea and a lot on the channel to get their boats onto the Sittee River. There are a lot of homes for sale "turn key" if you are thinking of moving down or want a vacation home!

Hibiscus of the Week, Week 8

2009-05-31T07:07:00.000-07:00

Earthquake!!

2009-05-28T12:14:00.000-07:00

Phil and I awoke at around 2:30 this morning wondering what was going on... Then in a bit of a dream state I yelled "The building is collapsing run to the Beach"! Well the building was safe and sound but we were having an earthquake.

For my staff in the village they said it lasted about 2-5 minutes starting with some swaying then it shook hard. A lot of the homes in the village are a simple wood construction and they say their houses just swayed. In Independence, just south of us the water tower fell down and some homes there and in my beloved Monkey River homes were destroyed.

The water level did drop some, but the sunomie warnings were called off before 5 a.m.

I guess this past weekend there was an earthquake in Mexico. Some of Belize's power comes form there and some areas were effected. Also in the past Belize has felt some of the tremmers from quakes in Mexico and Guatemala, but no quakes based here.

When I looked at this map, I cant believe how lucky we are that we didn't get a wall of water or worse damage.

Our first Earthquake. One is enough for us!

Safe and Sound with Love

PandV

A note from my Dad

2009-05-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

SO I got this email the other day from my Dad who has the privilege of taking care of our dogs back home in Minnesota. I just got such a kick out of it I thought I should share it on our blog.

Greetings ALL I am starting to enjoy the signs of summer (we have four seasons here in MN ya know). How you know it's summer can be seen just watching Frieda. When it's summer she wants to lay in her bed on the deck and watch the world go by and pick and choose who or what she wants to bark at. Given the chance (run on a short rope) she will keep a squirrel up the pine tree for an hour. Yesterday on their romp they found a mouse nest and Frieda caught a baby and carried it around for twenty minutes playing with it. I had to finally take it away from her - not an easy task I might add as I didn't want her to swallow it. For some reason she liked to roll on it and I got my chance to get it. Now that was all well and good but nothing to the night before when on her nine o'clock + potty break she came back on the deck and caught a large body moth. Well she carried it in the family room and proceeded to first pull off it's legs, stomp on it, lay next to it nose to nose, and finally when it stopped moving - try to give it flying lesson. You know throw it up in the air time after time. Well she finally gave up and I tossed the wet carcass in the trash.

Hibiscus of the Week, Week 7

2009-05-26T07:06:00.000-07:00

My personal favorite, and the signature flower of Butterflie Spa.

Hibiscus of the Week, Week 6

2009-05-20T07:05:00.000-07:00

Hibiscus of the Week, Week 5

2009-05-13T07:04:00.000-07:00

Thursday Part One

2009-05-07T13:59:00.001-07:00

A few months ago Phil and I went to Miss Emma's Farm.

Today I took my parents

Meet Miss Emma and Mr. H.L. Haney Mr Haney bought the farm in 1982. He saw it by air as there was no road. 1 mile across and five miles deep... I forget how many acres that is. He is from southern Louisiana. He spends much of his time here, but his wife and family are back in the States. It was about 5 years ago that Miss Emma moved to the farm as somewhat of a care taker. She asked for a 10 feet by 10 feet garden and look what became of it! This woman has such incredible vision of gardening and landscaping. Its so beautiful here, food is great too!

When we arrived Mr. Haney took us in his truck for a drive around the farm. We saw the shrimp farm and all sorts of fruit trees and veggies. Here are some more photos from the trip.

Black Orchid. The National Flower of Belize

Purple Bohemian Flower

Gardenia

Yellow Passion Fruit

2 kinds of Mango. Oh My Gosh, I love Mangos!!!

Pear Apples

I have never seen a bird of Paradise so big in my life!!

After lunch was the walking tour.

These are all in the Bird of Paradise family

Aren't these cool!

Shaped like a Parrot beak

They call these Monkey Tails

Pink Bohemian Flower

In June and July the Avocado will be ready to harvest. We will be going back then for sure! They have so many trees!!! They don't even sell their stuff... its all a bit of a hobby farm.

Not sure what we will do tonight. Tomorrows plan is that Phil will have Friday and Sat off and we will drive to Belize. See the Zoo and a few other things. Spend the night and bring Mom and Dad to the air port on Sat. Then we will head back to Hopkins. I will update more soon!

Wednesday...A day of rest

2009-05-07T13:42:00.001-07:00

A day to do "nothing much" makes a vacation! Sun on the Vista Suite Veranda

Showing off the shells he got on his fishing trip. They were SO SMELLY! For anyone who knows my Dad, he loves a project! So his first project of the trip was to wash and bleach the shells. Poor Phil had to ride in the boat with the smelly shells in front of them... blowing the smell in their faces. Now they are clean and beautiful. Sending a few home to the States.

An afternoon swim

Then a little Rum Raisin ice cream cone

Then a special dinner by our own private chef, Phil Cross-Chin.

In other words, he made Chinese! :-) Yummy!

Rain delay on the Twins game so it was off to bed early for all.

Tuesday Monkey River Tour

2009-05-06T12:18:00.000-07:00

After a lot of sun on Monday, we were glad there were clouds starting off on Tuesday. We drove again to Mango Creek/Independence and parked the truck and met our Guide, Ralph for the tour.
This is Ralph! He did a great tour!

Sunburn form Monday fishing... We are closest to the sun in May and September.. it takes about 8 minutes to burn!

Wind blown!

This is a Banana Boat! The tug boat pulls it through channel. It will go into the boat yard and be filled up. Most of the Banana's here go to Europe.

The start of the town. No electricity. No cars. I like it!

A view from further back.

up the river we go. These are lobster traps. Lobster season starts again in June. Did you know that our fish and lobster are sold to Red Lobster!!??!!

Our guide showed us SO many things. Lots of birds nesting... great wild like tour. Here are the little bats. So small...

We watched this little guy clime up onto the branch... the sun came out for the river portion of the trip.

OK... look hard. Do you see the Iguana? Bright green. The palm on the left points right to the tip of his nose. So neat!! You can see his body too.

this little guy was next to where we parked the boat to go into the jungle

Jaguar paw print in the dried mud

This little guy is about 2 months old. So cool hanging all by himself. His Mama has his twin by her to the right.

More family hanging out together. After the hurricane in 2001, the most Howler Monkeys you would see together was 4. Now the troupes are back up to 8-12. This is great!

Palm (I forget what kind) seeds. about 4 feet of them hanging.

after the river and jungle you come back for a great lunch! We had Snook (a white fish) or Chicken with rice and stewed yellow peas. SO GOOD!!! I love the food in Belize!

The boat we were in looking down the town. Still my favorite tour in Belize!

Sunday and Monday...

2009-05-06T11:59:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, Mom and Dad headed out for their first tour in Belize. They went to the Mayan Ruins sight called Xunantunich. They had a good time...but it was a bit much for Mom after being so sick. She made the hike up one of the height structures and had to lay down at the top. She wishes she had photos of the group trying to sacrifice her to the gods, but no luck. She cooled down, climbed down and let the rest of the group finished the other hikes. They had a good trip though!

On Monday, Phil and I had the day off and they Boys chose to go fishing. My camera lense was fogged over from it being in the AC all morning, so forgive the blurred shots. Their guide, Patrick
See ya later! And they caught fish too! Barracuda, grouper and some other things.

Mom and I headed down to Placensia.
We took the Hokey Pokey water taxi from Mango Creek/Independence to Placensia as the road is over 20 miles of rough dirt to get there. It saves over an hour by taking the boat.

Once in Placensia we walked in the hot sun all around town. Lots of neat little shops and arts to look at.
We had lunch at the Bare Foot Bar and Restaurant. Very good food! Fun art! Fun day for all!

Saturday, Rest...

2009-05-06T11:49:00.000-07:00

Well, by Saturday Mom was feeling much much better and finally had a bit of an appetite. So we went to Hamanasi for lunch. Great Food! Beautiful Place. The nice thing about the resorts in Hopkins is that all the resorts have a different feel and focus.

Its fun to visit each one to see a unique side of Belize.Phil was at work... again... but he loves his work! We also stopped at the old Sugar Mill in Sittee river. We got a bit of a tour this time with a worker. This is a Fig tree! There is also equipment at the sight from Virginia dated back to the 1860's. Way back when, the sugar cane area was here in the south, and the north was citrus... hence the town Orange Walk. Now the south is all citrus and the sugar is all in the north.

Another Friday Night at Beaches and Dreams!

2009-05-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

OK Baseball Fans!! I have to start with this. On Friday I met David Johnson and his wife Susan. He was the head coach of the Dodgers and when he was with the Mets, he is the man who brought Ron Gardenhire up to the Major Leagues. He still coaches the World League (Slowey helped the US beat Cuba this spring, and he missed Joe as he already had the back injury) and was a coach of the Olympic Team too His wife Susan was head of the Wives organization as well. (Head Barbie Doll as she called it) Nicest people you would ever want to meet!
Dad and Phil played Baci Ball too. We had our Friday Night Pizza. Mom was feeling better, but not great. You can see her bandage over her IV.

Look Who Landed in Belize!

2009-05-06T11:05:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, April 28 my parents arrived for their first trip to Belize!! I surprised them by waiting at the Belize International Air Port after Phil and I did some last minute shopping. We flew into Dangriga and all got settled into the Vista Suite. We had dinner at Hamanasi. The next morning we had breakfast and headed to Dangriga to see where we shop , bank and do all that kind of thing. Dad was sporting his new hat, but Mom was starting to not feel so well. We all ate the same things... and we were all just fine. In fact, Wednesday night Mom got very, very sick. We took her on Thursday morning to Nurse Judy! She gave her a shot to stop the nausea, pills to stop the diarrhea, and something to kill any kind of parasite she may have had. She had to go back that evening to get on an IV to rehydrate. On Friday morning, Mom felt better, but had one more IV. By Saturday morning Mom and Dad were off on their trips and tours. Once again, Thank You Nurse Judy!!!!! I honestly don't know what would have happened if you had not been here!!
These photos were taken today!

Hybiscus of the Week, Week 4

2009-05-06T07:03:00.000-07:00

Hibiscus of the Week, Week 3

2009-04-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

Hibiscus of the Week, Week 2

2009-04-21T07:01:00.000-07:00

Remember the Alaska I?

2009-04-13T05:13:00.000-07:00

If you look back to January 23, you will remember the fate of the Alaska I. Well, since then Tony has had it fixed up and repainted. And He and Phil got it in the water on March 29 and on March 30 we four went on a little fishing adventure.
Please notice the wood pole in the boat. It is about 15 feet long

This is Emery. His nick name is Machine. He works for Tony and Angela as their yard guy and maintenance guy. He is a fun guy and works like a machine!!
So off we went... without our paddles.... and it was on the way back, close to shore and in sight of Tony an Angela's that fore some reason the motor decided it had done its part for the day. We were in luck that the waves were bringing us in at a good pace, and the guys were fishing so we were not too concerned. Phil decided to start pushing the boat with the big pole. And it was working great at moving us north to the Tony and Angela's place until the poll got stuck in the ocean floor. It stuck straight up, we laughed so hard. So Phil and Tony jumped in and guided us back to shore. They tied he to a mooring for the night and we could still see the pole.

The next morning, March 31, they guys fixed the motor and set out for another day of fishing. But someone had already take the pole!! Angela and I celebrated my birthday sampling some tropical drinks and swimming.

Now the story continues with the "cold front" we had this past week. Very odd for this time of year to go from 90+ each day to the mid 70- low 80's (I know, I know sounds "sick" to say it was cold). The big waves came in and the boat, she went under... Tony and Phil got it back on land and the next day got her back on the water... then she broke loose and they had to get her onto shore again. Its a big show when this happens as some is done by hand and by truck... They are designing something that they can get the boat in and out of the water per trip. Phil has most of the parts, he just needs 2 tire rims to finish it. He is having a hard time finding them here.

Hibiscus of the Week, Week 1

2009-04-11T06:52:00.000-07:00

Inspired with Bridget's "Wordless Wednesday" and "Photo of the Week" I attempt to introduce "Hibiscus of the week". All of the hibiscus are from the grounds of Jaguar Reef Lodge-Almond Beach Resort. Each one is a different variety and color... I think their at 16 on the grounds.

I hope you enjoy them!

Cho Cho

2009-04-11T06:34:00.001-07:00

Here is our new favorite Vegetable. The Cho Cho.

It can be steamed,stir fried, put in soup or stew or eaten raw in a salad. It has a very nice crunch, with not much taste except the taste of "fresh veggie". Peel it,
Take out the center

Chop it up

Enjoy!

This blog is dedicated to Erika and Bridget for your "Whats for Din Din" postings!

Monkey River

2009-04-09T10:39:00.000-07:00

My boss, Pat, took me on this tour with her last month... another tough day at the office! Thank you, Pat!

The tour is called "The Monkey River Tour". It think it is a must see!

We drove about an hour south of Hopkins and parked the van in Independence and took a boat across a beautiful and large lagoon. You would think it was the Sea, but technically it is a lagoon. Along the way we learned about the Hurricane that hit that area in 2001 or 2002. We arrived in t Monkey River Town after about 30 minutes on the boat. The town is only accessible by boat. It has no electricity, so people have generators. We places out lunch order at the cafe,(chicken or fish with rice and beans) and got back onto the boat. We then started up the river.

Monkey River was a town settled with Banana farms. It goes bask to the early 1900's. Lots of neat history! Along the way we saw a lot of wild life!!
Crocks

Birds

A little bat! See him? I cant believe the guide spotted this little thing from 10 yards away while moving up the river! The guides are amazing in this country! They really know their stuff!

This is a Boa sleeping in the tree... I took this photo from the boat.

We went up the river for about a half hour and pulled up to shore. I took this photo of the same Boa from the land. See his head? We then started on a jungle walk. It was an easy, flat walk through the jungle on the look out for Howler Monkeys.

You are guaranteed you will see Monkeys when you take this tour!

It was not long before we saw them. My photos are not that great... See them?!

We walked into this area of the jungle and there was this cluster of Bamboo. I have never seen bamboo like this! And the locals were saying you have to be careful where you plant Bamboo because this is what it like to do, it grows like a "weed". This is why so many things are being made "GREEN" with bamboo. (That is for you, Mr Burrill!- Go Green!)

Now, you can tell how HUGE this stuff grows... It was amazing.

Remember the movie Jurrasic Park and King Kong... Sometimes I look over my shoulder to see what is behind me.

So, Did you know that the HowlerMonkey is the third loudest animal in the world. Its almost scary to hear them. And they are not that big. In the video below you will hear the guide hitting his machete against the tree and call to the... the monkey yells back.

We headed back to the cafe for lunch. Very good as most lunches in Belize are. Then we headed back across the lagoon. This time a bit slower as the Lagoon is a habitat for manatees. And we saw quite a few! No photos.. as they are quick with their nose up and back under they go. We had left at 9 a.m. form the resort and were back by 3:15. It was one of the best tours I have been on! You get to see a small town culture, the beauty of Belize Rivers, the jungle, wild life, and a nice little lunch too!

Catamaran Trip

2009-04-08T07:13:00.000-07:00

I cant believe this was about a month ago already. I have to say this is one of the best trips we have been on so far. Not just the fun group that ended up going with, but it was an amazing trip start to end.

The front of the Boat with our gang. We start on the Sittee River and motor down.
Oh Captain My Captain!

I call this my Little Mermaid Dress

Going down the River. I think I have fallen in love with Rivers! In our area they are surrounded by jungle... so beautiful!

The front of the Catamaran is netting. Sometimes you get a nice cool "Splash"!

This is the Marina. This is where all the resorts in our area gas up their tour vans and boats for trips and tours. The boast stay there too. We picked up a group of about 9 ladies traveling together staying at Belizean Dreams.

So once off the river, we go for an hour or so into the big blue. They feed you along the way and have beer and pop and Rum Punches too. Then the water turns 5 different shades of blue as you reach the reefs. It never shows up on the photos and its so hard to describe.

First Stop, a snorkel near some coral.

And then a cocktail break and Nachos on the boat.

Second stop. Wee Wee Caye. Now, its a marine lab so students form all over come and stay here. There is a care taker and two of the fattest dogs you have ever seen!

I joked that they must eat lost tourists!

Wee Wee Caye is about the size of some people's back yard. It has the highest population of snakes than any other place on earth. Can you believe that?! Well, I guess of pythons or is it boas... . And I did not see one! But I guess they are all over the trees, minding their own business.

The other thing I have fallen in love with in Belize is Mangroves. They are so beautiful! Belize has some of the oldest in the world. Here on Wee Wee Caye they have little "rooms" for students to sleep in built into the mangroves. There are paths like this going through the Mangroves and you come out on the other side of the Caye to the edge of the reef.

I could just sit for hours right here....

So they fed us dinner at Wee Wee Caye and we headed back The Captain made on more stop as our group was not in a hurry to get home. We did one more swim and were on our way back. We had Cheese Cake as we watched the sun set. It was dark when we arrived back to the dock and got in our cars. This is a must trip when you come down! Only $70US per person

San Ignacio

2009-03-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we went to explore the Cayo district. We went to San Ignacio. We stayed at the Cahal Pech Resort. It is up on a hill side near the Cahal Pech Maya Ruin.

They have a hotel with rooms or you can stay in a cabana. We stayed in a cabana. Simple, and clean. Some have been remodeled.

The view on the hill top is SO beautiful!
Our CabanaOver looking the city and at night the light twinkle. So nice and relaxing

Above the restaurant and below he bar areaThe pool was very nice! 2 pools actually. One upper and one lower.This guy over looks the upper pool!!

The next morning we walked around town went to the market. The veggies and fruits were SO fresh! Much fresher than in our Market in Dangriga. We found basil and raspberries! HEAVEN! They have lots of shops and great little places to try different wonderful foods. We had 3 small tacos for $1.00 BZ ($.50US) Belize is just filled with the nicest people too. this are is mostly the Spanish and Maya culture. It is close to the Guatemala boarder so you do have a lot of trucks going through the town, traffic is more like a city...as it is a city. You can get a tour to Tikal the Maya ruins in Guatemala as its just a few hours drive form San Ignacio. Wonderful place! A great place to go if you are traveling around the country!

http://www.belizex.com/san_ignacio.htm

Emergency Ceramic Engineer Back Up

2009-03-10T09:23:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Tony and Angela's kitchen assistant was sick. So they asked Phil if he could fill in. Phil was very excited to be back in the kitchen, even though it was to just wash dishes.

Phil, his Hot Sauce apron and his dish pan hands. He had a good time.

Carol and George From Lindstrom, MN!!

2009-03-10T09:13:00.001-07:00

Carol has been a client and friend of mine for a long time now! She and her hubby, George, decided to go on a winter vacation and decided to come visit us in Belize. They stayed in Almond Beach and we got to spend a good amount of time with us.

They were our "test couple" for trips and tours with our insides scoop. We had so much fun and a weeks is just not enough time! Thank you George an Carol for sharing your vacation with us!

From Last Years Flood

2009-03-10T08:58:00.000-07:00

This is a view of the old Kendal Bridge. It was destroyed in last Junes flood.

This is the bridge remains washed down stream.
South End of the old Bridge

North side of the bridge. People talk about how that night in the flood the rivers flooded. A storm came off the ocean, another storm came from Guatemala and they met over the mountains. It was more than just the rivers flooding, it was a wall of water that wiped out so much. They say there was a tree jam that took out the Kendal Bridge.

Now, the road diverts down the bank a little and this bridge is the temporary bridge. Over the summer it got washed out a few times. Its not very high up and has no sides... kinda strange to drive over. When you see cars going over, you park and wait your turn. Sometimes there are people there to monitor the traffic, but not always.

Orange Trees in Bloom

2009-03-10T08:43:00.000-07:00

Last month the Orange trees were in bloom. The beautiful scents would fill the air as you drive by the many many orange groves through out Belize. We picked this and it scented our appartment! They harvest the current crop as the trees bloom for the next crop. Next Harvest should be in June or so. The oranges here are more green on the outside and are mostly for juicing. Citrus Valley is located close to us in Stann Creek District. The juice is so good!

Ever wonder what happens to the rined and pulp after the juicing? It is use to feed live stock and as a fertilizer. It has the most disgusting smell too... can't eve describe it!

Cockscomb Basin Wild Life Preserve

2009-03-10T08:21:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago... OK, it was like a month ago, Phil and I took a morning trip to Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Preserve. It is know around here a just The Jaguar Preserve as well.

Signs as you drive into the preserve
Always love this saying
This is in front of the Information Center and Gift Shop.
An Ant trail. Amazing busy little workers!

Beautiful all around!

Places to swim and tube (ready, Dan and Diane?)

So many plants growing wild that we have in our homes in the States

One can camp and hike for days in this place. Here is the web page for more!
http://www.belize-vacation.com/belize/cockscomb.htm

Cold Fronts

2009-02-04T07:37:00.000-08:00

Friday was a beautiful day... then the Cold Front came in. This is Saturday afternoon. Not all cold front blow in this hard but they always are cool and full of rain.
I feel so bad for our guests who's trip is more rain then sun. I think we have had more rain then sun this winter... it has been an unusual winter here. We are past hurricane season. Far too cold now.

Sunday was cloudy and Monday was sunny and nice again.
Yesterday was cloudy with showers... today is sun again...

Friday Nights

2009-02-04T07:28:00.000-08:00

Friday night we play Bachi Ball at Beaches an Dreams. Phil is the official referee. Thanks to Jim and Lois he is now very official in his Referee shirt. A while back Phil built a Snadboni to drag the course after each game. So, the looser of the game has to drag the course as some of us chant "Oh-E-Oh" the march from the Wizard of OZ. I'll have to get Sandboni Photos Friday....Oh, Yes that is a megaphone that Phil made! And the tape measure to, well, measure who is closer.

Green inside, Red throws!

Manatees off the Dock

2009-02-04T07:15:00.000-08:00

Friday was Dock Massage day. It was a perfect day to be working in my "outdoor office". Eunes and I were massaging away, when we noticed that the Manatees were out feeding. They come down the river and feed on the sea grass. There were 3 of them, more than likely a family. They were not too far off the dock. You will see their rump and tail when they dive down or sometimes their nose. I went and got my camera, but its like the watched pot that never boils. So no good shots... But her is my best one... that is its nose.... I think....

New Mailing Address

2009-02-04T06:59:00.000-08:00

We now have a Post Office Box in Dangriga. You can continue to mail things C/O Jaguar Reef Lodge in Hopkins Village, but we found out that some things have been sent back saying we don't live there...

Phil and Vicki Cross
PO Box 155
Dangriga Town
Stann Creek District
Belize, Central America

So feel free to drop us a line! We love mail!

Ms. Emma's Farm

2009-01-30T06:05:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday, Phil and I went to Ms. Emma's Farm with some of our friends for lunch. Ms Emma is a Philippino woman who owns many acres of farm land. She has trees of all sort of tropical fruits, local and not, vegetables, flowers, orchids, and a shrimp farm. We walked and drove around and got to pick some fruits from the trees. We found what we though was a tangerine tree, until we popped a piece into our mouths... it was a Jamaican Lime tree... tart! Offtah! Ms Emma and her workers made a lunch of fried bread fruit, that was like a potato chip, egg rolls, and then shrimp and pork chops for the main course. Also fresh pina colodas too. Way too much food, but you can walk it off in the beautiful gardens.
Shrimp Fields

Inside Ms Emma's guest dining room

The Kitchen

Different Fruits form the farm

Tiger the Cat. All farms need a good mouser.

Pineapple plant

Star Fruit

This is for you, Dad, and all other gardeners... This is a 2 year old eggplant plant!

Mango tree

Ylang Ylang

Animal Sightings!

2009-01-23T14:48:00.000-08:00

On a trip to Placencia we saw our first Coatimundi. A member of the Raccoon family. You often see them traveling in groups.

And our first Crocodile.

A Few New Friends

2009-01-23T13:47:00.000-08:00

These are a few of our friends we have gotten to know over the past few months. They would fit in nicely with our friends and family back home... or you would all fit in well down here... We have meet a few people that are, well, odd to say the least.

But as a English woman from Placencia who has lived down here for some 9 years pointed out to us... "Do you know anyone "normal" who moved here?"

Ahhh so true... so true...

Tony and Angela... Beaches and Dreams (http://beachesanddreams.com/) He is an Italian Chef, she is a Pastry Chef! Back in April last year she made the Chocolate Caramel Peanut Torte for Easter... Dessert is a must! BBQ Smoked Chicken Pizza is a must as well!! This is were we play Baci Ball on Fridays... Phil is the Baci Ball ref and organizer. Tony and Angela are form Fairbanks Alaska. They will be returning to Alaska for one more summer before moving down here for good. Phil and I will be keeping an eye on their place while it is closed for the summer.

Jim and Lois... Jim is a fishing guide (www.permitalleyanglers.com) here and has the most interesting life stories that include treasure hunting and flying airplanes. Lois lives in Colorado and comes down once a month... we know when she is here because it rains just about her full visit... and the sun comes out when she leaves... I wish I could say its just a joke... but the sun came out after a week of rain THE DAY she left last month and its raining today... her flight is in at 5! She loves her job back in the states, but is moving back down here soon. Jim and Lois managed a small resort on a Key for something like a year or two here in Belize.

Hair Here

2009-01-23T13:36:00.000-08:00

Before....

After....

This photo was taken by a travel writer. She will be writing articles with photos to magazines...in this case Spa and travel magazines. She will let me know if she get in one! Kinda neat! We have also had a writer for the New York Times visit us on her vasation.

My hair grows about an inch a month and my finger nails have never grown so fast and so hard as they do here. I always wanted long nails... now I have to work to keep them short!

Now, this is a BUG!

2009-01-23T13:20:00.001-08:00

The other day, I was leaving the apartment and I opened the door to see this!
Ha Ha Phil!

He found it on a path through the sand and went and got one of the gardeners to confirm that it was dead... Phil wanted to share this with you all. No, I have never seen on alive or in any rooms or in the apartment. Don't worry!