Random Pics and Travel Plans

I haven't posted anything for a bit as life has been - well, just normal. Some good things and some bad things have happened, but as I say repeatedly, my life is good. I was very sick with a bit of food poisoning last week, and even after recovery, it has taken a few days to feel better. I have had food poisoning of some sort now twice since departure. The first was how I learned not to eat the soup or stew made from seafood, in a French restaurant, as some of it may have turned. This time, was all my fault, and was either mayonnaise or the can of tuna I mixed with it. Was a couple bad days, but from what I have heard from others, mine was probably mild.

I am departing tomorrow for Guatemala. No, not by boat. Taking the ferry over to the mainland, and then buses to the Rio Dulce. There I will meet up with friends Paul and Joyce, on Lady H, and crew with them as we bring the boat out of the Rio, and here to Roatan. Paul is recovering from back surgery and I think will need the help.
So, without much Espanol, I am off for a new adventure albeit via land first.
The plan is to ferry to La Ceiba, on the coast, and then bus to San Pedro Sula. A hotel room at each city, and then bus to Frontera, Guatemala. From there, I am a bit fuzzy on how I will get to the Rio and to Mario's where my friends' boat is ( and incidentally, where I was supposed to be one year ago, and also, NOW.)
I have snapped some pics along the way, and posted a few here. Above is the Deck Cafe - a place that Jane and I visited every time we came to this end of the island, and is where Paty and I celebrated New Year's Eve. The owner, Gary is nice guy - South African, and always is friendly when I visit.

This is the view of a riding stable, owned by Mr. Bobby, who owns the 'shrimp dock' as well as several other businesses here. I took this from the lot of the Petrosun gas station which is a place where locals, and a few low life Gringo's like me hang out and drink a beer now and then.

This little girl allowed me to snap her pic that same day.

And here are a couple of those low life friends of mine.....That's my buddy Skip in the white hat.

On the walk from the 'shrimp dock' I pass Mr. Bobby's cattle yards as well as his horse stables, and finally snapped a pic of his cows.

And this is Clinton, a puppy who lives at a tenant's home. He and I need to become friends, as I have to pass by all the time, and is better to get to know him now, instead of when he grows up. But he really is a cute pup.

At the bank where I use the ATM most often, this one guard is always most friendly. We cannot communicate more than hello and he tells me the machine is 'malo' when it is broken. I asked him to pose for me one day.

Every business that handles cash has at least one armed guard around. Well, not restaurants, but other businesses. Banks often have 3 or 4, with shotguns, pistolas, and rifles.

So, in the morning, I head off for Guatemala, completely ill prepared, but ready for an adventure. Head of security here will look after AF and friends Jim and Norma will watch the dink as well as visit the boat daily.

Dinner Invitations

I received 2 dinner invitations for this week, so have been a busy boy! New Year's Eve, at midnight, my taxi driver friend, Edgar called to send me New Year's greetings, and asked me to return to his home for dinner again. We agreed to Thursday which is 3 King's Night, and in many places in Latin America is a big celebration.
So Thursday night, Edgar picked me up at 7pm and took me to his home where we enjoyed a lot of rum and Cokes, a bottle of wine, good company and a wonderful meal, again prepared by his oldest daughter, Perla. Shrimp, beef steak, mashed potatoes and vegetables, followed by a piece of cake I had brought for the table. It was a very nice, and long night, as Edgar and I, alternately joined by either of his sons, or Perla's boyfriend, sat for several hours finishing the bottle of wine, the bottle of rum, and some beers. The next day was a quiet one for me, and when I saw Edgar next, he agreed that his had been quiet as well.
This is their Christmas tree, which was trimmed in the corner of his deck. Perla and her mom

The table after dinner -

Also, Jim and Norma, friends on s/v Mi'Lady had invited Paty and I for dinner there, and we agreed to Saturday night, instead of attending the cruiser's pot luck. Norma loves lasagna, but is too much to make for just the 2 of them. It was great.

We joined them about 530 for cocktails in the cockpit. Paty was in a playful mood - not too shy when around friends she likes!

My camera is just slow enough that after I clicked the button, Jim and Paty could duck out of sight. Nice friends, huh? 2 mischevous kids - that's what they are!

Does this really need a caption?

Norma hard at it in a very hot galley, preparing the salad - with a smile.

A certain white boat rat, named Rico, who is getting pretty friendly now, after ALWAYS barking when I approached their boat. Now, I get licks on my fingers, and yes, Rico was slipped a few scraps from my plate during dinner.

We returned to the cockpit after dinner for a smoke, while Norma dished out the ICE CREAM! Ooh, what a decandent luxury for those of us who live on boats!!!

A great dinner - great friends.

Life is goood!! And so was the lasagna!

To each, thank you for wonderful food and good times. I love my new life!

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve was as perfect as I can remember, (although I do have a vague memory of a lady and a hot tub a few years back that was pretty good, too!) If you have read the previous post, then you know that I was to have cocktails with the cruiser's happy hour, and then depart the resort with my friend, Patricia, for dinner, returning afterwards to the party here at Fantasy Island. It didn't quite turn out that way, but was a great night.
I did go to the cruiser's cocktail party and here are some pics that I have 'borrowed' from the marina's Face Book page. Jerry climbed up on the flying bridge of a nice power yacht here and snapped this of the whole group.
That's me and my good friends, Norma and Jim, telling lies probably. They are so nice to me, always a smile and laugh, and I am glad we are friends. She wants to invite me and Patricia to dinner for lasagna one night soon.

I am there in the middle and back, if you can make me out.

I returned to AF for a quick shower and change, and went to the lobby to wait for Patricia, and bumped into my favorite bartender, friend, and DJ, Henry. He and I have been 'enemies' since I first arrived and trade barbs every time we meet, but always followed by a big island laugh. He was decked out pretty well for his role as DJ for the resort's party.

When Patty joined me, we jumped into a taxi, and, saying she wanted a salad, asked to go to Appleby's. Uh-oh. Their lights were out and they were closed! What is going on here in Roatan? We rode past and went to my friend Gary's Deck Cafe, a place that I learned to love while dating Jane. Gary was sitting with a friend, and no customers. Took our drink order, and asked if we wanted to eat. YES! Uh-oh. He had sent his chef home so she could get dressed for her night on the town, but he called her and she stopped on the way to the disco, and prepared our meals. This hardly looks like a chef's outfit, eh? How sweet of her to stay for us.

The lights on and the 'crowd' of 2 got the attention of several more cars and a large group of Gringos came in - table for 12 probably, and a local couple took a table. Patricia had a call from - uh-oh - will goof up this name - I think it is Marceo, who runs the accounting department here at the resort, and he joined us.

The clock ticked on, and when I asked, thinking we might return to Fantasy for the countdown, it was 1140 and we didn't want to leave. We celebrated the New Year's arrival with hugs and kisses to all the guests there, as well as the chef and Gary. Good food, and drink and wonderful company. My cell phone even rang with a call from my friend Edgar, the taxi driver, wishing me happy new year, and asking when I will return to his home for another dinner. (No one EVER calls ME! so that was a nice surprise.)

Marceo brought us back in a truck - we shouted and prodded him to stay in our lane on the trip back - and she and I went out to sit on the dock by Skip's boat, and laughed and talked the morning away, listening to music on her Blackberry. She even sang to me a bit! I turned the dock lights off, and we lay next to each other, looking at the stars, talking and laughing, until the winds chilled her, and I walked her back to the resort.

What a great night!

Quite a different story, New Year's Day for me - my HAIR even hurt from hangover that morning, so after taking a couple aspirins and lots of water, I returned to sleep, - we had stayed up talking until 4am - but eventually rose to make some coffee, face the world, take my little jog on the beach, and do some exercises, and I started to return to normal function. That night though, I skipped the cruiser's pot luck dinner, to avoid the temptation to consume more adult beverages. Patty joined me late out at the gazebo, where I went to feed the fish some questionable meats I had. We returned to AF and shared most of a bottle of wine.

Today, I took a dink ride, and stopped on the beach to buy a beer at the resort bar. My friend Rocky returned my spare camera to me which I had loaned him for some new FB pictures, and has asked me to download his FIFTY-FOUR pictures onto his Facebook page! Yikes - will take all night! After getting the beer, I rode out to the back side of the reef, just off the beach and tried exploring it on foot for a bit. Returned to the the dink, and motor wouldn't re-start, and I ended up rowing to the end of the beach, until I could get it running again. Fortunately most guests had checked out, so there weren't many to witness my embarrassment. I tied up to the floating deck they have here, to put the motor cover back on. it turns out that Patty was swimming and walking the beach nearby, and when she saw me, she swam out to to say Hi. I asked her if she was ready to try a snorkel out on the reef. So, after checking that the dink motor would re-start and was reliable, we picked up her wrap and towel from the beach, and returned to AF to pick up some gear. I couldn't resist taking this pic of her, sitting on the dock before we departed.

Although a strong, and former competitive, swimmer, native of Acapulco, and resident of Cancun, she has never snorkeled before, and so, had never seen this beautiful reef. It has been fun for me to show off this reef, and today was a joy, as well. Within 5 minutes, we were greeted by a 3 foot baracuda, and along with the little ones, were able to see several other larger fish. The water was not most clear, but was pretty good, and the sun brought the colors of this incredible reef to life. Did she like it? She wants to buy an underwater camera now.

Afterwards, we putt-ed around in the dink for a while, exploring a bit, and here, under some mangroves, I couldn't resist taking one more pic - my favorite of the day.

New Year's Eve was perfect, although it was not spent as planned (By the way, the party here was a BIG flop! I am so glad we didn't hurry to return to it, but instead, stayed at the Deck and talked and laughed the new year in there. The bartender -not Henry- closed the bar at 1030! The food was cold. And the promised entertainment did not appear.) it was a perfect night for me.

The high winds are tapering off, slowly. The wave height diminishing. It seems to be warming up.

A couple here at the resort offered to give me a great Cuban cigar to enjoy, and yesterday, stopped me on the beach while I was recovering and reading, and gave me one. So, if all goes well, I am going over to the deck at the resort, order a glass of wine or 2 or perhaps take a bottle of my own, sit back under the stars, and enjoy this Cohiba Spendida. Smells mild. Oughta be great.

Life is good!!!!