Tuesday was a Screensaver day! (Chad&Elaine!! wink, wink)

Sunday, after chad & rachel left, I had a salt scrub and a massage........ahhhhhhhhhh. Then the cap'n had pulled all the shades in my room, and Maria (rachel!) had made the bed (which after she did so, she announced, "Well spank my ass and call me Maria!") (Hence, her new name!) I promptly went to sleep! A cool, dark, clean nap. Nice.
Afterwards, we finally went to the Butterfly Garden at 4:50. They closed at 5 and no way, no how, were they going to let us in. So close; yet, so far away! Hopped a cab over to Tranquil Seas to listen to the South American band they had, but it soon got boring, so we caught some pulled pork next door and headed home.
Monday was a waiting day. Cap'n dove in the morning and I put a pot of Roatan red beans on to cook. Was set up to do a sunset shoot of a very pregnant sweetheart but she got called into a meeting and by the time she was finished, we'd lost the light. Hoping to get her when we get back on Sunday or Monday, if she hasn't already had him by then. So, we basically sat around all day waiting for that, instead of exploring the southern coast to the eastern tip end of the island, as we had earlier planned. No biggie. It's island time, remember? And believe me, we've grown quite accustomed to doing absolutely nothing, if we HAVE to!! In other words, we have turned into complete bums. But we're really good at it!!

Today, tuesday, we left about 6:30.........ahem, or should I say the cap'n cranked up the motors then and I woke and quickly fell right back to sleep.....there's something about those motors purring underneath the bed that makes for a very sound sleep! We skirted the southern coast all the way to the east and anchored at Pigeon Cay. I now can honestly say that this was the most beautiful place I've seen yet. Pristine waters...5 different colors of blue...a small uninhabited island with shells and palm trees.
The pictures will tell the tale. Which is why I call this a screensaver day.....picture postcard pics from this place!! We walked all around the island, finding the coolest shells and seeing conch shells at every step...jessica, I took pics of them all for you and even saw a conch cemetery! Then back to the boat to get our snorkel gear. Un-Believ-Able. Honestly. This was the best snorkeling I've done since the very first time I snorkeled, over 15 yrs ago. Every fish imaginable with huge coral reefs just glowing in the sunshine. Schools of fish, LSU fish!, sand steps that had been made by the winds and tides. Just stunning. But soon, the sun started to fade and the cap'n motioned me up and said "Time to Go". Little did I know how it really was time to go........dark clouds above. So, we take off on a 4 hr sail to Cayos Cochinos, which is a halfway point to the mainland of Honduras. We are going back into the mountains for a few nights because this is the celebration of Holy Week, Semana Santa, and all the mainlanders come to Roatan to party and play. We thought we'd hit the mainland while they are all on the islands. Well, that lil cloud? Kinda turned into a pretty big storm so you already know where sophiejane and I went.....to our room! Was quite a scary, er...um...educational afternoon!! To say the least. And I just THOUGHT I'd seen the Perfect Storm a few weeks ago..........BUT, finally got here about 5 and we picked up a mooring with the cap'n showing off ALL of his sailing skills, while sj and I sat google-eyed in the salon.
While I write this, my sweet puppy is looking at me with that "Why didn't I get to go to shore to do my business today" look, I am remembering not how our day ended....but how it began. With the most beautiful landscapes on land and underwater that I've ever seen! True works of God.........and man, oh man is He ever good at it!!!

Some gems from the island!

Ya know? No matter where you go in this world, there's always a piece of "bamboo" lying around!! Heh!

It's now Wednesday afternoon and we've tied up at Lagoon Marina until Sunday. Tomorrow, we'll go back up the mountain and stay at our sweet villa Pico Bonito for two nights. Ahhhhhh....cool, rainforest air. Listening to the sounds of the Rio Cangrejal right below us.....enjoying Holy Week. I WILL be thanking Him for what He's done for us on Easter Sunday..in one of His most glorious creations....

Once again, I'll try the re-cap..

Now, where was I?
So.........Wednesday morning, we motor over to Punta Gorda....or as close as we could get to it and go to have lunch at the Sacrifice cafe. I've talked about this place before and yet everytime we go, it just seems to get cooler and cooler. This day we all had fried shrimp except for Karessa, who had her a big ol' fried fish...head and all. YUM!

I need to explain here about having lunch on these islands..it doesn't get prepared until after you've ordered. Literally. Like we think that if you order chicken....they may go out and catch some chickens to fry. Seriously. And because of that, it may take 2 to 2 1/2 hours to have your meal. Which also means there is a whole lot of talking, laughing, telling stories and basically just sitting back to really enjoy the comraderie of mealtime. Which...really....isn't that how it is supposed to be? Not how fast you can get it or how quickly you can finish a meal in order to get something else done......but just the simple joy of mealtime with friends and family. These islanders know alot more than Americans who crave convenience!! Ok, off my soapbox!
After lunch, we move to a spot off the reef that is good for snorkeling but it is too rough that day so we anchor at Big Bight, a very secluded spot off of Coolie Point for the night. Only one or two houses in site and one rather large bale of hay, er.......I mean a standard red poodle! No lie. I looked thru the binoculars trying to see thru a house's windows and saw something red-like and it turned out to be a red poodle!!! So funny but I guess you had to be there to think so!
Cooked 'shrimp chuckie' for dinner on the boat and enjoyed a nice evening of bright stars and a cool breeze blowing thru the boat.
Wednesday morning, we go out across the reef and this time, it's beeee-uti-ful for snorkeling. Crystal clear waters and beautiful coral and starfish and fishies to look at.


About the time we had all had our fill of snorkeling, Billy rows up to our boat in his fishing boat. Now, this story is one I will not soon forget. Billy is a local fisherman who wants to be a country western singer! He loves Travis Tritt and Randy Travis and is hoping to get discovered by someone to make him famous. Hated to tell him that it would not be by us. But he sang us a song with all of his heart and soul put into it and we decided it was not half bad! And all of this is coming from his wooden carved fishing boat. Pics will follow! And to make this story even better....his mama had wanted lobster for breakfast so he goes out, catches some lobster, brings it to her and she cooks him breakfast, he goes back out to get his catch for the day and comes by our boat where he finds 6 very hungry lobster lovers! We bought his whole catch!! 11 lobster, 7 or 8 conchs, and a beautiful shell to keep as a souvenir.....and he cracked the lobster and cleaned out the conch shells for us while he sat in the boat! It was a hoot, I tell ya! Don't know who was funnier...him or all of us just watching all of this in disbelief!!













Billy, singing his country western song!

And more to the story?? Along comes another boat of snorkelers, driven by Chris who introduced himself as a cheery Brit and told us about a little place he had in Sandy Bay with a bar....we should come by for a beer. So we did. O>M>G!!
The most beautiful tropical bar and cabanas you have ever seen! All built by himself and his dad, from England, and there was not a piece of plastic in sight. All wood and all handmade. With the most amazing place to watch sunsets and enjoy life that you've ever seen. I may have captured on of my most stunning sunsets yet here.....I know, I know.....I think every one of them are stunning!
So, we all walk around in awe of this place and have a few drinks which led to a few more....then a sampling of tapas that his girlfriend from Spain cooks up...and then a few more drinks....and before you know it, we have new best friends!! Chris and Monica and his dad, Paul. oh.....and did I mention that chris is 26 yrs old???!!!!!! We finally dinghy back to boat, sounding like a bunch of silly, laughing bums and having a ball!
Thursday morning, we leave out early to catch a taxi to West End for breakfast. Only there are too many of us for one taxi, so the girls get in one and the guys hitched a ride on the back of a truck to ride into town! (The city boy was dying here!) Then, we're off to Gumbolimba Park for some ziplining!! I was too chicken but the rest of them strapped on the gear and took off to 20 different platforms thru the jungle. I laughed and laughed. Oh Boy....as Antoni would say!

And then finally. FINALLY. After 15 yrs of travel and wanting to see monkeys, I get to see, hold, and watch monkeys!! So. Much. Fun. 11 of them. And did you know that boy monkeys have something that I could not ever, in my wildest dreams, imagine an animal having?? Even me? My imagination? I'll include a pic to make my point!
And now what time is it? Why, it's monkey la-la time, of course!! We stop for a cold la-la and some snacks before going back to Tranquil Seas, Chris's bar, where we really shouldn't have stayed so long, if ya know what I mean....! Dinner at Blue Bahia and back home to boat.
Only to wake up the next morning around 7am with someonesaying"hellooooooo...hellooooooooo at the back of the boat. Cap'n gets up to talk to him and he tells us we have to leave...that it's a park and we cannot anchor there. Now, we've already anchored here and spent several nights in the past few weeks but this day, they tell us we have to leave. River Rats have been kicked out of another anchorage.........um.....do you think someone is trying to tell us something??!!!
So....we haul you know what out of there, I go back to sleep and by the time I wake up, we're coming back into the marina. Needed fuel and the plan was to just fuel up and sail over to Fantasy Island for some beach time. But alas, we forget once again, we're on island time and it takes several hours for this lil chore to get accomplished. So we chilled by the pool and had fancy schmancy drinks delivered poolside all afternoon. Realizing it would be our last night all together, because the Edwards were leaving the next day, we all gussied up(which means showered!) and dinghyed over to Romeo's in French Harbor for dinner. Lobster and steak, which was vera, vera tasty.
Saturday morning brought good breakfast, more pool time and salt scrubs and massages for the baby girls before it was time for farewells. Saturday afternoon, we took chad and rachel, by taxi, to Coxen Hole, the capital of Roatan, for a walk thru the mercada. Nothing like seeing the streets and how the people of a third world country live to make you appreciate what we have at home. Everyone should see that. Yet; some of my best shots come from the faces of some of the happiest people in this third world country. They only know what they have and they love it. And the expressions on their faces show it. Just hoping I can show the real picture thru an image!

One more lobster dinner with my babyboy and my daughter in law on Saturday night (I think she had her request for lobster filled on this trip!) and before we knew it, it was time for them to fly away too...............boohoo!

But what can I say? I'm one happy mama who has had a wonderful week of hilarity and hugs to keep me going for awhile. Wish all the boys could have joined us but everyone goes in so many different directions, it's hard to make it all happen. But that's ok....cuz in a few weeks, I'll know just where to find those other two and I'll MAKE them come play with me!!! And know that soon, we'll all be able to sail away together, making memories just like we did this week.
Because after all, FUN, FRIENDS, LAUGHTER, CHILDREN = FAMILY!! and I have one of the best...muey bueno!!

Farewell dinner with the chirren!

I just typed out a major re-cap of our week and lost all of it, but the last paragraph........and way too tired tonight to do another one. Friends left this afternoon and kids are leaving tomorrow. Will come back then to do another one. Stupid Hondurian entrynet!!
Until then, here is a shot of all of us at dinner last night! Aren't they boo-ti-ful?? (laura and sandy.....just like a new home!!)

Grab yur poles boys and girls!!!!!!

Going to try to and put pics in order in which they happened!

"City Boy" running from jumpin' fish~~!

Sharks

circling!!

Big Daddy!!

Fresh sushi for lunch!! Little tuna heart was beating only minutes before!!
What a way for a city boy to end his day of fishing!!

Roatan will never be the same......

Ok. Well, how can I explain the absence from my blob?(sorry rex and patty!) Just too much damn fun, I guess!! And OMG.....who has time to write when you are laughing the live long day. And night!!

So........they arrived on Sunday around noon. We traveled by taxi to the marina and to board Blew Bayou. Took them on tour of marina and have cheeseburgers there and decided to take a short cruise to West End for the night. Dear Karessa, bless her heart, fell asleep in the salon about 4 pm and slept until the next morning!(overworked) We left her you know what onboard and headed to shore. Walked around and watched the sunset but the no-see-ums (translate=the bugs from hell....I now apologize to all of my yankee and west coast friends who went home from rio bonito with huge mosquito bites....never understood when they said they got swollen.....NOW I DO!! I have an allergic reaction which puts me out of action for a day after I get bit.....) and soon realized that the breezes had died down and we should go back to boat. Everyone pretty much crashed ...jet lag, bugs, alceehol, and the like!!
Sidenote: our taxi driver, Antoni who has driven us all over the island, was completely overwhelmed by rachel and karessa! duh. We're driving into the marina and rachel says, "Hey, Antoni.....let's do doughnuts....let's spin some rock!!!!" and then karessa says.........."Let's make an entrance!!" Needless to say......Antoni was laughing so hard and staring the whole time..........saying, "OH BOY!!" Highlarious.....

Next morning, we leave to hit Utila. Arrive around noon and the "kids", including C....hit the town for lunch at Fidi's and then to hang all afternoon at the beach. I stayed behind with
bug bites and allergy medicine which makes me snooze. Time on the tramp. Then back into town to do a tour. Chad and Charlie are loving this town. We hit all the hot spots. Jade Seahorse, which by now, I'm totally in love with and plan to do the whole camp in tile and marble! Cereally. Lobster dinner for all and with full belly's, we crazily hit the ice cream shop!
Back to boat to sit for awhile in total histeria laughing at my son and his wife and their friends!!

Monday morning we were going to go to the mainland but weather told us otherwise. So, we head back to Roatan, but on the way someone spotted a log. A piece of wood. Who would have known what this piece of wood would come to be?? FISHING HEAVEN!!! Cap'n said anytime there is a structure in the sea....you will find fish. So .... he turns this sob around faster than you can make a U-turn........and we go fishin'!! Immediately, both lines start zinging. Chad catches the first one. Mauhi-Mauhi. And then one by one...they all catch fish. Rachel gets a n-i-c-e tuna. YUM. (She got her first fish all the way to the boat but he puked up little bitty fish right on the boat and broke loose!) Then karessa reels in a HUGE daulphin.......but it breaks loose right at the boat. Cap'n had put a waist collar on her to reel him, reel him.....and she refused to take it off until she caught one! Which she did soon after.........more tuna! Then guess who came to visit us? Sharks. Yep.......lots of sharks, big ones... little ones.....right to the steps at the back of the boat!!! We were going crazy.......feeding them porkskins, bread, chum from the fish we had caught earlier...........it was a shark frenzy....!! (According to our resident fisherman, charlie, who was too sceered to hold the bucket with the live fish in it and said just loud enough for me to hear.....DON'T JUMP...I LIKE THE CITY! DON'T MOVE ANYMORE!! to the fish!) OMG....I almost peed in my pants on that one! Whew.........so after about 2 hrs, but charlie said it was ALL day.........we finally set the autopilot to get us back to Roatan. On the way, cap'n cleaned and filleted one of the tunas for us to have a nice sushi lunch with soy sauce and wasabi. Deee-lish! Man, oh man.........nuthin like having rachel and karessa bring home the bacon and the cap'n not cook it up in the pan!!!! Better than fillet mignon.

Spent the afternoon lounging on a beautiful white beach with little beach guys bringing us girls fruity drinks while the guys snorkeled. Waaaay too much work after a day of fishing!
Then back to the boat for a dinner of seared tuna, mango salsa, pasta and fried grits!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....so that's where I sit right now.....a full belly and a bellyful of laughter! Doesn't get much better than this!!
(and now down to the girl's room to watch some episodes of Sex and the City.............like I said.................^^^^^!!!!!

The babies!

Attack of the lobster!! The girls were diggin' in and Chad showed them how!!

Dinky ride!!

Back later to add more shark and fishing pics!!! Get ready, roy....shark bait! You would have DIED!!

A day in Honduras.....

....is really just like any day back home. Haircuts, pharmacy, school crossings, lunch, grocery store..... NOT!!

So, today was our errand day. Getting ready for kids to come tomorrow. Doing chores. AND GOING TO TOWN....!!! Now, I really need to explain this haircut adventure. Cap'n has been on the boat for 2 months. Granted, he got a haircut right before he left AND he is a sailor but really...it was time. Even the manager of the marina told him it was time. So, this am we get Antoni, our friendly taxi driver, to take us to get a haircut. At first, he says "I need to think about it first. Who could cut your hair...a gringo and all!" We get to the barberia and Antoni says "Can you cut the hair of a cowboy from Texas?" Barber says, "He didn't care if the cowboy was from Minnesota, New York or Texas...he could cut that hair!"
So he does. And fast. I took the pic of cap'n in the chair, turn around to get some outside shots and when I turn back around, ALL the cap'n's hair is gone! Shaved his neck with a raw razor blade. That'll be 5 bucks, senor!! I love it........took 10 yrs off the cap'n!! ummm...cap'n wasn't so sure at first, but I think he's ok now. And like the owner of the marina says, "when you get a haircut in Honduras, you sure don't have to get them as often!" Whew....quite an experience. Then to the pharmacia to pick up a few things.....next, to the hotbox for lunch. Pastalitas and lechon. Watched the school crossing guard put up his sign while the kids went across the street to have their lunch at the church. Stopped for a watermelon at the watermelon store! And finally, to the grocery store....and man, oh man do I ever love shopping in a foreign grocery store......again, whew!!

So see? errands are errands anywhere you go. But when you throw in the Hondurian spice, it sure is alot more fun!!

Oh and one more thing............Look out Bauer Hardware!!