This Time Tomorrow - Belize!

As I look around the living room at the piles of stuff we are taking, reality is setting in, knowing that this time tomorrow we will be in Belize!

But first:

• All junk removed from devices? ✅
• All devices fully charged? ✅
• Extra batteries? ✅
• Extra SD cards? ✅
• All cords and cables for devices? ✅

I look at all the stuff and realize that all I really need is my bathing suit, a pareu, sandals, sunscreen and a valid credit card and passport, plus the electronics which all fit in my backpack! But no! Multiple pareus, prescription snorkeling mask, new snorkel, multiple bottles of sun screen and bug spray, mini-tripods, Britta water pitcher, etc. etc. etc.

We will head out of here around 5pm, pick up Jane, and get to LAX in plenty of time to drop the car at the hotel we will stay at when we return (free parking!) and shuttle to the airport for our flight at 12:40 am! It's a direct 4:45 hour flight so I just hope I get some sleep as I am useless without getting my 8 hours! From Belize City, we get a puddle jumper to Placentia, a 30 minute flight.

We will go to the Paradise Resort first where we spend our first night, drop our stuff, then either go to the Moorings base or grocery shopping, depending on our boat familiarization and chart briefing. We board the boat on Sunday and will spend the night at the dock.

A couple of the girls will already be in Placentia, when we arrive and the rest show up the following day. We plan to head out relatively early Monday morning.

Apparently, we will be able to get wifi at some of the cayes, so will try to post here on the blog and also Instagram and Facebook. If you would like to follow along, please subscibe to receive the latest posts and follow me on Instagram and Facebook.

Three Days to go

After spending a few days with Ryan in Studio City and taking a drive out to Palm Springs for the day, I was happy to be out of the awful Airbnb and heading north to Santa Barbara to spend the next three days with Betsy.

After another enormous thunder and lightning and rain storm yesterday morning, we had a lovely drive up the coast, stopping in Camarillo at the outlet mall to do something neither of us much like doing - shopping! But we both needed some stuff and we had to get the bug spray and sunscreen etc. And I needed another bathing suit and some shorts. I just don't understand people who can spend all day just going from shop to shop, browsing. It's exhausting! But we were successful in our endeavors, scoring some good stuff - shorts and sun protection shirts so I don't absolutely shrivel up in the tropical Belizean sun. Even here, in what is still technically winter, I can feel myself burning, so I have to be very, very careful!

By the time we got home it was cocktail hour. Tara, Betsy's room mate came home and we had a very lively evening which I regretted this morning. You'd think I would know better by now than to have that last drink - such a good gin, Death's Door! And that is what I felt like this morning.

But we went for a great walk which definitely cleared my head, much as the rain cleared the sky, athough I must say the sky was clearer than my head. We discussed some ideas we have - ways to make some money, start a small business and this trip is going to be a test run and I will describe the idea when it is more fleshed out. I think it's a good one - not new. We talked about doing it last time Betsy was up in Washington, visiting. But now, I think, is the time. This evening and tomorrow, we will put our heads together and sort out some of the details.

Santa Barbara is such a pretty area. The harbor is wonderful, still with all the fishing boats and the wharf which really hasn't changed much in the last few decades. I remember doing a photo project for college when I was about 25. And I think some of the boats that I took pictures of, are still there! That was when I did all my own film processing and printing - something I just loved to do. Working in the darkroom was always so much more fun than sitting at a computer, digitally processing the images. Oh well.... Progress I suppose.

Belize Trip Begins

And I'm off! Another great adventure begins

It was all a rush getting last minute stuff done, fetching Ike and Adam from the ferry on Wednesday afternoon and making sure everything was in order before heading out the door yesterday morning.

Ike and Adam are such sweet guys, very calm and quiet which is exactly as I had imagined them, judging from the emails and calls we had prior to their arrival. Buddy, my scaredy cat cat even came down to meet them! So I know everything will be fine and I left there feeling much better about the whole thing!

Of course, the first part is always a schlepp - Ike took me to the Airporter shuttle and we made good time to the airport, arriving early so I had time to sit and relax over a glass of wine and some lunch and people watch! The flight to Burbank was absolutely jammed; not a spare seat anywhere and lots of yelling kids and mothers talking over them so it was pretty noisy. Fortunately it's a short flight!

There had been a slight hiccup in the plans with Ryan and we decided that rather than me stay at the house with all the roommates being present (as opposed to them being gone last time I was down) I would get an Airbnb just around the corner from him. Also, he was working late so Uber picked me up and deposited me at the new digs.

I was a little perturbed as we drove up. Lots of older cars parked around. A bag of trash on the doorstep and I wondered if I had the wrong address as I watched my ride leave. Knocking on the door (no porch light) I was greeted by a "who is there?" When I answered asking is this the Airbnb the women yells out to someone as she continues talking on her phone! But she opens the door and in very heavily accented English she says "come, come" gesturing with her hands! I followed her through a dark, rather sloven house to the back door where I was greeted by a large, dark-skinned man wearing a yarmulke so maybe he is Israeli?

Fortunately, the room is not in the house, but it does leave a lot to be desired! So I just remind myself that I am just sleeping here and won't be spending any time. The very extended family that appears to live in the main house is very noisy! Loud TV last night and noisy young kids and yelling women this morning.

A good breakfast at Aroma this morning with Ryan and Rascal. And will spend the day at the house catching up on stuff, posting more pix into EyeEm and maybe more will be chosen for Getty Images (which are not online yet!) That was very exciting to have three chosen! Heck, there might even be some money in it! What a concept.

Time is Ticking By

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Tick, Tick, Tick!

Time is ticking by! The last few days have been pretty busy, getting the house ready for Ike and Adam, my house sitters from Austin. They arrive next Wednesday, and I want everything to be ready so that they can enjoy themselves - and the house! And the kitties, of course!

It seems like there are so many little things that have to be done before I can leave - trash and recycling, stop the mail, clear out the closets, make sure there are extra sheets and towels available, mow the lawn, copies of important documents and on and on! It's a lot different to going away for a few days, or packing up to move completely. Sort of a mixture of the two. There are some things I will get once I get to Socal, like a new bathing suit and shorts (not hot items here in the PNW), sunscreen, another not so hot item here, as well as bug spray. There will be a much better selection down there. I've had my typhoid and Hep A shot and am getting malaria pills next week. I haven't seen that they have zika there, but hopefully, being offshore with a good breeze, we will be fine. And at the Maya Mountain Lodge, we will probably have mosquito nets and/or air conditioning. Also, I thought it would be a good idea to read up on Belize, as the books I have are dated way back in 1999! I'm sure the country hasn't changed THAT much, except for more hotels etc, but it's best to have up-to-date facts and figures. So I bought The Rough Guide to Belize and have it as an e-book on my iPad which will make it easy for everyone to use on the boat. My next job is to make a list of all the good places to go around here - sort of a handbook for Ike and Adam. And for the Airbnb people this summer. Then I will turn it into a 48-hours in Port Townsend article!

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Keeping my Hand in

In the Port Townsend Leader this week

Occasionally I write articles for the local paper. It's fun to get out and about, especially when I get to write about things that I care about!

This is the yearly Home & Gardens supplement and Patrick, the editor, asked me to do something on drought and deer resistant gardening. It was rather odd, though, as I trudged through muddy fields and gardens, trying to stay dry,  thinking "drought". And it was almost impossible to find anything flowering that I could use for photos! The red hot pokers shot is from last summer.

But I really enjoyed meeting the garden people - the landscapers, native plant aficionados and growers. My favorite visit was to Far Reaches Farm, a phenomenal plant resource for the area and around the country, as a big part of the business is the mail order side. Can't wait until spring to go for another visit and see all the blooms!

I also did the Dream Kitchens on the next pages, which was fun to do as well. And once again, super nice people.

Countdown to Belize

Things are moving along nicely!

Whoo hoo! My new Underwater Olympus T-5 camera came today and is getting charged up! For a small, underwater camera, it sure has a lot of features! I can't wait to try it out!

But the most important thing is the house/cat sitting problem is sorted out and I have a couple coming from Austin! They responded to my post on Trustedhousesitters.com and I actually had a lot of people respond and I worked it down to this couple. There was an older lady (ha! My age) in France who sounded really nice so I have kept her info for next time. So that's a load off my mind especially as they will take me to the shuttle and we will rendezvous at the airport when I get back and have the car.

I went for my bi-annual eye exam and am quite impressed with myself! My vision has barely changed and the optometrist has this brand new fancy camera that can take images of the inside of your eyes - front and back of the eye and can tell if there are any issues and I have none! He was very complimentary, said "You must eat very well," and went on to explain how the back of the eye turns yellow with age and it is where the cataracts form. But I have no signs of any nasty stuff. It was actually interesting to see the images and he explained the whole thing. I ended up spending a lot on new glasses but they are essential.

So now with my new prescription I can get the bifocal snorkeling mask! No point in having a good camera if I can't see to focus. Today I went to the dive shop in Puyallup and got a mask fitted. Now it gets sent to California for the prescription lenses. It was funny talking to Mike, the guy at the store. He asked if I was going on a trip and when I told him Belize, he said, "Can I come?" I laughed and said, "It's a boatload of older women!" He came right back with "I'm an older guy!" Hot to trot, I guess! I think this boatload might be more than he could handle!

I discovered this new skin care program and decided to find out if they would be interested in having all the Belize Babes check it out. And yes, they would like to and are sending a bunch of goodies to take to the boat. I had ordered some for myself and it also arrived today. Boom! by Cindy Joseph! is an interesting story. She was 49 before she was a model, then moved on to develop this line which is all natural and is geared to the "Pro-Aging Revolution," meaning staying away from makeup that just makes you look older than you are! It's very minimalist and feels good!

I had a late call on Friday afternoon from a couple for Airbnb this weekend so ended up busting my butt to get things tidied up and sorted out for them to arrive later on after 5. Luckily for them, the weather seems to have cleared a lot - at least for now - so they won't be drowned when they get here. Really nice people! This experiment is turning out well.

Mission Belize

Getting everything together for the Belize trip is quite a mission!

I dug out all my pareus from various trips and realize I still have my original ones from sailing on Vadura and Seedrache in the late 1960s! They feel so good - soft and well-worn! But they did smell a bit musty after being stashed away for a while!

One of the things on the list of "must-haves" is a dry bag for transporting stuff between the boat and shore in the dinghy. I found a really cool one online, and love that they support the Nature Conservancy, so that is the one I got and I will be reviewing it after the trip. It just arrived today and I like it already! It doesn't have that awful plastic smell that often clings to things like this. And it's bigger than I thought it would be which is perfect because, not that I will be going back and forth with my NEW iPadPro,(happy dance) it will fit in very comfortably, if necessary!

One of the other super important items is sunscreen. Especially after having two basal cell carcinomas removed off my face in the last two years, I really have to have a good one. I am so pale from living up here in the PNW, any tropical sun is going to fry me. So I have two testers from Live Ultimate Skincare, which is all organic. Julie, who turned me on to this brand, sent two because she knows that with eight women on board, I will be sharing with all the others! She also sent a CoconutClay Masque for apre sol!

Going through the list, I know I need shorts and another bathing suit. Plus a hat! Which I will probably end up swimming in. Plus long-sleeved white shirts! Thinking back to the long days I used to spend, skin unprotected, on the Durban beaches. If I had known then what I know now, well......

Tomorrow I will get a new glasses prescription so I can order my bifocal snorkeling mask! It wouldn't work to get a brand new underwater camera and not be able to see what I am shooting! The camera I have settled on is the Olympus Tough TG-4 that has been voted as one of the best. It's also wi-fi enabled so can download the images directly to the iPad. Cuts out a lot of steps in the work flow - no more juggling between Apple and PC. I have also added a wi-fi to my usual camera, the Lumix.

And I broke out the old sewing machine to whip up a couple of loose dresses (not muumuus!) as I know how much cooler they are in the heat. So the next few weeks are going to be very busy. I am still looking for a house sitter and signed up at trustedhousesitters.com after two people bailed who were on a different site. So far, I've had a couple of interested people and will wait til tomorrow and decide then.

Belize It!

Planning the Next New Big Adventure

Way back in 2000, I spent my birthday (link to my original blog of the trip) in Punta Gorda, Belize. My friend Susan, who was traveling with me, celebrated her 50th there! And that is where I will be spending my birthday this year! Probably not in PG Town, but on a boat. A big Moorings charter catamaran!

It's a lot of years since I had anything to do with running a charter boat, but that is the big plan. In March, Betsy and I are taking a group of woman to Belize to sail the islands aboard a large catamaran. There will be a total of eight of us, all AARP qualified! Some have some sailing experience, while the others are novices. Betsy knows them all; I only know her and Pam, a friend from this area. We will be on assignment for Sailing Magazine - Betsy as the journalist and me as the photographer.

Betsy has been involved in several of these charters with Bobby G, a good friend who isn't able to do them any more, so I volunteered to fill in as first mate, with Miss B as the skipper. I was able to join them both on a sail on the Chesapeake in 2011 I think it was!

Below is a promo video of the boat we will be on, although this one is sailing in the British Virgin islands. (Maybe that's our next charter expedition!)

We have been doing the trip planning and will spend seven days on the boat and extend the trip for four more days in the jungle.

The Moorings base is in Placentia, which is a small town where Susan and I stayed for a night when we were there. I know it has changed a lot since then, as there are now numerous large, glitzy hotels whereas we stayed in a small guest house on the beach. Betsy and I get there a day early to provision and load the boat and get the usual pre-charter check out. The following day, the crew arrives, late in the day, and we head out at first light the next day- to the cays and the second largest coral reef in the world.

Our plan is to island hop, dropping a hook after sailing for a couple of hours and then spending the rest of the day either ashore exploring or snorkeling or lazing on the boat - or all of the above! It's a small country so distances are quite small and hopefully very protected within the reef. Several of the small islands have restaurants and bars, so we will probably eat ashore quite a bit but will also be doing the cooking aboard as needed.

When we return to Placentia on the morning of the last day, four of the crew leave to make their flights out of Belize City but the other lucky four, including me, head to a jungle hotel called Maya Mountain Lodge. From there, we are doing a day trip to Tikal, a Maya ruin across the Guatemala border, and a caving expedition at Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave close by the hotel.

My biggest concern while there is the sun! Living up here in the PNW, I am so pale that any sun is really going to nail me, so I am looking at heavy duty sunscreen and clothing with Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF). And of course, after having two nasty BCCs taken off my face in the last couple of years, I will have to be extremely cautious about sun on my face! I expect I will even swim in a hat! But I just can't wait to get into that warm, crystal clear, silky water with my new bifocal snorkeling mask (on the list to order). The mask will make a huge difference, especially as I will do underwater photos too, with a camera I hope to get very soon.

My other concern is I have still to find a house sitter to take care of the kitties. I've found two who have both bailed on me! So the ad is running again, and I just hope I find someone soon.