Un-Belize-Able

BELIZE

Our Belize trip this year is in a new spot for us. We are traveling with our friends,

Dana and Cathie. Dana did the research for the trip and our final destination will be

Placentia.

Sixteen miles of natural sandy beach, a virgin mangrove-fringed lagoon, a wonderland of coral-studded cayes, nearby jungle rivers and pristine rainforest Garifuna, Creole and Mayan cultures and ancient Mayan ruins make Placencia the ideal location for vacationers.

We arrived in Belize City late afternoon. We stayed in this Bed and Breakfast for one

night before the 4 hour drive to Placentia, our final destination.

Breakfast on the patio at the B and B.

A nice drive on the Hummingbird Highway with a few stops

along the way, we arrived at the Maine Stay in Seine Bight.

This is our home for the next week. Placencia is located on

a peninsula...the bay on one side and the Caribbean on the other.

Just chillin'

Cathie catching some Belizean sun on our private beach....watch out...

the sun is very intense.

Standing on our deck.....getting all the ins and outs.

We had two cabanas connected by the deck....one had the kitchen

and the other had the laundry room. Quite nice for two couples.

FOOD, FOOD AND MORE

One of the favorite restaurants in Placencia.

Many good meals out.....one of our first meals in Belize City where

Dana got to experience first hand the hot hot habanero sauce....

rather by accident. He was sweatin' be the end of the meal.

The local fruit and vegetable truck.

We had the traditional Belizean stew chicken, beans, and rice

at a roadside stand. Ohhhh, Cathie was having pizza!

Another fine meal out in Placencia.

I think this was Gary and Dana's favorite breakfast meal.... a stuffed fry jack.

SNORKEL TIME

Our snorkeling trip to Laughing Bird Caye. A small beautiful

island where rangers actually stay for two weeks and then go home for a week.

We snorkeled all around the island, had a Belizean BBQ lunch, and then relaxed

on the beach.

Prince was our captain and guide in the waters. We saw some

amazing fish, lobsters and barracudas.

Here's Cathie's lobster dinner!

Dana, our wagon master, making sure we are where we are suppose to be!

Doesn't get much better than this!

Some chips and salsa after the snorkel dive.

Yeah, Dana, that's where we were.

A great day of snorkeling.....Laughing Bird Caye

in the background.

Time for Gary's nap......

Walking the "street".....a little shopping.

CAVE TUBING

We're ready for a cave tubing adventure. It was a little bit of a hike to get to the cave,

walking through a jungle, with our guide explaining the different types of

plants...saw a huge termite nest in a tree and of course, some biting bugs.

Into the cave we go.....

THE VILLAGE

In the village just outside of Placencia, you see many colorful houses.

A very wealthy area........

to a very poor areas....less developed. As we drove to and from town,

many of the locals were just hanging outside on the streets,

sitting on their so called porches and curbs. They seemed to be happy and

friendly.

Hopkins....about an hour away from us...

Took a drive to the town of Hopkins....a building under

construction.

Found the bakery but nothing available. She went shopping the day before

so she didn't have time to do any baking. Come back tomorrow.

Hopkin's local fruit stand....we did try some plums.

Off to the the barrier reef for our last snorkel trip. Congrats to these two--they have been retired for ten years!

UN-BELIZE-ABLE

Sedona, January 2012

Here we are in Sedona, Arizona. We had a week from our timeshare we needed to use before we lost it, so off to Sedona. It's a beautiful place with lots red rock and hiking trails. The weather has been perfect. We took a jeep tour yesterday over some bumpy trails and saw lots of rock formations. Enjoying some good food and planning a day of window shopping in the little town of Sedona.


Our driver, Jeff, wanted to give us a little scare. The saying goes, "If he tips, we don't have to tip". We didn't tip over, so he got our tip!

Spokane, January 2012

Grandma had to take a trip to Spokane to see the grandkids. Justin is in the Air Force and this is where they are now stationed away from grandma. When I arrived, Spokane had their first big winter storm. This California grandma did survive the cold. Had a wonderful visit with the "kids".
Grandma insisted on making snow angels with Zack. A little wet and cold but just had to do it!
Lots of snow.....
More snow......

We Are Back Home

Our Last Night in Germany

Our last dinner was with Frank, Hanjoerg's son and his girlfriend at

an Italian restaurant! Yes, we ate pizza!

One of our last things we did, was a visit to Hansjoerg's former police station.

Gary and I are sitting in a Mercedes police car!

Back Home

We made it home in the wee hours of the morning. To be exact, our

plane landed at midnight and we drove home from Los Angeles.

I think our heads hit our own pillows at 3:30 a.m. We had been

up for about 30 hours. The only glitch on our return was a two-hour

delay of our connecting flight that made us get home

pretty late. Just yesterday, United finally sent an email in response to my complaint, and we now have 2 $100 vouchers for a future trip with United.

We had a wonderful time with our friends, Hansjoerg and Silke.

They took very good care of us, not only as the Travel Master, but as our interpretors.

I'm not sure we would have gone without their invitation. Hopefully we can return the favor when they come for another visit to the states.

Back to Pfaffenberg, Germany

We have returned "home" to Berggasthof Schlussel in Pfaffenberg, Germany.

This was our original starting point. We will spend our last week sightseeing

around the Black Forest.

One of our stops was at the Police Station where Hansjorg once worked training police dogs.

The officers gave us a demonstration with one of their dogs.

Here we all are with Silke's mom. One of the best parts of the day when

we sit down with a glass of wine and have dinner with some special people.

The main meal is shnitzel, of course! Still waiting for my Black Forest Cake.

We went to Deutsches Uhrenmuseum--the clock museum.

Cuckoo clocks and musical clockworks have made the clockmakers of the Black Forest world famous. The originals of these branded articles can be found in the collection of the Deutsche Uhrenmuseum
(German clock museum) in Furtwangen – and have been for more than 150 years. The Deutsche Uhrenmuseum owns one of the world's greatest collections of Black Forest clocks, it offers a trip through the entire history of chronometry.

Which one shall we get?

The scenic highlight of Titisee - Neustadt is doubtless the fantastic setting of Titisee lake whose crystal-clear water attracts thousands of enthusiastic swimmers to the healthy climate of the resort town bearing the same name. Since its conversion to a pedestrian zone and waterfront promenade, Seestraße is considered the loveliest street for strolling in the Southern Black Forest.

It is here we stopped for a snack and did some souvenir shopping. Yes, we did get a cuckoo clock!

Yum, apple stuffed "cake".

Delicious dinner made by Silke and Elsa.

We do so appreciate a home-cooked German meal.

Sausage salad, potatoes and wine.