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PIMA Air and Space Museum

New and Old…. an A-10 Thunderbolt (a.k.a. Warthog) taking off from
Davis-Monthan AFB over the tail of a retired B-29.

                        As most of you already know I haven’t found an Air and Space Museum that I didn’t like, so my visit to the PIMA Air and Space Museum, and a glowing review will come as no surprise!

                        Yes, it’s a collection of old planes and ephemera from the aviation days of yore, and some of it could be classified as certified “junk”, but thankfully a whole bunch of “someone’s” had the foresight to save some of these junked artifacts and preserve them for future generations. I saw many a little kid yesterday accompanied by parents (but mostly grandparents😊) touring the facility, getting their young appetites whetted, hopefully ensuring that future generations can, and will, appreciate the stories and history that accompany these ghosts of the air.

A Lockheed Constellation in its TWA Airlines livery, a wonderful throwback on display!

                        I am a card-carrying member of the “Don’t Throw It Away Because It’s Old” Club. If I had my way, no Old Buildings, Old Cars, Old Books (!) Old Anything’s, would be discarded for fear losing any Historical Content and not being able to replace it.

                        I am also a closet member of Practical Solutions Anonymous, knowing that just because it’s old does not give it automatic elevatory status to ecclesiastical levels needed for preservation because…..  Someone has to pay for these things!

                        So, decisions need to be made.

                        Sometimes its ok to dispose of items.

                        If the value of something was determined strictly by age, then we would never grind up granite into chips and stones because granite is the oldest igneous rock in the world at around 300 million years old.

                        By now your eyes are glazing over and you are wondering where this is going. I am just trying to illustrate the biggest quandary facing these types of institutions, whatever they may be. I will show you photos of PIMA’s back lot, filled with “junked” artifacts, some of which may find their way to the front yard, others will not.

                                    I guess we just try and do our collective “best” when it comes to these decisions and hope that someone in the future  appreciates “our” efforts.

Just a small sample of the amount and variety of planes that are on display here.

                                    On with the Tour!

                                    What is a PIMA, and why is it named that?

                        That’s an easy one as Pima is the name of the County in which Tucson is located and it was the County and its citizens that embraced the idea of an aviation museum back in the ‘60’s.

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base has been here since the early ‘20’s so aviation has old and long roots around here. The Arizona Air National Guard is based here flying F-16’s.

Two F-16’s taking off from the Air Force Base adjacent to the Museum. It was a very nice addition to the day!

                        This place is huge at over 130 acres, 80 of which are currently used for the museum buildings and outdoor displays. It is adjacent to Davis-Monthan AFB which gives it some advantages when looking for expended aircraft and the use of a few runways. These would be needed to fly some aircraft in if they are still airworthy and do not need to be trucked in over the road.

Who doesn’t love the Blue Angels! this is an F-18 Hornet, which was used for 34 years! The Team currently employs the F-18 Super Hornet in its Routines.

                        It is also spotless! You can tell immediately if an institution is well-run or not just by the condition of its facilities and grounds. Even their foodservice was top-notch! One of the advantages that PIMA enjoys is its location in the desert. It’s no accident that the Aviation Boneyard(s) are located here. No rain, no rust, no nothing, (‘cept sun!) Being baked is better for metal when compared to rust!  UV’s do not harm metal!

B-52, still the backbone of our strategic defense. They were produced from 1952 until 1962 and are still in use with obvious upgrades through the years.
B-29
This type was used to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of WW II.
A B-36, dubbed The Peacemaker. It is quite large as you will see!
Here is the B-29 on the left compared to the B-36 on the right. The B-36 is even larger than the B-52. Of the 365 B-36’s manufactured, only four remain, one of which is located here at PIMA.
The promised photo of the back lot at the museum.
In the back lot is a relatively rare C- 119, the Flying Boxcar. Out of almost 1200 produced, only three remain airworthy and about 50 are in air parks and museums around the world.

                        I spent about four hours there while Paula was having a very needed Spa Day after the last four post-surgery, bronchitis, et al, inflicted weeks. Mid-week visits are great as the facility was not crowed at all. Being able to photograph these wonderful airplanes sans hordes of onlookers was quite extraordinary and well-appreciated.

B-17 at the 395th Bomber Squadron Memorial
B-24 Liberator.
Interesting factoid…. the B-24 was larger, flew further, and could carry more payload than the B-17 but still is not as well known or “loved” as the Flying Fortress!
B-29 nose.
A Lockheed Electa 10E, (silver) the same type of plane that Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan were flying when they disappeared in 1937.
Top Gun!
An F-14 Tomcat made very famous by that movie!
SR-71 Blackbird !!!
The B-26 (A-26 depending on the era) The plane my Dad was in over in Korea during that Conflict.

                                    I asked about getting into that Aviation Boneyard across town and was told that those offerings were discontinued permanently. Due to the vastness of those collections and for security reasons, the Bus Tours operated by the Air Force have been discontinued with no plans for a future revival.

                                                Oh well.

                                                I’ll just peer through the fence!

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Sabino Canyon ?

The nature of a Cacti Forest.

Everyone who has been to Sabino Canyon please raise your hands.

Hmmm.

Ok, all of you who have even heard of Sabino Canyon, please raise your hands.

                        That’s what I thought.

                        Me neither.

                But 1.4 million per year of our distant friends and relations have!

                        Now it’s 1,400,002!

                        We all know traveling is fun, but it gets even better when you can discover some of those hidden local gems that do not get the same love and attention that their more well-known cousins do.

                        We can include Sabino Canyon Recreation Area in the grouping. Sabino Canyon is an area of the Santa Catalina Mountains that border the northern edge of Tucson, making for a very impressive skyline.

The Santa Catalina Mountains including Mount Lemmon, the highest point in this range at 9,159′.

It is administered by the National Forest Service, not the National Park Service, as it is contained within the Coronado National Forest. The Coronado National Forest totals almost two million acres spread over five different Ranger Stations that are further spread out in two states, Arizona and New Mexico. These Regions are obviously not contiguous.

Looking out into the Santa Catalina Mountains.

                        But they are connected by a single environment and that is called a sky island. Aptly named, a sky island is an area of mountainous terrain that has significantly different biodiversity than its surrounding lowlands.

                                    We visited Sabino Canyon yesterday with a bunch of our new friends. We all clambered aboard an electric-powered tram (it’s so popular that reservations are required!) that brought us up several thousand feet and then on the return acted in a Hop On / Hop Off nature at all of the popular trailheads. We elected to ride the entire way as Paula is still unable to shake this bronchitis/flu/persistent cough/neck pain/and general yuckiness.

Our chariot, (electric powered!)
The appropriately named Sandy Beach area of the creek that flows down through the canyon.

                                    As you can see from the photos, this area does not conjure up your usual visions of what a National Forest looks like. There are no dense groves of towering pine trees or lush valleys filled with deciduous tress. What we have here are Cacti.

                                                Lots and lots of Cacti.

                                                Especially our besties…

                                                The Saguaro!

                        I apologize in advance for inundating you all with these fascinating plants, but it seems that we’ve come down with a terminal case of Saguaroitis. Luckily this malaise is not fatal and is easily treated by visiting these guys. Just don’t try and hug them!

We just missed the flowering season for all of the cacti. This alone would be a reason to return! Here you can see the vestiges of one example of these pretty flowers.
Down low….. Up high.
This guy looks like he’s looking out and waving at all of his visitors!
This is to prove that we were there!

                        So lets get to know our new friends.

Saguaros live for several hundred years.

Saguaros don’t get their cool-looking arms until they are about 75 years old.

Saguaros are about 250 / 350 years old when they have that classic several-fingered configuration.

Saguaros can grow to be forty-five feet tall and weigh over six tons!

No two Saguaros are identical.

Saguaros provide shelter to all sorts of critters, crawling and flying, as burrows are quite common in them.

They are all over here!

Up high, down low, and everywhere in between, towering above all of their other cacti neighbors.

Here’s an interesting one (Paula?) This particular Saguaro is very rare, it is estimated that only 1 in 200,000 appear like this. It is called a Cristate Saguaro and currently no one still knows the nature of why these unique and sometimes grotesque growth patterns occur. Theories include virus’s, genetics, lightning, frost, and little, microscopic critters.

If you took my hint and went back in the Archives to January 13, 14, &15 of 2021 and read the Posts from our first trip out here, and then add in a place like Sabino Canyon, you can see how easy it is to return.

                        We can’t wait to come back and get on those trails that will lead us to even more places hidden in Sabino Canyon Recreation Area!

The riparian areas around the creek support the entire region. Due to the snows in the winter and thunderstorms and the monsoon season, this creek rarely dries up.
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Tucson II

Early morning in the Sonoran Desert.

            The Travel Season is fast approaching so we decided to have a Preliminary Travel Event just to keep in practice.

                        Well, that’s not what really occurred.

                        What really happened was Paula had some neck surgery which was successful in it’s goals, but due to the fact that she cannot endure any kind of pain medication, she had some severe reactions after surgery. This left her rather debilitated, never mind the pain from the surgery itself which could only be subdued with some Advil’s.  

                        Advance a week or so later and as recovery started to show its lovely head, along comes a bout of what was probably the flu and bronchitis. Still clinging to the respiratory issues of that incident and then having her cousin in Tucson, Arizona pass away, we decided to roll it all together and travel the two days to Tucson, attend the Celebration of Life service, and get Paula into some different air.

                                    So, here we are in Tucson.

                                    We were here in January of 2021 to visit her cousin and family and we always intended to return as this area is what can be considered Desert Gorgeous.

                                    We all have our Mind’s Eye vision of what a desert looks like…..  old, sunbaked cattle skulls, vultures circling overhead waiting for us to drop because we left our water bottles at home, Roadrunners craftily outwitting Mr. Wile E. Coyote, and of course, cloudless blue skies from horizon to horizon.

                                    I’ll bet that our collective vision also includes some cacti. Not just any cacti, specifically the Saguaro Cactus family.

Any way you say it (because in English Cactus, Cacti, and Cactuses is/are correct!)

                                    You know, the Marlboro Man astride his trusty steed silhouetted against the setting sun and the ubiquitous symbol of the West, that several-fingered cactus plant reaching for the sky.

One of the most successful (?) advertising campaigns in history.

                                    But wait a second!

                                    That can only happen here!

                                    Here in the Sonoran Desert of our Southwest and in northern Mexico. And then….. only a portion of the Sonoran Desert!

If you are in any other desert on the planet, you cannot see these gorgeous plants as they cannot and do not grow anywhere else.

A prime example of a Saguaro Cactus
Here are our Desert Regions in North America. There are other desert-like areas, arid, sparsely vegetated spots, (i.e. West Texas) but they are not true deserts.
Saguaro Cactus Range
Compare the red area of the first diagram (the Sonoran Desert) with this green area and you will notice that the Saguaro Cactus only grows in a portion of the Sonoran Desert.

                        There is another wonderful aspect of this Desert.

                        The relative humidity and grand expanses make it the perfect place for old aircraft to go and either last almost forever, or stay around to be used for spare parts, or wait until they may be needed again and get themselves some more flight time!

                        The “Boneyard” as it is affectionately called by any knowing aviation geek is located right here!

The RED outlined area is the “Boneyard”. All neatly lined up aircraft awaiting either their demise or resurrection.

                        So, we are going to spend a few days down here exploring some of the other sights and sites that we left behind on our last trip. The “Boneyard”, PIMA Air and Space Museum, and some pretty nifty natural wonders await all of us in the next few days, so stay tuned for a few Blog Posts emanating from our Desert Gorgeous Southwest!

                                    If you are so inclined, go backwards in the blog Archives to January of 2021, January 14,15, & 16 specifically and you will find the other really great stuff that we saw back then and probably won’t repeat this time.

I promise you that you will enjoy them!

In the meantime, please enjoy this small Desert (Cacti) Solitaire photo essay!

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Carls(great!) Caverns

                        In the middle of the New Mexico/Texas desert is a place that we’ve all heard of but I’m not sure how many of you have actually visited.

                                    Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

                                    If you’ve been here before then you may reminisce while you go along with your new classmates, who will now know why a trip to this wonder needs to be on their list.

                                    I will tease you with just one photo (to keep your interest) while your ‘Lesson’ is being administered.

Note ‘handrails’ for scale! (More incredible photos to follow, but no cheating and going down there! If you are viewing this on your phone, you may want to check it out again on your lap/desktop to get the full impact of the pics!)

                                    Ok, so lets go back to the way,way back (like 265 million years or so) and pretend we’re a couple of water molecules. We’re floating around in a big inland sea that some day will be a desert in New Mexico and Texas. We’re helping our friends Sponge Bob and his buddies form a reef of sponge-like critters, (No Patrick Star, Mr. Krabs, Squidward, or any others… just some spongy-type guys). Unfortunately Sponge Bob and his contemporaries croak. But they become the base for the next generation of Sponge Bobs. This goes on for several million years and it grows into a 400-mile long, horseshoe shaped reef along the coast of this big inland sea.

                        We’re going to jump ahead some more millions of years, add in some exciting activity from our old friend Mr. Plate Tectonics, who is going to get agitated, throw his chest out, and push this whole sea upwards to the point where its cut off from it’s parents to the west and now is on its own.

                        This process goes on for millions more years in varying stages, up, down, and sideways forming, unforming, fissures and cracks that let fresh rainwater, and the occasional salt water, penetrate downward through the old remains of Sponge Bob and his friends and relatives. When everybody gets together, the Sulfur Bullies meet the Hydrogen Happenings, sulfuric acid is made, bacteria start to feed, they croak and interact with limestone and eventually we get big caves that rise and fall with the varying sea levels until about 500,000 years ago, they start the process that we all know and love, Chemical Precipitation (dripping water).

                                                Drip, (with a molecule of Calcium)

                                                Drip, (with another molecule of Calcium)

                                                Drip, Drip, Drip,

                                                Pretty soon (thousands of years) we get these incredible formations, Stalactites ( t for top or hold tight) and their relatives the Stalagmites (g for ground or reaching up with all their m for might).

                                                There you have it.

Lots of Tights (tites) going on here!

                                                Class dismissed!

And we now get to go on our Field Trip (Yay!!!) but no snacks! (Boo!!!) Because they are not allowed down in the cave for fear of contamination.

You may eat your snack on the bus.

            The first aspect that I would like to relay to you is the scale of this experience. It is huge! I have occasionally had our resident Chief Spelunker, Paula the Fearless be strategically placed in a photo for scale. That, and you will notice the stainless-steel handrail in some photos. Look carefully for these items as they too add the much-needed scale for this encounter to be appreciated to its fullest extent.

We chose to walk down the 750 feet of elevation on the trail that is over a mile and quarter long. This depth (for comparison) is about 75% of the height of the Empire State Building.

                        We did not walk back up.

                        We did take the high-speed elevator.

It starts out here. This is the Bat Flight viewing area. Every night between late spring and early fall, the bats come swarming out at dusk to do what bats do. That dark spot down front is the mouth of the cave, It’s BIG!

When we finally reached the main attraction at the bottom, that of the aptly named Big Room, the path around that was another mile and a half!

            Now for all of you Jules Verne fans…. we will start our Journey to the Center of the Earth 😊

We’re about 50 feet down now, and you can see that our journey has just begun.
Down….
Down some more…
Into the “Dark Zone” Soon we’ll be where no sunlight has ever reached.
But first, we’ll look back up and see that last natural light coming in from the top left.
Down, down, down….
We start to see those nifty “Formations”.
Now we’re talkin’!
Check out those “Mites” down there. Wait til you see how big they are!
Handrails for scale.
Paula for scale.
Handrails
The colors are really pretty too!
Those white and orange hangy-down ones are just sheets of minerals, jagged ‘veils’ for lack of a better description.
More and more. Believe it or not, the incredible (after a while) became the norm and eventually it was the grand scale of it all that came to the forefront.
We’re finally down in the Big Room, ready to circumnavigate it. Please note the size of my two unknowing assistants standing center, left. Now get ready for our 1.5-mile trek around this 4000′ long by 605′ wide, by 250′ high “room”.

The next few photos may, or may not, have any text under them. Some need a comment, others just need someone to see them. That someone is you.

(Handrails on right)
(White jacket Paula on right) Note directly in front of her the long ‘Tite coming down and the thicker ‘Mite’ rising up.
Here they are a bit closer. Soon (?) they will form a ‘Column.’
Just a few….. (check the larger white formation, right, rear.)
Now flip back to it for the respective perspective!
I don’t know if they have an official name, but I call them the Cheshire Triplets. Just imagine these three guys with some appropriately placed eyes….. 🙂
Some more ‘veils’ or ‘ribbons’
The Crocodile Twins!
Ok… I couldn’t pass this one up. This is a photo of a formation of ‘snotltes’. I kid you not! (Go ahead, Google it, I’ll wait…..) When you are the first one to discover something, you get to name it. I guess they had a good time with this one! They are actually slimy strings of dripping sulfuric acidic microbes.
A pool of water, complete with the ripples from a single drop of water penetrating down from the surface, 750′ above us. There are no ‘springs’ down here, just the pools created by the drips.
This is actually small by comparison and is named the Children’s Theater. It is only about three feet high, but very pretty!
On the path, walking towards the center to get our elevator back to the real world!

I hope that you have enjoyed your tour of Carlsbad Caverns and can only wish that you may someday visit this incredible place. It is not at all claustrophobic as my lovely assistant, Paula the Fearless, can attest!

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Palm Springs on a Clear Day!

                   We lucked out on our last day in Palm Springs.

Weatherwise!

We met up again with Sandi and Steve and went to one of the best aviation museums that I’ve ever been to. The Palm Springs Air Museum is truly word-class!

They were getting ready for their Annual Gala (read fund raiser) so things were a bit jumbled up and not all of their aircraft were available for display as the hanger was needed for this event.

But, the rest was great and as you can tell by the photos, the weather was also!

We saw one of the best explanations of the first six months of our involvement in WWII starting with the attack on Pearl Harbor. This movie production was quite detailed and had a running time of almost an hour. It used both American and Japanese films to convey its message and was very effective.

There are far too many other aspects of this Museum to go into detail about, but their Aviation Art collection, gigantic painted murals, and reference material is quite extensive.

Here for your enjoyment are just some photos from the day.

Be sure to check out the last ones!

A C-47 (or DC-3) in front of the hanger.
The queen of the exhibits…. a B-17
Maybe the most agile in the air, a F-4U Corsair
Looking down a P-47 Thunderbolt….. the “Jug.”
Grumman F6F Hellcat
Curtiss P-40 ‘Flying Tiger”
A rather rare Grumman F7F Tigercat
Great view outside the airport, looking northwest.
Grumman F9F Panther
They also had an extensive collection of ship models. Here a close-up of the
USS Missouri, a battleship.
Steve, Sandi, and us at a VERY good Mexican restaurant for lunch.
This is the view from our campsite, note windmills. Also, note that no one puts windmills where there is no wind!
Check this out! It looks like it belongs in Texas! a Rhinestone Cowboy Helicopter, complete with saddle!
(And a “Cowhide” paint scheme!) Yahoo!

Today we start heading eastward, back to Texas, hopefully with a side trip to Carlsbad Caverns!

Thanks for reading!

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Palm Springs Rain-Out!

This is Palm Springs! The Mid-Twentieth Century vibe is what it’s all about. They know it and they flaunt it! Also, the weather is usually what this poster depicts!

                   We have been inundated with questions about our relative safety here in Southern California. I guess the rest of the country is watching on TV the many floods, landslides, and other natural disasters that seem to haunt this region.

                   I am here to report that we are just fine.

I am also here to report that there isn’t much to report!

While most of that “Atmospheric River” is just northwest of us, that doesn’t mean that we’ve had bluebird skies and tropical temperatures.

Just the opposite.

Cool and rainy.

But not really floody.

That does put a damper on things. Hiking in Joshua Tree National Park is not on the schedule, or anywhere else for that matter.

This is the road leading to Desert Hot Springs where our campground is. We’re a few miles north of Palm Springs. The weather was nice on arrival day!

                   But we came here primarily to visit with Sandi and Steve, a couple who we met on the World Cruise. They winter down here in Palm Springs and summer up in Vancouver, Washington State(not Canada) in a home right on the Columbia River which is directly across from Portland, Oregon.

                   We’ve had a great time reminiscing as you may imagine and getting to know a little more about each other’s families, past employment, and other general items that can only be had with the spending of quality time together.

We were able to get out for a tour of the area, courtesy of our hosts. Movie stars homes, historical buildings, and other cultural entities were included in our day-long outing.

I wish that I had a person in this photo for perspective, but if you note the adjacent palm trees, you’ll get the idea.
This is a good example of that Mid-Twentieth Century Modernism architecture. No, the colors have not been enhanced!

                   So, there has not been a lot to report back on from a Travelogue Perspective.

But from our perspective, this trip has been a rousing success!

We do plan on taking a side-trip on our way back to Texas and stop at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. You may expect the usual Blog Entry on this venture if it, in fact, occurs.

You will be the first to know!

Gotta go now, Frank and Bing are having a Flood Party and asked us to attend!

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Nights in White Gravy

                   We have an announcement to make.

                             No…. not that!

                             We are now officially Card-Carrying Members of the Cracker Barrel Rewards Program!

That’s us with all of our other “Roadie” friends!

                   We finally bit the bullet (or Chicken Pot Pie) and signed up last night.

                             The Backstory.

                   Walmart’s are (were?) famous for allowing RV-type vehicles overnight in their parking lots. This started when old Grampa Sam was still in charge. Then a few things happened. Gramps croaked and a few of the Stores went rogue when hosting unworthy, trash dumping guests got to be too much and the local managers or municipal authorities finally put an end to it.

                             At some locations.

                             The problem is that you are never sure if the one that you’ve got in your sights is a ‘Welcoming’ one or a ‘Go Away, You Bother Me’ one.

                             Back in the beginning of our travels we stopped in the Walmart of Marana, Arizona (north of Tucson) and made ourselves comfortable.

                             Until….

                             Until the local Mall Cop showed up and skedaddled us out explaining the now obvious local situation. He recommended a Walmart fifty miles north of where we were. It was already late at night, so this exercise became an even bigger deal.

                   Now we’re wary.

                   Are we gonna get kicked out?

                   Is any Walmart safe anymore?

                   You would think that a call beforehand would settle this issue but when:

  1. You can’t always get through.
  2. If you do, and you get Bill in Electronics….
  3. Even if you do get the Front Desk they don’t always know!

So, we do still use the Walmart’s that we know are ‘safe’ around the USA, and we are always hopeful when we pull in and see another RV there before us, but still…..

That brings us to Cracker Barrel and their parking lots that have dedicated long, spacious spots for RV’s and the like. We know that we’re always welcome and we make a point of going in for a meal and asking to speak to the manager. We thank them for their hospitality for the evening and we always get a delicious (read not diet!) meal, usually with enough left over for another meal.

As a Welcome Gift for signing up we will receive a complimentary order of any of their Barrel Bites (appy’s) that we may choose.

 Within the next month.

Guess where we’re gonna go on the way back home!

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On the Road (Again!)

The last time Willy visited our campfire was a few years ago in Colorado where we sang “On the Road Again” as only Willy can. This time he dropped by our place in Texas (his home State), he mentioned something about Tax Time coming up and he had some papers to gather for this event. No more Tax Evasion for him!

He next strummed another one of his tunes, The Highway, and that’s all we needed to hear. The next thing we knew we heard that highway calling us too, so we jumped into the Motorhome, threw a few ropes around the Honda, and exited the finally nice weather of Texas and are bound for SoCal.

It’s kind of like SoHo  (South of Houston Street) in NYC, but much further away and a lot bigger!

We are on our way back to this area after a several year absence. This was the first sizeable trip that we took back in the beginning. It works nicely as we get to stay “South”, hopefully with most winter anomalies staying well north of us!

We are headed for the Palm Springs area. The last time we were here Frank, Sammy, and Dean and the rest of the Rat Pack asked us to visit. This time we’re on our way to visit a couple that we met whilst on the World Cruise last year.

(I can’t believe that its been a whole year! On this date last year we were sailing between Moorea, Tahiti and Pago Pago, American Samoa!)

Sandi and Steve live up in Oregon, but winter in Palm Springs, so off we go! It’s already been one full day on the road, about nine hours of driving and we still have about 140 miles left before we get outa Texas….. As I’ve related before…. This place is gigantic!

So far, the Evil Interstate 10 has behaved herself, no 40 mph crosswinds to counter, traffic has been unusually light, but we are not complaining as we had a rather uneventful day yesterday. The only event worth mentioning was the brief interlude when the Motorhome died at 73 mph.

                   Then, 3 seconds later, came back to life.

                   A call into our service guys was not able to ascertain the issue as there could be many a reason for the “glitch”.

Yes…. that is the Official Nomenclature used for describing that situation.

We are hoping that this uninvited guest does not reappear anytime soon.

See you in Palm Springs!

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Roatan, Honduras

Coming into the port of Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Honduras.

                   Our third and last Port of Call on this seven-day voyage was the island of Roatan, part of the country of Honduras. Roatan is one of three islands that make up the Bay Islands of Honduras. These islands lay about forty miles off the coast of Honduras and while not isolated, this separation helps explain the fact that English is the first language of the Islands while Spanish is the primary language of Honduras on the mainland. The English language factor is descended from the British Colonial days and is fortified by the American cruise and tourism industry that thrives out on the Islands. The Islands are part of an ancient, exposed coral reef that is close to the Mesoamerican Reef, the one that’s second only to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

Yes! That is a wrecked ship in the center of the photo. But…. it was deliberately placed there for all of us Tourons to gawk at!
But it still looks cool!
A relatively nice Cruiseport.

                                       I suspect that there is something to lament about the tourism industry and developing countries. While I haven’t had any in-depth conversations with anyone local, our guide yesterday did mention that right now, there are berths for up to five cruise ships per day and that was being increased by one (to six) very soon.

          He did not seem so happy about that.

Even to the uninitiated, it is apparent that the infrastructure of this area is strained at best. The roads are very narrow and pothole filled, there are no speed limits or stoplights. But the Industry does bring steady jobs and social advancement, especially when it comes to amenities that percolate down from the wants and needs of tourists. Who are we to determine whether this is good or bad for the local population? I suspect that we are our own worst enemies here, wanting a “Really Authentic” island experience and then being disappointed by the advancements brought by the very things that we want when on vacation. We all want/need cell coverage, internet access, paved roads, sanitized environments, etc.

The view back to the ship from the Cruiseport of Mahagony Bay

                             These are just some observations that come from some extensive travel as of late. The facts are that nothing remains the same and I suppose that it is not supposed to remain the same. Maybe that’s a good reason to travel to the places that we want to experience the way that our mind’s eye has always captured them.

Get while the gettin’s good!

                   We did have another day filled with a few different experiences and the rain did hold off until we were on our way back to the ship!

The Stone Castle Cameo Institute

                   Our first stop was at a Cameo studio. This particular industry is well suited for this region because of the abundance of conch and abalone shells. The origins of this art dates back to ancient Greece, then it was adopted by the Romans whose wealthiest had their features and silhouettes carved by the artisans of the time. Today, Italy continues to be the heart of the trade with about 290 of the current 300 tradespeople in the world residing there. The other 10 or so live on Roatan, brought there by Franco Tammaro, a descendent of a cameo artist who started up in Naples in 1851.

A carved Conch Shell
There was a raffle where Paula won a prize, which Maddie got to pick out!
Cameos come in varying sizes and styles. This will give an example of scale.

                             The work is gorgeous and the only thing that would have made the visit better would have been to watch one of the artists actually at work. But we got there early, and I suspect that they were still snoozing!

The artist NOT hard at work!

                             After the Cameo Studio we traveled a short distance up the road to the dock where our “submarine” was waiting for us. This was one of those underwater experiences that have you go aboard and walk down a set of stairs to a double row of bench seats running fore and aft with large plate glass ports for viewing. If any of you have every snorkeled or SCUBA dived, you know that the best stuff is in less than 30 feet of water because that’s where the light is. So, sitting primarily on the surface and looking down works just fine.

“Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea”
The Crew.
Searching for Nemo and Dory

                             Unless.

                             Unless you arrive in the rainy season and the rivers (like the one yesterday) are swollen with silt and everything else they bring down to the coast with them. Then there is no way for a coastal viewing experience to be exemplary.

                             In realty, coastal viewing is best during a drought, or at least way past a rain event. We were still able to see some good stuff and if this was your first underwater experience it was quite exhilarating!

In all fairness, this was taken through a thick plate-glass window!
Assorted corals.

                             When we were finished beneath the sea, we went to the little town of West Village, a collection of quaint seaside shops, eateries, and galleries. We spent our time in a local chocolate factory  😊.

Paula on her way up to the secret chocolate room!
Great chocolate!

 We did sample their wares and we did thoroughly enjoy them!

The rain held off until we were on our way back to the ship.

Barb did not accompany us on this excursion, she went out to a National Park where there were monkeys and birds. The results of which are displayed below!

Barb the Ornithologist
Barb the Primatologist

Our next two days will be spent “At Sea” traveling northward from the Western Caribbean and into the Gulf of Mexico.

Days at Sea are special in their own way. This is the relaxing part of cruising, there is still tons to do, but only if you want to!

A nice view of the Lido Deck at 4 AM (ish)
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Belize and “Bamboo Chicken”

Paula and Barb at this port’s requisite photo op. This particular port was quite quaint, not as “manufactured’ as most of the others feel like. This was a “tender” port, as we needed to be ferried in. The waters are far too shallow to allow big ships to come in.

                   I cannot stress the next fact enough.

                   Do Not EVER rely on any forecast that you ever hear from any weather service.

These “services” are for advice only! Use them with care! Because…..

Had we relied on the forecast alone even one day before departure, or for that fact, any day so far on this trip, we would have “Canceled” our trip/excursions because of said forecast.

                   Ok, done with the rant.

                   As you will see, this has been far from the forecasted “rainout” that was hovering on our horizon.

                             Cloudy?

                             Yes!

                             Showers (light and infrequent)

                             Yes!

                             Great days?

                             Yes!

During the rainy part of the day, or should I say “minute”. No sooner than we donned our rain gear, we had to take it off!

                   Yesterday was Belize. Belize is a pretty cool country and we found out tons of great facts on our one-hour bus trip on our way to way to Altun Ha, a fine example of Mayan altars surrounding traditional large courtyards. This particular site was discovered in 1954 and is still undergoing exploration as opportunity and funds allow. By the way, there are over nine-hundred of these “sites” scattered around the Yucatan Peninsula, most just ready tom be uncovered and explored.

One of the Altars at Altun Ha. Note folks on top (for scale)
Barb and Paula getting ready to be “sacrificed” to the “chocolate gods”
The sites of Altun Ha covered about ten acres or so.

                   The Mayans in this area were contemporaries of our recent friends of the Four Corners area, the Ancestral Puebloans, so these sites go back roughly a thousand years or so, but their inhabitance of this area pre-dates that by another thousand years.

This is what an unexcavated site looks like. But just imagine it wall covered with jungle. These places were discovered because everything is FLAT! These are the only “hills” anywhere around. Hmmm…..

                             Back to Belize.

                             Here are some of the interesting tid-bits …..

                   Belize is the only Central American country to have English as her official language.

                   Belize’s central culture is Creole based, illustrating the influx of Africans and Europeans back in the day.

                   Although it is a sovereign nation, receiving its independence back in 1981, it is still a Commonwealth Realm (a term without any legal status) with King Charles as the Head of State. Belize was previously known as British Honduras, a name acquired back in the mid 1800’s. Belize is connected at the hip to the United States, primarily with trade in mind. Boiled down, about fifty percent of imports and exports are USA based. Even their cable TV originates from the States, but a much cheaper price, give or take $35.00 a month (for EVERY channel that you can think of!)

                   The minimum wage is less than $3.00 an hour, but there are obviously other factors at work here, such as every Belizean is given a plot of land for free from the government, where most end up building a house in stages as their family and needs grow. One of their primary industries is Tourism, which we were happy to be a part of. Our Tour Guides were thoroughly engaging and very informative. It was a pleasure learning about their country, culture , and customs from them.

                   After our visit to Altun Ha, we boarded our bus again for a short ride to The Iguana, a restaurant on the banks of the very swollen (and aptly named) Belize River. Here we had lunch before boarding our River Cruise boat for the return back to Belize City and our tender back to the ship. The joke of the day was that were going to be served “Bamboo Chicken” which turns out to be strips of Iguana on bamboo skewers roasted nicely over some coals. Unfortunately Madison could not get that image out of her mind, and it took quite a bit of convincing that the deliciously stewed chicken that we did receive was, in fact, really chicken!

Our “African Queen” awaiting boarding.

                   After lunch we boarded our river transportation and had some really nice wildlife sightings. Think the African River Cruise at Disneyworld on steroids, complete with the humorous “Guides”! Unfortunately, we did not get charged by a raging hippopotamus, but it was exciting none the less!

The “Look-Out” and the Guide. Our Look-Out was also our bartender as “Rum Punches” were offered. We had more frequent sightings with every round of Punch served 🙂
A Howler Monkey diving through the trees.
Iguana way up.
Same guy, close up!
A face only a mother could love. Well, maybe.

                   Our “almost” lunches were apparent everywhere, but mostly up in the trees, which if you were at all queasy about these critters gave you pause about walking around underneath the trees! But they really only eat much smaller critters and insects. They have no interest in eating “Bamboo Peoples.”

                   The crocodile sightings were quite exciting as these are Central American Croc’s, quite aggressive, if not somewhat smaller than their Australian and African cousins. We were happy to stay in the boat.

A Croc!
And his best friend.
I could hear the Alarm Clock ticking from here….
This was some guy’s front lawn. Yes, those are Iguana’s sitting there.
Note the water level after some fairly high rainfall amounts.

                   The rest of the flora and fauna were nicely identified and explained by our expert guides including the now (somewhat) rare mahogany tree. Back when this are of the world became known to Europe, these trees were valued pound-for-pound the same as gold.

                   One pound of gold = one pound of mahogany.

                   I’ll let you figure out the outcome.

                   They are now obviously protected.

                   Although we did not get out there, Belize’s coral reef is rivaled only by the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, so as you can imagine, only one day here was not quite enough to explore this great little country. Belize is about the size of Massachusetts, but judging by the attitude of the folks we met, her heart is as big as the world  😊

On our way back to Port we encountered a small pod of dolphins including a few babies! This was the only proof that I was able to capture!
Back to our ship, the one at the far left. The other two are Carnival vessels.