Belize: San Pedro (Days Two and Three)

On Day Two, we went fishing.  I’m not a fishing enthusiast.  I’ve probably fished a couple of dozen times in my life, and most of those times have been through the ice.  San Pedro is best known for fishing and snorkeling.  I’m not much of a swimmer either, unless something is chasing me.  So besides drinking beer and rum punches, my companions strongly suggested that I select an excursion.  I chose fishing.  Julia, the daughter of a serious fisherman, was the only wife who wanted to go fishing.  Kim and Michele went shopping instead.  I don’t like shopping either.

Brent and John have fished many times before in Belize and knew a guide with a boat.  This was unlike any of my previous fishing experiences.  The guide and his helper netted a bunch of sardines during the first twenty minutes and then chopped up the sardines into little pieces to use as bait.  Then they baited our hooks every time we needed bait, and they pointed out where to cast to catch the fish.  If I caught a fish, they took it off the hook, sorted out whether it was a keeper or not, and later cleaned all the fish for supper.  I think we ended up with about 35 keeper fish between the four of us.  Most of the fish were different varieties of snapper.  Julia caught an ugly fish known locally as a Slippery Dick.  It was quickly released and sent overboard.  This was my first fish.  It was not deemed a keeper.

On Day Two, we hopped on the golf carts and went bar hopping to the north side of the island.  The island is quite skinny, so it isn’t hard to find a beachfront bar.

Kim is being a good designated driver with her Coke.

In the last post, I forgot to include the an excerpt from my A.T. Trail Journal.  I would plead jet lag but there was no time zone change.  Here is the next entry.

UnBelizeable

The stars had to be almost in perfect alignment for our trip to take place.  Caregivers for Justin were being hired at the last-minute.  Julia’s Dad was still having post-stroke complications.  A major weather system moved through on the day before departure, cancelling hundreds of flights at O’Hare when a jet skidded off the runway.


In the morning, I drove to Whitewater to drop Justin off at school.  The long access ramp to his dorm was not plowed or shoveled, and I had no way to get him in the building.  I ran down the street and chased down a university employee who found two shovels.  I started at one end, and he started at the other.  Justin shivered in the cold, but we did get him in the building.

In the afternoon, Julia and I loaded up the car with our suitcases, along with Allie who needed to be dropped off at her school.  We drove to Milwaukee, dropped off Allie at her apartment, and then drove to Chicago.  We had found a stay, park and fly deal at the O’Hare Hyatt, which allowed us to stay overnight and park for less than the price of two weeks parking at the airport’s economy parking lot. We ate at the hotel bar, while watching the gusts of wind blow snow around in circles.

Early the next morning, we took the hotel shuttle to the airport and headed for the gate.

Despite the horrible weather and the understaffed TSA employees working without pay, we made it through security and were at the gate less than an hour after taking the hotel elevator down to the front door.  I would definitely recommend the O’hare’s Hyatt Regency’s park, stay and ride offer for up to two weeks free parking in the enclosed parking structure.

Our United non-stop flight left on time, and we were in Belize City by early afternoon.  From there, we boarded a small plane for San Pedro, an island about fifteen minutes by air.  It was the smallest plane that I’ve flown in for awhile.  I sat close enough to the pilot that I could have tapped him on the right shoulder. The woman sitting next to the pilot was another passenger.  There was no co-pilot.

Our friends Brent and Michele own a condo on San Pedro that we were invited to visit about fifteen years ago.  When we saw them in Alaska last summer, I asked if the invite was still good. “Of course,” they replied.  We texted that we had arrived early, but Brent didn’t get the message until about an hour later.  We passed the time by drinking the national beer, Belikin which is amazingly not too bad, even for a beer snob like me.  The brewery was started by a German who faithfully followed the requirements for German beer: malted barley, hops, water, and yeast.  No additions of rice or corn. Belikin offers a regular lager, light beer, stout, and holiday beer.

Julia says one of those beers is for me, but I’m not sure about that.  There are worse ways to wait for a ride.  Brent arrived by golf cart, the main way to get around the island.  On the way to the condo, we stopped to support the local grocery store by getting more Belikin for the thirty minute ride to the property, which had lovely views of the Caribbean Sea. This was a brewed journey worth the wait and effort.

Blog’s Pause (Paws) Button

Earlier this week, I celebrated my 58th birthday.  Justin and I slept in until Julia and Allie drove back on the day after  their cross-country ski race in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  Allie finished second in her age group, and Julia was tenth in her age group.  I’m sworn to secrecy regarding the number of people in their age groups, but Allie came home with a big medal.

Upon arriving  home, Julia made her best cake ever: a  three layer chocolate and peanut butter birthday cake.

We ate a birthday dinner of meat and potato pasties, purchased from a bakery in Iron Mountain, Michigan.

We are in the final stretch for getting Justin’s caregivers in place, doctors’ appointments, durable medical equipment updates, and adult children back to school.  In the event that everything works out, confirmation will be evidenced by no blog posts for a few weeks.  I’m hoping that my next post will detail new travels, instead of  an explanation for why things didn’t work out.  There are a lot of moving pieces at this point.

Callie is in charge of the blog while I’m off-line.

Keep on, Keepin’ On

The beginning of the year hasn’t exactly started with a bang, but we are taking a couple of steps forward with every step back.

For a quick family update, my father-in-law Gene is out of ICU and in a normal hospital room.  For the most part, he has reached the point where his vitals are all in a normal range.  Gene is working on building up strength, eating enough calories to get the feeding tube removed, and moving into a rehab facility as soon as that happens.

As for my son Justin, he lost all of his caregivers from the first semester and has signed up for an agency to manage his caregivers second semester.  It will always be a battle to have enough caregivers for him.  This agency seems confident about meeting his needs.  Time will tell.  As happens to a lot of first-year college students, Justin fell off the tracks a little bit with regard to schoolwork and doing the things his doctors have told him to do to keep himself alive longer (Example:  Using his bipap machine at night).  Justin seems confident that the second semester will be better.  We all hope for that.  Actions always speak louder than words.

My daughter Allie has been Justin’s caregiver during semester break, earning some extra money.  They don’t always get along, but she shows up for work and gets the job done.  Allie is saving up to buy Julia’s car in the spring, so that she will have a vehicle for her summer internship in Milwaukee.

Amidst the chaos, I’ve made time to hike almost every day with my dog Callie.  She pretty much demands it, not relaxing until she’s had at least several miles of hiking and another half-hour of running up and down our hill fetching a ball.  After that, she’s quite sweet and calm.  And I’m ready for a nap.

Fern Glenn Segment (Ice Age Trail):
A short distance away from the popular Gibraltar Rock segment, Fern Glenn may be the least-traveled of the segments near Lodi.

I know that I often overlook it and haven’t hiked Fern Glen in several years.  Heavily wooded with steep ups and downs, I don’t enjoy hiking this segment in the summer.  It can be hot, buggy and without many views.  In the spring and fall, the trail is often muddy and not much fun either.  In the winter, however, the trail shines.

A fresh snow had fallen the day before, and no one’s footsteps were visible.  I went back a couple of days later with daughter Allie and dog Callie.  There were a few footsteps besides my own, but we didn’t encounter a single person on the trail.  Sometimes, not seeing other people is exactly what I need.  I wasn’t exactly alone.  A couple of dozen Canada geese, late for their wintering spot, honked loudly overhead.  Squirrels scolded us for invading their domain.  Two whitetail deer crossed my path and quickly moved beyond.

Because the fresh snow lay on top of slippery ice. I wore my new Yaktrax Pros.  I lost my previous Yaktrax on a muddy trail in North Carolina.  These devices are relatively cheap and effective-at least on Wisconsin terrain. They aren’t meant for use in mud, rock or concrete and should be temporarily removed when crossing those surfaces.  It just takes a minute to slip them off, and it was my own fault for losing the first pair.

I’ll conclude with another excerpt from my Appalachian Trail thru-hike.

First Day Hike

The end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019 have presented some difficult challenges.  When life gets tough, go for a hike.  A number of state-owned properties held First Day Hikes on January 1st as a way to encourage Wisconsin residents to get outdoors during winter and to enjoy the natural beauty.  We went on one of those hikes last year at Gibraltar Rock.  Maybe a dozen people participated due to extreme cold weather.  This year’s hike featured five inches of fresh snow and temperatures in the balmy 20’s (warm compared to last year).  With our new dog Callie leading the way with snarls towards any potential stranger danger, we tried to arrive early to avoid crowds and succeeded on the first half of the loop.

On the way back, we passed at least 60 people and several dogs, so the narrow trail was a bit more crowded than I like.
I’m not one to complain though.  Our Ice Age Trail is a treasured resource.  As more people discover its beauty, more resources can be allocated towards its completion and management.  When we started the hike, there were three cars in the parking lot.  When we ended the hike, both parking lots was full, and dozens of cars were parked on the side of the  highway.  For people willing to brave the crowds (not me), a huge thermos of hot chocolate and sweet treats were available on top.  Instead, we rushed home for naps in front of the wood stove.                                                

Worst Christmas Ever?

Those were my daughter’s words, and I can understand how she feels.  I haven’t blogged recently because we are going through a bit of a tough time.  Julia’s Dad had a stroke last weekend, and we’ve been spending a lot of time at the Intensive Care Unit at UW Hospital.  Christmas is also Julia’s birthday, so I’m sure this won’t go down as one of the best birthdays either.  Gene is in critical condition, and a lot of bad things can still happen. He did open his eyes this morning and gave a small thumbs up, so we are cautiously optimistic.


I’m going to focus on some of the fun stuff we have done together.  I’m not much of a fisherman, but Gene taught me how to ice fish.  This wasn’t the setting up the fishing shack with the gas heater and portable tv type of fishing.  This was drill your hole with a manual auger and plop your butt on a plastic bucket kind of fishing.  We usually caught fish, which is the only kind of fishing that I enjoy.

Gene also hiked part of the Appalachian Trail with me.  After my diagnosis and treatment with Lyme’s Disease, I headed back to the trail with Gene.  He was no backpacker, although he has been an oudoorsman all of his life  We hiked for three days together: 10 miles, 9 miles and 8 miles. Gene’s trail name was Tag-Along.   At the end of the third day, he declared that the A.T. wasn’t for him and hitched a ride back to the nearest airport.  For a nearly 60-year-old man with no backpacking experience, he did quite well.

Hug the ones you love (if you can; I’m not a hugger).  There are no guarantees, and life can change in an instant.  In Gene’s honor, I will go out of order today and post the end of his hike with me on the A.T. in 1996.