WEEK #2

WE'RE DOWN TO WEEK #2, AND THE "TRAILER ITCH" IS REALLY FLAREING UP!! THE ANTICIPATION OF HITTING THE ROAD IS APPARENT AROUND HERE.

MARY'S BUSY PACKING UP HER KNICK KNACKS FOR SAFE TRAVELLING, AND REX IS REARRANGING THE BACK OF THE PICK-UP. BOTH OF US ARE BUSY MAKING OUT LISTS.

THERE IS A LIST FOR PACKING THE HONDA, ALL THE STUFF THAT GOES TO LA CROSSE, CLOTHES TO WEAR (HEY WHERE IS MY WINTER COAT?), AND ALL THE COMFORTS OF HOME FOR LIVING IN THE CAR.

CAN'T WAIT !!!

Belize Snorkling

By Wendy


Okay…so Hans is making me look bad with three blogs about Sturgis and I haven’t even finished Belize.

Well….our next adventure involves snorkeling and water adventures. Pretty cool for the non-swimmer involved. We booked a full day tour involving Manatee watching and snorkeling at two different sites. Now, manatees are protected in Belize. They graze on aquatic plants on the ocean floor in shallow areas. There is a Belizean National Park (on water) just north of Belize City where the creatures tend to feed. This is Swallow Caye (pronounced Key) National Park. Price of admission: $5.00 US.

This is an actual manatee. We stood around on the boat as silent as possible and waited for the creatures to surface. The only bother to put their snouts into the air to catch a breath. They’re mammals, not fish.

Well, after the exciting and downright quiet Manatee watching adventure we needed to get to our destination. Along the way of our almost 2 hour boat ride we encountered many of these…they are fishing camps. During lobster season these camps are filled with fisherman. During March (not lobster season) they are either abandoned or guarded by a single fisherman. If you look down from your plane to the island, they look like really weird houses you can’t get to. If you look closely at the photo, you will see the lobster traps stacked up.

Our snorkel trip takes us to Goff’s Caye. It is a small, isolated island that is also a national park (fee included in boat ticket). The island itself is part of a coral reef. The snorkeling is supposed to be great!

It didn’t take us long to find a favorite photo feature for our adventure…this tree. The trunks of the trees are painted white so boaters will see them and realize there is an island there. Kind of like a poor man’s lighthouse.

Our very experienced guide, being somewhat distracted by the two young boys on our tour, finally got us into the water. Remember, this island is part of a coral reef and our experience was fantastic…if not my feeble attempts to photograph it. I am using the expensive underwater case for my camera. It is so cool to always have a camera no matter what! First thing I saw…this brain coral.

I believe this is fish swimming around some coral on the reef.

This is a stingray resting on the bottom of the ocean…I don’t think he even cared we were there.

While we were out snorkeling, our first mate was busy preparing a meal for us. BBQ chicken, salads, fruit, rice, beverage of your choice…all included in your tour price. Needless to say I was happy to dodge the gear and get back to dinner. This is me in snorkel gear and a few friends in the background.

It is a wonderful tiny little microcosm of reef development. I think the country of Belize is doing a great job of setting aside their natural wonders. These views of Goff’s Caye are provided courtesy of Betsy …..

On the way home we have our next snorkeling experience. We go snorkel with Eagle rays. If you want adventure….you can’t even go there in a day in Belize. This is a manmade island on our way back where we stopped to buy bait for the rays and maybe sharks.

Wendy

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY PAULIE!!!

PLAN "B"

WE'VE ENDED OUR SELF IMPOSED "LIMBO" HERE AT LAKE TAHOE. AFTER CHECKING THE NEW SCHEDULE AND ONLY GETTING THREE DAYS OF WORK NEXT WEEK WE HAVE DECIDED TO LEAVE LAKE TAHOE RIGHT AFTER LABOR DAY.

IT WAS JUST ONE OF THOSE SUMMERS. NEXT YEAR WILL BE BETTER AND WE WILL CREATE MORE OF A POSITIVE MIND SET ABOUT WORKING PART TIME AND ENJOYING THE WEATHER, MOUNTAINS, AND LAKE TAHOE. THE "GLOOM & DOOM" OF THE NEVADA ECONOMY HAS JUST GOTTEN US DOWN A LITTLE AND WE NEED TO SIMPLY MOVE ON. THAT'S WHY WE GOT WHEELS!!!

WE WILL RETURN TO THE MOHAVE VALLEY AND WINTER QUARTERS. FIRST STOP PAHRUMP AND A CHANCE TO VISIT WITH PAULIE AND GET CAUGHT UP. SECOND STOP MOHAVE RV TO HAVE A DOMETIC REFRIGERATOR RECALL ADDRESSED.

AFTER WE SET UP CAMP WE WILL DO A "SPRINT" HOME IN THE HONDA. WE HAVE A GREAT AGENDA WORKED UP, I LOVE TO PLAN TRIPS, LEAVING THE MOHAVE VALLEY ON SEPTEMBER 7TH.

FIRST STOP WILL BE DENVER, FOR THE VIKINGS VS THE PACKERS SEASON OPENER WITH DAVE & JEANNIE. NEXT STOP LA CROSSE, WHILE MARY IS DOING THE FAMILY VISITS AND DENTAL WORK IN LA CROSSE, I'LL BE VISITING SPOONER AND GREEN BAY TO CATCH UP WITH THE BROTHERS.

WE WILL GET BACK TOGETHER ON SEPTEMBER 20TH FOR MARY'S CLASS REUNION AND THE COWBOYS GAME WITH TODD & DI AT THE "BADGER BAR".

SO WHAT'S WITH THE PAULA DEAN BOOK? THIS IS A VERY NICE CALENDAR BOOK MARY GOT FROM AMY LAST CHRISTMAS. NOW IT'S REX'S PLANNING BOOK FOR PLAN"B". IT'S ALREADY GOT LOT'S MILEAGE COMPUTATIONS, ITINERARIES, AND PLANS FOR THE "SPRINT" HOME.

AS UNCLE NEIL SAYS, "I LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER!!!"

"SUNNY & 80"

Elkhorn Ridge, Spearfish SD

Our Sturgis RV park was brand new and billed itself on the Internet as"high-end". The nightly rate was around $40. The rally rate was $135/night, which we paid for 2 nights. We were intrigued by some of our neighbors and drove around to take some pictures........

.....nice, but, our trailer does not match well and it is a little small...........

....that's more like it. It doesn't fit in the picture, however..........

....nice, no slide outs on the trailer (kidding).........

....trailer does not match. You can see these poor people were forced to camp on the edge of the park.....

....they did have this car to commute to the bathrooms each morning, however......

....here is Wendy accidentally shooting herself with the camera as we snoop through the high rent district.......

....occupancy was only about 75% when we left on the second day of the festival.........

....every manner of toy came out of these toy boxes including motorcycles, golf carts, four-wheelers, six-wheelers, trikes, sports cars, thin blondes 25 years younger than anyone else in the party, etc.........

.....This poor guy had to decide each morning whether to take his new corvette to the shower house with the top up or with the top down. I noticed his thin blonde toy always had her top up, and not down........

....Jeesh! The whole thing made us feel like the proverbial "Cousin Eddie"! We are lucky we got in there at all!!

Uncle Hans

Gold Wing Motorcycle

Before we went to Sturgis, we had a nice ride at our season opener. There was a blog on this event. I lost a side cover from my antique Gold Wing. It just disappeared, I suspect it flew off into the weeds somewhere. This blog is about replacing this item for the Sturgis trip...........

.........this is the cover from the other side for comparison. They are mirror-image............

.....this was the first version. I spent some time on the Internet searching for a used part, but to no avail. This version was good for a laugh, but Wendy did not like the idea of going to Sturgis, the world capital of motorcycle fashion, with a chunk of cardboard plastered on the side of a Honda. Back to the drawing board...

.......this was the second version, a piece of plastic lovingly cut from a plastic storage tub lid and painted black. Wendy grudgingly seemed to accept this compromise for a few days. Then I found her on the Internet searching for the right part. She spent a whole day, but got skunked just like me. These bikes are over 30 years old and side covers must have a habit of flying away at will........

..........then a friend from the Twin Cities told us of a bike junkyard near his house. I called them and they had one in stock. He even picked it up and delivered it here. $27. There was a small problem with the color, and now I had just 3 or 4 days until departure for Sturgis. No time for a body shop paint job............

.....matching the special "limited Edition" color from 1976 was impossible from cans of spray paint at the hardware store or auto parts store. I picked the closest I could find, then over sprayed a light coat of black to darken it.....

....I think I added a little more black after this picture. The other side cover is in the background for matching purposes.........

....if you look at it just so in just the right light,.......it looks like shit. Oh well, it is the closest we could get in the time we had.............

.....from a distance it looks better. Add darkness and it is a perfect match! I will take it to the body shop and we will stat the search for the decals and emblem on the Internet. My Honda dealer in Rice Lake is restoring one of these at this time. He may have some ideas. We did have several people notice the bike and ask questions about it at Sturgis. We saw other vintage bikes there as well...........

.......This beautifully restored 78 Gold Wing was recently bought for $2000. What a sweet ride!

Uncle Hans