Since internet is very spotty this will be a quick update.
We left Palm Springs via TAXI (!!!) to LAX as our plane broke down on the runway. Not a good start to a vacation. We were the fortunate ones in that our flight out of LAX was not until midnight so had sufficient time to make the 2 hour drive and still catch our flight. Many others were stuck and very unhappy.
From LAX to San Salvador was almost 5 hours and fairly uneventful except that it is almost impossible to sleep on a plane (at least for me, even after taking Gravol). The next leg was from San Salvador to Roatan, with what started out to be a 2 hour layover which stretched into 3 hours..we are now on Honduran time. Finally into La Ciebe and Larry, who was to meet us, was not around. Oh oh, now what do we do. However, after paging him and then pacing the airport, he showed up..had been shopping and picking things up for the resort. Finally at 2:30 Honduran time ( 2 hours ahead of BC/CAL time) we were on the road to Trujillo. Every 50 feet a gigantic pothole that you had to manouvre around, and every few miles a police road check! A little unnerving when you are not used to that lifestyle. Double solid centre lines are only there as a suggestion as to which side of the road you want to be on!
You are advised too NOT drive at night due to the road conditions and lots of animals on the road at night, truly the road conditions are a sight to behold. We were not sure whether we were expected to bribe the police at each checkpoint and we didn't and other than a few long delays (probably meant to unnerve us) we got through OK.
Tranquility Bay, where we are staying is absolutely gorgeous in its location, about 7 KM outside Trujillo. 5 Cabanas, two single beds and a double bed in each room, open air concept, with a step in tiled shower and washroom. Everything is stone tiles and bright cheerful colours. Our cabana (#1 only a few feet from the ocean) is yellow & orange, big ceiling fan, louvred/screened windows, nice sitting area outside overlooking the water and lots and lots and lots of gorgeous plants. Bird of paradise in abundance and all the colours so vibrant. If you google Tranquility Bay (Honduras) you can get a better idean.
Honduras is the 2nd most poverty stricken country (second only to Haiti) in Central America and Triujillo is one of the most poverty stricken cities(pop. about 42,000). Very high unemployement
and living conditions are extreme in their poverty. Roads have huge potholes in them throughout the city and nothing seems to be ever repaired. Dale compares it to what areas of Mexico would have been like 40 years ago. The town area is a mishmash of winding streets and many vendors working out of small stalls. Until you go in, you don't really know what they are selling. Other than buying fresh veg and a few souveniers, haven't spent a lot of time in the town.
The little bit of spanish I learned via CD's before coming has come in handy but thank goodness Linda us fairly proficient as we would be lost otherwise. People are very friendly and appreciate your efforts and have found them to be honest in their transactions despite knowing they could take advantage of you.
I'm going to sign off now as the interest is starting to act up. Will try and do more later..just wanted to let everyone know we are here, safe and sound and soaking up the 80 degree ocean and 85 degree or so temperatures...paradise!!!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Palm Springs..Nov 6 - 18th, 2010
These past two weeks have gone by so quickly...not that we have been overly busy, it is just that time has a way of creeping up and then running away.
Found a lovely patio umbrella that tilts so now can sit at the table during the day; that is if we are not at the pool trying to keep cool!! Yes, the weather continues to be hot and sunny, with lovely breezes throughout the day..absolute paradise.
Dale was scrounging in the "throw out" pile and found a table heat lamp. OH NO..not dumpster diving in Palm Springs!!!! The lamp wasn't working of course, but after some tinkering and replacing a few bits and pieces, he got it up and running and it works wonderfully well. We can put it on the dining table outside and it gives us not only heat, but superb lighting when we are eating out in the evening, as well can put it by the sitting area and it radiates enough heat that it is quite comfortable. Much more fun that going out and just buying one..the price was right too!!
Over this past weekend, Del & Karen arrived..surprise!! How nice to see some family from home. They are spending the week in the resort, parked right across from us, and will leave on Saturday after we have gone, and probably head to Yuma and Phoenix. Enjoying our get togethers and catching up on what all the family have been up to. They are also avid Pickleball players and we have quite a group of players here in the park as well, so lots of good games going on morning and afternoon. I've played a few games but my foot I(dropped a jar of jam on it) is still a little swollen and quite sore so have decided to just take it easy so we can leave without any injuries.
Spending a bit of time each day whittling away our "to do" list as we get ready to head out on Friday. Have packed the suitcases, but now need to unpack and re-evaluate what it is we are taking. It appears we have way too much "stuff"; somehow have to pare it down to a manageable level. Good thing we started early, would hate to be doing this at the last minute (which is our normal usual style....).
Our dear friend, Patricia, from Maryland, arrived yesterday as well. So glad we are able to get a few visits in before we leave. She is here for seven weeks, so will also see her when we return on Dec 18th. Lots of good friends here now and it is like old home week every day!
Well folks, the pool is calling to us so must go and check out the water temperatures. Hope everyone is keeping well and enjoying the first brush of winter weather.
Till next time.......
PS read a quote that you may enjoy: "Common sense and a sense of humour are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humour is just common sense, dancing".....William James.
Found a lovely patio umbrella that tilts so now can sit at the table during the day; that is if we are not at the pool trying to keep cool!! Yes, the weather continues to be hot and sunny, with lovely breezes throughout the day..absolute paradise.
Dale was scrounging in the "throw out" pile and found a table heat lamp. OH NO..not dumpster diving in Palm Springs!!!! The lamp wasn't working of course, but after some tinkering and replacing a few bits and pieces, he got it up and running and it works wonderfully well. We can put it on the dining table outside and it gives us not only heat, but superb lighting when we are eating out in the evening, as well can put it by the sitting area and it radiates enough heat that it is quite comfortable. Much more fun that going out and just buying one..the price was right too!!
Over this past weekend, Del & Karen arrived..surprise!! How nice to see some family from home. They are spending the week in the resort, parked right across from us, and will leave on Saturday after we have gone, and probably head to Yuma and Phoenix. Enjoying our get togethers and catching up on what all the family have been up to. They are also avid Pickleball players and we have quite a group of players here in the park as well, so lots of good games going on morning and afternoon. I've played a few games but my foot I(dropped a jar of jam on it) is still a little swollen and quite sore so have decided to just take it easy so we can leave without any injuries.
Spending a bit of time each day whittling away our "to do" list as we get ready to head out on Friday. Have packed the suitcases, but now need to unpack and re-evaluate what it is we are taking. It appears we have way too much "stuff"; somehow have to pare it down to a manageable level. Good thing we started early, would hate to be doing this at the last minute (which is our normal usual style....).
Our dear friend, Patricia, from Maryland, arrived yesterday as well. So glad we are able to get a few visits in before we leave. She is here for seven weeks, so will also see her when we return on Dec 18th. Lots of good friends here now and it is like old home week every day!
Well folks, the pool is calling to us so must go and check out the water temperatures. Hope everyone is keeping well and enjoying the first brush of winter weather.
Till next time.......
PS read a quote that you may enjoy: "Common sense and a sense of humour are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humour is just common sense, dancing".....William James.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Yuma, AZ to N Palm Springs..Oct 23- Nov 5, 2010
It's been a busy couple of weeks. While in Yuma the time just flew by and we accomplished most of what we wanted to get done. Friends from Logan Lake arrived (Al & Brenda) for the winter while we were there so got a couple of nice visits in with them and then "old" neighbours from Armstrong (Lloyd & Carol) were in Yuma as well. Had been on Skype with my kissin' cousin from Lumby, Sharon Hoffman, and she had told me that Lloyd & Carol were in town and vice versa so after a couple of e-mails and phone calls we were able to get together to enjoy a nice afternoon's visit aka "happy hour"!!Nice to meet up with and enjoy the company of old friends.
The rest of the week was spent touring around, spending time at the Arizona Marketplace on Avenue 4E. Big changes there, new management, some vendors have left and set up in the old Mervyn's store on 4th or gone to the "Dog Track" so lots of markets/flea markets in which to spend a day or two.
On Friday morning, we fueled up. Diesel is wayyy more expensive here and we still got the lowest price of $2.93 gal. It was a big fill as we hadn't put on any diesel since we left San Antonio. The freeways for the most part were posted at 75 mph and in some areas at 80 mph. We set the bus on cruise at 70 mph which was fast enough for me!! Good speed means we made good time, but certainly ate up the fuel as well.
Leaving Yuma, we went north on 95 up to Quartzite to see if anything was happening there (not!). A few boondockers out in the desert and a very few vendors starting to set up but for the most part the town is very quiet. That won't last long tho' as while we were driving, we passed rig after rig, either heading for Yuma or for Quartzite. Will be a boomin' town in another couple of week.s
From Quartzite we turned west on I-10 and headed for Palm Springs. Now we are in very familiar territory. Seemed a little strange to be heading west to get to PS, instead of our usual route. Gave us some different vistas to look at as we travelled along. The drive from QZ to PS is only a couple of hours so not long before we were pulling into Two Springs Resort.
Ahhhhh...how nice to finally park on our lot and know the bus won't move for the next couple of months. Also very nice to be able to get it unloaded and remove all the treasures we had accumulated since leaving in July. We'be now been here a week and still unloading!!! The weather has been in the high 90's and if you don't get everything done before 10:00 a.m., at the latest, it is too hot to be outside after that.
I started to prune the Oleanders which had unbelievable growth over these few months. However, being so hot, and I am still suffering with the sore throat/cold that I picked up in Yuma, decided to hire the Resort staff to do the work. Well worth the few dollars and three of them did all the pruning and cleaning up in 3 hours!! The lot now looks lovely and tidy.
We have taken all our furniture out of storage and have everything set up now and it looks so nice. Just need to find a good large patio umbrella, one that can be set at different angles to block the sun. We can't sit at our dining table until after 5:00 pm as it is in the sun all day so defnitely need an umbrella.
This past week was mostly chores as per above and also meeting up with as many of our old friends who have arrived at the park. Quickly filling up with new arrivals everyday and is so nice to see everyone. This is the earliest we have been here so nice to be at the start instead of the end of the arrivals.
Now starting to focus on things we need to do to get ready for our next adventure to the Honduras and Mexico. Finally remembered to make a hotel reservation for the night before we leave the Honduras. Had forgotten our plane leaves La Cieba at 0600 and our resort is two hours from there. Need to "get into town" the day before. Have ordered Mexican Pesos for the Mexico part of the trip but unable to get Honduran Lempiras. Will have to wait until we are there and either find an ATM or find a currency exchange. Slowly getting items checked off...starting to get excited about the trip.
That's all from here...a brief update since we arrived. I'll update again just before we fly out. Hope to be able to access a computer while away to keep you updated and post pictures.
Hope everyone is well...till next time
The rest of the week was spent touring around, spending time at the Arizona Marketplace on Avenue 4E. Big changes there, new management, some vendors have left and set up in the old Mervyn's store on 4th or gone to the "Dog Track" so lots of markets/flea markets in which to spend a day or two.
On Friday morning, we fueled up. Diesel is wayyy more expensive here and we still got the lowest price of $2.93 gal. It was a big fill as we hadn't put on any diesel since we left San Antonio. The freeways for the most part were posted at 75 mph and in some areas at 80 mph. We set the bus on cruise at 70 mph which was fast enough for me!! Good speed means we made good time, but certainly ate up the fuel as well.
Leaving Yuma, we went north on 95 up to Quartzite to see if anything was happening there (not!). A few boondockers out in the desert and a very few vendors starting to set up but for the most part the town is very quiet. That won't last long tho' as while we were driving, we passed rig after rig, either heading for Yuma or for Quartzite. Will be a boomin' town in another couple of week.s
From Quartzite we turned west on I-10 and headed for Palm Springs. Now we are in very familiar territory. Seemed a little strange to be heading west to get to PS, instead of our usual route. Gave us some different vistas to look at as we travelled along. The drive from QZ to PS is only a couple of hours so not long before we were pulling into Two Springs Resort.
Ahhhhh...how nice to finally park on our lot and know the bus won't move for the next couple of months. Also very nice to be able to get it unloaded and remove all the treasures we had accumulated since leaving in July. We'be now been here a week and still unloading!!! The weather has been in the high 90's and if you don't get everything done before 10:00 a.m., at the latest, it is too hot to be outside after that.
I started to prune the Oleanders which had unbelievable growth over these few months. However, being so hot, and I am still suffering with the sore throat/cold that I picked up in Yuma, decided to hire the Resort staff to do the work. Well worth the few dollars and three of them did all the pruning and cleaning up in 3 hours!! The lot now looks lovely and tidy.
We have taken all our furniture out of storage and have everything set up now and it looks so nice. Just need to find a good large patio umbrella, one that can be set at different angles to block the sun. We can't sit at our dining table until after 5:00 pm as it is in the sun all day so defnitely need an umbrella.
This past week was mostly chores as per above and also meeting up with as many of our old friends who have arrived at the park. Quickly filling up with new arrivals everyday and is so nice to see everyone. This is the earliest we have been here so nice to be at the start instead of the end of the arrivals.
Now starting to focus on things we need to do to get ready for our next adventure to the Honduras and Mexico. Finally remembered to make a hotel reservation for the night before we leave the Honduras. Had forgotten our plane leaves La Cieba at 0600 and our resort is two hours from there. Need to "get into town" the day before. Have ordered Mexican Pesos for the Mexico part of the trip but unable to get Honduran Lempiras. Will have to wait until we are there and either find an ATM or find a currency exchange. Slowly getting items checked off...starting to get excited about the trip.
That's all from here...a brief update since we arrived. I'll update again just before we fly out. Hope to be able to access a computer while away to keep you updated and post pictures.
Hope everyone is well...till next time
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