The road home

I left Los Angeles on a bright clear Tuesday morning. The ride up the coast was fantastic. It was warm and sunny the whole way. I have to say this part of the coast is the best in California in my opinion but Oregon is as good  and parts of Mexico and El Salvador  are better.  So I would not rate it as the best overall as reported.

Along the way I saw a large group of people looking in the what I thought was the water . I stopped and this is a little video clip of what I saw.

They are elephant seals and it is hard to tell in the pictures but the big adults are as big or bigger than Cattle, with out the legs of course.

I also got to see some thing I have never seen before.  Southern California in the Spring.  Look how green these hills are! I have only ever seem brown in the past.

It looks like what I imagine Ireland looks like.

Due to poor planning on my part I arrived in San Jose after dark. I got a room and had to get take out sent to me as there was no where within walking distance. I should have skipped dinner, the hamburger was terrible.

The following morning the weather was fair again. I decided to make some miles as I had driven this part of the coast before. I did confirm though that the "Bridge of the Americas" in Panama city is much larger than the "Golden Gate". Here is my golden gate picture from this trip. I always like crossing the golden gate.





Here is the Bridge of the Americas in Panama in case you have forgotten what it looks like. It crosses the Panama canal.

The weather stayed excellent all day. This was the day that had me a bit worried. I had a mountain pass to cross at the California - Oregon border. On I-5 it is very high and crosses at Mount Shasta. On the 101 it is lower but still high enough to be a concern. There were several areas that had warning signs about the dreaded  ice but it was all good and I just went really slow on some bad looking curves. I made it over and in fact made it all the way to Coos bay Oregon. It is nice to drive the Oregon coast when the sun is shinning, even if it is cold.

By the time I got to Coos bay I was chilled to the bone. I got a room and tried a local diner for a steak and mashed potatoes but it didn't measure up to the chicken dinner in Hollywood.

Thursday morning I got started early with the hope of getting to Washington. I did a bit of a turn and burn. Rather than Washington I showed up at the door and surprised Mara at about 6:00PM. I was home. It felt good and the trip had a definite feeling of completion.

 I feel good about what I accomplished Vancouver to Darien and back by motorcycle. A total of 26948 Km. I did it all without any accidents on the motorcycle. I did not knowingly pay a bribe. I never had any real negative things happen at all. The people I met on my journey were without exception friendly and genuinely interested in me my life at home and what I was doing on my trip.

This was a trip that I will never regret doing. If I learned anything on this trip it is that you have to follow your bliss. If you have some thing that you have dreamed of doing just do it. The world will not come apart at the seams because you decided to follow a dream. I had many people tell me that they could not afford to do a trip like mine, they almost always said it was the loss of income in conjunction with the cost of the trip that was the problem. I say I don't think we can afford not to do what we dream of. I watched my stepfather. go to his grave with most of his dreams unrealized. He was not a happy man. Follow your dreams, die happy. Your life will be full.

This blog was started specifically to chronicle this trip, so this is the end of the blog. Watch out for future blogs as I have discovered that I like writing.

Peace be upon you all....  

Arizona and onward

It was a mere -7c when I left Roswell. I shivered my way up over a mountain pass that took me through an Apache Indian homeland. I'm not sure of the elevation that I reached but I found this at the top.

A little snow anyone.

The road was ok but a few times there was some hoar frost on it. With only 2 wheels under you even hoar frost can be dangerous. I crossed the mountain pass through a place called Hondo and made my way on to Tucson. It was a nice day with a lot of really nice scenery to look at. I passed by the Nasa White Sands proving grounds, a place I have heard of with regards to the space shuttle I think. I spent the night in Tuscon. It was not very inspiring but to be fair I only saw a small part of the city and it was not one of the better parts of town.

Sunday morning I left Tucson and headed for Yuma. It was a nice ride across the desert over mostly flat terrain. There were the classic cactus from the movies in this part of the desert.

The classic cactus

They are bigger than you might think.

 When I got to Yuma I was disappointed to find that the city was a giant strip mall spread out along the freeway. Not my kind of place. I moved on and before I new it I was in Calexico California at the RV Park where I spent the night just before I went to Mexico on the way down. I had done a giant circle that included 7 countries. I spent the night and got my laundry done in the coin machines.

I took off early Monday morning, in fact I was gone by 6 since I made a mistake with the new time zone. I had a very cold ride over the San Rafael mountains. At least I think that is the name of the range that one crosses on Highway 8 to San Diego. The road on top of the pass looked alarmingly somewhat like it had some ice. It went ok though so I made it down to San Diego. The old mule seemed to be running a lot rougher  so I thought I had better give some thought to finding a place to take it apart and clean the air filter. The problem is that you need compressed air, gasoline, and filter oil to do the job. This is not something that can be easily done on the side of the road. I went into a Starbucks and used the internet to find an independant mechanic in Los Angeles. I found a place called Al's cycle shop in Hollywood of all places. I punched the address into Gretchen (my GPS) and off I went up the coast road from San Diego to Los Angeles. I arrived at the shop at about 1:00 Pm and the mechanic stopped what he was working on and took me in right away. I asked for a air filter clean, and oil change, and since the tank had to come off anyway for the air filter, a new set of spark plugs. The mechanic did it all up pronto for much less than half what a dealer would charge. I got to be there and watch / supervise and I have to say the fellow was very competent. The dealers will not let you in the shop, they charge way more, and the last one who worked on my bike screwed it up! After a test ride I was disapointed to find that it was better but still had an annoying jerky feel to it almost like a misfire. The mechanic took it out for a ride and on returning he said lets check the chain for tight spots. Sure enough there it was a really bad tight spot. A new chain was swiftly installed and by 3:30 I was gone and the bike was running like new.

Al's was in Hollywood so I was too and I was tired. Even though I thought it might be too expensive I queried Gretchen about Motel 6 and found one a couple of Km away. It was really reasonable given where I was at $69.00 for the night. After checking in I went for a walk and discovered that I was 1 block off Hollywood Blvd. right where the stars are on the sidewalk. I spent a really fun evening checking out the neighborhood and had  a fantastic dinner at the Pig and Whistle.  The original, from 1927. It's a cool old Pub right on Hollywood Blvd that was a real hot spot in the old days for celebs.  The dinner was a free range chicken breast / thigh that was boneless yet strangely still the right shape and with the skin still on it. It was oven roasted with a nice pile of steamed spinach, and really good garlic mashed potatoes with a nice gravy. A couple of glasses of  frosty Stella finished it off.  So far this is the best  meal I have had in  America on this trip. 

The Pig and Whistle

The whole street has celebrities names set in the sidewalk. I'm not sure if this is what I have heard refered to as the walk of fame or not, but it's fun to walk along and read the names. These are the stars right outside the Pig and Whistle.

The neighborhood is quite seedy in a way with Lingerie shops  and Tattoo  parlors all along the street  with a liberal number of souvenir  shops to round thing out. When I say seedy I mean in a nice safe Americana way. Not a sketchy Panama city slums way. There are also wax museums and movie theaters, lots of movie theaters. You can go to the movies and watch the latest releases of course or any number of old movies right back to the 20s and 30s. This is one of the theaters and I think I've heard of it before

The neon is fantastic on the street, as was the people watching. There was a guy who had drawn a huge crowd drumming on a couple of 5 gallon plastic pails, he was really good. There was a group of Black Drag Queens  who were really funny and entertaining to watch. 

A couple of signs I saw.

Mara will understand these next pictures. They are of the Mural on the back wall and the interior of a particular Tattoo Parlor featured in a really bad reality  show I have a morbid fascination with. It's called LA Ink or LA Stink as we call it.  It follows the antics of a bunch of genuinely really talented Tattoo artists. The art is excellent, and top of the class of the genre. The show is really quite bad.

Kat's work station

This finishes off the Hollywood post. I did not see any celebrities although there was a guy at the Pig and Whistle who was disturbingly familiar looking, who knows, my memory is not what it was. I will make a third attempt to ride the coast road of southern California next. I have tried 2 times before and had the weather put me off each time. I hear it is the best part of the coast. I need it to complete my journey. I have ridden the entire coast from Vancouver to Darien Panama except  for this leg from Los Angles  to San Francisco.  The next leg is the road home!

T for Texas

I've had that old Waylon and Willie song stuck in my head since I got here.

I hung around Brownsville for a couple of days taking care of bike maintenance. It was really cold and wet in Brownsville and that wore thin pretty quick.  Once I got it mostly sorted out I headed for  Louisiana. It was bright and sunny but cold on the road. Day time high of only about 10 c with the wind chill below 0. I am not used to it anymore. After a full day on the road and a night in a crummy motel that smelled like smoke and had drunks  knocking on the door in the middle of the night looking to borrow cigarettes. I decided to turn around and head west. I have decided that I don't want to add more miles to the ride home. Especially if they are not pleasant miles. It appears that the weather is better in the west than here. I have a lot I would like to see out there.  Also to be honest I am missing a certain individual at home, well actually I miss everyone but one person in particular comes to mind. I still need to  take my time going home as I really do not want to crash on a shady curve on black ice.

So the drunks at the door thing. These small towns in seem to be run down and depressed. There are a lot of people who seem to be escaping life in these towns. The towns remind me of the down town eastside but not quite as in your face. Every gas station has a drug dealer. The people are just not happy. I didn't see this in California even though it does seem run down there. The level of despair is higher here. It's too bad because one thing I have learned is that contrary to popular belief else where in the world Americans are really friendly and are mostly caring people. Even the fellow that complained to me that he was not allowed to take his gun to Canada complained with humor and acceptance. Texans are very friendly and will always stop and chat like they know you. This happens in the big towns as well as the little ones. We could use a bit more of this in our reserved Canada. Almost all of the Americans I talk to are either politically unaware or feel helpless to change the policy of there nation. They seem to be aware of their reputation in the world at large and even apologize for their country frequently. I do not understand why they elect people who do not have the values they have. It is strange. I have told American people that I found Americans nice and have actually had them tell me that this was a local thing and every where else in American people are not nice. Imagine having that belief about your countrymen.

After turning west things improved quickly. The weather warmed within a couple of hours and more importantly I felt better within minutes. I had a great day traveling across southern Texas. I finished the day in a place called Del Rio. I went for dinner to a place called Sal's Burgers. The burger was ok but I have had better. A good try Sal but not the winner of the best diner I think there will be better ones to come.

Texas is big sky country.

It reminds me of our praries, I never pictured it like this

A typical small town complete with a saloon. This si the whole town.

A closer view showing only part of the town.

From here I will head north west for Roswell New Mexico...

I left Del Rio early after only a coffee and a quick internet stop at the local McDonald's. My plan was to try and get a classic breakfast in a small cafe or diner along the way. I had one in Oregon a few years back when I was riding my bike to Reno that was truly memorable. It is still the best breakfast out I have ever eaten and I wanted to find a breakfast like it. I stopped in at this place but it just did not measure up. In fact it couldn't even come close. The food was edible but thats all.

 


I made it as far as Carlsbad New Mexico on the 27th. It was a long cold day on the bike. It never got above freezing until just before I quit for the day. The weather was spectacularly sunny though. I did go through some areas that were not as flat along the way and even saw some really interesting canyons as well. I got to see some road runners today. They are about the size of a grouse or fool hen ,  or maybe a pheasant.  I could not get a picture but they looked just like this one that I got from the internet.

 I also got to see many of these since I was in Texas after all. I wonder if any of them belong to the Bush family?

  Near the end of the day I met a guy named Ben who invited me to stop in and see him on my way by. He had a place about 25 miles north of Pecos Texas where I met him. He had a business card with a picture of his place on it. He said when you see this place stop in for a beer. Well sure enough as I proceeded up the highway there it was.

Ben's place

He was quite a character. He had spent his entire working life in the Navy on various Aircraft carriers. He was a really nice guy and based on the number of people from all over the world that have signed his building he invites a lot of people over for a beer. I sat and passed some time with him having a beer and hearing stories of all the places he had been to in the Navy. An interesting hour or so to be sure.

Ben being Ben. Note the door. Most od the building is covered with signatures like these.

I arrived in Carlsbad an hour before I thought I would as I crossed into the Mountain time zone at the New Mexico state line.

I started my day in Carlsbad with a good breakfast at a diner called Happy's The theme was of all things the Happy face from the 70's. While this breakfast was not as good as the one from the past in Oregon, it was very good. The country spuds as they called them were chuncky and pan fried with diced onion, green pepper, and a bit of cilantro. They were not at all greasy. There was a home made Sala to go with them that was excellent but a bit mild for me after eating Salsa in Latin America for last few months. The eggs were perfectly cooked and were acompanied by a real Ham steak about an inch thick. The ham could have been a bit hotter but was really tasty and of excellent real smoke house quality. The toast needed work. Remember I am searching for the best so I am being pretty critical. By normal standards this was a good breakfast out. The price? $4.50 including endless coffee!

Carlsbad Caverns was worth the time and $6.00 to go and look. They are not the biggest caverns in the world as was reported by a fellow I met on the road but they are pretty big. I did the self guided tour with a little recording device that you can rent for an additional $3.00. This device has numbers much like a remote comtrol. The pathway has little placards with numbers on them. You simply punch in the number and hold the device to your ear. The device gives a prerecorded description of what you are looking at by a tour guide / ranger. I liked this idea as I like to move through these kinds of thing at my own pace. I find I walk much faster than many people do. I ended up going a total of 750 feet under ground verticaly, and the Cavern is at least a couple of miles long It is bigger but you are not allowed to self guide the whole developed part of the cavern. Some of it is too sensitive and requires a guide. Carlsbad claims to be one of the most beutiful caverns in the world. It was quite nice to look at for sure with many nice "decorations" as they are refered to. It took me a total of about 2 hours of steady walking to go through the cave. When I arrived I discovered that there are no lockers to keep personal belongings in while touring the cave. It was only 22 deg. F when I rode out there so I was dressed to the 9's. I did not see it being possible to tour around in all that gear plus I had my helmet and tank bag as well. The lack of lockers and the fact that the staff are not allowed to keep things in a storage area is because of 9/11. The Homeland security people are worried about bombs being left in lockers. After asking around a person who shall remain nameless let me put my stuff in the kennel. Pets are also not allowed on the site so there is a rather nice complimentary kennel to put them in while you do your tour. Thanks nameless person, I could not have had my tour with out your help.

The entrance to the Cavern

Most of my photos inside the Cavern did not work. I am not a very knowledgeable  photographer. Here are a coouple of pictures that are not just black.

As I said before when I rode out to the park it was in the low 20's when I came out of the cavern 2 hours latter it was about 70 F outside. What a fantastic surprise. I had a most enjoyable ride up to Roswell from Carlsbad. The sun was shining and it was warm enough to shed a couple of layers.

Roswell was as I expected all out the Aliens. There were Alien themed things all over the downtown core. It was kind of fun to walk around and check out the tacky gift shops. After a couple of hours I got a motel room that was a bit more than what I like to spend but ok. I had to give up on camping as my sleeping bag was much to light for sub zero temperatures. Besides I discovered that in the right part of town you can get a motel room for about $25.00, camping has been averaging $22.00. The rooms have been clean and bug free unlike some of the others I've had on this trip! After some bike maintenence I went for a walk and ended up in a typical small local Tavern. I had a beer and listened to the local working guys talk about hunting conquests. From here it was off to the local non chain burger place where I had an ok burger but not a contender for the best title. Over all a really nice day.

A store window decoration

This was in a gift shop

These were painted on the side walks.

Overall I enjoyed my visit to New Mexico. I will leave for Arizona Friday morning. I am trying to stay ahead of some lousy weather that is coming this way.

Mexico - the run for the border.

As I traveled north up the east coast it seemed to get tenser. The police and military  keep their faces covered when out on the street. When I asked I was told that they do not want to be identified. I think they fear for their lives and maybe their families would also be a target. I'm not sure if it is always like that here or if it  is as a result of something that has happened recently.

The road from Francisco Escarcega to Catemaco where I spent the next night was rough. It was mostly through rural areas dedicated to sugar cane. The road was full of outrageously overloaded trucks carrying cane. The trucks were out of necessity moving very slow but the buses and taxis were not! It made for some really dangerous situations when the passing started. The road was narrow and winding and this didn't help the situation. On top of all of this the pavement was almost the worst I have seen on this trip. Because of the heavy trucks the road is just full of potholes.

Catemaco to Panuco was similar except that now it was raining. There were literally hundreds of small pueblos along the way with the thousands of topes that go along with the villages. Topes are speed bumps, on the highway. Topes literally translates to sleeping policeman.  I understand why they are  there. I am sure if there were no  topes there would be an unbelievable death rate in the villages with no enforced speed limits. I think I may have to replace all my springs and shocks after this trip. I'm not kidding, they are getting more and more tired as I go along from the rough roads, and the millions of speed bumps I have driven over. You have to be really careful as they are often not marked and there is no discernible pattern to their placement. Some villages do not have them but the vast majority do. You always have to assume they will be there. They are also used where a curve might cause speeding drivers to have an accident, before and after bridges, tunnels, just everywhere. Only Mexico and Guatemala have them although Belize had a few. Sometimes in a really dangerous area you might find one elsewhere in Central America but not much.

Panuco was a relaxed kind of town and that was nice as it is tense in this part of the world as I said. I got a nice room and had a nice dinner with a walk around the Zocolo to shake off the miles.

Saturday morning I was up early even though I wouuld have liked to have slept a little longer. I decided to go into Tampico rather than skirt it. I wanted to see a city on the North Atlantic side of the country. This was a bit of a mistake. The city at first glance is clean and fairly well organized. The freeway in was very rough and potholed but the city streets, at least the main ones were in good shape. There were signs telling the names of the streets even. Tampico has a dark underbelly. Tampico was the single most corrupt place I visited on this trip. Every single cop I saw stopped me except the ones on foot, I ignored there calls for me to stop and kept going. Every cop had a trumped up charge he threatened to lay on me. They outright asked for money to let me go. I was stopped 7 times in 1 hour. I did end up paying 50 pesos to the first one, well there were actually 3 of them. They pulled me over for speeding. I told them I was only going 30km per hour so I could not have been speeding. The speed limit for motorcycles in that part of the town was apparently 20km per hour. They had me cold but we talked and they said they would let me off if I would have coffee with them. I wanted to get going so I said I couldn't but I offered them 50 pesos  to buy themselves a coffee.  I didn't even think of it as a bribe until after I drove away.  The next 5  times I was pulled over  I played the dumb tourist with  no Spanish game.  It worked.  The last 1 just as I was about to get out of town  pulled me over because I was in the middle lane  on the freeway. I didn't know it but motorcycles are only permitted  in the right lane  in Tampico.  I tried to play dumb but he had a bit of English. He demanded 3000 pesos. Thats about $275.00! My Spanish got a whole lot better really fast. I told him to give me the ticket, I was going straight to the Police station to pay the money to his boss. I told him I wanted his name and badge number clearly written on the ticket. He said believe it or not "you can't go to the office you don't know where it is". I told him I would be happy to have him escort me there. He made a big deal about calling in and another cop showed up. They talked about the now 5000 peso roadside fine. Only at the office to your boss I said and layed back on my seat with my feet up on the crashbars. I pretended to snooze for a while and they stood and stared and talked to each other about what to do. Finally after another 1/2 hour they let me go.

Once I cleared Tampico things really changed. The road became much smoother and faster. The landscape changed rapidly and soon I was finding the vegitation getting thornier and  drier.  By early afternoon  I was  in a dry  desert like climate with  large areas of arable land given over to fodder. It was like being home, the Okanagan, not Vancouver.

There was still a lot of military and police. The tension and even fear in the villages was palpable. If the corruption is state wide I understand why the criminals have control of the streets. At one point I passed 2 bullet ridden and burned out SUV's abandoned on the side of the highway. Am I in Lebanon I wondered. Further up the highway there was a grouping of at least 5 vehicles in the same state.

About a hundred km south of the border I crossed the Tropic of Cancer and the military and police presence disappeared. I was really surprised as I thought it would get worse since it is the war on drugs after all. The tension in the villages also just drained off with out the armed authorities. The landscape changed as well, it was very much like our prairies. All the land as far as the eye could see was tilled up and ready to plant. I am not sure exactly what they grow there but I did see a sign mentioning Canola also known as rape seed. There were lots of signs extolling the virtues of Monsanto, famous for Roundup and Genetically Modified Seed.

Motamoros was a real surprise. It was the cleanest most laid back border town I have seen. This is the heart of the Mexican decapitation hell. What gives, I do not understand. It was a very nice surprise though, I was prepared for a long tense  time at the border. All over Mexico I had people while looking over their shoulders whispering that the "trouble" is because the President, Felipe Calderón is the leader of a drug cartel and he is using the military to wipe out his competition. I'm not up to speed on my Mexican politics but thats what the vast majority of Mexicans I talked to said. I was only about 1 1/2 hours clearing the border after paying a taxi to show me where the customs office was so I could cancel the paperwork on my bike. The next thing I new I was sitting here at the Motel 6 in Brownsville Texas.

Brownsville is semi tropical, clean, and friendly so far. Tomorrow I will find a campground to stay at, my budget demands that I stop staying in rooms now except every 3 or 4 days for a rest and a good cleanup. This is what I did on my way down if you  remember. I think I will have to go to Walmart and buy a cheap blanket to supplement my sleeping bag. I've gotten soft in the tropics. The next leg of the trip is a tour of the Southwestern States. I am going to Louisiana first to see New Orleans, then I will turn and travel across Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona to California. It should be warm enough in a few more weeks to start heading North. I am on a quest for the classic American Diner, so this leg of the trip is the Diner Drive in and Dive tour, just like the show on TV. I just will not be able to eat much as my poor old mule can't take any more weight, but I plan to sample lightly. If anybody has any places they have heard of please let me know. Crusty Billies is still there Chella and Clare! I saw it on my way down.

I have no photos for this post but I will publish it anyway. My spies tell me that the Canadian Government is about to make an announcement regarding travel in Northern Mexico . I wanted to let you all know I am not there anymore so no one would worry.

Until next time....

Diving in Belize

I made the trip from Antigua Guatemala to Placencia Belize over the weekend, arriving in Placencia in the early afternoon on Sunday. The trip was uneventful and even though I thought I had found a way to avoid Guatemala city it didn't work out and I ended up going right through the middle of it again.

A typical house in a typical village  along the highway  in the mountains of Guatemala. 

The crazy propulsion system on a ferry river crossing  Sayaxche Guatemala.  The boat operator gets in the metal barrel that is about 5 feet in diameter. The barrel spins freely as required almost 360 degrees on a center hub.

Another view showing the seat the driver sits on

I met a young couple on a F650 Beemer in Placencia who are headed for Argentina and ended up having dinner and a beer with Eric. They are a really nice couple who are having a great sounding trip so far and I'm sure more excellent times to come.

A typical Belizian house along the Hummingbird Highway.

A sign that tells it all about the Belizian attitude. They really care about their world.

A neat feature of Placencia. A walkway that runs the entire length of the village. There is a road to service the village but this is the main thoroughfare. No cars here!! All the businesses including Hotels, Restaurants, and bars  front on this walkway. Everyone walks everywhere. Did I say I love this place.

A sign that caught my attention along the walkway.

A house in Placencia.

These flowers are everywhere in Placencia right now. They are the size of a tea saucer.

Monday morning I went out to the reef in a boat to go snorkeling for the day. I was  with a guide of course and 2 fellows from Wisconsin. It was excellent. I didn't see any really big fish but I did see an abundance of reef fish and a couple of Barracuda. I was hoping for a Manatee and for me what has become the ever elusive Ray. I failed at Ray spotting in Maui last year and for some reason I really want to see one in the wild. We snorkeled on the reef for a while and then went to a small Island that the guide owns for a nice lunch of Belizian stewed chicken and veggie  rice  with  coleslaw and fresh Mango. The picnic was provided as part of the trip. Over all a most excellent day.

The water was clear enough to photograph coral from the boat, through the surface. The sand bottom was about 7 feet down.

The guide Lee owns this little island.

The afore mentioned Lee, he keeps his dreds in a cotton pillow case when he is snorkeling.

Lee's shack on his island.

The dive at Glovers Reef Atoll

Glovers Reef Atoll

There are 4 true atolls in the western hemisphere. Belize has 3 of them and Glovers reef atoll is one of the 3. It is a world heritage site and is a Marine preserve protected forever. I went there and spent a whole day and 3 full tanks of air diving the spectacular reef. I did the trip with a dive company out of Placencia. I had asked around about who was the best in town and this is where I was sent. I wanted a company with a really good reputation as I did not have my corrective lens dive mask with me so I was going to be in a position  of possibly relying on a guide to read my gauges for me. As it turned out the visibility was nothing short of spectacular and I had no problem with seeing my gauges. All of the photos of the dive where taken by a fellow named Ron who works at Avadon. He is a professional dive photographer and he goes on every dive. Part of the service is a cd with the photos taken that day during the dives you made. Ron was also kind enough to put the same presentation on a thumb drive for me at no extra cost so I could use the photos in my blog. Right off the start let me say that if you are ever in Belize and want to go on a dive I can not recommend this company enough. I found them to be very safe and professional. The crew and the boat were both fantastic. I had the time of my life.

I was picked up at my guest house by a taxi at 6:40am. The taxi made a few stops along the way for others and we were delivered to the dock by 7:00am.
We boarded the absolutely gorgeous  46 foot  dive boat  and fully used the twin 500 hp  diesel engines to fly for 1 3/4 hours to the outside of the barrier reef and on to Glovers atoll.         

The boat was super clean and comfortable. We were served coffee and banana and or coconut and or pineapple bread with fresh fruit on the way out. The loafs were home made by a local lady and were delicious. The conditions for the day could not have been better. The water was as calm as a mountain lake at eventide. Even outside the barrier reef the swell was less than 2 feet. We did a wall dive on the outside of the atoll first and I recorded my deepest dive to date at 95ft. At that depth the visibility was still at least 75 ft and it was as bright as day time down there. The first dive was 45 minutes for me plus a 3 minute safety stop at 15 feet and then we had a required interval of an hour or so that we had to wait through before the next dive. For those of you who do not dive these are necessary to avoid decompression, something sport divers try to avoid. The dive master on the boat did all the calculations to keep us safe. He actually used his dive computer to do it but when checked against a couple of the computers brought by clients he was erring far on the side of caution. I of course did not have my dive computer as it is languishing in a storage unit in Surrey. We were served fresh fruit and juice for energy during this interval and then we geared up and did a wall dive on the inside of the atoll. I did 48 minutes plus the safety stop and a maximum depth of 70 feet. On the interval following we were served a hot lunch of creole style mackerel  steaks, veggie rice, coleslaw, and fresh fruit. The second interval was out of necessity longer, I didn't keep track of the time. This is a pretty strong statement about my confidence level with the dive master. He was beyond professional  and he was a really nice guy as well. Our third dive of the day was a leisurely  cruise  along the top of the reef  to maximum  depth of  40 feet for 58 minutes.  There was more fruit and juice after this and a beautiful  cruise back to the dock.  Following, thanks to Ron are a few pictures of some of the things I saw.

This little guy was only 2" long

Yes I was there!

And here!

Thanks Ron, great photos!

I again struck out on seeing a Ray in the wild. Ron kindly included a photo of one from a previous dive. Surely you can see why I want to see one so badly.

There were 6 guides in the water with 10 guests and Ron the photographer. I would say that is more than an adequate number for safety. Each and every person that I came in contact with associated with Avadon made the company look great. Congratulations  Phillip  and Anne-Marie you really do have something special going on.

I was sad to leave Placencia this morning but new adventures await so I was off to Mexico. I took the coast road to Belize city. It turned out to have a long stretch of gravel. Gravel is ok but this road was really corrugated and just to make it more fun it had invisible sections of quite deep loose sand. I managed to stay shinny side up but it was a close thing a couple of times. The border crossing was the fastest and easiest I have done on this trip. The end of the day found me in Francisco Escarcega after almost completely  crossing the bottom of the Yucatan peninsula. My plan is to work my way up the east coat of Mexico to cross into Texas at Brownsville.