Blue above me, blue below,

ribbons of sky waver on shallows of indigo.

Cerulean shimmers on distant sea.

Cobalt balloons to deeper immensity.

Encircled, enfolded, engulfed.

Perhaps I, too, dissolve to blue.

-Poem by Jean K Rhodes (my grandma)

I have been off line for a while, my husband and I celebrated our 15th anniversary in one of our favorite places… Latin America. We both lived in South America so we’re fluent in Spanish, he also speaks Portuguese and a little French (oh la la). I absolutely love Latin America, the people, the culture, the land, the food and don’t even get me started on the water! There is something that warms my heart about strangers kissing me on the cheek in the street and offering me delicious bread. We will definitely retire somewhere south of the border one day.

If you’re traveling to Belize and Guatemala, here are my two cents. This isn’t a formal review, but from a travel lover, it’s just some of my favorites from the trip.

First, English is the official language in Belize, which tripped me out a little. It was so wierd to be in Latin America and read & hear English everywhere. They actually speak a little Spanglish mixed with Creole and it’s awesome. Like so much of Central and South America the places to enjoy are endless- try to see it all, the jungle, the Caribbean, the Mayan history.

TIKAL- Mayan Ruins

(Those winter white legs weren’t white for long!) As always, Mayan ruins take my breath away. Hey, I was a history major. Tikal had some of the most spectacular ruins I have seen (I also love Chichen Itza in Mexico and Machu Picchu Incan ruins in Peru) Tikal is off the beaten path but well worth it.

JUNGLE This place blew my mind. The green, the flowers, the wildlife, and the smells… I could stay there for a while. Horseback riding and cave-tubing really are as fun as they sound. We had birds and even a jaguar at the resort (“Banana Bank” resort, if you’re heading that direction and want more details, leave a comment below!) It was a treat for a desert rat like me.

SAN PEDRO- Caribbean (Are you humming the Madonna song? Ya, we were too)

Belize food is EXPENSIVE. But if you stray off road a bit you will find some awesome taco stands. The best ones are on the west side of the island in town (where the produce and cargo boats come in). Just walk the streets and ask the locals or stop when you see a busy taco stand. A great taco stand makes my day in any country (including the US). Our favorite taco shop was Neri’s. Their menu is painted on a cement block and it’s next to a wood pile, but that it just part of the fun. You can eat a delicious meal with a soda that has real sugar cane for about $2.50:

The best snorkel stop was Ho Chan and Shark Ray Alley. They are popular for a reason and totally worth going for. Honestly, I would go back to Belize just to take my kids snorkeling there.

We did some diving too, but I got crazy sea sick and bailed out of the last dive. It’s such a bummer to be the whimp… kills me. We didn’t make it to the Blue Hole, it was stormy on the day it was planned and we were staying far away on San Pedro, but I’ll go back one day!

Photo by vivabelize.com and kurungabaa.net

That is my whirlwind review of an amazing part of our world. Now it’s back to updating this house, I’ll chime in soon on some of those projects.

Happy Creating!

When was the last time you walked into a history book? I got to a few days ago in Pioche, Nevada. My father-in-law was raised in the Wild West. His dad was a iron/oar/silver miner. For two awesome days my family and I visited the old tromping grounds. And it was awesome. Sometimes I think my projects are time consuming or complicating to pull off, but the women and men that forged the west were the real thing. They were hard core, and I think their history is beautiful.

We camped at Cathedral Gorge outside of Panaca (sister town to Pioche), it is full of sandstone caves and caverns. We had a blast wandering through the splendor:

We wandered around town and relived some of grandpa’s favorite stops:

We even saw wild mustangs out on the range outside of town:

But my favorite was Boot Hill, Pioche’s Cemetary. It is where 72 men were buried before anyone in the town died from natural causes. Stuff like fights over poker games and gun duels because of a dog. Legend is they buried them so fast they didn’t even take their boots off. Boot hill is on the left in the picture below, with the modern cemetery on the right. You can also see the old miner carts still hanging above that transported the mining materials from the mountain. My father in law used to play in them as a child, now we just have organized and supervised play dates (hey, I do it to):

The Wild West was a beautiful place!

Happy Creating!