There's Nothing Like Friends and Family!

Gosh, it's been almost a month since my last Blog, but time flies when you're with people you love! In between Independence Day on September 21st and being evacuated for Tropical Storm Matthew, my friends from Florida, Joye and David Swisher, stopped in Belize City for an afternoon while on a cruise. It was great to see them. I showed them my apartment, then we had some delicious local Belizean cuisine for lunch and just caught up on each other's lives!

Last week, I went to Dayton to see my family and celebrate my 40th "Un-reunion"! I say that because from the time I had made reservations to go to Dayton until I finally arrived, my class cancelled their reunion. So, I just grabbed my wheelchair and crashed my Dad's 65th! Though it took me 33 hours, 3 buses, 3 taxis and 2 airplanes, it was worth every minute to see Dad, TR, Lisa, Max and Sam (and eating at all my favorite restaurants!) The leaves were in full fall colors and the weather was perfect, like the whole weekend! I only carried a backpack home, but returned with a huge suitcase, filled to the 50 pound limit with all sorts of goodies from home: a drill, screwdriver, trowel and gardening gloves, vacuum cleaner, Ohio State mugs, Skyline Chili Mix, and banana peppers just to name a few items. The trip back was made a lot easier by taking a shuttle van from the Cancun airport bcak to Belize City.

I dropped off my suitcase, grabbed a bag I had already packed and jumped back in the shuttle to get to the bus station before the last bus left for Caves Branch where I met Sandy & Greg Henry, who had arrived that afternoon. It was so great to see them and explore Belize with friends from Florida. Caves Branch is an absolutely beautiful resort, including our jungle bungalow where we woke up to hummingbirds feeding off the red ginger flowers right outside our screened in room. The next morning we went cave tubing down a seven mile underground river where we saw stalagmites and stalactites, and underground waterfalls. The following morning we were off again, this time to Xunantunich, the Mayan ruins close to San Ignacio. In our spare time, we enjoyed local rum drinks by the pool and relaxed after a great dinner in the sauna. Now this is my kind of Belize!!

It's been a great vacation, but I'm ready to get back to work tomorrow and see my co-workers.