Here’s what’s happening with us....

We decided to go to visit Celestun today. Its a 2 hour drive but you get to see the wonderful countryside. Celestun is a small port with an estuary. The flamingos gather in the estyary in the winter. We took a boat ride and saw alot of birds, and visited a natural spring surrounded by a boadwalk. Before the boat trip we decided to have lunch at a wonderful restaurant. Stephanie and I had chicken, Pat had fish. A trip to Celestun is a must if you are in the area.

Today we took a bus ride to Merida to tour the square. We visited the oldest house in Merida then headed over to the Cathedral. To our pleasant surprise it was opened at the time and we were allowed to go inside. Its the first time any of of us had seen the inside. A couple of things we learned. 1) Pope John Paul visited the Cathedral over 21 years ago.  2) The Spaniards, tore everything down in Merida when the arrived and used it to build the Cathedral…including grave stones. 3) The crucifix at the alter was 36 feet high, the figure of Jesus was 26 feet high, and the figure was carved in whole from one piece of wood which was from Canada.  (see the gallery at the bottom of the page)

Mass was about to begin.

Pope John Paul knelt here to pray.

Today we went into Progreso. It was cruise ship day. The Carnival ship – Triumph docked on the pier today. that means the souvenir shops are up and open. Stephanie, Pat and me visited both the markets taking time to look at everything. After a while we met up with my parents and they drove Pat back to the house while we walked back via the beach. By the way, we didn’t visit the Naked Frog…..

The Naked Frog

Shopping for some apron material

Fruits and vegetable shopping. Some of it was very fresh.

The Market

More “ALMOST FREE” stuff….

Just in case there was any confusion about which way your boat should sit in the water.

We needed a day of rest after yesterdays travels. 17 hours from start to finish. We spent the day with our books and very good company.

Stephanie. Pat and my Mother Sharron.

With the dog sitter and house sitter in place we started our latest journey. The day started at 03:30 with me shoveling the walkway at Pats house. Just enough so the taxi cab can get into the driveway. We headed to the airport already knowing that our fight would be delayed by 45 minutes. We boarded at 07:00, taxied to the de icing area at 07:15. Left the de icing area at 09:10 and took off at 09:15. A total of 3 hours behind our original take off time. I know there was nothing Air Canada could do. After all they don’t control the weather. But because we left so late we were unable to make our bus connection. Oh well. In the end we made it too my parents…17 hours after we woke up. Let the holiday begin!!!

Green anti icing chemicals

Stephanie inspecting the de icing.

It was another successful day today. Waking up a little earlier to see the full eclipse of the moon. Stephanie and me, with about 100 of our closest camping friends woke up at 05:00 and headed to the beach to catch this event. It was nice to see. Unfortunately we were not equipped with the proper photo equipment to get a good picture. But later in the day Stephanie did see something strange floundering in the sea…..

The weather has been great so far. 25C during the day and 15C at night. We are staying at Myrtle Beach State Park again this year. The sites around us are virtually empty. We decided today was a good day for a little shopping and geocaching. With both those tasks complete I decided to bake a cake in the dutch oven. It was a complete success!

Its been awhile since I have updated this site, but now that we are on vacation I have had some time to sit and relax and work on some of those things that have dropped by the wayside.

We headed out on Friday morning with our fist stop in Maryland. As always the first night is spent in a hotel. The Holiday Inn in Hagerstown. Nice spot. No dog shows to contend with this year.

We encountered lots of sun on the way the next day. Our next stop was Lanier’s Campground in Holly Ridge North Carolina. Good Sam rated it as a 8.5, while Google rated it a 4.1/5. Well…I think that those scores a quite generous. As a residential trailer park, this site was nice. But the trailers were crammed together. You know the deal, if both you and your neighbor put your arms out your kitchen windows you could shake each others hands easily.

The weekend campsites were the same. Our bed in the trailer was about 3 feet away from our neighbor’s campfire circle. Our cooking area was about 8 feet away from our other neighbors tent. Fortunately we were there for Saturday and Sunday which meant all our neighbors left early Sunday.

Worst part was the bath house. It was not cleaned or replenished once in the 41 hours we were there.

All that said it did have some beautiful views, and the area itself was nice. Monday its off to Myrtle Beach.