Off to the secret location, Thursday February 14, 2019

Good morning from Houston! Last night when I looked out the window, I thought that was a another hotel. Ha Ha Turns out it was a parking garage!

Look at all the different hallways on our floor. The suggestion of using colored lights was a smart one. Makes it much easier to know what direction you need to go to find your room. I don’t know how many times I have screwed up going in the wrong way after getting off an elevator because the signage was poor. Silver lettering on a grey background and a small font! This is much better, “Go down the yellow hallway!”We entered the elevator and pushed S for shuttle. That was easy!

This is where Linda screwed up. The tram went in a big circle, and Steve wanted to go right. I insisted on going left. Going right meant you went directly to the D/E terminals. Going left meant you take the scenic route. Which we did. We went by the B and A terminals, then the Marriott stop, then the C terminal and then finally the D/E terminals However taking the scenic route meant we were on an empty tram. No one in this direction. No one in this direction also. Which means, you know what happens next don’t you? Yes, Linda tries for an eyes open wide smooch on her husband. I think the plain old selfie was a better picture. We finally found our terminal and it was time to look for breakfast. Steve saw the sign for Ruby’s and thought it would make a good choice. The Siracha Bloody Mary scared me away. Remember, I don’t like spicy stuff. We were going to try Starbucks, but they didn’t have the egg sandwiches that Steve likes. Instead we went Gavi. They had the ordering system on iPad’s which I always find difficult. The waitress had to come over to help us. Steve had and omelette with home fries. The home fries had been prepared yesterday, so they were a bit cold. The ketchup was great with the homesfries though.

I had the lemon ricotta pancakes with blueberries. Well actually five blueberries and some compote. I ate one pancake. It tasted like a cross between a pancake and lemon loaf. Not sure what I had expected. I thought about watching Bohemian Rhapsodey, but the screen was pretty tiny and it started with some notes on paper that I couldn’t read, so I decided I would watch it at home from a library DVD. There were five planes ahead of us. We were off! Good bye Houston!

Lots of white fluffy clouds. Houston looks like it is around a lot of water. I was trying to figure out if I could tell where there was flood damage. I don’t know what the area looked like before so….who knows? I will tell you we were heading south from Houston. I was exited about watching “Hoarders” on the plane. One of my guilty pleasures is watching that and “My 600 Pound Life”. It always makes me feel good about myself, my life is nowhere that much out of control. Although if you did see my paper book romance collection and my 23,000 photos in my iCloud you would roll your eyes at me!

Unfortunately I only got to watch half the program because as soon as we left the continental United States we lost our Direct TV signal. So it was back to reading and Bohemian Rhapsody already in progress. We got our warm nuts and my ice water. Lunch was pretty yucky. A mushroom ravioli with more fennel on the salad. Dessert was a warm apple something. Not quite a cookie, nor a pie. Although it wasn’t very good I ate it. I am addicted to sugar, let’s just put it out there. We passed over a beautiful beach We are heading south over Mexico. That was Merida.

We passed over some phosphate mines and then landed in Belize City. We ended up landing before the movie was over so I guess I will have to borrow it from the library after all! Here is Sydney. We arranged to have her meet us past customs and help us get our plane tickets. It was a small airport, and we probably didn’t need her assistance, but as the hotel booked our next set of flights I wanted to make sure someone else was in charge of making sure we were going to get to where we needed to go. There were many shops at the airport. This may count as my grocery store as I don’t think that I will be wandering around town by myself.

We waited about two hours for our next flight. I would read a chapter in my paperback, then read one on my kindle app and then walk to stretch my legs. Every once in awhile we would notice someone remarkable. There seemed to be a lot of beer drinking in the airport. Steve remarked that is what most people do on beach vacation. Drink, sun and then drink some more. I sit in the shade, sober and blog. It is possible that if I drunkblogged, my blog might be more interesting. However as Steve edits the blog, it is highly likely that my drunk blog posts would not survive.

You can see that we still have our puff jackets on. The air conditioning was going full blast and we were freezing! Those puff jackets are wonderful, you can smoosh them up and they easily fit in your backpack. I did notice at the airport that many of the stores sold hot sauce and booze. Soon it was time to get on our flight. We weren’t sure how it would work, we lined up at one point thinking it was time, and then we were told to sit down. Then our names were called and they told us to follow the rest of the people onto a plane.

It is a small plane!

It was very small. As was that baby. To get in the plane you went through this opening behind Steve. They snapped one part of the door up. Then they brought the rest down. This lady was constantly on her phone going through her pictures.

We saw a number of tree plantations with some fires that looked like they were well controlled. First stop was Dangrio. A few people got off. Selfie lady was doing a good job tweeking her pictures. There appeared to be many big ass homes here. These homes were on the way to Placencia.Our second stop. About six people got off here, and one guy got on with a bouquet of flowers.

A lot of stuff was loaded onto the plane.

These roses were placed behind me on the plane. They must have cost a fortune! The plane was pretty empty by now. They didn’t ask us to move our seats. I was wondering about that. Sometimes on the smaller planes they need to balance the load. This was a a cruise ship island. There was a big swimming pool, lots of beaches and chairs. Most of the land we flew over had lots of green, and these interesting rivers. We were finally near our destination. Punta Gorda. We are going to be staying in the rain forest, near the coast. Steve will be fishing, while I will stay sober and blog. I am not sure if I will go to the beach at all. It was another small airport.

Good bye plane! I hope someone meets us here to take us to the resort! We waited outside with our luggage and selfie girl with boyfriend. We met the driver from Copal Tree lodge, and our four bags got loaded into the Jeep.

This is the center of town where the market is held. If I went to a grocery store I would ask to go to Tim’s. It looks like the biggest in town.

Here is sugar cane. When they are ready do harvest, it is cut down to the ground. Then the soil is tilled and new sugar cane roots are planted. Follow the signs to Copal Tree Lodge. This is where we will be staying.

Yay! We have entered the grounds.

This is the organic garden. There is a coffee plantation on site, a rum distillery and also a stable with horses to ride. This will not be a beach vacation, although Steve will be fishing of course.

This is a picture of a permit. Steve hopes to catch one of these. They are very hard to catch. We have our fingers crossed.

We were given a refreshing glass of ginger tea. It was refreshing but spicy!

Are you ready to see our room? We took a tram up to our room. We are in one of the four canopy suites. They are supposed to be larger, and have a better view. nothing but the best for Linda! There are about eight other regular suites, and a villa. I think the villa is for families.

Our room is just across the patio the left most door.

There was a small covered seating area outside the canopy suites. I am praying that we don’t have neighbors that like to party like crazy, because that seriously looks like a nice place to hang out! Looking in the other direction is the pool with an invisible edge. I had always wanted a pool in our back yard in Poughkeepsie. Steve tolerated my thoughts and said “Go ahead, and get an estimate!”. Well my estimate for my dream pool was over $200,000! Thankfully I came to my senses and declined the generous estimate that the pool salesman offered us. The pool would have been quite special, with an invisible edge, retractable cover, beach style entry, and waterfall. Of course, I would hardly use it at all as I am not crazy about being outside in weather that is either too hot or too cold, or too humid. I like the air around me moving just a tad and a constant 72 unless I am sleeping.

We are in room 15. Get ready. Walking in I wanted to cry. It was so large.

There was a closet to the right, with a safe.

To the left was the bathroom.

What is that outside on the deck facing the jungle?

Why it’s a soaking tub! Of course, doesn’t everyone need to bathe with a view? There was also a large shower and a toilet, but unless it is a $10,000 Japanese toilet with fans, cleansing wands and heated seats, I will rarely take their picture!

Let’s explore the room a little more. Big bed with fake mosquito netting for a romantic mood.

Large sofa that could possible used to take a nap.

Another view of the bed.

There was a desk to throw stuff on.

Should we look outside? Through the doors we go. Another sofa to hangout on to my left. To the right was a hammock and more chairs to lounge on. This is my kind of place! Steve tried out the hammock but said it was a little bit too small for his frame. I won’t try it unless he is around as I am likely to get trapped in it. ‘This is a view from the outside looking in.

Here is a closeup of the beautiful birds of paradise flowers in our room. We unpacked and then it was time for dinner.

There were more beautiful flowers in the dining room.

This is where I chose to sit. All the tables were outside on the veranda.

It started to get dark pretty quick, once the sun began to set.

As it was Valentine’s Day we had a special menu.

Steve drank wine, and I had a glass of sparkling wine.

The amuse bouche was bread and butter. ????? I think bread and butter should always be served, but I will follow the chef’s lead on this one, amuse bouche it is.

I had the conch and corn chowder soup to start.

Steve had the chicken wings, which were really messy to eat.

Steve’s entree was lamb.

I had the lobster special. Today was the last day that lobster could be legally caught in Belize. They are off limits so they can spawn.

Steve had the vanilla spice cake.

I had the chocolate tart.

Do you drink more than normal while you are on vacation?

How much time a day do you spend curating your selfie collection?

Did you think “I want to go there!”, when you saw my room?