Good morning to you! As I have been cranky about people not liking my posts I am suggesting that you go up to the beginning of the post and click on the blue heading of the post. That way you will be able to go directly to the blog website where you will see the like button on the bottom of the post. Then you take your little index finger put it over the like button and press “like”. If you are reading on a desk top, then you need to use your mouse. It is really quite simple. I could be really mean and make this post in two parts. Those that clicked the like button would be kept on the mailing list. Those that don’t would get scrubbed. But I am nice, and I am not going to do that. As you could just go directly to the website and read the posts that way.
Did you click the blue post heading yet?
Today I ordered scrambled eggs for breakfast. I was also given Ketchup and hot sauce on the side. I suspect it was hot sauce although I didn’t try it.
I had a plate of fruit on the side.
This morning I headed to the lower veranda to hang out. All the howler monkeys were asleep and I didn’t see many birds although I could hear them. On Trip Advisor many people had posted about the great number of birds that they saw on the bird watching expeditions here. One person mentioned that they saw over 175 different species over 4 days! That is a lot of birds! I can’t say that this is something I will try as the thought of wandering around in the jungle trying to locate birds is not my cup of tea. Especially with it being so humid out and there are lots of bugs in the jungle.
While I am sitting on the lower veranda I am overheard some guests inquire about kayaking on the river below. Not my cup of tea also. Jungle, bugs, steamy weather, activity, hips stuck in an uncomfortable position. No thank you!
Before I knew it lunch time had come and I climbed upstairs to eat again.
My lunch time view.
I ordered the beef quesadillas. They came with all the usual fixings.
Instead of having something highly caloric for dessert I asked for a fruit plate. Talk about a generous serving!
After lunch I decided to try to locate the gym. It was down by the river. I could take the tram down or walk. What is your prediction?
Fooled you! I decided that I would walk down, but wanted to push the button to call the tram to test it out.
I think there were over 300 steps to reach the gym and I did not want to end up walking down and not getting a ride back up and needing to walk 300 steps back up. Momma didn’t raise me to be a fool!
The tram sounded like it was moving, so off I went, as I was reasonably assured that I could ride back up the hill.
Last year when we were here we met some French people that worked in Manhattan. They were in tremendous shape and walked down and up the stairs. I am not French, so I am therefore not in tremendous shape.
I was happy to see that the tram was indeed on its way back up.
I didn’t need to rest on the bench on my way down, I would have needed a long rest if I tried to walk up the stairs.
Halfway point!
The gym. They did a lot of renovations since last year, extending the gym.
There was an exercise bike, a weight system and some other equipment. The gym was air conditioned, but I don’t think that it was ever turned on. So even if you wanted to work out, the gym would take forever to be at a comfortable temperature.
There was also a bathroom with kayak paddles and life preservers. There is something about those sinks that are mounted above the counter. I don’t really like them. I prefer my sink mounted into the counter.
The dock was completely renovated since last year. There had been a flood and it destroyed the dock.
Looks like the couple decided to go kayaking. Did I tell you yet today how much I hate kayaking?
I was going to sit in the chairs and read instead.
Of course it started to sprinkle as soon as I sat down. This is the view downstream. Eventually the stream hits the ocean.
So I headed back to the gym and to the tram.
I pushed the button and the tram started heading down the hill.
The tram! The tram! See these people on the left? They carried big sticks with them. We had such sticks in our room, but did not know what they were for. They were walking sticks!
I pushed the up button and off we went!
The view looking down to the river was not very good at all with the plexiglass being all dirty.
With a little elevation it wasn’t so bad after all.
Someplace in the jungle is our room!
There were even birds of paradise growing near the tram tracks.
Then it was time to relax and wait for Steve to come back from fishing.
Yay! Steve came back to report that he caught three fish! Here is Steve’s report:
The new season began with a trip to Belize, where I fished once again with Victor Jacobs for 4 days-Jan 5-8. I chose the timing to coincide with the moon phase approaching full, but this hurt rather than helped, because of the cool, overcast conditions that prevailed the entire trip. Visibility was so poor that only 2 options were available-fishing the very shallow lagoon, an hour’s boat ride north of the marina, where permit wakes and nervous water could be detected, or blind casting in the rivers for snook and tarpon. We did some of each most days. Compounding the difficulties was the Spring tides, which emptied the flats of water so that permit left for the deeper channels, where they are impossible to find unless they are picking crabs off leaves floating in the tidal current, which I did see once.
On Jan 5 and 6, I had no action at all. Jan 7 was a bit warmer, but still below normal, and the fish were more active. I saw a crocodile swimming across the Deep River. I caught my first ever tarpon, about 12 pounds, on a Clouser. The fish came out of nowhere and jumped immediately. He was very fast, but succumbed quickly to the 10 weight that I had borrowed from Joe Codd, who I recently met at Delphi. I had a much larger tarpon, probably 30-40 pounds, swirl at the fly 10 feet form the boat. I also missed a small tarpon and caught my first Yellow Tail Trevally, about 1.5 pounds. Late in the day we saw some permit wakes on the shallow flats, and I had a couple of shots, and I caught another yellow Tail Trevally, this one about 3 pounds and very strong. Overall it was a good day, extending my streak to 47 months and adding 2 new species to my list.
Well done Steve! Perhaps I shall rename to blog to Steve’s Excellent Adventures!
This is a picture of a tarpon. Much, much bigger than Steve’s fish. Steve unfortunately did not have Victor take a picture of any of today’s fish.
Tonight’s amuse bouche was devilled eggs again. They were just as yummy as the first time we had them.
My drink of the evening was a Spicy Mayan. Copalli Rum, all spice leaf, lime juice, simple syrup and orange bitters.
Steve had the chicken wings for his starter.
I can’t remember what kind of soup I had. I neglected to take a picture of the menu so your guess is as good as mine. It was green though!
Steve ordered the chicken. It was too dry. He did enjoy the puréed carrots.
I ordered the fish. It was very good. Since Steve didn’t really enjoy his chicken I shared my fish with him. I am such a kind and generous spouse, aren’t I?
For dessert I ordered the pineapple coconut pie. Actually it was pineapple pie with coconut ice cream on the side. I guess that explained why the pie didn’t taste like coconut at all. Slow learner that I am, I didn’t realize that the ice cream was coconut until 2 nights later. More of that story in another blog post!
Steve had the vanilla cake for his dessert.
So far this trip Steve and I stuck to ourselves. While at dinner tonight I overheard a couple that had just arrived inquire about lobster for dinner. They were told that lobster was served the previous night. After the waitress left, I was going to tell them that they didn’t miss much, but thought better of it.
Should Steve do his own blog?
Should I speak softly and carry a big stick?
Should I make friends with the couple who wanted to eat lobster?
Major quibble time. I have noticed that the only people who have been liking my blog posts are people that I do not know in real life. Some of my friends have been kind enough to post comments. For those true and loyal friends, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. For you others, you had better shape up or I will cease and desist on my blog posts. I spend about three hours on each post. The least that you can do is figure out how to like and comment on the blog.
Steve says that I should not post my major quibble. Not because a quibble is slight objection about a trivial matter. Number one, you can’t have a major quibble if a quibble is slight, and number two is that my blog is not a trivial matter to me. His attitude is that I have mentioned in the past that I expect my fan club to respond with a like or a comment and that I can just have a diary if my fans don’t evidence their appreciation.
Now I have admitted to being a lard ass and sitting around blogging and reading. Are you a lard ass also and have fingers that are too weak to push a key on a keyboard?
Steve also suggested that I sleep on my thoughts and then decide in the morning if I wanted to post my thoughts. I slept on it and added the top suggestion that readers could go directly from the email to the website. I have also been told by others that the old email posts had a like button on them and you didn’t have to go to the website. I will check on that with WordPress. (Although that is really a lame excuse J!).
Let’s see if my stats improve. It’s all about the stats, and the comments!
We are now on our way towards Eisenhower Pass and the Big Mountains. I shouldn’t have had a drink last night. I have eyeball auras, but hopefully three ibuprofen should help clear that up. That and lots of water. The family joke that we have is that I always suggest that family members drink more water whenever they don’t feel well. Constipation, diarrhea, common cold, a virus, the flu? Drink water!
Too high an elevation for me!
We pass the sign post for Vail.
Vail you are such a pretty town. However no time to stop, shop, and visit!
We drive past some red rocks.
Through Glenwood Canyon.
The landscape is so dramatic here!
We have arrived at The High Lonesome Ranch!
Looks like great weather ahead for our stay at The High Lonesome.
That’s all for tomorrow. As we heard that there is a pond just outside our house and Steve already has his fishing license….
We ate lunch before we were shown our cabin. Lunch was ham, bacon, cheese and tomato. Plus bean salad on the side.
Oatmeal raisin cookies for dessert. Chocolate chip would be better. Perhaps tomorrow!
The place where we will be staying is a three mile drive from the main ranch. We are very secluded here.
Our place is called “The Homested”.
We are actually staying in our very own house! The house is even bigger once you get inside!
Kitchen should you wish to self cater. We will not, all my meals will be in the main lodge. Steve will have sack lunches for his fishing trips.
Dining room.
The Living room.
The opposite view.
Master bedroom. With gifts! I love gifts!
The master bathroom. Double sinks so we can keep our messes separate!
We had a great deck off of the second floor. This was where I was going to run to if I saw a bear on the grounds! I figured he wouldn’t be able to reach me on the second floor! I never really sat and read here that much as the chairs had no cushions. 
My portion controlled plate. I did not eat all the meat, I was saving room for dessert! 
You have to have vanilla ice cream to go with your fresh pie! 
This is not an April Fool Joke as I discovered this all last night. it turns out that I never finished my blog posts of the trip to Delphi that Steve and I took in January! There was much more that happened than what I had posted. Try to follow along, I am sure it will be terribly confusing!
Today was the last lunch for A, J and S. They were flying to Nassau, spending the night at the new Baha Mar, and then off to Miami to drive to Cheeca Lodge in the Florida Keys. I have always wanted to stay at Cheeca. Maybe if A starts a blog, I will be able to read about it. Start a blog A!
Here is our big bowl of blue corn chips and dips. I am dipping my chips in guacamole, more often now. I’m still not sure if I like it. I draw the line at ordering Avacado Toast, that’s just too trendy for even me!
I ordered the Mahi Mahi on field greens. I neglected to ask for no olives. 
Every one but J ordered an ice cream bar for lunch. J is trying to keep his figure.
Our first canapé was smoked mackerel mayonaise on a …well it wasn’t mentioned on the menu card, so you can decide if it was a pitette, croute, or cracker! 
Next up was pork fritters, with a soy sauce dip.
Our starter was a conch salad. Something that I do not care for at all. 
I ordered the rack of lamb. I asked it to be cooked medium, as the other night it was a little too rare for me. 
Steve ordered the hog fish. A terrible name for a tasty fish.
Dessert was a delicious coconut creme brûlée. Steve didn’t eat it as he doesn’t like coconut. I bet his weight gain this week will be less than mine!
Good morning!
More fruit and then oatmeal for me. I have been very good and not had any eggs this week. S, our new friend from England has been having Eggs Benedict every morning. They looked really good, and I was seriously tempted to try them, but I was good and stuck with oatmeal. Hopefully my cholesterol will go down and I may try a bite in the future.
In case your forgot, this is the Great room. S sat on the white couch and crocheted. I sat on the orange couch and read. M sat on the other white couch and read and texted. She gets a lot of texts! Every few minutes we would hear a “zing!’. 
More dips and chips for lunch. I felt so much better that I could even lean over to grab a chip. The previous days, I had to have someone hand me a handful!
M was able to convince the kitchen staff to make her some iced tea! She got a whole pitcher of it and almost drank the whole thing. I did have a glass, along with my glass of rose.
I had the Mahi Mahi again. 
M had the Chinese chicken salad with avocado instead of the chicken. She partially destructed the artful arrangement of noodles before I could take my picture. Shameful action indeed M!
We were offered raisin cookies. There were originally 8 on the plate. I ate seven of them. I do seriously have a sweet tooth!
We decided to go pool side after lunch. This is truly my happy place!
G and Steve went to Cherokee Sound to fish today. Cherokee is gorgeous but the fish there are very difficult to catch. Steve did end up gettin one fish on his last day, about ten minutes before they were to return home. G got skunked, but I think he had a sufficiently good time to decide to come again. This picture is from a tree that had blown over. Those are conch shells in the roots of the tree. Just in case you are guessing that conch are good climbers, NO they aren’t. They crawled into the roots before the tree was blown over.
Speaking of conch, the first canapé was conch fritters.
Here is a picture of two of the lovely ladies who were serving us dinner tonight. The other canapé was humus with olives on a cracker. I don’t like olives, so I passed on them.
Here is Steve meeting one of the new guests before dinner. Steve is always pontificating about something, I am not quite sure what was said. Perspective is everything, another guest also named Steve was standing behind my Steve. The new Steve was a larger man than MySteve, but NewSteve is practically hidden!
Here is another picture of M’s iced tea. It was dark and sweet!
The first course was crab bisque.
It was Jason, the chef’s night off, so dinner was not as fancy. I had the chicken with mushroom pie. 
Dessert was very interesting. The top bits were chocolate nibs, then, underneath was a fruit crackly shell and under that was a layer of semi melted vanilla ice cream. I didn’t like it, but I still ate almost the whole thing!
Here are M and G, not sitting on the couch K-I-S-S-I-N-G, but G is explaining the intricacies of fly fishing. M is a very sweet wife, and is pretending to be interested. A few weeks back Steve and I watched a Dave Chappelle show. He did a skit about a box that people could push that would say “Wrap it up!”. It could be used when you heard a politician, bloviating about some nonsense, or when clergy took too long in getting to the point of a sermon, or the part of the skit that put Steve in hysterics the most-when someone was hammering away in bed having sex, and taking way too long. Anyway, I think that Mary is wishing she had the wrap it up button around so that she could push it!
Sunday morning and we have a surprise picture from Steve of the fruit bowl untouched by everyone else. Steve is up early to go fishing and took this picture for the blog. He is such a good husband to me!
This cinnamon danish was supposed to be in a circle, but it went on strike on the way to the oven. It was still tasty! Steve gets up early to be sure he gets one!
I was able to go to lunch. Here is Mahi Mahi one a bed of greens and fresh vegetables.
First canapé was shrimp popcorn with red pepper dip.
Next up was smoked mackerel mayonnaise.
Our starter was stone crab claws. Usually they have a horseradish dressing. As Steve and I both dislike horseradish, we had ours plain. G picked his clean! Um um um.
Steve and I each had the Mahi Mahi on herbed quinoa.
G was sitting next to me. He had the Osso Bucco. I really like Osso Bucco, but have yet to have it in a restaurant cooked as well as I do it at home. So it was fish for me. The other night we had dinner with friends. One of the guests loves duck, and prepares a phenomenal duck himself. He ordered it and was disappointed that it was not as tasty as his version. So I went to school on that lesson, and had the fish instead!
For dessert we had banana beignets. A very sweet dessert.
Breakfast had a pretty pineapple arrangement. As I mentioned earlier, one of these days I will come to breakfast before the hordes have had a serving of fruit.
After breakfast M, the two Michigan ladies and I went down to the beach for a walk. I started out ahead, as I knew that I would end up at the end of the line.
My goal for the morning was to reach the end of the beach on the short end. 
Almost there.
Mission accomplished, it was time to go back. 
Here is J from Michigan, she was looking for little beads, from fishing nets that were in the seaweed.
M kept on going and I went up to the room to do some stretching.
I did make it up for lunch though. Grilled cheese and tomato soup again.
M had the Caesar Salad with sliced avocado.
Here I am on the floor. I had just taken a hot shower, Steve had put me in the chair. When he came back I was laying on the floor. I was feeling a faint coming on, and decided that if I was on the floor already I wouldn’t have far to go if I did faint!
First canapé was spiced apple on brie and a cracker. It is lovely and looks simple to make. I think just a little bit of chopped up apples in honey.
Next up was pork fritters and Cajun mayonnaise.
Our starter was a roasted peach salad on greens. I love fresh peaches, so I always find this salad especially yummy.
G had the beef tenderloin for his main.
I had the duo of lobster. One part was done in a tempura style, the other part of the tail was grilled. I gave some to G so he could have a surf and turf.
Dessert was really yummy. We had creme brûlée with an almond frangipane (that is cookie-for those of us like me who call a cookie a cookie) and a guava pastelle (jelly candy).
G hit the jackpot as he got to finish three. Steve doesn’t care for it, and M knows G loves it so, she gave him hers. She is a very good spouse. I wouldn’t give up a chocolate dessert for Steve!
G actually finished all of them! Here he is being silly and pretending to slurp them all up!
G and Steve had a good day fishing. G is working on retrieving his cast.
Yay! G got his first bonefish! He ended up catching four bonefish! Steve caught 11 bonefish and a barracuda.
Good morning! It is a beautiful day here. Back home In Poughkeepsie it is cold and rainy. At M and G’s home back home I think it is snowing! When we left the crocuses were just starting to peek their buds out of the ground.
Since I got a very bad result for my cholesterol levels the last time I was at the doctor’s, it is no eggs, but oatmeal for me. That and Lipitor are my new best friends. 
One of these days I will get up extra early, so that the fruit bowl looks a lot nicer. There were many non fishing spouses at breakfast today and they all wanted to know what the white speckled fruit was. My devoted blog followers would know the answer-it is Dragon fruit. So named because the outer part of the fruit looks like dragon scales. The
Did you know that fruit had protein in it? I didn’t.
Soon it was time for lunch. Here is M enjoying the view. The Club is in process of improving the view and have cut down a number of trees.
The chips have changed since last time. We had triangular chips when we were here in January. 
M and I each had the grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch. I had a glass of Rose. As it is Lent, M is abstaining from alcohol and Diet Coke.
I asked if there were any cookies after lunch, and we got some lovely mini banana muffins, and fresh fruit.
I had fun watching a little hermit crab walk across the patio, but have decided that although I found it interesting, I don’t think that the video was blog worthy.
Gazpacho shooters were passed around. Dinner might have been even more fun if they had vodka in them!
Next up were baby scallop tempura, with pickled ginger dipping sauce.
Our starter was Tuna Tataki, Chritophene salad, micro greens, wasabi kewpie and citrus soy. I don’t like wasabi, so it was a little bit too zingy for me!
We did get some home made chocolates, dusted with coconut for dessert.
What’s a good blog post with out some eye candy? You should know from past blog posts, that I find David Gandy terribly attractive. Steve gives me lots of grief when I mention that I find someone terribly attractive. I mistakenly mentioned years ago that I found the former senator from Massachusetts, Scott Brown as terribly attractive. Steve found this quite amusing. You remember him, he posed for as a nude centerfold years ago. Not that I have any of his pictures stored under my mattress or as screen saver….Anyway, back to the present. I have only eyes for Steve and David Gandy looking smolderingly from the window of a perfume store. Sigh.
Eventually enough rolls of the toilet paper were removed from the box and it could be smashed enough so that the big box could go through the scanner.
There was a man sitting across from us, who seemed to be quite proud of his legs. Steve got me chuckling as he mentioned that the man “Must be very proud of his yams”. Yams? I started to giggle, they are called “gams, not yams!”. “Gam’s are only describing female legs, anyway”, I retorted!
Steve doesn’t’ let anyone invade his space. He is a manspreader! 
The girl next to me was petite, and I didn’t have any problems with sharing the row.
After A Star is Born, I got to watch Bar Rescue, which is always one of my favorites. I like My 600 pound life, and also Hoarders. I do like to watch other peoples problems!
I was quite excited about the second Bar Rescue that was aired at 12:00, all about a Titty bar called Chicks on Dix! Unfortunately we landed and I missed the outcome!
Oh, well I will just have to try to find it on television another time!
We decided to have lunch at Nick’s Tomato Cafe. M is hidden behind G. Steve and G are wearing plaid shirts. Steve alway seems to wear a plaid shirt on his traveling days.
The pizza was very good. Steve and I had the mushroom pizza. 
M and G had the vegetable pizza.
We also each shared a plastic box of salad.
The guys were still a little hungry so we ordered another meat pizza.
Our plane was delayed for over an hour, but we finally were called to the gate and onto the plane.
Unfortunately Steve and I got the dreaded row 3, with no window.
We flew out of West Palm Beach and there were lots of private jets. This beautiful plane took off just before us. Someday I may have lots and lots of money and be able to blow it on a private jet ride! Now that will be a very excellent adventure! 
We flew over the coast, and got to ogle at all the big high rises.
After about 45 minutes we landed at Marsh Harbour. There had been a lot of rain earlier in the day. We were hoping that the coming week would not be filled with rain. 
Our first canapé was fried artichokes with dip. Sorry about the fuzziness, I must have been shaking the phone with excitement at being at Delphi again.
Second canapé was tuna on a cracker, or more formally vitello tonnatto!
Our first course was watermelon salad with feta cheese.
No one claimed the biggest fish, so Max took honors of head of the table. 
Steve, G and I had the Hogfish, with soft polenta and asparagus.
M, who is a vegetarian, had the lemon couscous, with asparagus and broccoli.
For dessert we had Ibiza mint and anise cheesecake, with Dulce de leche cream, and blackberry coulis.
J was a good sport and let me take a picture of his Eggs Benedict. Not that he would have been able to stop me of course!
Not much was happening and it was soon time for lunch. 
Today I had the mixed greens with orange and wahoo. 
Of course I had an ice cream bar for dessert. 
Soon it was time for dinner and we had fried artichokes for our first canapé. 
Second canapé was tuna poke.
Steve got head of the table. I wanted him to pretend to toast me, but he refused. At dinner I was suitably grumpy, but then was distracted after I had heard about E and J’s day.
Our starter was shrimp bruschetta. 
Steve and I each had the grouper with asparagus and crab pilaf. 
Dessert was a banana tart in with spice ice cream. Steve loved it, which shocked me as he does not like fruit at all. 
J wanted to get a group shot of the table. Additions to the picture from last time are J in the plaid shirt at the upper right , and V from England via Scotland on the lower right, and Max, front and center. Since Max has refused to propose to Nicole, I am limiting my effusiveness. Once he proposes I will tell you what an excellent job he is doing at Delphi. 
We had more chocolates after dinner. These were pure chocolate so Steve was thrilled.
Another day and more eggs. Let’s see if the fruit is different today. 
Yes! Today we have added a new fruit. Dragon fruit! 
This is what they look like before they are cut up. It tastes very similar to a melon.
Today we had four new guests arriving so we had a bigger crowd for lunch. The breeze had settled down so we were eating on the back veranda again. You can tell that I claimed a seat with a view right away. There are my reading glasses designating my chair claim! 
I decided to try the beef burger with sweet potato fries. They also offer a pork burger. I have not tried that.
Our first canapé of the evening was conch fritters with a dipping sauce. 
Next up was hummus on baked pitettes. Pitettes is just a fancy name for a cracker. These guys had olives on them. I passed as I don’t like olives. 
Our starter was crab and pumpkin bisque. 
Steve and I had the chicken and mushroom pie. It was yummy. An alternative was fish pie.
Dessert was Delphi Tiamisu.