Anyway, Eighteen Lakes was a nice, free campground. Joe and I went swimming a little to cool off. There was a red squirrel that kept jumping up on the bikes and looking in the window, which would then make the cats freak out. It was pretty funny. We stayed there just one night. On Sunday we drove around a little bit, exploring the area. We found a nice spot off the main, dirt road to let the cats out. From there we walked farther down to see if there was anything, but it was too buggy and there didn't seem to be anything of interest. Once it cooled down a little, we took the bikes out and checked out any of the side roads that we had passed but hadn't gone down. One ended at a lake that is under management for wild rice.
That evening, we headed out to do some moose hunting. We didn't see any, and right before Finland, we found a spot to sleep for the night. The next morning, we headed down the North Shore and back home.
-Miranda
Lucy checking out the squirrel.
Curly was pretty toasty during our walk. He would pause in the shade once in a while and pant.
The lake where wild rice was growing.
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We decided to go on a short RV trip just around some of the national forest in northern MN. We had never really taken much time to explore the area or the lakes all that much, and now seemed like as good a time as any.
We left yesterday, late afternoon. We checked out one place along our trip. Got out and walked. Curly even came with us. He kept up really, really well. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes and deer flies were so bad that even walking with our rain jackets on (hoods up) we couldn't stop for even a second and were still getting bombarded on our faces. There was lake access at the end that even had a loon swimming and calling on it, but even if the bugs hadn't been that bad, we probably couldn't have gotten the RV down there. It was just too wet and filled with pot holes.
We ended up staying at a very small, free campground on Sand Lake. It was a pretty area. The bugs weren't terrible there.
The next morning, we headed out and continued on our way since there was no cell service (meaning no internet). We checked out another road. Parked, then walked down it, taking Curly with. Again, the bugs were just awful. It was a little tougher for Curly, I believe because it was sunny and warmer, so he was getting hot. He still did really well keeping up with us.
We checked out a few more places, but ended up staying at Eighteen Lakes campground. It's another free one with only a few sites. There's a trail that goes around the lake and the water temp seems decent that we may still go swimming. So far the only excitement was a red squirrel running on top of the bikes in the back, right along the window. It even stopped to look in. That got the cats pretty excited.
-Miranda
Joe looking out over Sand Lake.
Our walk today. Curly got a ride for some of it since he seemed pretty pooped.
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On Wednesday we headed north to Playa Del Carmen. The next morning, we hopped on a bus to the airport and flew home. So, back to work and finishing getting the house set up, painted, etc. Now that the snow is gone we'll get to do some yard work and decide on a bird feeder set up, which will be fun. We have quite a few birds here so far. As it warms up we'll hopefully get to see some of the warblers that pass through.
-Miranda
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We arrived in Orange Walk on Monday, a little creeped out. The bus stop in Belize City was very run down and the buses were just old school buses. Not at all what we were expecting. The bus was so crowded that the isle was filled with people standing.
We arrived in Orange Walk after 2 hours and got off at a terminal that was almost no more than a bus stop. We had no idea where we were, so we just followed the line of locals assuming they would head in the general direction of "stuff". We eventually found the town center, but still had a heck of a time finding a place to eat. We eventually found a small restaurant where, no matter what you order, the meal costs $7.50 belize. This means for both of us, drinks included, we only paid $7.50 got lunch. The food was good too. There was a hotel next door, so we just stayed there.
The next day we did the Lamanai River Tour. Basically, you take a boat up the New River to the Lamanai ruins. The river trip was great since we got to see lots of birds and some other wildlife. We stopped at one spot where a couple Spider Monkeys live. The guys that run the boats always bring a banana for them, so they hop into the boat, check everyone out, then hop back out. Pretty interesting.
The ruins were neat. The boat guide was also the guide for the ruins, so it was interesting to hear some about the ruins. These ones were inhabited a lot longer than most Mayan ruins, until the 16th century.
The river ride back was mostly just to get back, though we did see the shape of a West Indian Manatee. Couldn't see if very well, but pretty neat nonetheless.
-Miranda
A crocodile. It's pretty small. Only about a yard long.
The spider monkey, hanging out on the boat.
One of the temples.
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The next morning we really needed to figure out laundry. Our next plan was to head to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye in Belize and we had no idea what to expect, so while we were in a large city, we figured we would get it done there. Well, Joe was sick, so he stayed in the hotel to sleep while I went out. I'm not normally the explorer, so this was a bit of a challenge for me. I went to the market looking for breakfast. Most people in the area don't speak any English and my Spanish is so rudimentary that I'm not much help in communicating. In the market I found the vegetable/fruit/meat section and bought some apples and bananas. That seemed to be the easiest way to get something for myself and have something to bring back to Joe if he wanted to eat at all.
Afterwards, I had to figure out laundry. I hadn't seen any laundromat around. I asked the hotel desk and she made it seem like there were no laundry places nearby... Since the fancier hotels tend to provide laundry service, I went to one of those and asked the woman at the front desk. Fortunately, she did speak English so it wasn't too confusing. She pointed me to a block away. I headed there and was able to understand the woman there enough to know that she would be able to get our laundry done that day, though I didn't quite understand how much per kilo or when it would be done. We decided to do it anyway, so I got our clothes brought them back and she wrote they would be done at 2pm. The water taxi to Belize left at 3, so we figured that would be enough time.
Eventually, when Joe was feeling a bit better, we checked out of the hotel and found lunch. By that time it was 2. I went to get the laundry only to realize some of it wasn't dry yet. She told me it would be at least 15 minutes... Eventually, another girl there happened to speak enough English that I could tell her to let the other woman know that we would take it damp and hang it up once we got to our destination, but we needed to go. So it all worked out in the end.
We arrived at the dock on time and took an almost 2 hour boat trip to San Pedro. Upon arriving, we took care of immigration and customs (which is pretty nice and easy at such a small port) and went in search of a hotel. The first place we checked out cost $120 US... We decided to keep looking. While looking, a woman had passed us and eventually turned back asking if we were looking for a hotel. We said, yes and I asked if she had one. She did, and showed us to it. It was right on the 'beach' (in quotes because it's all boat docks. I wouldn't swim near here). She said there was fast wifi and they had water to refill bottles, etc. Figuring it was going to be pricey, she said since we were just walk-ins, she would give us a deal. We were both expecting something pricey, but she ended up quoting $45 + taxes. Sweet! We went for that. Definitely a good price.
The next day, we found a dive shop and did our first dive in the afternoon. The reef is close by so it doesn't take long to get there, but it was super choppy since the wind has been blowing pretty crazy. Once you were underwater it wasn't bad and the visibility was still good (not as good as Cozumel, but still really good). The coral here are amazing! Lots of fan coral. Also, there were tons of Nurse Sharks and we saw two Spotted Eagle Rays, which were very neat. We were supposed to do two dives, but ended up not going back out after the first one because of how choppy it was.
-Miranda
View from the doorway of our room.
View down the beach from our hotel.
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