checking in

Dan and I are still on vacation but I wanted to do a quick check in and share a few photos.....I know vacation pics are usually of most interest to the person on the trip, but I just can't help myself!

We took a Caribbean cruise on Norwegian -

 first port Roatan, Honduras.....we went to Tabyana Beach.

I sure do love the fine, soft, white sand of the Caribbean!  Dan takes a mean photo as well - he took a great series of this rickety pier near the shopping at Roatan......he had to hike back up the highway to find it after we got back from the beach.

Next stop Belize where we took a very long excursion to see the Lamanai Mayan ruins - 1.5 hrs on a bus, 1+ hours on a river "safari" (ha!), 1.5 hrs at the ruins then 3 hours back to the boat.  A LONG day!

This tall ruin had STEEP, deep steps and there was no way I could manage them in the short time we had to explore.  Dan's in the red about half way up and you can see even his long legs are working hard.  It's hot - 90+ degrees, humid and we were hunting for shade wherever we could find it during the walk through the jungle to get to the ruins.

I did make it up a few steps!  As you can see these steps are tall - 18" or more.

The next day took us to Costa Maya, Mexico and another Mayan site.  We liked this excursion better because it wasn't so long and the site itself was more interesting.  The excavation revealed more of a community, a town-like layout that made it easier to think about a civilization functioning there.  We visited the Kohunlich ruins.......

This is a sleeping platform in what would have been a noble's house and Dan is checking it out for comfort :)

A carving from the Temple of Masks - probably about 8' tall.  After visiting the ruins, we returned to town for a little souvenir shopping.....yummy colors, right?  I see art inspiration here:

Final stop on this cruise is Cozumel, Mexico.  We didn't take an excursion here, just got off the ship and wandered around town til we got too hot and tired.  I love pictures of windows and doors and found a few here.  (that's Dan's reflection in the center glass)

That's the end of the cruise - now we're off to a week in St Augustine, FL in a timeshare condo on the beach.  I'll share a few more pics in a few days.

And, you know what?  I've even managed to find time for a little art - some doodling, some lettering and I've even made some collages!  Dan just laughed at me when I packed markers and glue sticks and scissors!