Ascent Builders

The second half of our trip to Belize was spent in the city of San Pedro on the Caye Ambergris. Caye Ambergris is one of a series of tiny islands off the coast of Belize. The little city doesn’t share the same beauty as the jungle but the beaches are a great place to relax and the water is picture perfect.

We took a tiny 14 seat plane to the Caye from the municipal airport on the mainland. It’s weird to get on a plane without showing ID - we received a boarding pass that was just a laminated piece of paper that says boarding pass and nothing else, and where people are strategically placed so as to evenly distribute their weight. I swear we almost didn’t get off the ground in time. 

We stayed in a sweet condo a couple miles south of town. The complex had its own dock that we were able to swim & snorkel off of. The water here is about 80 degrees. The pool feels like 60 degrees, so I stuck to swimming in the salt water.

The first day we went on a dive and snorkel adventure with Patojo’s dive shop, a local guy recommended to my Mom by a colleague of hers. We saw a bunch of cool stuff, including two huge eels, nurse sharks, stingrays, a turtle, and a ton of colorful fish. 

The first dive was only to a 40 foot depth, because it was a combo excursion with divers & snorkelers. A couple of days later we went on a divers only trip, so we got to go outside the barrier reef to a depth of 70’. This was the deepest I’ve ever gone so it was a little unnerving, until I got down there. If you haven’t ever dived before, do it! It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. To be literally out of one’s element is unexplainably fun. The highlights of the deeper dive were that we saw a couple lionfish (very poisonous to the touch), a ton of huge grouper fish (big ugly swimmers, and tasty too), but nothing beat the friendly nurse shark that kept following us around like a dog. He was about 5 feet long and very curious.

These things don’t get a lot of camera time on Shark Week because of the low death toll; that is why I used to have no respect for nurse sharks, they were the sissies of the species, but now I sort of like them.

The town of San Pedro is very nice. There are lots of restaurants, gift shops, and other various merchants. The economy rests solely on tourism and you can tell the place is pretty impoverished. However, I was surprised that we didn’t see a single person begging for handouts. Everyone had something to sell and most of the stuff was pretty nice. There are no cars on the whole island; everyone drives around in golf carts, which speaks to the size of the place.

If you like eating fish, this is the place to be. I’m not a big seafood guy, but when it’s as fresh as it was there, it’s hard not to enjoy it. I wanted to have ceviche with every meal.

Seeing as how this blog is on a construction website, I took a couple of shots showing the means and methods of the islanders for scaffolding & shoring.  

 Aside from looking at fish and eating fish my time was well spent (see evidence below)

All in all it was a great trip. As I write this I’m flying into Dallas where the weather is supposed to be 16˚F. What the hell was I thinking getting on this plane!

See you soon America.  

There’s nothing like escaping the cold Sacramento weather for a nice vacation in warm Central America, and in the first leg of our trip, we are truly escaping to the middle of nowhere.  The first half of our trip was spent in what a local server called the “deep, deep” jungle outside of San Ignacio, Belize.

Our Hotel, The Black Rock Lodge, is set up along the Macal River & consists of several sleeping huts with one main dining hut shown in the picture above. As you can see, there isn’t a whole lot around. In fact, our hotel is about a half hour drive down a very bumpy dirt road off of one of the country’s two main highways on the border of Guatemala.

There are a lot of exciting things to do at our spot, including swimming, hiking, eating, & drinking. There is a great swimming hole that I spent a lot of time at trying to shake the muggy heat. It was only after a lot of swimming that I noticed a sign that read “Danger, Crocodiles. Swim at your own risk”.

We took a hike to the top of a summit near our spot where we could see the Macal River stretch all the way to the newly built dam supplying the country with hydro-electric power. This was a plus for the hotel, since previously they were running solely on solar power.

One of our adventures was a trip into Guatemala to visit the Mayan ruins of Tikal. It is amazing to imagine the ancient civilization being able to build these massive structures, but even more impressive was the way each structure in the six square mile site was positioned just right as to match the patterns of the sun. They had a 365 day calendar long before the Spaniards ever showed up. However, the most impressive of all, George Lucas used this site as the rebel base on the jungle moon of Yavin 4 in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

We saw more wildlife in Tikal than any other location including spider monkeys, howler monkeys, toucans, crocodiles, and the funkiest looking turkeys I’ve ever seen. Not to mention, on the drive to and from Tikal, we saw signs for snake, jaguar & coatimundi crossing.

Our last day in the jungle was probably the most enjoyable. Julia and I went on a short run through the jungle to get to a secluded waterfall.  The waterfall could have been more impressive but the damn dam restricts the flow, so it’s always hit or miss. However, on the run back it started raining on us which was one of the most welcome rains I’ve ever experienced.  It was very surreal.

That night, my brother and I signed up for a night hike to see the nocturnal creatures around the jungle. Earlier in the day, I had been talking to Elvis, one of the Staff members, who told me he was stoked because it was his night off and he was planning on meeting up with some girls at the local bar in town. After dinner, I saw Elvis step into the dining hut all dressed up and he wasn’t at the bar like he’d planned. I approached him and asked why he didn’t go out, to which he begrudgingly replied “someone requested a night hike”. I told him I was the jerk who wanted to go on the hike and that he should forget about it and go ahead and go out, but his car had already left without him.

Feeling really bad that we had ruined his night and seeing a good opportunity to check out some real authentic Belizean nightlife, I told him we’d drive him into town if he showed us some cool bars. He was very on board with that idea. We even convinced one of the waiters from the restaurant to tag along. There are no pictures from this night because I didn’t want to advertize my tourist-ness to the locals. However, seeing as how my brother and I were the only Caucasians that didn’t speak Creole in both places we went, I failed to blend in like I’d hoped. I can sum up our nightlife experience without a photo with a few words: Caribbean Rum, Sprite, karaoke, armed bouncers, late night street tacos, and hangover.

Now we are off to the island of Ambergris where we’re staying in San Pedro. This will be the more relaxing leg of our trip.   

11/10 Off to a great start...

As our plane banked towards the runway and the late Fall landscape appeared through the clouds I smiled...  Along with my three girls I was back in Nebraska, a place where I've never lived but I've always thought of as home.

It doesn't take long to figure out that your not in California any more.  We entered Nebraska's capitol city through Gate 2 (there are only 2) and ease downstairs to Baggage Carousel 1 (you're starting to get the idea) where the kids grabbed our bags while I rented a car.  There are 4 car counters, 3 of which are manned by guys wearing Husker gear.  The 4th was the Avis desk where I spent 5 minutes doing paperwork and another 15 chatting about Saturday's big game and the weather.  Everyone in Nebraska has an opinion on exactly two things...  the Huskers and the weather.

As darkness fell Kendall and I were on the steps of the Nebraska Colosseum hoping to land the one prize that's harder to get than a football ticket... volleyball tickets.  That right, if you think it's hard to be one of 85,000 on a football Saturday, try being one of 4,500 to find a spot in the old brick field house that serves as the home of Lincoln's other rock stars.  Almost unbelievably we scored 2 general admission seats and a couple of singles which allowed the entire Kelly clan to crowd into a dark recess of the venerable old venue and peek between steel beams as the Huskers dispatched Kansas State in straight sets.

After a visit to Coldstone (you know Camryn has needs) and a leisurely walk, we were back at the Embassy Suites and our vacation had started in fine style.  Today it's off to Omaha to visit the zoo before an imposing weather front blows in from the West.  That's right, the same clouds are going to get us twice though the second battle will likely involve a bit of snow.

11/11 Back in the Big O

Today we woke to a beautiful Midwestern sky.  Nebraska is "fly over" territory and on a cold morning you can't even count the contrails, each one a plane heading East or West.  With a change for the worse in the forecast we set out for Omaha.

You wouldn't expect it but Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo is one of the nations finest.  Well I'm sure there are a lot of great zoo's (see, I can do it to).  We've made it a regular stop every year and there's always something new to see.  The crown jewel, or at least our favorite part, is Gorilla Valley where they have the country's largest collection of Silver Back Gorillas in one exhibit.  You wind your way through the glass enclosed hallway as the gorillas move freely to your left, right and even over you.

Now these guys are a lot of things and stupid isn't one of them.  Moment by moment they are aware of each others movements and from time to time a scrap breaks out.  On the other hand the one thing that they all agree on is that it's fun to suddenly slam the glass with a wicked bang just as some tourist leans in for a good look.  I'm telling you these guys have a real schtick and today business was good.  It's fun to watch them as they lull their prey to sleep and then BANG followed by screams and lots of laughter.

We ended up back in Lincoln at Lazlo's for dinner (one of our favorite haunts).  After dinner he girls had ice cream in the Haymarket (Camryn has needs), it started to rain and we called it a day.

11/13 It's Game Day at Nebraska

After Rain and snow on Friday we awoke to a picture perfect Autumn morning.  A deep blue sky and bright sunshine almost made you forget that the mercury only reached 31 that morning. After a big breakfast I spent the day souvenir shopping and passing time... college football should never be played at night !!!  The pregame show came on the radio at 1:00 pm (5 hours to go).  Our friends arrived at 3:00... time to layer up and head for the stadium. 

Three hours later we were in our seats, the band was on the field and the public address system proclaimed my favorite 12 words... "It's a football Saturday in Lincoln and There's No Place Like Nebraska".  Everyone came to their feet, the fight song rang out and just for a brief moment the world was perfect.

Every Nebraska home game is special but this one was different.  Turner Gill, a genuine Husker legend was returning home.  There were signs in the crowd and a special highlight package on the big screen that allowed us all to stand and salute the man who is now in charge at Kansas.  He was mobbed by photographers, hugged by coaches all while doing his best to stay out of the limelight.  As he ran onto the field he was wearing a blue Jayhawk jacket but all I saw was the guy who took my breath away when he wore an N on his helmet and number 12 on his chest..

Only 2-1/2 hours after the ball left the tee it was over.  The Huskers had won, I had eaten two Runza's, pictures were taken, hugs were exchanged and we headed off into the 27 degree Nebraska night.  Oh ya, we stopped at Coldstone (I'm telling you, Camryn has needs).

11/14 Headin' for Home

Get away day is always sad and the late fall landscape is always a perfect back drop for my mood.  We took the old Cornhusker Highway over to Omaha, trading Interstate for a winding path through Greenwood, Ashland, across the Platte River and past Gretna.  The crops were all in, the leaves were mostly gone and pockets of snow frosted the fields and hillsides.  As our plane started to climb my thoughts turned to making the transfer in Denver, getting back to the office and the upcoming holidays.  I also started the last part of my ritual... I started counting down the 51 weeks until we leave for Nebraska.

Nirvana for Hot Rodders requires a short trip to Las Vegas to visit the SEMA show in the gargantuan Las Vegas Convention Center.  The Convention Center has 2 million square feet of exhibition center space which is packed with every kind of automotive creativity and mayhem.  Just to walk the exhibit space takes two days!

The SEMA (Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Assoc.) show is the premier automotive specialty products trade show in the world. It draws the industry’s brightest minds and hottest products to one place. The SEMA Show attracts more than 100,000 industry leaders from more than 100 countries!  SEMA show 2010 drew more than 50,000 domestic and international buyers. As part of this event, SEMA and other automotive aftermarket trade groups make-up one of the single largest events on the Las Vegas calendar. This is a title formerly held by the now defunct COMDEX show .

Hot Hot Rod Alley is the place to see everything old and new in the Hot Rod Hemisphere.  Got a 2010 Camaro, Mustang or Challenger?  The manufacturer's were there along with the after market.  Every possible customization to upgrade your car was showcased there. If y ou love Hot Rods - Ya gotta go!  

   everything old and new in cars and hot rodding trends.  Wheth

Wow, this trip has gone by fast! I had intended to post something at the beginning of the trip (August 26th) but here I am on the eve of our return to Sacramento typing away.

We are here to move Daniel (our youngest) into his dorm at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He and his buddy Oliver drove out at the end of July and stayed at a very cool old house in Newport, Rhode Island. Heidi and I met up with them there and saw some of the famous Newport mansions - The Breakers, The Elms and Rosecliff. Heidi checked out the decor while I imagined what it must have been like to build them. While there, we visited Plimoth Plantation, (a very accurate representation of the settlement of the Mayflower passengers) and Plymouth Rock.

Our next stop was Amherst to start the move-in and scope out Daniel's new neighborhood. Last Thursday was the first night in the dorm and we spent Friday going to various parent orientations. Friday evening we had our (mildly traumatic) farewell. It's tough to let the last one go, especially 3000 miles from home.

That night, Heidi and I drove to Concord, Mass. for a good dose of American Revolution history and some time in the homes of some of the great authors of the 19th century - Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Alcott, etc.

Yesterday and today were spent near Hartford, Connecticut in a town that briefly housed George Washington toward the end of the revolutionary war.

Tomorrow we'll get on our Southwest flight home to our empty nest.

Heidi, Daniel and I are up here visiting family. I haven't been here since 1982 and I'd forgotten what a great place it is. Maybe we should open a branch office here. Clearly OSHA is not in Canada - this crazy "scaffolding" scheme is ubiquitous around the city.

We got to see where all of the Olympic stuff happened and we've just been hanging out enjoying the great weather. Yesterday we walked along the waterfront, checking out the yachts and seaplanes. Today we took a nice hike.

I bussed over to Nazca to see the weird shapes in the desert that have been there for 2000 years. The shapes are large, most are bigger than a football field and can only be seen by airplane to know what they are. The hundreds of  images include monkeys, whale, parrot, hummingbird,dog, possibly a space man,condor,spider etc.  A German woman Maria Reiche (1903-1998) spent nearly 60 years studying and protecting these lines. She theorized the figures were part of a calender and that some shapes were related to constellations.

After flying over the lines I was waiting for a bus and noticed a man who was bleeding a little from a cut on his arm. I offered him a napkin and we started talking. The guys name is David Johnson and it turns out he has been studying the Nazca lines and water in this desert area for 15 years. David has written a book about this. David's theory is that the figures represent where water is under the desert. He has traced many waterways in this area and is convinced this is the reason for these figures. David and I talked for 2 hours on the bus about this fascinating subject.

After Nazca I went to Ica which is a desert full of large sand dunes where i sand railed and sand boarded until I had sand in places i did not know existed.  The next morning I went to nearby Paracus and visited the Islas Ballestas which are beautiful islands full of birds, penguins and sea lions.  A wind storm came up in the afternoon and the whole sky was full of sand so I left early for Lima.

Mary Yshikawa who I met in Puno and lives in Lima is going to give me a tour of the city today. Mary sells and leases commercial real estate here in Lima.  Well I am off to my...  Love Bud