West End Day

Started our day at Half Moon with breakfast in drizzle turning to rain but that passed quickly and for most of the late morning and afternoon we had sunshine and heat. We walked the length of West End and saw that there were many changes to business along the Main Street, but the new concrete is sure nice to walk on.

View of the street improvements

 

View from Cafe Escondido(sp?)

We headed towards West Bay intending to have a peek at the house we will be renting. We were both under the impresion that we were the one on the far right when looking towards the water, but we later realized that we were looking at the wrong one. We ended up walking all the way to the far end of West Bay and then caught a water taxi back. We just happened to stop at our dock to pick two people up and they told us that ours was more likely to be the one near the middle that is set back a bit deeper than the others. On the next picture you can just see the peak of a blue roof in the trees which is likely ours.

 

Lunch at Cafe Escondido (above West End Divers) where we both had the specials, 2 chicken fajitas ($5) and a beer ($2.50). Tasty cheap lunch. Eileen's feet were killing her after the walk so the afternoon was spent on the beach chairs at Half Moon. Went for a snorkle but it was a bit rough and murky. Nothing much to see there.

Here is a shot of our cabin at Half Moon and the view from the deck chairs of the bay in front of us.

 

The photos are a bit of a trial. I've resized them down but I won't know until I hot publish just how they will turn out. I'd also like to wrap text but haven't figured that one out either.

Supper tonight was at a new place called Sunset Grill. We had a calamri appatizer, and then said we'd share the Island Treasure, which was a seafood platter. We'd read on trip advisor that it was enough for two. When he heard we would share he offered to increase the price $10, include two drinks, and oversize the serving. No brainer there since two drinks are probably $6-7 already. Really good food, followed with a serving of key lime pie for $58. Nice location too, for those who have been there it's between the church and the big condos on Half Moon Bay. Here's a picture of the view from our table:

Tomorrow we're going to go for breakfast at Cindy's, pick up some vege's from the trucks on the street, pack up, pop into the bakery and see if we can get bread, then head for the house. Not expecting anyone to meet us, just a key waiting for us. Check out the house, put some beer and wine in to chill, then head up to Coxen Hole for a grocery run.

 

 

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Painless Journey

That had to be the easiest trip we've ever made to Roatan. The US has really relaxed the security rules at airports, so there's no taking off shoes, no emptying pockets, no laptops out, no belts off, etc. The security lines just fly, not that it really mattered because there were never many in line. The morning shuttle from the hotel was much better, and because we had boarding passes and no checked luggage, we were basically through in five minutes, so much for being there two hours early. Immigration took a few minutes longer in Roatan, but still not bad. Spotted our luggage already on the other side of the scanner, the guy with the rental car had already plucked our bags off and had taken them through. I was half expecting them to be loaded in the trunk of the car when we got there, but bottom line was that they were there. Put our carry on through the scanner but noticed the guy watching was busy texting someone, so they flew through with no issues.....

Joseph was waiting for us but he had someone else there to do the car rental paperwork, which was a little unusual. Turns out someone put a rock through the radiator of our car, overheated the motor, and blew the engine. So he called someone, and they had another car for us. Something like a Hyundai Elentra or something like that. Pretty new and in really good shape. We ran up to Bulk Gourmet, had sandwiches in their new bistro (nice setup they have now), and picked up the case of wine that was pre-ordered. Another half mile up the road to the bulk beer depot for a crate of Port Royal. If I'm reading my receipt right it was 455 lempiras (about $23) for the beer and 73 lemps for the bottle deposit. Will not have to pay the deposit part next time. Another half mile up the road for gas, where they gave me 21 lempiras to the dollar, which is the best rate I've ever seen, it's usually 19 or 20 if you're lucky. Stopped at Eldons on the way back for some rum, which was 283 lemps for 1 litre of 4 year old Flor de Cana. That worked out to $16 or 17, with a couple of litres of coke, far better than the duty free in Houston. Glen, there is Amaretto available at both Eldons and Bulk Gourmet, both around $28 and I think that was a full litre too.

Passed Nanci and her crew near Sundowners while we were driving to Half Moon resort. Got our room, changed clothes, and met them for a few beer at Sundowners, then supper at the Thai place, which was enjoyed by everyone. Had a good fun time with them, they've been here about ten days and are full of funny stories, despite some rainy weather. Both Gerry and Nanci are scheduled for their first real dive tomorrow. Nanci has a little more confidence in her success than Gerry, but he's committed to give it a try.

Not sure what we're doing tomorrow, apart from walkingup the beach to see what our rental house really looks like. Might stop at Luna Beach for introductions at the dive shop, it's not the same one that Nanci et al are using, but for the convenience I'll probably stick with them.

Sorry, no day 1 pictures. Suitcases are strewn about and all the camera gear is buried in there. Will dig out the little point and shoot tomorrow. Big changes in West End with the concrete street. You can actually gawk around and look at things while you walk now instead of watching where your next step is going to go. Lots of changes to business names and locations, and several big new docks out in the water.

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Enroute

Somewhere over Montana enroute to Denver, departed Saskatoon about 15 minutes late. Better than all the Calgary people who got cancelled for bad weather in Calgary. Airport expansion is pretty nice in the new departure area. I think they're looking to finance it wirh beer sales, $15 for two beer. But I really had no use for those Canaadian dollars anyway.

This is our fourth or fifth time overnighting in Houston, and I think we've only stayed in the same hotel once, mainly because we never write down the name of the place, so this year we are staying in the Best Western International Airport. We'll find out how well their late night shuttle works.

Denver airport was a breeze. We were in row 5 on the plane so we got off quickly and there was nobody at Customs when we got there. Took a few minutes to get luggage and then a walk through Immigration. The baggage re-drop was right there too. We were in terminal A, the train station was close by so we were in terminal B in minutes. We had to go through security again but the lady at the entrance saw our boarding passes and for some reason sent us through a pre-screened line which also had nobody in it. We were at our gate in no time, probably with over an hour to spare. Even had time for a stroll through "the legend of the red horse" gift shop, but no money was exchange this year.

Well, we're trusting that our luggage is going to show up in Roatan, it has tags for RTB but from pasr experience I thought we'd still overnight with it, but there were no bags on the carousel. And I'd have to say that the Best Western Interntional Airport does not get any browniw points for their shuttle. It did eventually show up, but we'd seen some of the others twice by then.......

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