Today's Apocalypse Sign: A Bit Of Belize

It is hard to imagine I have been back from vacation just about a month and I have posted nothing about my trip. Or about much of anything at all. So I figured it was time I truly set aside my procrastination and get something down before you all left for better reading...and you still may do that :)

I want to share a few photos and a link to my shutterfly site for more pictures and videos from the amazing week in the Carribean far from real land. I will begin my story...

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We're Off...(please ignore my failure to turn the polarizer filter correctly)

Wait, that's not the beginning...

The early flight called for leaving home around 6:30AM. Leaving on Saturday always means light traffic. I of course, spent the entire time traveling to the airport (my wife drove) contemplating what I knew was something we had forgotten. This is something I cannot help doing because there is ALWAYS something forgotten, right? Funny, there WAS something forgotten and I have forgotten what it was! I could drive a therapist into therapy....

We arrived at the carpark and took the shuttle to the airport. Once arriving and entering the international terminal at DFW, we headed to the kiosks where you must check-in before you check your bags. This proved uneventful for my wife and I since she is skilled at working these babies, however, others there in our group were less fortunate.

The best underwater photographer of the group and his wife found the kiosk that would not accept their passports or somesuch and therefore would not issue them boarding passes. Of the four kiosks at any given time, 3 randomly were not working or were being stubborn. The tall lanky Nigerian fellow who was in charge of letting everyone know they had to check in using the kiosk before getting in line to check their bags...was little help. Our photo guy even got a little loud and irrate when the man did not immediately come to help him. The loud, "Hey!" that was uttered in the Nigerian's direction stopped sound for a moment as everyone looked. Still no help.

A couple others in our group (brothers) could only get one of their passports to work. A brother and sister going on the trip found out that when she canceled her flight from Lubbock to Dallas it also canceled her entire itinerary to Belize and back. She ended up having to book a whole new flight for a substantial rate and then worry about straightening it out with AA when she got back. My wife and I were in line to check bags and heard all the grumbling and bitching from everyone (in our group and strangers) trying to get their damn boarding passes. Finally, bags checked and we move on.

Now my wife has to smoke due to the trauma of the kiosks and the baggage line. She got an electronic cigarette for use on the plane but now she has to have the real thing. She goes outside and I head to the restroom. Once we rejoin, we move past the creepiest artsy thing I have ever seen. It is not the first time I have seen it but it is still creepy. Especially for an airport. Check it out...

Make these as big as you want...they only get creepier, the first picture really so

Hands. Hundreds of glass hands. It is from floor to ceiling. The first shot of the bluish and zombie-looking ones are nearest the floor. Somehow how my Rorschach Test - oriented brain immediately sees the images of hands lost by all the people in a plane crash. I told you...creepy. My wife cannot even look at it. Just saying, this is not a time or place to do acid.

The flight was uneventful...thankfully. The landing on the little strip of jungle runway, a little more interesting. Fortunately we had 3 groups of religous youth (complete with chaperons) on board headed to who knows what third-world experience awaited them. The Orange shirted group, the Blue and the Green. I could easily spot the first ones that would be eaten/slaughtered/disappeared if this were an island horror movie.

We disembarked out on the tarmac...nothing resembling a terminal here. Just a straight line building with 4 or 5 "gates". Walking down the rolling ladder with two carryon bags after sitting for 3 hours...interesting. At least we got inside and cleared customs BEFORE...

It started to pour down rain!!! The entire flight of people are standing out in the narrowly covered exterior of the airport. I did not take any photos as the blowing wind and rain was too risky to have the camera out. Finally the shuttle van showed up and took us and our luggage to the Radisson Hotel for a three hour wait before boarding the boat. Plenty of time for a burger and several Belikin ice cold beers!

My wife and our travel monkey

Drunky Monkey

And we could see this huge yacht while we ate and drank...our upocoming home for a week.

This was no SS Minnow...this is the magnificant Sun Dancer II, Belize. One hundred and thirty eight feet of luxury accomodations. Twenty people and eight crew set sail right after dinner for a 5 hour tour ride straight out from land...

The view back towards the Radisson as we pulled away from the dock

The story continues next time...