Summer 2009 Road Trip

Summer 2009: Maria, Boni, and Melissa headed off to their Spain "Camino" Trek while Niki and I headed off to our Kansas Trek.

Do you know any of these friends?

Our summer trip started with the U-Haul move on June 19, 2009. Tally shows us Forks - origins of the "Twilight" Series.

Kyle lectures Niki on the origin of La Push beach rocks.
Russ & Coco's tribe at their new home in Kennewick.
Sister Mary Ann's patio in Spokane, WA.
Fr. Joe Pat, Niki, & I in Missoula.
Fr. Beloy, Brigs, & Filipino friends - Canada Day in Cranbrook, B.C.
Manuel, Deb, Carla, & Eliana in The Bear Tooth Mountains.
Keith & Marion - die hard Iowa Democrats!
Dan, Vicki & Alia - How long ago was Kansas State?
Dana (another Peace Corp Buddy) & Katy in Omaha, NB.
Brooks - you are still my Topeka contact.
Louise - still making cookies for Niki!
Bill - all that Peace Center work is wearing on you.
Fr. Mike, is that new church built yet?
Niki practicing!

Gene & Bebe - I'm ready to go back to Mayon Volcano with you!

Yes, its breakfast time at Union Stations.

Niki wants to be part of "Brown vs Board of Education."

Al giving some brotherly advice.

Another gourmet dinner at Dean & Mary's.

Ricardo (classmates from St. Frances Minor Seminary) & Mary Ann.

Eileen, Duane, & Fr. Frank (H.S. Buddy).

Sr. Carmela at the Cathedral in Salina.

Stan, Levi, Seth, Quin, & Chanelle.

Ron, Linda, Andy in Osborne.

I still look like a student at St. Thomas Seminary?

Carrie, Elliot, & David live a few blocks from my former (30 years former) address in Denver.

How many years since the seminary, Fr. Len?

Jim & Barbara - our Peace Corp friends from our 1989-1994 Belize life.

The Arrival

We finally made it to Punta Gorda! We arived at the last week of August and boy it was hot. From June to late August is the hottest season in Belize. Tropic air is the airline we came on to get to Punta Gorda, the trip over was beautiful looking out the window and looking at continous jungle and river deltas eventually leading to the Carib Sea. When we landed in Punta Gorda at night fall we went to the house we would be staying at for our stay there. The next morning stepping out of the house we realized the house had a great ocean view looking east until you could see the tint image of Guatemala. We took a small tour of PG to find that it was very small. Only two paved roads in the whole town with a broken clock tower in the middle of the town square. Later we went out to check out the clinic.

Getting There

On August 20 we will be starting our adventure in Punta Gorda, Belize. This town of about 5,000 is the southern most part of Belize. It takes about 80 minutes from the Belize airport by Maya Airlines in a 10 seater prop plane. If you want to save a bit of money, you can take the bus and get there in about 4-5 hours if all the bridges stay intact. Most of the roads have now been paved from Belize City to PG, so things have improved since we last visited there in 1993. It used to take anywhere from 10 hours to days to get there in the old days. We think that 12+ years at the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic in Toppenish, Wa. will have prepared us for our adventure.

Where is Belize again?

A closer look at Belize, itself. You'll find Punta Gorda in the far south of the country.

Hello to friends and family. We’re on the move.

Our family is flying to Belize Aug. 20, 2009 via Seattle, Dallas, Belize City and Punta Gorda. Its a 12 hour trip if all goes as scheduled, which is not too bad considering it is a relatively remote spot on the map.

Nicteha will be starting 3rd year high school at Toledo Community College, which is one of the largest high schools in southern Belize. The school system is modeled after the the British system, so will be a change just because of that. Fortunately, classes are in English, even though English is not the street language for most. We hope that Niki can continue her guitar lessons and maybe find a place to continue tennis. If not, she may be able to fall back to art and reading which she also enjoys. Niki is our Belizean connection, since she was born there and was adopted when only 3 days old.

Maria and Dan are both Family Nurse Practitioners with some 13 years experience, mostly in the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic in Toppenish, Wa. Thanks to the providers and staff there for all that we know. Maria just returned from the St. James Pilgrimage in northern Spain, walking some 250 miles in 15 days. She enjoys traveling, reading, cooking, and an avid movie critic. Dan enjoys a good home brew, ethnic foods, reading and an ocassional round of golf. Both like community and church activities and work. Maria is originally from a village in the Philippines and Dan from a Kansas farm community.

We appreciate the family and friends who have hosted our nearly coast to coast tour. We’ll be posting some highlight photos from our travels very soon.