Condolences

Condolences

Farewell Elayne...

In Loving Memory Of

ELAYNE RAY

Born
November 29, 1943
Phoenix, Arizona

Passed
June 14, 2007
Phoenix, Arizona


AFTER GLOW
I'd like the memory of me to be a happy one.
I'd like to leave an after glow of smiles when life is done.

I'd like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways,
Of happy times and laughing time and bright and sunny days.

I'd like the tears of those who grieve, to dry before the sun
Of happy memories that I leave when life is done.

Together Weather

That's what they call today's weather in Belize - raining, cloudy, lightening and thunder - together weather. The locals say that on days like today, you spend the day in with your lover and make babies... (or practice) LOL Hey, they said it, not me! ;)

We made it! It was a long trip and we went from a First Class flight to Business Class to NO class to BOAT class. Sven joked that we'd be taking mules next... LOL. The airplane we took from Belize City to Ambergris Caye had 13 passengers and one of those passengers was sitting co-pilot. If you know me at all - you know I was freaking out AND I didn't have enough warning to even attempt a Valium. ;)

Belize is humid, lush and very pretty. The rain forest is expansive, the sand soft and almost white and the water is a beautiful azure blue. Right behind our resort is an inland marsh with crocodiles!

We haven't taken that many pictures. Just got started on June 1 and only thought of it since it was our TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY! :) My man is so cute, he got a card all the way to Belize without me finding it! AND I had been giving him a hard time the night before we left since he had glitter all over his face. I accused him of going to booby bars and it turns out, my card was just really really glittery like a stripper... LOL

Belize is amazing so far, I'm soaking up some nice tan down here - pretty much looking like a native. I got to pet the belly of a nurse shark today... the Dive Master must have had 8 to 10 swarming all around us and then he'd scoop one up, turn it over and let us scratch it's belly. I'm certain it was more enjoyable for us than for the shark! I believe Sven may have tried to feed me to the shark but the Dive Master was having none of that. ;) We also got to see huge Groupers - like 3.5 feet (then again everything looks bigger underwater)! There are iguanas all over the resort - plenty of mosquitoes, too. I am officially the flavor of the week at the Mosquito Buffet! :) On our surface interval we went to the city of San Pedro and saw some young boys with a small crocodile. So, I also got to pet the belly of a croc!

We got to do a swim through - it was 30 ft of pitch black, tiny hole - worried about getting my tank caught on the rock and saw a half eaten spiny lobster... Swim throughs that small are Not my favorite, but I made it. At the end I got to see a huge LIVE spiny lobster and some more nurse sharks.

So - I have seen nurse sharks on almost every dive and I'm almost over my shark spotting obsession. OH! I forgot to tell you, I was bitten by a Remora fish!! He had been on the belly of a large sea turtle, thought I looked more appealing and tried to latch on. He left a nice hickey right on top of my knee. He got Sven too, worse than me. That fish was bound and determine to find a predator to tag along with!

Anyway - I do have to tell you that my self-confidence is sky-rocketing here, so be prepared for my new "diva" status... I told Sven that if one more person asks me, "Are you a model" that I am staying here FOREVER and EVER regardless of the 100% humidity! Seriously, men and WOMEN are asking me if I am a model - of course I say, "YES!" !! Hey, I was on the cover and centerfold of a magazine - once. LOL

I believe I may be a bit burnt today, so no more sun - plus we're getting rained out. I'm going back to the room for a nap, some reading and to enjoy this together weather...

Third Day Diving In Belize

With a big group today - not like yesterday when we were the only divers.

Dove Renegade this morning. Pretty uneventful... Well, VERY uneventful. No cool fish (that I spotted) mostly just under water for 40 minutes or so. There was a swim through at the beginning and *wow* ;)

Second dive (didn't catch the location) we lost one of the divers - he didn't follow the line down and was "lost" so we stayed at the line for 15 minutes waiting for "Phil" to be "phound"... LOL -- He was on the boat - didn't go down with the group, became disoriented and went back up.

I spotted a huge Stone Fish with my eagle eyes, but only AFTER Sven had already headed to the surface. I got to show my "stand-in" dive partner and the Dive Master, Matt. He pointed it out to everyone else and gave me the High-Five for spotting it.

Second Day Diving In Belize

Our first dive was Sandy Point just Sven, me and the Dive Master. We saw two big sea turtles. Also got to see some Eagle Rays - three! :) The second turtle had a Remora fish that decided we were better to remove parasites from than the turtle. At first I thought he was cute, like a puppy - that's their demeanor, then - he bit me on the knee! OUCH -- Not to worry though, Sven and the Dive Master both got bitten as well. The Remora turned out to be quite a pest and we spent most of the dive fighting him off instead of paying attention to the surrounding life.

Our second dive we picked up some more divers and headed to Esmerelda. Once there, Matt used some chum to call in 10 nurse sharks. He caught one, turned it over and let us all pet it's belly. SO COOL! Then the Groupers smelled the bait and started coming around, too. There was one almost as big as me! The rest of the dive was pretty uneventful - saw a sea turtle - at least I wasn't bitten by the Nurse Shark or Remora! :)