Sheep Canyon Hike/Bike

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I’ve been hiking in the desert for about 18 years now. I first followed routes from Schad’s “Afoot and Afield in San Diego County” and traveled with various friends from school or went out on my own. Some time ago I started hiking with Peter Thomas, who’s been my hiking partner now for about 14 years. Peter started planning trips by piecing together sections from guidebooks with sections that aren’t in any guidebooks, but looked like feasible routes from topo maps. Recently, we’ve been exploring a loop route from Sheep Canyon to Shingle Spring to Fig Tree Valley in the Anza Borrego Desert. This is a description of the trip this weekend.

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This was our fourth time to this particular area and route. The first time we came in from Anza to the north using bicycles and a trailer to get to the start of the loop. On that trip we had a lot of trouble with the bicycles and, especially, the trailer getting stuck in the sand. It was long and exhausting and it was dark by the time we came out on the second day. The second time we came in from the mountains to the west. A ranger there warned us that a coming storm would make the access road impassible, so we shortened our hike to a day hike, making it to the saddle at the top of Sheep Canyon. The third time we came in again from the mountains. That trip was also long, and we ended up having to navigate our way out in the dark.

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This trip was a reprise of the first trip using bikes to get the the trailhead but I was using a Surly Pugsley instead. The Pugsley has 4-inch diameter tires which allows it to travel through soft sand. The plan was for Peter to ride in Thursday night from the south, for me to head in Friday morning from the north, and we’d meet at Middle Willows. On Friday morning I drove to the top of Turkey Track in Anza and the end of a rocky dirt road. The forecast was for a storm to come in the next two days and deposit 1-3 inches of snow the first day and 3-5 the second. I was a little worried about the road getting muddy, but I guessed I could drive out after the storm. I parked and headed in to Coyote Canyon on the bike.

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I didn’t set up the bike until the night before when I realized my rack wouldn’t fit over the tires, so I just rode wearing my pack. The Pugsley was great. It seemed made for this. I rode on jeep trails and through rocky washes all the way to Bailey’s Cabin in Fig Tree Valley without ever having to walk the bike. I did take one fall over the handlebars with a firm thud to my helmet (thank you, helmet), but otherwise it went smoothly.

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The next section of the canyon from Upper Willow to Middle Willows, two sections of dense vegetation, is an important desert bighorn sheep habitat and is closed to motor vehicles, so it was rougher going. I started down a wrong route in Upper Willows, got stuck, backed out, and found a route around the Willows. This was rocky and harder to navigate. I passed a monument to Juan Anza de Batista which seems to be in the middle of nowhere. I came to the Middle Willows which has a narrow path right through it. I started on the path, lost it, and got stuck. If I were on foot I could have pushed through the brush to pick up the path but not with the bike. I put the bike down and searched on foot for the path. After finding it I pushed the bike through to that path and followed it the rest of the way out. I came out the other side where Peter was waiting having come up from the south the day before.

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We filtered water there and headed over to Sheep Canyon on the bikes. We stowed the bikes at the head of the canyon and started hiking. Sheep Canyon has an annual stream in the upper reaches, but there was no water at the bottom. This is the case with all the streams in the desert. They start in the mountains, fed by a spring, run down a canyon, and then stop, usually before reaching the valley, absorbed back into the ground. It always seems odd to me for a stream to have two endpoints. Somehow I think they should be a line with only one dry endpoint. Although we were fairly sure we’d find water eventually in the upper reaches of the canyon, we couldn’t camp without it, so we decided we follow the stream bed for an hour, and, if we didn’t have water by then, re-assess. We did find water shortly.

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Traversing the canyon is slow going and involves a fair amount of scrambling over boulders and pushing through brush. The number of people who traverse these routes is small and drops off quickly the farther in you get. We typically don’t see anyone in the mountains on our trips (we didn’t this time). So even when there is a known route, there is no trail. Or, at least not a hiking trail like you typically imagine or see — a clear path with markings. Here and there you can find and follow thin signs of a trail. In some places it’s clear, but it inevitably disappears. It gets grown over, washed out, or breaks into separate routes. Following these spare trails is always an little emotional roller-coaster. There’s a high when you’ve found it and are following it and a let down when you lose it. When we lose it we usually push through and try to pick it up again. Sometimes the the trail will lead you around an impassible section in the canyon, like a drop-off or very dense brush, so it’s important to stay on it. We’ve gotten better over the years at following the trail, at picking up little signs of it, and being able to predict what routes they tend to follow. We take turns leading as it takes more effort to stay on the route and sometimes one or the other is doing better at it.

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We made it to the lower reaches of a wide bowl near the top of the canyon and made camp. Somewhat coincidentally we found the same spot from a previous trip: a nice, flat, sandy spot near the stream. It was getting dark and cold as we set up the tents. We filtered more water, made dinner, and got to sleep. Nights are often long for me when hiking as we go to bed when it gets dark. I’ll sometimes get a lot of reading done (this time I picked up a book from our little library on the way out, which, so far, is pretty good). This time I slept pretty well and only woke a few times. It was a windy night and sand was blowing in under my rain fly and through the mesh tent. When I was reading I could feel the pages get gritty from the sand. Our tent pegs were set in the sand and not too firmly. I woke once to reset one when it blew loose letting the tent flap loudly in the wind.

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We try to pick sites that are close to water, are out of the wind, have enough space to pitch tents, and receive the morning sun, so as to warm us when we get up. But the choices are often restricted. This site didn’t receive morning sun, so it was cold when we got up. We tidied up, left our packs and tents, and headed up the canyon. We had had difficultly on previous trips finding the best route out of the top of the canyon, which involves some difficult climbing up steep, rocky slopes. Although we weren’t heading out that way this time, we wanted to scout out routes. We had a trail description from a book by Lindsey, but it was a little cryptic in this section. Even standing looking at the hills we weren’t quite certain of the right route. We settled on one that looked like the best candidate which we’ll try another time.

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In the desert your view is seldom obscured by trees or foliage which allows you to pick out routes visually as you go along. Also, because the foliage is seldom dense at high elevations (away from water), if the slope of the terrain on a topo map is moderate, you can be relatively certain that you can traverse it. We use this to choose paths in unknown areas. However, you often have to choose an approach along a certain ridge line or canyon. As the ridges separate, if you weren’t careful in selecting your route, you can find yourself in an impassible section, on a ridge that has a sudden, steep drop off, or facing a cliff.

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We bring a GPS on these trips but, since we’re not following a marked route, the GPS can only resolve where we are, not where we should be. We also bring a SPOT device. This can send a message at pretty much any location to a satellite, and we use it to send tracks of our route. It also allow you to send a call for help if need be. I started carrying it a few years ago after my third heart attack and after the boys were born. I also bring on every trip a small vial of nitroglycerin as well as extras of my heart meds. in case I have heart problems. I think the risk of having a heart attack on a trip is very small (it’s been 11 years since my last heart attack), but it’s always in the back of my mind when I’m in remote locations and far from medical help. In theory, if I had an attack, we could call for help with the SPOT and I can take a bunch of nitro., although I don’t know if extraction is possible in some canyons.

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After finding what we thought was the right route out, we headed back to our camp, packed up, and started out down the canyon. These spring-fed desert canyons are simply beautiful. Around every corner is another striking spot essentially untouched by humans. There’s a stark contrast between the steep canyon walls with roughly hewn rocks, studded with agave and dry desert plants, and the canyon bottom, thick with palms, mesquite, catclaw, and water-loving brush. The boulders on the bottom of the canyon are typically larger, and smooth, carved by the water. In many spots the water carves out clear grooves and divots in the rock.

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It often reminds me of the garden at the Getty museum in L.A. There’s a small man-made stream there that trickles down the hill making different sounds as it moves over varied surfaces. The streams here are what I imagine those man-made streams are emulating, and they’re much more compelling in their natural form. In every corner they create a new little picture, a new set of sounds.

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We always see some wildlife on the way although of course it’s relatively sparse. In the canyons, we always see birds and usually some frogs. We occasionally see snakes, probably one every trip, or every other trip. This time I stepped near a boulder, heard a rattle, and jumped aside. I never did see the snake. It’s unusual to be rattled at. It’s happened only about four times to me.

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After a few hours of descending (always harder than ascending) we came out at the mouth of the canyon. As much as I love climbing in the mountains, I always have a feeling of relief on coming out. Route finding on the desert floor is relatively easy, and you’re not required to be constantly watching your footing. We picked up our bikes (my rear tire had a slow leak, so I pumped it up a bit) and headed out. On the way we passed a set of three four-wheel-drive vehicles heading in, and a lone hiker, also headed to Sheep Canyon. He gave Peter’s bike rig a thumbs up. Strapped to his pack was a small solar panel, which Peter asked about. It was a kit, and incorporated bamboo, which seemed to me to be the selling point for the hiker, who also sported a pair of bamboo hiking poles. He used it to charge his smart phone. He relayed the story of the maker, a young retired Silicon Valley millionaire, who, after making his millions, dropped out and started pursuing pet projects like this solar panel. We all nodded in agreement on the wiseness of this decision.

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We rode the rest of the way out, carrying our bikes over three stream crossings. We finally came to Peter’s car, strapped our bikes to his rack and drove to Anza. The plan originally was for us to split up at Sheep Canyon and for me to head back North and come up via Turkey Track, but I decided it better not to travel alone, especially in such a remote area. It took longer than I anticipated for us to drive around to Anza. Peter couldn’t drive me all the way to my car, which was out on the end of a rocky dirt road. So he dropped me off and I got on my bike to ride the last section. I rode in a short way and ditched my pack on the side of the road, taking just my headlamp and car keys (double checked), so I could travel faster. The sun had just set and it was getting dark and cold.

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At the end of a long trip there’s always a little pleasure in finally coming back to your car. And if you ever want to bond with your car, there’s no better way than to have it start up for you when you’re exhausted, all alone, in a cold dark remote location. It did start (I immediately forgave it any past offenses) and I drove out, stopping to pick up my pack. The storm had never materialized so I didn’t have to test my guess that I could still drive out if the road turned muddy.

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Through Anza and part of the way back to Temecula I could only get AM talk radio and spanish FM. I listened to AM talk hosts lament the results of the election (“I’m telling Boehner-not one more dime of my tax dollars”) and discuss the minutia of college football.

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Peter and I took a lot more photos. You can see a slideshow of them here.

Girls Trip to Washington

Last weekend some friends (Jerri, Carroll and Laura) and I took a trip up to Washington State for a fun girls weekend. I’d never been there before and it was great from a scenery standpoint alone. It was actually Fall there!

It's Fall!

We flew into Seattle, had breakfast here …

Biscuit Bitch

… and then headed west. We stopped at this place called the Olympic Game Farm, which houses animals who used to be in the old Disney shows. (Although I believe all of these animals are actually the offspring of the orignal animals.) It was the best side trip! It’s basically a drive-through zoo and you can buy bread to feed the animals along the way. There were lots of small animals at the beginning — bunnies, peacocks and peahens, chickens, prairie dogs!

Prairie dog

Then we came to the llama and zebra area. Houston, we have a problem.

Llamas

Eek!

Llamas

Needless to say, there was lots of screaming and many tears of laughter during the 10 minutes it took us to coerce the llamas to get out of the way. Seriously, they were up close and personal!

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Finally, we nudged them away (with the car horn) and were able to move on. On to the bison in the road, that is.

Bison

And finally, the payoff — the cutest bears ever!

Bear

Bear

Bear

I have video!

After that excursion, we got back on the road. After a bit, we stopped for a hike. Again, the scenery was beautiful.

Forest

Beautiful scenery

Our destination was this waterfall.

Waterfall

Here we all are — it’s a blurry photo, but you get the idea.

Girlies

We rented a house and had a nice relaxing time — lots of uninterrupted sleep, popcorn, a movie, quiet. Perfect. The next day we took an excursion out to La Push beach. These giant trees washed up on shore were amazing.

La Push beach

It’s always hard to capture the scope of landscapes. I tried with a panoramic photo on my iPhone.

La Push beach

After one more night of peace and quiet, we headed back home on Sunday. Our ferry ride had an unexpected escort — the Coast Guard. They assured us it was routine, but it was still kind of freaky.

Ferry escort

On the long drive back, I was struck by the trees rushing by, so I took a video.

All in all, a great weekend getaway with the girls!

UPDATE: Here’s a picture of me that Carroll took. Always rare, the photo of myself that I don’t hate.

me

Home

The flights home were relatively uneventful with no [further] delays. We were able to get Bruce onto our flight from DFW to LAX so that we could travel together. Although we weren’t sitting together so it didn’t really make that much difference.

It never ceases to amaze me how interested the boys are in the safety cards on the planes.

Safety first

One good thing about all the delays? It meant we flew into LA at night which is always a treat. Too bad I never get the window seat to take a proper picture.

Landing in LA at night

Home sweet home.

Cahal Pech

With our rescheduled flight now rerouted through Dallas and leaving at 3:30 instead of 11:30, we had time enough for a Sunday outing. We asked John for suggestions and he thought a trip to the smaller Mayan ruins site of Cahal Pech would be a good fit. He was right.

So at 8:00 we checked out of The Great House and he picked us up for another trip along the Western Highway, this time past the zoo and Amigos, about an hour and a half out. The site was apparently a marketplace and had a different feel than the other sites we’ve visited. It was much smaller and nearly empty of visitors. There was a small visitors center with information about the site and displays of artifacts.

Visitors center

Mayans were short

Mayan Chocolate pot

They also had a mural of what the site might have looked like when it was thriving. The main marketplace and houses of the wealthy people in the center with others living on the outskirts.

Mural

Mural

Then we went to see the ruins.

Heading in

Ruins

John said they think this was the main entryway to the plaza area.

Entryway

The arches were very interesting.

Arch

There were no grand “El Castillo” ruins to climb at this one, but rather a collection of smaller structures that were living areas. Here’s someone’s house.

Someone's house

And this was probably some type of meeting room for dignitaries. The green on the walls is one of the kinds of paint they used.

Ezra and Bruce look behind the doorway

The structures were kind of maze-like and we climbed all over. The kids loved it.

Going down

Ezra having fun

Ezra up high

John said this building was probably a sauna.

Sauna

Some of the areas had been recently cleared.

Running through the ruins

In fact they were doing some excavating while we were there.

Doing some excavation

After a full walk-through in 90+ degree heat, we were ready for a break.

Tired boys

So we headed down the road to the San Ignacio Resort Hotel for lunch, where fun ensued.

Spoon trick

Spoon trick

On the drive back, all the Moision boys fell asleep. I thought I would too, since I hadn’t slept well the night before due to the freakish lightning, thunder, and pouring rain we had, but, alas, no.

Sleepy Finn

Sleepy Ezra

Sleepy Papa

Pretty soon we were at the airport, saying goodbye to John, and awaiting our flight home.

The Belize Zoo

John, our same guide from last year, picked us up at Municipal Airport and we headed out of Belize City, along the Western Highway, to the zoo. We stopped for lunch first at Amigos where we saw a very cool Basilisk Lizard.

Basilisk Lizard at Amigos

We had a nice lunch and enjoyed the scenery. Finn had fallen asleep in the van on the way, so he was a little grumpy to start.

Finn and his Fanta at Amigos

Ezra at Amigos

Then we headed down the road to the zoo. Calling the Belize Zoo a zoo is kind of a misnomer as it’s really more of a sanctuary. All of the animals are a) native to Belize and b) either rescued, abandoned, orphaned, injured, etc. We knew we wanted to go back this year because we had such a great time there last year. And this year they have a new rare black jaguar that they rescued from an abandoned resort about a month ago. His name is Lucky Boy and it’s quite fitting — he was in terrible shape when they found him but he’s recovering nicely. We couldn’t wait to see him!

But first, the usual roundup of their animals. Here are some favorites.

White Tailed Deer.

White Tail Deer

The boys fed these guys through the fence.

Feeding the deer

Spider Monkey.

Spider monkey

Tapir.

Tapir

Turtle.

Turtle!

I don’t remember what this bird is called but he’s pretty cool looking.

Some cool looking bird

Blue Crown Mot-Mot. I just like the name.

Blue Crown Mot-Mot

Ornate Hawk Eagle.

Ornate Hawk Eagle

The boys really enjoyed seeing the Neotropical River Otter play around in his enclosure. He sort of looked like a fish when he was in the water, but would pop out and interact with the visitors. He’s quite social. Here he is swimming on his back.

Neotropical River Otter

And checking out Ezra.

Ezra loved the river otter

It was very hot that day — probably low 90s — and all of the cats were trying to stay cool by lounging in shady areas. It doesn’t make for the best photography, but I tried.

Ocelot.

Ocelot lounging

Puma.

Puma lounging

Margay. He was up in a tree.

Margay lounging

Jaguar. I just couldn’t get a good shot but was happy they were there this year as last year the staff was working on their enclosure and the big cats were gone.

Jaguar lounging

The Scarlet Macaws, so striking, were a big hit again this year. They came right over when John offered them some of Finn’s leftovers from lunch.

John feeds the birds

Scarlet Macaws

Scarlet Macaws

The Jabiru Stork.

Jabiru Stork

He’s huge and they have a cutout of his wingspan so the kids could see how they measure up.

Measuring up

Measuring up

Harpy Eagle.

Harpy Eagle

And, of course, the Crocs.

Crocs in the pond

Croc

After the rounds of the regular part of the zoo, we asked if it was possible to see Lucky Boy. He’s recovering in an enclosure in the back, while he gets used to being around people. For a meer $10 US total (which goes to his food and care) the four of us were escorted to the way back and got to spend some time watching Lucky Boy and getting information from a very nice member of the zoo staff. The cat is amazing — enormous, powerful, and gorgeous.

Lucky Boy

Lucky Boy

After that it was snake time. Ezra had been talking non-stop about getting to hold the boa constrictor again and he finally got his wish.

What Ezra was waiting for

Finn was a little more brave this year as well — he held the tail.

Snake!

I think Ezra would have stayed here forever.

Ezra's zen

But finally he passed the snake to Bruce.

Bruce's turn

Closeup of the snake

And then we were done. We hopped back in John’s van and he took us to The Great House — our hotel for the night.  We considered John’s very nice invitation to join his wife and daughter for bowling later that evening, but we were all just too exhausted. And, we found out that evening that our flight through Miami had been canceled altogether and we’d been rerouted on a later flight through Dallas. So, we hired John to take us on another excursion the next day. We definitely needed to get some rest!

Goodbye, Ambergris Caye

Because we missed our planned excursion to the mainland earlier in the trip due to the vomitorium situation, we decided to leave the island a couple of days early to spend the weekend on the mainland before flying home Monday. (Of course, those plans also got changed when we moved our flight to Sunday due to the impending tropical storm Isaac set to hit Florida. But more on that later.)

Saturday morning came around and we headed out. On the way to the dock, Finn found this teeny, tiny crab.

Tiny crab!

We had gotten a drenching of rain earlier in the morning, but by 9:30 when we left, the water was like glass and the skies were beautiful.

Perfectly still morning

Leaving Los Encantos

We said goodbye to Jamma and climbed aboard our Coastal Express taxi for our last boat ride.

Last boat ride

Once at the airport in San Pedro, we took advantage of their super fast wifi and enjoyed the air conditioning while waiting for the plane. The boys found a stingray hidden in the sand in their aquarium.

Stingray hidden in the sand

Finally, we boarded our 11:00 flight to Municipal Airport in Belize City. We got to sit right up front on the little plane.

Finn and Papa Sitting up front

I took a few pictures out the windows. The stillness of the day made for a spectacular view.

Goodbye, San Pedro

View from the plane

View from the plane

Goodbye, island! We’ll miss you!

Last Day on the Island

Friday was our last day on the island before heading to the mainland on Saturday. The kids seemed to be on the mend, but Bruce was still suffering so we had a mellow day. We were heading down for bedtime when Finn discovered a tiny gecko on the floor. There quite a few of these in the house — we’ve all had a good startle when opening a cupboard to grab the salt only to see one of these guys scurry away — but this was the smallest one we’d ever come across.

Tiny gecko in the house!

Of course, Bruce tried to catch it.

Catching the tiny gecko

Papa catches the gecko

And he did! Then he gave it to Finn.

Finn holds the tiny gecko

Finn holds the tiny gecko

Finn then took it over to the screen porch to release it.

Releasing the baby gecko

On another note, Sergio made these adorable monkeys out of coconuts for the boys. Aren’t they cute?!?

Coconut monkeys from Sergio

Sleeping Tent

Ezra is a big fan of small spaces (forts, tents, under the bed, etc.) for sleeping. Luckily, Jamma is a willing and able tent maker. Here’s where Ezra slept the last few nights we were at the house.

Ezra's tent in Jamma's bed

His little corner of the world.

Ezra's hideaway

Blurry, but sweet.

Ezra's sleeping tent

Sunrise

We’ve had one luxury on this trip that hasn’t happened before: the boys have been sleeping in. Well, relatively speaking at least. During the other two trips, the boys woke up each morning some time between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. as the sunlight streamed into our bedrooms. This year, they’ve slept each morning until between 7:00 and 8:00, probably later once or twice. The only downside is that we’ve missed the beautiful sunrise and the morning walks on the dock to search for sea creatures.

This morning, our next to last on the island, I couldn’t sleep so I decided to get up around 5:00 to take in the sunrise (and take some photos, of course). It was beautiful. The sky was just beginning to show some color when I walked out.

Just before sunrise

Pretty soon the sun started to make its way up over the horizon.

Sunrise

Sunrise

Sunrise with bird in flight

While I was out there, I saw a ray in the water. He hung around for quite a while.

Good morning, Mr. Ray

I saw the Coastal Express water taxi out on its first run of the day.

Coastal's early run in the distance

And then took this final shot of our dock after walking back to the beach.

Our dock at sunrise

After almost four weeks I am ready to be home and get on with the business of getting the kids back to school. But I continue to be stunned by the beauty of this place and will miss it.

Frog on the Window

The other night Bruce, Finn, and I were sitting upstairs when I noticed a frog on the window — not something you see everyday. I took a picture from the inside of the house.

Frog!

Bruce then urged me to go outside to take the photo, but for some reason the little guy kind of creeped me out and I didn’t want to go outside. Bruce then reluctantly grabbed the camera and went outside. He got this shot.

Frog on the window!

The lens keeps fogging up because it’s particularly humid lately.

My trepidation turned out to be legitimate — right after Bruce took the picture, the frog jumped from the window onto his pants! He tried to take a picture of that but between his own surprise and the camera’s zoom settings nothing came out right. Needless to say, Finn totally loved this whole process.

Another One Bites the Dust

Poor Bruce. Let’s hope it’s no worse than the 24-hour version the boys had.

Thank goodness Mata Grande carries Gatorade and Fanta’s Ginger Ale.

Sicky drinks

Vomitorium by the Sea

Well, it took us three trips and nine weeks but finally someone got sick in Belize. And boy is it a doozy! It started in the middle of the night last night with Ezra throwing up … unfortunately he was sleeping with Jamma so she got the joy of the aftermath. He made it through the rest of the night OK and woke up hungry. He seemed all right, ate a couple of Rachel’s fryjacks, and agreed to go on our previously-scheduled snorkeling trip. But clearly he wasn’t feeling so hot.

Not feeling so hot

At the first stop (Tranquility Bay), he stayed in the boat with his book (Comet in Moominland) while Bruce, Finn, and I, along with our guide, Roberto, snorkeled. Here’s Roberto.

Our guide, Roberto

Finn’s not a huge fan of the snorkel, instead he prefers to use his regular swim goggles and flippers. Roberto towed him around in a ring while he kicked — it was a great setup. The current was strong so we didn’t stay out too long, which is good because I didn’t like leaving Ezra in the boat one bit.

When we got back to the boat and headed to the next stop (Mexico Rocks) he perked up a bit but still wasn’t his usual self.

Boys on a boat

This time he wanted to go in the water and luckily the waters were much calmer. Bruce went with Ezra and I stayed with Finn and Roberto and we saw tons of fish, lots of colorful sea life, and a nurse shark lurking in the coral formations. Finn was thrilled to see the shark.

The setting was really quite lovely.

Beautiful

At the third stop, neither boy wanted to go in so I stayed in the boat with them. Ezra got sick again (luckily over the side of the boat) and then perked up quite a bit … momentarily at least.

Ezra

Finn still seemed OK; he was just tired from lots of snorkeling at the previous two stops.

Finn

Once we were back at the house, things got steadily worse. At least for Finn … and the cleanup crew. Poor baby can’t seem to hold anything down right now, although luckily his spirits are fine. He fell asleep on the patio upstairs.

Rough day

And took a long nap once I’d moved him into a more comfortable position.

Sleeping Finn

Ezra slept, too, which is nearly unheard of these days.

Sleeping Ezra

Finn’s gotten pretty good at aiming for the giant pot.

A boy and his pot

We’re currently trying to get some fluid into them and hoping the worst is over.

Cyclists

Bruce and Ezra rented bikes yesterday and spent a good amount of the day cycling around the island. Finn had a prime spot to relax and enjoy the scenery.

Getting ready to ride

Ezra really liked the bike. I think it’s time for him to get a bigger bike at home.

Ezra on the mini cruiser

Finn likes to ride in the basket

At the Pool

Some recent developments at the pool:

Finn has learned how to do a handstand.

(Sorry about the foggy lens — it’s the humidity.)

A little hermit crab wandered up to the pool area, much to the delight of two little boys.

Hermie the Hermit Crab

Hermie

After much oohing, aahing, and giggling, Ezra took him back down to the beach.

Foodie Sunday

We had a couple of very good meals on Sunday. The first was courtesy of Bruce: his annual cinnamon french toast and sausage.

Breakfast a la Bruce

For dinner we walked up to Mambo.

At Mambo

Finn made sure I salted and peppered the olive oil before he ate his bread.

Finn enjoys bread

I love the way they use shells to hold the salt and pepper on the table.

Shells for salt and pepper

Janice and I had lobster.

Lobster

Desserts were flowing as well. The boys had coconut ice cream, Janice had key lime pie, and Bruce and I had chocolate souffle with macadamia nut ice cream. Wow.

Chocolate Souffle