On Thursday Sharon had to go to work We went to the beach and sat there for awhile. We saw the resort at the end of the road that had an infinity pool that was available to all the neighbours. The view was unbelievable. We sat there with our feet in the pool enjoying the view. After dinner we went to meet Sharon's good friends and neighbour Margie and Tim. They are originally from South Africa, but now live in England 6 months and Roatan 6 months. We had a lot of good times with them.
On Friday we went for a swim in Margie and Tim's pool. Very refreshing. It was quite warm while we were there, so it was nice that we had a couple of options to cool off. When Sharon got home from work we had our dinner on the deck and enjoyed the view. Bill checked out a few of the jobs that Sharon wanted him to do. After dinner, the neighbour who owns the resort had a party that we were all invited too. There were about 200 people at the party. There were singers and dancers from the Garifuna tribe. They are all over the Caribbean Islands. The entertainment also included two fire dancers. It was another wonderful evening.
On Saturday we went shopping with Tim and Margie. The first purchase made was two pair of shoes and the same for Sharon. We went to an area called West End and enjoyed going through all the shops at the beach. We had lunch at the Light House Restaurant. We ate there last year when we were on a cruise with Bill's sister Wendy and her husband Mike. It is on the water and the food was great. Bill and I had Mahi Mahi fish and chips and Sharon had a Lobster Salad. We ended our shopping with Bill and Tim finding what Bill was going to need to do Sharon's jobs. When we got back to Sharon's we went for a swim at Tim and Margie's pool. Great ending for a great day.
On Sunday morning Bill started on his jobs. We left at 12:30 to have lunch at Hole In The Wall. It was a one hour drive. The roads were ok until we got to the one that took us to where we had to take a boat taxi to the restaurant. Bill said he has never seen a road like this. There were many dips and bumps. I did enjoy all that we got to see on our drive. The island has it's own beauty. There was lush vegetation and of course the water. We saw homes worth over a million dollars to homes that were third world basic homes. The people on the island seemed to be happy and contented with their lifestyle. At one point on our drive we could see both sides of the island. Our water taxi held four people and the driver. Fortunately the water was very calm. We met Margie, Tim and Patrick at the restaurant. They went by water on Patrick's boat. We could have but we were a little nervous that the water was going to be too rough. You could easily describe the restaurant as a hole in the wall. It looked like a shack, but the view and being able to sit at the water's edge and enjoy the lobster buffet made for a great afternoon. Another great afternoon. Of course that night Sharon and I had a game of scrabble and guess what happened, Sharon used all 7 letters so you can guess how excited she was. We played a few games of scrabble and upwords on our visit.
Monday we did grocery shopping and went through the shops at the cruise shop dock.
One of the things that Bill did every day was take Alfie for a walk. Alfie is a very good watch dog for Sharon. Sharon's other pet is Bobbie, a kitten that has the markings of an ocelot. They are both very good pets. Bobbie likes to snuggle. We enjoyed Sharon's pets or as she calls them our grand pets.
On Tuesday we were treated to a game of golf by Sharon. It was a Pete Dye course and it had only been open for three months. It was an amazing experience to play on this course. It was the first time we had a caddy. The caddies are just learning how to be one, but ours did a good job for us. Bill had a very good game. I enjoyed playing. The views on this course were unbelievable. There signature hole was an island green. We gave it a good try. After our game Sharon joined us for lunch at the course. Once more we were treated to a magnificent view and also a very good meal. Most evenings we went to Tim and Margie's
for a visit.
On Wednesday we went to Tim and Margie's shop so that I could do some more shopping. They sell jewelry and many accent pieces for your home. Oh what fun I had. When we were finished there we went to meet two more of Sharon's friends Julian and Eileen. They were managing three houses for the owners and lived in a tree house. The houses were unlike any house I have ever seen. They were remarkable mansion homes with an open concept with tropical designs. Each house had it's own pool and everything could be open to the beautiful view outside. We went to have dinner at Marble Farm where they make jams and jellies and grow most of the fruit that they use. Most of us had fish dinner, which was very good. One more great evening.
Thursday we went to Turquoise Bay. This is the dive shop were Sharon is. A small resort, but very nice. They have a very nice pool and beach. We had lunch there and then Bill and Sharon went snorkeling. I stayed back and enjoyed the pool. Sharon gave us a tour of the dive shop and we got to meet some of the people who work there and some of the interns. One of the fellows who works at the dive shop took us to see his home. He built it himself. Wood frame and then he covered it with clay bricks that he molded himself. He was very proud of his home. At the end of the day, of course, we had a game of scrabble.
We celebrated Tim's birthday with dinner at his home. Bill barbecued and Sharon made the cake.
Bill finished the job's that Sharon asked him to do. They now have an Ace Hardware Store on the island. This was a great help for the jobs that Bill had to do.
Saturday came way too fast for all of us. We started the morning with Sharon making us pancakes with strawberries and bananas. After breakfast we went to and Iguana farm with Tim and Margie. It was quite an experience. There were hundred's of iguana's walking all over the farm and in the trees. We brought bananas and mango's to feed them. They also gave us leaves from a certain tree that grows on the island. As you can guess I did a lot of watching!!! You will never guess what Sharon and I bought at the gift shop, yep we bought shoes. We went back to Sharon's for lunch and Bill took Alfie for a walk. We left at l2:30 for the airport. We had one more stop to make. We had to go to Tim and Margie's shop to buy some metal art to put in our coach house. We purchased a spider, two iguana's and two butterflies.
The airport story gets it's own paragraph. We boarded the plan for our 3:40 departure. We were off the plane 20 minutes later, back on the plane again two hours later. They finally decided that we were not able to fly out that night so they were going to put us up at one of the resorts. It was one of the the nicest resorts on the island but guess who did not get a room there. Six couples had to be bussed to another resort. The only problem was that it was at the other end of the island. We had a one hour ride to the first resort and then we had a 75 minute to the other resort. The airplane mechanic on call in Roatan did not answer his phone but fortunately there was a United Airlines mechanic on our flight who determined the problem and arranged for the parts to be delivered. We had to wait until the next day when they would send a new part and mechanics from Houston to fix the plane. We had to be at the airport by 10. The one thing wrong with that is the plane did not take off until 5:00.
When we finally got to Houston the person that was supposed to pick us up was not there. When Bill called him they said that the phone had been disconnected. We ended up taking a cab. They were very long days
We were very excited to have spent this time with Sharon and share her life. She had a very cute house, wonderful and cuddly pets and very nice friends. Thank you to my family for this wonderful Birthday Present.
We left Houston in the morning and arrived back at Retama in the afternoon. We are settled in for the rest of the month and then back on the road.
I hope you enjoyed reading about our journey so far. See you again next month.
