With the gun drama behind us, Andrew and I decided to make our way to Fisherman's Wharf. The cable car that ran near our hotel ended north at the wharf. Even though it's an expensive ride ($5 per person each way), we decided it was something we should do once while in San Francisco. Plus, I'd pay $10 just to not have to drive in that dense area of the city! The cable car runs through Chinatown, and it passes Lombard Street (which the woman who sat next to me explained is the curviest street in the country). Our driver got really into the experience and rang his bell every block. It was pleasant, even going up the crazy hills of San Francisco. The ride was quick, and we got to the Wharf ahead of ... read more

This morning, Andrew and I had breakfast in the sleepy little town of Carmel. It was an English restaurant called the Tuck Box, and we enjoyed some authentic scones and tea. I'm glad we took that time to relax, because entering San Francisco was an adrenaline rush. I had my nifty little binder full of Mapquest directions. Thankfully, they led us right to the Grand Hyatt; then we discovered there was no parking. We had to drive on by the Hyatt and follow a maze of one way streets to find our way back. We skipped many streets because they were labelled "Buses Only." Turns out "Buses Only" means buses and people turning right. OK, we learned that fairly easily. Next, we avoided all the streets that were full of tracks from the cable cars. ... read more

Last night, Andrew and I huddled by the bonfire and watched the sun set over the Pacific. The beaches of San Simeon are stunning, and (as we learned this morning) a popular hangout for dolphins, seagulls and pelicans. I'll post the sunset photos in yesterday's post, since they were taken yesterday at San Simeon. We hit the road early (8am) and drove the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) to Monterey. We stopped again to see the elephant seals. They were a bit more active this morning, hollaring and shuffling around. After a few minutes, we climbed back into the convertible to enjoy the scenery. We probably drove one more mile when I looked east into the valley and saw... ...zebras. Exactly. I turned to Andrew and told him there were zebras in the valley. Both ... read more

Alas, we've made it home to Denver safely. It's strange to be back, but it's also nice to rest and be at home. I wanted to take the time to write about my impressions of Belize and its people so as to not forget. Belizean people are friendly. Everywhere we drove, people waved, and it was nice for us that everyone spoke English, because we were able to talk with the towns people and such. Surprisingly (at least, to me), Belize is very diverse. Outside of San Ignacio and Benque Veijo, the majority of people seem to be black Belizeans. However, there's a large Chinese and Taiwanese population there, as well as Indians (which the Belizeans refer to as "the Hindus"). There are also a lot of Mennonites and Amish, and Rastafarians. Many of the Hispanics ... read more

Kayaking the Mopan River with Andrew was the neatest thing I've ever done. The other two couples staying at the resort weren't interested in the kayak adventure, so it was just me and Andrew. One of the workers and tour guides, Victor, led us to our inflatable, two-person kayak. It wasn't the enclosed kind where you put your feet in; apparently, it's safer if you're sitting on top when it flips over. I took the front of the kayak, and Andrew the back, and we were each given oars. Victor pushed us off into the Mopan and said he'd meet us in about an hour and a half to two hours about three miles down the river. He explained there were no other boats in the water, so we'd see where he was with the ... read more