Random pictures from Milwaukee

View from the hotel room - a big square thing
Brown river, no idea which one
Tall building
A bus - I was so excited (sad isn't it?)
Now here is where it gets good - Mo's Irish Pub, mmmmmmmmm Guinness

Oh yes
Sausages are apparently very important in MKE
Yehaw - says it all
A thing for cars
Trouble
Why don't the buses have to turn right?
Do you moo? What on earth? What are these people like?
A sign I just don't understand
A sign I do understand

And for you Brits out there, this sign made me stop dead in my tracks in the Mall, giggle and get my camera out. Only in the USA can you get tossed your way.

Flying over Houston to see Trouble in Milwaukee

I know, it's a load of pictures of Houston from the plane! But I was so excited! This was so very last minute - I ended up sitting next to Dave on the plane, which was fun.
This is Dave pretending not to see me play with my camera

He can't avoid me any longer
Doesn't it look like England?

I thought this was a Smurf village

A bloody big road!
Me on the monorail changing terminal
Rain! Yuk! Quick, whisk me to the Presidents Club

New head please

I have had a migraine for nearly a week. Yuk yuk yuk. Shall start posting again when someone gives me a new brain. No bad jokes please!

I just had to go see a game

OK, most of you now know that I dashed up to Milwaukee to see Jeff ever so quickly.
I ended up at a Brewers game due to accidental Guinness drinking in Mo's Irish pub!
I have never been to a baseball game, it's actually not that interesting, a bit like rounders - but being in the Stadium yelling abuse and drinking Margaritas in pint mugs was right up my street! I loved it and had a great time.
Jeff and I in front of some bronzed up player at the Stadium in Milwaukee.

This is Aaron, the guy we started talking to in Mo's pub - the famous line "my buddy's got spare tickets" and we're off in the Mo's Irish Pub free bus to the stadium, with pints of beer! How excellent is that? We caught the Ouzo bus home!!!! Obviously a Greek bar in town!
I've got a flippin' baseball cap on! It has a big M on it for Margaritas (or is it Milwaukee? Can't remember)
Crazy dudes we went with, Jeremy and Aaron.
Whatever all that crap on the board means - I know we lost. that's why there are lots of zeros where it says Brewers. A yellow cab!!!! It was about 1am and we'd been out for more drinks with the guys after the game (do I remember shots? vaguely....) I was soooooooo excited about this yellow cab, I had to take a photo. The cab driver wasn't so keen! Thought I was a nutter.

A bit of weather

OK, so far we've had nothing, but the past 5 days the weather has been going nuts out there. Mum, keep track on the www.noaa.com "tropical update" bit, of course I'll phone you if anything looks nasty. It's like buses, you wait for ages and then they all turn up at the same time.

Sign of the times

I'll buy a beer to the first person that tells me where this sign is
You know you've seen it!

La Ceiba

My next adventure was trying to leave Honduras. Whilst we were in Utila, the Port Captain was consistently absent meaning that we could not clear in. Basically, I never arrived in Honduras, so if you don't arrive, you can't leave.
I already missed my first flight back to Belize due to this, and the second day I just had to go for it and pray the boys could find Mr Ramon PC!

So on Tuesday I took the ferry from Utila to La Ceiba - people throwing up all around me. My sea legs came back as I hunkered down for the 90 minute ride reading my book with passion and blasting my Ipod to max to drown out the "Raaaaaaaaaaalf" sounds all around me! Grabbed a cab and went directly to immigration to explain my situation. It was 3.40 and they close at 4. A huge thank you to Amanda at Immigration who really did try to help me - but her final conclusion was without something official from Utila's port captain, I was going to spend more time in La Ceiba!



Pigs
Nobody apart from me seems to have noticed a cart full of pigs!

The Ceiba
This one is for Sylvain - you know why!
So, after asking Amanda what to do now, I headed for the Mega Mall - bought a phone and headed for Applebees to start up an HQ.
Bought myself some drinks
Had some breakfast (rather hungover from the night before, breakfast was at 5pm) and started the phone calls. First to Peter who was on the boat alone, Mike was on shore with the dinghy. I managed to get hold on the Port Captains mobile phone number (thank you again Amanda "la guapa" who used her wily ways to get the number from some other bloke in San Pedro Sula!). I called him and he told me that he hadn't been to the office in a few days. We'd noticed. I explained in my best Spanish the situation, and he said he would meet the boys that night to clear them in. Phone Peter to tell him. Phone JH to get him to walk to the other end of the island to find Mike, to tell him to go back to the boat. Eventually, I get a phone call back saying that the Port Captain had done the papers and he could fax them. So he faxed them to some rather confused staff at Applebees. I have now legally entered the country so I can leave! I'm so happy and relieved that I hit the Carrion shopping store, I now have shoes, bikinis, skirts and hair scrunchies galore. Thank goodness for Visa cards.
I check into an ok hotel and try to sleep - noooooooo such luck. Anyway, at 4.30am I get a taxi to the airstrip, fly TACA to San Pedro Sula. Of course, I'm a total muppet and get my tweezers and pepper spray removed from my handbag with a questioning look from airport security. I think "Ooops" was my answer. Just before my 9am flight to Belize City, an official comes over and talks to me about my paperwork, takes my passport away and disappears. I think I'm doomed but then I get personally ushered to the plane and given back my passport! YAY!
La Ceiba airport



Anyway, I finally get back to Belize City - greeted by Wade the Gringo!
Get to San Pedro, greeted by "about bloody time and where's my present?" - Pedro was waiting for me to take me STRAIGHT to work - lol, no rest for the wicked.
BLOODY GREAT TRIP - THANKS ALL XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Beer beer beer

Sunday, the day after Sunjam - more beer


Dinghy - our noble steed to get from the boat to more beer
(for some reason, they never let me steer claiming that trying to learn how to steer a boat in the dark when drunk was not sensible)
Babablu bar - made out of sticks and fairy lights - my kind of place
Sunset view from Babalu
Aching feet from zombie dancing for hours
Life Guard Beer
Run out of fags - need to go to boat to get more
Starfish at Babalu

Serious conversation faces - and lots of beer
Now that's what we call a bell!
I tried to ring it hard enough that you could hear it at Pedros
Beer sign
Imperial beer
Beer beer beer
mmmmmmmmmm beer - I'm off for a Lighthouse - see you later