Port in Belize City, Belize.

Excursion to Xunantunich.

This is a large expanse of Mayan ruins where we experienced temples, palaces and six plazas.

Xunantunich is an Ancient Maya archaeological site in western Belize, about 70 miles west of Belize City, in the Cayo District. Xunantunich is located atop a ridge above the Mopan River, well within sight of the Guatemala border – which is 0.6 miles to the west. It served as a Maya civic ceremonial centre to the Belize Valley region in the Late and Terminal Classic periods. At that time, when the region was at its peak, nearly 200,000 people lived in the Belize Valley.

Xunantunich's name means "Maiden of the Rock" in the Maya languages Mopan and Yucatec, combining "Xunaan" (noble lady) and "Tuunich" (stone for sculpture). The "Stone Woman" refers to the ghost of a woman claimed by several people to inhabit the site, beginning in 1892. She is said to be dressed completely in white with fire-red glowing eyes. She generally appears in front of "El Castillo", ascends the stone stairs, and disappears into a stone wall. Like many names given to Maya archaeological sites, "Xunantunich" is a modern name; the ancient name is unknown.

Day at Sea with Holland America's Rotterdam. 

Also Today: a total solar eclipse will take place at the Moon's ascending node on Monday, April 8, 2024, visible across North America and dubbed the Great North American Eclipse (also Great American Total Solar Eclipse and Great American Eclipse) by some of the media.

Early morning flight as we begin our Six Day Western Caribbean Cruise aboard Holland American's Rotterdam, departing Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades.

Passenger Capacity: 2,668

Year Built: 2021

Northwest Park with K2, managed a sloppy 4.2-miles (lots of mud and water on the trails). 

Mama Black Bear to our patio around 1:45 a.m. 

The Beast had three little fellows with her...

"Non" Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #12 for 2024...

"The Handle" written by Donald Westlake as Richard Stark, first published in 1966.

What Played in Ed's Head -- 

Music listened to for the time-period March 1st through March 31st, 2024:

Completed another Wondrium Series tonight.  This was a 24-Lecture Series called:

"The Great Tours: Ireland and Northern Ireland".

The Great Tours: Ireland and Northern Ireland guides you through the enchanting history, people, and places that make up the Irish identity. 

Taught by Professor Marc C. Conner, president of Skidmore College, these 24 captivating lessons give you a sweeping tour of the Emerald Isle, from the Cliffs of Moher to the hallowed stage of the Abbey Theatre to the battle-scarred towns of Northern Ireland.

Ireland and Northern Ireland

  1  A Destination like No Other 

  2  Prehistoric and Celtic Ireland 

  3  Early Christian and Medieval Ireland 

  4  Ireland during the Protestant Ascendancy 

  5  From the Easter Rising to the Present Day

  6  Dublin’s Fair City 

  7  Dublin Today, South and North of the Liffey 

  8  The Churches of Dublin 

  9  The Museums of Dublin 

10  Day Trips from Dublin 

11  Kilkenny, the Rock of Cashel, and Cahir 

12  Exploring Cork 

13  Killarney and the Ring of Kerry 

14  The Dingle Peninsula 

15  North Kerry, from Tralee to the Shannon 

16  Clare and Galway, the Heart of the West

17  Traveling Ireland’s Northwest

18  The Ireland of W. B. Yeats 

19  The Irish Revival in Literature and Art 

20  James Joyce’s Ireland

21  Experiencing Belfast 

22  Northern Ireland beyond Belfast

23  Pub Life and Traditional Irish Music

24  Ireland in Film and Sport 

Drove to Adams for a visit with the folks.  No auction today, just a nice visit.

On the way back to Connecticut, I stopped off in Cummington to piece together the route from Route 9 to Dodswell Road, which I failed at in early March.

This time, I found my way, saw where I went wrong prior, and made the route correctly.

As a bonus, I jogged past a perched rock in the woods.

4.3-miles.

Easter Sunday run at Bear Hole in fifty-degree temps and sunny.

5.8-miles at 5.5 mph pace.  Pretty good after yesterday's 13-miles.

Got a decently early start at Granville, hoping to use some of the forest roads I'd noticed on an old topographical map.  I designed a "sort of" loop that would be about 10-miles.

The running went extremely well, with an average speed of over 5 mph right up to about mile 9.  Then, I ran into some serious logging activity that pretty much ruined the old forest road I had been on in May of 2010.  I tried some optional paths, which were ORV made, and those were not great as they tended to loop into loops and were nothing much other than mud bogs.  The route may have been called Mud Bog Trail, actually.

I made it back to the car in 12.9-miles, and 4.9 average for mph.  Pretty close to 12-minute miles for the duration, which kept me happy.

Most of the route was on old forest and perhaps watershed property, with a couple miles past Howell Pond as paved.  The paved section was nice, with only a house or two through the entire section, so pretty remote.  The logging section was the only disappointment.