The Barn Raising-Continued

The Pontipee Brothers were at it again this Saturday. We put up the BIG walls today. 16 footers. It's good all those other brothers have experience with this, because, I would be clueless. Thanks to Matt, Jared, and Jordan. McKay and Hayden were making the showing for the younger generation. Luke was there to help stand the walls. Jade was taking pictures and Jodi fed us all. Bryson was the hot chocolate delivery boy.

No snow to speak of today. But it was cold. We registered a balmy -5 this morning at 7:00 am. (It was 86 in Cozumel today. Just in case you wanted to know.) I think one more six-hour session and we will be ready to measure for trusses.

Cozumel -- The End

We've milked about all we can out of Cozumel, this is the last post we promise.

AFTER the cruise ship tourists have gone home, Cozumel, the city and the greater island is a super great place. It's safe. Clean. Mellow. It has a super great LDS ward that we attended. The people seem devoted and committed to their families and are kind to outsiders, as well. Yes, they have ways of installing electricity that would leave Grandpa John scratching his head, but the homes are bright, colorful, and welcoming. We are grateful to the people that shared their homes, neighborhoods, and island with us for a week. If you ever have a chance to go, don't hesitate. Cozumel's good for a half a dozen blog entries, at least.

Thank you SKYPE

Since Gpa and Gma Baxter went to the Congo for their mission. We have become big fans of Skype, the free Internet video conferencing software. If you want to learn more about Skype click here. While Skype has made being away from Grandparents during their mission easier, it also made it easier for Jodi to be away from her children while she was in Cozumel. There wasn't internet in our room, so we would have to go down to the main lobby to login and talk to them. We became a regular fixture in the lobby every night as we dialed up the kids to talk to them over Skype. The kids told us that there were a lot of funny people who would walk by in the background and make faces as we would talk.

Ancient Mayan Ruins

We went to see some mayan ruins on Saturday. We saw quite a few different buildings and temples, for some reason I took a liking to this one. Maybe I was surprised that it was an ancient building and looked similar to a building we would build today. I guess it was worth wandering over to see it, even though the gatekeeper was quite upset with us because by the time we found our way out it was passed closing time.

On our way out of ruins, we walked on the old Mayan road, through the archway. It must have been a pretty neat city they had going on. We appreciate the paths in the Royal Park Hotel where we are staying because they look like the old Mayan road. Very textured ( bumpy) and pretty. Alot of the rocks are mixed with shells and coral.

The rest of Cozumel

On Saturday, we took a drive around the southern half of the island. The coastline on the south and the east of the island is spectacular. Wide, white sandy beaches. Great big waves. Evidently, waves and sandy beaches don't equate good diving. All the good diving reefs are on the less picturesque, west side of the island. On our drive around the south point, Jodi was able to get a video of some "blow holes" that would shoot up like geysers when the waves would smash into them.

Good-Bye Ole Paint

We've been getting around the island on a scooter. Almost like being back in Taiwan. Not as classic as the 150 cc 1973 Vespa I rode back in Kaohsiung, but it has been serviceable transportation. There are a lot of scooters and motorcycles here. Everyone--without exception-- wears a helmet. It must be a law.

The Blue Angel-Reef diving

Today we did our final open water certification dives on the reef. It was incredible. Diving between 40 and 50 feet, we saw lobster, southern rays, hundreds of fish(es) whose names I don't know and have only seen on Jaques Cousteau shows, and a SHARK! Really! Honest! And the shark didn't even eat us. Okay it was just a "nurse shark.," but it was still amazing to say you saw a shark, underwater, and relatively close. This is the dive boat, full of other divers. The goofy guy in this other picture is one of our dive masters. This is Jodi and me heading in for our second dive.

The Blue Angel-Matt

Maybe the coolest thing about Blue Angel has been "Matt," our dive teacher. He has been working with Jodi and I to get through all the certification requirements in our short time here on the island. Matt is great--would remind you of my brother-not "Matt," but "Jared." Bright, intense, laid back when he needs to be, very patient, and just a super teacher. He even has the same skin color as Jared. Here is a picture of us together on the dive boat out on the reef. Matt is from Chicago. Married a local girl. He's been teaching at the Blue Angel for 8 years. I think I heard him say that he's been diving in Cozumel for 20 years.

The Blue Angel-Open Water Certified

It could be that Brandon wanted to do this whole certification thing a little more than Jodi. Perhaps that had something about committing to being in the water and wet for eight hours a day for three days straight. But Jodi has been a champ. I don't think she's spent this much time in a swimsuit and in the water since she was 10 years old at Patio Springs in Eden. As she says, it's not that she doesn't "like the water," she just doesn't "like to be wet." Not only have we been in the water almost full time, we've also been hitting the books. There is a 300 page text book and two full DVDs that go with the course. We've had 5 chapter tests, 4 quizzes and a final exam. At the end of the course, we had to pass a 50 question test. It wasn't until Jodi ended up with a score of 100% that the teacher told us that we only needed 75% to pass. Now we are both certified to tell you "How much residual nitrogen (measured in minutes) remains in your body after a 40 minute dive at a dept. of 60 feet?" This is Jodi studying for the test at the Blue Angel lobby.

The Blue Angel-more

The Blue Angel was referred to us by a couple as we were hanging out in the front lobby on the first morning that we were here. Greg and Sharon Redman from Seattle has just finished with a week of diving here in Cozumel. We asked them about diving and they recommended Blue Angel without reservations. Evidently this is the third time they had been to Cozumel to dive with the folks at Blue Angel.

We found Blue Angel about a mile down the road form the Park Royal, walked in and immediately felt good about being there. You walk into the the front gate and you are literally walking into the ocean through a caribbean lagoon. All in all the Blue Angel is really hip place. It's not only a dive shop, but its also a hotel for serious hard core divers, who come to Cozumel, for one reason: to dive. All and all, a pretty amazing place to learn how to dive. If we were learning at a pool in Utah, I doubt we would see 100s of fish including a southern ray, an eel, and a lion fish on your first dive out.

The Blue Angel Dive Shop

We've raved about the Park Royal at night, Maybe that's because, we really haven't seen it that much during the day. Our real home away from home during this trip has been the Blue Angel Dive Shop.

The Park Royal--at night

The Park Royal is at its prettiest at night. You could almost imagine that they designed the whole place with the night in mind. The lobbies and front entry here have no walls at all. They are immense open areas with plants, couches, and chairs that invite you out of your room to come down and sit. We are here at the coldest time of the year, and it's very comfortable to sit out in the open with no sweater or coat at all. A far cry from the 2 feet of snow that Gma Jean got in Eden on Sunday.

The Park Royal--restaurant and entry

The primary restaurant has these boats hanging from the ceiling that serve as the light shades. The driveways and sidewalks throughout the Park Royal are built like ancient Mayan roads. They are rough hewn stones with a heavy sand mortar in between. Doesn't make for smooth driving but it certainly makes an impression as you drive up the to front lobby. You have to wonder what kind of budget the decorators had for this place.

The Park Royal--swimming pool

There is a swimming pool inside the Park Royal. Not many people are seen in it. It's as if it's too pretty to swim in. Makes quite a picture at night. And actually, there are better pools to swim in that overlook the ocean.

The Park Royal

We have been staying at the Park Royal (hotel? resort? condominium?) I'm not sure what you call it. The rooms aren't much to look at. They don't even have a tub for Jodi to soak in. It's all showers for the guests in rooms like ours. The commons areas, though will take your breath away. Maybe the plan is to make the commons areas so nice and the rooms so plain that people will want to come out of their rooms.

Wildlife--Cozumel style

Iguanas are the most exotic wildlife that we have seen since we've been here in Cozumel. If you look hard, you can see them camouflaged on tree trunks basking. Can you find three of them in this still photograph? If you watch the movie, you'll see one we had to share the road with.

The 100 Degree Swing

We left Utah at -10 below on Friday morning and are now basking and basting in 90 degree humidity in Cozumel, Mexico. It's all part of Jodi and I celebrating 20 years of being together as husband and wife. We spent our very short honeymoon in December of 1989 up Immigration Canyon in SLC and skiing at Alta. So we have opted for a place by the beach and scuba diving lessons this time around. These are pictures from the balcony off of our room. The big "tiki" looking building is the open-air lobby to our hotel.

The Barn Raising

"Bless my beautiful hide," I don't think that Adam Pontipee and his brothers had anything over on us. After attending Reagan's baptism in North Logan on Saturday, the brothers got together for a little barn raising. We didn't have much dancing or fighting "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" style, but we did have snow. And besides that there was a whole lot of work and laughing. Thanks to Matt, Jared, and Jordan. McKay was with us from light into dark and through the snowstorm. Hayden got back from wrestling and caught the end of things. Luke was also there at the end to help stand the last wall and find all the tools that had been buried in the snowfall. A special thanks to "Double-G" and "Crew" and "Aubrey" for holding down the home front at our home while their dads were out working on the barn. Finally, credit to Jade for braving the weather to capture the event in photos.