Anyway, back to the Caribbean.

While snorkeling in the Caribbean ocean off a small boat with Carlos, the fishing machine from Aventuras Akumal, Jon spotted a whale shark. He was amazed, surprised, jubilant, excited and said "That's it, we are buying something here!"

We found our beautiful penthouse view Condo immediately. Luna Azul #7 was a dream come true! We began our mornings sitting on the front patio with our coffee and watching the turtles surface for a breath of air or the huge parrot fish come right up to the shore almost out of the water to chew on some treasured morsel. While overhead the pelicans are flying and diving down for breakfast. It is all so breathtaking! The sunrises are spectacular over the water each morning! It is a marvelous atmosphere to set up my weaving loom and spend the day watching the action on the beach and in the sky while I weave. The stairs climbing up to our tower are marvelous exercise! And the community is full of wonderful, kind and helpful neighbors. We are truly in love with Akumal and the people who make it a wonderful place to live. And just to make sure we enjoyed the sun from sunrise to sunset, we would close the day watching the sunset with Margaritas from the back jungle patio.

We started a diary to share our fun with all our guests. I believe we now have 4 or so diaries going! This has developed into a wonderful itinerary of places to go and things to see. It is one of the first things I do when I arrive back in my paradise. It is exciting to read the entries from all who have shared our home.

In our explorations we discovered property for sale in Soliman Bay. We purchased a lot when the Bay was absolutely secluded. It has been grand watching it grow into a small community of Palapa homes. In 2001 we began construction on our home and moved in by December. It is wonderful to have our home in amongst the Palm Trees. It is so cool and refreshing all the time. No need for air conditioning because we are set back and surrounded with so much garden. The tropical breeze and oxygen from the plants keep us plenty cool. We can putter in our garden. Play out front under our shade Palapa overlooking the gorgeous bay. Watch the sunrise, swim, snorkel, dive, kayak and people watch. We love the dogs who come by to say good morning and pick up a treat on their rounds. And, we love our wonderful people neighbors as well! We gather ever so often for dinners on the patio and discuss the news of the area. The community involvement is grand as can be seen by the rustic yet pristine improvements to the area. And we love the wonderful Mayan people who work and live in the area. It is a challenge to learn the Mayan and Spanish languages! A challenge we are up to exploring together and the Mayan and Mexican people are so patient and helpful in our endeavors. And again, in the evenings we can sit on our jungle view patio and watch the breathtaking sunsets as we toast another gorgeous day.

We certainly hope you have as wonderful an experience as we are enjoying in our tropical homes away from our majestic home in Alaska! We look forward to your entries in our diaries.