Sorry for the lack of photos of this part; we were too busy trying to figure out how to cope with the situation to take any at the time. Barry has threatened to ride back up there to take some, so stay tuned!
So, I turned back and started walking my bike through property that appeared to have a side cut-through to the beach. We had already gotten by the doggie trouble spots we'd encountered heading north, so I figured if I could just get to the beach, it would be mostly smooth sailing getting back home. About this time, a dog from the house whose yard I was trying to cut through saw me and starting barking loudly and running around the yard. Crap! I guess just about everyone in Belize who lives in a private home has a large watch dog to dissuade would-be thieves. I felt pretty helpless, but the dog never actually came after me, and no screaming homeowners appeared, thank goodness. I have to say my heart was racing. Just what else could go wrong?
This: Barry came rolling up beside me, none too happy since he'd had to turn around and come back through the putrid water once he realized I was not going to attempt it. He showed me that he'd gotten a rather long scratch on his leg when a piece of metal wire in the nasty pondwater wrapped around his wheel, then slapped him on the leg. He needed to hightail it back to the condo to get it cleaned and some antibiotic ointment on it, so he took off down the beach at top speed to tend to it, and I rode as fast as I could behind him, but he was out of sight almost immediately.
Fortunately, the scratch wasn't too deep, so hopefully all that will be required is the ointment and the large bandage we put on it and it doesn't become infected. I don't think we'll be riding the far north route again until dry season. What a fiasco!
This afternoon was much calmer but very wet. Normally when it rains here, a shower or squall passes over quickly and the sun soon makes another appearance, but this time a tremendous storm blew up with much wind and sideways rain, and bands of rain and strong breezes continued to move in all afternoon. We never saw the sun after mid-morning, and it actually got quite cool by mid-afternoon, by Belizean standards. The outside temp hit a low of 73.5, which was the coolest since we've been here (even overnight), and with the wind and rain, it actually felt a bit chilly! We hope that tomorrow will bring a nicer day, but after all the rain today, the road into town is sure to be full of puddles. Ah, rainy season in Belize!