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Archive for March, 2013

The sounds of the city

Thursday, March 28th, 2013

Life has been pretty normal the past week or so, if you call a major flu bug for me and Duke normal!!! I got it first and then Duke had the same symptoms as me so Paul is sure he got it from me! He is my best friend so maybe it was sympathy? There is nothing worse that a sick dog because he has no way of communicating except for those eyes! And the fact that he wasn’t even excited about the ball for over 2 days!

We are all better now and back to loving springtime in Mesa. We went to a Giants baseball game at Salt River Fields and had a great day in the sun! We had great seats, the food was decent and because our friends, Mike and Claudia invited us we got to ride their park bus and no one had to drive!

Go GIANTS!!!

The wind up!

And the Giants won big! I think this might be another good year for the San Francisco Bay Area!

The days are just fabulous right now, daytime temps are in the mid 80’s, the sun is shining, the cactus are blooming and the city is coming alive. I have been walking early most mornings and I love the sounds of the city; horns honking, tires squealing, sirens blaring, owls howling and the cows mooing! Yep, we have cows right in the city of Mesa, infact they are living right next door to our RV park! This week I went out to take a picture of the cows in the orchard and discovered that we also have a new baby in the neighborhood!

Awe…

He is too cute

Mom was very protective the first couple of days but now she comes right up to the fence because she is looking for her treats!

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Shorts, Tanktops & Sunscreen!

Monday, March 18th, 2013

Spring has arrived in the desert! We are enjoying one fabulous month of golf, sunshine, lounging around the pool, seeing friends and of course eating wayyyy! to much. Mesa, AZ is a spectacular place to be in March. We are back at our favorite resort, Val Vista Village until April 4 and loving every minute. Paul goes to the pickle ball courts each morning while I take a walk around the neighborhood. I tried to play pickle ball one day and just can’t play easy and fell so no pickle ball for me this year! I can still manage to golf and played pretty well on our first outing. Things are going excellent and before you know it we will be back on the road and heading north into California!

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Honduras, Belize, Cozumel and back!

Friday, March 8th, 2013

Vacation is a fabulous idea for anyone, even those of us who vacation for a living! I spent 7 wonderful days aboard the Mariner of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean International Ship cruising the Gulf of Mexico and visiting 3 ports in the Caribbean Sea. The weather wasn’t great – we had only 3 really nice days and two of them were in ports but the vacation was wonderful. This was a girls cruise, just my mom, sister and I along with 3000 other guests! Our dining companions were 2 couples that winter in Texas in RV’s so we had lots of stories to compare. They also were traveling with Karen who is from Southern California. We had great conversations over some very interesting dinners. I especially enjoyed the onion bread that our head waiter got for us each evening even though it is only for Sunday evening of the cruise! I am not sure we needed the additional calories but we definitely ate both loaves every evening!

Bon Voyage

Just the girls!

Mariner of Seas docked in Cozumel

There were several highlights on the ship that might be unique. We had a Karaoke singer that was straight from the hot tub to the stage, wearing only his swimsuit! He did Michael Jackson quite well, but his song choice was interesting – Beat It! Way too funny. We watched part of the Daytona 500 poolside wrapped in beach towels because it was so cold and windy! Our first night at sea we had an incredible rainstorm complete with some amazing lightening. One day the seas seemed pretty calm but the boat was rocking and rolling – or maybe we just had a lot of drunks on board? I got to be among the 40 or so guests that were able to stand waiting for the final number to be called in Bingo to win a cruise! One number away on two options and still came up empty! The Mariner has an Ice Skating rink with a pretty good show.

Where is the sun we were promised?

Mariner of Seas docked in Cozumel

To go boxes from dinner!

I really enjoyed our ports on this cruise. Honduras was our first stop. The weather was very warm and humid. We took an island tour which included a boat ride around the harbor. The bus ride is where things got really interesting! We were in a small bus/van vehicle that has seating for 25 small adults or 30 medium children! Our tour had 30 adults, most were not small!!! I had the pleasure of trying to board the bus last and taking a seat in the second to last row in the back of this bus! Honduras also has some very rough roads and we were warned it could be a very rough ride. They were not kidding. The pot holes were small ditches which you could use for protection during a hurricane!!! Our driver got stuck in one and I thought we might have to get out and push! He barely made it out and had to thoroughly inspect the undercarriage of the bus before continuing. They had guys on the side of the road with barrels of burning tar fixing the holes.

Beautiful beach in Honduras

Coral Reefs in Honduras

Sunken boat in the harbor of Honduras. A beautiful boat ride through the harbor and into some mangroves

Garifuna musicians in Honduras

Karol learning the Garifuna Dance? She can move her hips!

Plenty of places to relax in Honduras

Coral Reefs from high atop in Honduras

Can you say crowded?

I got to go cave tubing in Belize in the Crystal Caves! That was really cool and the best part was we got to ditch the tubes and swim in a very large, really clear blue lagoon at the entrance to the cave. A bucket list item for sure. Although I don’t think I will check it off cause I will definitely want to do this again!

Weee!!!

Sisters!

1.5 hours on a school bus! It was definitely worth it!

Where the most fortunate live in Belize

Cozumel was our last stop and the weather was not cooperating so we spent our afternoon walking along to waterfront, doing a bit of shopping and haggling with the locals finishing with a nice lunch at local restaurant. The waterfront is about a mile long and the ship will give you a coupon to take a taxi to the Pavilion shops at the other end which is valued at $8 for 4 persons. The cab drivers however do not honor the second coupon we managed to get for the return trip! Our lunch was very costly considering it was nachos, tacos and margaritas! $70 for 3 persons! The menu came only in Peso’s so we hoped they translated correctly! The most interesting part of the restaurant was it was open air seating along the very busy street and then the same kitchen served the restaurant across the highway!