Super Bowl Party and More

 My "last blog" to catch up with what's happening here!  And then I probably won't blog for a while as life settles down and we start ENJOYING life more!

Thursday night we generally go over to the Spa Hotel (we can walk to it along the beach) and it's "grill" night - they have wonderful ribs and chicken but my favorite is the potato!  This year they offer two kinds, one is a shredded beef and the other one is brisket and shrimp - I got the shredded beef and it was fantastic - it's huge and I only eat a portion and usually get 2 lunches out of the rest of it!

We had planned to go to Chino's, the fairly close pizza place on Thursday night but then found out it was closed on Thursdays (darn) and I hadn't laid out anything for dinner.  So I sent Glenn over to the Spa for happy hour and to bring home takeout - we decided to try the grilled hamburgers this time - I was hoping they were served with the wonderful potato salad and sure enough they were, along with a beautiful and tasty spinach salad!  The burger was EXCELLENT!  It had a black bun on it (and no it wasn't burnt - ha!)  and I have no idea what type of bread that bun was but it was good!  Naturally, I couldn't eat the entire hamburger so had the rest the next day - yum!

Another amazing sunrise!

We always host the Super Bowl Party as we're the only ones that can figure out (thanks to son in law Robby) on how to stream it!  But this year, one of Glenn's friends not only brought us his spare "black box" to use to stream but also let us borrow one of his big screen TV's to watch it on!!  WOW - it was perfect!!

Friends Del and Linda always join us but they had to fly back to the states for a dr appt so weren't here.  Eric and Hillary and newer friends Becky and Larry joined us!  Becky's are from Falcon, right outside of Colorado Springs and we really enjoy them!  We had enough food to feed lots of people!

At 1/2 time, we had wings, carrots and celery - and after the game, I had made my "Too much chocolate cake" recipe and it actually turned out PERFECT down here - yes, I had to bring the ingredients AND my bundt pan but it was well worth it!  Brought enough supplies to make it one more time too!

I told Glenn he did NOT have to buy me roses this year for Valentine's Day - so he asked me what I wanted and I said a sticky bun from Caleb's Restaurant!  So we went into town to pick a couple of them up (and yes, they are DELICIOUS!)  (but I still prefer Jessi's homemade cinnamon rolls) and then we went to get a few groceries and they had Chunky Monkey ice cream - my all time favorite!  So I splurged and bought it - I wouldn't even look at the price till I got home - and yikes, American products down here are very pricey.  The ice cream was $10.00!  Oh well, I enjoyed every bite!

I also went to the chiropractic last week as my back and leg were hurting so bad - and that's when I discovered that Dr. Dennis knew someone from my hometown which I wrote about on Facebook!  He had a completely different approach on chiropractic care than Jessi does - I did go again on Friday and I certainly feel better but it's still sore......  Maybe another trip to see him?  Time will tell......

And Saturday morning I went to the "Farmers Market" with the gals - they do have many booths there but everyone has favorite things they want to get and know exactly where those booths are so it doesn't take too long!  I ended up getting 3 items at the bakery (which were good) and a hydroponic lettuce head - they were there last year and the lettuce was great but their prices have doubled since last year, along with a lot of other things around!  Inflation seems to have hit everywhere!

Windy Weather

 Yes - it's been windy!  In fact, Glenn hasn't been out fishing yet as the wind and waves are just too much right now!  But that's OK - we had so much to do around the house - and people stop by ALL the time and talk to Glenn when he's out front so a lot of our time was spent seeing and talking to neighbors and all the people we've met down here - which is of course FUN!

And it's been chilly - yes, it's very warm in the sun of course but we have had a lot of clouds - which are fun to watch over the ocean too!  

Dinner out with Hilary and Eric at Piedro Gordo - I LOVE their potatoes (heck - I love EVERYONE'S potatoes down here!)

Horses on the beach are always fun to watch on a cloudy, windy day!

We headed to San Jose one day with Eric and Hillary - stops at Home Depot, Costco and a Walmart!  What a haul!  The list for Costco is always long but it's not near as busy there as it is in the states!  And the hot dogs are just as good there too!  I added a mango smoothie to my order and it was delicious!

Then it was off to Walmart - Glenn and I have never been to it so at least we now know where to go!  Hilary and I both had a grocery list and other items, including flip flops for me, new washrags as mine were falling apart after 2 years, a couple juice glasses for the kitchen and grocery items that you can't find in our town!  I saw this sign right outside Walmart so had to take a picture for granddaughters Aleah and Kenzie as they LOVE these drinks!

We were all exhausted by the time we got back home and then there's the repackaging of hamburger and chicken and apple strudels for the freezer!  San Jose traffic is ridiculous - good thing we only have to get to the airport a couple of times now!

Gorgeous sunrises - wow - I click and click my camera!

We always bring something down for the house each year - I was SURE tired of looking at king sized sheets hanging over the front sliders so we bought nice curtains in the states and brought them down!  Oh my gosh, they were SO wrinkled and I spent hours ironing them on the kitchen bar!!  Glenn got a pvc pipe and spray painted it and now we have beautiful curtains hanging and can pull them at night!  Sure adds to the living room!

Life in Spa Buena Vista

 Was it a sign when we arrived and the house was locked without a key in sight?  Usually the property manager has the house open with the key on the table inside!  We looked around - couldn't find it!  I finally emailed the manager and Glenn called the gardener!  But in the meantime, Glenn had discovered the front slider was open so we could start to unload!

The front door must have a key to unlock from the inside also so later on, we heard from the property manager who said the key was under the huge mat out front - we had looked there but not far enough down - and there it was!  OK - finish the unloading and start the unpacking!

The house looked basically the same - nothing new was done to it which was a little depressing!  This house has wonderful "bones" but it needs a LOT of work done inside and out!  We love it just the same and ignore the peeling paint and all the cosmetic things that could be done to make it look SO much better!

Our good friends had already texted us and invited us to dinner which was so nice as there's nothing to eat when you arrive until you go to the store!  We unpacked for a while and Glenn got a couple of loads out of the storage unit before we headed over for dinner!

It's always great to reconnect with our friends, Del and Linda - Eric and Hillary!  We had a great meal and enjoyed visiting with them!

I missed this view!

It takes a couple of days to get completely unpacked and organized - I always clean out the kitchen cabinets - and I realized that the maid that had cleaned before we came did NOT do a great job at all!  But that's Mexico - you just deal with things....

And then we started realizing we had some issues at the house:  the kitchen sink faucet only dribbled out for the hot water - the 1/2 bath toilet leaked - there was a water leak somewhere in the walls with a weird noise all the time and it was leaking out of the storage tank on top of the house overnight - and there was no hot water (which we didn't determine for a couple of days as the spa water is warm here even for the cold and has to be cooled).

On the personal side, the second night I was here my oh so comfortable Nike flip flops broke (and I hadn't brought a 2nd pair) AND my credit card got hacked in the states!  OK - what's going on here????  My back and leg were really sore (I assumed from the drive) and I was having ear issues (which I knew I probably should have taken care of before we left because sometimes I get a build up of wax inside) and for the first week I had stomach issues (which is kind of normal getting used to Mexico life!)  I was a mess!

But life goes on and we were ON the beach so you just take it all in stride and try to fix the things you can and deal with the other stuff!  My new credit card came in the mail and Jaime picked it up and gave me the number so I could start contacting all the monthly payment people to change it!  We went to San Jose to get groceries with friends and I got some new flip flops!  My stomach issue disappeared after a week and my ears are better but not fixed yet!

As far as the house goes, the hot water heater just needed a new element so Glenn fixed that!  The toilet needed a new seal so Glenn and Gilberto (the gardener) took care of that!  The kitchen faucet needed to be replaced so Gilberto took care of that and now there's a nice new kitchen faucet!  The plumber FINALLY came last week and determined where the water leak is - of course it's behind cement walls in the guest bedroom so we're waiting to hear from the owner and then hopefully that will be fixed and the wall redone!  

A full moon the first part of February - gorgeous!

And there's always a beautiful day in paradise with special coffee!  That's the best!

Life is good - just not always the way you have come to expect it to be!

January Photo Dump

 January ended as we were travelling - and only a very few pics to share!

Jill had asked for a jar of our jelly that Jaime and I made so I took her up a raspberry one - later that week she texted me a picture and said there was mold at the top - WHAT????  I felt so bad as we had JUST made that jam in Dec!  Anyway, I needed a jar for the frig so opened a raspberry one and same thing, mold at the top!  DARN!  Only thing I can figure out is that I did NOT boil the jars in water, just the lids - I did wash the jars in hot water but maybe that wasn't enough!  Anyway, it could have to do with the sealing also - some of the jars take a VERY long time to seal at our elevation - so who knows?

I don't often buy decorations anymore for the house but saw this in Hobby Lobby and decided I needed something new on the fireplace!  I do think it looks great there!

The sunrises just started to get really pretty the last couple of weeks before we left!

I was riding with Jaime and Rayna VERY EARLY one morning to an appt in Denver and the sky was just gorgeous in Co. Springs!

And one more sunrise picture from the house!

And now it's officially on to February!

Loreto

 Another great drive today!  It felt warmer as we drove and as you can see, the clouds were still around!  This picture turned out kind of cool as we were almost to Santa Rosalia - it looks like a black and white photo but it's not! 

Mulege is always a cool town too and I love all the palm trees in this oasis of a town!

We made it to Loreto early afternoon and parked and walked up to the square where coffee was in order for me!  YUM!

I always love the mission church in Loreto!

This was taken from the outside courtyard!

We checked into Bugambilias Suites next, our stay for the night!  Another new place to stay!  It was perfect as you park your car inside a courtyard and they close the gate at night so the cae is safe there!  Our room was perfect and the most like an American hotel that we've ever seen!  It even had a kitchen!  I would definitely stay there again!

Dinner was back up at the square from a referral - we weren't impressed at all with the drinks and service but the food was great!  There was a guy playing the guitar and singing next door (everything is open air there) so we even got to enjoy the music!  SCORE!

It was a great afternoon and evening in Loreto and a wonderful nights' sleep!  

We packed up early and headed out the next morning - our final day of driving!  We always stop at this one restaurant for breakfast and were surprised to see that it was now a coffee place!  But we found another restaurant - had to laugh at Glenn's breakfast as his eggs were served with fries and a hot dog!  Their breakfast sausage was a hot dog!

After getting oranges before we left this town, it was an easy drive!  Glenn took a wrong turn in LaPaz but we figured it out and got back on track!  Spa Buena Vista was waiting for us and it sure felt good to be here!

San Ignacio

 It was a short trip to San Ignacio - some of the cactus were blooming along the way and I love the purple ground cover as we drive!

This was a cool cactus to see!

There's always military police outside of San Ignacio - we usually have to exit the car and they search it pretty good!  This year was different - they only wanted to look in the back so it was a piece of cake!

We arrived at the yurts and Glenn actually drove by the entrance gate as it looked totally different!  So we turned around and went in - the building that housed the kitchen, inside eating area and office was totally gone and there was a large new construction project going up!

Bonnie and Paul are the owners and told us the story of how a propane tank was draining one old tank into a new tank and it caught fire - luckily the propane truck didn't explode but the fire took the building down - wow!    The brand new one they're building will be very nice though and it will be fun to see how much progress is made when we go back in April!

Then they told us about the river flooding over its' banks and how much water they had on their property - gosh, I sure wouldn't want to deal with all of that!

We unpacked in the "Howard Johnson' yurt which is the one we usually stay in and relaxed!  I walked around some and took some pics before it got dark!  The river is always pretty!

Since it was breezy and cool there too, we donned our pants and coats - dinner was served inside a large tent - we ate a great chicken and rice dish with broccoli and bread, along with a fruity type pudding.  It was all very good!  We all sat at one long table so it was fun to visit with the different people!

We both slept great and had a good breakfast before we headed out the next morning - onward bound to Loreto!

Los Vientos - Bay of LA

 How nice to be surprised with a waterfront room when we were expecting a room off the back!  But unfortunately it was darn right cold and windy!  Definitely pants and long sleeves along with a jacket!  Oh well.....

This is our view out the sliding glass doors - you can see the whitecaps on the bay!  Luckily there was a nice warm heater we could turn on and you can bet we used it!

There were lots of connected condo like rooms, a nice pool, an outdoor bar (which was WAY too cold to sit at) and a great little restaurant on the premises!

We had an early dinner and the view was perfect to look at!

The pina colada was fantastic - huge, but I drank it all!  The shrimp tacos were excellent!

Since we're early risers, we were one of the first ones for breakfast - it was nice and warm in there which felt great!

We took a walk so I could take a few pics before we headed out!  This is the entrance to the place! I love the bell!

And here are pics of the statues outside the office!

It was a nice stay, just wish it would have been warmer so we could have walked on the beach!

Next stop - Loreto!

Onward Bound To Yuma

 We always enjoy stopping at CampVerde to a favorite coffee place but it was Monday - closed!  Guess we need to leave on a Saturday so we would arrive on a Sunday there.....  There was quite a bit of snow in Flagstaff but the roads were pretty clear!  I waved at Sedona as we passed the exit!

Outside of Phoenix is another coffee place we stopped at last year so ended up going there again - a busy place but the coffee is great!

Rest area in AZ - we stopped for lunch and I've always loved this craggy mountain in the bacground!

We made it to Yuma in good time!  The hotel we stayed in last year was so nice and I wanted to stay there again but it changed hands and I couldn't figure out who had taken it over!  So we stayed at The Shilo Inn where we have stayed before but we won't stay there again - it's gone somewhat downhill in my opinion and it's time to look for a better option!  We walked to The Olive Garden for dinner and were up bright and early to head to the border crossing at Algodones.

The crossing went off without a hitch - we had eaten a quick bite of breakfast at McDonald's (not my favorite but the place we wanted to eat at wasn't open yet) and as soon as we got to the border, we were on CA time so it was an hour earlier!  No wait at the border - pulled over along the curb - one person stays with the car and one goes in to do the paperwork!  Guess which one I did?

Of course I went in to do the paperwork!  The guy did speak some English and he took the passports and just said he would fill out the papers as he could do it quickly - fine by me!  Paid the guy, grabbed our FMM's and we were off and going!

This is the same spot we crossed last year (and got totally lost trying to find the highway so it took almost 2 hours longer) but had great directions from a friend and we soon found the right road to be on!

It was quite cloudy and then began to rain a little bit - then the sun peeked out and I just knew there was going to be a rainbow and sure enough, there was!

We stopped in San Felipe to find a place to get pesos - and found one quickly and got our money which was fantastic!  

You can see by the clouds how dark and gray it was!  I LOVE watching the cactus go by and seeing all the different species!

Since Glenn wanted to spend one extra night in Mexico on the way down, I had made reservations at Bay of LA - it was a 45 minute drive out of our way but a place that Glenn always wanted to see - unfortunately the road wasn't good at all but it was fun seeing new scenery!

Up next is our stay at the Bay of LA!

Mexico Bound

 It's time to head to Mexico!  After a few tough days grieving for our friend Peggy, we finished up the packing, loaded the car with tubs and suitcases, put the kayak on the top and headed out early on a Sunday morning!

Of course we hit snow - it wouldn't be Colorado without running into snow, even though it wasn't in the forecast!  Co. Springs was slick and it only got worse as we headed to Pueblo!  Then we hit the ice - and then we hit ice fog!

Luckily after we ate breakfast in Raton, NM the weather got better!  We had a nice drive into Winslow, AZ - Glenn couldn't wait to get there so he could watch a football game!  So we had a later dinner that night which was fantastic as went to the same place we went last year and split a hamburger and fries - the burger was actually 1/2 pound - there's NO WAY either of us could eat that much meat!  Anyway, super good meal!

Then it was a short walk to take our annual pics at Standin' On The Corner (in Winslow, AZ)

It was chilly!

A great nights' sleep and we enjoyed their breakfast!  And the journey continues....

And Even MORE Birthdays!

 2 birthdays now in Jan - 2 in February - and 3 in March!  WOW - that's a lot of celebrating!  Irene turned 20 on the 17th of January and Brad celebrated the BIG 50 on the 29th!

Rayna will turn 21 on March 2nd - that's kind of a fun birthday!!

We weren't able to see Matias before we left but he will turn 22 on March 16th.

And Jaime celebrates her birthday on March 19th!

Lots of special birthday wishes already sent AND yet to come!