We’re quite close to the beach, about a five minute walk, at the most. I’ve been able to get in the ocean quite early, as the sun is coming up. It’s been fun, but some mornings it has been a little murky. It’s crystal clear usually. It’s quite amazing how far you can see under water here!
As you can see, the hot tub is quite inviting. We’ve found some local beer to drink and of course you can’t come to the Caribbean without having rum! Cuz Time Flies When You’re Having Rum!
This is our first look at Grand Cayman Island. On the lower left of the picture is the start of 7 Mile Beach, where our condo is located.
We’ve had a lot of fun already splashing around the ocean and chasing fish around the coral. You wouldn’t believe some of the things we’ve seen!
On Saturday night, we were at Coconut Joe’s and watched the Toronto Maple Leafs get plastered by the Phoenix Coyotes on the CBC (Cayman Broadcast Agency) with their star Don Cherry.
(Click the pic if you don’t believe me!) Quite surreal…
Then on Sunday the Grey Cup was on big screens everywhere. The waitress told us there were “butt-loads” of Canadians down here! There were a lot of Saskatchewan fans around, that’s for sure.
Here we are at Coconut Joe’s, a restaurant/bar right across the street from our condo, the first night we a
rrived.
This summer our good friend Joy flew out from her home in Ohio to stay a couple weeks with us. We had a great time, even though the weather pretty much sucked.
It was just like old times. We originally met over the internet while playing bridge. We met in person at one of the conventions in 1998. Over the years we’ve traveled to each other’s homes and stayed in touch, even though we’re thousands of miles apart.
We spent a couple of days down in our time share in Linden, Washington. It’s a pretty little town just across the border from us. We can get there in well under an hour, if the border crossings cooperate.
It has a really challenging links-style golf course there. You need to know your game well, as there is a lot of water, and you need to know how far you will hit with your club, or you’re in it! It was one tough course.
There are some lovely homes around the course, naturally, but the little golf cart wind sock is hysterical.
Another place had an old golf bag as a planter. Cute too.
We were at the museum of Natural History today, and we were lucky enough to stumble on some shaman helping people exorcise some demons. He told Pam she was having problems with her hip and back, and he was absolutely right! Check out the movie here.
The Museum is really an amazing experience. It’s laid out just wonderfully. Each of the large rooms are jammed to the rafters with a wide range of artifacts. Each period in Mexican history has a dedicated room. There is a room for the Toltecs, the Aztecs, etc etc. You could spend several days seeing this place. There is just so much to see.
Marlene and Jorge have been amazing tour guides (I’m sure I’ve mentioned this many times, but it bears repeating!) and they’ve really shown us a lot of things we wouldn’t have seen. Now the Museum we would have seen, but it’s been great to see it with someone who is truly proud of it’s achievements.
Check out this one of a cool dog statue! It was in the room with a Chac Mool, the famous reclining figure, who is Mayan or perhaps Toltec. So I’m guessing the dog is either from the Mayan or Toltec civilization as well.
The next time we come to Mexico City, we’ll definitely be returning for another visit! The variety of art is really amazing.
Welcome to Mexico!
For my 50th birthday we jetted off to Mexico City and Acapulco, with stops for pyramid climbing in Xochicalco and exploring Taxco, the city that silver built along the way. We were generously hosted by Jorge and Marlene, two bon vivants with a zest for life that is infectious and delicious.
The Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan.
While in Mexico City I was able to stroke number 6 off of my life time “To-Do List” – Climb a pyramid: hopefully a big one. And it was great to do it. Lots and lots of people climb it. I stopped to help an older lady, but she pulled away from me – it’s just something you want to accomplish on your own!
This is apparently the second (or was it 3rd) highest pyramid that you can climb. Sure some are higher, but you can’t get your butt to the top!
This is the view out our kitchen window, toward the neighbour’s house. As you can see, we’re not quite as green as usual!
And it’s still falling!
Well here we are in a snow storm again! I blame the tree-huggers here in Vancouver who are adamantly opposed to Global Warming – so we wind up with this stuff falling! It is still coming down and the snow has gotten deeper!
Buck may not be as spry as he once was, but he still loves the snow.
Never could figure that one out, since he hates to get his paws wet. But he sure loves to be out in the snow!
Day 2 of the Big snowstorm of November 2006. The snow is still coming down, and it has more than doubled the amount we got! Take a look at those photos! Wow – who knew you’d get snow like this in Vancouver!?
We traveled up the Pacific Coast highway through Carmel. The road twists and turns along some of the most spectacular scenery you’ll ever see.
Surfer dudes abound along the coast. The waves were pretty darned impressive! I sure wouldn’t want to be snorkeling out there.
Sea lions in the ocean: Just north of Hearst Castle is a colony of sea lions. They sun themselves on the beach or cavort in the ocean and generally make a spectacle of themselves.
An interesting succulent that grows along the beaches, and is apparently planted to prevent beach erosion.
The mascot of the Seven Feathers Casino in Southern Oregon. It’s halfway between Vancouver and San Francisco. A perfect spot to spend the night on the way to SF.
