Una Semana Mas

Sunday, 19 February 2012 -- San Jose del Cabo

The title says it all, "One more week." We were driving back from Mega, the grocery store, today when it struck me. Here it was Sunday afternoon, and for some people it was the beginning of their week in paradise, while for others it was the end. For us, it is the beginning of the end, sort of -- the beginning of our ending week down here. We have no regrets, however, as we've enjoyed three great weeks so far, with one more to go.

As promised, we did go to Art Walk last Thursday evening in San Jose del Cabo. Here are two photos of the giclee print from that we'd purchased from Galeria de Ida Victoria. Ida herself painted the original; this is "Woman from Chiapas." As you see in the one on the right, Ida has made great use of the greens, something that will stand out great in our living room at home.


On the way to Art Walk we stopped off at a great little sushi place in San Jose that is a little hidden from view. Fortunately we were told where it was (and how to find it). The name of the place is Koi Sushi, and they have two restaurants. The one in San Jose is at Plaza Cabo Ley (on the main drag behind Burger King) ph. 146 93 94; the one in San Lucas is at Plaza San Lucas (Walmart) ph. 144 73 77. The food was delicious, and the prices were quite reasonable (cash only). The photos we took are on Darlene's camera; we'll have to post them later.

We moved yesterday from the second floor to the sixth floor, so we've been enjoying our"better view" now that we're above the palm fronds, plus we can see the entire beach. One thing we saw today was the 332-foot yacht Attessa IV, owned by Dennis Washington of Washington Group International, among several businesses. We'd seen it anchored in Cabo San Lucas, and then it went by here today going north, and then back south a couple hours later.  Even from this far away, with binoculars, it is pretty impressive, of course.

We'd seen a lot  extra police around, and wondered if it was just because of the work being done in earnest on the new Convention Center -- a project that's to be completed in time for the G20 Conference here in June. Then I found out today that Secretary of State Clinton is here in Cabo for some early G20 meetings. That's got to make the traffic along the Corridor a bit tighter near where they are. That also explains that unmarked 4-engine aircraft (not hers, it had red horizontal stripes) that was coming in for a landing yesterday.

I hope your week is going well, and whatever it's the beginning of -- make the best of it.

Until next time . . . .

Yes, I've Been Okay

16 February 2012 -- San Jose del Cabo


Darlene actually thought we were coming on a four-week "vacation" when we boarded that early morning flight out of Boise back on the 29th of January. It is sort of a vacation, isn't it? Here we are in a marvelous place - Los Cabos, Mexico -- the SAFEST tourist spot in all of Mexico, and a place that we've enjoyed coming to every year since 2003. So why isn't it like a vacation to her? After all, she has her Kindle that's loaded with lots of books, plus she can buy and download new ones instantly. I've been very busy with my books and with activities promoting them. Yes, that's a good thing, but they have pulled away from our down time together.

 These photos are of the sunrise on our last morning at the Playa Grande Resort in Cabo San Lucas. The one on the right is through our bedroom curtains (it's that artistic vein in me coming out again!) Not a bad view to wake up to each morning, is it?

So what's been going on since the last posting on the 4th? I watched the Super Bowl on Sunday evening the 5th with my brother Eric at his place, while his wife enjoyed a peaceful evening with Darlene at ours. I thought the Patriots would win; both teams struggled, and the Giants played great! This is a picture from our balcony at Grand Solmar, where we moved to on the 5th. It's on the same beach as Playa Grande, just two resorts south toward the absolute tip of the Baja California penisnula.

On Tuesday the 7th, the four of us had dinner, a Full Moon Dinner, at Hacienda del Mar along the Sea of Cortez. It was a great set-course meal with accompanying wines from a Chilean wine master who was at the hotel. We had a beautiful table right at the edge of the restaurant, so we could hear the waves rolling into shore, and the gorgeous moon that started out as a bright orange slowly turned white as it rose into the sky. The overall evening was fantastic as the weather was just beautiful, and the food and wine pairings were superb!

I had a great meeting on Wednesday the 8th with the PR Director for the local government here about using my book Missing in Mexico as an item in the gift bags for the G20 Conference attendees here in June. The book is set right here in San Jose del Cabo, and it's the #1 TOP RATED Kindle book in Amazon's Mexican Travel category, so the PR people LIKE the book. Fingers are crossed!

We went to Art Walk in San Jose again on Thursday the 9th -- this time with my brother and his wife. She bought a few items, including a small piece of Mata Ortiz pottery. She bought one here last year also. After our walking around, we had dinner at Baan Thai (our second time for dinner there this trip) -- ooh, the Tom-Yum soup was so good. It's 5-star rating for spiciness is well deserved, but it is so delicious. Darlene had Pad Thai and I had Shrimp and Pineapple Curry. Yummy!!!

Eric and Kathe had to leave on Saturday, so Friday was our last day to see them. We met for lunch at Solomon's Landing, and had what seems to be our traditional table for lunch. The wives had iced tea in huge glasses that would hold killer margaritas. After stuffing ourselves on great food and saying our goodbyes (at least "hasta luego" since we'll see them in San Diego in May), they headed back to their condo and we walked down to Puerto Paraiso (the main mall).

Sunday the 12th was moving day again -- this time up to San Jose del Cabo. But before we left Cabo San Lucas, we did see a Disney ship pulling out of the marina and past us on the Pacific side heading back toward San Diego or Los Angeles. The close-up photo showed lots of people on the top deck enjoying their last look at those of us lucky enough to still be in Cabo. I was surprised that the ship was heading out of port so early in the day; most ships leave around 5 PM, but this one was heading out around 1 PM.

We are here in Cabo every year for Valentine's Day now that we spend four weeks a year here starting at the end of January or the first of February. That's okay except that it requires a little more planning ahead. Yikes -- that's not something that we guys do very well at times! Anyway, I did buy a nice card before we left home (since I didn't know if I'd find an English card here). Here is the red blown glass heart and stand that I got for Darlene; it's from Baja Blown Glass here in San Jose del Cabo -- she likes it!!!

Yesterday the 15th we went into town and bought a beautiful print at Galeria de Ida Victoria. I'll go into town tonight for Art Walk and take a picture of it and then post that picture. It is a giclee print from an original oil that Ida painted called "Woman from Chiapas," or at least I think that's the name. This piece of art will take on a new focal point in our living room replacing a print that we've had for 20+ years.

Sorry I've been so busy in Cabo -- it's a great place to be busy AND be on vacation!

Hasta luego.

Wacky Weekend Weather

04 February 2012 -- Los Cabos

This morning began even colder than yesterday, but then "colder" is a relative term when you're talking about the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. It was cloudy, breezy, and I was almost forced to change out of shorts into long pants. I avoided the temptation and stayed in vacation shorts. For breakfast we had scrambled eggs on corn tortillas with fresh salsa. We still had some cut-up melon (watermelon and cantaloupe) to eat, so we added that to the plates; a glass of juice, and we were set -- we'd already had our fill of coffee to help fight off that morning chill.

I drove up to San Jose del Cabo and found a "lost friend." On Thursday's Art Walk in San Jose, I was disappointed that I couldn't find Carlos who owned the Casa Don Pablo Galleries; one was closed and the other was now selling photographic prints. I thought Carlos was gone. It turns out that he opened up a new thriving business -- Baja Blown Glass & Art, the only blown glass factory in San Jose del Cabo. I watched a demonstration of an artisan making a piece of art, and then I watched as an amateur (like I would be) tried to make the same thing -- it took him four times as long.

There are designs in Carlos's shop that I haven't seen in any other glass shops in the Los Cabos area, plus I really liked his "Wall of Hearts" -- I know where I'll be buying a Valentine gift this coming Thursday during Art Walk. Shhhh, don't anyone tell Darlene. If you want to see a few more pictures of the items inside his store, plus one of Carlos and a life-size Catrina (what's that? do a search and find out), look at the Photos page here on the travel blog. Give me a day to get them posted; they will be listed under today's date.

As the day turned into afternoon and into early evening, the sun finally re-appeared in Cabo San Lucas, and the sky was beautiful. One particular formation of clouds caught my attention, and while it was more striking in a close-up view, it also looked good when it was "framed" through the columns, walls, and patio decks of our building here at Playa Grande. I'll put the close-up picture also on the Photos page and let you decide if you think it's interesting or not.

We dinner with a good friend, Miroslava, at Nicksan here in Cabo San Lucas. She has helped me with my novel Missing in Mexico, and she is offering to assist me again. I wish I could figure out a way to help her other than taking her to dinner.

It's been an interesting day; thanks for coming along with me.

Just a Quiet Day at the Resort

03 February 2012 -- Cabo San Lucas

The day started out with some clouds blocking out our normal morning sun, and it was a bit cooler than the day before. This would have bothered us years ago when we were here for only one week. But one cool day out of 28 is not an issue, plus we were just planning on relaxing around here anyway. After breakfast of homemade fruit smoothies, we took a walk up the beach as far as we could go; the massive rock escarpment has always been a clear Turn Around signal. As we approached our place on the way back, we considered walking on. We could go next door to Terra Sol, stop at the pool palapa bar, have a drink, and say "Hi" to Mario (the bartender). We could then continue on to Grand Solmar (where we'll be next week) and see how they're doing on construction of another new tower. Then we could go toward Land's End until we reached more prohibiting rocks. We chose to come back to the room.

Reading, writing, and relaxing again took over as the day's main activities. There didn't seem to be a push for anything major to be accomplished, so it wasn't. For dinner, Darlene poached some white fish that we had with rice and serrano peppers. I made a large salad, and we listened to some music from Darlene's mp3 player. It wasn't an exciting day -- but then those kind of days can be the best kind.

Groundhog Day -- no photos of Phil

02 February 2012 -- Cabo San Lucas

Well, did he see his shadow? Do we have an early Spring or six more weeks of Winter? I don't know if Phil saw his shadow or not, but he would have needed sunglasses, SPF 50+ sunscreen, and plenty of water today here in Cabo San Lucas. The weather, once again, was postcard perfect. I feel sorry for those of you whose weather isn't so great, as well as those of you suffering through electioneering. One nice thing about a lack of television channels worth watching is no television watching, which means we're not subjected to the political scene.

No photographs today as it was mostly a lazy day around the pool. We spent a couple hours there in the morning, and then we came back up to the room for tostadas. We went back down to re-claim our chairs and towels, but the sun was actually a bit warm to really enjoy much of it. So it was pack up the towels and return to the room to read, write, and relax.

We did take the car into San Jose del Cabo for the weekly Art Walk through the galleries in the Art District. There were a lot of visitors strolling the streets, sipping on wine, and milling about. We talked with Ida at Galeria de Ida Victoria, and with Tatiana at El Armario. Two of the other places we liked last year have since closed and now have new tenants; one of them was a gallery I highlighted in my novel Missing in Mexico. Such a shame to see places you like close down. For dinner, we went to Baan Thai -- we really enjoyed their food last year. We each had a bowl of a hot and spicy soup with shrimp, mushrooms, and lemongrass. I then had beef with broccoli that was cooked with ginger -- delicious. Darlene had shrimp with broccoli cooked with chilis and other spices. We brought some home for a tasty meal someday soon.

That's it for today. I hope your day was good.

Todos Santos

01 February 2012 -- Cabo San Lucas to Todos Santos and back

I've never considered myself  to be fully literate in Spanish the way I used to be in Russian. But I am able to understand the flow of many conversations when I'm in Mexico, primarily because I'm here frequently and I also make a strong attempt to learn as much of the language as I can. I will speak some of the language, although I generally do not attempt to engage in a full-on conversation with a native Spanish speaker because it is faster than you can typically process the first three items on your grocery list. Well, today we learned a new word, and we learned it through repetition. Many teachers say that repetition is one of the best ways to learn a new word. "Desviacion" was our word for the day -- we saw it at least 19 times on our way going up to Todos Santos, and then of course coming back down. In case you can't figure it, it means "Detour." They are working on the road to make it a 4-lane highway all the way from Cabo San Lucas up to Todos Santos, or  least up to Pescador.

Despite all the detours -- there was even one detour off a detour -- we still made decent time getting up to Todos Santos. We weren't in a rush, so we didn't mind when a truck would speed past us. I was carrying my calendar with me, but there were no hard dates on it until Saturday night, so we were enjoying the sights of the cactus, the Pacific Ocean, and the occasional whale spouting. Next week is the annual Art Fest in Todos Santos, so I'll have to see if my brother and his wife want to go up they're while they're in Cabo. The four of us have been to it before; it's not that great, but it is something to do if you don't want to just sit around and read (that's not a bad thing, just ask Darlene!). Back to the drive -- at least the last 15 kilometers or so into Todos Santos were paved, so that was a good thing.

It was definitely lunch time and we found the little place we've been to every time we've gone to Todos Santos. I guess that's not saying much since there aren't too many main streets in town, just 2 of them now that I think about it. We ordered two soft tacos and a large Coca-Cola each, and the total bill was 84 pesos. I gave him the extra 16 pesos as a tip - it was still a bargain and we were full. After lunch we walked down the street, into some galleries and shops, and past the Hotel California. Yes, the myth is that the Eagles song is about this hotel. No, their song isn't. Yes, the myth helps their business. Yes, the song is usually blaring from the lobby, but it wasn't today. No, I'm not going to take a photo of the hotel and post it.

I'd seen a cute shop on the other main street and I told Darlene that I had to take a picture of it because it was so cute. This clothing and novelties shop is painted so brightly, even with a decorative box on its roof, that you just have to want to go inside -- but we didn't. But I did take a picture to let you know that I thought it was a pretty store. Isn't it nice that Darlene allows me these simple pleasures?

We enjoyed our time in Todos Santos, but we knew we wanted to re-visit our desviaciones, so we headed out of town and back to Cabo San Lucas. We sat at the sea wall and enjoyed the quiet for a while as the sun was still nice. Shortly, as they were getting ready for tonight's Beach Party on the sand, the noise began and we retired to our room. Dinner was pork chops, mushrooms, salad, and a glass of red wine.

Tomorrow we are planning on a pool day (not that we intend to go into the water), and then up to San Jose del Cabo for Art Walk in the evening. We hope your day has also been good. Hasta luego.

World's Smallest Bar

31 January 2012 -- Cabo San Lucas

After a lazy morning and early part of the afternoon (what else do yo do on "vacation"?), we decided to stroll into town as we knew that many of the cruise ship people would be heading back to ship. We saw only one ship (Carnival), and it was rather quiet along the marina. There were a few fishermen returning with their catches in bags and buckets, and so the boats had to be cleaned. Even the pelicans had to clean themselves after a hard day of work, but they seemed quite content and pleased with their work for the day.

We headed along Marina Boulevard to a little place that we'd seen for years and years, but the big sign was gone. Oh well, shops comes and go around here. What was once a thriving clothing store is now a jewelry shop, and what used to be a cantina now has a "Se Renta" sign in its window. It's no different here than it is anywhere. We walked past a little bar called Slim's, but I said, "That can't be it; there was a 'World's Smallest Bar' sign out front." Darlene thought I was wrong, but we kept walking anyway. We turned around one block later and headed back to Slim's -- Darlene was correct. The barmaid said the big sign I was referring to had been stolen . Gee, imagine that -- someone stealing a sign here in Cabo San Lucas. But we were now in Slim's Elbow Room drinking a beer-- what a perfect name for the World's Smallest Bar because there isn't much more than elbow room inside the bar. But it was a fun atmosphere with people's names and dates on one dollar bills plastered all over the walls and ceiling. We can now say we've been there. Check.

One of the thing we do like down here is to buy and eat the fresh fruits and vegetables. They are colorful, flavorful, and they're pretty darn good for you, too! I did make up batch of guacamole from some of the avocados, and we'll use a few tomatoes to extend the life of the salsa that we get at the local mercado. The limes you see are a little different from the "normal" limes; these are bigger ones. They are called limones sin semillas (limes without seeds). They cost all of un peso per kilo more than the regular limes -- that works out to about four cents per pound, or less than one cent per lime to not have any seeds to deal with. That didn't take me very long to make that decision; plus you need to cut fewer of them when you're only wanting the lime juice.

Dinner tonight was a chicken stir fry. Darlene took a fresh chicken breast and cut it into cubes that I then marinated in olive oil and a sweet Chinese 5-spice blend. She then sauteed some diced garlic plus a serrano pepper in the same pan that I marinated the chicken cubes in, so the flavor of the spice blend came through -- a combination that I was hoping for. She then added the chopped onion and then the mix of the four bell peppers. As you can see, there was quite a combination of vegetables that made the dish quite tasty. We put this over re-warmed rice from the previous evening, and we had a great one-dish meal. Our wine was Santo Tomas 2008 Vino Blanco Chardonnay from Baja California. It was chilled nicely, and it was a perfect complement to the chicken and vegetables. We listened to soft piano music on the iPod and speakers as we enjoyed our meal.

Stuart cleaned up in the kitchen (that was his commitment years ago to "do the dishes on vacation"), while Darlene relaxed and started reading another book -- getting an early start on her February reading. All in all, it was another good day. Of course the motto down here is "No Bad Days," so today fit in just perfectly. Until tomorrow, adios.