March 21, 22, and 23, 2016 Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico

Monday March 21, 2016
Last night I stayed up very late, finishing a book I was reading.  I got a late start, I didn't make our coffee until 10.  We had food bars and fruit before going to the pool area,

It was a little busier today.  We got lounges near the central poll, but not together.
We were able to move around later so we were sitting together.  None of us won at Loteria today.  We stayed at the pool area until about 5.






























Tonight Gerri made a pasta dish with meat sauce and it was served with a salad

Our nightly domino game was won by Neva.  She is dominating the the game playing this trip.  Dominating the dominoes?

Tuesday March 21, 2016
We had our coffee while reading on the balcony.  The marine layer was very thick on the horizon looking toward the mainland of Mexico.  by 11 AM it had thinned to just a far off haze.

We made it down to the pool area at about 1 and found lounges by the north end of the activities area.  We played Loteria and none of us won any of the games.

We stayed at the pool until time to go to the weekly Owners Welcome party.  Besides the usual chips and dips tonight the featured fish cakes and chicken wings.  During the arty they have drawings for prizes, we didn't win any.

A daily ultra light flight

Not a sunset, a moon rise

After the party we went back to our unit and played our usual domino game.  Neva continues her winning ways, beating us sounder than usual.


Wednesday March 23, 2016

Today was pretty much the same as the last few days.  We had our coffee.  Lounged around the pool are before and after the Loteria game.  No winners in our group.  We did talk to a family from Boise, Idaho before returning to the room.  They are here for the week.  Chad is an executive recruiter for sports steams, he recruits executives not players.  Maureen works for Blue Cross/ Blue Shield.  They have two small daughters.

Back in our unit we had a dinner of left overs and salad.  Gerri won the the nightly domino game.  I am falling way behind with only one win.

Neva walked around the north end of the property.  She got pictures of the Sea of Cortez and some of the boat traffic the goes by the area.

March 18, 19 and 20, 2016 Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico

Friday March 18, 2016

We spent the morning reading and doing Sudoku puzzles.  It seems like I get worse at them rather than better. We went to the pool area at about noon, surprisingly we got lounges near the activity center pool.

At two we played the Loteria games.  No winners here for us.






We had some snack around the pool and stayed there until about 5.  It wasn't as windy as yesterday.

Back in our unit we relaxed some more before a dinner of left overs from Monday and Thursday's meals.

I won the nightly domino game.  My first win on this trip.  The score now is two wins each for Gerri and Neva, one win for me.

Tonight there was a nice but not spectacular sunset.

Thanks and praise, for our days,
'Neath the sun, 'neath the stars, neath the sky;
As we go, this we know, God is nigh.

Saturday March 19, 2016

There was a falconer around the pool area today

Another afternoon at the pool area.  Gerri one of the Loteria Games.  We relaxed around the pool until about 5 and then headed back to our unit.  

Tonight Gerri fixed salad and a spinach quiche with bacon for dinner.

Sun has set, shadows come,
Time has fled, Scouts must go to their beds
Always true to the promise that they made.

Neva won our nightly domino game,  It seemed like a long day but we really didn't do much except enjoy the day. 

Sunday March 20, 2016

This morning we tuned into the net-cast from the Oakey Boulevard Church of Christ and worshiped with our home congregation.  We didn't bring communion supplies so we couldn't participate in the Lord's Supper.  We usually don't have dependable internet, so we hadn't made provision for the worship service.

In the afternoon we went to the pool area.  Gerri won two Loteria games today.  We all did some reading and I napped for awhile.

Gerri made salmon croquet for supper and served them with a salad and a rice with vegetables dish.  Very good.

Neva took some pictures around the property and I have included some of them.

Another domino game resulted in another win for Neva.

While the light fades from sight,
And the stars gleaming rays softly send,
To thy hands we our souls, Lord, commend.

March 17, 2016 Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico

We woke up to a windy day.  Palms swaying and white caps on the sea.

We signed up for internet time, so we can stay in contact.  The price for the service is much more reasonable this year.  We caught up on news from home.  Gerri's brother, Hollis, had a couple of medical procedures that went well and brother-in-law John had one that also went well.  Prayers are answered.

The wind stayed pretty constant all day.  Neva did't go to the pool area with us.  Most of the umbrellas around the pool couldn't be left up, so shade was at a premium.

This is the way to the pool,
one of the trees is decorated for Easter

 We sat at a table by the towel area for the Loteria games.  We didn't win any games.  We lounged around the pool until almost four.  We went to the office to make reservations for next year, but found that that department had moved to Mexico City.  We either have to phone or e-mail them. 

After picking up a few items at the store, I went back to the pool area.  Gerri joined me for awhile after dropping the groceries at our room.

We went back to our unit and Gerri prepared an excellent meal of sauteed vegetables and chicken.. We also had a fresh salad.

Our evening domino game resulted in another resounding defeat for me and the win went to Gerri.

Fading light, dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright.
From afar, drawing nigh, falls the night.

Because of the wind there were no clouds to make a colorful sunset;  This picture is from yesterday.

March 14, 15, 16, 2016 Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico

Monday March 14, 2016

We were up at 4:30 AM.  John drove us to Neva’s house to pick her up and we headed for the airport for a 9:30 flight.  We had no idea what the traffic would be like that early in the morning so to be safe we took the I-215 around the valley to the west.  We arrived at the airport by 7 and the biggest delay was waiting for the wheelchairs.  Both Neva and I requested a chair to get around the airports.  Our flight boarded on time but there was a long delay getting to the take-off area.  The problem with the delay was that we only had 30 minutes to get to our connecting flight in Los Angeles.  That worked out well for us after the flight to Cabo was changed to the same airplane we were on.  We only had to deplane for the cleaning and re board the same airplane.

View from our balcony

The flight to Los Cabos was uneventful and we arrived there at about 2:30. By the time we got to our transportation and arrived at the Hacienda Del Mar it was 4:30.  Our unit was ready and we got settled in pretty quickly.

The special at Girasoles was Fajitas.  We had a great dinner there and had plenty of left overs.

Fajita combo plate

Back at the unit we played our domino game.  Neva won.

It was a long day and we were in bed by 10 PM.

Tuesday March 15, 2016

We slept in this morning.  Our only plan was to make a trip into Cabo to pick up groceries at Costco.  We got around to that at about 2 PM and were back at the Hacienda Del Mar in time for the owners welcome party.  We didn’t win any of the door prizes.  They served chicken empenadas, BBQ ribs, salsa and chops.  The food was good and was our supper.

At the owners welcome party

Neva and the Mariachis

Our domino game was won by Neva by a large margin.  We didn’t even play the double zero round, neither of us had a chance of catching her.

Wednesday March 16, 2016

This morning we went to a presentation at the new property, Solaz, being sold during construction.  These presentations are called member updates but are in reality pitches to upgrade to a more expensive contract.  They make a lot of offers to entice buyers. The design of that property was more modern than the Hacienda Del Mar.  It was also more money.  We passed on any changes and went back to our resort.  We did get breakfast for the 3 of us plus $100 for use in the restaurants at our resort.

Condos in the building on the left start at 1.6 million

Neva had already returned to the Hacienda Del Mar and we met her in the pool area in time for the last three games of Loteria.  We didn’t win any of the games.  There was some whale activity.  It was pretty far offshore but we could see them blowing and they jumped several times.

Dinner was Mondays left overs plus a fresh salad.   Our domino game was won by Gerri.

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lake, from the hills, from the sky;
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

Wednesday January 20, 2016 Las Vegas, Nevada

We didn't try for an early start.  We had breakfast at the hotel, they had waffles shaped like Texas.  We fueled up the car and were on the road by 8 AM.

Even without the high speed limits of Texas, we made good time.  There were some construction slow downs and from Phoenix to I-40 there was cross traffic.  Our last stop for fuel was in Kingman, AZ.  It was dark before we got to the Arizona/Nevada stateline.  We got home at about 7, and unloaded the car.

It was a good trip after the delays were behind us.  We had a great visit with Curtis and his family.  Unfortunately, we had to cancel the planned visit to see Uncle Curtis Ford.  We also had to cancel the visit with cousins JoNell and Herb in Garrison, Texas originally planned for the New Year holiday.  We did take the time after the cruise to spend Sunday evening and Monday with Uncle Curtis and Aunt Gloria in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The cruise portion of the trip took us to three places we had never been and back to one, Cozumel, that we last visited in the fall 2002.  The new places we visited were; Roatan, Honduras, Belize City, Belize and Costa Maya, Mexico.
I managed to find 11 geocaches and added 2 countries to my list of places I have found geocaches, Honduras and Belize.  That brings my total to 21 countries.

God has blessed us with a level of heath and means that allows us to to enjoy the beauty he created.  Our next planned trip is 4 weeks in Cabo San Lucas, starting in mid-March.  As my Grandmother used to say in West Virginia; "Lord willin' and the crick don't rise."

Tuesday 19, 2016 El Paso, Texas

Saturday the 16th
This was our last full day of this cruise.  It was a day at sea.  We had our coffee and breakfast in the cabin.

At 1:30 we had another meeting for geocachers.  The entire group from the first meeting wasn't there, only Grand Penguin.  There were two others who were interested.  One worked for parks and recreation in a Virginia town.  He set up programs for the parks and the community and wanted to see if programs could be designed around geocaching.

Some time in the afternoon the Captain announced that rough weather was ahead with probable delays in arrival in Houston.  True to the Captain's word we had a bumpy afternoon.  It wasn't terrible but very noticeable.  We did take the precaution and took Dramamine.

For dinner we went to the Crown Grill with a couple we had met the first day of the cruise, Dan and Sherry Chance.  They are from the Woodland, north of Dallas.  They are also RV'ers.  The Crown Grill is one of the premium restaurants on the Caribbean Princess.

It was still rough seas when we went to bed.


Sunday the 17th
Some time during the night the wind calmed down.  We were only 1 1/2 hours late getting into Houston.  Our original disembarkation was scheduled for 9 AM.

Since we were late we went to the Horizon Court and had breakfast before going to our meeting place to wait for our group to be called.

We were in our car and on the way to Corpus Christi.  We had decided to visit Aunt Gloria and Uncle Curtis before hurrying home.  Our original plans had included a visit in Corpus Christi before the cruise.  As you may remember those plans were changed by my medical procedure and its complication.
We got to Corpus in the late afternoon.  My cousin Lael had come down from Houston to visit.  Gloria, Lael and I are the last of the Barker family from West Virginia. Lael was born in West Virginia but has lived in Texas most of her life.  Even though I still think of West Virginia as home, both Gloria and I have lived most of our lives elsewhere.  Gloria in Texas and me in Nevada.

Gerri, me, Curtis Ford, Gloria Ford, Lael Ford Miller

We visited until dinner time and then went to a nearby Cracker Barrel to eat.  Back at the house we played various card games until bedtime.










Monday the 18th

Lael left for the drive back to Houston this morning. We had a relaxing morning and then went to Sparky's BBQ pit for lunch after Curtis stopped to feed some gulls in a parking lot near their  home.








The BBQ had just changed their name.  They had great sandwiches beside the usual ordering the BBQ meats by the pound.  They also featured a salad bar.










We took a drive in downtown Corpus Christi and along the waterfront.

A replica of one ofColumbus' ships

In the afternoon we played some more cards.  I hope we remember how to play them later.  They were all quick games designed for large groups.  We played Left, Right, Center; 31; Mess with your Neighbor, also know by other names and Memory.

After more visiting in the afternoon we went to La Playa Mexican Restaurant for dinner.  We had a great meal but after our lunch we weren't able to do it justice.  I had a dish I had never heard of; deep fried avocado, stuffed with shrimp. before deep frying it was wrapped in the white cheese we normally see inside chili rellanos.

We played more cards before bedtime.  I felt like I was starting to come down with a cold and started taking a Z-pack of antibiotics, in hopes of warding it off.

Tuesday the 19th

A Texas Rest Area

We were up at 5 AM and had coffee with Curtis and Gloria.  By 6 we were on the road.  We gassed up before getting on the interstate.  As usual I slept most of the time when Gerri drove.  After one stop for fuel I drove to the next fuel stop in Ft. Stockton.  We had lunch at a restaurant in Ft. Stockton, well Gerri had lunch, I had French Toast and eggs.

We did stop at a couple of rest stops.  I found a cache at the first one.  Texas has some really nice rest stops.  They also have Picnic areas and Parking Areas, the later two don't have restrooms.  But, if needed they make handy places to take a break.

The antibiotics seem to be working and I felt better  by afternoon.  At one of our fuel stops we had decided to stop for the night in El Paso instead of driving straight through.  I called ahead and made reservations at Hawthorn Suites where we had stayed before.  We arrived at the hotel at about 5 PM.

We went to dinner at Appleby's.  Back at the hotel we called it a night.  Tomorrow will be a long day of driving, with no more Texas 80 MPH speed limits.

Friday January 15, 2016 At Sea Between Cozumel, Mexico and Houston, Texas

The Ides of January, the first month of 2016 is half over.  We docked at Cozumel at about 5:30.  I knew that because the side thrusters woke me up.  I went back to sleep, we had no tours planned for today.  We had our coffee and breakfast in the cabin.  Gerri got ready and went to the pool area.  I had checked the GPS and decided to walk outside and see if any of the caches were close enough to try for.  From the end of the dock the nearest cache that I hadn’t found was 6 tenths of a mile away.  Further than I wanted to walk in the heat and humidity.  I debated taking one of the many Pedicabs that were plying the docks, but decided against it.

I went back on board and spent some time in the library.  The Carnival Magic was docked across from us.  I believe from Facebook that our friend Maryetta Bowman is on that ship.  What a coincidence if I had seen her on the dock, but I didn’t.  That ship is at least as large as ours, with as many passengers;

I met Gerri back at the cabin.  We rested for a while before dressing for the Captain’s Circle Party.  We did watch a beautiful sunset and moon rise from our balcony before going to the party.  We sat with a couple from South Carolina,  They also had ties to the Houston area.  The top two most traveled passengers we introduced.  They were the same people as last week, now with even more days at sea.

We went to our regular dining table and time.  We dined alone again.  Tonight was Lobster and prawns.  We both had Escargot and then the Lobster.  I also ordered the Beef Wellington to make my meal Surf and Turf.

After dinner we stopped by the Crooner’s Lounge.  We heard one and a half songs and the piano player went on break.  We had seen the performance in the Princess Theater twice before so we decided to return to the cabin.  We read and tried to solve Sudoku puzzles before going to sleep.  I think I am getting better at them.  I still fail many of the more difficult puzzles and am much slower than Gerri with the ones I do solve.