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.

Thursday January 14, 2014 At Sea Between Belize City, Belize and Cozumel, Mexico

We were anchored off the coast of Belize early in the morning.  We ordered coffee and breakfast in our cabin.  Gerri’s plan for the day was to spend some time at pool side.  My plan was to go ashore and find the cache that was missing last week when we were here.

We went to the library and got computer chores out of the way.  Gerri went to the pool area and I went ashore.  I found the cache.  The container had been replaced by the Grand Penguins, who had been at the geocachers meeting on Tuesday.  I spent some time in the cruise terminal trying to get an internet connection to log my find on geocaching.com.  I was able to get e-mail but not on line to websites.

Belize City harbour

Belize City harbor

A key off the coast of Belize, there are hundreds

The bridge from our balcony

I met Gerri back in the cabin at about 4 PM.  We went to the Skywalker for hors d’oeuvres at about 5:45. It was lighter tonight than it was last week and we could see that the departure from the Belizean coast required a lot of turns in the winding channel.  Tonight’s feature was salsa and avocado dip.  In the past these have been so so.  Tonight, both the salsa and dip were excellent, the best we have had on board.  Between hors d’oeuvres and dinner we spent some time in the Explorer’s Lounge watching Mardi Gras dancing lessons.  

We had dinner at our regular time and table.  The other couple wasn’t there.  After dinner we watched Karaoke performers in the Club Fusion.

We returned to our cabin and read and worked on Sudoku puzzles until retiring.

Wednesday January 13, 2016 At Sea Between Costa Maya, Mexico and Belize City, Belize

Tuesday the 12^th

This was our second day at sea heading for our first port of call, Costa Maya, Mexico.  We ordered coffee in our room and later had lunch in the Horizon Court.  It featured American Lunch.  We spent some time in the library catching up on computer stuff.

I had put in a request for a shout out to geocachers before we left Houston.  The meeting was set up for 3:30 in the Wheel House Bar.  At this meeting we had 12 people.  Half were cachers and the rest were interested in knowing more about it.  The cachers were us and two couples from Louisiana.  We shared information on caches in the upcoming ports.  All the other cachers had been to these ports before.  One cacher, Grand Penguin, planned to replace the missing one in Belize City.

We went to the early show featuring Duncan Tuck.  He was an excellent guitar player and he mixed that with comedy.  All in all, an entertaining show.  We went to our regular dining table.  The couple from DC were not there tonight. 

Before returning to our cabin we stopped in the Explorer’s Lounge and watched a Game called “Majority Rules.”  Back at our cabin we read for a while, I also tried my hand at some more challenging Sudoku puzzles. Our tour on Wednesday doesn’t start until 12:30 so we weren’t in a rush to go to bed.

Wednesday the 13^th

We were docked in Costa Mayo by 7 AM.  I decided to go to find a nearby cache before our tour.  I left the ship at about 8:30. Because of information given out at yesterday’s meeting, I knew I had to go a couple of miles to Downtown Mahahual to find it.  There was a shuttle to downtown.

Valley of the ships

From the shuttle it was about a 400’ walk to the cache location.  The cache was in an ammo box at the Tropicante Restaurant.  Both workers and patrons knew where the box was.  I signed the log and took a picture to “discover” a travel bug.  When traveling out of the country I usually don’t pick up a travel bug unless I know it’s goal.  I talked to one of the patrons for a while.  Two of the other cachers on the Caribbean Princess showed up.

I took a taxi back to the port.  It was hot and humid.  I was tired after walking from the port village to the ship.  I called Gerri and asked her to meet me on the pier to go to the meeting place for our tour.  The tour was on an air conditioned bus.  The name of the tour was Mayan Cultural Experience.  Our first stop was a village that had a small Mayan Temple.   Our guide explained the Mayans interest and abilities in astronomy and mathematics.  The construction of this temple was based on the Mayan calendar.  Our next stop was the home of a Mayan family, Limones.  We walked through the area observing how the family lived.  We had a snack of taquitos.  The chicken was prepared in an underground oven similar to what the Hawaiians do.  One of the family members gave a demonstration of how the natives used to extract fiber from different leaves to weave useful items.

It was a 45-minute drive back to the port.  Back on the ship we were hot and tired.  We decided to pass on the dining room and have cheeseburgers on deck 15.  After eating we went to the Princess Theater and watched a show by the ship’s dancers and singers called Do You Wanna Dance.  Before returning to our cabin we watched another trivia game.  This time the theme was Rock and Roll.

Back at the cabin we got ready for bed and either read or worked on Sudoku puzzles until retiring.