Every day is more beautiful than the last. We really got a lot of sun today. Spent most of the day at the beach. Two cruise ships were in. The water was a deep tropical blue and alive with para sailors, wave runners, glass bottom boats and water taxis. We just sat back and enjoyed the scene. The sail boat that had been on the beach is now submerged in the bay, just the mast protruding above the water. Have not met the woman that this boat belongs to. Evidently she thought the hole in the bottom had been fixed and they moved the boat into the water it made it about a hundred yards and sank with all her belongings aboard. She has insurance but there is a lot of red tape.
She is still camping in a tent on the beach. Also someone on the beach told us her boyfriend died of carbon monoxide poisoning in San Diego. Evidently when she tried to cast his ashes in the bay she was arrested for polluting and had to pay a big fine. A very interesting story, I'd like to talk to her and find out if any of it is true.
We had lunch up the beach at Tabascos next to Club Cascades, where Joel and I Worked years ago. We got some good exercise walking up and down the beach a couple of times. Met some interesting people, locals and tourists. On the way home from the beach we stopped off at La Picazon. Imelda and Alex the owners were both there. What really nice people. We had one of Imelda famous margaritas. They are like Mt Rainier piled high in margarita glasses. Topped with slices of lime. She serves them with shots of very smooth tequila. Wow!! You only need one but they so good....
We are really getting this bus thing down, pretty soon we won't have to walk at all, just get the right bus. We are continuing our early to bed late to rise routine. And are reading a lot, what a great time

29 January 04, Thursday. If I must say so myself (which I didn’t have to because everyone else complimented me on it) my breakfast was great. Aaa heck, it was nothing…. I just threw a couple of eggs in the frying pan and wa-la (well they wanted the yokes broken anyway). We donned our walking clothes and headed for town via bus this time. This bus ride is not only cheap but you get quite “close” with the people on it. We rode the smaller bus this time which is more like a large van with about 25 people riding, stopping (every time a finger goes into the air), and riding another few yards. We were on a hunt for shoes but ended up with a swimming suit for Louise. A good trade off with the exception of the pocket book (I’d take shoes anytime). We took in the “New Mall” again as it has been 3 years since Joelle had seen it and it has really changed since then. I was looking for a “Latte” (can you imagine that?) and there is a wonderful Mexican Coffee Shoppe that I’ve been looking forward to trying. I wasn’t disappointed. Off across town we wanted to stop by Eddie Feinstein’s Jewelry and let him know that his software was on it’s way. He has offered his “Baja Buggy” for the rest of our stay so I think we will pick it up Saturday just to have around in case we have had enough of the walking (thinking of Joelle, isn’t that nice?). We left Eddie and went looking for a Taco Stand that we had noticed earlier. We had a great lunch and look forward to seeing him again in the near future…very near future!! Caught a “Kamikaze” bus on the way back…wow !!! I was got off at the grocery store and Louise and Joelle were to go on to the condo but, it didn’t work out quite like that…. I got off OK and went off to the store but, when Louise and Joelle tried to stay on the bus and travel another 300 yards (which the driver didn’t know yet) he wouldn’t move until they disembarked. They tried to tell him that they wanted to travel just a little further but NO…you have to get off, I don’t stop up there !!!! So, off they went… oh well, it was to be a walking vacation anyway. Besides, they just wanted to get back so that they could get one of my MARGARITAS anyway….or was it three.

I was thinking about all the postings that we have done while here in Cabo San Lucas and most have been centered around our family and us. Well, there is a lot more to share with you. With the presence of whales clearly seen from the shores all around Los Cabos, it adds additional excitement to the sea from late December through March every year. The tell-tale spray of water shooting from a surfacing whale blowhole, excites the imagination of what is below the water. “Whales, the mammals of the sea, (called cetaceans) are remarkably related to land animals like cattle, antelopes, pigs and hippopotamuses. They have common ancestors from millions of years ago, that are unlike present day groups.” Last February we had the opportunity to drive from Seattle to our destination of Cabo San Lucas. After crossing the border from California to Mexico, we decided to stop off in the little town of Guerrero Negro and camped the night in the back of our van. We awoke early the next morning and left with a small group of people out into the bay to be with the whales. The female Gray Whales that are there were going to either give birth (calf), or had already given birth, and then there are the whales, male and female, that were a year old. All others stay out in the deeper waters for mating. In the waters of this cove, the whales are more active and they seemed to be all around us, so our guide shut the motor off. We just sat there watching all these beautiful mammals of the deep, surfacing, blowing, and spy-hopping (that’s were they just rise straight up until their eye comes out of the water) . It’s interesting because they just seem to look around, check us out, and then slide back into the water and disappear once more. Sometimes they would break the surface and jump high out of the water and flip over onto their back and splash this huge wave. But THE BEST is when you get the chance to MEET a FRIENDLY WHALE !!!! A friendly whale is a whale that finds YOU interesting as well, and will slowly come over to the boat to scratch it’s self on the bottom of your boat (the Gray Whale has patches of barnacles or lice that itch a lot). After awhile you hope they will just come up to the boat so you can have the PREVILAGE of touching and stroking a 35-50 foot Gray Whale….. These are the same whales that summer in the Artic seas and then travel here to the Baja. This can be up to 12,000 miles round trip and takes about 2 ½ months each way. These are the same whales that are now in the waters around Los Cabos (Lands End) and are what so many of us tourists are keeping our eyes to the sea in the hopes of getting a glimpse. We know that all we will probably see is just the water “spout” or possibly a huge tail pointing skyward….it’s all worth it.

26/27 January ’04, Mon & Tuesday. The last full day for Mary and Lois before heading back to Seattle. They wanted to take in Todo Santos for the day so we all jumped in the car after breakfast and headed North. Todo Santos is just getting ready for their Art Festival at the end of this month. It was all very enjoyable and somehow in all the walking of the streets, Lois and Mary found some “great buys” to take home with them.
After making it back prior to dinner it was decided that we would all get ready and head over to Romeo and Juliet’s for an Italian dinner. Lois told us “right up front, THIS IS MY TREAT” and who was I to say differently? Thank you Lois…..
Well the last day has arrived so we were off to the beach for breakfast and the last of the “sunbathing” prior to getting back to Seattle (WHO ORDERED THE BREAKFAST MARGARITAS LOIS?). A funny thing happened on the way to the airport….. or was it that we found out about it just as we arrived AT the airport? Let me say this about that….”Mary, I do forgive you, and not a word will ever be spoken on this again !!!).
Mom (Lois) and Mary are off and JOELLE HAS ARRIVED !!!! A 40 minute drive back to the condo, a 2 minute change of clothes and we are off to the Sand Bar to get the last rays of the sun on our bods (boy is Joelle ever white…) and have that first cerveza, cheeps and salsa. HMMMMM GOOD !!

Sunday, 25 Jan ’04, The sun is out bright with a light wind that is keeping it just a little cooler than we would like. At 9:30am, we (4of us) jumped in the car and off we went to breakfast at The Bungalow’s Bed & Breakfast. Like I mentioned before in my journal, it is a special meal that Estella puts together (banana nut mango pancake) and this one was no exception . After breakfast, we headed off to the Pedregal beach. Keeping our eyes out to sea, we were lucky enough to see and be entertained by the gray whales with their blowing and breaching as they made their way on to Alaska. It had been along time for Lois to take in the Pacific side of Cabo so, we decided that would be a good side trip before going to Juancho’s Sand Bar & Beach Club for the day. When we arrived at The Sand Bar we picked out our beach chairs, found the sun, ordered lunch, and mucho margaritas, and settled back for a long visit with Doris, Juancho, (their dos ninos) Louisa and Max. Of course Lois (Great Grandma) and Mary (Louise’s sister) had their chance to barter with the beach vendors in the purchases that they had to have before going home. Each day has to come to it’s end and this is no exception as we headed back to our condo. Now feeling that we needed just that little bit more we decided to stop at Mariscos and pick up (para llevar) cerviche de pescado to take home with us…..boy is that good !!!

Saturday, 24 January 04. From what I understand there was a great Surprise Birthday Party back in Seattle. Happy Birthday again Mikleane and Happy Birthday to Ric as well!!!!
Waking up this morning we found that we weren’t washed away overnight and the sun was shining bright and warm. I took advantage of the morning sun and spent some time lounging around the pool looking for a little color to my body. We have additional company coming this afternoon….Louise’s sister Mary will be here until Wednesday and then she will fly back with Lois. Tomorrow we will all go over to The Bungalows Bed & Breakfast and enjoy one of the famous gourmet meals that Estella serves. The BEST !!!
Mary arrived on time and had to rush and push her way through all the timeshare, cab hustlers, and those of us just standing around looking for a familiar face in the masses.
We had a barbecue of chicken for dinner and I made from scratch my version of margaritas. Not Bad if I must say so myself. Tomorrows weather looks great so I’m expecting beach time with a Pacifico.

Thur. 22 January 04. We awoke to a slightly overcast morning so we decided to go up the coast line to Cabo San Jose after breakfast. It is amazing, we made the trip to San Jose in about 30 minutes or less and the first thing that we HAD to do was stop for a Latte (or a cup of coffee) and something sweet to go along with it……what is this, it must be the fresh clear air that makes you do something like that. During coffee, we made plans (adjustable) that would take us to the beautiful Cacti Mundo-Los Cabos Botanical Gardens. They had species of cacti that have never been seen in collections that have been open to the public. What a real treat that was….absolutely beautiful. Next on the list was a short trip to El Estero Historico de San Jose (the historic San Jose Estuary). Unfortunately, this wonderful estuary was drained into the Sea of Cortez during the last summers hurricane. Now that the sea has started to put the sand back into position to block off the fresh water from going out to sea, the estuary is slowly filling again. There was still a lot of bird life there and we had a good time watching them fish and dig into the sand looking for that little micro of what ever it is they feed on. Well, there must have been a wonderful aroma coming down wind because the next thing I knew we were heading into San Jose cento to do some window shopping and LUNCH ANY ONE? What will tomorrow bring?
Well tomorrow arrived and so did the RAIN !!!
About 2-3" over night so we packed up and went to the movie !!!

Wednesday and it is the 21st of January. We were up early and made the place spotless as we had company coming for a visit…..Louise’s mother Lois was arriving early afternoon from Seattle so we went to the airport to pick her up. I dropped Louise off at the door as I went off to find a parking space. In joining her in the lobby and looking until there was no one left to come out Louise looked over to me and didn’t look too good. Have we lost her here in a Mexican airport (and us with no telephone or no address) or did she miss her flight? After a little while I decided to check outside and there she was in her powder blue jacket and pant outfit (looking great!) off on the apron with her hand clutching her bags and looking up the street…”I was just going to wait until you got here cause I thought you might be running a little late” (what, ME?????). Well I want the rest of the family to know that she made it just fine and is in good hands (we’ve already had our first Margarita and chicharronis).

20 January 04, and we have a slight overcast morning so we decided to jump aboard a bus bound for Todo Santos after a light breakfast here at home (already I’m calling this condo “home”, can you believe it?). We really are feeling comfortable and getting into the groove of doing what feels good at that moment. You might feel that we would just run down to the bus station, buy a ticket, wait for the bus and you would be on your way….not quite! The lady behind the counter took us outside and very politely told us that the bus we wanted was available just across the 4 lane highway and it would be by momentarily. Sooo, we carefully made ourselves walk across this street with many cars, trucks, taxi’s, and buses finding us to be fair game as they were barreling down on us all at once. After finding ourselves safely there we thought we might confirm what that kindly sole told us about this being the right spot for the bus we wanted. There was 2 ladies that said no it wasn’t the right spot so , we asked 2 men, and they confirmed that it wasn’t right and they decided to take us to a different bus station about 2 blocks and 2 additional 4 lanes of traffic that we had to find our way through to get to it. Well, an hour later we were on our way and had a wonderful time walking the streets, businesses, coffee shop, “The” Hotel California, and having some wonderful seafood tacos.
Todo Santos over the years has turned into a beautiful little town with lots of wonderful shops, restaurants and great art galleries. It has the feel of an Old Colonial town and has become quite an agricultural cultural center with many organic farms producing fruit, vegetables, and herbs. Most of these will find their way to the finest markets in the US. We spent about 3-4 hours there and then were back to finding a bus back home. Not much trouble finding the bus but, when we stepped on we immediately found that ALL the seats were taken and they were already standing in the isles for the hour plus trip home….Oh well…it still was a great time.

Sunday & Monday, 18 & 19 January 2004. Met with Doug and Bonnie and went to breakfast at Momma’s in Cabo. Very good food but, the prices were SOOOO HIGH that it kind of took the specialness out of the morning. Live and learn…. We didn’t let any grass grow with our disappointment because we headed out for a drive to “El Faro Viejo” (the Old Light House). We have been there a number of times and it is still something special to see and do. Very special. Another reason for going to the light house was to see if the wind was blowing enough to fly kites or Doug’s new plane (not yet). One of the additional attractions from that location was we could view were they were filming Brad Pitts new movie “Troy”. We had to hurry back to meet with a family that we have known and enjoyed enormously for along time. Nacho and Rocio and their daughters were coming by and we were going out to have a long awaited lunch together. We had a lot of catching up to do. Maruja (10) is just a wonderful and most beautiful young lady, Maryanne (2) is a very special and pretty young niña, and their 3 son’s are all off to far reaching places…Chino (16) is in Japan studying, Lynn (21) is New York working with jumping horses with hopes of making the Olympics in the future, and Juanro (26) is Mexico City singing and playing music (a true love). After our visit and a very enjoyable lunch we went back to the condo and caught up on some work with our site and finished a book as well.
Monday we went to the Internet Café after breakfast and then off to the beach for a “Day In The Sun”. No burns but we did get enough sun to show a little color. GREAAT!!