Sky Islands!

Just chalk it up to boredom. We've been home two weeks and we're suffering from wanderlust. Thursday morning we woke up at 6:00 a.m., walked the dog, rode the bikes five miles, and decided we needed a little roadtrip.

We started out there.

And ended here. (Go ahead, scratch and sniff. Smell the pine!)

We lunched on a cool 73 degree sun dappled mountain deck, listening to the wind rustling through the aspens (yes, I said aspens!) and gazing out at the ski slopes.

We split a Log Jammer Sandwich with warm German potato salad.

And of course, we didn't miss the Mountain Berry Crumble Pie! I'd read about it in a guidebook. It was definitely worth the two hour drive!


Recognize this chair in the lobby? It'd been a few years, so Craig had to try it out.

In Arizona, mountains are sometimes called islands in the sky. They jut up out of the desert floor and reach to the sky. It seems so odd that a person can travel from desert floor with saguaros to pine forests with ski runs in a thirty minute drive.

To be continued!

Doors and More

Once in awhile, I notice a door I don't remember from past trips, but usually I can't resist snapping photos of the same facades over and over. I have an ongoing obsession with the bright colors and vintage architectural details on Isla! Here are some random shots from this trip.

Isla Artscape

I tend to selectively take photos of what I view as beauty when I'm on Isla Mujeres. I say beauty, but I have had relatives I won't name pointedly ask me why I took a picture of that old beat-up door. Beauty's in the eye of the beholder! In the ten plus years we've been visiting the island, it's gotten increasingly easier to find real art on the streets of Isla. Here are some photos from this last trip.


Entrance to Om Bar. I've taken photos of Om murals in the past, but I think this one is different.

Architectural detail on Juarez casa.


Malecon mural.


This is why they call it the Crayola House.

The murals and paint always look fresh!

An interesting mural on the side of the Crayola House.

Dismembered mermaid.

New arch at entrance to Posada Beach.

Da Luisa

Da Luisa's become a last morning Isla breakfast tradition for us since it's two doors down from our usual island digs at Casa Luna Turquesa. This last trip was no exception since it was raining out and we still needed to pack.

Da Luisa serves great breakfast, lunch, and dinner Tuesday through Sunday. I also noticed when we were on the island, John Cain was providing Saturday evening Happy Hour entertainment. The restaurant's located atop Casa Ixchel at the south end of the airport strip.

The palapa dining room at Da Luisa has nice views of the Caribe. The surf was up since Tropical Wave #4 was passing through the Yucatan.

Here's Craig all tanned up after his two weeks in paradise.

While we were ordering breakfast, we noticed others getting their yoga on in the palapa below. It made me feel a little guilty since I was about to pig out with a fabulous breakfast!

Craig and I both ordered omelets and the meals came with a first course fruit plate!

A side of yummy rosemary potatoes accompanied the omelets!

My Da Luisa mushroom, tomato, and cheese omelet was the best one I had on this trip! Here's a link to Da Luisa's menu.

Freaky Friday

This photo makes me flinch. We stayed at the Posada del Mar for four nights at the beginning of our trip. This guy, Stumpy, hung around on the sidewalk outside the lobby area.

When Craig saw Stumpy, he went into a lengthy explanation about how iguanas can regenerate their tails. I vaguely recall something about worms regenerating body parts from high school biology, but I was amazed he remembered that fact about iguanas. I think he responded with something like -- Stick with me baby and I'll show you the world?

Sorry Stumpy, but it kind of repulses me. As a child, I also couldn't touch the encyclopedia pages with photos of snakes or spiders. Maybe that's why I majored in English Lit in college.

Yellow and Blue Fest

Enough about dirt! Yellow and blue are my two favorite colors on Isla. Here are a few photos from this trip.

Last Night's Haboob

Every year, I eagerly await the arrival of monsoon season. I can't wait for that first bucket dumping rain and lightning show. The part I don't particularly care for is the haboob. Yes, haboob is really a word. This whopper of an haboob hit us last night around 7:20 p.m. and went on forever. Power went off and on twice, and we're now cleaning up the mess.

We have a mountain to the south of us, so we saw it early on engulfing the San Tans and had time to get inside and take cover. Contrary to some of the news reports I've seen this morning that say it's the first desert sand/dirtstorm to hit the U.S. since the dirty 30's, haboobs are common to the Phoenix area and we get hit by them frequently every summer, but they're usually not this large! Locals say this was epic -- the biggest in a decade.

There's a thick layer of dirt on everything outside and the pool is a mess, so we'll definitely be spending the day outdoors cleaning.

Here are a few photos I snapped as the thing rolled in last night.

Craving Barlito's!

Craig and I are a little like Saby right now. Drop dead tired and suffering from Isla withdrawals. After our 6 a.m. bike ride this morning, we returned home with growling stomachs, wishing we could take a quick stroll down the street for some delicious breakfast viddles!

We've been back less than a week and our usual granola bars, cereal, and coffee just are cutting it! We're in the midst of Barlito withdrawals! Tiffany and Brad's wonderful baked goods and breakfast and lunch sandwiches became our favorite fixin's on the island this trip!

Barlito's, in addition to great food, is information central! Tiffany's great tips helped make our Isla stay special! You can also buy one of Mapchick's Isla maps here.

I wish Brad delivered his Cinnamon Rolls to Phoenix!

Their Breakfast Panini's are to die for!

I wish I remembered the names of everything we ordered in our two weeks on the island, but the titles escape me now. I got lazier with each return visit and forgot to take photos before the goods were consumed, but everything on the menu we tried was wonderful! Several afternoons, we dropped by on our way home for warm chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven. We also had their pizza and dip at a friend's catered Happy Hour, and yum! Culinary perfection!

Our tastebuds are eagerly awaiting our return to the island in November!