Happy Pavo Day!

What a fantastic way to spend Thanksgiving Day!  Craig completed his open water dive certification today, and I lazed the day away in my beach chair on Playa Norte.  In another hour, we'll head into town to eat our Thanksgiving dinner at Jax.  Since we ate a seafood feast in Bucerias last Thanksgiving and had ham for Christmas, I'm overdue for that plate of turkey and fixin's!
 
After spending most of the day in Cancun yesterday at the dentist's, we headed to Playa Norte in the late afternoon.  I love the light that time of day.  

Once the sun started sinking, we headed over to visit friends on Juarez.

The afternoon chess tournament was in full swing.

The chairs in front of Ricardo's Fire Opal are great for people/street watching. It's also an ideal place to catch a cab home.

This trip home, we piled in with Speedy Gonzalez.  I snapped a quick photo of the fading sunset out over the bay as we left El Centro.

Soon, Speedy had reached maximum speed and I snapped another photo.  That was before he catapulted through the devil's curve swerving into the other lane, passed our street, skidded around the next corner, and came to a screeching halt in front of our building.   He tacked on a 5 peso surcharge for the thrill ride.  We were so glad to reach our destination intact, we gladly paid it!

Just another day in Paradise!  : )

A Little Isla Slideshow

I got a little bored last night with no internet and made a slideshow with some of the photos I've taken so far. I'm back online (but I'm guessing it may not last).

Call AAA Roof Repair

Okay, I know the guy probably knows what he's doing, but it just looked a little risky.  Ha!  If I saw this at home, I'd dial 911.  : )

Name That Bird

Returning from a long morning walk a few days ago, we noticed this beautiful pink bird next to the walkway across Salina Grande.  I literally gasped when I saw it!

I was going to ask for help identifying this gorgeous bird, but this weekend we noticed a display in the zocalo set up in conjunction with the Caribbean Festival.  The paper maiche version of the real thing was displayed.  Espatula Rosada.  I think that would translate to pink spoonbill.

The paper maiche version.

Blame It on the Baguette!

One of my favorite breakfasts on Isla Mujeres is the BLT Baguette at Bally Hoo.   They add avocado for me and it is so good!  Friday morning after his first open water dive, Craig was famished, so we met on Medina and headed to Bally Hoo.

The sandwich tasted wonderful.  We were sitting there enjoying the beautiful morning, watching the fishing boats.  Somewhere in the second half of the baguette, I started encountering grit.  Had they put sand in my sandwich?   Surely not!

I then realized it wasn’t sand.  As my tongue swiped across the back of my front teeth, I realized I was missing half of a tooth!

Crap!  While some people come to Mexico for dental work, it was never my plan!  I was more than puzzled because I just had my teeth checked and cleaned last week at home.  Fortunately, I remembered a friend mentioning that his dentist in Cancun was state of the art, so we headed to his apartment.  He quickly got in touch with another friend of ours who had the dentist's number and could make the appointment.  A few hours later, I was sitting in a dental chair in Cancun.  Drat.

Long story short, while the BLT Baguette from Bally Hoo was muy delicioso, it was very expensive!  I thought I'd lost a filling in one of my front teeth, but it turned out to be the crown a cosmetic dentist had done back in Washington State.  And there was no patching it until I could get home since we're here for a month.  It was completely cracked.

I'm now happy to announce that once again, I have two front teeth.  I guess all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!  (Remember that song?) 

I'm also excited to have internet service once again!  Hallelujah! I'm definitely more excited about that than the new crown  We go back to Cancun on Wednesday morning for some final work.  Hopefully, everything with the new crown will be todo bien.   I'll give the full report on that in another post.

On a happier note, we made it to the beach everyday last week except Friday!  The water feels warmer than other Novembers I’ve visited. 

Once again, life is good!

Some Island Fare

Watch out for the happy crabs!

From the tiny Scooter Store?

Creepy!

 Speeding iguanas!  Please take notice!

 For all you mermaids who need your scales trimmed.

Bringing in the conch.

Todo Bien!

It was a beautiful first day on Isla! 

After waiting in the longest immigration and customs lines I've seen at Cancun airport, we finally arrived on Isla and quickly settled in.  Once we landed on the S.S. Ultramar, life was todo bien!  This morning after walking the long loop around Punta Sur and eating lunch at Bally Hoo with a friend, Craig and I threw down towels on Playa Norte in front of Maria del Mar in mid-afternoon.

The water was fantastic!  Much warmer than I expected in mid-November.

After a lengthy float in the pale turquoise water, I laid back to admire the view.  Don't you love this rustic wooden sailboat!

Hope tomorrow's another glorious beach day!

Listo!

We'll be up early tomorrow morning, and hopefully back on the island by early evening! We're packed and ready to go. Here's a rerun from June!

Isla Mujeres June 2011 - slideshow dvd

(To hear the music, scroll over the bottom left side of the slideshow and click on the mute slash.)

Time to Pack!

It's time to switch gears and get back into Isla mode. After a morning appointment and some errands, I must start throwing some clothes in piles and deciding what to pack for our upcoming trip!   Only a few more sleeps at home left.  Here are some favorite photos from our happy place -- Isla Mujeres!

Lost!

Craig and I have been trying to get in better shape lately with long morning walks and bike rides, so when we were in Sedona, we decided to take a little hike in the Bell Rock area. The plan was to limit the walk/hike to about an hour since I was feeling a little punk.

We planned to pick up a local trail map on our way out of the hotel, but the concierge had them under lock and key and we didn't want to wait in a line from a tour bus to get one. So we set out with the assumption that there would be posted maps of specific trails and distances at the trailhead parking lot.

You know what they say about assuming! After we'd paid our $5 for the parking permit at the trail head, we realized there was no trail map posted for the area.  Oops! We then rationalized that we'd hiked here before some years back and it would not be a problem.  How hard could it be!

Equipped with one bottle of water apiece, we decided to just hike to the backside of Bell Rock, turn around, and double back to the parking lot. About 20 minutes into the hike, Craig decided we really should climb Bell Rock. Uh, no!  I could just see me scrambling up that slippery rock, slipping, and tearing the tiny thread of miniscus that holds my knee together.  So as a compromise, we decided to loop around Bell Rock and back to the parking lot.  After all, we both remembered seeing a Big Loop sign at a fork in the trail.  Big Loop was evidently a trail that circled around the rock and back to the parking lot!

Well, we ass-umed wrong.  We also assumed there would be good signage to lead us back to the parking lot.  Wrong!  The sign above was typical.  I think it means the trail goes this way and that away?

I'll just cut to the chase.  We ended up on a really big loop. My dad used to say you're never lost until you're out of gas.  In terms of hiking in the desert, I think that wisdom translates to you're never lost until you're out of water and energy.  By the two hour mark, I was out of water and stumbling up and down the rocky trail.  The few directional signs we saw tended to give about as much info as the sign above. We were lost!

Sometime well after the two-hour mark, we came upon an older woman with her shoes off sitting on a rock in a dry stream bed.  And of course, there was a fork in the trail with no indication as to which direction lead back to the parking lot. After staring at the sign for a few minutes, I decided to do the unthinkable. Ask for advice!

Uhhhh . . .  excuse me.  Do you happen to know which trail leads back to the Bell Rock Parking lot?  

The Sage of Sedona answered in her folksy accent -- Oooooooohhhhhhh, come on now!

No really, we're out of water and need to get back to the Bell Rock parking lot.

Ooooooooohhhhhhhhh, come on now! 

The Sage seemed to be passing some sort of judgement on our desire to reach the destination as opposed to just enjoying the journey.  She reminded me of the troll on the bridge in Sesame Street.  Before you can pass by me, questions you must answer three.

A bit desperate, I explained once again that we were lost, had hiked much farther than we were prepared to, and REALLY needed to get back to our car.

Oooooooohhhhhhhhhhh, come on now!

By then, I think I was glaring at her.  After blathering something about the joys of hiking in the vortex, she finally threw us a bone and offered that both trails eventually led back to the parking lot.  Alrighty there!  And once again, I dared to ask her which way was the shortest.

Can you guess her answer?   Oooooooooohhhhhhhhh, come on now!

By that time, thirsty and with my knee throbbing, I was ready to grab the Sage by the throat and shake the answer out of her, but we decided she actually might be insane and decided to just go it on our own.  After another 20 minutes of hiking, we finally caught sight of a parking lot in the distance.

Instead of our little one hour walk around Bell Rock in the foreground, we ended up doing the BIG Loop around both of these huge rocks.  Almost three hours later and at least four and a half miles on the trail, our dogs were barkin'!

Ooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, come on now!  

Senor Hermit Crab

A post this last week on Notes from Paradise explained all about hermit crabs. I had no idea! By the way, if you haven't bookmarked this blog, you need to! Lynda's blog is listed on my sidebar, or you can click on this link: http://lynda-notesfromparadise.blogspot.com/2011/11/what-heck-is-that.html.

The post made me wonder if a video I took in June of a hermit crab on the pool ledge at Luna Turquesa had anything to do with Lynda's Crab-i-tat? Maybe Senor Hermit Crab was newly outfitted, or maybe he needed to drag that torpedo he's trailing over there and trade up!

Way back in May 2008, I noticed this cute little sign at the house next door to Luna Turquesa. At the time, I had no idea who lived there, but now I know!



Here's the video of Senor Hermit Crab! I promise no hermit crabs were injured during the filming of this video!

Anna Maria Slideshow

The Mile High Club

Okay, that title's a little misleading, but we'll see how many hits this post gets!  As always, one of the highlights of our road trip to the Sedona area was the food.  We found the coolest place to eat in Jerome, Arizona on our trip.   The Mile High Club!

The Mile High Club, located in an historic building in downtown Jerome, features a retro airline theme. 

Craig and I both ordered the Fried Chicken Cobb Salads with chipotle ranch dressing.  The photo doesn't really do it justice!  Yum!

I looked at this fan a few times before realizing it'd been built to mimick the front of an old prop plane jutting out of the ceiling!

The Javelina Cantina in Sedona is another long-time favorite of ours.  We're guilty of eating there at least two meals every trip.   After ordering an amazing taco salad one day for lunch, we returned the following evening for the special -- the smoked chicken verde enchiladas topped with chipotle crema.  We both only managed to finish half the entree, but it was amazing! 

The food at the Javelina Cantina is always great, and the view from the dining area is equally amazing!



  Okay, I'm definitely hungry now!  Wonder what Craig's fixing me for lunch?  (Nada.)

Sedona Colors

I'm so excited!  I finally figured out the problem with my slow blog page.  Maybe it wasn't painful for readers, but I could barely scroll down the page. I took Ann's advice and switched to Firefox.  It's a miracle!  
  

 This whirligig sculpture with the majestic Red Rocks in the background is my fave!

The Big Clucker!

A way out West!

 

I thought for sure I was going to have to redesign this blog page by deleting all the gadgets and seriously reducing the size and number of photos.  Plop plop fizz fizz -- I'm free once again to post with wild abandon! 

Dress Rehearsal

We've spent the last two days preparing for a roadtrip to the Midwest.  It was not a journey we wanted to make right now, but something cropped up last minute that required our presence in Kansas.  Specifically, there were buyers for my mother's house and it needed to be cleaned out pronto. 

I was planning on switching my blog header to the vintage red Arizona truck and surprising blog readers with a Where in the World is Saby? expose.  Perhaps some photos of Saby standing next to the Welcome to New Mexico or Welcome to Kansas sign?  Or maybe a photo of Saby at the glamorous Rodeway Inn in Tucumcari, New Mexico that allows dogs in the room?

Anyway, I pulled myself out of bed very early this morning -- 4 a.m. -- to get the house in order. I even wrapped some Christmas gifts to drop off with my mom.  We checked off chores from the list as we walked the dog, locked all the doors and windows, turned off the A/C, watered plants, loaded the car with our bags and Saby, pulled out of the driveway, pulled back in to make sure we'd unplugged the coffee pot, and finally were ready to head out on the highway.

Saby, in the meantime, bored with the wait, had rolled the back window on the Pilot all the way down and was hanging out the side with a big smile on her face.  When we first adopted Saby, our son had warned us about that talent.   We dismissed it as coincidence (having her paw in just the right place) until we noticed that yes, she DID have the ability to push the button and lower her window, usually when the car's barrelling down the freeway.  So we know now to use the child locks on the windows.

But back to the story.  We pulled out of the neighborhood once again and headed up Lindsay to the 202 Santan Freeway.  Once we turned east, Craig and I admired the sunrise while Saby, with the window locked in the 1/3 down position, enjoyed the wind in her face.  About 40 minutes later, just as we were exiting the interstate to head north out of Phoenix metro to Payson and points beyond, my cellphone rang.  It was my brother.  Roadtrip cancelled!  The buyers changed their minds and the big clean out is postponed!

So we turned around and took the slow road home in the early morning rush.  We left at 6:30 a.m. and pulled back in at 8:30 a.m.  Once home, we decided to quickly unpack and get everything put away.  As we  unloaded all the stuff in from the car, Saby, still shaking with excitement in the laundry room trying to get back to the garage and car, gave us a puzzled disgusted look that said -- this has to be a stupid human trick!

After destroying all the evidence, Craig and I both collapsed for a few hours to recover from our whirlwind roadtrip.  Unfortunately, this event was just a dress rehearsal for a required future trip, but we're glad to be back home again and more than a little relieved to postpone the ordeal. 

I do think Saby's a little pissed off.  She was really looking forward to all those cows, sheep, deer, horses, and various other animal sightings along the way!  She hasn't been on a long roadtrip in three years.

Anyway, we're back.  (After barely leaving.)

More Southwest Shopping

Perfect name for some houses.

Laughing Pumpkins!

Wish I could just pick up one of each!

Nothing says Southwest like strings of peppers.

 

 
Just what every home needs.  A buffalo horn?

Healed?

This morning, I got this message when I signed in on Blogger --Your browser is no longer supported by Blogger. Some parts of Blogger will not work and you may experience problems.  If you are having problems, try Google Chrome.   So evidently I was right -- Blogger did not like Internet Explorer 9.0.  Or maybe the notice was just a tricky warning generated by cookies?
Since friends have suggested Google Chrome, I took another flying leap and now it's seems to be better. The games these internet companies play! (I think Blogger is part of Google.)  But that's okay as long as everything works.  Keep your fingers and toes crossed.

Halloween's almost gone, and I remembered what I'd forgotten.  The barbed wire wreath!  We've seen a few over the years and they were very pricey, so recently Craig rustled up some rusty barbed wire (yes, we're up to date on our DPT shots) and made me a wreath where I could hang my Halloween cat.  He's a talent!

While we might have cleaned out the cache, we still have a big basket of candy waiting for the trick or treaters tonight.  Our neighborhood is teaming with toddlers and elementary age kids, so maybe they'll eat the entire basket (so I don't have to).

Happy Halloween!

Curses! Foiled Again!

It's been the week of computer glitches. First it was AOL email. Internet Explorer kept shutting down my AOL email. Since I'm a techno-genius (joke!), I just took a flying leap and upgraded to IE 9.0 in hopes that a newer version would cure the AOL fiasco. Nope! After a suggestion from a friend (thanks Frank!), I was able to follow instructions off the web and change my Internet Explorer settings to finally fix the AOL problem. Knock on wood.

And now I'm dealing with Blogger gone nuts. Evidently, Blogger doesn't like Internet Explorer 9.0. Last night, I discovered I could no longer publish a post. I could create and edit with a few glitches, but that Publish Post button doesn't do anything now. After exploring the Blogger Problems forum, I was able to find a fix where I switch to the updated editor and that allows me to post. But the updated editor doesn't seem to allow me to customize photos, so I'm jockeying back and forth.

After all that tinkering, another problem has cropped up. My page is veeeeeerrrrryyyy slooooooooooooooooooooooooooow. I tried cleaning out my cache, but that did nothing. Besides that, Craig and I have been doing a pretty good job of cleaning out the cash lately.

Curses! Foiled again! Here are a few more photos from my birthday roadtrip up north. The town of Jerome, Arizona really gets into Halloween!

Halloween characters at the House of Joy.

 

Miss Piggy masked for Halloween.

 

Cue Elvis!  She's the Devil in Disguise!

 

Happy Halloween!

Sometimes in Arizona . . .

I wonder if I'm in Mexico!