Cabo - Part III: Adventure!

Tuesday morning, Andy and I set off for a little adventure in the Canon de la Zorra.  It began with an hour-long van ride to the base camp where we suited up and climbed aboard a Unimog for the jolting ride to the trailhead.  Our group consisted of 7 guides and 20 adventurists - all very energetic and excited, as you can see.

Their brochure had sucked us all in: "Rock climbing, hanging bridges, crazy ladder, tarzan swing and zip lines are all part of the fun - topped off with an impressive 98 ft rappel!"  Whoohoo!

I must admit, I was a tad uneasy for the first zipline flight across the canyon...

And the commando bridge was...well, shaky!  As was the hanging bridge - that required some coordination and serious concentration.

 

It doesn't take more than that to get the adrenaline going, and we eagerly hiked from platform to platform to try whatever challenge was next!  There were a dozen or so ziplines across the canyon, including the "tarzan swing" where you dangle away from the zipline as you fly across.

All of the lines were double rope except for the last one.  At over 1000' feet long, ropes would have had too much slack, so they strung dual steel cables across the canyon there.  You could pick up a lot of speed on that line!  And, it was so long you couldn't see the end from the beginning.

In addition to the crazy bridges, they mixed up all the ziplines with a little rockclimbing...

 

...and rappelling!  As the guide said: What goes up, must come down...

After the last exhilarating ride across the desert canyon, we were treated to a picnic lunch of sorts, which included the most delicious salsa of the entire trip!  This was an awesome way to spend the day.

Cabo - Part II: Fiesta!!

Monday night, the resort put on a fiesta down by the beach.  They had a fabulous buffet of every Mexican dish you could think of, and kept us entertained all evening.

 

 The evening started with dance music played by this sharp-looking mariachi band.

 They were soon joined by a famous singer, who taught us a little about traditional music and had the audience singing along to her powerful voice.

 Then, it was time for true audience participation.  The women were first, and volunteers lined up for a Mexican Yell contest.  A few of them really nailed it, one tried a California shriek instead, and the others were just amusing.  The gal in the red wraparound skirt won it all, with the black-and-white clad girl as a close second.

Next up, the men had a solo dance routine contest.  This tall fellow had the crowd roaring, but the winner turned out to be the striped-shirt guy in the background. 

 The kids were not to be left out.  They were tasked with a hat-making contest using napkins.  The styles were great, and they announced everyone a winner.

 Then, it was back to dancing - this time a couples routine.  The couples were shown a few positions, coded to drink names, that they had to memorize.  The game went like this - the couples would dance to music and when the music stopped, a drink name would be called and the couple would have to assume the appropriate position and freeze.  As the game progressed, more and more positions were added, and the entertainment staff would demonstrate each one.  The last two couples standing were a pair celebrating their 14th wedding anniversary, and two girls who had just met that evening.  There were some serious skills in this crowd!

 After all that laughing, we settled down to watch folk dancing - all kinds of dances all in the appropriate traditional attire.  These dancers really put on a show!

 

 

 

 

 I just love all the color!

Cabo - Part I: Getting There

Our vacation started with an early morning flight from Spokane to Seattle, during which we were treated to the awesome sight of Mt. St. Helens above the clouds.

Airports and flight time went by without a hitch, and we landed in the warm, sunny land of Cabo San Lucas.  Then, it was line after line to collect baggage and take it through screening and then visit a customs officer for the passport stamp.  Andy and I were randomly selected for a more thorough baggage screening, but that was easy enough and we soon had our turn at the customs officer's podium.  He stamped Andyman's and then opened mine and said "Teresa?  Ah!" and proceeded to sing a little Spanish tune with my name in it!  I'd say that was a fine way to be welcomed into the country!

Once we were approved to visit, we tugged our bags out of customs and were suddenly swarmed with fellows asking where we were staying, what we were doing for the week, etc.  We followed one guy with a resort insignia on his shirt, thinking he'd be the one to help us get to ours!  Well...turns out he was just there to sell time share points.  Once we figured that out, it was a battle to get away from his persistence and on the hunt for a taxi.  The next room you have to pass through is filled with taxi services who also swarm you in the same overwhelming way - everyone saying the other dude is going to rip you off.  Finally, we pushed our way outside and found a taxi to take us to some peace and quiet!

The 45 min. drive was...interesting - cruising right along, weaving in and out of traffic and dodging pedestrians.  All the while, our driver is on his radio telling jokes or something with his colleagues and occasionally  tapping his fingers to the local radio station tunes.  The scene outside the windows changed from desert to impoverished village to more desert with abandoned vehicles and little shrines built along the highway for those who've died in wrecks.  Then, the resorts started.  We passed one after another for a good 20 minutes.  Each one with a name implying beauty and relaxation, and each displaying flowering landscapes with water features and palm trees.  These man-made oases strange, knowing what we had just passed through.

Travel-weary, we arrived at the Playa Grande for the hassle that is moving into a resort.  Lines to wait in, papers to sign, maps to decipher to find our room.  The lobby was pretty incredible - a huge brick dome looming overhead.  It amazes me that it is possible to create a dome out of masonry!

 At long last, we reached our suite and...well, it was amazing too!

 

The amount of stone and tile alone blew my mind.

 As fancy as the interiors were, this quickly became our favorite place to be:

 The temperature was perfect on the shaded patio, and we could watch the ocean or the people milling about.

 

At night, we could hear the music from the bars at the marina and the waves crashing against the beach.

We soon discovered that downtown was well within walking distance, and enjoyed a stroll down for a delicious Mexican dinner our first night.

The next morning, we went walking again to see all the shops and markets downtown.  The resort built in a shortcut pathway, that took us through another building that was built right around the rocks... 

...down a side staircase where you could see between the buildings...

...down an outdoor spiral staircase...

 ...and then through a locked gate to the street.  It was a fun little obstacle course of sorts!

At the flea market and shops, we were eagerly greeted with phrases that repeated themselves over and over.    "One dollar!" (which really means one dollar off the price) and "Almost for free!"  Don and Andy have the bartering spirit, and good-naturedly talked the vendors into a deal or two.  

Just walking along the streets that day (and also in the resort itself), we noticed that electricity is a tad scary down there!  The masons could build circles around anyone here, but wiring?  That's another story!

They're all running away!

This time of year has been bittersweet lately.  It is so very beautiful with all the rolling hills turning green, flowers blooming everywhere, trees coming alive, the farmer's market starting up, traffic quieting down...  In fact, it was this time of year that I moved here and promptly fell in love with this place.  I just might never, ever leave.  The trouble is, that means bidding farewell to the people who do!  This year was a bit different, since these buddies and I go way back...

Katie and I started our paths to architecture at the same time at a regional technical center our last two years of high school, learning hand drafting and AutoCAD.  Then, we took the surveying class together at CSI.  I left town rather suddenly and we lost track of each other.  I'd been up here for almost 4 years when a mutual friend of ours walked into my studio and told me both he and Katie had just transferred to the architecture program here!  As luck would have it, an intern position opened where I work, so we got to be coworkers too.  So, we've been having all sorts of fun exploring this town, sampling the restaurants, chatting the hours away at work...She's great!  Graduation, and the impending move-away, was just around the corner, and we realized we had zero pics of all our fun times, so we wandered over to the arboretum and snapped a few mementos.  Very glad her new home isn't terribly far away!

 

 

Then there's Bethers, who packed up and drove across the nation.  We go waaay back.  And, photos?  Well....they are probably more abundant than she'd like!

 

 

 It's been a wonderfully fabulous 5 years with her in my little corner of the world.  So many stories to laugh about 'til we can't remember them anymore!  As if we need a real reason to laugh.... ;)

Cheers to you Bethers, and your grand new adventure way over there.

Car Show Season Begins!

April 23 marked the beginning of the season we've added to our calendars.  It's time for all those new builds and old rides to come out of hiding!  Our first show was Dogwood Festival at LCSC.  We put together a pretty good group to caravan in together, and had a good time enjoying one of the warmest days of the year.  The cars in our group:

 Next show in line is the one our car club puts on in Palouse.  We just had our last planning meeting today, and it's going to be an awesome event!  You should come check it out.