And now for something completely different....Vegas!

MGM Grand

It was with mixed feeling that we ventured into Las Vegas...big city....bright lights...not a place on my top ten list to visit, but it was on the way and I have to say that we were pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't as big as we thought. The strip is just a small part of this city. It was very clean and aside from the corners that had the peddlers trying to hand you illicit cards, it was nice to walk the streets....totally safe. The weather was great...sunny every day high 70's hitting almost 80. We enjoyed people watching...and prayed as we walked. We found out too that two of our kids.. Haley and Chris were there somewhere but we couldn't get ahold of them...we kept an eye out but no luck...ha ha...no luck in Vegas...oh well.

Bellagio lobby with Chinese New Year display

The one thing we did do while we were there was OD on cirque du soleil shows. We watched "O" which was great... "The Beatles" which was inspiring .... and "KA" which was spectacular! I think we need to do  the story of Christ in a cirque du soleil mode...it would be indescribable : )

Caesar's Palace

Bellagio water display to music...was great!

Waiting to get into the Beatles Cirque Show

They Died to Make the Desert Bloom

These are the words on the Oskar Hansen's memorial honouring the 112 men that lost their lives.

With that on our minds viewing the Hoover Dam had a new perspective. We often forget all of the planning and striving that goes into engineering such a marvel and look at it as a finished work. Sometimes we need to step back and understand the sacrifice that was given.

The Dam was built between 1931 and 1936 and sits on the Arizona and Nevada borders…so as you walk across the top of the dam you walk from one state to the other and the time zone changes too by one hour. Want to extend your day…just take a walk. After a wonderful hour in the sun it is off to Vegas!

Mark enjoying the view

Beautiful....wish you were here.

Train Robbers at the Grand Canyon!

Mark and I spent the 3 days driving out of Baja Mexico and back to the land of convenience! Through all the military check points no problems...one of the high mountain top check points though the young military men did a inspection through Olives cupboards and found our instant coffee. The young man held it up to the other officer and smiled then the other officer looked at me and said "coffee"... "yes" I said...."instant coffee"...."yes" he said "Coffee" smiling..."ok" he said..."Ok?" I replied... "ahh...you want our coffee?" "Yes" he replied smiling still.... "Sure, why not, you can have the coffee." it was then quickly passed off to another officer. I guess it gets cold in the mountains on their shift and a cup of hot coffee was something to look forward too. With that they waved us on...still smiling!

It really is a breathtaking view

We stopped over in Yuma for a couple of days to enjoy the Holiday Inn hospitality and to sleep in a quiet hotel room with all the comforts of home. After we charged up it was on to the Grand Canyon. My oh my what majesty! This will mostly be photos as we took a few. We are so glad that we went on the day we did as the next day a blizzard hit and it was time for us to move on and get going to the Hoover Dam!

our train that we took up to the canyon

the chilly view...

it just went on forever

"All Aboard"

our on board entertainment....Jessie

a room with a view

Chillin in Los Barriles

My wonderful man taking in the view.

After we spent some time in Cabo we wandered up the coast, on the Sea of Cortez side of the Baja,  to Los Barriles. It was a small town with a great love for music and the home of the international kiteboarding competition....so yes it is a bit windy but only from about 11am until 5pm then it stops.

We met some great people staying at the West Cape RV park. Bridgette is the Yoga and Zumba instructor so I signed up for Zumba and it was great fun. Her husband Peter is a chef and every friday night they put on a dinner outside their RV for about 20 people....wonderful food for only 100 pesos. Mark and I also met a wonderful couple from San Francisco area...Jenny and Joe. We enjoyed evenings in conversation and laughter. After a while with interrupted sleep, listening to the Mexican dogs carry on all night (in the day they were laid out in the sand sleeping but you knew it was only a matter of time). Oh and then there were the Roosters who thought that 3am constituted morning!  We felt the need to move on and get back to high speed internet and a few less dogs!

Sun Surf and Silliness....good times!

A little lunch get together for East Capers'

Our friend Joe...singing at a local venue...he was good!

Getting the Kites ready for competition

Is the Baja really Mexico?

The Flag of Mexico

Well sorry for the absenteeism  on the Blog....but the answer to my question is of course "Yes". And as we were in Mexico I didn't want to scare my Mum and have her worry about us....hence the tardiness : ). But there and back again. We are ok Mum! We drove down to Cabo San Lucas Mexico through the 9 military check points and no trouble at all or any incidents. Most of the time we were waved right through. The roads were the biggest adventure....twists and turns sometimes with no guard rails and little shrines along the way for those who didn't quite make the turn.

Enjoying the visit

We did end up meeting Sensei Kurt and Breanda and had a very nice timing catching up and having a wonderful breakfast before they flew back home.

We spent Christmas down here so we ended up getting some presents for 5 young children and putting our kids names on them. So kids part of your Christmas present was to give to those who had very little.... we took pictures of the gifts so you can see them when we get back!

Sensei Kurt and Brenda, me & Mark and Olive behind

Sensei Kurt and Brenda with Olive

Off Roading... Anyone?

Evening on the Pacific side of the Baja, around Ensenada

Miles of desert and Cactus

Well the weather was still chilly so we decided to head further South. Besides Sensei and Brenda were in San Jose Del Cabo…just outside of Cabo San Lucas, Baja…so we thought we would go for a drive, meet up with them and see some familiar faces. The drive down the Baja took about 5 days with a two-day stop over in Loreto…it was both scenic and bumpy. They are doing major road construction in many areas but the worst area is just outside of Ensenada, puts most off road 4x4ing to shame…. Go Olive Go! This little village of Loreto was great…wonderful little restaurant that a young Mexican couple run…all food cooked from scratch…wonderful homemade bread too. There is a lot of joy in the people down here but the poverty is so very evident too. Our Spanish is limited but it doesn’t seem to be a problem, it is amazing how you can still communicate…most of the time. You also can pick up the most important words pretty quick…like bathrooms, honey (for tea), no nuts. It keeps expanding the longer you are here. 

Highway out of Ensenada...miles of mud!

The Bay of Conception...met beach dog and couple from Vancouver.

The Bay of Conception

Town square in Loreto

Olive in front of the Best Little Cafe in Loreto

Only Friendly People at Friendly Acres

Winners of the FA Christmas Parade

As the nights started to warm up a bit we decided to find  less expensive accommodations. We did a search online and found a few RV parks but one stood out “Friendly Acres”, that sounds nice we thought. Off we go with the “Tom Tom” programed for a happy place! We pull in and notice that is says 55+… oh dear maybe we won’t be able to stay as we are both not there yet. But the lady at the front desk smiled and let it slide…turns out that if you are only staying for a few nights you don’t have to be of age. 


Well we settled in and that night they had a dance going on at their local activity centre. We decided to join in the fun and walked up that evening to where the country music filled the park roadways…. Also we just headed to where all of the golf carts were parked…seems to be the mode of transportation around the park! We were surprised to see the mostly 73+ crowd sipping on margaritas and doing jello shooters…yup! These seniors can party! And can they dance! It was a joy to watch the couples twirling around the dance floor not missing a beat. They had a fifty-fifty draw for the “Wounded Warriors” so we bought a few tickets. They also had a few “ladies only dances” which I got up and participated in…what a great bunch of gals! One lady reminded Mark of his Aunt Betty from Ontario…when we asked what her name was, she turned and said Betty…Mark and I just laughed. 

FA's Mr and Mrs Claus

Then it came time for the fifty-fifty draw and the first numbers where called and no one came up to claim the prize money, so they dipped in again and pulled out Mark’s numbers. Cheers went out and Mark had to go up and claim the prize of $64.00 they other half going to the “Wounded Warriors.” Mark decided to give the whole thing to the Vets. Now I say this not to pat him on the back for this gesture but to show how this one small act touched these seniors. The lady running the draw was so appreciative for the gift and we had senior men coming up and shaking Mark’s hand with deep emotion in their eyes. We then got invited to join the table that Betty was at and I got to dance with a few of the older gentlemen…my “two stepping” needs some work though! They asked about our journey and we told them of the request that God had asked of us and what had happened since we said “Yes”. It was a wonderful evening full of laughter and warmth… they even sent us a “Thank-you” card the next morning! They truly hold up the name “Friendly Acres”. They also had a wonderful golf cart Christmas parade and an ice cream social after to give out awards! Blessings to you all from the young'ins.