Some Additional Stuff !!!

Well ... I was getting ready to publish a post discussing our adventures in the area around Cabo San Lucas - but - I realized there were some things that related to the posts already out there you might be interested in.

First, if you have taken the time to look at the slide-shows we've been putting over there in the right margin you have seen some of our favorite sights around this beautiful country.  We've had some from Alaska and the Yukon and some from our own beautiful state of South Carolina.  Even though we had a whole series of posts on our trip to the desert Southwest this summer, I thought you might like to see a few more of the pictures from Nevada and California that we might not have shown you before.  So - they're over there with the others now - under the heading Nevada and California.  They show a  incredible range of topography and climate in a very limited distance.  As we noted in those earlier posts, we went from temperatures of near 115degrees at lunchtime to right at freezing by dinner.  Check 'em out.

Now, to get back to what I was talking about at the beginning...  Some of the stuff that we did during the first few days in Cabo included seeing some of the most incredible sights Linda and I have experienced.  One of the greatest was our "whale watching" excursion.  We were blessed with the opportunity to see a whole school of Humpback whales cavorting in the warm Pacific waters and I wanted to share some of that with you.

And - we got a chance to see some of the beautiful rock formations that decorate the tip of the peninsula right where the Sea of Cortez touches the blue Pacific.  The color of the water, the marine life, the sea birds and the configuration of the shoreline are simply stunning.  I hope the pictures give you as much an appreciation for the beauty there as we experienced.  The pelicans and the sea lions all along the coast are so tame - and so experienced at mooching off of the "Gringos" they are almost like house-pets.  In fact, as we were coming in from a fishing trip, a sea lion actually hoisted himself out of the water onto the side of our boat!!!  And the pelicans didn't think a thing about doing a "carrier landing" right onto the humming outboard motor!!  I'm going to try to add a short video of some of the fish we saw on a short boat trip to one of the beaches and I hope the colors and the clarity of the water come through adequately.  It was fantastic!


Oh,  I forgot ... we saw these little fellows as we were leaving the marina.  I think they symbolize the fact that even in the inner harbor the environment is still favorable to marine life!!

This was supposed to be a short, "catch-up" post so I'll get it out there for you.  I'll be back with our travels in the area around Los Cabos in just a bit.  See ya.

Looking Around The Playa Grande

Our home while we were in Mexico was Larry and Gloria's condo at the Playa Grande Resort, a landmark destination in Cabo and a truly beautiful place. Entering the lobby (that word simply doesn't do the entryway justice.) one is immediately struck by the immenseness of the structure and the fact that it was lavishly decorated for Christmas made it all the more impressive.



In an earlier post we showed some of the features of the furnishings but we'll try to get in some pics of the central rotunda. The massive, forty-foot-long reception desk was flanked by two surprising statues.





On the left and right respectively, the Archangels Michael and Gabriel were standing sentry duty. When questioned about their presence the staff explained that it should be obvious ... After all, throughout the ages they have been considered the sentinels at the gates of Heaven!!!

Our condo was located in the "Ridge" section of the Playa Grande which is located high on the fourth floor.






It is one of the "primo" sections of the resort and had many big "plusses" not the least of which was a remarkable pool area featuring "infinity pools," jacuzzis, 'regular' pools and a separate water sports area for kids.






There were gorgeous flowers and greenery along with fantastic fountains everywhere.





And ...the views of the Pacific - day and night - were stunning.











As we walked around the grounds of the Playa Grande we noted an extraordinary number of fountains and pools but we also saw that there were an equal number of restaurants and lounges. At the restaurant located on the front lawn - between the Pacific coast and the entrance to the resort - we found brunch being served. Not only were the dishes culinarynmasterpieces, the chefs had also demonstrated their skill as sculptors.












This posting might not be too smooth but I kept causing myself trouble as I typed it. Anyway - I'going to put this out there for you to see and I'll be back soon with much more. see ya.

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Location:Cabo San Lucas Mexico

Settling In - Baja Style

The interchangeable use of names was a bit confusing for me for several days and I'm still not sure I have it all correct - but here goes ... Cabo San Lucas (Cape of St. Luke) is actually part of the municipality of Los Cabos which is in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. it lies at the tip of the thousand mile long Baja California Peninsula and is the sister to Cabo del San Jose. CSL (as the travel folks say) has a population of just over 68,000' only slightly smaller than San Jose and third in size to La Paz in the state.








The growth in tourist travel has been enormous in recent years and although the surrounding waters have been protected, other features have not been quite so fortunate.

The local harbor and marina are absolutely teeming with activity day and night.


With it's protected location between the Sea of Cortez and the blue Pacific, CSL is a natural jumping off spot for fishing, whale watching, scuba diving and all sorts of other water activities.









Although the Pacific coast, with it's powerful currents swirling around the tip of the peninsula is hazardous for swimming and surfing, there are numerous beaches on the Sea of Cortez side that are fantastic for those activities. The harbor is also the destination for cruise ships from across the planet and they regularly bring in ever changing accents, faces, colors and customs. We're talking international potpourri here!!!

 The city of Los Cabos has an incredible range of shops, restaurants and bars and a walk along the marina will introduce you to the friendly but persistent local entrepreneurs. The city also has a first-class marina with a unique feature.

 Here, one can have the experience of swimming with dolphins!!!

We tried to take advantage of this super opportunity to see and do things that aren't usually on our travel agenda. So, I'm hoping that the pictures and some videos will enable you to come along with us on our adventure. We'll take a brief time-out as the gang enjoys one of the "Infinity Pools" at the Playa Grande - overlooking the Pacific sunset.

I'll get this post out there and come back later to cover some of our excursions into the surrounding area. See ya.

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Location:Mexico

Arrival in Cabo - the Playa Grande

So after making it through customs with no international incidents we picked up our rental car (...first international incident.




Here's a tip - if you're gonna rent a car in Mexico, you're GONNA buy insurance!) we got on the road to Cabo San Lucas. The road between Cabo del San Jose and Cabo San Lucas was very good


and we quickly caught sight of the Pacific in the distance.


Soon we arrived at the Playa Grande and spent some time getting ourselves settled in.

The Playa Grande is nestled on the edge of the Pacific Ocean


overlooking the harbor in Cabo.


It is difficult to describe the various structures that surrounded us so I'll try to add pictures that will do it justice.


To the North, a rocky slope rises into the sky with some incredible private homes and "boutique" hotels perched precariously on the ledges.


Some of the "homes" are said to have upwards of twenty to thirty thousand square feet of space. (???) Can you spell o-p-u-l-e-n-t boys and girls? The Playa Grande is "right nice" itself! The grounds are filled with luxurious vegetation with fountains and pools everywhere.





For a section of the country that gets somewhere between two and nine inches of rain each year (yep, 2 to 9 .. Depending on who you talk to) one questions how they can use water so freely. Well, there's an answer ... Each hotel/resort that locates here is required to install their own "de-salination" plant for producing fresh water from seawater. One of the side-effects of that requirement is that the sea along the entire coast is rigidly protected against pollution. Since there are countless marine mammals and fish using these waters as their winter breeding grounds, the benefits are very evident. (We'll see more about that later.)

I'm going to get this post out there so you can take a look but there's a lot more to see .... See ya.

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Location:Mexico

Waaaaayyyyyyyyy Out West....

OK ... We're back and we have a bit different adventure to talk about. Recently Richard's sister, Gloria, and her husband Larry invited Linda and Richard to join them for a trip to their condo in Cabo San Lucas on the very southernmost tip of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. We thought you might enjoy seeing some of the places we visited.

Our flight left from Greenville-Spartanburg at the ungodly hour of 5:00 a.m. so we did an overnighter at the Best Western near the airport. We had good rooms and the folks were nice.


But, hey, what can you say when you kick off the evening with happy hour and a great meal at California Dreaming?

So, despite the early hour we made it on board and got airborne. Here's the sun peeking over the horizon to see if we made it up in time. We had a brief stop in Houston and then on to Mexico.





This is the airport (actually closer to Cabo del San Jose) where we entered Baja.

We'll be back with more from Mexico soon!!

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Location:Cabo San Lucas

Travels Around Our Beautiful State

Wow!!!! I've just spent two-and-a-half-forevers getting this Blogspot program resurrected after the trauma of changing to Apple's new OS. So - we'll try again to put stuff out here that we've been working on for a long time!!!

After our trip out West this summer we got back and had to deal with some more of "the late unpleasantness" but we're done now and everything looks good. We had a cha ce to spend some time with Sherwood at the beach and we've added a slide show over there in the right margin. When you have a chance, check them out. There are pics from beautiful Inlet Point at Litchfield and some really good ones from a recent visit to Brookgreen Gardens and Zoological Compound. There are also some from Bull's Bay Nature Preserve too.


Here's a shot of the salt marsh behind Inlet Point:







And one of the marsh at sundown:

Anyway, when we come back we'll share some stuff from a trip to a place as far West of Pawley's Island as you can get on this continent and still be on land! I think you'll enjoy it so come on back. See ya.

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Location:Litchfield Beach SC

Swimming With The Dolphins

 If there are any of you still out there ... we're back!!!!  This will be a short post to let you know what's coming up.  First - after the last series of posts we went through a bunch of stuff - mainly having to do with chemotherapy and putting our lives back in some kind of order after the ordeals of 2011.  But - you need to know that we are doing fine and have had a couple of trips that we want to report on - and that will be coming up.  For now, though, let me tell you that when we resume posts we will use the "traditional" format - NOT - the one we have used in the past.  That is - we will submit each post as it is prepared and the "newest" will be at the top of the list.  (If that's confusing, you might want to look back at how we've done things in the past.  But, I'd suggest not worrying about it - and just going along with us from here.  I'll be back shortly with updates from our most recent journey and a forecast of coming events.  For now, though, let me close out with some pics you might enjoy ......

 Here's Linda with her new best friend "Ende."

 And here's Ende taking Linda for a spin around the pool!!

And here's Linda telling Ende Thanks!!!!