An invention needed...

I was reading the blog of an MM'er who announced forgetting to take a medication and it got me to thinking that an invention is needed for those who are trying to manage their own medications. It wouldn't need to be that complicated. A simple little digital clock surrounded by small drawers that could be filled up for a week. The individual would have to be alert enough to know not to take all seven in the drawer, however! Each time the pill needed to be taken, the clock - with sound choices - would beep, chirp, buzz or ring to report the time and the drawer would pop open. It would also need to be kept someplace that small and curious children could not gain access. I'm NOT capable of creating such a device, but I know another MM'er who probably could with all his electronic skills. Perhaps I will direct him to read this blog.

It's been raining much of the weekend, so it's been hard to get out and do anything for very long. And it's been unusually cold, so there hasn't been much motivation to stay out, either. I spent some time clearing out photos from my computer's storage to gain more space for the next adventure, and found myself yearning for a warmer place - tho not one from which I cannot return, either! So in line with those thoughts, I am posting some pictures of our last year's September sojourn to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico.

The fellow in the gold paint, dressed as a fireman, was taking a break at a local bar from being a statue... that particular day in September of '09, it was a blistering 90 degrees, so he can be excused. How he could choose that line of work in such a hot climate completely escapes me.

The photo of the open arch is world

-renowned and is often used for fashion shoots on the decks of heaving boats promoting "cruise wear" for the next season. the sea is seldom calm around these rocks at the "end" of land in Mexico's Baja. But the seals love it.

The sunset shown below really did generate all those magnificent colors and more - we were so lucky to have had that time together there!

Last night of the honey-moon

The moon is full and what a treat for our last night here! We walked on the beach for the last sunset, after an afternoon doing a special ceremony called the Temazcal, a steam bath of pre-Hispanic origin. This ceremony of purification and healing is a powerful way for anyone to re-focus energy and perhaps find special guidance.

Our 'guide' for this ceremony was a young man with a family who has been living in this area for over a decade. Trained to do this ceremony, he brought very good energy into the event and we came away glad that we had made the choice to invest time and pesos on it.

We decided to have dinner at Siempre, the on-site restaurant here at the Spa. It's focus is Asian-Mediterranean cuisine with Mexican seasonings. They don't widely advertise that the chef only chooses organic foods to cook with from local vendors. But we had eaten lunch here a couple of times, I'd had breakfast once, and we felt we couldn't go wrong. We were absolutely right! What a lovely dinner, good service and the chef came out afterwards to hear our compliments - she was delightful and very pleased we liked her creations. She said, "I love my work and put a lot of love into each meal."

That was evident with the Seared Tuna (below) that Jey-hu chose and the Prime Ribeye (right) which was my selection. She created the most interesting flavors of standard fare and her presentment was exquisite! Both meals were delivered together - a minor irritation if they are not - and nothing had been microwaved to keep it warm... a nasty little trick used even in the so-called five-star kitchens by lazy chefs who think no one will notice. GUESS WHAT? We do. And we may never say anything to you or your staff, but we for sure tell others about our experience. If you come to Pacifica, make sure you have several meals at Siempre - you will not go away hungry or disappointed!

And so tomorrow we say "Adios" to Cabo San Lucas ... but a new adventure is brewing!

Olaf heads north; we will too

"As of 4:00 a.m. PDT the center of Tropical Storm Olaf was located near 22.5 north, 117.8 west or about 530 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. The tropical storm has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph with gusts to 50 mph. Olaf was moving due north at 12 mph. The minimum central pressure was estimated at 1002 millibars or 29.59 inches. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 85 miles from the storm's center mostly on the east side of the storm."

Photo credit: NOAA

The waves are much bigger than yesterday, and now are coming on the beach more from the NW and directly west as they were yesterday. In seeing just this much increase in wave action from a small tropical storm, it is easy to see how the rocks have gotten all dark from continuing waves hitting them higher and higher from other, larger storms.

Our last trip to the end of the Baja yesterday was glorious and the ride was rough. I didn't mind, but the other passengers weren't happy, Jey-hu excluded. Two of the men who were supposed to come with us to see Lover's Beach with their wives bailed at the last minute because they had been out on a fishing boat the day before. One of the wives said "We couldn't figure out why it was so cheap to go fishing... when they got back we heard that it was pretty uncomfortable for them." Of course it was the day the storm was passing by. This first view is from the beach side, looking back at Cabo. The marina, unable to be seen here, is located to the left.

Here are some pictures of the waves breaking on the Pacific side of the beach. Jey-hu is in the foreground also taking pictures.

It has been an incredible adventure being here, seeing all the typical tourist attractions, but it is always moderated by the levels of poverty that drive the people who live here to walk the hot sands of the beach every day to try and sell their wares.

Most of the time we are driven on routes that avoid showing us the reality of the living conditions here. But once in awhile we get a glimpse... very depressing to think that there is really enough for all, but education and control limit acquisition to certain groups. There were three cruise ships in yesterday, and on Tuesday there were five... the streets were being controlled by the 'federales,' men and women carrying glocks for sidearms and M-16's for those in military garb. One of the taxi owners said his business was slower, even with all the cruise travelers in town because people were being scared off of the downtown seeing all the guns.

Weather no threat to Cabo

Photo Credit to NOAA.
Just a brief update on the progression of the tropical depression to the west of Cabo San Lucas... it is heading W-NW at about 10 m.p.h. and will likely enter colder water tomorrow which is likely to affect further development, but NOAA forecasters say there is a 30-50% chance it will become a typhoon (hurricane in the Atlantic, typhoon in the Pacific) within those next 24 hours.

Locally we are getting mostly brilliant sunshine, with high clouds occasionally diffusing it.

The winds from yesterday have subsided significantly and the waves are coming from a more westerly direction than from the SW with much cleaner rolls and breaks, but they are still large. We have plans to take a short boat ride this afternoon, gather up some Mexican treats for friends and family back home and prepare to leave this glorious place this weekend.

Dinner at LaFrida's

The restaurant chain is named after Frida Kahlo, an artist who was popularized in Mexico during the 1980's, almost three decades after her death, and also in the movie Frida, naturaleza viva (1983), directed by Paul Leduc with Ofelia Medina as Frida and painter Juan José Gurrola as Diego, which was a huge success at the time.

Jey-hu had been to the chain's restaurant in Puerto Vallarta a few years ago and had a very good memory of dining there, so we made a reservation at the one at Pueblo Bonita at Sunset Beach for Wednesday night. The photo of the 'painting,' probably a reproduction of the original, is at the entrance to this establishment and the decor is all about the colorful aspects of Mexican heritage - very well done.

And it was not the only good thing, thankfully. The service was close to being 5 *****, and although clearly the menu was the chef's platform for his creativity, my only suggestion would be to offer at least one item which could be tastefully presented but which doesn't require using every spice in the Mexican kitchen.

My choice was the Sea Bass (shown to the left) which was delectable, just barely encrusted from the searing and appropriately moist inside - very tender. The chef from another restaurant in Cabo (recently reviewed) could take a few lessons here. It was perched (no seafood pun intended) on some diced pieces of shrimp with assorted thinly sliced vegetables in a sort of Mexican-style Ratatoille. Some people might like this sort of fish on soup deal; it was a little too slurpy for me. However, it gets a huge plus for being a really good eating experience overall.

Jey-hu selected the blackened chicken smothered in sage which he proclaimed to be tasty and also moist enough to be enjoyed; he prefers dark meat as a rule. Accompanied by a mashed potato, restructured to look like a potato without skin, and hominy grits and vegetables in an exceptional hot spice sauce, it was too much food for even the usually very hungry Jey-hu.

Still, we were persuaded to try their desserts: caramelized creme brulee for me and homemade chocolate ice cream with a sort of donut-style cookie for Jey-hu - hard to explain - and which were both unique in their own right. The added caramel in the brulee did not appeal to me; in other words, I would not order it again, but it was certainly delicious in all respects. Jey-hu said that his dessert met his expectations - cool and sweet but the chocolate ice cream was more chocolate than sweet; he liked that.

The added attraction was a Spanish/Mexican singer accompanied by a pianist which made the entire dinner event very special. Sometimes when entertainment is offered it is so intrusive it is difficult to hear your dinner companions. This was definitely not the case, even when she came over to our table, making the rounds to all.

We came away fully stuffed and satisfied, if a little undone by the large peso bill... over $1500 including the tip. No wine, no drinks, just an entree and dessert. If the dollar drops any more, we could be looking at just this kind of fee for a really good meal just over the border... yikes!

Watching the development of a hurricane

Photo credit: NOAA - water vapor satellite shot of eastern pacific taken today - 9-30-09.

The rain that arrived today caused me to look at the sky more closely and then go to NOAA's weather site. Guess what? We have been watching the development of a hurricane all day! I've included the water vapor satellite picture and the discussion by NOAA indicates there is at least a 50% chance this will progress to a hurricane in the next 48 hours.

The red line outlines the land mass of the Baja peninsula and Mexico to the east. We are sitting almost at the tip of the peninsula watching these huge waves roll in from the west. I think they will be even bigger tomorrow.

After living in Florida and the Carolinas for the past two decades, I have a pretty good idea when I see the clouds moving forward, but with a curve to them, that something is brewing. It's no different here in the eastern Pacific area, except the general trend is for the storms to move to the west, away from land here and toward the islands and continents to the west. I hope this one won't cause anyone any harm, but as we listen to the winds howl through this resort building, I am not confident it won't grow into something impressive.

Don't be deceived into thinking the waves shown here are small... Just beyond the palms there is a fellow standing guard over the sea turtle nests and he is about 5'6", standing on the beach which seldom gets wave action but below him, where the waves are actually breaking, is about six feet lower. The sound of their crashing onshore is so loud that when walking on the beach, you cannot be heard without shouting. Impressivo, no?

Rain in Cabo

The usual amount of rain for this area is something less than 10 inches per year! And they get most of it during September and October, so no surprise that we're getting a few days of it while we are here.

What is interesting is that there is practically no rainwater accumulation device to be seen and instead of collection, it is all done by desalinization, reverse osmosis, and then either pumped or delivered by water truck to various locations. We heard from one of the salesmen for the time share that if you use up your water allotment for the week, you have to call the water truck and it's very expensive. All the little houses here have at least one black water tank on top of the roof; looks like it holds about 100 gallons.

The rebar (spiky wires on the roof) shows that the owner of the casa (house) has plans to build another level at some time. Most of the construction here is concrete block with stucco overlaying it. I was saddened to see that some of the frustrated artists marked up this house with their scribblings.

Although we have been drinking water and using the ice while here, we've been without any "Montezuma's Revenge" or "9-5 low hurdles" from digestive issues, for which I am more than a little grateful.

We have also heard that there has only been one (1!) swine flu case in the area, which further supports the theory that getting lots of Vitamin D (sunshine is the best way to get Vitamin D, by the way) is a big deterrent to the flu, which may explain why countries just north and south of the Equator tend to be less likely to have any "flu" season.

It's a small world

We arrived at the Pacifica Spa on Saturday morning and when you walk in, it immediately gives you the message that you are here to "relax!" The aromas they use assail the senses and with that deep breath in, all cares and concerns seem to disappear. Of course, it's an illusion and they don't really go away, but this place holds them at bay for awhile.

Later in the day we went for a swim at the Sunset resort. Jey-hu was huddled under the bridge to protect his skin from any more rays. He was just chatting with another individual shielding her skin and she said, "Oh, you need to talk to Carole; I think she's from your area." Carole was waved over. It turns out that her mother and father had a music store in Lake Stevens some 40 years ago and her son worked for the same store that Jey-hu did before it closed and he went into his electronic career. The other irony was that Carole and her son were on her way to Cabo in the early 1980's when they had a bad car accident, which Jey-hu remembered because the young man was out of work for quite awhile.

The fabric of life is filled with its flaws, but a mother's relationship with her son often stitches up those flaws to try and hold things together... so it is with Carole and other mothers I know.

Tonight we are going to try and capture the half moon shining on the ocean and the pool at approximately the same location as you see here to your right. It was elegant and breathless last night with the stars sparkling overhead and the sea quieter. We both agreed it was worth planning out the camera equipment and taking the time to try and see if we can photograph that feeling.

Restaurant Review - Lorenzillo's in Cabo

Look for the giant lobster crawling up the side of a building...

Located in the heart of the Cabo San Lucas marina, the seafood restaurant called Lorenzillo’s professes to have originated somewhere around 1638 when the first Lorenzillo, a pirate, went looking for something to eat.

Unhappy with what he was served, he burned the place down and killed all the upper-class members of that society.

So, for our last night "in town." as we move over to the destination resort of Pacifica (a spa) tomorrow, we ate at this ‘historic’ place, actually re-established with the intent of keeping newer pirates happier with their meals and I will say that the service is superb - top notch!

The Perrier water was served with fresh limes - to prevent scurvy I am certain - but the bane of my personal existence, and a reason why I might be inclined to set fire to this establishment, is that the rolls were hard. Perhaps they were trying to re-create hard-tack to add to the shippy decor. Sadly what should have been a treat as sea bass is in season here, I found it dry and wrapped around lobster and shrimps that quite likely had been caught in 1638. Using a little sea salt would have corrected the sea-sick broccoli and kept it looking cheery as well as adding beneficial elements for the sailor’s diet.

The other item, identified as linguini, could have been toredo worms for all I knew. Heavily covered with something that resembled sawdust, it was slimy and mostly tasteless - sad to say it didn’t add anything to the meal.

But the piece de resistance, the dessert, redeemed some of the earlier failures. The chef went to some trouble to create a ‘signature’ chocolate ice cream treat using a familiar dutch-named product, but perhaps the freezer isn’t working as well as it should since there were ice crystals in it. Anyhow, I took a picture of it, and could recommend it - sort of.

Charm gives Lorenzillo’s a star, location gives it another star, presentation- one more - and service could push it over toward four stars. But when I have to subtract two stars for the poor quality of the outcome, Lorenzillo’s drops to a dreary two-star dining event and offering it up as a free meal as an enticement for sitting through a time-share selling endurance run only makes both experiences more painful.

CAVEAT: It is NOT my intent to destroy any business, especially in these hard economic times with so many wonderful people working so hard here in Cabo to make everyone's visit fun and pleasurable. But it is not fair to trap people to spend their time and possibly pesos or US dollars on inedible food. With a few changes, Lorenzillo's could be a fabulous place to eat....

From Sunset to Sunrise

The rosy rays of sunset and the sliver of moon... seen from our balcony.... and then listening to the waves rushing to shore all night - who would believe I also got up early to capture this lovely sunrise? Remember the sailor's ditty? "Red skies at night - sailor's delight; red skies in morning - sailors take warning!"

At breakfast the birds joined us... to watch and try for a morsel or two.

We left early to get over to the dolphin swim location and by 10 a.m. the thunder and lightning was headed our way. We were already wet with nature's most intelligent life forms - the dolphins - so we didn't much care how much more rain came down. Sadly a parasail boat sank with the high winds and waves, and we

don't have all the details of injuries. I am puzzled that anyone with boating experience would have even planned parasailing looking at the weather.

The dolphin swim was an unparalleled success. Their skin is like highly polished, and wet, leather and they are delightful creatures, zooming around the swim pool at speeds of 35 m.p.h. and leaping into the air at least one and half times higher than their own length! Pictures were not allowed.

The sunset cruise was a gift ...

We went on a catamaran called "La Princesa" with a group of about 20 folks for the promised sunset cruise - our "gift" for being reeled into a timeshare presentation and sticking it out for the required 90 minutes - Mexican time... more like four hours. It was worth it!!!

Boarding was at 6 p.m. and immediately after casting off the lines, the bar was open and the drinks were being passed out. Not being a "drinker" I got my beverage and simply leaned back to watch the activities of other boats heading out for what promised to be a good sunset. I was in heaven being back on a

sailboat again. I sighed deeply and said a little prayer for all my MM connections that they could receive some of my upbeat energy and healing.

There was just enough wind for the sailboats and not too much for the powerboats; the seas were moderate with swells running somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-6 feet in the Sea of Cortez. First we cruised along past the hotels, and I took this picture of the Pueblo Bonita Blanco (white one) as we passed it. Our room has a terrific view - we are in the building identified as the third blue dome in from the right on the fourth floor.

Once we rounded the last rock on the Baja peninsula, we were fully exposed to the Pacific Ocean and the wind was slightly more with waves to match. The shot below may give some idea of the size of the "rocks" as the catamaran nearby it is probably at least 34 feet in length. The sun goes down quickly at this latitude, too. The dark line near the water is due to constant water contact by the waves. In some places you can see that the waves regularly hit the rocks at 35-40 feet up from the water! My estimate is that the line you see below is about 15 feet in height.

Jey-hu and I got our pictures taken by the "professional" and also by some other guests sitting next to us. Guess which one we didn't get?

It was such a romantic evening, and we both realized that it was this kind of event that we had been seeking in coming here. Since I am the experienced sailor, I explained some of the actions being taken by the crew as we hoisted sail and really got under way.

There was also one of the three 12-meter retired raceboats from the last America's Cup, the New Zealand one, in the group out for the night and I got several shots of them; I will share my favorite.

The air was a perfect temperature, probably about 80, considerably cooler than it had been during the day. We walked from our hotel to the marina, about 15 minutes, and because it was after 5 p.m., we did not get any "offers" to see any more timeshares - whew!

There were so many awesome shots that turned out it was hard to choose just one, but this one was my choice for you even though it is really after the sunset and on the way back into the harbor. I like it because you can see the town of Cabo in that after-glow of sunset with the lights just beginning to be turned on. The line down the photo is the "stay" for the mast of the sailboat which was about 50 feet in length and a few heads of the other passengers can also be seen. I hated having to get off at the dock... but there is always a time for having a sailboat of one's own and a time to be on OPBs... Other People's Boats, even if there is some fee connected to it. Boat owners know the costs of ownership, don't we?

"Hot" properties in Cabo!

We aren't sure if this was intentional or not, but the message (on a 90-degree plus day!) is that there are some "hot" properties down here... Our journey to the marina on Tuesday resulted in finally connecting with the glass-bottomed boat vendor and getting our ride out to the famed arch over 'excited' seas - take a look at what we saw... and these are only a few of the totally awesome views - an amazing experience.

Day Three at the Sunset

It was a day to learn about another time share, a sister site to where we are staying. We went because they offered to pay our way back to the airport, gave us a discount on a spa day, and provided us with some water activities... why refuse? Yesterday we met a nice fellow, learning some more about the area, and on this trip we met some other time share refugees on the way, making it a little more festive - and the biggest surprise of all was that one of the couples is from Snohomish, just up the road from where we live in Washington!

My biggest issue with any presentation goes back to my career in public relations. The message 'should be' consistent. So if you are selling me on some high-end residential property with a breakfast, shouldn't the meal be on the same par with the location, or proposed location? Stale rolls and a conglomeration of eggs didn't sell me on the Sunset time shares.

However, the site is impressive. The quality of the workmanship on the units is remarkable, the views are incredible, but those units are also far away from the downtown, facing the Pacific - which you cannot swim in safely - and the roads up and down to the units are windy, steep and not walkable... no sidewalks. So a car or other kind of transportation is necessary for sure. But we enjoyed the tour and our guide was a pleasant fellow, too. In fact, he gave us some great tips for dinners and things to do while we are here. For the couple interested in a "destination" resort, utilizing the transportation provided by the resort, this might be a good buy. We met a couple who thought so.

On the bus back through town, I saw this wall of art messages by local creative minds with messages to share...

The last shot was taken on the beach where we had a picnic lunch on our own,

watching the Pacific waves roll in, in perfect form over and over again. After we got back to the "Blanco" and made ourselves a little dinner, we watched the sunset - again - did a little walk around the pool to get to the WiFi spot and finished up our e-mails and blogging... can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring!

Day Two - Cabo is cloudy

We woke up to cloudy skies and slightly cooler temperatures - only 80 ish... yesterday it was 90 when we arrived. We were scheduled for a time share trip to the Westin, a Raintree vacation resort. Our connection was “Jorge” and we were supposed to meet him outside the gates, as they are not allowed to drag people away from the Pueblo resorts to persuade them to sign up someplace else.

Well, we also got lost as we asked the captain at the front desk how to get out of the gate to go downtown and he directed us to the other gate and we ended up walking through some brush to find our way back. We both agreed it felt quite clandestine.

The drive from where we were, closer to town, took us back toward the airport. The thirsty desert of this area of Mexico was as rich and verdant as if it had been raining for weeks. Apparently there was a shower a couple of days ago - maybe an inch of rain. It didn’t matter that it was cloudy when we arrived at the Westin as the brilliant colors of yellow, pink, turquoise and magenta overwhelmed the eyes anyhow. And the view, as you can see from the pictures, was very impressive.

The actual tour only took 30 minutes, but after that our “guide” ate breakfast with us, and we found him to be quite entertaining and really a remarkable storyteller. The story he told us was touching and would bring tears to anyone's eyes. It turns out that he was also into Public Relations earlier in his career, so he and I also had that in common.

Anyhow, we toured the entire facility and sat through a lengthy presentation which took almost another three hours - too long!! Finally we were done and yet another individual came to try and close us on yet another "package" but we are hard nuts to crack and were able to keep saying, "No, gracias..." until they were worn out and gave us our "gifts" for letting them try to sell us.

So we have a glass-bottomed boat ride, a sunset boat cruise and a dinner for two to schedule before we leave. Let me add that there were some appealing aspects to the Raintree timeshare, but it is not near anything downtown and if they really wanted to sell their shares, they would be offering free transportation for owners to go back and forth to town by shuttle.

After a day of someone trying to sell you something non-stop, we were ready for the pool and a good book. I ended up making a sort of dinner out of the roast chicken we got at COSTCO and some freshly baked multi grain bread. (Yes, Marcie, they have a bakery just like yours down here... and we were going to take a picture but my camera needed to be recharged.) We sat on our little balcony and listened to the waves crashing on shore, though less intensely than they did the night before. The air was warm and we enjoyed listening to the music on the various boats criss-crossing the little bay here as we wound down from our day. (This last shot is from the Westin looking toward the eastern end of the Baja peninsula and the western edge of Mexico proper.)