[Ouff-ta! - A French-Canadien interjection they use in the U.P., too.] It's cold here today. Woke up to 39F, which is downright chilly for us. This is Sunny Mexico, right? Once we were brave enough to face the chill, we went downstairs and fired up the propane heater, which quickly took the chill out of the lower floor. Upstairs is probably still a bit cool, and the heat only travels up the stairwell. It's an iffy thing but easier than carrying the heater and tethered tank upstairs. Would be nice if we could leave it on low during the night, but as an unventilated heater - despite the leaky windows and doors that seem to be part of the building code down here - it's better to keep it off. Maybe next year we can afford a second heater for the upper story....
However, we shall soon be in a warmer place. Next Tuesday - only four days away, when it's predicted to be zero in Michael's hometown in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan - the weather folks are predicting a high of 81F in Cabo San Lucas. Beach time!
We're feeling a little guilty about going to Cabo this year. A great foody friend invited us to join her in one of her favorite spots - New Orleans - for her birthday in early February. However, search though we did, we couldn't find an airfare that was less than $600 each (too close to Mardi Gras, I guess, and not direct; nothing flies from Mexico CIty to New Orleans without a layover somewhere), plus the hotel and delicious meals out. Our friend can really pick restaurants!
Cabo, on the other hand, is as guests of my brother and his wife, staying in their beach front, 6,000 sq ft, 2 bedroom villa with their own pool and Jacuzzi on the third floor balcony overlooking the beach and ocean. (We'll still be found downstairs on the beach most of the day, before adjourning to one of the swim-up bars.) And the local airline had a great rate: only $103 per person, round trip. Since our sister-in-law has food issues, last year we opted to cook for them and it was so successful that we're repeating it this year. So we're traveling with recipes, shopping lists, and a few things like dried chilies and soy-free, homemade seasoning mixes. We'll still have the occasional dinner out. (I'm not cooking for my birthday!)
This trip covers the aforesaid birthday and my sister from San Diego will be joining us for the weekend. All three siblings will be together at once! (I guess that's the meaning of 'being together,' eh? - as they say in the U.P.) Plus the added benefit of my sister bringing with her all the things we've ordered on the internet in recent months and had sent to their home - anything to avoid the 17% service fee our mail forwarder charges.
We anticipate a week of sloth at a marvelous resort with no TV/radio/telephones. Time to get away from it all! They do have a pretty good restaurant (and many others in town which we will sample), food and drink service to your palapa on the beach, two big pools w/swim-up bars (with 2-for-1 drinks most of the day), a tennis court, a gym, and a spa - so we shan't be bored if the sand proves too relaxing.
Not sure if we're planning on a trip up the coast to Todos Santos this time (Cabo is an annual trip), but it's easily reachable if we have a yearning for wonderfully prepared lamb chops!
And I'll try not to drown this year (again). The resort recently resurfaced their pools with Pebble Tec to replace the easily discernible mosaic tiles. Looks great, but you can't tell where the bottom falls out of the pools!
