CABO Report - and the usual travel news

We're happy to report that Cabo is still there - and improved.  As a result of the hurricane, the resort is being restored and some extra touches are happening, too!

Unfortunately, the huge french-door refrigerator is not popular with my brother and wife - they both can't look in the fridge at the same time.  Nor is the extended palapa roof over the terrace, nor the reworked pool and hot tub up there on the third floor.  We thought they were all super (especially the fridge which replaced a standard unit which was a bit on the small size).   But there you go!  Different strokes for different folks.

We did find a new (to us) restaurant - La Dolce: an Italian place that serves - among other things - a pizza topped with Gorganzola cheese, walnuts, porcini, and Parmesan cheese.  Yummy!  It was packed with people who give Americans a bad name, but the food was really good!

Next year we'll be back for weeks 2 and 3 with my brother and sister-in-law.  Hope Paula and Tim can make it, too.  They had returned to Northern California when the scheduling plans were settled.  Now we'll see if it gets switched around before then...there's a whole year for changes to take place.

A bit earlier than usual, but we'll need some time at home before we go off  on our February cruise to Ocho Rios and the southern Caribbean on a Carnival ship - gasp!  Yes, we're trying out other cruise lines besides Disney, but we're finding (from the photos on their websites) that Disney wins cabins hands down!  The most basic Disney cabin is equal to those on other lines that are at the top of each range.  But when other lines go places that Disney doesn't go, what choice have you?  And after 20 Disney cruises, there's not a lot left except the eastern Mediterranean!  One day...maybe!

In the meanwhile, we're planning the Carnival cruise to Ocho Rios in 2017 [who are we kidding; it's already planned, excursions chosen, and paid-in-full in another month, et cetera]; Disney cruises #19 & 20 (the Eastbound Panama Canal + Universal City (yeah!  Harry Potter-land at last) and then the Eastern Caribbean with Facebook friends +  Disney's Food and Wine festival in EPCOT.  Both are in 2016; okay, we went a little crazy there for a while.  Then it's Hawai'i in 2017on Carnival again from British Columbia to the islands where we disembark after visiting them on the ship and hope to spend some time at Disney's resort, Aulani (if we're lucky; otherwise a nearby resort).  Then there's a Princess land-and-sea cruise to Alaska in 2019 - a bit more expensive than usual, so we need the additional time to save up our pennies....

Do we do nothing but travel and cruise - only if we're lucky!

In other news, we returned home to find that the van's right front tire was flatter than a poorly made biscuit.  Figuring that we'd better replace at least 2 tires, it became all 4 tires when we looked more closely at the back set.  After six years of use, including our move to Mexico, a round trip to Kentucky, and 6 years of travel on cobblestones, they were a bit worse for wear.  And tire prices were quite reasonable, we thought; having some funds left over after Cabo was a good thing!  So we now have a new set of Bridgestones.  And if we can keep Fiyero from peeing on the tires, perhaps another 6 years?  The van is 10 years old this year; we hope to keep it going longer (we don't drive a lot)!

And we got our twice-yearly emission test done, too. The testing place was right next to the tire store so it seemed a natural. to simply drive out of one spot and into the next.

Off to Puerto Vallarta this weekend for our friend's Victor's wedding.  Just an extended weekend, but there's the wedding, some beach time and then back to the drudgery of living in San Miguel!

Cabo, Cabo San Lucas, Where all we do is sit on our....

Yes, we're off to Cabo San Lucas for two weeks where we will be sitting on our tukases a lot!  [Did you figure out the rhyme?]  Mostly on the beach under a palapa, being plied with drinks.  My brother, Chuck, and his wife, Jane, will be leaving for a week-long trip home (an international flight) tomorrow at 1:30 pm in Terminal Two;  we arrive (on a domestic flight) at 4:30 pm in Terminal One, so we miss each other.  Then after the weekend my sister and her husband arrive.  Then Chuck and Jane return the next Thursday.  Then Paula and Tim leave. And lastly, Michael and I leave on the next Thursday.  Where's that chart I prepared?

So eventually we'll all be together - for a few days at least - for our 'Boyer kids' reunion.  The best part is that we still like each other.

The reason for all this is that during the time that Chuck and Jane are at Club Cascadas, my birthday happens.  We're usually there over the birthday event and celebrate with a dinner out.  There was still a dinner out on my actual birthday this year - and at our favorite restaurant - but we were here in San Miguel de Allende, eating at La Sirena Gorda (The Fat Mermaid, home of really great ginger margaritas).  I hear those present in Cabo had a great time! [We did too!]

Next year we've got a cruise in the middle of February that goes to Firefly (Noel Coward's home in Jamaica), so we'll be back on schedule for the last week in January.  Better get my dibs in for our room now!