Tulum, vacation from the vacation...

We put our trailer in storage at the RV park in Pahrump and drove to Vegas, where the partying starts early. Many people were walking the streets, drink in hand, at 11:00am. We went for lunch at PF Chang’s and then strolled The Strip before catching a bus to Freemont Street and The Old Strip.

Pictured are some slot machines in the Golden Nugget, where PF Chang's is located.








Pictured are: Some party girls on The Strip dancing disco at noon - well on their way to a wild day, no doubt.








Pictured are a Gondola at the Venetian Hotel and, the Old Strip.














We spent about eight hours wandering the streets, stopping at the new Aria Hotel, where we had parked the truck, for a drink. The hotel is enormous and has a bunch of bars. The first one we stopped in, as we looked around, looked to be pretty swanky. There were a few, what looked to be, high rollers sitting next to us at the bar and I overheard something about “Laying down $500,000.00." I asked the bartender if we were at the expensive bar and he confirmed that, “Yes, you’ll pay double here. There‘s another bar just down the hall to the left.” I thanked him for the information and we ducked into the cheaper bar.

Janice had a glass of house wine and I had a bar scotch - $24.50. With tip, just about thirty bucks. We were happy we’d inquired at the previous bar.

Pictured is a drive-by parting shot of The Strip as we headed for the airport.








Our flight to Cancun left Vegas at 9:15pm, with a three-and-a-half-hour layover in Atlanta. After flying all night we got a private shuttle from the Cancun Airport for the two-hour drive to to Tulum. My sister, Lisa, her husband, Blair, and their son, Tyler, weren’t arriving until about 8:00pm so we had a few hours to kill by ourselves.

Of course I’d seen pictures of their place, Casa Chic, on the web but the house they’ve built and the setting on the forty-mile-long white sand beach is nothing short of spectacular. The weekly fees they receive from people lining up to rent it attest to that fact.

Lisa and Blair reserve the month of April for themselves and their four adult kids, and their spouses. Luckily for us, their daughter, Alex, and her guy couldn’t make it until April 17, which left a week for us to sneak in. We even got the top Ocean View Room. The house is designed with Lisa and BJ’s master suite at one end and the other four bedrooms, with individual baths, at the other end, with the living area in between.

Pictured are a couple of shots of the house, where a lot of partying goes on around the bar with the swings. The exposed stairway leads to the master suite. You can see the whole place and rental rates at www.casachictulum.com. It's worth a look.















We cracked a couple of Coronita’s and headed to the beach, where four queen size beach beds invited us to take a nap in the breeze and shake off the travel wearies.

Pictured are: The beach, a couple of Coronita’s, Janice looking like the cat that swallowed the canary and, later, soaking it all in.
















On one of our walks up the beach we spotted these college Spring Breakers. They had a mechanical bull and everything. Bill, Sam, the bull rider is more in the middle of the picture.







When BJ, Lisa and Tyler arrived we went down the beach to a place called Mateo’s where we had some excellent fish Tacos. Later we went to Las Zebras for Mojito’s and a Salsa Band. Man, can some of those Latin girls move!

Pictured are: Tyler, BJ and Lisa at Mateo’s.








Freddie, the hired help, as he does for paying guests when they rent Casa Chic, served fresh fruit, Granola, yogurt and toast on the deck for breakfast.

Our first full day was spent taking a couple of long walks on the beach, including, one place for lunch and another for Happy Hour. Some swimming and Boogie Boarding were also included, of course. Tyler, who is now a realtor in Vancouver, used to be a bartender at The Keg Boathouse in Horseshoe Bay, which came in very handy when it came to preparing Blue Tulum Margaritas.

Pictured are: Lisa and BJ floating in a wave and Tyler, Tim, Lisa and BJ on the beach with a round of Blue Tulums.









I can’t remember, blow by blow, the whole trip in chronological order but there were many beach walks, happy hour with a couple of neighbours, lots of body surfing and boogie boarding, some great dinners, both out and at home, and a drive with Lisa and BJ to the Sian Ka’an Reserve. The reserve is very close to Lisa and BJ’s but to get to the tip is a thirty-five mile drive on a very rough dirt road. We drove about fifteen miles, to the famous fishing resort, Bocca Paila, where the Corona Beach commercials are filmed.

Pictured are Janice, Lisa, BJ and their dog, Puff at the Sian Ka’an Reserve. Also pictured is the beach stretching off to the point of the reserve.









Pictured is Tyler checking his emails at Casa Chic.










The beach resorts in Tulum are beautiful, but expensive. I can’t remember all of the ones we patronized by name but I can say that, if we had stayed any longer, we would probably have enjoyed too many for mine and Janice’s budget.

The second son, Jordie, a commercial realtor who has started his own company in Surrey/Langley called Frontline Realty, arrived about 9:00pm on the third night. Lisa and Janice put together a dinner of local fish, tortillas and Jicama salad. Of course we had to celebrate some more because Jordie had arrived.

The next day Janice and I took a trip into the village of Tulum, about five miles away, and toured the streets on foot before stopping for lunch at El Camello’s where we had a Spicy Pickled Shark Appy, Fish Ceviche, Shrimp Tacos and two beer. We saw some locals drinking a concoction we didn’t recognize and so ordered one. It turned out to be a Michilada - kind of like a Beer Caesar but was a mixture of Kitchen Bouquet, Lea & Perrins, Tabasco, Lime, Pepper and a salted Rim. All in, the lunch, with tip, was just $20.

Pictured is our lunch at El Camello's.








Later we planted a palm tree on the beach in honour of our recently departed friend, Charlie, who had hoped to make the trip with us. She’d been to Mexico a number of times but was looking forward to seeing this side of Mexico and the brilliant waters of the Caribbean.

Pictured are Janice and Tim planting a palm on the beach at Lisa and Blair’s.











Later in the day, from the beach, we were able to flag down some Mayan fishermen on the their way home and purchased a couple of fish from them.

Pictured are Jordie, Tyler and Lisa with our purchase. Also pictured is Janice giving one of the fish some special attention.









When Tyler’s girl, Lindsay, arrived about 9:00pm we had another late dinner of take-out purchased from a restaurant in Tulum, where Janice is pictured below with the proprietor.








The next morning Janice took this picture of the sunrise just before falling back to sleep.








I woke to a belly ache. Lisa said later that she’d seen the restaurateur add one extra drumstick to the mix at the end, I guess to add value. Lisa had noticed that that piece looked somewhat uncooked. I know it was the one I got because, while evryone else really enjoyed it, mine was tough and unsavoury. Ughhh…

We celebrated Tyler’s thirty-second birthday that night, after the third son, Tavish, and his wife Kristan arrived. Lisa and Janice cooked up the fish we got from the Mayan fishermen and everybody, except me, feasted. I just couldn’t swallow anything but soda crackers. They were all having a great time celebrating but I couldn’t keep up and, when they all went out to have more drinks at a place on the beach, I couldn’t do it.

Janice and I drove them in two separate cars to the bar and then we returned to the casa. Janice shampooed Puff as I shuffled off to bed at midnight.

I had planned to take a picture of everybody before we left but the young folks, having stayed up late and, wanting brunch in the morning, took off to a restaurant. We said our goodbyes quickly and I forgot to get the photo.

Instead I got these shots of boats floating on the unbelievably clear waters of the Caribbean. It's never better than on the Mayan Riviera.









Thnaks Lisa and Blair for all the hospitality - we had a lot of fun.

The trip back was uneventful except for the gay, black, Baton Twirler who talked to Janice all the way from Atlanta to Vegas. Landing about 11:00pm in Vegas we drove the hour to Pahrump and, hitting the sack, slept like logs.

Death Valley and Zabriskie Point

Wednesday morning in Pahrump we woke to cloudy skies so we decided to put off our trip to Death Valley until the next day.

Our hot water heater was making a funny noise anyway so it was an opportune time to give the mobile RV repair guy a call. He was here by noon and replaced the check-valve. Cost $72.00. It's always a good idea to ask in the RV park if there is a mobile RV guy around because they work cheaper than the dealers, and usually come recommended, or not.

Because we're only taking carry-ons on the plane to Tulum, we went and got Janice a used one at the thrift store. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting a few more details in order for the trip.

Pictured is a, (you tell me Rhelda) cactus at the Preferred RV Park in Pahrump. The blooms are six to eight inches across.








On Thursday we drove an hour to Death Valley, which was full of surprises for us. We had no idea it was so beautiful. As our friend Lynda would say, "Yowsers." Sure, the valley floor itself is not much to look at because it just looks like the bottom of an old sea bed. It's easy to see though why mirages in the desert were so real to people because, in some spots, you'd swear you're looking at water, when in fact all you're seeing is more salt and sand.

Is anybody old enough to remember the TV show Death Valley Days, with the twenty-mule teams? Those teams were hauling the Borax crystals that Chinese labourers dug out of the valley floor. Some people still use the stuff for cleaning.

Pictured is Badwater, the lowest point in North America, at 282 feet below sea level.







Pictured is the Furnace Creek Inn at Death Valley where we went for lunch. The Borax Company built the inn in the late 1920's. It's truly an oasis in the desert but rooms start at over $300 per night and our lunch; a sandwich for Janice, a soft appetizer for me with two small scoops of ice cream and two coffees was $50.00. Fuel in the park can be as much as $6 per gallon.









The wind blew hard all day, producing dust devils all afternoon, like the one pictured here from the deck of the Furnace Creek Inn.








Pictured is the park road just before the turnoff to the Artist Drive. Furnace Creek would be just over the hill.








Pictured is the Artist's Palette, along the Artist Drive loop. The colours are produced by different ores and minerals.








Pictured is one more shot along the Artist Drive.







The Golden Canyon Trail is between the Artist Drive Loop and Furnace Creek. The trail is just a four kilometer round trip but takes you thorugh an incredible number of weird and wonderful rock formations.








Like I said, weird and wonderful - kind of like layers of candy.







Pictured is the rock formation they call The Cathedral, at the end of the Golden Canyon Trail.







Also seen from the Golden Valley Trail is the back side of Zabriskie Point. Zabriskie Point, the movie, was directed by Michelangelo Antonioni in the 1970's and was a big disappointment at the box office. He also drirected the movie Blow-up. I was only twenty-four or twenty-five at the time I saw it on the big screen and, while I don't remember that much detail about the movie, I know it had a big impression on me as twenty-five-year-old.








One more image from the Golden Valley Trail.








Pictured is Zabriskie point from the familiar side. What a magical place.








Another view of from the Zabriskie Point lookout.








Tim and Janice pose at the Zabriskie Point lookout.








The literature I had didn't tell me if the white compound pictured below was part sand, part Borax, or what, but I sunk into it up to my ankles when I walked on it. This was on our way out of the park.








I thought I had better get this blog off today because tomorrow evening we're heading to Tulum, via Las Vegas, where we'll spend most of the day. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to take the computer. If I don't it'll be ten days or so until the next blog...

The Grand Canyon and a Chance Encounter…

When we left Bullhead City we first took the Interstate to Kingman and then swung onto Route 66 to the Grand Canyon. We set up at Trailer Village, right at the National Park. Boy, does that National Park Annual Pass ever pay for itself after seven months touring the US of A.

What can someone possibly say about the Grand Canyon? The pictures below, hopefully, will help to tell just a little of the story.

The first glimpse of the canyon, as you approach it, is the tops of sheer cliffs on the other side of the canyon, about ten miles away. Your instincts tell you immediately the scale of the cliffs are an indication that what you’re seeing is just the tip of something really BIG. We were approaching the rim of the canyon on foot and every step revealed more of the magnitude of the scene, totally exposing itself only when we got right to the rim where we looked six thousand feet down to a giant yawing chasm, literally taking our breath away.

Pictured below is our first view of the canyon from near The Village, where we began our 7.5 mile hike of the South Rim Trail.








Yes, I have vertigo. As soon as we arrived at a spot where the trail narrowed and there were no guardrails I started to lean heavily to the high side side of the trail. My footsteps become heavy and deliberate. I tend to hurry through these uncomfortable spots and my breathing gets heavy - kind of a moan, I guess, because Janice says it sounds to her like, "I'm listening to a foot race in the Special Olympics."

Janice stands in awe of one of the Natural Wonders of the World. The luster of this spectacle would surely never wear off. Just to her right is a cut in the side of the cliff, and to the left, the same Bright Angel Trail, culminates at the edge of a grassy viewpoint.








Janice takes another pause, at Maricopa Point, to view the unbelievable depth and immensity of the canyon.









Ok, so I didn’t hike the entire South Rim Trail. The only reason the picture below made it into the blog is because it tells a story. The picture is deceiving because, until you study it closely, you would have no idea that it would have turned me into a quivering bag of mush, causing me to turn around, declaring that I couldn’t pass this point. See, the cliffs on the left overhang the trail, which make a six-footer have to duck. To the right, if you look closely, you can see that there is no rail or anything else to grab onto, only a few decorative rocks that wouldn't stop a Toy Poodle from sliding six thousand feet into oblivion. We turned around, walked back to the free bus that stops every half mile, and started the trail again at the next viewpoint.








The red rocks at Mohave Point are equally as glorious as those at Sedona.







We pose near Mojave Point as a stranger snaps a picture.










The clouds sweep swiflty over the canyon, causing shadows that look like giant mutated Manta Rays slithering over an irregular ocean floor.










The Colorado River, 6,000 feet below.







At Hermits rest we caught the bus back to The Village, just in time to have a cocktail at the lodge lounge before capturing the colour caused by the waning sun.








The Canyon appears at its best just as the sun is about to go down.








We met some Americans who have done all the trails in the canyon and they said that that the spot where I turned around was the scariest on the trail, and one of the scafiest in the canyon. It was certainly scary enough to turn me around. When we inquired how many Americans they thought might have visited the Grand Canyon they replied, "Less than five." Most people they meet on the trails are European.

By the way, Janice and I were at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon thirty years ago,which, incidentally, was about six months after we moved in together.

On the way back to Bullhead City, we stopped at Seligman, on Route 66, for lunch. A couple of businesses from there are pictured below.











As soon as we got back to the Avi Casino and RV Park at Bullhead City I went to the clubhouse to check our email. There was one from a certain Vince Croswell of Kamloops. Vince is the brother of our good friend Howard Croswell, and his wife Leia, whom we’ve known well for fifteen years. Howard and Leia are from Barriere but they house sit Vince and, and his wife Maureen’s, condo while they are away for the winters in Mexico.

Anyway, Howard had told me that Vince would like to be on the list for the blog and so I put him on the list when we left. Over the years we’ve been to two of Vince and Maureen’s houses for dinners with Howard and Leia, and, we‘ve been to their cabin at East Barriere Lake. We knew a lot about their lives but, still, we‘d never met them.

Anyway, Vince’s email to me said that they were enjoying the blog and that they were in Laughlin, on there way back from Mexico. I emailed back and said we were near there, at the Casino and would they like to meet?

When I got back to the trailer Janice was standing talking to the neighbour, who turned out to be none other than Vince Crswell. They were set up right beside us! We sat and had happy hour with them and a couple of their friends, from Kamloops and Vernon, whom they’d travelled to Mexico with. They were all going to the two-for-one meal at the Casino but I had to decline because the dental work was still really sore. I’m still on Yogurt, bananas, V8 Juice, muffins, scrambled eggs or pasta.

We did have another nice meeting with them in the morning though. What a small world and, how amazing we would end up in exactly the same place, side by side, so far from home.

Pictured are Vince and Maureen with us two.







Vince and Maureen are headed to San Francisco to see some friends there, while we pulled up stakes for Pahrump Nevada. Ya, that’s right, Pahrump. I asked Janice how she thought Pahrump might have come by it’s name. Without a hiccup she replied, “Well it’s from Pahrump Pa Pum Pum, of course.” The truth, apparently, is that it’s a native word and it’s meaning has something to do with water under the ground.

Any way we’re set up at the Preferred RV Park right behind Terrible’s Casino. Pahrump is an hour either way between Vegas and Death Valley, so it’s a good base for a few days before we fly out to Tulum...