Cancún- A Vacation in Paradise

We've just returned from a one-in-a-lifetime wonderful vacation to Cancún. Our oldest son, Erik, hosted us at one of the resorts that he manages (he is head of HR over several companies). It was a marvelous, wonderful, rejuvenating, relaxing and luxurious 5 days in the sun; made all the sweeter because we left 18" of snow at home. We left 20°F in Springville and found 20°C (68°F) in Cancún. Since we didn't want to leave our house at 0-dark-thirty we spent all day Friday traveling. Erik and a private car (Suburban) with driver picked us up at the airport. We were welcomed into the vehicle with cool, damp, scented washclothes and cold bottled water.

The next morning when I opened the curtains I was greeted with paradise! This is the view we enjoyed each day. Ahhhh...

SECRETS SILVERSANDS MAYA RIVIERA RESORT 

Erik is quite adventurous in his eating and recommended the octopus for dinner the night we arrived. I've eaten octopus before, but nothing like this. It was tasty and the ends of the tentacles were wonderfully crispy!

Saturday was our day to see the markets in downtown Cancún. We stopped at the the famous Cancún sign, and since there was quite a line to take a photo in front of the sign, we opted to go down on the beach to get our photo op. (And, yes, I used some creative editing to get Cancún facing the right way!)

It is winter in Cancún so the days were cool, never above 23°C (73.4°F) and the nights were cooler, 18°C (65°F) Frankly it was cooler than I had planned on. Next time I will bring a couple of jackets or sweaters.

THE BEACH BY THE CANCUN SIGN

There was a little playground on the beach and Gordon wanted to get a couple of cute shots...

Who knew? This takes me back to the days of our honeymoon 34+ years ago when we ended up falling down laughing in the aisle while trying on tennie-runners at K-Mart!

The markets were interesting. One of my favorites were these *chicken-dance* pollos! Bwahahaha! Can't you just hear the chicken dance music?

I found a pretty white blouse at a cute little shop that Megan likes and bought it to be my Provo City Center Temple blouse. It makes me happy just thinking about it!

Erik was in search of some little embroidered purses to take back for Megan. We eventually found them, but not before we found this guy who was serving mangos on a stick. He expertly peeled and cut it to look like a flower. Then he added some non-spicy red sauce, lime juice, salt and, for the brave, a hot chili powder (I passed on the spicy!) It was delicious and I was glad there were the aforementioned damp cloths in the Suburban with which to clean my face, between slurpey, juicy bites and eventually my hands.

And although we'd eaten a sumptuous breakfast Erik had a hankering for food from one of his favorite restaurants. I was still quite full so only ordered a tomato-avocado salad. Yummy!

This was Erik's quest... chapulines (grasshopper tacos)! I HAD to try them and they were actually quite tasty with a crunchiness from the legs. But the best part was the freshly made masa tortillas being cooked right there in a corner of the restaurant! I could have eaten a dozen... but used my willpower!

Dinner that night was at the Bordeaux restaurant at the resort. When we'd made a reservation earlier in the day I asked the manager what he would recommend. My meal started with escargot, continuing with French onion soup, grouper fish and ending with crème brûlée. It was wonderfully delicious from beginning to end. (So much so that the next night I went back alone, while Gordon watched the Super Bowl, in Spanish, and had it all again substituting a salad for the grouper fish)

There was ample time to wander the resort, soak up the sun, take photos and relax.

EGRET IN THE LITTLE LAGOON AT RESORT

I will be back over the next few days with more posts about each day in paradise.

Magazine Mountain Adventure

As we anticipated our trip to Arkansas to visit Gordon did some *internet-shopping* to see what attractions were nearby and what activities we might enjoy. One of the first ones he came up with was going on a guided ATV ride at Magazine Mountain in the Ozark National Forest.

The mountain gets its name from when French explorers were travelling through the area and a landslide occurred on the mountain. The noise from the landslide was so great that one explorer described it as the sound of an ammunition magazine exploding. The explorers then named the mountain "Magazine" (inquiring minds want to know!)

OhMyGoodness! Did Grampy hit a grand-slam with this activity! What a fun time! We arranged for a 3-hour afternoon ride and were rewarded with good weather... but remember it is JANUARY... we had clear, sunny skies and acceptable temperature until we either

• A) Got wet
• B) the sun went down!

I love this silhouette shot of the machines steaming in the sunset... it's one of my favorites!

Our first of several rest stops (thank goodness) was at this scenic river. I love how the rock is all in layers... I think it is sandstone. The interesting thing is that the rock seems to be like this all over Northwest Arkansas. I breaks in squares and rectangles.

I whipped out my iPhone and Brandon snapped this great shot of Grammie and Grampy. (Erik valiantly gave me the warmest coat and Braden his tiny gloves!)

I turned around and Melissa and Bryan had already scampered off down stream.

Now I got serious with my Rebel and our guide, Kevin, was very accommodatingly played photographer  for us. Here's the group... isn't his a beautiful location?

And a close up of this great looking group!
Back- Bryan, Grammie and Jim
Front- Grampy, Brandon, Melissa and Erik

I love this one of Erik and his three oldest! What a great looking family... (me? Prejudice? Nah!)

Our trail had a plethora of puddles, which Grammie was a little leery of at first... but not the men! We came to one big puddle and Guide-Kevin called back that if we didn't want to get our feet wet we needed to pick them up... Melissa and I dutifully (and wisely) did so... but Erik and Jim, umm, not so much... they gunned it and got a mud bath!

Our second stop was just after said mud-bath at the recently erected beaver dam. They'd done a very tidy job with dam...

and hut and various escape holes in the dirt bank guaranteed to swallow an ATV machine (which it had a few week ago).

But the all time favorite was the crossing at natural bridge. It is like the stair-stepped photo at the beginning of the post only bigger. Guide-Kevin went down stream to capture our action shots crossing...

Grampy... yay, Grampy... look at your wave!

Grammie and Melissa... can you say cautious? (I just can't like being cold and wet!)

Erik and Brandon... you can hardly see Erik!

And terror-Jim with Bryan on the back.  Erik and Jim were fearless... and soaked! Guess that took care of the mud problem!

OK... now I have to laugh just a little at our wonderful guide. He is a native Arkansan so he really doesn't know anything else. Back at the beaver lake he pointed at the mountain range and said, "See that pointy mountain? That's Signal Mountain. It's the highest point in Arkansas at 2753 feet." I slyly told him we lived at 4800 feet. So when we got to this 200 year-old *ginormous* Ponderosa pine I didn't have the heart to tell him that this was just a baby compared to the truly *GINORMOUS* Ponderosa pines I grew up around in the Plumas National Forest. Like I said... it's all he knows... but he was awfully cute anyway!

Said not-so-ginormous-but-still-very-beautiful-Ponderosa-pine! Yep... I love them...

We had such a fun time. By the time we returned to the staging area were were frozen... especially our thumbs which have to run the throttle. I tried in vain to get Jim to take off his soaking wet pants and put on a pair of mine... he finally said, "Would you want to wear your mother-in-law's pants?" I could see he had a point.

I learned some important things from this outing-

• I love to ATV and will rent again
• I don't want to own an ATV
• Wear warm gloves
• My old thumb is still clicking in that last join from throttle fatigue
• Don't try to get your 6'2" 200+ pound son-in-law to wear your pants (bwahahahaha)

Dead Fish

My dad use to have a saying... Company is like fish; after 3 days they stink! Whereas this is not always true I have found that I would rather have a visit end with all of us saying, “This visit was too short!” as opposed to “Oh, schmack, I wish I’d left yesterday!!” My visits this trip falls into the previous category. It just wasn’t long enough.


[THIS PIC HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS POST EXCEPT IT IS A POT OF TINY BULBS BY BEK'S FRONT DOOR. THE DAFFODILS ARE NO LARGER THAN MY FINGERNAILS!]

I had a lovely week with the Flynn family and on Friday they all got a big treat! Uncle Stuey flew into Fresno to surprise them when they all got home from school. Those boys just idolize their *St'rt*.

And speaking of dead fish... Curt and Bek treated Stuart and I to an excellent sushi dinner on Friday night (the boys decided they’d pass on that one!) We sat right at the bar and watched Wan prepare all of our sushi rolls and sushi. I’ve decided that eel is a new favorite. Wan is a master at the art of sushi.

Saturday we drove back to Palmdale where Stuart dropped me off at Auntie P’s then hot-footed it down to Brea to visit a friend. He stayed there to hear her speak in church on Sunday.

I went to church with P in the Palmdale 4th ward (sniff, no more Palmdale 2nd ward!). I got to see old friends, some of whom I haven’t seen for years since they were split into 4th ward years before we moved from Palmdale. P told me that Glenn Tong was now on the High Counsel so when I saw him I told him I’d love to hear him speak someday. My wish is his command! By coincidence he was speaking in the Littlerock 1st Ward which meets right after 4th ward. I ditched out of 4th ward’s Relief Society and sneaked into the back of the chapel. Imagine my surprise to find more old friends!

We ended up sitting in the chapel for nearly another hour after sacrament meeting was over visiting! The happiest news is that both Ann Keelan and Pauline realized they were quilters and now we have a new quilting friendship. Happy times.

So today, Monday, finds us winging (fly little Beatrix, fly) our way home with another perk... I have Stuart to share the driving. (FYI- the trip took 8.5 hours!  It usually takes me 9.5-10.)

299- In Their Shoes

This last weekend in Samaria, Idaho got me to thinking about what it would have been like to be a pioneer. I have the utmost respect for these sturdy folks as they carved their niche in this vast land.

I thought, "What would it be like to walk in their shoes?"



They faced the daunting task of cultivating the ground in a hard, inhospitable land.



Their simple tools had to be cared for and repaired by themselves.



This would have been a luxury to have an automated washing machine... with a wringer! No more raw knuckles using the old wash board.



And all that wash needed to be ironed; laboriously heating and reheating the iron on the wood stove, yes, even in the summer.



Was there ever much *me* time for these pioneers? Did they have time to primp? How often could they really use their funny little hair crimpers? Maybe just on Sundays.



Yes... I have the highest regard for the pioneers.

298- A Passion for History

Yesterday I blogged about Shayna's farm; what I didn't allude to is that she isn't the only amazing person that lives there.  Her husband, Luke, fittingly a History teacher, has a life-long love affair with history and Samaria history in particular. Luke doesn't sit idly by just reading and studying history, he has done his part to preserve it! All of these pioneer cabins are now on his property.

I don't remember all the things Shayna told us about these old buildings, but this one, the Summer Kitchen, was definitely my favorite. This one was moved by dragging it on telephone poles.



The interior of the Summer Kitchen... Luke has really gone out of his way to furnish these little buildings.



This is the largest of the cabins in their *backyard*. Luke has added the second story. This is one of the cabins that he numbered, dismantled and reconstructed.



Look at the beautiful original dovetail corners. You know they were created with hand tools by the original builder.



This little cabin is special because it is constructed by laying 2 by 6 planks on top of each other. It would have to cut down on the chinks!



But this one... Luke dismantled and stored this cabin when he was only 15! What foresight! This cabin was built in 1869 by Thomas John Davis, the Great- Grandfather of Olive May Davis Osmond, mother of the famous Osmond family. She was born in this cabin as was her father, Thomas Martin Davis. It was rebuilt at its present location in 2008-2010 by the Community of Samaria. This cabin originally had a sod roof.



The main room.



The bedroom.



It was dedicated in July 2010.

255- PEI and Regional Conference

Today was our second Regional Conference. They announced that the conference originating in the Marriot Center on BYU's campus was being televised to 17 BYU Stakes and 139 Stakes in Utah and Wasatch Counties: A possible audience of half a million members!

I would like to share a few comments that stuck with me.

Sister Julie B Beck- "We are having a robust mortal experience. We have difficulties to draw us to the Savior and learn to rely on Him."

Elder Jeffery Holland- Talking about our Regional Conference "It doesn't get any better than this!" also "God will be with us and we will succeed!"

President Boyd K Packer- "Never forget that you have a Father [in Heaven]."

I came away feeling fed and uplifted!

And then look what I spied with my little eye right there in the Hidden Cove Chapel parking lot [car park]... a PEI license plate! I DO have a passport now...

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