Saturday – Time to Return Home

We needed to check out at noon, but did not leave the resort until after two, so the morning was filled with packing, our suitcases; that last bit of sun; a last breakfast; the last lunch; last chance at some high power negotiations on the beach and maybe even a last drink or so.
All in all it has been a wonderful vacation –filled with sun, a chance to get some much needed R & R, and an opportunity for each of us to get to know the others just a little bit better.
One of the delights have been the birds that constantly flit around the resort, particularly at meal time. Most are sparrows, but we have seen a number of these very pretty yellow& orange birds, and a few cardinals.
The trip to the airport – was in a bus – the strike was settled the night before! The view from the windows is spectacular – particularly as we travel along the coast where you can see the stark contrast between the very dry land and the blue of the ocean. We lost track of the number of golf courses along the highway – but they are plentiful and provide another start contrast to the desert.
The ‘official’ photographers have been Oleg and Barb, though there were so many cameras in the group that you will just know there will be many many pictures to share.

Friday - The Last Full Day in the Sun

This morning a number of us went into town – some walking, some taking a cab. The beach is quite steep and the sand deep, so the walk is a very good work out, and it takes over an hour depending on the speed of the walker. Towards Cabo the beach became very busy. We could have stopped for a massage, or taken a water taxi almost anywhere, and of course there is always a vender present. Six of us showed up at ‘The Office’ for lunch. It is a busy spot on the beach with a great menu, and two for one beer. The food was really great – though like everywhere in Cabo – probably too much, so some was left on the plate. Tracey had to take 'The Office' almost seriously, and was caught checking her blackberry while engaged in other activities! While there we were constantly approached by sellers of almost anything imaginable, from jewellery to tattoos, and a Marachi Band - but we didn't tip well enought to get any more than one song. We took a cab back to the Rui Palace and took up our spots on the pool deck for the rest of the afternoon. There was a very close competition involving the propelling of a thong (foot type) across the pool. Stephanie and Tracey were involved and Tracey almost won! Later there was a pool volleyball game. Several of our members were involved, and had the opportunity to play on the same team with a celebrity from Saturday Night Live.

This evening is being spent either back in town at one of the local restaurants – and another evening at Cabo Wabo, or into the buffet at the resort

Thursday - The great Parasailing Adventure

This morning everyone got up as they chose, and eventually headed down to the pool where Rob and Brent had set up the towels to reserve enough chairs for ourselves and our new friends Cindy and her family from Long Island New York. Brad has been learning a whole new vocabulary. Around 10 a group of us headed down to reserve our Parasailing adventure. We had all got up our courage just to learn we had to wait until 12:20 – and get our courage up again. In all the following took part: Brent and Dianna, Oleg and Julia, Tracy and Anita, Rob and Laurie, and Barb and Todd. A really great time was had by all. The view is spectacular, and it is beautiful and peaceful while you are flying. They have this so well coordinated that you start and finish on the deck of the boat. You only get dunked if you request this (and no one did). The most difficult part of the whole process was getting onto and off the tendering vessel, as you had to jump on or off while the boat is on land, before it gets drawn back into the water.
The other thing remarkable aspect of the plan was that no one had a drink before going. That meant that the first Corona wasn’t consumed until 2 pm. That didn’t slow down the rest of the day – mind you – we seem to have become a little bored with constant refreshments – hard to believe.
This afternoon Rob and Stephanie entered the paper airplane contest, unfortunately they were beaten out by a contestant from Chicago.
Julia enjoyed a dance lesson on the pool deck. She looked great!
This evening we will be entertained by the Entertainment Crew in a Vegas Show featuring the De Baile Dance Show. It was really enjoyable, then your writer took to bed.

Wednesday – Golf and Relaxing

Barb and Harry were up bright and early (actually – before sunrise) and off the Cabo San Lucas Country Club for a round of golf. We were the first ones on the course, followed by a foursome from Calgary who own a house on the grounds of the Country Club. They told us that when they left home minutes before, the temperature was already 68 degrees F. The course is tough but beautiful, and the sun bright. The longest hole was over 500 yds, and the shortest just 87 yards. There is water on many of the holes, often for the whole length of the fairway. There were lots of bunkers, and both of us spent our time on the beach. We tee’d off just before 7 and finished by just after 10:30. There were lots of birds on the fairways. On the first couple of holes there were a couple of road runners, then on the 5th hole we were surprised with a whole group of Buzzards. Harry wondered if they were waiting for his game to die completely! On the 17th hole – which is very short – we saw a stork, and a couple of pelicans.
Back at Rui Palace – we joined the rest of the crew around the pool deck for a relaxing afternoon. We didn’t even need to leave for lunch as they were making fajitas on the pool deck. Oleg and his daughter Anna took to the skies parasailing. Those on the ground watched as both waived their arms in the air. A couple of others may get up the courage to try out the sport tomorrow. The later part of the afternoon saw several head off to town to enjoy shopping and dinner at a local restaurant.
Thought we would talk about the taxi situation and getting places. You always have the choice of walking anywhere, but with the heat – that is not wise. It is very easy to get a cab and the cost is minimal - $10 to get into town – and all the cabs are 9 passenger vans. The road system is interesting – for example – to get to our golf course yesterday – as the crow flies it is probably 2 KM, and right across the highway from our hotel. However – to get there, you need to go down the driveway for the hotel, through the gate – where lots of laborers gather, then proceed toward the road. At the road – which runs parallel to the highway, you turn Right - east (one way) and proceed to the lights about 2 or 3 KM away. At the light make a U-Turn onto the other parallel one- way road going the opposite direction on the other side of the highway. Then turn right into the Country Club and go another km towards the club house. There is also a Costco and a Wal-Mart which are visible from the back of our hotel – but no one has gone to visit due to the challenge – it is across the highway.
Oh and about the laborers outside the gate. We understand that this is a long-standing conflict between the hotels and the cab drivers. You must leave the hotel via a cab, but are able to return via a tour bus. So when we arrived from the airport – it was by bus, but we will have to leave by cab. This is an effort to keep the hotels from running shuttles and therefore doing the cab drivers out of work.

We will see what tomorrow brings – we anticipate warm, sunny weather!

Tuesday - A Relaxing Day in the Sun

This morning started with the regulars hitting the gym, but Brad and Lyle hit the pool deck early to reserve a group of ‘ideal’ lounge chairs. Time for lots of reading, relaxing and conversation. Oleg and his daughter took out one of the Seadoo’s that are available for rental on the beach. There is quite a breeze today, so the water is choppy – which made his managing the Seadoo a bit of a challenge.

You know it is a relaxing day – when the highlight is a visit from a Pelican that had a great time swimming around the pool, through the pool volley ball players, and swimmers. There are three cruise ships in the harbour, and we can see the tenders coming and going all day.

Harry and Barb went for a walk along the beach while a few of the others (which will go unnamed) are making it down the list of drinks at the swim-up bar.

This evening we are headed down the beach for a dinner organized by Brad. We met in the Lobby at 7:15, and took three cabs to a restaurant on the beach. The restaurant as you can see had tables set out on the beach, and we had a large table set up in such a way that we could all see and chat with each other. The wine was wonderful, the food exquisite and the service was attentive. Dinner took long enough that we were able to enjoy the entertainer who sang a variety of songs – from all artists from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. He was also able to respond to requests. The food was topped off with desserts and wonderful Tequila.
After dinner we sat around a campfire on the beach – a few enjoying a roasted marshmallow, though I think that most were way too satisfied by then.
About half of us – including Harry and Barb returned to the hotel around midnight – not sure when the others returned.

Tomorrow Barb and Harry are going golfing early in the morning, so this will not get posted until after the game.

Monday - A Taste of Cabo

This morning Barb and Harry had a lovely breakfast, then headed out on a tour called A Taste of Cabo. We were picked up from the resort a 9 AM and proceeded to the Peurto Paraiso (a big shopping mall) in Cabo San Lucas. We walked through the mall to the marina for a ride in a glass bottom boat. We watched lots of Pelicans fishing and sunning themselves. The trip was 45 minutes in length and included Land’s End, The Pacific Window and Lover’s Beach. We were impressed by the beauty of the place including a variety of fish (large and small) and eels, and s colony of Sea Lions

who greeted us loudly. As you can see from the pictures – it is a lovely spot.

We understand a few others of our group took a water taxi to the same area. Back in the bus we proceeded to the ‘downtown area’ of Cabo San Lucas where we looked through the shops, and bargained for a few necessary items to bring home. We then made an interesting stop at the glass blowing factory which uses recycled glass to make a variety of objects from ornamental dolphins to bathroom sinks (literally). Harry tried his hand – or should I say his breath at glass blowing, creating a rather large, thin bubble.

Around noon we returned to the bus for the trip north and east along the shoreline to San Jose del Cabo. Here we were dropped off in the middle of the town,

and made our way to a lovely restaurant were we were treated to a very nice chicken dinner and some delicious taco chips (much better than the packaged type). After lunch we wandered around the town and among other things, checked out the Tequila tasting shop where we sampled Pomegranate, chocolate and vanilla tequila. Lovely, but sorry folks – we didn’t buy any to bring home.
Our guide Rico was delightful, filling us in on some of the more colorful historical points of the area, and guiding us to the ‘best places to buy’. Back to the Riu by 3:30, and looking forward to a relaxing evening. There are two large cruise ships in the harbour and a rather large yacht which we understand belongs to golfer Greg Norman the Australian golfer.
After arriving back at Rui Palace we joined the group at the pool and learned that they had had an enjoyable day – some going out to Lovers’ Beach, some checking out ‘The Office’. This evening we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Japanese Restaurant, then turned in early. A really great day!

Hopefully I will get the pictures placed a little better on the blog today. I hit the wrong key this morning and published the blog before all pictures were in place