It’s about an hour’s drive from our winter home to Boca Chica Beach, TX.
This is where the Texas SpaceX rocket production facility and launch pad is located.
We visit there at least twice each winter to see what’s new.
Last year, by the time we made our first visit to Space X, the new rocket production facility had been completed and the massive building had an equally massive mural on an end wall.
3/4 Cup canned white albacore tuna mixed with a bit of chopped onion and miracle whip dressing, on top of a bed of iceberg lettuceand surrounded by home grown cherry tomatoes gifted by a friend … simple, refreshing, and nutritious, albeit a bit boring.
Before we left Arizona in mid February of 2016, I learned that through a MLM company I had joined just prior to my retirement from nursing, I had earned an all expenses paid trip for two to The Hard Rock Resort, Mayan Riviera, Mexico. The trip was to take place in mid March.
Absolutely everything was paid for from flights, to airport transportation, to the all-inclusive resort, and to side tours from there. The only time we had to use our wallets was to tip someone.
Hubs and I had time to unpack, do laundry, and repack for the next trip.
It was a whirlwind defined, and we loved every single second.
My feature photo is of our hotel lobby.
Mid March at the Mayan Riviera was hot and so humid that my camera lens kept fogging up, but that was truly the only issue. Everything else was perfect.
Rugged but beautiful beachFamily Area PoolAdult Area PoolWe were there over St. Patrick’s Day and the staff made the day fun and specialOur last day was extended because we didn’t fly out until 9pm – we had zero complaints about that
After touring my cousin around the Las Vegas area for a week, we took her to the plane and then made our way home via a different route than usual.
My feature photo is of a portion of Arches National Park near Moab, UT. We didn’t take any side roads to see the actual arches, but even without that, the scenery “on the way by” was spectacular.
We’d hoped to drive from there to Denver, Co.
At Grand Junction, Co, where we spent the night, we were advised the next morning by the hotel clerk, that there had been a rockslide ahead, so the road we planned to take was closed. We were also informed that roads out of Denver (from ourdirection) were closed for the winter.
Enter Plan B:
We drove on as far as Aspen, Co, toured the place and watched some skiing. Neither of us had been there before, so it was a fun little “been there done that” trip.
One of the many Aspen ski runs
After Aspen, we turned around and headed back to Grand Junction.
From there, we headed north to and through Wyoming and more incredible scenery.
Hoodoos in South Wyoming
After Wyoming, it was South Dakota and then North Dakota (which I’ll cover in a future post) and thenhome.
In 2013, hubs and I spent 10 days exploring the Caribbean island of Curaçao.
On a walkabout around the capital city of Willemstad, we came across a courtyard adorned with two giant murals that depicted both every day life and some of the historyof the city.
Here’s a closer shot of one of the sections of my feature photo:
Here’s the historical one:
This one needs lots of post processing. I’ll edit out a few of the distracting elements in the photo, and try to improve the clarity. This is a complicated one so I’ll wait until I’m further along in my photo editing course.
Take on fork: a cherry tomato half, a bit of lettuce, a piece of air-fried burger. Dip it all into ketchup and then mustard and it’s a burger minus the carb-loaded bun (28-38 grams of carbs per bun).
This makes room for a filling lite beer(3.2 grams of carbs per can)
Whether man made or Mother Nature made, there are more marvels in this world than one could hope to see in a lifetime.
After a few days on the Vegas Strip and Fremont Street, we took my cousin, Carrie out of town to Laughlin, NV.
On the way, we showed Carrie the spectacular and historical Hoover Dam (hubs and I had been there several times before). On our second day at Laughlin, we took in the West Rim of The Grand Canyon (first time for all of us).
There’s nothing that beats the feeling of sharing these incredible sights and experiences with family.
Beyond imagination for the time it was builtHubs, me, and Carrie ready to explore Carrie and Me (close cousins since Carrie was a little girl) Carrie was impressed These water diversion tunnels can cause anxiety just looking down into themWe walked from NV to AZ Love this story! So much to learn here!We weren’t near the edge This is as close as hubs could get to the edge You have to see it to believe it! Carrie is a community theatre actor in our home town. She knows how to pose for a shot Joshua Tree Forest between Laughlin and the West Rim Now this is dining ambience! The skywalk is on the Hualupai Reservation Another great poseMemories are made of thisShe and the Joshua Tree Hubs and me lapping up the scenery Carrie and Hubs taking one last look Our hilight was the skywalk over the Grand Canyon. Hubs, who suffers severe acrophobia, chose to be the photographer from afar.
I recently walked over to one of our many parks because I learned that this past spring, murals had been painted on the backs of some of the baseball dugouts.
The one in my cover photo spells out our city (Weyburn) in symbols.
These works have brought art, colour, and fun to the site.
There are a few more dugouts in this park, slated for completion next year.