Dec 15- Day 30 of 30 Runs for 30 days

And so ends (almost) another crazy experiment in how to ruin ones body!

I met Mike Cheliak this summer while playing 'Race Announcer' for a couple of the HSBC Tri weekends. Crazy, fun, big guys who ended up adopting Puppy Puppy from us.

About a month ago, Mike came up with this crazy idea of running 30 runs for 30 days. He tossed the idea up on Facebook and I saw it, his buddy Ted and his sister saw it. 4 people without the common sense to say "That's a dumb idea". Nov 15 we started. We all updated each other by adding onto the Facebook thread.

What a ride. I started out actually 2 days early and was shocked at how hard it was to run. Was I just out of shape? I hadn't done much at all since Ironman in late July. Was it the altitude? We're at a bit over 5000 feet above sea level. Just about exactly 1 mile up. Hummm - the mile high club with a different twist!

I did a bit of Google searching and found a few articles on running at altitude. If I have it right, it seems that at 5000' one can expect to loose about 10% of their ability. The blood thickens and it's much harder to get the oxygen that we need. I don't know if I'm glad I read that or not. I instantly felt better about myself and how hard it was to run, but then it quickly became an excuse for me too. The things I read said that one will feel like superman if they race at low altitude again shortly after returning. I can't wait for that one!

I worked my way up to 10k at a somewhat reasonable time last weekend. Actually, the 56 minute 10k was a great time for me! (I always remember my abilities much greater than they really are!)

I thought for the last 10 days I'd increase the distance by 1k, and not really think about speed at all. That lasted for a few days (as the chart on the right shows) but quickly I ran out of steam and ran the last couple of days at much shorter (recovery of sorts) distances.

I felt like running 21k shouldn't be that big a deal for me. I've raced a half dozen half marathons before and run, God knows how many 21k training runs in the past. For some reason I was nervous though.

I headed out this morning after a good breakfast, loaded with 2 litters of E-Load water, and the last 3 Gels that I could buy here. (Power Bar gels are crap aren't they? Who decided that 'Oh yea - this taste is great" Man oh man I can't stand that stuff. (Dear God - please open a Gu store within a days drive of here for me!)

I had a knot in my right calf from the get go. It lasted almost 5k into the run. I ran over to the town of Chapala along the highway. The highway is the only road that isn't 200 year old cobblestone, so it's easier to run on. It's about 7k to Chapala but, in town, there is a paving stone boardwalk along the waterfront that runs about 1.8k return. I did that 5 times and headed back. I watched my pace decrease slowly from about the 12 - 13k mark.

By the time I got back to Ajijic, our home town here and the start/finish line, I was bushed. The last 4 - 5k had turned from just going at whatever slow pace I could to, Holy Crap - I'm going to puke and pass out! I go to my start point to see I was still about 40 meters short. I'd added a couple of return laps along the way so that once I hit the start, I'd be done. Event hat idea didn't work out. I turned and ran back a bit more to put in the distance. Heaven forbid I'd be short by a few feet!

I walked back home, about .5k and had the only 2 packages of E-Mend that I'd brought with me. (Will someone tell Dr Doug that he needs to open a store here too please!)

The finish of this experiment for me is going to be taking a couple of days off, doing a couple of short runs and then something long a quick. Does running endlessly for a month build muscle, endurance and speed, or, did it just knock the crap out of me? I'll let you know.

Thanks to everyone who send good luck wishes along the way for me!

Oh yea - almost forgot to mention that I posted the totals from the month at the bottom of the table at the right.

Saturday Dec 12 Update

The weeks seem to fly past quicker every week. I guess we're settling into a routine. I'm not sure I'm entirely happy about that. I like to be adventurous, but, at the same time, it's nice to take it easy and relax too. "It is what it is" I guess!

I decided to push the heck out of myself for the last 10 days of the '30 days and 30 runs' I've been doing with Lynne, Mike and Ted back home. I pushed a pretty good time (for me) on a 10k run last weekend and thought I'd add 1k a day and then do 21 on the last day of the 30.

Where do these idea's come from, and how can I keep them there! I did reasonably well for most of the week. I skipped 13k because, well, 13 is unlucky. I watched my pace stay close to the same every day as I added more distance. I ran further and further into the town of Chapala. On Thursday, I hit the fence. (not to be confused with hitting the wall) View Run. A 15k out and back is all I can do along that route. The road at the far end dead ends at a fence.

Friday I did my 16k run by doing the same route, but cutting back and forth at a few spot sot make up the extra 1k.

Today was something else though. I was missing something when I headed out to start the run. Energy - yea, that's what's missing. A can of Red Bull didn't help either. I started running and remembered that my right leg, calf and hamstring were tight. They were tight the day before, but had loosened up after a couple of kilometres. I got to the 5.25k mark today and they were still tight. My energy level was dropping fast, my chest hurt, my leg, my foot . . . . you name it, it hurt.

I'm not sure if I was sending too much time thinking about the total mileage for this week that I'd done (90 as of today). I thought about the last month and how close we are to the end. I thought about this stupid toenail that STILL hasn't completely fallen off since Ironman and how it bites into the toe. (Isn't 4 months a long time for a nail to drop off?) Obviously, I was just thinking about all the wrong stuff. I turned back at the 5.25 mark, did a bit of a back and forth near the end and ended up running 12k today instead of the 17k I was planning on doing.

Tomorrow's another day. 3 runs left. The initial plan calls for a 18k, 19k and then a final 21k. Hummmm - 2k short of 150k in 10 days . . . . . Hummmmm :-)

Sunday update:

How do you tell when you're being a suck, or when you are making the 'msart' move? That's always the tough question for me.

I really wanted to run 1k a day more every day for 10 days but, I didn't make it happen.

I dragged my sorry ass out of bed this morning. Checked my email, looked that the weather channel, CNN, Toronto Star, Globe and Sun, long term weather forecast for here. I managed to waste an hour and a half and I still didn't want to go and run.

Maybe all this was like a "Message from God" - "You're tired Greg. You need to rest a bit. Go and jog a nice slow even paced 5k and just keep those tired old leg muscles loose!"

Well, who the heck am I to argue with God? OK big guy - you and me and a slow 5k coming up.

Off I went, back out along the back roads to San Antonio. If I'm not going to run far, at least it can sound like it is!.

Oh My God. That knot in my hamstring turned instantly into a burning ball in the back of my leg. My back felt stiff. I couldn't get a good breath. At the 1k mark I looked down to see I was running a 7 minute pace. My pace always stows down over time. I CAN"T do 5k at 7:00 mpk. I picked up the pace a bit, then a bit more. I ran through San Antonio and out the far side to the 2.5k mark where I turned around. 6:40 pace at that point. I totally forgot about running slow and easy to recover a bit from the last 28 days of running. I ended up back at the ranch with an average pace of 6:20.

This is the first time I've ever looked at the Garmin data (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/20478030) and seen every split be faster than the one before!

I'm a bit disappointed that I'm not going to clock all the mileage I'd originally planned to do but, I'm back home and I'm no where near as exhausted as I have been after the last few runs. My legs are loosened up, but not killing me like they have been.

I think I'm going to do about the same run tomorrow, then go for my second chiropractor appointment, take it easy for the rest of the day and see what sort of time I can get on Tuesday, Day 30 of 30 ending with a 21k run.

(I think sleeping in Wednesday is going to be delicious!)

Sunday Dec 6 - Lynne Update

Well our life here in Ajijic and on Ranch el Rosario is starting to unfold as is evidenced by the fact that we seem to have more to do now than updating the Blog.

Last Sunday, we drove to Guadalajara and did a bit of exploring. We didn't find the Tlaquepaque which is what we were looking for but ended up in an enormous mall that could rival any American one and it felt like we were home especially when we saw Santa Claus and heard the Christmas Carols over the sound system. There was a Chili's and an Applebees and we could have been anywhere in the States or Canada.

We also found the Center of town with it's beautiful Church and square and was a bit more in keeping with our taste. We will do more research and return to Guadalajara soon.

I'd like to report that other than a giant cucaracha on our bedroom curtain, there have been no more animal births or deaths in recent days.

Greg does a few hours of web work each day and I have managed to plug into the spritual community here. I've been to couple of Course in Miracles meetings and a couple of Science of Mind meetings. I've been meeting lots of good people. Greg even came with me to a Gratitude Service on Friday night and although it's not his thing, he was a very good sport about it. It was in a private home that is the most beautiful home I've ever seen, built in a U around a lush garden and pool and all the walls of the rooms are open to the garden. Someone told me this is a true Hacienda style home.

New neighbours arrived last week. Kay and Paul, a lovely couple from Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia and this is their third year staying on the ranch. New people to play dominoes with.

I was very excited this morning when Greg tried to shower and realized there was no hot water. I went out and found Ramon and said....L'agua en el bano es frio. He understood and got the problem resolved in no time. No pantomime and no sign language. I got the message across in Spanish.

Today we treated ourselves to massages at a place called "The Hidden Garden." I haven't felt that relaxed in weeks and I will definitely return. After my massage I had a half hour before my Course in Miracles Meeting and I went to the town square and sat on a bench and just watched the activity. I was awed by una mujere who turned a simple mango into a flower on a stick, like a popsicle, but better for you. They sell all kinds of fruit and veggies in the square in plastic containers to munch on instead of junk food. And the plastic containers are good for capturing those cucarachas I mentioned earlier.

We went to the Chapala Society, the other day to join. It is a Gringo organization that plans events, has a library and many Spanish classes and is in a gorgeous park like setting. It's where I do my yoga. We started chatting with Howard Feldenberg from Rochester N.Y. He's running for president and was shmoozing us. He asked me if I was Jewish (damn it, I thought I didn't look the part) and his friend came over and they invited me to services at the 'Gogue. There is a chapel (reform) in the town of Chapala....which is to Ajijic what Newmarket is to Aurora. He also invited us to the Chanukah party for Latkes.....we will definitely go to that.

Tomorrow morning we are going to something at the Chapala Society called "Open Circle". They serve coffee and someone speaks about their life. The only restriction is that your story has to be inspirational and uplifting. The guy who is speaking tomorrow is David about the stroke he had 10 years ago in his 40's that left him totally paralyzed and unable to function and his eventual return to total functionality. It should be an interesting story. I've met the guy as he comes to the Science of Mind meetings.

Yesterday Greg and I had the most wonderful lunch in a restaurant in yet another "secret garden." He had something called a Mojeta (not to be confused with a Mojeto which is some kind of fancy drink) which is shrimp and cheese and avocado done in a Lava pot and it looked delcious. I had a Caesar salad cause I'm boring. The waiter was lovely and he practised his English and me my Spanish and we had a few good laughs.

Life is good. I feel like we're finding a bit of a groove for ourselves. Yippeee.

And Jordan and Sara will be here in two weeks and two days. Yay!

"Life" on the Ranch

I think Lynne and I really lucked out when we stumbled upon this ranch that we're staying at. When we were still in the hotel, we;d figured we needed to find something quickly, so we could take anything that was OK that we tripped over for a couple of months and that would give us time to find something we really liked.

We'll, we've been looking around at other houses over the last week or so. There are lots of nice houses. There are lots of nice communities but, this place is like living in the cottage on wildlife preserve park.

The grounds are impeccable. The Mexican families (3 I think) that look after the place live at the far end of the grounds. THey are always cutting the grass, trimming the bushes, cleaning the houses or, playing with their kids and the animals.

I think it's the animals that make this place so special. There are dogs and cats and chickens all over the place. Not overrunning the place, but I nice bunch around.

The cat had kittens just before we got here. I'm not sure how many, but we see two or three every once in while. There are a few chickens and roosters. the roosters were walking us up every morning when we first got here. I guess we're used to them now. I never hear them anymore.

Dogs: Two German Sheppard's, Samson and Delilah. I miss puppy so I've made friends with these two dogs. Milk Bones help! There is a sprinkling of other small dogs too. Most looking a little mattie Dogs seem to be looked upon as livestock more than family pets that are pampered and brushed.

One of the hens hatched 11 chicks about a week ago. She's a funny looking hen with feathers on her head that make her look like she's got a hat on. Now we watch her walk around the grounds with these little chicks in hot pursuit!

Delilah was barking and barking the other night. I couldn't figure out why no one went our to shut her up. The next morning we found out that she'd had 8 puppies that night. She's crawled under one of the bushes here and practically made a nest for her and her babies.

There is only one other couple renting a place here at the moment. We understand that the other 8 units will fill up in December and JAnuary. In the meantime, all this 'life' on the ranch is great to be a part of it.

Thursday - Short Run and US "Turkey Day"

I had a terrible sleep last night. I'm behind in some work I need to get done. I guess that was on my mind. The dog barking in the background for an hour didn't help the situation.



i tossed and turned for a while, then got up and did some work for about an hour and a half. The mistake I made was going back to bed and sleeping for a bit before I got up again to run. I felt really crappy when I woke up that time. The only good part was that I got some work done. I don't know if my customer will even notice, but at least I know it's done and it's right!



Lynne was already out running when I got up. She came back just as I was heading out the door.



I took my time running into San Antonia, and then kicked it up a notch on the way back. I had an average pace of 6:20 at the half way mark, but ended with a 6:03.



I can't wait to see how the pace changes when the chiropractor loosens up this hip next Monday.



We made an appointment on Monday with a realtor to show us some rental properties here. We were to meet at 10:00 am and he was to have a list of places to show us. We walked in his door at 9:59, and was met by one of his co-workers who explained that Jorge had car trouble but would be in later. He was going to take us out.


We looked at a place at the other side of town that, if we were interested in buying would have been great. It needed all new furniture and a paint job. The back garden was gorgeous. 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, bright big kitchen. $750.00 a month rent. Yup, if we were buying it would be great; but we;re not buying. We have no interest in buying furniture or decorating a rental property.


He took us over to another location, but the owner said we couldn't see it until after Dec 1. He drove us back to the office and told us Jorge was there now.

Yup, he was, but was finishing off a deal with some other clients whom I suspect were the reason he couldn't meet us. He kept us waiting for 15 minutes, (a life time in my world) and then explained he'd make some calls and set some appointments. (I thought that was what he was going to do between the time we first met him and then came back of our appointment.) Lynne and I left and did a little grocery shopping and went back in 30 minutes to meet him again.



He explained where a property was, what the unit number is,a and who we should meet in an hour or so.



We'll go look this afternoon but, I think Jorge translates from Spanish to English to be "Turkey". I guess, as it's Turkey Day in the US, we had to have some turkey in our life today too.


We're done with Jorge!

Day 10 - Recovery Run & Dentist Report

Today's run was an easy one. I'd decided before I left the house that I was going to take it really easy and . . . . I succeeded!

I ran our to San Antonio to where they told me the Chiropractors office is. I turned around when I found the address and jogged back.

I had to purposely NOT look at my Garmin. I knew if I did, I'd see the low heart rate and the really slow pace and push myself. I'm pretty sure that running every day for 30 days with no days off for muscle recovery isn't a really good thing to do, but I said I would and I will. No where did we say we have to be faster or longer every day!

I was a few blocks from the house when I saw Lynne running towards me. She turned when we met up. We jogged together for a bit. I kept going when she stopped to walk for a bit. I was surprised at how well she did and how much she ran. I think that was her first time out in months. "YEA LYNNEEEEE"

Back home for a quick shower and then out for market day. We got lots of fresh veggies, fresh flowers and some really fresh Smarties and Jube Jubes! Got to love market day.

There was an open house almost beside where we live so, we stopped in and looked around. That got us in the mood so we headed out in the car to check on mail and then some more open houses. The mail got sent tout to us about 10 days ago now, but nothing has arrived yet. thanks God for online banking and payments or we'd be cut off from everything before we even got the bill! Humm, come to think of it, we haven't actually seen a piece of mail since the end of September when we left home!

We drove a bit and found some more open houses. i'm not sure why we're looking. The market is pretty dry here and I think we'd be nuts to take our money out of our investments at home and buy a house here, even if they are so much cheaper. We looked at a 3400 sq ft house here today for $235,000. and then a little 1200 sq ft place for $109,000.

Lynne's temporary crown seems to be fine. We . . . well, she, gets the final crown on Friday. We circled back to the Chiropractors office (through the big black garage doors, through ANOTHER amazing yard) and got an appointment for Monday. I can't wait to not feel this hip and shoulder!

It feels a bit cooler here today. I just checked our weather and saw that it's only 19 degrees - then I checked the weather online at home.

Sorry guys!

Slow Run and Dentist

I went for a very interesting run this morning. I felt like a million bucks yesterday and was considering doing a 17k (I think it is) loop from Ajijic to Chapala.

I leapt out of bed with a Charlie Horse in the middle of the night. Lynne and I had an appointment at 10:00 to look at a bigger house to possibly rent and . . . . I just didn't feel like that long a run this morning.

Truth be known, I didn't feel like a run at all this morning but far be it from me to not finish this damn 30 day running thing I'm doing with a couple of folks back home. The 30 day facebook challenge I think I'm going to call it. The four of us are checking in daily on how we're doing.

Anyway, out I went heading towards Chapala. Chapala is the next large town east of us. I'd run that direction the other day but turned around at the 5k mark. I'd set out that day for a 10k run. Today, I kept going into town. I got just about to the center of town when I hit the 6k mark.

I'd also hit the wall. Bang, there I was, just about ready to sit down and call Lynne for a ride home. Instantly I went from feeling good to "Holy carp - I'm done!"

Unfortunately, I was 6k from home with an appointment in an hour to get too.

I did a bunch of walking on the way back. I played a game for a bit of walking 50 steps then running 50, then walk 40 and run 60, run 35, run 165. It's funny the crap I come up with to take my mind off the fact that I really would like to lay down under a tree and have a little nap!

i played with that "Your slowest run is quicker than your fastest walk" idea for a while and jogged slowly for a while.

2.5k left - 2k - 1.7 - "I can do anything for 1.7". 500 meters and eventually got to the wailing wall. There's a wall at the side of the highway where I start and stop. I hang off it for a bit at the end of every run and try to catch my breath again. I seem to always try to make up for lost time during that last 500 meters.

It practically kills me every time.

We're off to the dentist for Lynne this morning. We're both a bit nervous . . . . she more than I!

"This is It" - (The movie)

Lynne and I did a little hours shopping today. There are almost 500 houses on the market today and they have sold 216 in the last 12 months. December is a big sales month, but, non the less. If we buy something it could easily take 2 years to sell it again later. I think we're better off with our money invested as it is and keep renting!

We went to see the Michael Jackson "This Is It" movies tonight.

I must admit, I've never been much of a Michael Jackson fan. I never bought an album. I read all the hype and crap in the papers and, I expect like a lot of folks, I wrote the guy off as the strangest individual alive. Was he a freak, a child molester a weirdo. Who knows. I am really glad I went to see the movie. For everyone who felt the same about him as I did, but believes there are many sides to everyone, this is a must see movie.

How amazing to watch this musical entertainer genius at work. The rest of the crap doesn't matter. Heck, don't we all have that side of us that we don't want anyone to know about. Regardless of if you set fires to mailboxes in the country as a kid or if you needed to ask someone to get the key to open the door for you, we've all got our own level of shit behind us. If we were famous enough, it could be blown up beyond anything reasonable too.

All my true musician friends have always talked about his musical genius. What a great opportunity this movie is to see him in action. to watch him take an idea and in a breath, take it to a level that gets anyone toe tapping in their seat. Great flick in my opinion!

We left the movie and headed home. I guess this bull fight ring between our house and the movies is the happening concert place in town. It's where they blow up all these fire works celebrating the revolution (Thanks John!). I still think they may be grenades, but I'm not positive yet!

Tonight there is a rock concert along with all the explosions.

Now - you have to remember, we just left the Michael Jackson movie. The movie sure wasn't "Shine the Light", the Rolling Stones movie by Martin Scorsese , but it sure was good music. Coming out to and listening to Mexican Rock, well, Lunch Bag Letdown" doesn't cover it. I did enjoy people watching though.

What a country! What an experience! We're so lucky!!

Sunday - Easy Morning Run

The neighbors warned us that the festival that started with he parade on Friday ends with 11 days of fireworks. The parade was cool. Friday night we heard a few bangs. Saturday a few more. I thought of fireworks sort of like Ontario Place on May 24 or something. I didn't see any big colorful bursts of color in the sky, but we also didn't hear never ending explosions either . . . . until this morning!

6:00 am, there we were, sleeping soundly on this big beautiful bed. A nice cool breeze flowing in through the bedroom window and BANG . . . BANG . . . . bang bang bang. Holy crap! These aren't fireworks, these are just explosions.

I often count step when I run and for some reason I started counting explosions too, guessing ahead at how many times the bed would shake with these war type sounding explosions. Who would have thought they'd end at 200! 200 frickin' bombs going off a block away from my bed! I still don't k now what these folks are celebrating, but they sure don't want anyone to miss it!

I was tempted to get up and go and watch but, I managed to roll back over for another couple of hours sleep instead.

Today is day 6 of this '30 minutes for 30 days' running thing I'm doing. I'm not sure why I'm doing it. I guess any goal is better than no goal at all. I'm having fun reading Ted and Mikes stories on Facebook as we're all doing it together. Mike's sister Lynne is 4 days ahead of us.

I did 10k for the first time in months yesterday so, I thought I'd do a slow recovery run today. I thought I'd just head out the back way along the cobblestones to the town square in San Antonio. I love the sound of "running to San Antonio". It sounds so far! In fact, it's only about 2k. I took my time, ran to, and then around the square, and headed back. When I got tot the gates here at the ranch, I saw I had been running for 24 minutes. I was going to stop at the gates but then I figured - just a bit more and I'll have that 30 minutes in.

I ran down to the end of the block which put me at the shore of the lake. I often see fishermen, just like in those old bible pictures, tossing their nets out into the water and pulling them back in. There was a guy just coming in to shore with an entire 5 gallon plastic pail, full to the brim with fish. I wonder what he does with them. They tell me the lake is polluted and every fish market tells you that their fish aren't from the lake so, . . . . what does this guy do with these fish??

Oh well, back to the gate but that only took a minute or so. Off I went around the block on the cobblestones again. Actually, the block right around the next block has a curb that extends about 16" into the road. I can run along that. Two American women were walking their little dogs along the sidewalk. I was amazed when I got 10 feet from them, one of the women stepped down onto the part of the curb I was running on. i contemplated letting the women know what I thought of her, her dog and her pretty pink cotton jogging suit, but decided to just run carefully around her and keep my comments to myself.

What's happening to me? That's not what I do!!!!!

I finished off the run and weighed in 0.1 lbs lighter than yesterday. This running doesn't seem to be doing anything for my weight. My shorts sit a little looser around the waist though.

We're off "Open House" hoping today.

Friday Nov 20 - Party Time in Ajijic

I got out early this morning for a run on pavement for a change. I have been doing this 5k route along the cobblestone streets and have been somewhat disappointed by my pace. I warmed up by walking quickly the 500 meters to the highway and then did a 2.5 out and back along the paved bike path. i was gasping at the end, but I did manage a 5:35 pace which, at the moment, I'm happy with.

Lynne has wanted to get a crown on a discolored tooth for a long time. Her dentist at home wanted about $850.00 for it and, to brighten a tooth color just never seemed worth the expense. We know a number of people who come to Mexico for dental work so, we had made an appointment with a guy beside the bagel shop that we found the other day.

$20.00 for a consultation including 2 x-rays and the verdict was, he would do it for about $650. That didn't seem like the kind of deal we`d heard about so, we dropped in at another dentist around the corner from our house. No charge for the consultation and x-ray and $250.00 for the crown! He took the impression on the spot. She gets the temp on Tuesday and the finished crown on Friday. What a country!

There is a festival starting today that apparently goes on for the next 11 days. We don`t know what it`s for. Everyone has warned us that there will be fireworks non stop for the next 11 days. We went to the opening day parade this morning. What a hoot. There were groups of kids of all ages parading down the street. The young kids were dressed up. Most kids had on their school uniforms. There were a couple of bands. There were a few pickup trucks, decorated with balloons with kids in the back waving to the folks along the edge of the street. I found those pickups the most fun. For every kid in the truck waving, there was a mother running along behind making sure their kid was OK!

For those of you at home who have ever been to the Aurora Santa Claus parade, this next part will thrill you too. There were no Fire trucks. No Mayor (Sorry tim - YOu were great), No bunch of town council folks, no businesses advertising, just tons sand tons of kids. Soccer teams, dance groups, kids and adults on horseback. I guess the schools don`t have a ton of money to use for musical instruments. Some groups clapped together as they marched. Some tapped out a beat with their feet as they marched. One group had small wooded pieces of wood, maybe 3" X 2" with straps stapled on that they use to clap out a beat with.

It was great to see so many people having so much fun, proud parents along the side lines cheering for their kids and their kids friends, all at almost no financial expense what so ever! The town square was totally packed with young and old after the parade was over.

We really have to find out what the event is! Also, It's almost 10:00 PM now and, so far, no fireworks!

We're going to look at a few open houses over the weekend. we're pretty sure we're not going to find anything nicer than the place we're in now, but we figure we need to look anyway.

We went to the movies tonight to see the Michael Jackson movie. We got the time wrong and God knows we could stay up and go to the 9:30 show, so we saw The Soloist" at 7:00. Great flick if you haven't seen it. We'll see St. Michael tomorrow. Oh, yea - I was wrong about the cost of going to the movies here. I told everyone it was $2.00, but I was wrong. Converted back to Canadian dollars it's . . . $2.96! I'm thinking we'll see a lot of movies here. It's very nice that the theatre is at the top of our street, just past the Bull Fight ring and the soccer fields!

Tuesday November 19 - Mid Week Update

There's not much to write. The pictures below tell the story other than I did start running everyday, 30 minutes for 30 days.

We've been to the Wednesday outdoor market and bought fresh fish and fruits and veggies. We've been eating very well.

Lynne has started a Yoga class. We discovered the local cinema and went to see Inglorious Bastards which was in English with Spanish subtitles but unfortunately about half of that movie was in French or German and the subtitles remained in Spanish.....so we did get the main idea but missed the little inuendoes. Lynne hated the blood and gore.

Speaking of blood and gore, a couple of days ago they brought a cow to the ranch....there was this big black cow lying around on the sidewalk or grazing on our beautifully manicured lawns. When we asked Lucia about the cow she said it was sick. Forget Swine Flu....now we are worrying about Mad Cow. Last night on the way to the cinema we walked by the Mexican haciendas on our ranch and lying there with bound legs and a slit throat was the old black cow. We are missing Loblaws and those white styrofoam trays with meat in them. Tonight we can see the barbeques up at the Mexican's and the smell of cooking beef isn't quite as tantalizing as it usually is.

Tomorrow begins the 11 day celebration of Ajijic's Saint. Apparently they celebrate by lighting fireworks for all 11 days. Should be interesting or perhaps aggravating. We'll let you know.

Oh and last but not least, we discovered "Coffee and Bagel" actually the name of the little cafe. Lynne had a bagel and cream cheese and lox and I thought she would die from joy. We went there this morning again for breakfast. I had an egg McBagel and it was delicious.

Getting Used to Life In Ajijic

It's been a few days since I've written. I guess we're getting used to life here on the ranch in Ajjic. We seem to be getting up at around 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning. I'm starting to get a bit of exercise in first thing. I managed to get my ass into a gym bike yesterday for a half hour and went out for a half hour run this morning. Running is really tough here. They call the roads "cobblestone". I think it's more like 1700th century earthquake! Huge stones, smoothed off on the top, with massive spaces between them. It's going to be really easy to twist an ankle!

I managed to find pieces of reasonable level sidewalks along with bits of road where the cement curb turned back into the road for a foot or so in width. When I got out to the town square, there we're paving stones laid along the tire tracks in the road. They were fairly safe to run on. I ran at a 6:30 pace this morning. It was a far cry from the 5:45 - 5:50 that I was running at back at home, but, I guess it's OK for somewhat starting over again!

I got on the scale today and found that my weight was only up about 8 pounds from since I left home. After 5 weeks in the car eating . . . . whatever, I think that's OK. I'm starting to run 30 minutes for 30 days starting on Monday. I'm guessing that will get me going again and knock a few of those extra pounds off.

We went to a "Bull Fight" yesterday. Apparently, "Bull Fight" translates to from Spanish to English to mean "Rodeo". I've never been to a rodeo before. I guess you have to be into that for it to appear interesting!

Today we managed to get cell phones. It took about 6 hours, but, luckily for us, the store is right at the top of our street, less than 5 minutes away. I've put the phone number on the contact page.

Here's some pictures of our place and the grounds.

Day 36 - Rental House

We found a house to rent for two months today! What an experience!

We met Gonzalo the Remax agent at 9:15 - by 10:00 am he'd shown us two places and we'd decided on the first. 45 minutes to decide where we'd live. That's the way I love to do stuff, so that worked out great in my books.

We asked how we'd pay. They would have taken a US cheque, but we don't have a US account. They wouldn't take a Canadian cheque. Apparently, it takes 3 weeks to clear. We needed to go to the local bank and open an account. No bit deal - right? WRONG!!!

6 hours later. 4 trips back to our hotel for but yet more information or documents. 1 trip back to the Remax office and a trip over to the ranch where our house is. Holy crap!

After all that, we have a bank account in Mexico, but now we have to wire transfer money to it. We got online to move money, but we couldn't do it. We had to talk to our branch. The girl we usually talk to wasn't there. The girl we did talk to said we had to come in! This isn't getting any easier!

We've now emailed the bank with the info and, hopefully, they will look after it in the morning.

Meanwhile, Gonzalo has told us it doesn't matter. We can move in tomorrow around noon, and pay him later in the week.

Pay him later in the week? WOW - That's sure as heck doesn't happen at home! Cool!

So that's our day. no pictures, just miles of walking aback and forth over these rough, and i mean ROUGH, cobblestone roads. I've been thinking I need to get my lazy ass out the door and start running, but I think I got enough exercise today.

We'll take pictures tomorrow.

Day 35 - Arriving in Ajijic

Before I begin the Mexican Chapter of the Blog, let me take a moment to thank Ron and Bev. They went beyond the call of duty looking after us in Green Valley, with food and drink and games (Mexican Train - so much fun). Ron took Greg to buy Mexican car insurance, medical insurance and get the car serviced. Their villa in Green Valley is in an adult community and they have a sweet two bedroom. The community is pristine with lots of amenities. If you know anyone who might be interested this is the URL is www. ArizonaVacation.ca

Our 3 day Mexican journey was much easier than we anticipated. Of course the fact that we only stayed in 5 star hotels certainly helped. I'm afraid we're not quite the old hippies we thought we might be. We value our comfort and mostly our safety.

The second night out we stopped in Mazatlan which I'm sure most of you have heard of as it's a vacation haven with a million time shares. When we stopped in front of what we thought was an Ocean side hotel, we found out it was indeed ne of those time shares. From the moment we checked in there were angles and schemes to save us money if only we would attend the infamous meeting in the morning. We have been down that time share road in Ontario so we declined as our experience is that they become very mean when you tell them you are not "buying."

We had a little two bedroom suite....quite ugly, with a sliver of ocean view. You'd think that if they were trying to sell you they'd give you the nicest suite in the place but I'd take a guess that our suite was not close to being the nicest. We took a beautiful walk on the beach and watched the sun set. The weather was lovely and so was the beach. We ate dinner in the dining room at the time share and it was shrimp night so we ate well and but it wasn't cheap either. This was the first place we stayed in that didn't have wifi so we bought some time in the internet cafe and that just proved aggravating. We rented ping pong balls and paddles and had a half hour of playing.....and I beat Greg 4 times.....I had to say that because there isn't much in the way of competitions that he loses to me or anyone else for that matter. After that we went back to the ugly suite, watched some t.v. and fell asleep. We were happy to leave in the morning.

Our drive yesterday was long and somewhat arduous. We went through many villages. Our only experience of the Mexicans is that they are kind, courteous, helpful, friendly, honest and generally lovely. We had some more mountain roads to traverse and we were very low on gas so we (mostly I) had some very tense moments. We drove into a small town called Magdalena and finally found gasolina.

We drove through the outskirts of Guadalajara which is the second largest city in Mexico. Greg really keeps his cool driving through these big centers especially with me pumping my imaginary brake and holding on to the door handle. After Guadalajara it was a breeze to get to Lake Chapala. We immediately came to the town of Ajijic (pronounced Ah-hee-heek.) We managed to find the hotel (Nueva Posada) that Greg had found on line and got their last room, the honeymoon suite which is gorgeous with a balcony overlooking the lake. We had dinner outdoors...under a huge old rubber tree. Greg ordered Beef Tenderloin and I had Sea Bass. Both were delicious. We each had a drink and our bill was approximately 29 U.S. dollars. Our bed was somewhat disappointing, like a sack of old laundry but we managed to sleep like babies anyhow.

We had our included breakfast this morning under the same old rubber tree. Comfort Inn, you've been put to shame. This is a three course hot breakfast including eggs benedict. We walked around the town a bit after breakfast and there are some breathtaking views, exotic birds, and although the houses look horrible from the outside when you peek into their courtyards they are just charming. We have arranged to meet with a real estate agent tomorrow to look at renting a place for a couple of months. I'm writing today as Greg had web work to do for a client.

Click here for today's pictures

Day 33 - Alive and well in Mexico

When I update this blog, I copy yesterday's new over to the Google Blog thing and then write today's whatever into my site here. I got a surprise tonight when I went to copy over yesterdays text. All the Google Blog info is in Spanish! Google must pick up that I'm coming through a Mexican IP address and switch the language over! Good thing I've been using this for a long time and can use it without looking!

Well, today was an exciting day. We crossed the border from Arizona into Mexico first thing this morning. EVERYONE warned us of how terrible it would be and more so, how dangerous. "Buy a gun." "Buy a machete". "Don't stop at anytime for anything" All great advice from all of our friends who love us, but really just scared the crap out of us. (Almost literally, but that's a story for sitting around the bar to tell!)

We got to the border at Nogales. A horrid little town that looks, well, it looks exactly like the sort of killer village that we all saw all of our lives in the movies. We were pretty sure that everyone's warnings were exactly right at that point.

Oddly, the dude at the border they asked if we had insurance and when we showed him our policy that we'd bought the day before, he told us to drive 21k down the road and check with the immigration folks.

Drive 21k? Yup - this is going to be an experience for sure. We drove to immigration, got our visas and our car sticker and were out of there after a somewhat confusing, disorganized 45 minutes.

That was the end of the weirdness for us. We drove about 600k today and are in the town of Cuidad Obregon tonight. We found a beautiful hotel where "Yes" they have a guard outside all night watching the cars.

We did see a few border patrol army type folks out on the road. We found it odd that at one of the gas stations along the way, they would not accept US cash! (I thought the entire WORLD wanted that!)

The roads were great. We drove the toll roads where it seems to be costing about $10.00 US at each of the 3 we drove today.

The countryside is nice. None of the majestic beauty of the Rocky's, or the Redwood Forest of the Red Rock mountains in Arizona. The desert seemed more sandy. Lot's of Cactus, beautiful blue sky's again. There was the odd cloud. (Yesterday was the first day we'd seen any cloud in the sky for about a week. The temperature was in the high 30's most of the day. It seems to have only dropped down to the high 20's tonight. I did just check the weather back home. :-(

I don't know if I've mentioned this in the Blog or not, but we have a bit of a change of destination at the moment, or a new layover anyway.

Lynne was searching for blog's the other night from folks who have driven all the way down here and ended up on a site about a town in Mexico called Lake Chapala. Weather is great. Cost of living - excellent. Big expat community. So . . . . now, after almost 5 weeks on the road and closing on on 9000k, we're going to be in Lake Chapala this weekend and probably staying there through the Christmas holidays.

We're both getting really tired of driving. Beautiful sights just blend together after a while. I can't wait to unpack the car and see what's in there. We need to get to a place soon so that we can book a ticket for Jordan to come visit over Christmas so, unless we get there and don't like it, it looks like we're going to stop driving and adventure around there for a while. We found a great spot online tonight to start from. If it is a good when we get there as it appears on their site, we may just stay in one of the two bedroom villas for a while.

Lake Chapala Info

Nov 3, 4, & 5 Pictures 

 

Day 32 - Green Valley Arizona

Yesterday (Tuesday) we drove south from Flagstaff to Green Valley. Green Valley is about 2 hours south of Phoenix, 4 hours south of Flagstaff. It was interesting watching the changes in the vegetation from some places that almost reminded us of northern Ontario, so dry rocky desert, to sandy desert. Some places where nothing but tumbleweed grew and other places where all sorts of different cactus grew. Around Phoenix, those tall cactus with fat arms reaching out and up grew, but I guess they need just s certain kind of soil. They seem to only grow in particular areas. We'd see a bunch of them, then 5 minutes down the road, none!

We got to our friends Ron and Bev's about 4:30. Yea, if you recognize the names, they are our friends that we stayed with in Victoria a couple of weeks ago also. The timing of our trip worked out so we saw them the weekend before they came down, and then a week after they got to their vacation home here.

Bev and I went out for a 9k run this morning while Lynne and Ron went for a hour and change walk.

We're planning on spending the day here today and heading off for Mexico tomorrow morning. We knew we'd have internet connections every night along the route so far. We're not so sure about connecting over the next couple of days. We're heading to Lake Chapala. We plan to be there by Saturday or Sunday. I'm sure we'll be able to connect and update the blog again from there then.

I guess, tomorrow the vacation ends and the adventure begins!

Day 30 - Sedona to The Grand canyon

We took a day off from blogging our daily adventures. We had a great time yesterday, but we were pretty darned tired by the time we got back to our hotel at night.

When I woke up in the morning I’d decided that I really needed to get out for a run, for two reasons. Firstly; everyone at home was running Angus Glen, the last great run of the season, or, Bern and Steve were running New York. I would have loved to have been with the gang at either event... The second reason was, if I didn’t get out and run soon, I was going to have to roll myself around the next race course.

I went out for a one hour run. I felt OK for most of it, although I could tell I was running slower than I wanted to be running. I don’t know if that’s because the first half hour was all uphill, or if it was because Sedona is about 4000 feet above sea level, or a combination of the two. (I’m sure it’s not because I hadn’t run for two weeks!). Whatever the reason, I ended up only doing 8.6k in 55 minutes. Maybe I need to start running regularly again and worry about speed later.

I got back to the hotel, grabbed a quick shower and headed out for a quick breakfast with Lynne. We wanted to spend the day exploring the vortexes around Sedona. These vortexes are supposed to be area’s of great spiritual energy.  We’d been out to one vortex the night before. I must admit I felt very energized myself, but I don’t know if that was just the excitement of the adventure or what.

We headed out after breakfast to where I had pinpointed one vortex in the GPS. We drove to where we were told it was a 30 minute walk to the top of the point. We could see where we wanted to go, and off we went. The path through the forest and up the mountain side seemed to head off course to us, but we kept going. We just figured the path would bend back to the vortex at some point. About an hour later, we decided we’d made a wrong turn somewhere, and headed back. That first trek was a bit disappointing in that is skirted an exclusive estate home development. We kept feeling like we were off in the wilderness, but then we’d run into a fence or see some houses through the forest.

We got back to the car and decided we needed water and some food would be good too! We drove back to the hotel, grabbed some lunch, filled my Nathan water belt with water and E-Load and headed back out in quest of the vortex again.  We picked the other trail this time. It didn’t feel right either, but we didn’t see any other choice.

Another hour later, after a great walk along this trail, we decided that God just doesn’t want us to find this vortex and we’d head back and forget about this one. By now it was 3 in the afternoon; the sun was beating down on us. We were tired, hungry and getting very low on water.  A short distance from the car, some guy stopped and asked us if we’d been up to the vortex. We told him our story and he said. “It’s only 10 minutes from here, come with me and I’ll show you the way”

We followed old George along the trail and turned at the elusive path that we hadn’t seen. We was great, telling us about different trees and cactus types.  He showed us plants that could be boiled and drank as tea and explained different rock formations to us as he led us up to the vortex. He left us shortly after we reached the summit. I don’t know that I felt any sort of supernatural energy, but I sure felt relief that we’d finally reached the summit and, even more important, we could sit down in the shade and relax for a bit! The scenery all day was amazing. It doesn’t matter how many beautiful vistas there are, we just don’t get tired of them.

We headed back to the hotel and rested a bit before heading back out to the Vortex we’d visited the night before. We wanted to be there early enough to get a good spot to watch the sun go down and get some good pictures. About 200 – 300 other people had the same idea. I’d set up the tripod, but every time I got a good shot lined up, some bonehead would stand between my camera and whatever I was trying to get a picture of. It was cool watching the sun go down from high up on this peak though. We headed out for pizza after that and went to bed early.

This morning, while we were packing up the car, the people in the car parked in front of ours said hello and commented on the Ontario license plates. It ended up that they were from Huntsville. It’s amazing how many people from near home that we’ve run into.
We drove out to Flagstaff and then on to the Grand canyon from there. The canyon is very cool. There certainly are some spots that are scary as hell to look down from. It’s amazing to look at all the layers in the canyon sides and read about them at the museum. We walked along the paved path thinking that, this sure isn’t the rugged hiking we’d done the day before.

All of a sudden, a mountain goat came up over from climbing up one of the cliffs. There it was, 15 feet in front of us, just standing and looking at us. We took pictures fast and furiously. Then another came over. Then another and another. In short order there were six or seven of these animals all together, almost close enough to reach out and touch. They walked across the path and into the trees on the other side of the path. We took moiré pictures. More folks walked along the path and we pointed out the animals to them. All of a sudden, the Ram appeared. His horns were much bigger than the other. He looked about, and ran off immediately. The others followed as quickly, taking up on his lead. I found that encounter even more thrilling than the view of the canyon itself.

We drove back to Flagstaff for the night. We’re off to spend a couple of days with Ron and Bev in Green Valley before we head off into Mexico. Our Mexico destination is Lake Chapala. Lynne found the place on-line a couple of weeks ago. We’re going to stop there and spend some time. If it turns out to be anything like we hear it is, we’ll probably stay there through Christmas so that we have a place for Jordan to come visit over the holidays.

So far, we’ve traveled just a bit over 8700k in the 30 days that we’ve been on the road.  As we get ready to head into Mexico, I feel a bit like the traveling vacation is over, and the unknown adventure is about to start. I think it’s going to be a bit more work from the border on!

Day 28 - Halloween In Sedona

This town and the surrounding nature are pure magic.

Greg had web work to do this morning and I got up very early and setout on my own. The temperature was cool and the air was fresh. I walked the two miles or so until I found what they call "uptown." There is no downtown. It's a very charming little area with shops on street level and below street level and above. I arrived at the trolley depot and bought tickets for two tours, one to the more commercial areas and one out closer to the big rocks.

I came back to our hotel and Greg and I went for a nice swim and hot tub as by now it was about 20 degrees. We exercised our fat little bodies in the water by swimming a few lengths and then came up to get ready for our tour. It lasted about two hours and we got an overview of the history and also of all the sites we wanted to do in more depth.

Many famous cowboy movies were shot here even though this town only came to be in 1902 so of course there were no cowboys here in the 1800's but the rock and surrounding flat ground make it a perfect movie set for those old John Wayne and Glenn Ford movies. We even went to the movie museum to see some still shots of those movies with the now familiar rocks in the backdrop.

There are all kinds of ordinances about the colour people must paint their homes and businesses, all colours have to blend with the natural environment. Even lamp posts, bridges and light standards are all rust coloured instead of the usual silver in most towns. When MacDonalds wanted to open here they were not allowed their golden arches and could only open if they made their arches teal. An earth coloured, adobe MacDonalds with tiny teal arches on the side of the building, it is one of only 4 in total in the world that don't have golden arches.

After our tours were finished we were hungry and had a delicious lunch at a restaurant and sat under umbrellas on the sidewalk where we were disappointed to find out they are not allowed to serve alcohol. We made do with coke because the street was starting to come alive with trick or treaters. You see here in Sedona they do all of their trick or treating on the main street and it is the shop owners who give out the treats. This becomes a street party from 5 until 8 but I'll get back to that. We took the "free trolley" back to our hotel and were ready to pack it in when I remembered that my cousin Shelly had told me to go the the small airport here to watch the sunset.

Greg had also looked up the location of the four vortexes around the town and one of them was out by the airport. We missed the sunset but climbed up the rock to the airport vortex and on the way up caught the most magnificent views with the moon hanging in the sky between the rocks. We took a million pictures and kept asking each other how we felt. I have been feeling very calm and peaceful all day and Greg said he was energized. Now, both of those feelings could be due to the fact that we took a day off from driving today and we've stopped in a very pretty and low key locale. But just maybe it is the vortex energy! As it got darker the scenery changed and Greg even got his tripod out of the car to take some more photos.

Well, we were driving back to the hotel and Greg said "Let's check out the party uptown." So uptown we went and what a festive, upbeat,wholesome event. Every one was in costume, not just the kids. We even noticed old people in dress-up mode. Volunteers were making sure street traffic moved safely. There were drummers, and dancers and singers and kids dancing in the street. And everywhere treat were being given out. I have never seen Hallowe'en celebrated in this way. Here it is an entire town event. There were thousands in the street and the joy was palpable. Our day was sensational. We were thinking of possibly leaving tomorrow but we have changed our minds and we have booked the hotel for another night.

We will visit another of the vortexes tomorrow and possibly drive to Flagstaff and then we have promised each other that we will watch that famed sunset at the airport. Tomorrow should be a full moon too. Oh, and they do not do daylights savings time here so no time change.I know it sounds like a cliche but this town is very special and we both feel so enchanted by it.

Click here to see today's pictures.

Day 27 - Palm Beach to Sedona

My chauffeur is having another night of exhaustion and so the navigator is writing again. Actually with the advent of the GPS I kind of lost the title of navigator although I've given it up reluctantly. I find myself arguing much to Greg's aggravation with the lady inside the GPS. We are using the Australian Lady the American one was too bossy.

We awoke very early in Palm Springs this morning and caught the rising sun light on the hills behind our hotel. The hills were lit up in an almost neon pink. It started our day off on a good note. Palm Springs looks lovely although we just slept there and did a quick tour through the downtown this morning. There seems to be a lot of empty stores and it has probably seen more prosperous days.

We entered the desert and began to see some of the huge cactus, the ones that seem to be giving you the finger. Big hills of brown dirt that looked like larger versions of the ones you see at a construction site. A bit of a downer after the majesty of the rugged Pacific Coast. Slowly the big cactus were replaced by a different type, smaller ones in clumps with flat leaves and closer to the ground. Then the cactus were gone and we started seeing small pine trees.

Early in the afternoon we started noticing red (rusty) streaks in the hills. Just before we approached Sedona we rounded a corner and saw the most amazing site - big red mountains in the most interesting shapes rose before us like monoliths rising out of the earth looking like something from a Science Fiction movie. It was a very exciting scene. Our first view of Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock and Coffee Pot Rock. We found our Comfort Inn, checked in and immediately (before email) went out to explore. We found many galleries filled with the work of local talent and went into the Tlaquepaque area....a collection of restaurants and galleries made from stone and adobe and filled with Arizona Sycamores. It was lovely. We passed many businesses of psychics, aura readers, angel guides and all the other new age businesses you can imagine. Can't wait to explore closer to nature tomorrow.

Click here to see today's pictures.

Day 26 - L. A. to Palm Beach

Today was just a plane old travel day. We got up earlier than usual and were on the road by 8:00. We stuck to the main highways and quietly drove past any and all of the things there were to see along the way.

It felt weird to be back in traffic, particularly through the north end of L. A.

The scenery changed from the huge ocean and big cliffs to regular highway and then desert highway.

About 20k out of Palm Springs we drove past field after field of wind turbines. There were thousands of them. The same kind as we have back home by the CNE or Darlington. It was amazing to see row after row and them look off into the distance and see every hill top covered as well.

We got to Palm Springs about 2:00 and went our own ways for the afternoon. I think we need a break soon from driving and a bit of a break from each other too. Tough being this close together for this long. We're both pretty independent folks who like a fair amount of solitude, more than 5 minutes in the washroom which is about all we get these days!

Our next planned stop is Sedona. Lynne has wanted to go there for years now. Sedona is about 600k from where we are now. Phoenix is 400k from here along the way. My guess is that we'll do the 600 and take then next few days off and lay low there over the weekend before heading down to Green Valley to see Ron and Bev at their Arizona home.

Click here to see today's pictures.

Day 25 - Pebble Beach - Carmel - Big Sur

Lynne and I both thought the same thing when we woke up this morning. We're tired of driving. We want to go lay down in our own bed somewhere. We want to go the store and buy some food, bring it home and cook it. We talked a bit and decided to put some miles behind us today. There are tons of beautiful things to look at, but at this point and time, we're tired "Enough of this beauty, lets get somewhere!"

Well, it was a good idea, but the wrong place for that decision. Pebble Beach, Carmel, and Big Sur! I think this stretch of highway holds the most beautiful scenery anywhere.

We took our time and drove the 17 mile tour through Pebble Beach. Carmel is just beautiful, even if it is the most expensive town in America, and Big Sur! 90 miles of the most coast line vistas!

We got through Big Sur and decided to drive on for another hour to Morrow Bay. We passed more beaches as we got close and, at one beach we both looked at what we thought were hundreds of dead seals on the beach. we pulled in and found they were seals, elephant seals to be more exact. We met a guide on the beach who filled us in on the story of these seals. Their info is at www. ElephantSeal.org The short story is that these huge seals, travel 5,000 miles to breed. When we saw them today, they were females, just resting on the beach., getting ready for the males and breeding season which starts in a month or so.

We'll see if tomorrow gives us less beautiful views. maybe we'll make some miles tomorrow. Our plan right now is to try to make Palm Beach by dinner time.

Click here to see today's pictures.

Day 24 - Santa Cruz and Monterey

After the excitement from yesterday, today was far less eventful!

We parked in the loading zone at the front door of the hotel last night so no one could get near it without being caught. It worked! We checked before heading for breakfast.

Lynne went to the gym. I sat and got fatter and then headed over to the camera shop to get a replacement camera. I found the exact same model so that's what I got. The guy at the shop was great. He showed me all kinds of stuff. i could have spent the day there, but Lynne was back at the hotel waiting for me and we had a lunch date to get to.

We headed off about 11:00 to meet our old friend Gord. We've known each other for going on 25 years now! We don't see much of each other anymore. Gord lived abroad for years and lives in the US now. It's great seeing him whenever we do though. There's never enough time to catch up completely!

We headed off to Santa Cruz after a great lunch. We drove around a bit and then headed out to Monterey for the night. Off to Cannery Row for some sight seeing and into Bubba Gumps for dinner.

As we were pulling into town, we got lost a bit and saw the most amazing thing. We were on a little side street in town. There were woods on the other side of the narrow street and there at the side of the road was a deer eating. It wasn't 15 feet from the car. we pulled right up and took a few pictures. Amazing to be that close and not have it run away.

I think we'll do some exploring around town before heading out tomorrow. We only managed 185k today. Our daily distances are getting less and less as we get into better weather! We had 6800k on the old GPS. With today's @ 200, I guess we're at the 7000k traveled mark. I plugged in our old Aurora address into the new GPS - we could get back in about 4500k! It's getting tempting. We're both having fun, but starting to miss home and friends. We'll need to stop driving and get settled somewhere fairly soon.

Click here to see today's pictures.

Day 22/23 - Berkeley

We spent Sunday walking around Berkeley, through the town and around the campus. We went to the local theatre and watched Michael Moore's "Capitalism - A Love Story". What a great town to see that movie in! We loved the movie and we loved the town so much we decided to stay an extra day.

What's the point of a trip like this if we don't just hang out a bit where ever the spirit moves us to do so.

We had a great sleep, headed out for breakfast in the hotel, came back to the room and talked about whether we would go to the gym or head outside for a bit of a run. It's cold here at night so it took a bit of discussing.

As we were talking I saw some people out front looking around at our car. They looked a bit odd, or, I should say the were looking oddly at the car, so I went out to see what was going on.

First I saw the glass on the ground, then I saw the bits of glass left in the drives door, then I saw the wires dangling from where the GPS was attached to the front window. I remembered that I hadn't brought the camera in last night, but had tossed a jacket over it. A quick glance at the jacket in the middle of the drivers seat told me the camera was gone too.

SHIT! Now what!

We got the front desk to call the police, we called the insurance folks and then . . . . . . we waited. And waited. And waited.

It took about 2 hours for the police to call. They wouldn't come, but if we thought of anything else that was stolen, call back and leave a message!

We were tired of waiting for the insurance adjuster to call back, so we called again and got through. "No, car insurance doesn't cover the items in the car, just the window, but the deductible is more than the window will cost". "No, you canceled your homeowner insurance when you sold the house, the items stolen aren't covered either" I'm beginning to feel like I'm trying to make a health claim to an American Insurance company!

By now, 3 hours have gone by and it ends up there was no reason to call or wait for any of these folks. We found a window guy who will come and replace the window. It's now 2:30 pm and there's no sign of him yet.

I always think it's important to look for a silver lining somewhere. I guess the fact that both the camera and the GPS are about a year old and have both dropped by about 50% is a small blessing.

The funniest though it Jordan's girlfriend Sara facebooked and wrote "Wow - I didn't expect that to happen until you got a little further along on your

journey!"

Yea - Us too! Berkeley sure looked a lot nicer yesterday from outside walking around then it does today from inside this hotel room, waiting!

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Day 21 - Wine Country - Napa Valley - Berkeley

Saturday morning. It’s our third weekend on the road. The first weekend that we’re not stopped for a few days visiting family or friends. I don’t think I like the idea of just driving and driving from here on in.

We’re stopping in Berkeley tonight to meet up with Alex Platt. Alex is one of Lynne’s cousin’s sons who are going to Berkeley and who is also an amazing guitar player. I was kind of hoping that he was playing tonight, but apparently he’s not. I don’t know any of the nieces or nephews very well. I’m looking forward to getting to know Alex a bit over dinner. (Just back from dinner – what an interesting guy!)

We decided that we’d have a real easy day today, and stay overnight two nights in Berkeley. Knowing there was some sort of break from just driving felt good.

We left Santa Rosa and took our time driving over to Sonoma through the Napa Valley. We kept pulling over to the side of the road to let people pass. They had places to o, and we were doing the ‘old folks’ tour! Lynne grew up on a farm in St Catherine’s. She knows about crops and stuff. We passed a field. I wondered what that was growing. She knew it was strawberries, without waiting to see a sign!

The drive to Sonoma was only about 30 minutes. Gentle rolling hills mainly covered in grape vines. I guess they had been harvested already. I didn’t see any grapes until we got to town where a small bush was growing on some ones front yard beside their orange tree. We passed a farm from sale. I grabbed a picture so I’d have the web site address to look it up later. Turns out it 13.5 . . . . Million. We decided that, we don’t want a grape farm!

Sonoma was amazing. It reminded us both of Niagara-on-the-Lake, but maybe on steroids. The town just kept going and going, not just the little strip of town along the Niagara Parkway. There were a number of old historical buildings. The town looked old, but very well kept up. We could have stayed for a couple fo days instead of the hour or so that we did.

There was a group of folks with a 350.org sign at the town hall. I didn’t know what that was about, but I took my ‘memory’ picture and checked them out too. Who knew that today was the day that 181 countries came together for the most widespread day of environmental action in history. We stumbled upon one of 5200 events staged around the world today. I wish we’d known. It would have been cool to have joined in. http://www.350.org/

We drove fron Sonoma to Napa, but we didn’t like it as much. The town seemed to be newly constructed, pretending to be old. We walked a bit, had a bite of lunch and slit. I’d wished we’d stayed longer in Sonoma, or even stayed there for the weekend.

We drove on to Berkeley. It’s a great town. I’d driven though it once before, but hadn’t spent any time there. We drove around looking for a nice hotel. We’d decided that we were going to spend two nights there. We’d meet Alex for dinner, I’d finish off some work in the morning and then we’d just hang out in the afternoon.

Americans and college football! Again, ‘who knew’ the town would be full because of “THE GAME” that night. There were no rooms there, but we found a ‘bit too expensive’ room at a Marriott in Emeryville, just a few kilometres out of Berkley. It’s interesting to see how much nicer the service is in smaller places than larger. We’re near some big box store hell here. Lynne is going to go explore them in the morning while I finish off a job. We’ve got a room booked in Berkeley for tomorrow night. We’ll check out the Michael Moore movie in the afternoon and then head over to recommended pizza joint!

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Day 20 - California Dreamin' - by Lynne

Greg is tired tonight. He did a lot of driving around crazy hairpin turns with nothing separating us from falling hundreds of feet into the Pacific Ocean except the Grace of God. Greg's driving was superlative. At no time did he pretend to be Mario Andretti. But I'm jumping ahead of myself.

We woke this morning early as Greg had a business call to make and we had a "free" breakfast to eat. It was a good "included" breakfast....hard boiled eggs, yogurt, raisin bread, yum.....you will notice that I talk about food much more than Greg does.

Then we left Garberville and the smell of burning hemp to play in more big trees. The one we drove the car through today was 2400 years old....that means it was on earth before Jesus was born. Yes, it was another drive through tree and drive through it we did. We met a lovely Canadian couple at the drive through tree site and exchanged travelling stories. They hail from Salt Spring Island.

At this point we left Highway 101 and entered what they call the Shoreline Highway. The first 22 miles took us about an hour. The S turns just kept coming and at some points there was absolutely no guard rail. Big lumber trucks come barrelling along those roads as though they are at the Indies. Was the fright worth it? Absolutely, hands down, that's a big affirmative......what views, wild Pacific surf, huge cliffs, sand beaches that go on forever, Arbutus trees, unique to the Pacific coast....they shed their bark not their leaves in the Autumn. We did those S curves from 10:30 this morning until 4:30 this afternoon. We stopped in Bodega Bay and thought we'd stay at an Inn right on the sea but at 250. American with NO included breakfast we thought we'd better pass on the "room with a view."

We drove inland to Santa Rosa, found a little motel and checked in. There's an Applebees across the street. Dinner for two for twenty. We went for the special. Had a much too big American dinner and then I played being American even more by browsing in Target and Marshalls, but with the car loaded to the roof top I didn't buy a thing. That's it for today.

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Day 19 - Redwood Forest

We got away about 10:00 this morning after a breakfast of stuff we'd bought at the local grocery store the night before and kept in the tiny room refrigerator. Neither of us noticed that it wasn't turned on when we stored stuff away in there. Lucky, it was a tiny fridge and the stuff we put in stayed cool anyway.

We drove for about a half hour and found ourselves in the Redwood Forest. I remember pictures my dad showed me growing up of where he'd driven his car through a tunneled out tree out there, about 50 years ago I guess.

The forest was absolutely amazing. We turned of the main highway and drove through the trees. We stopped to walk at one point for about an hour or so. We took a ton of pictures again today.

I kept thinking of friends who cycle through the woods at home. (Hi Ramona and Louise) They would have LOVED these trails. I think I was bugging Lynne after a while as I kept asking her to go here, or stand there. I wanted her in most of the pictures to give them perspective. The trees were unbelievably huge. Apparently the average age of those Redwoods is 600 -700 years old. Some live to be over 1000 years old.

We drove out of the forest and into sunshine! We still hit some foggy area's along the coast, but anywhere inland was sunny, bright and warm!

We only drove 180k today. We've stopped in Garberville. It's about 350k north of San Francisco. I think we're stopping there tomorrow and seeing if we can meet up with Alex Platt at Berkeley and take him out for dinner. I want to spend a day there myself. It just doesn't seem right to be there and not get something to eat at Fisherman's Wharf!

Day 18 - Welcome to California!

 We didn’t get away from the hotel in Newport until noon. Lynne wanted to go for a long walk on the beach. I had work to do before heading out.

It was a pretty uneventful day. The scenery along the pacific was amazing in spots, but the weather was very overcast and very misty along waters edge. Inland wasn’t much better.

We found a place to stay in Brookings Oregon. It was the last town in Oregon. We found a great looking place right on the beach again, but they wanted 50% more for a room with a partial view than the room with a complete view last night. We decided to carry on into Crescent City California, about 45 minutes away.

This town seems to be one of the many poor towns that we’ve traveled through. Not our first choice of places to stay, but it’ll do. We’ll head on out to the Redwood Forest tomorrow. It looks like we’ll make San Francisco by the weekend some time.