For the past few months I’ve been involved in a production of “The Little Years” with Emerald Pig Theatrical Society. It’s a play by John Mighton. It deals with the big issues of family, gender roles, mental illness and how time and societal norms affect us all. It was a thought-provoking process going through the play. We had many good discussions around the table. As we rehearsed we learned more and we found moments that affected our characters, moments we played up or toned down. That process continued through the performances. As a cast we grew together, the relationships between the characters and the actors deepened. We all made mistakes on stage and we all supported each other through them.

Our final performance was at the Fraser Valley Zone Festival. We had to load into the theatre and get everything ready in about 5 hours. The technical side of things took a long time and we actors hung out backstage, running lines, trying to keep our anxiety down and our energy up. Finally we headed to the dressing room, did our make-up and got into our first costumes. At the top of the show I was standing in the wings, waiting to help another actor with her quick change between the first and second scenes. Then I walked backstage to the other wing to await my entrance.

I watched and listened as I stood there, and although the lighting wasn’t great and there were some sound issues (as well as some video mishaps that we couldn’t see), the actors sounded and looked great. I marvelled at their expressions, their inflections, the connections between them, the energy they were projecting… My nerves disappeared. I swear I saw fairy dust in the lights. I relaxed, fell into the moment and stayed there. When I stepped onto the stage I was fully aware of everything around me but I was also fully into my character and her situations. Our performance felt magical. Now, it may not have seemed like that to everyone who was watching but that was irrelevant. Indeed, that is a theme of the play. We are all affected differently by the same moments in time. My moment of self-realization or inspiration may not be your moment, in fact, it may be something entirely different to you, but that doesn’t negate either experience.

After the show I stayed with that feeling. Some of my castmates felt the same way, and so did some audience members. There were many big hugs and a lot of kind words. The next day however, it was clear that the adjudicator didn’t share our feelings and at first that bothered but then I let it go. My experience and my feelings were real, and that was worth celebrating.

After the adjudication, as I was driving home, I found my way back to that moment in the wings. I reclaimed all the feelings I had – joy, pride, accomplishment and a profound sense of being connected. Nothing and no one should be allowed to mess with that. While it’s nice to be recognized by someone who is deemed to be an expert, in the end it is still just one person’s opinion. Should her opinion count more than the opinion of the cast mate who hugged me as soon as we cleared the stage crying, saying “Oh we did good! That was so real!”? Or the front of house manager who pulled me into a big hug after the show, saying I was fabulous, absolutely fabulous? Or the audience members who stayed to congratulate us all on a job well done? No. The adjudicator’s expertise can inform us for our next production. The advice and comments given can help us to learn and grow as actors and directors. But that opinion isn’t more important or valid or real than any other opinion.

So, the experience I had is one I will treasure. Sitting here, I see myself standing offstage, in the dark, watching and listening to the actors on stage. I feel the magic, like the fairy dust motes, descending on me. I remember every second on stage. We were fully committed but relaxed, as evidenced by the wink one actor gave me when I said the right word in a line that I had messed up when we had run the scene earlier. The strong positive feelings I had will stay with me for a long long time, and I will recall them when I need cheering up. Or when I need to feel more confident and competent. Hmm, if memories become stronger the more we recall them, this one will be imprinted as strongly as a memory can, for like most actors, I am often beset by self doubt.

Postscript – At the awards gala at the end of the festival, three members of our cast were recognized; John won best supporting actor, Lynne received an honourable mention for best supporting actress and Beth received an adjudicator’s certificate for best young actress.

I have a relationship with crows and it’s not a good one. I think every single crow in the world knows that and so they seek me out, to practice their scary techniques on me. They stare at me, they swoop at me, they scream at me, sometimes they do all three at once. And for some reason they also tend to gang up on me. When I see crows I usually see more than one, which makes them meaner, they egg each other on.

As I sit here on the couch, there are crows in the trees in front of our building. They are breaking off twigs and carrying them to the nest they are trying to build on the end unit. I see them flying by with twigs or strands of dead grass. There is a downspout that comes off the roof on the end of the building then it angles down to meet the wall. It is in that negative space that the crows are trying to build their nest.

They tried last year too. I noticed it when I was walking back from downtown. It was huge and ugly, like a lumpy wart. I was horrified. I mentioned it to Dale who went out to look at it when he got home from work. He came back in and said it had fallen down. I went out with him and we picked up the twigs so the crows couldn’t reuse them. Then we did some research; it turns out crow nests are not protected. So Dale went out every day and knocked down their work. That first year he taped his fishing rods together, stood on a step ladder and poked away. We may not have needed to do so, it’s not a secure spot to build a nest. But it would be awful if the crows did manage to get up in there and hatch baby crows. The horror! Dale removed the twigs every day for about a week and then it was over, until this year.

This year the crows upped the ante. There were three nests started on the building, all in the spaces between the downspouts from the roof and the wall. We don’t know if three nesting pairs were at work or if one pair was hedging their bets. “Let’s try all three spots, one’s bound to work”. So Dale went to the store and bought a couple of options. He tried thin pieces of wood taped together and lengths of pvc piping joined togther. Both were rather floppy, they did have to reach up to the roofline of a three storey building after all. The crows did not try to rebuild the two nests on the front of the building, but they refused to let go of the nest on the end. So, every day I sit here watching the crows fly by. If I’m feeling brave I’ll go out and check. But for some reason, every time that I go out the crows come out of the trees and yell at me. They’re never around when Dale goes out but they never miss one of my visits. Thank goodness it’s been raining because I go out with an umbrella. It provides extra protection because you just know one day they’re going to try to peck my eyes out.

We had hoped that the crows, being the intelligent, social creatures they are, would have figured it out and passed the word along. “Don’t try to construct a nest on that building. That downspout area looks good but the nest always falls down. Oh, and the people there don’t like it. If the nest doesn’t fall down they’ll knock it down. So, look at it, imagine it but move on.” But nope. Either it’s the same nesting pair who has an inordinate amount of perseverance (or a warped sense of revenge) or they didn’t tell the new couple in the area. So, for the past week I’ve been freaked out by the nasty crows carrying nesting materials past the window and Dale’s had a job to do after getting home from work.

And you know what this means, we can never go away in late March-early April. Because if we do, those frigging crows will succeed. Their nest will stay up and they will hatch little crows. And being the responsible, protective parents that they should be, they will not allow us to walk anywhere near the end of the building. Oh, and the nestlings will poop in the nest and it will drip down the side of the building. Ugh, the entire scenario is horrific.

The rain has stopped and the crows are more active. They’re taunting me now. The one in the tree is staring at me with its evil, beady little eyes. And the one that flew by the window with a twig in its beak actually flipped me off with a wing feather. I’m not going to look at their nest progress. I’ll just text Dale and tell him he’s got to be on nest removal duty again tonight. It’s been almost a week, it should soon be over, right? Please let it soon be over, because if they succeed I’ll have to move.

( I just googled “crows nest bird on building”, to add an image to this post. Well, that was a mistake. When one is a little, okay more than a little, phobic about birds, seeing a page of images of crows and their nests and their nasty little crow babies in their nests is not a good idea.)

When I went online to buy tickets to see Elton John in Victoria, it was an exercise in frustration. I was on the site as soon as tickets went on sale but all I could get were the $600 tickets. I tried for about 20 minutes and then gave up. We are fans but not, I thought $600 fans. Dale came home and went onto another site, where they re-sell tickets. We didn’t pay $600 a ticket but we definitely paid more than the price printed on the tickets.

It seems that all my little trips involve some form of adventure, by which I mean complication. This trip’s complication was that our son drove me to the ferry terminal to walk on the ferry. Dale was going to drive on and I would meet him onboard. It was most convenient for Darin to pick me up at 12:30, which got me to the terminal about 1:30. However, I was not able to buy a ticket because there was a 2:00 sailing and they don’t sell tickets for other sailings ahead of time. And the waiting room where you buy the tickets has no amenities. So I sat on a hard bench for half an hour so I could get a ticket. Then I was able to go into the terminal and get a cup of tea while I waited. On the plus side, it was nice spending an hour with Darin.

Dale called me when he got into the ferry line-up. I told him I would go and sit once I got on and he could find me. As I walked on using the overhead walkway I saw our Explorer driving on, then as I walked towards the front of the ferry, Dale came up the stairs. We went to the little express cafe and got a tea and a muffin and settled in for the trip. Later we played a game of Scrabble and for a change, Dale won.

It wasn’t raining when we got to Victoria so we checked in, dropped off our bags and hit the city. Darin told us about a pub he likes so we went there first. We had a martini each and an appetizer, Humboldt squid. It was different than calamari but still delicious. We went to another restaurant for dinner and dessert. The next day we had breakfast and then went exploring again. This time we drove because it was raining. We drove to Oak Bay, checking the houses we saw for sale online. Victoria real estate is expensive too. After an afternoon tea break at Murchie’s we ended up back at the hotel trying to figure out what to do before the show. In the end we drove to the venue and then walked to a nearby restaurant. It was very busy and we were told there would be at least an hour wait. Well, there was no place else to go so we stood there waiting, chatting to another couple. As it turned out, the wait was only 20 minutes, so we had plenty of time to eat before the show.

By 7:30 we were in our seats waiting. We discussed which songs we thought might start and end the show. An older English gentleman seated beside us told us what he thought and it turned out he was right for the opening song. Elton started right at 8:00 which caught many concert goers by surprise. There were several empty seats near us. We were also taken aback at two younger couples near us. They arrived late to their seats, carrying two drinks each and then left several times during the show to get more beer. We know what the ticket price was for the seats near us. They could have paid a lot less for other seats that they didn’t sit in.

The concert was amazing. The old songs were recognizable even though Elton had changed the arrangements to suit his older voice. He also added piano riffs to the songs, so most of them were much longer than the versions we had heard before. He played non-stop for over two hours, then came back and played two more songs for his curtain call. We grew up with his music. His songs, along with those of the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, formed part of the soundtrack of our lives. We aren’t super fans, but we are glad we heard him in concert. As he is turning 70 soon, it was about time! We left the concert a little deaf but very happy.

We were lucky with our ferry experience going home, we basically drove straight onto the 11:00 boat. A very successful weekend off to see the Elton, the wonderful Elton of John. Admit it, you just sang that last bit, right?

We should have known things weren’t going to go smoothly. We were unable to check-in at the automated kiosks in the Los Cabos airport. The message told us to seek help at the WestJet counter, however, it wasn’t open. It didn’t open for about an hour after we got that message, which was less than two hours before we were supposed to leave. So much for getting to the airport at least two hours before an international flight. As it turned out though, the incoming plane was late, due to de-icing in Calgary, so it was more than two hours, but I digress.

When the WestJet staff finally got the computers working we checked in, got our luggage tagged and got on the escalator to go through security. The lady in front of us fumbled to find her travel documents at the checkpoint just before security. She had several bags and she dropped them so she could go through them.  We had our documents in hand so we showed them to the official and went around the fumbling lady. She was still there when we were gathering up our belongings after clearing security.

We took our time going through the duty-free shop but didn’t find anything we had to have. We went to our gate, found two seats and settled in to wait. I had a tea and a chocolate croissant from Starbucks and later Dale had a burger (which he ate) and fries (which I ate) from Carl’s Jr.  On a trip to the bathroom, after the tea, I noticed the departures display showed our flight to Calgary as delayed. Well now, that could be a problem as we had just over an hour to make our connecting flight after arriving in Calgary, and we would have to get our luggage, go through customs, and then get to our new gate, which would be in the domestic terminal. There was no point worrying about it so we just settled in to wait.

As it turned out the plane was only about 15 minutes late arriving. They called us to board and we went down the ramp to the plane but stood there outside the plane for about 10 minutes. We left about 30 minutes late but the flight crew said we had a strong tail wind and would get into Calgary only about 10 minutes later than planned. Great! Things were looking up. We had a snack, I read and Dale watched “House of Cards” on his iPad. The sky grew dark and we could see the sunset through the windows on the opposite side of the plane. Finally the flight attendants secured the plane for landing. As we taxied to the gate, we got the usual speech about staying seated with our seat belts on, yada yada yada… but then she added that a passenger was sick and the plane would be met by EMS at the gate. So we stayed seated as the woman and her friend made their way to the door after we were connected to the gate. But wait…the captain came over the PA system with this little tidbit; when a passenger on an international flight is ill, Transport Canada and a health agency, we can’t remember which one, had to sign off on the diagnosis, so the plane was officially under quarantine. No one and nothing off until the passenger was cleared of any contagious disease. We were right at the front of the plane so we could see and hear everything. It took over 10 minutes for the EMS attendant to arrive. Thankfully the woman wasn’t in dire straits. The attendant asked some questions and took some vitals and declared everything was fine. The captain asked about the other agencies and the attendant said they didn’t need to get involved. The woman, who had apparently had her first panic attack, was taken off the plane and we were allowed to get up and get our things. We hustled our bustles to customs and used our Nexus cards to get through as quickly as we could. The customs agent took only a minute to clear us and then we went to the luggage carousel to get our bags. Now remember we were quarantined so the luggage wasn’t offloaded until the woman was cleared. It took about half an hour to get our bags. We grabbed them, ran to the connecting flight area, dropped them off and went up the escalator to… security.

Thankfully, there were no lineups and we got through easily. But there was still the hurdle of getting to the domestic terminal, gate A20 to be specific. And then suddenly, there it was! The YCC terminal shuttle! We climbed on board and rode in comfort to the A gate section. We hoofed to our gate, noticing a distinct lack of people waiting there. We showed our documents to the gate attendants and walked to the plane. The flight crew said they were waiting for a couple more people from the same flight from Mexico that we were on. Good old WestJet!  We learned as we were waiting that there was one more flight to Vancouver that night, so if we had missed this flight, we could still have made it home.

The flight to Vancouver was short. We got our luggage and got on the JetSet shuttle. We got off at the section where our car was parked, loaded the luggage, warmed the car up and drove home. We were greeted at home by a chirping smoke detector. It was located at the top of the stairs, a difficult place to access. With the appropriate and necessary swearing, Dale got the ladder and pulled it down. We washed our faces, brushed our teeth and got into bed. I awoke about four hours later, certain that I could hear the other smoke detectors chirping. Now, if you’ve read my other blogs you know my well-deserved paranoia about smoke alarms. I shook Dale awake and told him I could hear something and relayed my concerns. I got up and stood at the top of the stairs, listening. Nothing. I went back into the bedroom and stood by the open window. There was some beeping outside. Dale said it was the back-up alarm on a truck. I, of course, went back to sleep. Dale did not. About an hour later he got up and watched a NASCAR race he had taped while we were away.

When I got up I held the ladder as he replaced the smoke detector. Putting it up was much harder than taking it down. The first time he put it up, it immediately chirped. The battery was in backwards, so down it came again. The second time was the charm. Dale informed me that while I slept he changed the batteries in the other detectors. We emptied the suitcases and then Dale went to get our grandson. His arrival ended the streak of unfortunate events.

There were many things about our holiday to Los Cabos and Todos Santos that didn’t make it into my other blogs. They were one-off, things we saw or heard as we sunned ourselves by pools, as we ate in restaurants or as we walked along streets or through resorts.

• “Have some of these Trump treats, they’re good.” said a dad as he handed a bag of Cheetos to his daughter. They were American, as evidenced by their accents.
• In Todos Santos a thin man had an equally thin horse on the Main Street. The horse was saddled and a medium-sized dog wearing a sombrero sat happily there. We though that perhaps it was a photo op, and that the man would be paid if someone took a photo of his pets. Later we saw the man ride away. He was sitting behind the saddle, the dog was still occupying that space.
• While we were sitting in the outside section of a cafe on the Main Street of Todos Santos, we noticed that an older-make sporty car kept driving by. As it passed the restaurant, music would blare, I guess to impress some local young people sitting near us. The third or fourth time it went by, as soon as the music turned on, the light of the police vehicle behind also turned on. The locals started laughing and took out their phones to record the embarrassing event.
• A woman was having trouble with her phone so she passed it to her husband. He took it and fiddled with it for a while and then asked incredulously why she had the app for the Clinton News Network (CNN) on her phone. Again, their accents said they were American.
• Young Mexican men like to wear sleeveless white t-shirts (undershirts) when they are not working and hanging out with young Mexican women.
• A woman had a pug on a leash in Todos Santos. She and her family took a seat at a bar table near us. She wrapped the leash around the table leg and they settled in to talk. Our food arrived and the pug, with her flowered collar, easily walked over to our table and parked herself at our feet, hoping for a treat. We brought this to the lady’s attention and she rushed over, exclaiming, “You know why she’s there, right? You have food. The silly bitch would sell me out for a sandwich.”
• Two older women were trying to pay their cafe bill, which was in pesos, with American dollars. They couldn’t understand the conversion. The young waiter was trying to tell them that the exchange rate was 18 pesos to the dollar. The ladies were rounding to 20 and couldn’t understand why the waiter wouldn’t take the money they were offering. He kept saying they weren’t paying enough and they kept saying but they were rounding higher so it should be more than enough. Finally one of the women turned to Dale and asked him, he was the only touristy-looking (meaning white) male around. Dale had the waiter use the calculator on his phone, dividing the total on the bill by 18. We told the women that amount and they paid it. However as they left we heard them discussing that they didn’t understand why dividing the bill by 20 didn’t work…
• We can check one more thing off our bucket list. We heard an excellent dual-guitar rendition of “Hotel California” while sitting in the guests-only section of the Hotel California. Before and after that, the talented guitar players offered up wonderful Spanish music. It made our little sitting area with wicker furniture, brightly coloured cushions and walls, with lots of flowering plants in pots scattered around, a very magical spot. In fact, that memory might become the happy place I go to when stressed or anxious.
• On a wall nearby where we were sitting in that magical spot in the Hotel California there was an image of the Virgin Mary. Several workers came by, touched it, crossed themselves and then kissed their hand before going to work. We noticed other icons throughout the hotel. I wonder if they got the same treatment?
• In San Jose a group of Americans near us were complaining that people were still protesting the election of President Trump, and that they didn’t call him President Trump, just Mr. Trump. They felt the office and the man in the office deserved respect. I didn’t have the guts to ask them if they had respected President Obama when he was in that office.
• Both of the resorts that we were at had signs up saying not to “save” lounges around the pool by putting towels, or other items on them. However… if you didn’t get down to any of the pools before say, 8:00, you wouldn’t get a spot. Between 7 and 8 you might be able to find a lounge or two in the less desirable areas. I heard one woman say that she came down at 5:15 to save 8 spots, and then she went back up to her room to sleep until breakfast at 8:00. Dale would come down and stay in one of our lounges until I joined him. The sad thing was some saved lounges were never used.
• The sides of highways of Mexico are covered in trash, even though there are signs posted every couple of kilometres not to – No tire basura. However, the main streets of the towns we went into were very clean, but step just a few paces into the side streets and it was a different story.
• The wheelchair ramps in Mexico are interesting. They are very narrow and many are very steep because many of the curbs are very high. We followed a sidewalk once, rather than to go down the very steep ramp. We thought there would be stairs at the end of the sidewalk, nope. The sidewalk just ended, no barrier, no rope, no sign, nothing. Just a drop-off of about 4 feet. Needless to say, we backtracked and carefully walked down the ramp.
• Every vendor we passed had a patter to bring us into his shop. The most common comments were “Hey honeymooners, come on in”, “Almost free today my friend” and “99% off today just for you”. We were able to resist them all.

After leaving Todos Santos we drove to San Jose del Cabo. The route was well marked and our confidence grew as we began to recognize landmarks. The area is growing rapidly with new buildings going up all over the place. Some buildings are a little changed because of hurricane Odile that landed here in September 2014. But regardless of those changes, we knew where we were going and that helped.

We checked into the resort in San Jose where we always stay. I went to our room and Dale took the car back. The rest of the week passed as holidays do. However, the town of San Jose is within walking distance so on this part of our trip, we ventured out. We went into town twice, once by foot and once with a friend who lives down here for part of the year. He picked us up in front of our resort and took us to the regular Thursday night Art Walk. We walked around enjoying the sights and catching up with him. Then he took us to a wonderful little restaurant for an incredibly delicious meal. We also went to his house one night for dinner. One day we walked to the big supermarket, which is in the opposite direction. But the highlight of the trip was our visit to to local beaches to go snorkelling.

The concierge at the resort told us the best way to go would be to rent a car for the day. That was an adventure in and of itself. We went to the Budget desk in the lobby and took a seat. There was no one there and we assumed she was out with another customer, checking the car. Remember our experience in Cabo? Rental car places here seem to run with only one employee. So we sat, and we waited, and we waited and we waited. Several resort employees checked in on us, one actually called someone and then told us she was on her way. So we waited. All in all, we probably waited about half an hour. Finally a young woman rushed in with a big Gulp in hand. She put it down on the desk, stowed her purse, pulled up her bra strap and apologized. She logged into her computer and then asked what we wanted. However, it turned out she didn’t have any cars available, so she asked us to wait, about five minutes, while she went to another resort down the street to pick one up. About 15 minutes later she returned and we filled in all the paperwork. Doing the walk-around the car took several minutes as there were so many little dings and scrapes to record as well as the broken taillight on the passenger side. But eventually it was done and we were off.

We drove towards Cabo San Lucas then exited to double back as the highway was divided. We drove down to the parking lot and got out. We stopped to read the large sign at the entrance to the beach. It said that the beach was sometimes closed due to various events, one of which was dangerous water life, like cocodiles and  sharks. COCODILES? I guess they didn’t want to re-do the sign for one mistake. And a Google search conducted later revealed that both crocodiles and sharks were unlikely in the area, however, better safe than sorry.

Playa Santa Maria was wonderful. The sand was warm as we walked down to the ocean. As we arrived we noticed everyone pointing and looking out to where several boats were bobbing. We had arrived at the same time as two whales. We saw them breach and flap their tails five or six times before they left the area. Amazing! The water was cold but bearable once Dale convinced me to be brave and just get in. It was a good thing I listened to him. Below us in the water we saw many colourful fish. Most were small yellowtails but there were a few striped angelfish and one big blue fish that swam near the bottom. We also saw some needlefish. The bay was full of other people snorkling from tours. We stayed for about an hour then left to go to Playa Chileno.

The same sign greeted us at the public beach at Chileno. Our favourite thing to say now is cocodile: in a while cocodile, watch out for the cocodiles, and so on. The water at Chileno felt colder to me but the schools of fish were bigger. Large masses of silver fish swirled around below us, breaking into smaller groups then reforming. I didn’t stay in the water very long. However, going back to sit on the beach was a mistake as there was an older man near me feeding the seagulls, and you all know how I feel about seagulls. I had my cane in my hand for protection as I tried to ignore them. Thankfully the cavalry in the form of Dale arrived and we packed up and left.

That snorkelling trip was the highlight of our time in San Jose. Truth be told, I was a reluctant participant at first. I was going just because Dale wanted to. Lesson learned; nothing ventured nothing gained, seize the day, be brave and take a chance and whatever other sayings fit. Just do it Mary Ellen, it’s almost always worth it! This little adventure definitely was.

We got up on Saturday, had breakfast and checked out. We then went to the Avis car rental site, where we had reserved a car for our trip to Todos Santos. The young man behind the desk, who looked about 12 years old, took our paperwork and then spent about 15 minutes filling in information on various computer screens. He didn’t say a word, except when he needed a phone number or address. Although when we had arrived there was no line-up, by the time we were ready to go outside to get our car there were about 5 people waiting. The same young man who filled out our information went to get our car. Then we had to do the check of the car, to make sure they didn’t charge us for any damage already there. Meanwhile, there was no one at the desk. Finally we loaded our luggage and got on our way.

I had the route on my iPad using Google Maps and it showed us how to get out of the commercial/ residential area and onto Highway 19. Mexican side roads have speed bumps about every 300 metres so no one goes very fast. That means that stop signs are suggestions, although we stopped at every one. We missed a turn-off but it worked out okay, as we soon came to an intersection with Highway 19. We turned left and saw a sign that said “Todos Santos” with an arrow pointing ahead. Yay, we were on the right path, and out of the urban traffic. We checked the speed limit and continued on.

This was the first time we had driven in Mexico. When we were in the line-up earlier in the week we spoke with some people who regularly rented cars, mostly to go to other resorts to golf. They had some good advice;  mostly that local drivers drive fast, cut in and don’t stop at intersections. And that getting extra insurance was a good idea as the rental car company would charge a lot if you had an accident. That was why we were happy to be on the open highway. We knew traffic in Todos Santos would be light so there would be nothing to worry about.

The drive to Todos Santos was quite boring. The scenery was the same mile after mile; cactuses and thorn bushes to the right and rocky seashore to the left. The highway was divided but there was very little traffic in either direction so we were relaxed. We had been to Todos Santos before, and we began to recognize interchanges and properties. The main road into Todos Santos wasn’t the road our hotel was on, but it didn’t take long to find the road we needed. And suddenly, there it was again, the Hotel California. We all know that the hotel isn’t the one in the Eagles’ song but it fits the bill. We are big Eagles fans, having seen them in concert four times. Their music forms a big portion of the soundtrack of our lives. So, staying at the hotel was kind of a bucket list moment. And what a moment it was.

The forecast was for rain, and the sky had grown darker and darker the more we drove. We checked in and went out to see the little shops in the area. As we finished up, the first drops fell. The rain was light at first, but as we got seated under the covered patio of the Hotel California’s restaurant, the wind picked up and the rain got heavier. Soon the water was pouring off the roof in torrents and everyone was getting somewhat damp as the wind blew the rain sideways under the patio covering. We were in just about the middle of the patio so we weren’t getting too wet, but we still got the full brunt of the wind. The servers had to run out into the rain to get food and drinks. They were laughing about it and most of the people on the patio were good natured too.

When we finished lunch we went up to our room to warm up. We found a blanket in the armoire and sat cuddling up on the bed, reading our Kindles. The storm continued for several hours, then finally slowed and stopped. Some time after that we discovered we didn’t have any water in our room, luckily the toilet tank was full so we were able to flush, once. We went downstairs to tell the front desk about the situation and were told that that entire town didn’t have water, some problem with the pumps from the volume of water from the storm. They had water tanks on the roof though, so they were in the process of switching over to using that water. Fair enough. We went to the restaurant and found it full, so we sat in the bar. We had light dinner and then went back up to our room. Dale had a cold shower but I wasn’t brave enough. I washed my face in the sink and cleaned my feet by walking around in the wet shower. We read some more then fell asleep.

We awoke to the sound of a nearby rooster and the bells of the mission next to the hotel. I opened the doors onto our little deck to see a clear blue sky. The tantalizing smell of bacon wafted up from the restaurant below us. Dale had another cold shower while I again made do with a quick wash. We got dressed and went down to breakfast. We mentioned to the front desk on our way by that while we now had water, we didn’t have hot water. We were told they were working on it. By the time we got back to our room, the hot water was on. Yay, hot showers tonight!

Hotel California is an iconic building for people of our generation. It is beautiful in its own right, but rather shabby around the edges. If you look quickly your first impressions are of vibrant colours, interesting art and classical Mexican (Spanish) architecture. Every corner, every wall has something interesting. However, look closer and you’ll see the damaged plaster around the doors, the broken tiles on the walls and the dust accumulating on everything. However, that didn’t really affect our stay. We are old enough to know that the mythical expectations of a place that we had built up in our minds could never be achieved in real life.  It is what it is, a small boutique hotel in a very small town in rural Mexico. Without its name, we would never have stayed here. But, now we’ve been there, done that and bought the souvenirs.

The town is lovely too, and we enjoyed our walk around. We took a lot of pictures, because now that we’ve stayed here for a weekend, we’ll probably never be back. But the memories we have will last and they’ll be perfect, even around the edges.

The Friday morning of our 2017 trip found me at our son and daughter-in-law’s house. I was there to spend some time with our grandson Ari. He was sleeping when I got there and he continued sleeping for an hour after I arrived. When he woke up he was happy and ready to play after a quick bottle and a diaper change. He loves to kick so I put him in his playpen sideways so his feet were up on the side. He kicked away and we had a little conversation. When he tired of that, I put him on the floor under his little gym. He grabbed at the toys suspended above him and delighted in the music he made play as the arches of the gym moved. After about an hour he grew tired of that so we walked around, or rather I walked while he rode in my arms. Soon he made it clear he was hungry again so I warmed up a bottle. When it was half finished his mommy arrived. I changed his diaper and then turned him over to her. I gathered up my things and then said good-bye. Ari decided it was time to be incredibly cute and charming. He looked at me from his mother’s arms and laughed! Then he looked away and turned back quickly, chatting first and then laughing again. It was so adorable that I cried. Finally I left.

Back at home I fixed my face, changed my clothes, did a quick check of the house then I went next door to our neighbour’s house. He had graciously offered to drive me to the airport, saving me an hour and a half skytrain trip. We conversed easily and soon the trip was over. I thanked him and went into the airport. Dale was going to leave work early and meet me there, with the luggage. But I had about an hour’s wait so I went to Starbuck’s and had a tea and a chocolate croissant. The guy at Starbuck’s warmed it up for me. The gooey chocolate treat was the perfect way to pass the time. Soon Dale arrived. We checked our luggage and went through security.

The flight to Calgary was short and we got our luggage quickly. We wandered outside in the cold and snow in shorts and flip flops to our shuttle. Soon we were in our hotel room to sleep for a couple hours before getting our early morning flight to Los Cabos. That flight was longer but the time passed quickly. That’s when the adventure began.

First of all, the flight crew didn’t have the tourist cards we needed so we had to wait on the plane until they arrived. Then we had to fill them out before we could leave. The airport was very busy and the plane was quite a ways from the terminal. So, we walked, cards in hand, to the terminal, where the passengers from several other planes were waiting. The lineup to get to the customs agents was very, very long. We snaked our way back and forth, trying to stay positive and upbeat. We heard people talking about how friends had told them they had waited over two hours to get through customs. On one switchback an agent removed the barrier cord and waved us through. At first we thought they were opening a new line but we were the only ones let through. We wondered about it for a bit then realized it was my cane that got us into a priority lineup. We felt guilty but we took the opportunity and we got through customs much faster than most everyone else in the terminal.

Our luggage was waiting for us so we gathered it up and ran the gauntlet of entrepreneurs who wait just outside Mexican airports looking to get you to agree to a timeshare presentation by posing as shuttle or taxi drivers. We pushed past them but got sucked into going to a counter where the guy told us the name of our shuttle driver, based on the hotel we were staying at, and then he tried to talk us into doing a timeshare presentation. We told him no and went out to find Luis. Eventually we located him and bought some beer to soothe our shattered nerves and wet our parched throats while we waited. It wasn’t long before we were in the van and on our way to the hotel.

Check-in was easy. The resort is built on the hillside outside Cabo San Lucas. We were taken in a golf cart to our villa. We were on the third floor and we had an amazing view of the villa pool and the ocean. We dropped off our luggage and had the golf cart driver take us to one of the restaurants. After lunch we changed into our suits and found two empty lounges at our villa pool. We got a drink and started on our sunburns. We had dinner later that night, walking down several flights of stairs to the main restaurant. That meant we had to walk back up, but it was a beautiful night with a starry sky above us so it wasn’t a hardship.

The rest of the week was spent in variations of the first day. We checked out all the pools and tried all the restaurants. We hiked up and down the trails, avoiding golf carts and marvelling at the views. One morning we saw whales just off the shore as we walked down for breakfast. One afternoon we laughed at a maintenance crew. The guy repairing an exposed pipe several feet down the bank was in a harness that another guy above him on the bank was holding! One day we took the shuttle into Cabo and spent the day there, at a sister resort. Dale took several swims in the ocean while I read under the umbrella on the beach. We rested, drank, burned different parts of our bodies at different times, swam, ate, slept in, read dozens of books on our Kindles and played several games of Scrabble on our iPads. All in all, it was a wonderful week, and Dale only called me names when I beat him at Scrabble, which was every game!

Part of the “Market”, which was like a food court.

Our older son Darin  got sick around Christmas. We didn’t see it coming, but our younger son Jordan did. We were at Enchant Vancouver. We had fought our way through the maze and were sitting with a bacon and cheese mega sandwich. Darin wasn’t hungry, and he sat a little away from us. Then he got up and stood by one of the heaters scattered throughout the tent we were in. Jordan called it. He said Darin was getting sick, that the first sign he had had before he got sick earlier in the month was the inability to get and stay warm.

Sure enough, Darin was a little off when he showed up at our place on Christmas Eve. He was a trooper though and he kept up with the conversation and played all the games. But it was clear he was exhausted and functioning off strong cold meds. The same was true Christmas Day at his house. Darin didn’t let feeling tired and achy stop him from being a great host but a Mommy can tell. So we offered to take the baby on Boxing Day, so he and Devon could clean up after having a houseful of guests and then take some downtime.

We picked up Ari about 12:30 on Boxing Day afternoon. Devon handed us a bag of supplies to keep at our house and then the diaper bag. Ari was already in his car seat. We loaded up the car and left. Darin’s plan for the day was to sleep, Devon was going to hit the mall and then sleep. The plan was for us to have Ari into the evening. Fine by us!

Driving home with our grandson in his car seat in the back seat was interesting. Dale was more cautious than he  usually was, waiting for the traffic to clear before turning rather than waiting for an opening. He drove us to the back of the building so we could enter through the garage, limiting the time he was outside in the cold and snow and limiting the risk of us slipping while carrying him. Like all babies, he woke up as soon as we took him out of his car seat. Again,fine by us, a baby who is awake is far more fun than one who is sleeping.

Dale took Ari in his arms and went to sit on the window seat. I left them and went out shopping. When I got home they were on the couch. Dale had read him several pages of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and then cuddled him until he fell asleep. I gently took Ari from his arms and put him into his playpen. I sat back down and Dale recalled me with everything that had happened while I was gone. Amazing how much happens with a baby in less than twenty minutes!

When Ari woke up I changed him and then amused him with a cow puppet, he loves cows right now. He chattered away happily, grabbing the cow’s nose or ears. When the cow stopped being fascinating, I leaned in and talked to him. He became very chatty then. I mimicked his sounds and he got louder and his smiles got bigger. Dale came over to enjoy the moment with me. Later we moved him to the couch where we amused him with the Grinch Jordan and Elizabeth built for Dale at Build-A-Bear. He had a little tummy time and then he was hungry again.

Soon it was time to get him ready to go home. We repacked the diaper bag and got Ari into his car seat. Again, we used the garage entrance. He fussed once on the drive back then settled to sleep. Darin opened the door almost before we knocked. The motion activated light and their barking dogs told him we were there. The change over was quick. Back at home we got a text, Darin had been asleep from the time we left with the baby until just before we dropped him off, seven and a half hours! Devon had shopped for a bit and then succumbed to sleep as well. We texted back saying we would take the baby anytime they wanted us to. Oh, and yes, we were tired after our first babysitting adventure. We didn’t really have a proper dinner so we grazed a bit and then I had a bath and went to bed. Heaven help us when he’s a toddler and doesn’t just lie there!

Dale and I put off most of our Christmas shopping until last weekend. We decided we’d take a little getaway into the city, to visit with our younger son and his girlfriend and to complete our lists. It was a real adventure in many ways, starting with my skytrain ride in.

My daughter-in-law drove me to the new Coquitlam Centre station and I walked up to the gates. I had my Compass card handy, I tapped in and headed to the escalator. As I got to the top, the train arrived. I legged it over and stepped in. I poured over the map of the route with all the stops. The trip planning site I had checked earlier told me to go the Commercial-Broadway station and then transfer to the Expo Line. But the map overhead told me I could get onto the Expo Line by transferring at the Lougheed Town Centre station. It was an easy transfer, just a few steps across the platform. It did backtrack a bit, but I could sit all the way to my station. At first I was sitting backwards, which was not good but a young woman left and so I was able to move over and enjoy the trip.

The Expo Line is an older one so the stations weren’t announced. I carefully noted the names of all the stations as we pulled into them. Some were easier to see than others, but I had counted the number of stations until my stop so I was good. It was interesting to see the buildings along the route. Some were very nice and I imagined what it would be like to live there. It was also very interesting to see that most of the roofs were fully covered in snow. Even though we don’t often get snow here, most homes are properly insulated. When the train paralleled the roads it was clear that we were moving much faster than the traffic. It was an enjoyable ride.

I got off at the Main Street-Science World Station and made my way down to street level. There was an elderly Asian woman in front of me on the stairs so we made our way slowly down. I was bumped a couple of times,  once by a large suitcase. I know it’s frustrating when people go slowly, but there was nothing we, the lady and I, could do. And bumping people as they are going down stairs could be very dangerous. My phone rang as I was going down, so I checked it at the bottom. Jordan had called. I called him back and told him I was on my way.

I crossed the street and limped my way to the ferry dock. It was farther away than I remembered it, but I eventually found it. My timing was perfect as I waited just a minute or two before the ferry arrived. I was the only passenger. It was almost dark and the lights of the city were visible. It was a little chilly but not unbearably so. It was a goodly ride to Granville Island, and surprisingly it was more expensive than my skytrain ride from Poco!

I got off the ferry and made my way into the Public Market building. I stopped at a table and called Jordan. He found me and we walked around, getting ideas and checking out items for family members. After a while we moved to the Net Loft and perused the shops there then we sat for a bit and chatted. Dale called to say he had checked in and would be soon joining us. We waited for him and then the three of us walked around a little more before we made our way to the restaurant. Jordan stayed behind at the bus stop to wait for his girlfriend. Dale and I put our names on the waiting list and took a seat at the bar. Jordan and Liz arrived before the bartender did but soon we had drinks in hand, toasting “Happy Friday”. Not long after our first sips we were moved to our table. We ordered and got our appies quickly. However, we waited a very long time for our entrees, so long in fact that the manager gave them to us half off. Jordan and Liz had another event to go to, so we parted ways after hugs. Dale and I walked back to the hotel for dessert. The server we got was a tad pretentious. He wasn’t very good either, bringing me Earl Grey tea instead of English Breakfast. He also forgot Dale’s drink order and had to come back to ask for it again. He made little, unfunny jokes every time he came by to check on us. We couldn’t place his accent. Dale had the rhubarb-apple tart and he said it was very good. My molten chocolate cake was a tad overcooked but still delicious. The server’s antics didn’t take the shine off the evening. We paid the bill and went to our room.

In the morning we went to the public market for breakfast. We always seem to arrive just before the rush. We found a table and I sat at it to stake our claim. We had crepes and they were delicious! We made a battle plan and started our shopping. Several hours later Dale took the bags back to the hotel while I made my way to the ferry dock. He joined me and we went to Yaletown. We walked up to the Roundhouse Station and took the skytrain to the Pacific Centre Mall. The train was quite full and so we stood. There were people sitting in the spots designated for elderly or disabled riders. Only one, an older woman, offered me a seat. I had my cane so I guess I looked like I needed to sit. The young woman sitting beside her hid behind her phone. I thanked the woman but told her we were only going one stop so I didn’t need to sit. The train took us right to the mall entrance. We walked around the mall and then headed out to shop elsewhere. In one store I leaned my cane against a display while we looked at an item. Dale took the item to the checkout and I headed up the escalator. Halfway up I realized I didn’t have my cane so I had to jump onto the downscalator to retrieve it.

As we headed back to the mall we decided to have lunch. We sat at a table by the window, doing a little people watching while we ate. It was interesting to see the variations in winter attire. Some people were totally covered, with hood and scarves leaving only their eyes visible. Others had open coats and shoes with no socks. Most were carrying multiple bags. After lunch we finished our shopping in the mall then headed to the skytrain station.

We went down some stairs and finally down a very steep escalator. We realized we were at the wrong station so we backtracked and went to another station, we thought. Nope, it was the other side of the same station. Dale decided we would go to Waterfront Station and figure it out from there, and so we did. The system must be set up to deal with people like us who really have no clue, because when we tapped out of the system several times we weren’t charged. At Waterfront we walked to the train to get us back to Yaletown. I made Dale buy me a tea at Starbucks before we walked to the ferry dock, because my nerves were shattered from all the extra skytrain rides and walking.

We had dinner that night at a restaurant we had avoided thinking it would be crowded and we’d have to wait. But it wasn’t busy at all. We got a table by the window looking out over the water. We had a lovely meal and our waiter was fabulous. Granville Island was quite quiet and lovely on the walk back to our hotel, lightly covered in snow and all lit up.

It snowed during the night so it was very quiet in the morning. It took a while for Dale to clear the snow off the car but eventually we were ready to set off. We drove the short distance to the Net Loft where we found a spot right in front, I guess the snow was keeping people at home. We went in and had breakfast all by ourselves. It was lovely.

We stopped at Toys R Us on the way home, to pick up something to have at the house for when our grandson comes to stay. It was our lucky day because a playpen with a bassinet was on sale. Dale set it up as soon as we got home, well as soon as we had emptied our suitcases. We hope he will be using it soon! And all the things we bought on our weekend adventure are now wrapped and under the tree waiting for everyone to come over and unwrap them. Merry Christmas everyone!