Idyllwild, California

Saturday, April 5- Monday April 14, 2014 Idyllwild, California

We met a delightful couple, the Martini's, two years ago and have had some great conversations ever since. They share the same eagerness to see the world as we do and have shared their delightful townhouse on Sunset Beach, Ca. Their Idyllwild property was bought by Mark's dad back in the 1930's and; Mark and his dad put this home on the property in the 70's. It has been a retreat for the family ever since. Evidence of Thanksgivings, Valentine's Day and birthday celebrations abound the home making for great  memories.

Idyllwild was a neat little place to just kick back and relax. Our cute little home, a three bedroom, two and half bath provided just enough room for a quiet  retreat for everyone to enjoy. Surrounded by tall pines, beautiful little pink blooming manzanita trees, and awesome rocky craigs, we all enjoyed walking the quiet streets of a close little community while exploring the quaint  shops and  people who have settled into this closenit, dog friendly community. Did I mention the people proudly voted the mayor to be a very friendly Golden Retreiver? What have we observed? Rabbits, lizards, chunky squirrels, and lots of friendly people all in a peaceful setting with just near perfect temperatures.

                                                             Pines and Pink Blossoms

After visiting the local post office and pharmacy, we  wandered past the beautifully carved display in the town center. The life sized animal carving displayed critters that live in the area...coyotes, squirrels, chipmunks, various birds and other animals...quite an exhibit!

 

 

 

We walked on into a shop to enjoy the local wares when the owner pulled us into a local songfest with two guitar players and singers encouraging us to sing along, "Rock me mama like a midnight train". What a great place to just let your hair down and enjoy the moment! This is definitely a Larry   Hixson kinda of place.

The trip to and from Idyllwild provides lots of curves....reminding my man of his motorcycle.

 

 

We did manage to do some car trips around of the area...out past Desert Palms to see the Salton Sea and indulge in Fig Milkshakes while seeing the numerous turbines of the desert.

 

We also enjoyed going into La Jolla to have dinner with Debi, Lindsey, Chad and Kathy.

 

                                   Strolling along  La Jolla...watching the sea lions and seagulls

                                                Chocolate treats....too many choices!!!

                                       Debi and I were hoping for a fabulous La Jolla sunset!

                                                  The sea fog moved in before the sunset!



                Larry, Chad, and the girls went horseback riding the following morning in Hemet.

My does time fly! Can't believe that our time with our loved ones went by so quickly while staying in the Martini's little get away! Where did the nine days go? One thing is for certain, every minute with our family was precious and we certainly did create some fantastic memories that will last a long time.

With hugs flowing, everyone packed up and went their seperate ways on Monday morning, planning to meet up again in Lake Tahoe in ten days.

Summary of Our South American Cruise

Summary of Our South American Cruise
Best Water Views... St. Thomas

Best Local Busing... Antigua

Largest Modern City Island... Barbados

Most Scenic Cruise into Port... Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Cleanest cities... Lima, Peru and Buenos Aires, Argentina

Dirtiest City... Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Recife, Brazil

Most Relaxed Atmosphere City... Montevideo, Uruguay

Most Beautiful Mountains and Sea Views... Illhabela, Brazil

Best Internet... Vina del Mar, Chile

Windiest place...Stanley, Falkland Islands

Most expensive Area... Montevideo,Urugauy and Falkland Islands

Cheapests... Bus Ride Brazil

Quickest Access to Town... Montevideo, Urugauy

Longest Access to Town... San Martin, Chile

Liveliest Music... Steel Pan in Trinadad

Hottest place... Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Coldest Place... Punta Arenas, Chile

Newest Port... Puerto Vallarta

Best Snowcapped Mountains... Ushuaia, Argentina

Most Active Volcano... Nicaragua

Best Wildlife Views... Paracas, Peru

Most Remarkable Conflict, still going on.... Falkland Islands and Maldova

Most Inexpensive... Nicaragua

Most Remote Area... Falkland Islands

Roughest Tenderboat Ride... Punta Arenas, Argentina

Most Surprising Animals... Dogs laying on the streets in South America

Largest Fish Market... Coquimbo, Chile

Most Interesting Park... Ballesta's Natural Reserve, Peru

Oldest Sights... Inca Ruins in Lima, Peru, and Nazas Line Drawings in San Martin, Peru

Best Statue... "The Kiss" in Lima, Peru

Best Beach... Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Most Senic Part of Cruise... Between Ushuaia, Argentina and Amalie Glacier, Argentina & Ilhabela, Brazil

Most Southern Park in South America... Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina

Best Singers... Bobby Brooks and Tony B

Best Speaker... John Maxtone-Graham

Biggest Surprise... Live land mines in the Falkland Island

Most Exotic Animal... Penguins

                                                                    Best Sunsets!

Final Two Days at Sea

Thursday and Friday, April 3 and 4, 2014  Final Two Days at Sea
Our trip is coming to a quick close...can't believe that we have been on here visiting 12 different countries seeing volcanos, glaciers, rain forests, deserts, islands, estuaries, waterfalls, all the wildlife and the countless spectacular sunrises and sunsets! WHAT AN ADVENTURE!


We had two remarkable memories today. The first was seeing a huge group of whales spouting and breaching while the sun was setting. It was so cool to watch. It went on and on for about an hour. Even the captain remarked about it over the intercom. It really was a wonderful way to end our first day at sea. The second memory was that all of the Larry's muscian friends met on the top of the ship for a sing out! Lots of passengers joined in and we had the whole top of the ship rocking and rolling! Aussies, Canandians, Kiwis, and us Americans had a roaring good time well past the time to go eat dinner.

Aussie Rob and Canadian Louise

Kwiis Malcom and Ann

 

                                                     Larry and Kate, a Canadian

 

The temps cooled down considerable... Somewhere in the low 60's but the sun shined so we were happy.

On the last evening we had to say a final good-bye to our fabulous steward, Frankie,  who took such good care of us each day. All the buckets of ice, fresh towels, and chocolates that he delivered made our trip such a luxury. Frankie was flying out of LA bright and early disembarking day to go back to his family in India. He had been away for nine months and could hardly wait to see his wife and two children, a little two year old girl and a five year old boy. Frankie has been working for Princess Cruises for eleven years and he had been able to get a six month leave to be home with his family. To say the least he was excited and couldn't wait to be home.

                                                    Final sunset across the Pacific

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Wednesday, April 2, 2014 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
 We went on top of the ship after breakfast to watch our approach to our next to last port of call, Mexico, of our trip. We enjoyed watching lots of dolphins swimming in the bay as we sailed into the port...probably the most we have ever seen on our trip. One exciting moment was on the front of the ship seeing them dive under the ship with a baby one right beside the mama. So cute!

The ship tied up to the dock at 12:00 allowing us to leave by 12:30.

We were greeted by beautiful costume dancers and a mariachi band...12 musicians as well as a cute minature burro. Puerto Vallarta is the birth place of the mariachi bands.

They also invented the the little drink,Tequilla, here.The pier had completely changed since the last time we were here three years ago. It was really snazzy....green grass, lots of palm trees, a paved parking area...it was really the nicest port that we have visited during the whole trip. We shared the port with two other cruise ships...Holland and Carnival. Princess Cruises was the first ship ever to come to Puerto Vallarta back in the early years of the company and they coined the name "Mexican Riviera" that caught on quickly.

                                                        Modern Puerto Vallarta

Puerto Vallarta was a quiet little sea town until actor, Richard Burton, and, director, John Houston made the film, "Night of the Iquana" here back in the 60's. Burton bought a little house on the beach and brought Elizabeth Taylor on down. From that point on, the town became known as great winter escape for northerns.

The last time we were here Larry and I jumped on a local bus and rode down to the old part of the city. Today we walked across the street to a brand new modern shopping mall to get a few things and try to call home. It was really a nice place...we kept saying, "Are we really in Mexico?" cause we had never seen this side of the country before.

                                            Outside the mall looking back at our ship.


We decided to walk north toward Nuevo Vallarta...where the snow birds live. We came to the Marina and some very nice condos around the harbor with great restaurants and neat little shops lining the docks of huge yachts. We were amazed again!

Entrance into the Marina

Oldest light house in Puerto Vallarta

We stopped at local fishing pier to have a couple of cool ice teas with a couple of Mexicans who ran a parasailing venue on the beach. They were so much fun to talk with. Their English was excellent and they made the afternoon slip by too quickly.

 

                                                   Larry's new found Mexican friends!

We had to hustle back to the ship arriving back just in time for the 7:30pm "All Aboard Call". We had a delightful dinner up on the back of the ship and watched the twinkling lights of Puerto Vallarta's pass us by as we left the harbor! What a great day! We had experienced a whole new side of Puerto Vallarta that left us saying..."We want to come back here again!"

                                                         Adios to Puerto Vallarta!

Two Days at Sea

Monday and Tuesday, March 31 and April 1     Two Days at Sea
Two gorgeous days ! Spotted lots of sea turtles and dolphins swimming by. It is a lot of fun to spot these creatures swimming in the ocean and all the passengers and stewarts that are close by seem to get so excited when we point them out. The Pacific Ocean has an unbelievable amount of life thriving in it!

The sun has been toasty and we have enjoyed more of the late afternoon out on the deck. Watched a wonderful Stevie Wonder Concert from 2007on the big screen...want to put him on our list of singers to go see. Also enjoyed a show called "Blame it on the Boogie"...how do those singers and dancers remember all those rountines? This one was really entertaining because it was all disco music. We enjoyed a Mexican buffet during lunch one day...they were getting us ready for visit to Mexico on Wednesday. The days seem to go by so quickly and we enjoy every minute of our days at sea.

                               The sunsets on the Pacific have been down right awesome!

We arrived in LA, CA in the early morning on April 5. We had a final leisure breakfast and then went to soak up some sun on the back deck of the ship. Our disembark was scheduled for 10:30am. We felt so lucky to walk off the ship and go through emigration without a wait. Out the door we went to the taxi and pick up area. Kristy and Brian arrived and found us with ease. We went back to their hotel to check on Molly and then walked across the street to have some lunch.

What a great little marina area! Lots of shops, boats, and sunshine! Long Beach has very modern skyscrapers and nice restaurants to choose from. We had a lovely afternoon before dropping Brian off at the airport and heading  two hours east for our next adventure in Idlywild, CA.

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

Sunday, March 30, 2014 San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
The ship dropped anchor around 7:30 am . After breakfast, Larry and I caught a tender boat to the seaside town riding on the top in the brisk sea air. The boat driver actually lost his hat due to the high winds. We had a pleasant time riding ashore with some Aussie friends, Rob and Ann.

Upon arrival, we wondered through the local tourist markets....lots of pottery, leather goods, t-shirts, arts and crafts...finally reaching the fenced gate of the marine area. We countinued down the street...the breezes off of the water were very nice on shore...high today was 91 degrees. 

We passed serveral pubs where the locals hung out...plastic tarps hung overs some plastic chairs. We walked by several horse drawn carts for visitors to take a ride in...the horses looked so poorly...the heat must be awful for them.

San Juan del Sur is Nicaragua's most visited beach town on the Pacific coast. The streets are lined with homes and store fronts built of wood and painted in vibrant colors. The cresent shaped bay is speckled with local fishing boats. The mountainous countryside have extravagant homes dotting the hillsides.

Because it was Sunday, the beach was loaded by lots of Nicaraguans...They were enjoying the water, sitting under temporary sheets that they strung up for shade. Some locals were grilling along side the road. Small boats out in the water were taking locals for rides around the little bay. From the looks of some of their passengers, this was their first ride in a boat.

We walked passed lots of open air restaurants...very nice with gorgeous views of the beach. The locals had taken advantage of the beautful beach by erecting very nice thatched roof buildings with tropical themes for the visitors to enjoy a meal and get some cool drinks. We must have passed fifteen of these to choose from. There were local car rentals, scooter rentals, and tourist trip shops as well as more outdoor booths to shop in.

On we walked till we came to a swinging bridge that was built to cross over a small inlet lake that was caused when the tide came in. We crossed it and walked on trying to make our way to the Christ Stautue that was sat on top of the hill.

The road turned to dirt and a couple of cars passed us making quite a dust bowl so we decided to turn around and head for the beach. Here we passed a local hostel and a couple of hotels. Walking down the beach was pleasant...the water was cool and refreshing. We walked back to one of the local restaurants and had a cool liquid refreshment...being careful to not get anything with ice. One dollar was equal to 25 Nicaraguan cordobas...although they accepted American dollars readily.

This was a quaint little village. It reminded us a lot of East Timor....the hillside had lots of brown trees and looked so dry. We enjoyed our day and our ride back to the ship in the tender boat. We happened to sit with a couple of the Crown Princess musicians so the conversation was lively.

                                                          Arriving back to the ship!

The sail away was interesting. We could see a local volcano smoking and lava coming down the hillside. From the 17th floor of the ship we also could see the volcano that we visited while boating on Lake Nicaragua a couple of years back. We enjoyed a beauitful sunset and watched a Movie Under the Stars..."The Wolverine" with Hugh Jackman.

 

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Saturday, March 29, 2014 Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Larry's captured the sunrise this morning!

 What a beautiful day! Sunshine..85 degrees. After breakfast we headed off the ship to explore the little town of Puntarenas. From our previous trip to Costa Rica, we had driven by this little coastal town off the Gulf of Nicoya. It is the only port on the west side of Costa Rica and was discovered in 1519 by Ponce de Leon.

                                                            The beach from our ship!

                                                        Beautiful black sandy beaches!

Coast Rica exports bananas, coffee, and pineapples. The local fruits here are mouth watering good.

Larry and I had decided earlier that we would not take a trip out of the town because we had already visited the areas that the ship excursions were going to...volcanos and rainforests. We had good memories of the antiquated road systems of Costa Rica and thought it would be nice to just explore this little town.

We walked down the long dock from the ship to the town....the wind was blowing briskly making the air feel a bit more enjoyable. Looking down the beach...lots of people were sun bathing and swimming in the water. I love the Costa Rican beaches. They are lined by tropical palm trees, making for nice beachy pictures. One tico(Costa Rican male) was making sand figures right next to the dock (dolphins, mermaids, turtles)for visitors to view coming off the ship...asking for tips for his masterpieces...now that is a unique way of making a living!.

                                 The small ship beside ours was doing an around the world tour!


We walked through a market area with lots of individual booths selling tourist souveniers as well as arts and crafts. Tropical birds tweeted in the trees. It is a birders paradise with more than 200 species close by in the Guacalillo Estuary. I know it really excited me to see my first live Toucans during our last visit. There are lots of parrots, Scarlot Macaws, and other tropical birds that are easy to spot with a little patience.

After our walk, we did a little catching up on the internet in the only air conditioned coffee shop in the area....everything else was open air....and hot. The dollar was readily accepted here and was equal to 500 colons.

The afternoon temps continued to rise making for a great time for a siesta . It is no wonder why the people south of the border close up their shops after lunch for a little nap in the heat of the afternoon. We walked back to the ship and enjoyed lunch in the cool air. We enjoyed a nice sail away on top of the 16th floor of the ship at 4:00pm and stayed till the sun gave us a beautiful setting in the horizon. We really had a very enjoyable day in Costa Rica.

                                                          What a marvelous sunset!