Fort Funston

Sunday we drove to Fort Funston in San Francisco with a picnic lunch. It's not only a really beautiful beach but it's an off-leash dog park. When we left our place it was in the high 80's . . . by the time we got to the beach it was low 60's in San Francisco. So strange to need sweatshirts on the beach!


The upper part of the pathway leading down to the beach was so green and pretty! We didn't get a picture of the long sandy hike back up to the parking area.



Blackjack of course had a blast teasing the other dogs.


Lots of dogs having fun. On the left you can see the dead beached seal, sad.





Hang gliding! This may be next on my to-do list . . .

The beaches in northern California are SO different than the warm beachs of Mexico or Florida! Steve and I both remember taking trips to the beach as kids where we would convince each other to get in the water because "you warm up as you get numb!" We weren't in the mood to get "numb" this trip, maybe next time.

Winchester Mystery House

Steve and I drove down to San Jose last month to tour this strange mansion. It was interesting, but more than that it was just weird. That woman was really out of it. If you've ever lived in or visited the Bay Area you may have heard of the strange Winchester Mystery House. If not, it's basically this mansion down in San Jose that was built back in the 1800's by a woman named Sarah Winchester. Apparently when her husband died she kind of went crazy and had this mansion built. But construction never stopped on the mansion, she kept having the workers continue building because a psychic told her if she ever stopped construction she would die. By the time she did die some 38 years later there were 160 rooms and the mansion was 7 stories. (the 1906 earthquake destroyed part of it and it is only 3 stories now).

There are secret passages in some of the rooms and also secret areas where she could spy on her servants. Some of the other strange details of the mansion . . .

Stairs that lead to the ceiling.

















Stairs that are so short it takes a few switchbacks to get to the same height one regular flight of stairs would take you.












Some doors open up into the wall. But this "Door to Nowhere" on the 2nd floor actually opens to the outside!


Below on the left side of the picture is a window that opens to . . . a wall. And I am standing inside a 6 inch little gap or closet looking thing that is of absolutely no use at all.


One of the ballrooms.


View from out a window.

I hear they do flashlight tours on Halloween night . . . now THAT might be a little spooky!

Back from Mexican Paradise

We're back from Cancun safe and sound!

For some reason there were a couple of things that took us by surprise in Mexico.

Starting with the not so good things:

1. Mexico has CRAZY NASTY humidity! Ok so that should not have come as a surprise, but I guess we just didn't think about it.
2. The Mexican sun is much much stronger than even the Phoenix sun we'd come so accustomed to.
3. Mexican chocolate and butter is just not very good. Good thing I found me a place to buy Snickers bars or I don't know what I would have done.

And then the good things that took us by surprise:

1. The service at our resort was spectacular.
2. Our concierges were very good looking guys! And so helpful.
3. The beach was just gorgeous, all the time.
4. They had petit fours waiting for us each night in our room, yum!
5. The restaurants had the most superb dinner entrees, we were never disappointed.
6. The resort's on-site entertainment was really great.
7. The wireless internet connection at the hotel was very dependable, we were able to check in on Blackjack through the puppy camp's webcam every day.

On to the pictures . . .

Check out our room and the amazing view!




We called the trip our anniversary trip, although it wasn't really, that's not until September. But the timing was right with just having moved and not starting work yet so we took advantage while we could. It was actually within a day or two of the 11 year anniversary of our first kiss. So it counts. There were SO many honeymooners there it was funny! We were constantly asked if we'd just gotten married. It was a fun time, although many of the other couples were honeymooners we were all right around the same age. And we all had one thing in common: all of us were nursing sunburns at some point or another during our stays.

Here are our legs (unknowingly) burning the first day on the amazing beach.



We were so good about putting on sunscreen and re-applying but that Mexican sun and sand just had it in for us. We were nursing our sunburned legs and faces for the next few days. Here we are the morning after "laying out" by the shaded pool. I've never gotten a sunburn on my upper legs like this one. It hurt to even use the restroom!





A couple of the days quick rainstorms passed through. We all just stayed put and waited it out while trying to keep our things dry under towels. The rain was nice and refreshing.



Here we are one night, after much effort to cover up our burns and make ourselves presentable in public. I even put some powder on Steve so his sunburned face wouldn't shine too much.



There was nightly entertainment. This was the crazy fire show.



We came back to our room each day to these fun towel animals:







The view out the opposite side of the hotel. There was a lagoon and a little kayak rental shack that I'm pretty sure these five mexican guys lived in. We never saw them not sitting at the table outside, not even at 1am or 5am.





The amazing infinity pool.




Dinner at the Oriental restaurant one night. I even tried the sushi. My favorite were the banana rolls (no fish).




We got up early one morning to watch the sunrise on the beach. It was like the movies, so beautiful!




One day we took a tour bus to Tulum to see the old Mayan ruins. The tour bus stopped by this funny little souvenir shop. Doesn't Steve just fit right in?



It was ridiculously hot, I wasn't sure I'd make it through the tour. Our tour guide was this cute little mexican guy but I just did not care enough about the history to make it through the heat.






Thankfully at the end of the tour there was a beach. We all stripped down and jumped in. It was such a pretty beach and the water was perfect. And we'd brought our disposable waterproof camera.





When we got out and went to get our things we found these iguanas taking over our side of the beach!




Our last day in Mexico was by far the best. We had a couple of spa treatments included in our package. The scalp treatment was SO NICE. It was like a head massage combined with a really nice hair treatment for 30 minutes. It was even more relaxing than the back massage.

After the spa we went out to the beach and found some guys to take us parasailing. SO FUN!!! I wanted to go out again as soon as they brought us in.



Pictures taken of us from the boat:





Pictures from the waterproof camera we took up with us. Look for the big sea turtle on the bottom right of the first picture below!





Then it was off to the pool for a while and then a romantic dinner on the beach. The food at this resort was so good. Dinner was always just amazing.




And they always had the cutest fruity drinks.



All in all we had a great time and can't wait to plan our next vacation!

I love you and then I hate you

We went to the DMV last week to register our car and get CA drivers licenses. We made appointments online and they were ready for us when we walked in the door. It was really great! I've NEVER had such an easy time at a DMV visit in my life! This was my 5th time getting a new license. In fact, I've never had the chance to get my license renewed because we've never lived in the same state long enough to do so.

Anyway, back to the story. I received my original license in California when I was 16, however it expired more than 10 years ago so I had to start from scratch and take the written test. Blah. I'll never understand why they ask some of those questions. If it were my test I would just keep it to the basics and ask: Are drivers allowed to tailgate? NO! Should drivers be courteous on the roads? YES! Do we follow all signs and signals? YES! Do we pull over when a police officer turns his lights on behind us? YES! Good, now here's your license. Seriously though, I've been driving since I was 16, do I really need to take the written test all over again? It's not like the California road rules are so different from other states. Red still means stop and green still means go.

I passed the written test just fine but there was another test I failed. The dreaded vision test. I have been barely squeaking by for years on this test. But California tests differently than other states. Not only do you have to have 20/40 vision on both eyes together, you also have to have 20/40 on each eye separately. Without glasses. Apparently I passed the together test and my right eye tested 20/40 but my left eye was like 20/100+. Oh boy. They even let me stick my head in this little machine to do a more extensive test just to make sure. Failed that one too. You know it's bad when they ask you to read line 3 and not only can you not read any of the letters but you can's even tell which is line 3! My license will now forever read "CORRECTIVE LENSES NECESSARY." Argh!! I have been trying to avoid this since I first realized my vision was going downhill 6 or 7 years ago. I blame it on all the spreadsheets. I do have a pair of glasses and I do use them every once in a while. Like when I know I'll have trouble seeing long distances, if there's going to be a projector screen in a work meeting...in interviews because I figure glasses make people look older and smarter, right? But one place I hate to wear glasses is in the car. I've never gotten used to them. Headlights glare on them and I feel like I can't see as well with them on when trying to change lanes and such because of the reflections. But I can definitely see better with them on, for sure. I can actually read the names on the street signs, that's a plus. But I don't want someone telling me I HAVE to wear them ALL the time when driving! Now if I get pulled over and am not wearing them I can be ticketed.

So that's my story. In and out of the DMV in under an hour with our licenses and our car registered.

I love the California DMV!

But now I'm just positive I picked up a flu virus on that eye machine. Steve and I have been miserably fighting it ever since (and with company at our house!) and better be over it by Tuesday because we're finally taking our trip to Mexico!

I hate that nasty germ-filled California DMV!