5 Star Grand Canyon Day!

We flew niece Megan and her boyfriend Adrian to their first glimpse of the Grand Canyon. Aerial tour, walk along the South Rim, lunch and back to Vegas by dinner time. Fresh air, a little snow around the top, and breathtaking scenery. The Grand Canyon is really the crown jewel of the US National Parks.

Saving the turtles in Mexico

What a night! We took a late night stroll on the beach only to find baby sea turtles in the sand. The fish and wildlife had seeded the beach with turtle eggs to restore the population. Once the eggs hatch during the new moon, the little turtles are supposed to walk to into the surf.

The problem was that the nearby lights confused the turtles and they walked the wrong way, away from the surf, wearing themselves out. We, along with several other volunteers, tracked the little guys, picked them up, and carried them back to the surf. We saved somewhere around 15 turtles who would have been easy prey for the seagulls at daylight.

Blue Whales!!!

This was thrilling to see...and hard to photograph. The blue whale is the largest mammal ever known to have lived. They can grow over 100 feet long (think of 3 school buses), and newborn calves are bigger than a fully grown hippo. This one was approximately 60 feet long, amazingly graceful.

Surfer dude

Check out the surfing. Mike took lessons, and eventually caught 13 out of 15 waves in a row. Those were some gnarly 2 foot waves, man!

Romantic Hotel in Sayulita, Mexico

We don't usually point out hotel rooms (and we stay in quite a few) but this room at the Villa Amor was truly exceptional. Open completely to the bay, with fresh breeze blowing in while you sleep. Quite romantic! Mike is pointing to the hotel location along the shore.

We had a party for our yoga group (a.k.a. Mike's harem) and they spontaneously decided to pose in our bed. We're even missing a few...there were actually 12 women altogether. Mike looks right at home, doesn't he? No problemo.

Yoga in Sayulita, Mexico

Sayulita, a lovely seaside town north of Puerto Vallarta, was our home for a week for a yoga/surf retreat. We did yoga about 3 hours a day (can you believe that?) thanks to Via Yoga www.viayoga.com If you look closely at the group photo you'll see Mike was the ONLY guy. Not that he minded having a bunch of fit and flexible women around!

Mom is 80 and still going STRONG!!

80 and still going STRONG was what the cake said for my Mom's birthday. We had a Hawaiian blowout with good food, good music and great people. Pictured here are my sister Kathy, brother Mike and me along with the birthday girl. She got a nice birthday smooch from husband Stan!

I'm very happy to be swimming in her gene pool.

Golfing in Palm Springs

Golfing paradise! We played at Indian Wells, where in 1995, Presidents Bush, Carter and Ford played an historic round together. They probably got more mulligans than we did. Bill Clinton always said his golf game really deteriorated after he left office!

Seeing the vast Pacific in Carlsbad, CA

This is just a teeny fraction of the view of the vast Pacific Ocean as seen from Carlsbad, CA. The salt air was incredibly fresh, wish I could make this picture a scratch and sniff!!