Monday, January 25, 2010

Mexico Record Family Trip - October 2009

Most of the Record Family was able to get together in October of 2009 for a vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We stayed at the Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach Resort just outside of town. This is a picture of the famous Land's End Arch on the Southern tip of Cabo San Lucas.


Here's glimpses of the resort, it is located on the Pacific side, and unfortunately we weren't allowed to swim in the ocean here because of the tides being so turbulent.



Enjoying the Sky Pool...we spent several days just soaking up the Mexico sunshine laying poolside, overlooking the resort and the Pacific Ocean.

The Sky Pool was a popular place to watch the sunset, Jamie and Stephen would agree.



One of our nights in town we went to Mariscos for a delicious seafood dinner!

While waiting for our shuttle back to the resort, we checked out the Pueblo Bonito Rosa's swimming pools, and found King Titan....thus Brian's pose!

Jen, Jacob, Jamie, Stephen, Brian and I all went on a half day Kayak adventure across the harbor out to the Land's End Arch. Along the way to Lover's and Divorce Beaches we saw several Pelicans and scuba divers.

Jen & Jacob, Jamie & Stephen opted to go tandem kayaking...Brian and I went solo...we've done the tandem thing before and it's just not as fun. It's a good way to test your relationship communication skills, and like I said we've been there done that, solo is the way to go! :)

We also saw several sea lions laying out and swimming around!


Jamie and Stephen taking a break watching the sea lions. The Arch is to their right.


Brian and Dad rented some Harleys for a day trip over to Cabo San Juan up North through the mountains and then East to some little surfing towns and then looping back down around to Cabo San Lucas. Jamie, Stephen, and Jacob went scuba diving meanwhile, and Mom, Jen, and I enjoyed a relaxing day of poolside sun bathing and girl time!

Brian and Dad's Motorcycle Trip ocean view.


Into the mountains.

Harley Men giving a thumbs up.



Dad was born to ride I think...looks so natural!



A little Mexican lunch, I think this was just before Brian ran out of petrol...you should ask him!

Great photo of the live music serenading Dad and Brian during lunch.

Because we willingly sat through a timeshare spiel...let's not talk about this, we were given a free Sunset Dinner Cruise. The Cruise left the main harbor in the heart of Cabo and toured out to the Land's End Arch and then out past our Sunset Beach Resort, and eventually back to the harbor.



The sunset was absolutely beautiful!

Topside was live music and an open bar.

We took this opportunity to get some family photos. Early in the week we were too busy being lazy by the pool sunbathing to get many photos!

Momacita and Me!


Jacob with Jenni in the background
Jamie, Momma Jane, Dad John, Me, and Jenni, and unfortunately missing Julie



Brian and Me his wifey

Jen and Jacob


Dad and myself pretending like we know how to dance...we did pretty well considering we were tipping back and forth and side to side on the boat.




Then we decided to enjoy our most excellent dinner down in the dining room, and leave the rest of the evening to the real dancing professionals.







Jamie enjoying her last day at the resort soaking in the last few rays of the day!

Jamie, Dad, Mom, and I hanging out at the pool on our last day. Brian was out running...a marathon I think up a restricted mountain battling Mexican dogs and security men...just kidding, but he did go for a long run in some questionable territory along the beach :)

I could have stayed a few more weeks in Mexico, it was very relaxing and perfect temperatures! Of course we only had about 1.5 months of summer in Leadville, so you can't really blame me for wanting to stay longer!

Our last evening in Mexico, the sunset set the sky on fire, it was breathtaking!


Mom and Dad, I love this picture!


Goodbye Cabo

Mt. Pisgah, North Carolina - October 2009

In October I went to visit my best friend Sarah and her husband Jonathon for a couple weeks in Greenville, SC. We took an overnight trip up to Asheville, NC to play tourists since it's one of those towns that several people have told me I would enjoy living in...so, we cruised around, found THE local bike shop, and had lunch at a recommended Brew Pub. Asheville, NC is home to the Biltmore Estate, a historic mansion and huge estate, owned by the Vanderbilt Family. Tours cost around $55 per person and their are optional wine tasting tours, lodging romance packages, and regularly hosts special events and weddings. This is on my list of places to tour someday.
On this trip we had planned to hike Mt. Mitchel the highest point east of the Mississippi River, but we were referred to hike Mt. Pisgah instead in the Blue Ridge Mountains of the Pisgah National Forest. So, trusting our referrer, we proceeded to hike Mt. Pisgah.
This was a very cool gnarly tree along the hike up, which was only about 2.5 miles, if I remember correctly.
The trail was very well maintained with well placed stones for steps...although being so moist they were a bit slippery!


To our disappointment the top of Mt. Pisgah was completely socked in with clouds. Here's Jonathon standing in front of the observation deck.



We were just about out of the clouds and starting to get a view, so picture time of course! The happily almost one year married couple!



Looking west across the Blue Ridge Mountains. The fall colors were just starting to show.