New Basement Door

After taking the winter off, we are back on to house projects.

Old basement parking lot and door.

Trash from demo of old door.

New door!

and parking lot.

Next on list is an arbor entryway into back yard, fence, root cellar, green house, planting garden and flowers. 

It is going to be a busy year!  :)

Vista Del Mar

I would highly recommend Vist Del Mar on Half Moon Bay to someone who wants a quiet beach and doesn't need the all inclusive type resort.

A small convience store in the southern corner with cold beer and snacks.  About 6 great restaurants within a miles walk.

Fall asleep and wake up watching the ocean!

Clean and

Relaxing !

Morning Walks - Mexico Day 4

Our morning walks along the beach have been excellent!

Cool ocean panoramas, ocean side condo's, and people watching abounds!

Oh, and.....

wicked looking iguana's to chase into holes and poke with a stick!  

One chomped the hell out a stick I was using, I am sure fun was had by all !

Swimming at Yal Ku

There is snorkeling right in front of our condo, but it has been windy and the water is silty from some pretty big wave action.

So, we drove up the street to the Yal Ku lagoon which is full of fish and calm water.

As we hauled our gear to the car, I noticed a beautiful iguana sunning him ( or her ) self next to the passenger side of the rental car.

It is only about a mile drive to the lagoon, and soon we were snorkeling around in calmer water.

Chasing fish for a couple hours, trying to get some good pictures.

I took a lot of pictures, but most of them were too far away for the flash to show their pretty colors. 

It makes me really appreciate my friend Gary's yearly personalized calendars from his travel and diving adventures!

I guess I will have to plan some more vacations to get some more practice.    ;~)

On Vacation - Mexico - Day 2

We took off on Thursday for the Yucatan penisula in Mexico.

Rex helped with packing.

Joanne drove from the airport in Cancun, which can be slightly different then driving in the U.S.

I picked the spot to stay, North of Akumal or about an hour drive South of Cancun.

Not a lot to do, except swim, lay in the sun, people watching, reading books, drinking beer, and going out to eat. 

Perfecto!!!

Welding Lesson - Part One

I am going to build a steel fence around my back yard, hopefully starting this summer.

A friend of mine that I work with in Nebraska was previously a commercial welder, and has built some pretty cool fence around his home in Dix, NE.

Terry has teased me over the last several years, that he has taught his daughters to weld and probably could even teach an engineer.

So, I spent an evening being coached and now I am not sure Terry feels on how coachable this engineer will be?  :)

Terry has several welders, and had a cool set up fro welding fence on his property.  A Lincoln 110 - wire feed on a garden cart.

It was a lot of fun! 

Terry was more than gracious with his time, and I will be back for another lesson or two. 

Terry's advice totally changed my mind on how I will build the fence.  He has built several types and gave me a lot of things to consider.

It will probably take quite a while, but I am looking forward to tackling the project over the next couple years.   ;~)

Sunday Stroll to Big Daddy's

Joanne suggested we walk up to Big Daddy's for a Sunday bagel, instead of going to Yoga.    I jumped on the idea!

It is close to a 2 mile walk, and I do not think we have done it since Ron and Peggy visited last. 

To our surprise, our favorite bagel shop has expanded to twice the size with lots of seating now.  I am sure we will be back.

The walk back home is always funner for me.  Our walk back circles down to clear creek, our bellies are full, it's mostly down hill, warmer, and the people watching is a treat!

When we got home, a couple of the locals were practicing their trick shots for this year's pig tournament.    :)

South Table

Although it wasn't that warm on Saturday, it had been dry for over ten days and the possibility of dry trails existed on South Table Mountain adjacent to our home in Golden.

We are so lucky to have such a sweet ride so close to our home.

The high plateau sits about 500' above the valley below, and is like an oasis with subdivisions sorrounding it.

The east end provides a beautiful panaromic view of downtown Denver, and the west end looks into the front range of the Rockies.

At the end of the loop that we do are what Joanne calls the "whoopy-do's"!

A couple of very steep, but short rollers that you have to hit with high velocity to get to the top, and suck your air away when you drop down the other side.   Great fun on the end of a very fun ride!