We began preparations to receive Hurricane Rina on Monday, October 24. That day was basic prep; Matthew had planned to fly to Toronto for some gigs, leaving Thursday, Oct 27th. Due to the 5-day forecast for the storm, we felt it would be best for him to get off the island on Tuesday. So flights were changed, airport hotel booked (when one flies out of the Cancun airport, what is known as “the bag drag” is necessary – a ferry from Cozumel to Playa del Carmen, followed by a taxi (expensive) or a bus (cheap) to the Cancun Airport).

Tuesday, October 25 we made sure we had lots of drinking water, filled the truck with gas and got some groceries. Non-perishable food items. It’s nice that here, milk and juice are “non-perishable.” Matthew left for the mainland, and I eventually went for a walk around the neighbourhood.

lots of people pulling their boats into shelter

the local bbq place... buena suerte, billy's!

here we go!

Right now it’s Wednesday at about 1:30 p.m. Sunny and hot at the moment. Hopefully, this remains a boring day.

——————–

Wednesday, October 26 – turns out this day has been remarkably uneventful. Thankfully.

The overnight was a bit rainy, but as morning came on the skies cleared up. Humid day, hot, mostly sunny. Very little wind, a sprinkle of rain from time to time but nothing to speak of. The NOAA and various other weather forecasting agencies continued to downgrade the storm as the day went on; what began as a Category 3 hurricane, projected to hit the island as that on Thursday has become a Category 1, projected to make landfall as that or a Tropical Storm. Quite a difference. My family at home are quite relieved; it’s windier today in Wembley, Alberta than it is here, waiting for Hurricane Rina.

hummingbird

Cozumel Emerald Hummingbird, endemic to the island, nesting outside my kitchen window

awesome sky, on the eve of Hurricane Rina

It’s 10:37 p.m. on Wednesday. Here’s hoping tomorrow is as dull as today!

————————

It’s now 10:25 a.m. on Friday, October 28. Thursday was Rina’s day. And what a day it was… the “old timers” on the island who had been here through Wilma were unconcerned. When we woke up on Thursday Rina had been further downgraded to Tropical Storm, and was projected to remain that way and perhaps dump some rain on the island in the late afternoon/evening, and maybe cause it to be a bit windy. The day remained uneventful, humid, cloudy… around 4 or so, it started to sprinkle.

left off my front roof, around 4:30 p.m. on Thursday

left off my front roof, around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday

it just keeps raining...

...and raining.

it was pitch black and pouring rain...

...and then the lightning would flash. Wow.

casualty in the neighbours' yard

Today, we are returning to normal. My friends at KG Country called this morning, and we had a little chat to discuss the event, which you can listen to here. You can also follow them on twitter. They’re award-winning. They’re awesome. @TeraLee_ and @TheGregShannon.Yes, it is true; #ScottTheCat slept through the whole thing.

——————-

The last day. This will be a short post, as this, finally, thankfully, was a short day. It looked like this on the map:

#EpicAdventure - Day 14

The cat – finally – pooped in the litterbox before we left, and slept the entire way. It’s as though on the final day of the journey she figured everything out.

We headed out of our fancy Porn Hotel first thing in the morning; the bad news was no coffee… imagine our excitement when we came across the Italian Coffee Company in the middle of the highway, partway between Merida and Cancun!  A couple of cappuccinos and Americanos later, and we were on our way. Then a quick bypass of Cancun, a quick trip through Playa del Carmen, and into the line for the ferry to Cozumel. Woot! Scott has turned into quite the traveller, and even seemed to enjoy the ferry ride as well as could be expected.

#ScottTheCat taking her first ferry ride!

We’re home, and I couldn’t be happier about that!

home sweet home...

This journey was indeed epic. Over, and also out.

#EpicAdventure

scott is a mexican now

Day 13:

Cosamaloapan, Veracruz to Merida, Yucatan. Took a while; looked like this:

#EpicAdventure - Day 13

The countryside was quite pretty, a lot of it underwater or close to it on this isthmus that connects most of Mexico to the Yucatan Peninsula.

lowlands

Most of the roads were better this day, but the drivers. Jeepers creepers! There’s this system where the center line is dotted (presumably indicating that one can pass) and the shoulder line is dotted. If someone is trying to overtake you, you pull onto the shoulder on the right, and the passer goes by, partially in the oncoming lane. Works great I guess, as long as someone isn’t doing the same thing in the other direction.

scenes like this were not uncommon

As we crossed over this bridge heading to Ciudad del Carmen, the Gulf of Mexico is on the left, and the Laguna de Terminos is on the right.

heading to Ciudad del Carmen

We have been in this truck for a long time now. Getting a little punchy.

Finally, we enter the state of Yucatan, as darkness approaches.

We end up in another “auto hotel,” this one much nicer than the one last night. In this one, you speak to the reception desk on an intercom, they direct you to a room, you drive your vehicle into the garage and enter the room. Shortly thereafter, the receptionist shows up, rings the bell, and speaks to you through a small window – you never see them.  Completely anonymous. Money, instructions, even food and liquor pass through this window. We called it the “Porn Hotel.” Once more, we slept in our clothes.

Scott, fascinated with her image in the mirror on the ceiling in "The Porn Hotel"

Day 12:

Well, this was a long day; about 11 hours in the car, some of it on some very sketchy roads. Here is today’s route:

#EpicAdventure - Day 12

Our 616 km journey took us through the Mexican state of Veracruz, which was quite beautiful. There was a lot of farmland, most of which was growing stuff unknown to us. There were loads of orange groves, oodles of bananas and miles and miles of corn. There were many stands selling the wares from the fields, in addition to guys standing by the side of the road selling bags of oranges. It was a Mexico hybrid; made me feel warm and fuzzy as it reminded me of the Mexico I’ve come to know and love (unlike Reynosa!), and the farming made me feel like home.

the fields...

...the fruits of their labours...

There are several things here that catch my eye. The roadside grass cutting is done by an industrious crew of machete-wielding men, and at the beginning and end of the day you see them walking along the roadside with their food sack, a jug of something to drink, and their machete. Following them is a crew of guys where one has a pitchfork and one or two are stacking, and they collect all the clippings and pile them on the side of the road, presumably for pickup later.

Then there is the constant military presence. These guys look bad-ass; I won’t be messing with them anytime soon. When they stopped us today, the fellows at the roadside were enthralled with the cat (they asked us to get out of the truck, and when we did, there was a chorus of “Look! It’s a cat!” like they’d never seen one before.) This is what they look like most of the time: rolling down the highway in a caravan, with several Humvees with guys with machine guns standing at the top.

bad ass!

As we headed south around the Gulf of Mexico, this was our first view:

gulf of mexico

Great to be seeing some progress!

We stopped for the night in Cosamaloapan, Veracruz, at what is referred to as an “auto hotel.” These places are all over Mexico it seems. They’re popular spots to rent a room for an hour or two; the girl seemed surprised that we wanted the WHOLE night. It was dark and we didn’t want to drive any further, there was a restaurant, and a safe place to park the truck. The room was a bit of a dive; the cat chose to not sleep on the bed, but rather to sleep in her carrier on the floor (a first for her – after spending over 100 hours in that carrier, she gets out at most opportunities!). We drank some chianti, put on our long pants and shirts, and slept tentatively on top of the sheets.

This is why it’s Epic, I suppose.

not even the cat would sleep in this bed

Day 11:

#EpicAdventure - Day 11

Longest day so far, made so because it’s STRESSFUL crossing a border. I like Europe; it’s totally NOT stressful crossing borders there! So, the drive looked like this: about 675 kilometres from Zapata, Texas, USA to Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

We got a good early start and were enjoying Starbucks in McAllen, TX by 9: 30 a.m. Then we headed to the border, where we didn’t really know what to expect, what with visas, a cat, a truck, and of course, all of the stuff IN the truck. Turns out it was mostly a non-event, just a bunch of paperwork. Then came the “buying mexican insurance for the vehicle” part. Once we had the temporary importation permit, and we had visited immigration and customs, we had someone wake up the insurance agent… but his computer – sadly – did not wake up when he did. He spent the next fifteen minutes (and I’m not even kidding) madly sweeping his mouse about, clicking it, and pressing on the spacebar as fast as he could. 15 minutes. Finally someone called someone else, who banged on the monitor a few times. It woke up, we bought insurance and went on our merry way.

That was it; we were now in Mexico. No one asked to see the cat’s papers (there are several vet bills I’m not getting back), no one looked in the truck to speak of, no questions, no nothing. We got out of the immigration area and headed down the highway.

For about five minutes.

That’s when the police stopped us. Flashing lights. Foreign plate. Mexican policia. Sigh. Claimed we’d been speeding through a school zone (we weren’t) and told us we needed to go with him to the office to pay the ticket. $120. OR, we could pay it directly, on the spot for $60. I’m sure he thought that was quite a bargain! Matthew told the nice policeman (who had shaken both our hands when he stopped us) that he didn’t have $60. Well how about $40 then? No, I don’t have $40, I have $20. $30? No, I don’t have $30; I have $20. Turns out if that’s what you have in your pocket, that’s sufficient to pay the fine for speeding through a school zone. It’s a good thing that a friend of ours advised us years ago to always make sure you have a twenty in your pocket; no more, no less. More and they’ll take it; less and they just might haul you off to the hoosegow, but twenty ought to solve any problems with the policia.

As we were driving away from this debaucle, I asked “Did you get your driver’s license back?” Turns out no, it’s not in his wallet. OH MY GOODNESS. Visions of a fake passport having already been made and credit cards being printed flashed before our eyes. A quick U-turn on the highway took us back to the scene of the crime; seems the policia are doing a nice little business stopping foreign plates. First one we passed wasn’t our guy, but the second one was. Matthew asked him about the license, he said “I gave it back, no?” and it turns out it was in M’s pants pocket the whole time. Whew. Bullet dodged.

One more immigration/customs stop a few miles down the highway, and then a caravan of federales (or whatever – about eight trucks loaded with army looking guys with big machine guns, call them what you want) that we slipped into the middle of and just drove with them down the highway for a while. It felt partly creepy and partly warm and fuzzy in there.

About three hours into Mexico, we started to calm down – neither of us had eaten more than a Starbucks pastry, and it was a nerve-wracking day. We stopped for gas (half a tank, you know) and that was about it. We’re here in Tampico, in the Best Western with a locked yard to park in, had some dinner, now up for a good sleep and another day tomorrow. Not sure what the destination is; we’ll tentatively plan a few stopping spots so we can make sure we’re fed, watered, clean and safe by the time the sun sets.

nice view of sierra madre oriental mountain range

Day 10:

Pecos, Texas to Zapata, Texas. About 750 kilometres, along this route:

#EpicAdventure - Day 10

What can I say about west Texas? It’s big. It’s big, and there’s nothing here. It gives Albuquerque to Roswell a run for its money in terms of barren. We did see several roadrunners (AWESOME) and an armadillo (road kill), both of which were on my “I hope we see…” list, so that was good. As always, I enjoyed watching the scenes change, and was again startled by how much the scenery can change in very little distance. Right around Del Rio, the barren, bushy emptiness was replaced by farmland, cattle and humans… then a few miles later, back to dead grass, brush, and pumpjacks.

driving through west Texas, take 1

take 2, this is near Langtry, where I hoped to see The River

take 3, somewhere south of Del Rio

take 4, somewhere else south of Del Rio

My uncle Mike is right; big, blue sky. The weather was beautiful, the drive was uneventful, we put some miles under our feet. We unwittingly killed a bird on the highway, but it was better than hitting the deer we encountered later, which was just standing there looking dumb. We watched a roadrunner try to commit suicide by running under the wheels of a truck, appearing to get hit, and then turning and running back into the ditch, no apparent harm done. Laredo took a bit longer than we had hoped, but we left with an oil change and a clean cat carrier. (Laredo is where we learned there’s no such thing as “just a little bit of poop” when it comes to #ScottTheCat.)

Tomorrow, a couple more hours until we arrive in McAllen, Texas, where we’ll check out the duty free store, the Starbucks, and then hit the border crossing into Mexico. I trust that the Rio Grande will be more spectacular here than it was in Albuquerque (where it was the Rio Meh) and all the spots we drove next to it.

Day 9:

In an effort to facilitate our preparation for the border crossing into Mexico in a few days, today we drove a bit farther than we have been; we made a little over 800 kilometres today. Here’s what Day 9 looked like:

#EpicAdventure - Day 9

Basically, the plan was to drive through New Mexico. I’d never been there before, so was looking forward to it. Well. It looked… barren. Desolate. Empty, bereft of wildlife, greenery, water, humans, farm animals, and traffic. We’d been watching and keeping track of license plates; somewhere between Albuquerque and Roswell, that game died a slow and very painful death. (To play the game, you need other cars.)

albuquerque to roswell, take 1

take 2...

take 3

We did see several deer.

Roswell, New Mexico is famous as the site of recovery of a crashed object, perhaps a UFO. Turns out the object – whether it was an alien craft, or, as the Air Force claims, a surveillance balloon – was actually recovered in Corona, NM. We didn’t care; I wanted to see an alien, so we stopped in Roswell and had some Starbucks. Here we are: Aliens!

roswell, new mexico

After Roswell, next stop TEXAS. The best part about this sign is that it is riddled with bullet holes.

YEE and also HAW!

Today, we tried something new and let #ScottTheCat out of her carrier; on her leash, of course, and never bothering the driver. She did very well, and seemed to enjoy – but not abuse – her new-found freedom.

#ScottTheCat

We ended our day in Pecos, Texas. Matthew asked “what is the dark beer on the menu?” and was told, “I’ll have to check.” Then, upon her return: “It’s the Sam Adams Newcastle.”

God Bless Texas.

Day 8:

After a fantastic evening in Vegas, we headed east. Here’s what Day 8 looked like:

#EpicAdventure - Day 8

getting our kicks

We are currently in Gallup, New Mexico, where I have the song Route 66 constantly running through my head. Although we did it backwards from the song, we went through Kingman, Flagstaff and don’t forget Winona. (Incidentally, #42 on the list is “get my kicks on Route 66″ so wait for that trip as well!)

We also made a quick stop in Winslow, Arizona, to stand on the corner and see how that worked out… as it turns out, Winslow is a bit of a sleeper town, so not much happened. We did snap a couple of pictures; we’re just taking it easy. We estimate that this is where we cross the halfway point; not certain, as we (obviously) don’t have our final mileage yet, but for now, this is 1/2!

standing on a corner in winslow, arizona

Arizona: deserty, shrubby, sandy, red dirty. No life to speak of, other than in a few small towns. Few trees. A lot of same-same.

arizona mostly looked like this

and some of it looked like this; watch out for rattlesnakes!

Day 5:

Odd day today. I have a business meeting in Chicago the next couple of days, so here is where I parted ways with my husband and our cat. They dropped me off at the San Franciso airport and then headed east on their own. For my part, I discovered that there are several Ghirardelli stores in SFO so I of course now am loaded up with awesome chocolates.

Matthew and Scott did this:

#EpicAdventure - Day 5

They’ve ended up in Las Vegas, where they will spend a couple of days (hopefully shopping and relaxing, not gambling!) while I meet with my work colleagues; and we’ll all rest up. I think the cat will appreciate a couple of days NOT having to be in the truck; she’s doing great, sleeping most afternoons, but is having some meowing time in the mornings while she gets settled.

On Thursday morning, we’ll head east from Vegas, toward parts unknown. I’ll be curious how the countryside differs from what we’ve been seeing. The vast majority of the wildlife we’ve encountered in CA has been raccoons – dead; I’m hoping as we head through Arizona and New Mexico, I’ll see an armadillo – alive!

Here’s Scott taking a walk in the Redwood forest; notice her eyes. She is evil.

Scott in California

Day 4:

Today began in Eureka, CA, with at trip to Starbucks, then headed south down Highway 101.

#EpicAdventure - Day 4

Shortly after we began we had to stop and clean up after the cat, but hey. As I said earlier, that’s not unexpected. The first detour of our day was to the “alternate route” called the Avenue of the Giants. Wow. Those redwoods are something else! Huge, ancient trees, that smell like wilderness and are utterly amazing. We stopped in this 32 mile stretch of highway a couple of times, to clean up after the cat, to drive through a tree, and to check out an observation point. Northern CA was all about trees.

wow! you're tall, tree...

Matthew, the tree hugger

After trees, there was wine country. Vines and vines and vines, winery after winery. We somehow missed all the turns to the wine, so took a short detour to Sonoma to visit a tasting room; it seemed like the thing to do.

wine country

enjoying wine country

Then a short drive into San Francisco over the amazing Golden Gate Bridge, into a TRAFFIC-FILLED ZOO that is the city. Finally, a bottle of California Pinot Noir, some clam chowder, and a nice piece of steak at the Hungry Hunter, just around the corner from our hotel. Oh, and I don’t care what anyone says about La Quinta hotels anymore; this room rocks.

local wine, local beer, and CLAM CHOWDER

As an aside…

this is where GPS Daphne said "turn around"

Day 3:

Another great (read: uneventful) day started in Cannon Beach, Oregon with a walk on the beach to take a photo of Haystack Rock, and is ending in Eureka, California with a glass of Oregon Pinot Noir and some Tillamook cheddar.

#EpicAdventure - Day 3

The Oregon coast is a beautiful drive; the view is amazing and I loved the many quaint seaside towns, at least two of which that had a road named “Lois Lane.” I found myself wondering many times if there is scuba diving there – there must be! Lincoln City was nice enough to put on a kite fest for our visit, and Coos Bay had some sort of a zombie thing going on; there were painted up people wandering the streets all over. Oregon is my kind of place, for sure.

they don't just mean Portland!

Once we entered California, it was all redwoods. Our original plan (if you can call what we have “plans”) was to stay a bit farther north. Klamath, was what the map said. We went there, and it took about five minutes to decide that if ever there was a place where you could imagine becoming part of a high school horror film, it was this place. The guy racing up the winding road, in the dark, with no headlights, hanging out the window of his car was the icing on the cake; we decided to keep going.

After today, our mileage total is 2314 kilometres, which brings us over the 25% mark for the journey. If you’re following the cat saga, today was the day she finally used the litterbox when we took her out of the truck for some fresh air! Yay! In a perfect world, she’ll use the box every time we stop, and refrain from going in the truck! Fingers crossed.

Tomorrow we head to San Francisco, possibly via Napa for a late, wine-filled lunch!

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon

Day 2:

A good second day! Started with Starbucks, is ending with a glass of wine, with lots of uneventful driving in between. Downright repetitive from yesterday, which is just fine with me.

#EpicAdventure - Day 2

We started out in Merritt, British Columbia and on the drive to the border crossing we discovered that it’s been so long since either of us have driven the Coquihalla, the toll has been removed and we didn’t know it. Huh. That’s $10 bucks I’m going to spend on a nice Oregon Pinot Noir tonight. The border crossing was Completely Uneventful; it did not live up to my horror stories and wicked imagination at all. We stopped at the Canadian side to declare all the items we were “exporting” and then it took about five minutes to cross the U.S.A. side. A piece of cake, and thank goodness!

border crossing #1

Then the drive through Washington; lots and lots of traffic around Seattle and it took a while to get past there. If you’re keeping track of #ScottTheCat, she peed three times in the truck today, but did not poop. Not sure if that’s better or worse than yesterday. 728 kilometres today.

Later… We’ve just enjoyed some clam chow-dah in Cannon Beach, Oregon, along with a bottle of local Pinot Noir and a nice walk on the beach where my toes got wet with the Pacific Ocean and a nighttime viewing of Haystack Rock. I love the sound of the waves crashing – there’s something about that that makes me feel like I’m the only person on earth. Off to sleep soon; tomorrow is a “vacation day” where we’ll sleep late, get up and drive wherever the heck we feel like (as long as it’s south) and stop when the spirit moves us to do so.

As we headed into Oregon, we turned toward the coast immediately, trusting our GPS, whose name is Daphne. Daphne took us here:

how far do you trust YOUR GPS?

Day 1:

A good first day! Started with Starbucks, is ending with a glass of wine, with lots of uneventful driving in between. Okay, the cat pooped once in the car, but it probably wasn’t her fault. (Editor’s Note: I have long thought of this #EpicAdventure as the alternatively titled “8,500 kilometres + 1 cat = #WhatCouldGoWrong” and so a little poop on Day 1, if not expected was not completely UNexpected, if you know what I mean.)

We left St. Albert at 9:45 a.m., stopped in Jasper for some sandwich love and stopped briefly on the highway to take in the awesome view of Mount Robson behind us (this is where the pooping incident was discovered). We stopped along the highway near Clearwater for some cat-adventuring (need to let her out of the truck from time to time) and then stopped in Kamloops for gas. My dad always told me that if you’re only going to fill half your tank, make sure it’s the top half, and so in honour of his good advice, that’s what we’ve been doing.

This was Day 1:

#EpicAdventure - Day 1

And here’s the best view from today’s 888 kilometres:

Mount Robson

Now some sleep and good vibes mental preparation for tomorrow’s border crossing.

Day 0:

I’m working on partially completing this item. “The item” is to drive around the continent. So far, the plan is to head from St. Albert, Alberta to Cozumel Mexico, like this:

The route. #EpicAdventure

The house is packed up, the truck is packed up, the cat is packed up and we’re ready to go. Just a little stop at our local watering hole with some friends to play a quick game of cork, have some beers, and say hello/goodbye… Many of our great adventures begin at Original Joe’s.

#WhatCouldGoWrong?

Roger Waters!

Roger Waters!!

you can't have a floyd-esque concert without an inflatable pig

My quest was also epic: I wanted to meet Roger Waters. I either failed miserably, or came admirably close, depending on whether you’re the half-full or half-empty sort.

enjoying the hospitality room with the backup singers

Thanks to my new-found friend Mark Lennon for getting me as close as he did.

the fabulous Marky Lennon!

My husband has long been a fan of Sting and of The Police. When The Police toured a few years ago, he wanted to go, and so I jumped in with both feet. I (along with everyone else my age) had Synchronicity, but I needed more. I bought “Message in a Box” and listened to it over and over… I came to love the band and there began my fascination with Sting. I love Sting. We saw three concerts on that tour; the opening night in Vancouver, a show in Rosemont, Illinois during a business trip to Chicago, and an outdoor show in Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. They were all amazing. But that’s only three shows, not four, and at that time I didn’t have this blog, or my list. So…

Sting

Spring of 2010 Sting announced his new venture, and a new tour: Symphonicity. Sting would be performing with the 45-piece Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. Wow. I had a look at the extensive North American schedule against my summer plans and my husband’s work, and determined that Sting would be playing in Vegas during the week we had planned to have a short anniversary vacation. Sold. It was going to be amazing, but it wasn’t enough. I had also looked at some European dates. The tour was going to Newcastle, Sting’s hometown. I thought that would be a fun show, so boom! Tickets – great seats! And then, what a treat it would be, I thought, to see Sting play with the Royal Philharmonic in the Royal Albert Hall, which was built for them! On the night when I got out of bed to buy those tickets (as they went on sale at 10 a.m. in London), I was sorely disappointed in the seats I was able to get, but still, it was going to be great. In the morning, I couldn’t resist having another look, just in case new seats had opened up, and lo and behold, they had added a whole other show! Feeling like somewhat of a stalker, I snapped up seats at that show too, with much better results.

Sting

So, my “tour” looked like this:

June 18, 2010 I was among hundreds of fans in the theatre at the MGM Grand to see a wonderful show.
October 1, 2010 Me, Sting and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall
October 2, 2010 Same as the night before, only better seats! This night was also Sting’s 59th birthday, and so we sang to him.
October 5, 2010 Me, Sting and his mom in Newcastle

I may have mentioned this, but I love Sting. His lyrics speak to me, I love the music, he performs with such joy and passion that you can’t help but be swept along. Every little thing he does is magic. Before it all happened, I had that moment of “if I don’t do this, I will regret it.” Who wants to live like that?

Next stop: Roger Waters in Belgium, May 2011, to see “The Wall”!

Who doesn’t have this item on their list? If you’re a diver, and you have a list, this is probably on it. Galápagos Islands are almost 1,000 kilometers straight west of Ecuador (the country to which they belong) and the diving is known for large pelagics, including hammerhead sharks, manta rays and whale sharks. We spent eight days in August 2010 on the Humboldt Explorer, which is a nicely outfitted liveaboard; six of those were dive days, during which we did 18 dives. It truly was the trip of a lifetime…

darwin's arch

don't forget to look at the small stuff!

we saw some little ones, like this coral hawkfish...

...and some big ones, like this whale shark - the biggest fish in the ocean

manta ray

an unexpected surprise: ORCAS!

even more unexpected; underwater photo of an orca

the big enchilada. the reason we're here. hammer!

sunset at the equator...

There are more photos on Facebook.

I am a huge admirer of Kevin Costner. The first movie of his I saw was Fandango, followed soon by Silverado, which fell into a time when I loved westerns. Who didn’t love Eliot Ness in The Untouchables; this is one of the best movies ever. I will say nothing about No Way Out, other than I loved it, and you should watch it. That’s it. Then we enter what I think of as the glory days of my love affair with Kevin. Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, Dances with Wolves, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, JFK. Field of Dreams and Dances with Wolves hold two of the top five spots on my all-time favourite list. I love both of those characters. I wanted to BE in both of those scenarios, not in the movies as an actor, but I wanted to live in that cornfield in Iowa, or in that teepee. Those movies are on the list of “will never tire of watching.” Also on that list is Wyatt Earp. This is a story that I love (remember, I’m a fan of westerns) and have watched both this version and also Kurt Russel’s Tombstone over and over. That’s where my list of favourites ends (I guess after Tin Cup, the golf movie, which has a soft spot in my heart because there is a scene in there that reminds me of my husband). You can check out the full list here in IMDB. After that, I stopped watching movies for some unknown reason, for a period of several years.

Kevin Freakin' Costner and ME!

What never ended is my fascinations. I remained a huge fan, noting the succession of new movies coming out and also the development of a new career for Kevin; that of a musician. He fronts a band called Kevin Costner and Modern West. As you may know, my husband is also a musician, and so I know some people who know some people…

There is a long and probably boring story about how the actual meeting came about. Suffice it to say I began planning last September, and worked through June and July to put the other pieces in place. On Saturday, July 31, the stars aligned and a dream came true.

assemble the ingredients

I enjoy a nice cool cocktail on a hot summer day, and I love mint. This is my recipe for a fabulous mojito, perfected in November 2009.

Step 1 (optional): Make the mint syrup. The first few mojitos that I tried ended up with undissolved sugar in the bottom of my glass, so now I begin by boiling equal parts water and sugar (1 cup of each) along with a handful of mint leaves until the sugar is dissolved, the mixture smells minty and it’s boiled for a few minutes. You can tell I am a gourmet, can’t you. Drain this through a sieve and into a jar and let it cool.

Step 2: Assemble your ingredients. The cooled syrup (or sugar if you didn’t make the syrup), a lime, some fresh mint (the fresher the better), rum, soda, ice and a muddler.

Step 3: Muddle. Put some syrup (I usually use a tablespoon-ish; this will depend on your taste, and on how sweet your syrup is) and some mint leaves into the bottom of a martini shaker. Crush the leaves with the muddler, and then squeeze the juice of the lime into the glass and muddle again.

Step 4: Shake. Add ice and rum to the shaker and shake.

Step 5: Pour. Pour the entire contents of the shaker into a clear glass and add a little soda.

Step 6: Enjoy. Stir with a fancy swizzle stick, garnish with a sprig of mint. Put your feet up, toast the sun, and enjoy your fabulous mojito.

enjoy!

I was in Mexico in January of 2009 when I got a facebook message from my former roommate and BFF Kathleen. The message was along the lines of “what are you doing on April 20? do you want to go to Boston? I’m running in the marathon.” I sent a note back: “Sorry, that’s the weekend we’re traveling home from Mexico; I can’t make it.” A few minutes later, I thought “What are you thinking? Kathleen is running in the freaking BOSTON MARATHON and you can’t go because you have a plane ticket? That’s not good.” Kathleen, when she was a young girl, had a picture on her bedroom wall of a woman running in the Boston Marathon; for as long as I had known her, it was on her list of things to do. Clearly, a new approach was required on my end (and you can see why the item is on my list – it needed to be there!). I asked my husband, whose wanderlust prevents him from saying no to any trip, anywhere, if he’d like to go to Boston and he did not disappoint. I sent Kathleen a new note: “Disregard previous communication. OF COURSE we’re coming to Boston!” About an hour later flights were changed, hotels were booked, and the excitement was mounting.

at fenway park in our swag

When we arrived, I don’t think Kathleen has ever been happier to see me. She was convinced that none of her friends would come all this way for a race. It was sweet, really, realizing just how incredibly easy it is to make someone happy if you just put in a little effort. Saturday night we had the most wonderful Italian dinner ever (maybe topped only by my best ever meal in Italy). On Sunday, the day before the race, we wandered down to Fenway Park, bought some tickets from a scalper, and went to see the Red Sox. What an awesome day that was! I loved the Bahstahn accents, the smell of the park, the hoards of people and the atmosphere. Fantastic!

The next day was the big race. She did an amazing job! 23,167 individuals started the race; Kathleen finished in the top 100 in her division and 5,799th overall, with a new personal best marathon time. Out of 9,434 women who started the race she finished 766th. She ran like the wind, and watching her cross the finish line was an amazing moment. I was so proud of her, and so incredibly happy to be a part of her mind-blowing accomplishment. And I loved it that when she saw us, cheering wildly for her, she hopped over the little fence they had as a barrier (past the finish line is a study in herding broken runners to the place where they can fall down safely) high-fived us and said “So are we going for a beer?”

Kathleen, you were (and remain) AWESOME!

kathleen after 42.195 kilometers april 20, 2009

If you’re like me, you like to plan things and know what is going to happen when. As we were considering our plan to go from Cozumel, Mexico to Ambergris Caye, Belize, a lot of people said “don’t worry, it’s easy” but couldn’t provide any specifics other than “a taxi will take you there.” Well, not likely a taxi from Cozumel (an island) will go to Ambergris (another island) and so off to the interwebs I went, looking for info. Turns out there are lots of blog posts, most from circa 2005 or ’06, but not a lot of concrete schedules or things, which a control freak detail oriented person such as myself was looking for. So here is my own blog post, circa 2010.

There were going to be a few legs to this journey: Cozumel to the Playa del Carmen (easy ferry trip), PDC to Chetumal (on the bus), Chetumal to somewhere in Belize, and then somewhere in Belize to Ambergris Caye. The first two parts are easy; the ferry from Coz to the mainland runs several times each day, the only trick is catching the ferry that will get you to the next leg on time. The second leg is also fairly straightforward. The easiest way to get correct information about the bus schedule is to go to the bus terminal. Here in Cozumel, we have an ADO (one of the bigger bus companies) ticket office at the ferry terminal, so I went there and got the schedule. Turns out buses go from PDC to Chetumal about 12 times each day, with different prices and times depending on how fancy the bus is (does it have a bathroom?) and how often it stops along the way. Also note that there are two bus terminals in PDC; the bus we took to Chetumal leaves from the terminal in town, not the terminal near the ferry.

The third leg, the Chetumal to “somewhere in Belize” was the one that posed the greatest challenge. I had determined that there were flights from Corozal, Belize to Ambergris Caye several times each day on two different airlines, and so that seemed like a good way to go. How to get from Chetumal to the Corozal airport was not so cut and dried. There are two “transfer companies” operating in Belize, both of which advertise that they can meet you at the bus in Chetumal, help you with the border crossing (both sides) and get you to the airport in Corozal, for a fee. Get Transfers charges $40 for this, and Menzies Tours charges $45. Both companies include pick up in Chetumal (Get Transfers picks up at a Burger King near the bus), assistance with the two border crossings (out of Mexico and into Belize) and then transportation to the airport (I’m going to start calling it what it is: a tiny airstrip) in Corozal. I hadn’t found Get Transfers to be very responsive to my questions and so on the advice of a twitter contact, I got in touch with Menzies Tours and advised that I’d like to use their service. The last I heard from them was that they needed payment in advance, and they were preparing payment forms and would get back to me. Three subsequent emails from me saying “where are the forms, are you coming to pick us up?” went unanswered, and so we arrived in Chetumal unsure of what would happen next.

the "express" bus from Chetumal to Corozal

What happened was that as we exited the bus in Chetumal, there was a fellow standing there saying “Belize? That bus there.” When asked what his bus to Belize cost, his answer of “60 pesos” sold us. We did have 60 pesos (about $5) and nothing but time, so decided to go for the adventure. The bus was an ancient school bus, but it worked.

Turns out the bus driver assisted with the border crossing out of Mexico then dropped us all off at the Customs and Immigration house into Belize and waited for us on the other side. Like most border crossings, it was just a lot of standing in a line, nothing that really required “assistance.” The bus then drove the fifteen minutes into Corozal, dropped us at the bus terminal and we caught a taxi ($4) to the airstrip. We then got on the tiniest plane ever, ($45) and were in Ambergris in time for a nice dinner.

All told, it worked like this:

• Cozumel to Playa del Carmen (7 a.m. ferry, 80 pesos – we get a local price)
• Playa del Carmen to Chetumal (9 a.m. bus, premier service, 216 pesos)
• Chetumal to Corozal (bus left about ten minutes after arrival into Chetumal, 60 pesos)
• Corozal to Ambergris Caye (3:30 p.m. plane, $45 US)

the plane

On the way back, we took a taxi from the airstrip in Corozal to the bus station. Get Transfers operates there, outside of the taxi union. The trip costs a flat fee of $30 USD, and we took the union taxi (much less pushy than the Get Transfers drivers). The taxi driver did the same as the bus driver had, dropping us where we needed to be for the border crossings and waiting on the other side. We missed the “premier” bus to Chetumal and ended up on what we called the “chicken bus” – a little cheaper (I think 150 pesos) but WAY more crowded, way more stops and no bathroom. Still, we got to Playa del Carmen in time to go to Sam’s Club and stock up on wine before we headed back to the island.

Bottom line, travel is easy, cheap and safe. The people are willing to help you as needed. If you need a “travel company” then go ahead and use one, but don’t necessarily expect the level of service you’d expect at home. You’ll pay extra for the peace of mind of having someone else take care of everything, but they may not actually take care of anything, leaving you money out with no benefit.

the chicken bus. spend the extra money to not go on this one!

me and the firemen; they walked 60 km in these getups

Last summer I participated in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer, in Edmonton Alberta. This year, it is it titled the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers, but it’s the same event and I’ll be participating again; 60 kilometers (37.28 miles) over two days. I had contributed to a friend’s participation for a few years; she lost her mother to breast cancer several years ago, and last year I decided to join her and her daughter on the walk.

In 2009, I raised just over $2,000 and for 2010, I am starting my fundraising about three months earlier, and so have set my goal at $3,000. I’ve already raised $45 – whoo hoo! I’m on my way. Please add your contribution to the list!

The thing about the walk is this: like it says in their advertising, Cancer is hard – walking isn’t. Among Canadian women, breast cancer continues to be the most frequently diagnosed cancer with 22,700 new cases expected in 2009, nearly twice as many as lung cancer. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer mortality among women, and is expected to take the lives of 5,400 Canadian women in 2009. The money that we (that’s you and I) raise here WILL HELP. It will help our mothers, our sisters, our friends, ourselves and our families. And it feels good. (Not on the feet, knees or hips – not there, but in our heart where feeling good really really feels good.)

Give until it hurts. My feet and the Alberta Cancer Foundation thank you.

me, nadean and alecia after 60 km

Here is the link to donate: Weekend to End Women’s Cancers; Kari’s Page

The training begins now, with short walks, and over the summer I will work up to about 30 km or so. If you live in the Edmonton area (St. Albert, Sherwood Park), watch for me; I’ll likely be walking in your park! August 7 and 8 is when the rubber hits the road. Thank you in advance!