First full day in Amsterdam

We landed in Amsterdam at 11:15 on Monday, July 23rd.  By the time we got through the airport and onto the train and to our apartment it was just after 1:00.  We were met by our host Peter and given lots of information about the apartment and the surrounding area.  We are in a great spot here. Just minutes walking to grocery stores, bars,restaurants, ferries, etc. Yesterday afternoon we took a short walk around our neighbourhood and happened to find just a perfect bar for us. It’s a small bar that serves mostly locals.  Nothing fancy but pretty good prices for both beer and wine.  Also the local grocery store has some very reasonably priced wines.  I bought a nice bottle of Malbec for 5.99 euros which is under nine dollars Canadian.  Can’t beat that!  It was 30 degrees when we arrived yesterday which is really hot for Amsterdam. Apparently it was 20 degrees and quite cool a few days before we arrived.  Anyway, with jet lag and heat , we were bushed.  Off to bed at 8:00 and I slept for 12 hours. Ian was in bed for 12 hours but had a pretty restless night.  So this morning we got up and out fairly early and walked down to Central station and just wandered around that area.  Today’s high was 37 degrees.  Brutally hot so we had to make several stops to cool down and hydrate.  And by hydrate I mean water.  That’s how hot it was!  For dinner tonight we found a really good Thai restaurant but rather than eat in the restaurant we brought our food home. Very few places have air conditioning and although our apartment doesn’t have A.C. either we are on the ground floor and we have two fans.  They have saved our lives. I don’t think I have ever been this hot in my life.  And tomorrow’s forecast is for 38 degrees.  We leave here for Copenhagen next Tuesday evening and that will be the coolest temperatures we will see.  And to boot, the humidity here is very high.  So I think tomorrow we will take a train trip out into the country to see some smaller villages and get away from the crowds.  I haven’t been hit by a car or bicycle yet but I’ve had a few close calls.  And I’ve only been yelled at by one driver.  So that’s pretty good don’t you think?  Anyway,  Ian’s been in bed since 7:30 and I think I’m going to follow shortly.

One more sleep!

Well here we are in Vancouver.  We arrived yesterday afternoon and had a great visit with Joey.  He is storing our car for us while we are away. He dropped us off at David and Chiyoko’s at around 4:30 where we celebrated David’s 60th birthday with them and Shaun.  Dinner was as usual delicious.  We may have had just a little too much wine but what the heck.........we’re on holidays.  It was a slow start to the day this morning but once we got going it was a very good day.  We took a long walk down to Kit’s Beach and along the walkway until we reached the Beachhouse restaurant where we just had to stop to enjoy the view and a nice cold beer.  Twenty nine degrees here today which is a real change from what the weather has been recently.  This evening we walked down Broadway to a noodle house that David and Chiyoko frequent.  It came highly recommended and now we know why.  I had to get into my jammies as soon as we got home because I was so full.  Just having a quiet evening now.  Going to bed early as it will be a long day tomorrow.  Our flight leaves at 4:35 tomorrow afternoon and arrives in Amsterdam at around 11:30 tomorrow morning.  I checked the weather forecast for Amsterdam and it looks like they are expecting a heat wave starting tomorrow.  Anyway, I’ll post again as soon as we are settled into our digs.

Day 3 in Mazatlan

Well Friday was a very long day.  Up at 2:45 and got the house ready to leave......off to pick up Craig and Judy at 4:00. Temperature was plus one...pretty good. The flight from Vancouver was delayed by about 45 minutes. Got into Mazatlan at about 2:20.  Our poor cabbie was not familiar with the El CID  resort so it took about 20 minutes or so to find our place.  But all is well.  Our house is looking out at the 8th green.  We are surrounded by palm trees and gardens.  It’s lovely.  The interior could use a little TLC.  It’s a huge place. Three large bedrooms (ours is about 3x the size of ours at home) each with their own bathroom.   Cleaning lady comes on Tuesday morning so we’ll see how it looks then.  I have a dead cockroach behind my bathroom door and I’m curious to see if it’s gone after she leaves.  But the beds are comfortable and we have laundry facilities and loads of room.  Brenda and Basil arrived on Saturday.  We haven’t seen them yet but we spoke on the phone and they are thrilled with their place.  We also had a visit with Eric and Kathy yesterday.  The deal on their house fell through but they found another one yesterday afternoon that they like even better. Just waiting to see if the offer has been accepted.  Judy and I are off to Walmart today and the boys are just going to amuse themselves somehow.  We are taking Craig and Judy out to the Last Drop for dinner tonight so that they can get a look at the Cerritos area.

Mexico or bust!

Well, we’re off once more to good old Mexico.  We will be up tomorrow morning at 3:00 and out the door before 4:00.  We are picking up Craig and Judy at 4:00.  OUCH! After a short layover in Vancouver we will be off, arriving in Mazatlan shortly after 2:00 pm.  Almost Happy Hour.  Good planning don’t you think?   Anyway, I’ll try to write a post every few days. Ola!

Homeward bound tomorrow, March 27th

Well, this is it. We are off early tomorrow morning. After getting the car all ready for travel we made one more trip to Maracas for another wonderful meal and a good visit with our favourite waiter Benjie. He and the bartender were our free entertainment.
We met Audra and Roland for lunch downtown Palm Springs for lunch at Las Cosquelas. It was good but not nearly as good as Maracas. We had a great visit. So good in fact that we talked for over four hours and got a parking ticket. The bill was $35.00. Made lunch slightly more expensive. But it was worth it just to get caught up.
The weather here has been okay but very windy and cool. So we decided to leave for home on Saturday. We got all the laundry done, floors and bathrooms cleaned, fridge cleaned out and gave away any food we had left. Got the car all packed. Then Ian looked at the road conditions for the routes that we were going to be travelling.  All had severe weather warnings. Lots of snow and wind in the forecast. So that’s why we are leaving tomorrow. We have been living out of our overnight bags and eating out. Tonight we will have dinner at our little restaurant here and hit the hay early. Art and Gloria leave in the morning as well and are travelling the same route so maybe we’ll have dinner tomorrow night with them. Goodbye Palm Springs!👋

The last week

I’ve neglected the blog. My heart just wasn’t in it. Mom passed away on the morning of March 8th at 11:00 am. Sorry not to have been there for mom as well as my brother, Craig, who has been left with all the things that need to be done at a time like this. But it could not be helped.
Karen left for Bremerton to visit her daughter and family for a week. Ian and I dropped her off at the airport and then headed over to La Quinta for lunch. We finally found the restaurant called Souplantation. It was worth searching for. It’s a soup and salad buffet. All you can eat soups and salads ........ $9.99 for lunch and $11.99 for dinner. Everything there is made fresh from scratch every day. It reminded me of the Keg in the old days except much, much better. There must have been at least 10 different kinds of soup and everything you could possibly think of to put on a salad. There was also breads and little pizzas, crackers and croutons, etc. All kinds of desserts; ice cream, pies, muffins , brownies.  Ian, of course, had ice cream. I wanted to but just didn’t have room. We will be going back there once more before leaving for home. We are also going to return once more to Marraca’s Mexican restaurant for dinner before we leave here. We went twice while Karen was here and then twice ourselves for Happy Hour.  Happy Hour is from 4-7 unless you sit at the bar where it is Happy Hour all day long. We like sitting at the bar. We’ve gotten to know some of the bartenders and waiters. Lots of fun. The last time we went with Karen the leftovers did us for dinner the next day and then some. Huge portions and absolutely delicious food. Although we have decided that we like Mexico better than Palm Springs the Mexican food is better here.  The day after Karen left we went out to see a polo match.  Quite the sight. Just amazing how coordinated the riders are. Can’t imagine riding at top speed and hitting that little ball (or whatever it’s called).
The following Tuesday we took a couple of days and went to visit the Grand Canyon. All I can say is WOW! The first sight is jaw dropping. We spent about an hour there. Took lots of pictures. I couldn’t believe how many people actually went out on to the rocks to get pictures over the edge. Don’t they know that’s what postcards are for? Anyway, an hour was enough. There I was with a husband that hates both crowds and heights. So, we can scratch that one off the bucket list. We stayed the first night in Williams. What a cute little town. Very touristy of course. Route 66 everything. But we met some nice people and had an amazing Thai dinner. After viewing the Canyon we drove as much of Route 66 as is left. Which isn’t much. It was a disappointment. That night we spent in Laughlin.  Couldn’t believe how many casinos they fit into that little space. Anyway, it was another first. We arrived back in Thousand Palms in time for dinner.
On the weekend we made another trip to College of the Desert where we purchased a really nice kokopelli to put in our backyard. Sure hope we can fit it in the car to get it home. Yesterday we took a drive out to Joshua Tree park. We’ve seen it before. It’s still an amazing thing to see but we are now feeling like we are just filling time before we go home. Tomorrow we are going to meet Audra and Roland for lunch in downtown Palm Springs. It will be nice to see them again. On Thursday Ian is taking the car into the Honda dealership to get a few things done. And then who knows? The plan at the moment is to leave here on the 28th of March. Maybe we’ll get in another round of golf. And it’s great pool weather as well.

Mom

Karen is flying to Bremerton on Saturday. Although she has had a tough time with her bursitis and other painful joints I think she has had a fairly good time. Walking is difficult for her as is sitting in the car for too long. Kind of limits what we can do. But we have managed two rounds of nine hole golf. She has also enjoyed a couple of shopping trips. We didn’t get much pool time due to the cold, windy weather. But that has all changed and the temperatures have risen each day. Supposed to be 81 today. We spent the day at the pool yesterday and will again today. Ian’s buddies left last Saturday for home. I guess they went back to winter in Kelowna. It just won’t quit.
We got an email the other day from Three Links informing us that mom, as well as having the flu, now has shingles. She is slowly losing the battle now. I am in constant contact with my brother Craig and sister in law Judy. Mom’s doctor went to see her yesterday morning and he said it is just a matter of time now. The poor little thing has been through so much over this last year in particular. I wish that I could be there with her but at this stage I don’t think she would know I was there.
So Karen leaves on Saturday and after that we will decide what to do. It’s looking like we might just start for home a little earlier than planned. We’ll see.