First port of call: Cozumel

After a full day at sea we made it to Cozumel, an island off the coast of Mexico.  I have never been to Mexico before.  Do ports count as seeing a new city/region/country?  They are kinda like fancy layovers for flights...

We piled into a van for a 5 hour driving tour of the little island.  My favorite part was seeing the neighborhood behind the port of San Miguel.

The castle in the background is "just for lookin'."

A nice stop at a local chocolate factory.

The patchwork beastie of Cozumel

The driver asked if any of us like coconut.  Mom and I gave a wholehearted "yes!" (the others just made some little grumbling sounds) so the driver brought us to his own house, jumped out of the van, grabbed a machete, and chopped down some branches of coconuts.  I hope it was in fact his own house.

Our next stop was the Mayan archeological site of San Gervasio.  I really love these roots!

Mayan ruins

Carter spotted a band of coatis (the locals call them raccoons).  They seem really mischievous!

The iguana king

When we got back to the van the driver treated us to the coconuts. What a refreshing way to cool off after walking around in the sun!

Mom was pretty excited.

We stopped at a few scenic beach lookouts.

El Mirador is famous for the rocky arch carved by the sea.

After completing our lovely grand loop of the island we returned to the port which was festering with a high concentration of Spring Breakers.

Family Trip 2017: Mexico Cruise!

Spring Break calls for another family trip.  Last year it was Orlando, this time a cruise!  I said good bye to single-digit temps and hello to Mom and Dad and Andrew's family in New Orleans to depart for 7 days on a ship. 

Meeting the rest of the family in New Orleans over brunch.

The cook at the Grill told us the restaurant and adjacent apartments are haunted.  I can't see why any ghosts would want to live here.

We soon boarded the Norwegian Dawn cruise liner.  I was surprised that it took at least 7 hours to float down the Mississippi river. 

 

There is always snow at Calumet!

I spent another wonderful weekend at Camp Calumet, which is on the shore of Lake Ossipee in New Hampshire.  Even though the crazy warm weather and rain washed away all the snow in MA, there was still plenty of snow (though icy) at Calumet.

Glamping

Toboggan run (a little icy but not bad!)

 

 

Out walking with the ladies--it was in the 60s!

No visit to Calumet is complete without a visit to Lake Ossipee

With all the crazy, warm weather, I can't believe some folks (not from our group, of course) still went out onto the lake.  Yikes.

I'm going to miss these semi-annual retreats with my FLC family...

Alpaca my bags, let's hit the slopes! (Bo's words, not mine)

Happy 3rd 29th birthday, Bo!  To celebrate her big day we planned a ski trip to nearby Nashoba Valley, and her two friends, Vera and Christian, joined us.  The combination of a couple good snow storms last week and unusually warm weather over the weekend made for great skiing and enjoying the outdoors.

Celebrating Bo's birthday at the top of the Nashoba Valley Ski Area (not really a mountain).

As much as I loved skiing when I was little, I had only been skiing once since middle school.  That time was in Australia and I really thought Seth and I wouldn't make it; either the terrifying, unpredictable slopes (no trails, just free-styling down the face of the mountain, yikes!) or the freezing temps that we were not prepared for would do us in!  This time Bo and I only had to face bunny slopes, but they were still enough of a thrill for us.  Despite Nashoba's small size, I do feel lucky that I don't have to go very far to ski, just 30 min down the road in Weston, and there were hardly any lines, even on this holiday weekend.  But it is not exactly an inexpensive hobby, either.  My preferred snow sport shall remain snowshoeing! 

We had a Korean fusion dinner then spent the evening at a super cozy and cute inn in Littleton.  The inn keeper set out port and warm cider for us in the evening then made us a special "farm to table" breakfast of homemade cinnamon roll scones, yogurt parfait, and a ham and cheese souffle with asparagus.  A couple notches above where we would normally stay.

Before heading home we drove through an active Shaker Village just outside of town, then stopped at an extremely cute alpaca farm in Harvard, MA.  My dream for the future now includes a goat, a chicken, and 3 alpacas (apparently they need to be in a group).  Alpacas are such sweet animals and I believe I could have stayed at this farm forever :o)

Happy Birthday, Bo!

Women's March 2017!

We felt the love and support today at the Boston Women's March, all 125,000 of us!  It was an unusually warm January day in the mid 50s but I am sure that only encouraged the crowds.  They overwhelmed the MBTA (folks couldn't even get into the T entrances!) and Yulia and I ended up walking from Central Square, Cambridge to Boston Commons.  The only downside was that cell phone service was out and I couldn't find my friends to march with them (Bo, Alice, Emily, and Seth's sister).  I am sure they will have their own amazing stories to share!

Heading down the Longfellow Bridge from Cambridge

We made it just in time to hear Mayor Marty Walsh followed by my favorite gal, Elizabeth Warren!

Yulia and I were pretty much stuck in place for about an hour and a half, waiting to march (and we were at the front of the line!).

We people-watched while standing in some pine bushes

Listening to the speakers before the march--we are 125,000 strong!!

Annika's favorite emoji ;o)

This black sign was one of my favorites (deceivingly cute!)

The march route was 1 mile and not nearly long enough.  People were returning to the Commons way before the end of the line even began moving! 

Sporting my pink pussy hat (minus the little ears)

 

There were over 600 marches worldwide.  I think the message has been sent!