Many thanks to Heather at Yummy Sushi Pajamas for the mention of my blog on her blog. She puts of up a list of blogs she's reading every Monday. I think this is a great idea. I plan to do it this coming Monday! In the meantime check out her blog and the others she likes.
Number 9 on my 101 Things is "I want to own a hot air balloon someday."
A friend said that MSN's This Week in Pictures May 18-25 had a great shot of hot air balloons. I went to look. WOW! Take a look at picture 2. Now you see why I'm fascinated?
I've been on two balloon flights. One was while I was in college and it was a small balloon with a small basket, holding maybe 4 people maximum. When I visited Australia in 2003, I was in a bigger balloon with a bigger basket. Must have been 9 people and the pilot, but it could have held more.
Of course there are pictures!
My first trip with the AARP!
How about that view?
Notice our reflection in the water?
Packing up and looking into the balloon.
It was a big balloon!Do you like my new map and the clock? If they are not directly to the right of this post, then scroll down to the end of the page and they should be on the bottom right hand side.
What other cool things should I add to my blog???
Should I post more or less pictures?
Should I write more about my life?
You tell me!
I love to eat.
I noticed that I took pictures of almost every place we ate while in Mexico last month. Each restaurant served "salsa" and chips. The salsa was excellent, but it was more like pico de gallo.
Sadly I didn't get a picture at one of my favorite places, the Turtle Bay Cafe in Akumal. I don't think they served chips and salsa.
For fun, I think I'll use a ranking system for the salsa, using a scale of 1 to 5 stars, 5 being the best. Read the picture captions for ratings and see the footnote for a disclaimer.
At Mama's Cafe in Puerto Morales, we ate breakfast tacos with salsa.
The Mango Cafe, in Akumal, where we had smoothies and breakfast tacos.
Nearest our hotel, the La Buena Vida had good food,
Oscar y Lalo's, between Akumal and Tulum, was on this beautiful bay.
Que Onda means "This Wave" (I think) and served
McDonald's in Playa del Carmen provided a Diet CokeI like these shoes, they protect my toes, they're rugged and they were a good deal. (They are not real Keen sandals, but rather Sports Authority's own brand.)
After a day of climbing of exploring Mayan ruin sites in Mexico, though, I thought maybe socks and running shoes (without HOLES) would have been better.
Shoes...
No shoes!While in Mexico I visited two ruin sites: Tulum and Coba.
Tulum is on the coast, in fact you've probably seen it in pictures. It's really gorgeous and unique because it virtually hangs on a cliff.
Coba is inland and surrounded by more greenery and vegetation. There is a 13 story ruin here that we were allowed to climb.
We did not hire a guide at either site, therefore I'm not qualified to tell you much about the pictures below. You'll want to rely on the links for further information.
Tulum from afar. I wish the beautiful colors of the water were more evident.
I really like the combination of colors in this picture, taken at the Tulum site.
A handy sign that we actually saw after the fact at Coba!
The tallest of the Coba ruins - or the Big Pyramid (see above).
Too late we noticed that there had been iguanasI got one comment asking for more pictures. I can do that! More comments, more pictures!!! Come on now, read my rarely updated blog!
Sunrise from the condo terrace.
The rare, but lovely, chicken tree.
And boats near jetties.For the record:
I started with 323 pictures and I've whittled it down to 251. I think I could reduce it by a few more if I really tried.
Here are a few snorkeling pictures. Click on each separately for the best view.
One fish...
Two fish...
School's out for summer!
Camera shy?
