Sunday, May 29, 2011

Father & Son's Outing Cancun Style

This Friday & Saturday was the traditional CUD (LDS) Annual Kahab Stake Aaronic Priesthood campout. This was the selected site.  Kin-Ha Cenote out off the Avenue of the Cenotes in Quintana Roo, Mexico. For you non Mayans, a cenotes is a underground well. The Yucatan Peninsula has no above ground rivers. It is honeycombed with many underground rivers with numerous access points which create caves with pools of fresh water. These cenotes are the source for all water for drinking, irrigation and anything else your can use water for. Many have been converted into swimming areas, scuba diving down thru the many caverns they create. Most are very primitive areas. There is no running water, showers, restrooms or other public facilities.. This is rural..
Here is the only electrical power in the area... This power station (2 solar panels0 which provide for lighting the shack where you pick up your life vests for swimming in the cenote and swing in a hammock.
This rooster seemed to be in charge... There were numerous chickens running about... He also provided wake up call starting at 5am and continued until at least 8am when everyone was finally up.
Here is one of the ward's campers. They had to walk into the camp from the main road on a very dusty dirt road for 18 kilometers (about 15 miles)... This ole duffer caught the supply truck...
Here are some of the leaders.
Besides swimming in a underground cavern there were zip lines set up in the trees that the boys could fly thru the air on a pulley and go from one platform to another... My zip line day are past... But, I know they found the active exciting for them and the younger leaders took a turn at being kids again... I passed.... I will go with the stories ole duffers tell of "back in the day"...
Here is the Young men's First Counselor of the Kahab Stake... Nice young guy, works for American Airlines at the airport. He really relates well with the young men.

Still don't have a good camera, these are a few of the photos I took with my iPhone.. Most didn't work well, either because of the lack of talent behind the shutter or the lighting.

I am certain it will be my last Father and Son's event... This is for the young ...That isn't me... I did all the roughing it I need for a life time compliments of the US Army.  Those of you that know me, roughing it is hotels without room service..

It was hot and humid, the bed was sandstone with a light sleeping bag for a cushion. There was no accommodations for me, the single person over 50 on the trip... But, they were all kind to me and left me to be content and just watch...

Too bad, youth is wasted on the young....
A good time was had by all .. Even me ... But, I didn't tell them that!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Saturday Morning 5.07.11

Becky is off to her International Women's Club monthly meeting.. So it is just me and the dogs... Thought I would share some photos of what is going on here.
 Baseball game last night... Tigres lost in the 12 innings... 4 to 2
 One of the flowers in our yard. They are so beautiful, but they only last one day when they bloom. Fortunately, there is a new bloom almost everyday.
 Today we got two blooms in one day.

 This is our Haberno pepper plant... These are very HOT!! This plant keeps us supplied and the neighbors too!www.renatodorfman.com
 We have these plants that bloom almost continuously. We have three plants and they add color almost everyday. Right now they are losing the blooms, but there will be more to replace them. This plant is very thirsty... I try to drown it daily and the more water the more blooms.
 Her we have our orchard... Oranges on the left and Lemons on the right. They come in during the winter months and take forever to develop, but these little tress gave us two dozen oranges and about a dozen limes.. That is about what we eat a week .. But, the produce here is plentiful and cheap.. Flavorful too!
 Avocados haven't shown up yet, but we are told that we should have some this year...
 Our newest flowering bush... This is in our micro backyard and within the year will fill up the wall space with color.
 Coconuts are still  few years off, but it is growing..
 Sport is a mama's boy... But other than he can't keep his face clean, we still love him.. He is suppose to be white, but, we can't find a way to eliminate the brown discoloration on his face and front paws..
 Sissy is daddy;s girl... She is shy and very loving.. She hates Thursdays, she is afraid of the tile floor scrubber. She will try to go over the wall whenever it comes out..
 Sissy has always the saddest eyes... But, he is very loving. She is very partial to big dogs.. She wants to go play with all of the dogs in the neighborhood..
 The two are good friends and share everything... Sissy seems to be more aggressive and keeps Sport in line. Right behind her..
 Living room is small but it works for us.
 Here is one of our guest rooms should you want to visit..
This is the other one, where Becky does a little crafting and make up.. Bathrooms are small and she needs a little more room when getting ready to go.

We are enjoying life... Our days start at the Dreams Sports Club with a couple of hours of exercise and swimming.. We also have tennis courts there and squash courts.
We have been attending the local baseball games for the Quintana Roo Tigres, the local triple A team and enjoying the games.
We have played a few rounds of golf, but we haven't done that much.. There are some beautiful courses here and some far more challenging than we are up to.  We enjoy the smaller executive
courses... (Good for ole duffers that are not very good.

Becky is also taking a sculpting course from Renato Dorfman... She goes to Puerto Morelos each week on Tuesdays and Thursday and is really enjoying the class. He is very well known in these parts. Check out his work at www.renatodorfman.com ... He is a true artist and has made a good living and a name for himself down here... He has an artist village out in the jungle that is a hostel for artists... He calls them volunteers... They look like free spirited hippies to me...
His work really is good and Becky is really enjoying playing in the mud each week.
Well, that is the tale of the day...
Remember you are always welcome... Call us at (801) 738-1429 and give us your flight number... We will pick you up and you can stay with us..
Easy to pack for Cancun... Passport, bathing suit and toothbrush.. Everything else is here!