Back to Sea Level

We have returned to sea level (well, 20 ft, above sea level)!

Breathing better in sunny, hot (did I say hot? really hot!) Tulum, Mexico. For those not familiar with the local geography, we are on the Caribbean Coast of Mexico, about two hours south of Cancun. To assure our friends, we are nowhere close to the recent tragedy in Mexico City or Oaxaca, but our heart and prayers go out to those affected by the recent earthquake and hurricanes. Hurricanes have hit Tulum in the past, and we hope not to experience one.

After safely arriving in Tulum, we quickly settled into our home (Airbnb) for the next three months. Unpacking, food shopping, and getting organized took a day, and then we were off to our happy place on the beach. Mike, our eldest son who lives with his wife Gaby and daughter Mia here in Tulum are helping us in getting settled in.

So, we rented a lovely house in "La Valeta" neighborhood in Tulum- a 30 minute walk or five minute drive from the downtown and 15 minute drive to the beach. The house is located in a gated complex with five other homes, a common pool (we might be the only renters currently, as we are the only ones using the pool), and two resident dogs. A caretaker maintains the grounds and pool.  Nice!!!! Checked in with the developers of the condo we bought here and construction has started. They anticipate it will be ready for occupancy the end of next year! Looking forward to being higher up (we purchased a penthouse condo) to take advantage of the breezes from the beach, less mosquitoes, and icky crawling bugs like tarantulas, which I found in an outside storage closet!

Went grocery shopping our first day and have been cooking and barbecuing. Went out the other night for dinner (ran out of food- shopping again today after the beach) at a local fish restaurant where we both had a wonderful fish filet cooked with vegetables in a sour orange sauce wrapped in a banana leaf! Delicious! (Did I mention dinner for the two of us came to less than $20 US??)  You might ask how we get around? Well, Mike gave us his Vespa to use and we plan to purchase bikes in the near future. Since the Vespa is not automatic, you guessed it...Nathan drives and the "control freak" sits behind and grits her teeth! I bet we are a sight - two baby boomers traveling on a Vespa!

Went to visit Spanish Language School yesterday to learn more and think we may wait until after our trip to Far East to attend, thinking we may lose what we learned while away. So, over the next 2 1/2 months, will spend our time helping out at Mike's hostel, enjoying our granddaughter Mia, and entertaining visitors (Maya, our friend from Israel is coming next week,  Eitan and Arik are coming for an early Thanksgiving mid-November, and our friends Gabi and Evie from Israel in December before we leave). Thought I would be bored doing nothing, but daily chores, cooking, reading, and computer work really keeps us occupied! I highly recommend it!  A toast.... to pajamas 'till noon!

Our House	Front Porch	Living/Dining Room
Kitchen	Master Bedroom (bed...oh well!)	Master Bedroom at night
Guest Room	Complex Pool	One of Icky creatures around here!
Our Happy Place at the Beach	Typical Beach Lunch - fish tacos and guacamole	Resident Dogs

Denver - A Week at Altitude!

After we endured the endless ride through Kansas, we wondered weather the climb up to Denver would be gradual or would the highway have steep inclines and switchbacks? The answer was provided via a small app already installed in our iPhone that I previously did not know existed - the compass! About 2 hours from Denver I started to check, as the compass app also provided the altitude. Who knew? After our very gradual ascent we arrived in Denver only to be greeted with a massive traffic jam along I-70. An accident, no- this we learned was an everyday occurrence. Rush hour. But at 3:00 pm? Apparently, rush hour begins around 3:00 pm until About 7:00 pm. The Denver region has major sprawl, and too few highways. We crawled along I-70 and finally reached our exit to I-25 south....more traffic!  

A relatively short crawl on I-25 to our exit for The Highlands neighborhood where our son Arik and his girlfriend Charlotte live. Denver, we learned, is similar to other major cities like Philadelphia and Chicago in that it is comprised of many unique neighborhoods- some no larger than a few blocks!

After a day to relax and partially unpack, we set out for Estes Park and a day hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. We were barely on the trail when we saw this huge deer/elk/animal just standing there.

Climbed quickly to get closer and suddenly realized: 1. it was huge and 2. where was the oxygen?  That short climb left me breathless! We were at 8,830 ft! The rest of the hike was of course uphill, and the theme for the day quickly became "when is someone going to turn on the oxygen?"  The views were spectacular! 360 degrees of mountains. No, we're not in New Jersey anymore... 

Garden of the Gods rock formation

Other day trips during our stay included Colorado Springs to see the Garden of the Gods (absolutely beautiful red rock formations in a canyon), Manitou Springs (at base of Pike's Peak) for lunch and a walk around!                    

Then onto the Air Force Academy. An impressive and humbling institution! Our visit included a short movie on the life of Air Force Cadets, then a walk around campus and the famous Chapel. We were fortunate during our Chapel visit to meet Becky, a volunteer who was also the wife of a retired Air Force Pilot who also happens to be the musical director and organist for the impressive 1,000 plus pipe Chapel Organ. With few other visitors at the time, we spent about half an hour learning about the different Chapels housed within the building- Protestant (the most impressive of the Chapels with the soaring vault and suspended Cross with "wings", and on the lower level were the Catholic, Jewish,

and Buddhist Chapels. The Jewish Chapel had original paintings, Jerusalem stone floors (donated to the Academy by the Israeli Defense Forces), and a Torah rescued from the Holocaust. The Chapel sizes and locations were determined by a population survey of the cadets at the time of the Chapel design, and has remained until today. Unfortunately, more effort was placed on design and esthetics rather than practicality and structure, and the roof has leaked since day one. Becky noted that in a few years, the Chapel will be closed for major repairs for about four years to take care of the necessary repairs. 


Our last adventure was to El Dorado Springs Canyon State Park to hike and watch the rock climbers scale the straight canyon walls. Do their mothers know they are doing this? Following our 2-hour hike, we drove the short distance to Boulder, home of the University of Colorado and Pearl Street Mall. The campus is absolutely stunning in and of itself, and add to that the spectacular mountains

surrounding Boulder. This is where I want to go to college!! The downtown Pearl Street pedestrian mall was just my taste with restaurants, breweries, cafes, ice cream shops, and unique shops. This would be a perfect summer retirement destination.

hmm...

Final day in Denver packing and organizing for Mexico. A wonderful dinner at a tap and wine bistro in "LoHi" (another nice neighborhood) followed by homemade ice cream at "The Little Man"- blackberry and pineapple sorbet and creme fraiche ice cream. Wow.

On the flight now to Cancun, then a bus to Tulum, our home for the next three months. Hopefully we can get into a routine, learn some Spanish, spend time with Mia, our granddaughter, and enjoy the beach. Rented a 2-bedroom/2 bath house in a small gated complex with a pool and gardens. Get us a pair of bikes and we'll be good to go.

Wildlife up close!	Rocky Mountain High	Gem Lake
Garden of the Gods	View from Garden of the Gods	Siamese Twin Formation @ Garden of the Gods
Nathan resting on the Siamese Twins	Balanced Rock Formation @ Garden of the Gods	Air Force Academy - Protestant Chapel
Beautiful Pipe Organ at Back of Protestant Chapel	Jewish Chapel	El Dorado Springs Trail
View Looking out of El Dorado Springs Canyon	El Dorado Springs Canyon Trail Climber (see orange shirt).  Does his Mother know he is doing this?	More views of the Walls of the Canyon

Homeless. Let the Adventures Begin!

Well, we're more than 7 weeks (or 49 days, or 1,176 hours) out and it has been a true blur! Walked out of the office on my last day and haven't looked back. It was toxic to say the least, and while I thought I would miss it, I can honestly say that it was the best decision ever! I will miss certain people, but that's about it.  The very next morning I was on a plane to Tulum, Mexico to meet our first grandchild- our granddaughter Mia. 

So excited! Was it love at first sight? No. But within 48 hours, she found her way into my heart ❤️. I spent the next 2 1/2 weeks changing diapers, burping, and cuddling her in my arms. It was not easy to say goodbye, but knowing we would be back soon made the farewell a bit easier. At the airport waiting to return home I learned from my husband, Nathan, that we had multiple offers on our home! Wow, this is really happening! The next 6 weeks consisted of packing, purging, and more packing. We were also dislocating our youngest son Eitan (he had moved back home 6 months prior), so we were concurrently helping him find a new home. 
To say this was a stressful time was an understatement. I think we were all ready to kill each other! We were also under pressure to be out of the house by the end of the month, and our son still hadn't closed on his new condo, and didn't look like it was going to happen for several weeks more, causing great uncertainty. We finally found a self-storage facility near our home and signed up for two units- one long-term for our life-belongings over the next year (what ever we didn't sell or give to our son) and a short-term unit for Eitan until he could move into his new condo. So, with our belongings safely stowed, we moved into a local hotel for the next 3 days to say some final farewells, finalize our personal affairs, and decompress. We left bright and early on Sunday morning of Labor Day weekend to our first pit stop of Cincinnati, Ohio to visit with my sister Lisa and her husband Marty.

Some lovely dinners, a day at the Cincinnati Zoo to meet the baby hippo, Fiona, and attend a lovely lecture and display Lisa had organized on "Besa"- Muslim Albanians who rescued Jews during the Holocaust. I had never heard about this story and was really moved. On the road again, with an overnight stay in Kansas City (not without trying famous "KC Joes BBQ"). A bit heavy for my liking and probably not particularly healthy, but a tasty experience! Another day on the road again, now on to Denver to spend time with another one of our sons-Arik (we have three). But there was Kansas to get through first. It was long, flat, and boring (my apologies to the residents of Kansas). Some of the interchanges off I-70 were just dirt roads. Toto, I don't think we are in New Jersey anymore!

And that brings us to the present- safe and sound one mile high in Denver, where we plan over the next week to enjoy what the region has to offer....

Giraffe Close-up	Komodo Dragon!	Red Panda (who knew?)
	Ribs and Burnt Ends....@#%& calories!

And so our adventure begins........