January 16, 2006
Howdy all,
Where do you go during Christmas break to be near the water when you live in the desert? Since we live in the high desert it still gets cold during the winter nights but the days can be pleasant. But where do we go to get beach time? When we lived in Wisconsin and wanted a break from the cold and gloom we loaded up the car and drove 2 days to Florida to have some Disney & beach time hopefully with warm weather and sun. Hanging out at the beach was rejuvenating.
The map shows that we are roughly a 12 hour drive from either the beaches of southern California or the Texas coast. For those of you that money is no object you are probably saying Cancun, Cozumel, or some such paradise. Well we don’t live in that world. It had to be fairly inexpensive and fairly close plus warm and near the water.
After checking with some folks around here we ended up going to San Carlos, Mexico. It is straight south of Nogales, Arizona. The folks that recommended it told us it was 8 hours from here. Well actually it was closer to 11 or 12 hours.
Much of the following text about Christmas is from my son's Matt blog. I have edited it where appropriate. My reasoning is that I am still not feeling very well after being in the hospital for kidney stones and a sinus infection.
Here goes: My first few days with Mom and Dad were fun. We ate at Si Senor (I can’t describe for how long and how much I was looking forward to Mexican food and chips and salsa!) and watched several movies. Additionally, Dad and I began to watch Survivor Guatemala. Since everyone is taking trips to Europe in the next several months, planning our trips was the common ground we all shared." Laura and BJ are going to Europe for a month this April. They are going with a group that casters to the under 35 crowd. They will see a lot of Europe. Matt and his cousin Mike are planning to backpack throughout Europe all summer or until they have no more money. Cindy and I will celebrate 30 years of marriage by flying to Venice and taking a week long cruise to Greece and Turkey. We are really excited as you can imagine.
The Tuesday before Christmas Matt had all 4 of his wisdom teeth removed. "It was an awkward experience, with laughing gas and all. The assistant asked if the gas was working, to which I replied I didn’t really notice it was on. Soon after, I started smirking and let out a few chuckles. I barely remember the surgeon putting in my IV. Next thing I new, I had opened my eyes and was being wheeled to the car in a wheelchair! I’ll tell you I slept like the dead. For several days, all I seemed to do is sleep! I had plenty of pain killers, and whenever I forgot to take then, my jaw was quick to remind me!
Christmas was like any at the Jorgenson house, busy, but enjoyable. I was really glad to see Dad in action behind the pulpit again. He’s been my pastor forever and of course is my favorite. At night after the ‘late’ service, we dined on more fudge than we could handle. There was also a huge package that Santa had left for me while we were at church! It was a huge backpack for my trip this summer, the exact one I wanted! It was very exciting to check it out and look at all the compartments and additions. I was very surprised and very happy! A few days later, St. Nick stopped by with DVDs for the guys and girls along with Hum Bugs! All were enjoyed thoroughly!
A few days later, Laura and BJ arrived. It’s always great to see them. They had driven all day long and soon went to bed after visiting with us and the other member of the Las Cruces family, the hot tub. The next day, we all piled in the van and set off to Mexico! We watched movies, listened to music, and enjoyed the desert surroundings on an unexpectedly long trip to Tucson, and then south 6 hours to San Carlos on the Sea of Cortez. Sitting in the back was unnerving enough crossing the border and trying to find our way down the Mexican freeway, I can imagine how it must have been driving all that way!
At 9pm, we arrived at the Paradise Resort!
San Carlos has a magnificent ocean view! With our rooms overlooking the beach, we got to spend all day looking at the horizon. The resort, a former Club Med, was nice enough, but the pool was closed and staff seemed almost impossible to track down at times.
There were several trips into the city for great meals and brief trinket shopping. There was great food for unbeatable prices. I think we must have tried nearly every restaurant in town! There were traditional Mexican burritos and enchiladas, steak and shrimp, oysters, and plenty of beverages throughout the week. Though, arguably the best meal was at a little hut of a bar on the ocean front. For three hours, we all ate chips and guacamole, and had amazing crab tostadas with fresh crab meat!
At night, we entertained ourselves with games and more beverages! It was great to have the family on vacation! We were also able to go kayaking far into the ocean and even saw a few jellyfish. Additionally, we drove up a mountain to capture the best view in town overlooking the mountainous coastline! Coconuts and coconut milk were on the menu.
Five days after we arrived, we piled back in the car and made the 10 hour trip home, stopping at the San Xavier mission south of Tucson. It was a long day. We ‘celebrated’ New Years Eve that night. Though Mom and Dad went to bed early making a short appearance when the ball dropped in Times Square. I, myself, went to bed just 10 minutes after that event. I think the novelty of staying up past midnight has lost its luster.
Soon after Mexico, Laura and BJ went back to Colorado, and Mom and Dad went back to work. Though we still made time to meet for lunch and spend our nights together. I did some shopping while Mom prepared for a Beatles Pop Concert and Dad prepared for church services."
You will see by the pictures that San Carlos was a wonderful location. It was just a long way away. Next year we are talking about either Florida, California or the Texas coast. It is just a treat spending time with the kids.
Shortly after our return home I ended up in the hospital for three days because of kidney stones and breathing problems. That wasn't how we had planned to spend the rest of Matt's visit with us.
So Christmas 2005 will be one we will remember for a time.
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