Our return trip to Mazatlan - December Getaway

Fall was absolutely beautiful but by December it was getting cold.  It was time for us to take off for a break before winter really took hold.  We can get snow by first of December and sure enough it started to snow the first week.  We had made plans to drive to Tucson at the end of my fall semester and then catch flight to Mazatlán for a return trip.  Last year we went for a week about the same time and loved it. 

So the week  before Christmas, there was a break in the weather and we were able to get out our driveway and head south to Tucson on Friday arriving there late.  We stayed with our friend Grace and the Saturday visited folks at the Far Horizons RV resort where we had previously spent 5 years wintering.  It was great to connect with friends.

The next morning our friend Sam took us to the airport to catch our flight to Phoenix and then to Mazatlán arriving early afternoon.   The taxi ride to our resort was great as we recognized the site of the city and felt comfortable being in spot we had been to before. 

The resort is on the north side of town and on the beach about an hour drive.  The hurricanes of the past summer had damaged some of the resorts but ours seemed untouched.  The beaches hard but the sand was actually easier to walk on than the last year.

The weather was great and the seafood marvelous!   We meet up with two friends, Pete and Janet, who winter for 6-8 weeks every year in Mazatlán.  The week went by fast and we headed for home on Christmas eve.

Brittany and Kason Visit

Mid October, our niece Brittany and her fiance Kason came to visit for a week.   Of course October is premo time for fall colors and we did the toursit stuff and drove a lot.

Summer with Mike & Robert

                       The rest of the summer after the cruise was great hiking and enjoying the great outdoors in the Four Corners. 

In July, we took our new travel trailer (we sold our RV) camping several times.   

We spent a long weekend at House Creek campground.

 Our friend Lee introduced us to great hike at Mud Springs with ruins.  

Later in September, we returned to one of our favorite hiking trails at Fishcreek.

The first of October,  we took a drive over to Utah to check out a site at Montezuma Creek that has marvelous petroglyphs. 

Fall started with wonderful colors.......check back in couple days for pictures.

Final days of our summer cruise/trip

I have been told that folks are left hanging as my blog did not finish the story.  So here are the final days: 

Day 17 - Friday June 27^th – Day at Sea

The last full day of the cruise, and a sea day, started with sunshine, deteriorated to clouds and ended with showers.  The day was spent chilling, reading, eating, napping.  It was also time to start packing for home.  Well, at least for Michael and Chuck.   We had bought a few new clothes and new carry on so we packed it up after dinner.  The weather has gotten better as we get further south and the temperature rose to 57 F. 

Day 18 - Saturday June 28^th – Dover and head for home

Robert awoke about 4 AM with a nasal infection and drip.  Our disembarkation times are 8:30 am, so we had time to kill before disembarking.  Michael and Chuck were catching Chunnel train to Paris to continue their trip in Europe.  Robert and I, boarded the bus in Dover and traveled a couple hours back to London.  We had been worrying about making the connection to flight home at Heathrow but it was easy and we had plenty of time.  The flight home was long and uncomfortable.  Airline seats in coach on long flights are not designed for lounging and sleeping.  We arrived in Dallas after 9 hours and since we had a night layover, we headed to Marriott to,  hopefully, get some sleep.  

Day 19 - Sunday June 29^th – Home at last!
We were up early and caught the shuttle to airport for our flight to Durango.  Upon arrival in Durango, it was time to find our bags.  The American Airlines check-in desk was empty when we got to the terminal. Robert asked the person behind Frontier about bags and he said that American would be couple of hours before an agent was there since next flight was not until late afternoon.  Robert told him we were looking for our bags, which were shipped to Durango via Frontier.  The agent said, “oh yes, I think we are holding some bags” and he disappeared.  After about 15 minutes, he returned with two bags. “Yep, those are ours.”  We were back home by 4pm and unpacked the bags that we did not take.