"you boys like Mexico? woooooo!"

The place...Baja California Sur of Mexico. The crowd.....myself, both my brothers Marcus and Jordan, and a friend of the family named Mark. We had actually been planning this trip for quite some time now, as the trip is Marcus and I's gift to Jordan for his high school graduation. We figured it's better than a card with some money it or something of the sort, and is a great way to put the travel bug in him and introduce him to some new culture. I flew down on friday with Jordan and Mark, and Marcus caught up with us last monday in Cabo San Lucas. I got to play dad for the weekend, or at least that's what it feels like when your a 27 year old chasing around two 18 year olds on their first trip to Mexico haha, with no pun intended. I was after all instructed by my mom to insure that all her children not only make it back home, but in one piece as well. It's actually been a pretty easy task, and if this is what you call babysitting then you can sign me up for it anyday. Our first day in Cabo, after clearing customs and the other red tape at the airport we caught a shuttle bus into town and got checked into the Hotel Mar de Cortez, a place I've stayed at every time I've been down. We went down to the bay our first night in town and found a nice place that makes sushi and fish tacos, and watched the rather disapointing Gonzaga vs UNC basketball game. Jordan learned the hard way that in Mexico you are supposed to negotiate for the price of, well almost everything, and got taken when he gladly paid 25 dollars to a vender for a straw cowboy hat that he probably could have gotten for less than 10. The city of Cabo was like a ghost town compared to its normal rowdy self. Ok, so maybe not a ghost town, but a noticable difference from many of the other times I have been down here. I would guess primarily due to the economic crunch and the recent troubles near the border that tends keep some people away.

Our second day in Cabo we went over to a beach know as The Office, which is basically a college spring break hangout. Jordan provided us with some entertainment when he got involved in a push up contest up on the main stage to show off the guns, but it turns out there were a few more people there with a few bigger guns. Particularly, the guy that won it, an ex Mexican Special Forces agent, that pulled out 50 more push ups after the last guy went down. That evening we checked out Cabo Wabo, a live music club that is owned by Sami Hagar.

The next day we decided to catch a water taxi out to Lover's Beach, which is where the famous rock arches are that everybody sees on postcards and advertisements. The beach is accessed primarly by water only, which makes it a little more secluded and relaxing than many of the other beaches around town. It's also got some incredible rock formations that I was drueling over, and really can't believe its not more of a developed area for rock climbing. I guess not everybody goes to the beach with rock climbing in mind huh? I brought out my climbing shoes and chalk, and did some very nice class 3 to 4 scrambling and some bouldering to kill most of a day while the boys got washed around in the surf.

Marcus came into town on Monday and we all went out and hit the best of Cabo's nightlife. Plenty of entertainment was to be had at the Giglin Marlin, a place that is famous for tying you up by your feet and hoisting you upside down like a fish as they give you a shot of tequilla and spin you around.

We rented a car on Tuesday and drove up the pacific coast to a beach I read about called Cerritos. It's supposed to be locals / hippie beach known for its good surfing and fish tacos. Once we got there we found out there had been some development since the information I read was posted, and it wasn't exactly a hippie hangout, as you will see by the picture of Jordan getting a massage on the beach, but it was still had a nice vibe and was nothing like cabo. Marcus and Jordan both rented surf boards and had their first go round at surfing. It proved to be quite challenging for both of them. We drove up to a little town called Todos Santos for dinner after spending most the day at Cerritos.

After some souvenier shopping and breakfast the next day we caught the bus up to Los Barriles from Cabo to stay with the family. The bus ride was kind of slow going because they had a lot of road construction going on and we were basically off-roading in a tour bus. Once we got into Los Barriles we hitched a ride out to my cousins' casa where we met up with most of the family and friends from down here. There has been a lot of developement since my last trip down here in 05' and there is even a little hotel accross from Marty and Sharon's place for those that are familiar with the area. We bbq'd some burgers and relaxed after the trip. We later went down to a place in town called Buzzards and played some pool with the locals.

My cousin Greg invited Jordan to go deep sea fishing with him as a graduation gift. At first I don't think he was too keen on the idea of waking up at 5 in the morning while on vacation to go fishing, but there were no regrets when the boat they went on came back in early because they had caught so many fish (1 big marlin and 9 dorados total). Jordan caught 3 of the dorados and got to test his arm strenght reeling em in. Tomorrow we are taking the fish to a place in town that cooks it up 3 different ways and serves it to you for 6 bucks a head. It's gonna be a feast! While Jordan was out catching tomorrow night's dinner, the rest of us went on a buggy ride through the baron baja land and down the beach to a little place that serves some of the best fish/shrimp/scallop tacos I've ever eaten. When we got back we all helped Sharon prepare some food for the enchillada dinner she was whipping up. To this day I've still never tasted a better enchillada, and I'm lucky enough that she makes them for me every time I come down. We had good intentions of going into town for some Karaoke tonight, which is the highlight of the nightlife in Los Barriles, but we were all so stuffed after dinner that we could hardly move. That's about all from Baja land so far....stay tuned.