I have been on a bit of a stained glass tear the last week or so. These are my latest creations. I wanted to get these done as I have 2 original designs I want to do, so standby for that. I have a beveled celtic cross with a crown of thorns that I will be completing as a gift for our friends in Yuma. The lamp is a fan lamp and you can make a bunch or different themes and just change them out. I am going to do several of these for Yvonnes lamp. We will use ours as a x-mas tree this year. The one above crown and anchor took quite awhile to do but it was worth it. I sold the last one I made and this one is probably gone also. Any way tomorrow will be one week until we leave and we are not looking forward to that. Next year we are going to stay for 6 weeks. Anyway will post in a few days . Take care. Jim

Here's a handy map showing Sonora State in Mexico. We are on the ocean directly west of Hermosillo.

Early morning in Kino Bay is one of the pretiest times and places you could ever find. This morning - shortly after 7 AM, there was a huge fog bank wrapping around the 30M long island across the bay from us. It looked surreal and mysterious enough to swallow you up into a magical land if you happened to venture into it. This bay is full of fishing activity. The two men above were cleaning fish and the pelicans were hovering about waiting for the discarded treats.

We sat around the campfire contemplating the world last night. We both agree that we just can't imagine wanting anything more out of a vacation spot. We love the solitude, quiet and magical beauty of Mother Nature in front of us every day.

We had to go into town the other day to get groceries. The top pic is of a rv spot that has a shaded room, your door opens up into and you can sit in it cook in it etc. It is like a small extension of your rv. It also has a storage shed in back for whatever other junk you accumulate. Year lease is about 3500 us dollars but you are only 100 ft from the beach at most.

Another sunset in Kino. The weather has been marvelous. One day was 101 US, a couple 98 and 94 and 96. The rest is a chilly 85US.. I am loving this. Beach combing, laying around the pool, doing some stained glass, fishing, hitting the hot tub and then there is that happy hour one has to attend.. A poker game breaks out every 2nd day or so. Holdem tournament last Sunday and another coming up tomorrow at 1pm. Hard to keep up with it all. But we manage well.

Les is getting a little work done and Yvonne is doing just a bit of school. The dog absoloutely loves the beach. She loves rolling in the dead fish and cools off in the sand. She digs, runs her butt off and is the first to sleep at night. She fits in with this group. She has to have a bath after every trip to the beach. The palm grass hut is called a Pillapa and is used extensively in Mexico to get out of the sun but I don't use it much.. I know when I get home we are faced with cold and wet, so I don't need any shade . The cactus bloomed out and it looks like a starfish. We were all theorizing about what it was called. Les looked it up on google and it is a starfish cactus. Go figure. The last pic is a tree holding onto life. Amazing how a root will develop to get water. typical down here though. Anyway, time to relax and get ready for bed. Until next time. Asta la Vista. Jim

We have had a busy couple of days. As you can see we went clamming and they got the pool open... It is a salt water pool and it is so much better without that chlorine in it. We went out for an hour or so and walked the beach at low tide and got a bucket of clams.. Yvonne and I cleaned them up and we cooked them all the next day. We had clam chowder for 10 or so with Leslie seafood soup she came up with when we were on our trip. All our neighbours came over and brought a few things so like everything else around here it tuned into a party. Coincidentely the pool opened that day so after lunch we all went in. We are officially breaking the pool in today with a party starting at 4. We have a few new guests that came in today so it will be a big party tonight.

Sunday at 2pm the texas holdem tournement starts with a party after I assume. Monday 6 of us are going out fishing from 7am till 5pm.. 20 bucks each. There will be some goood tips handed out as these folks do not have a lot.

Well time for a walk on the beach and get ready for happy hour. 85us today. pool is 90us. Haven't had the heat on at night for a week. It is just comfortable at night. Till next time. Adious Amigos.

Well we made it. Kino Bay. What a gorgeous spot. It is quiet and not a lot of ppl here as yet. I think there are 6 rigs in here. The ocean is beautiful and we have spent the last 2 days on the beach. I am off to play poker soon and Les and Yvonne are off to the beach. The road into this place 10miles from new Kino is 10 miles of bad road. It takes an hour but the end is worth the trip. Yesterday some folks went to town and brought us back 1kg of fresh jumbo shrimp for 8 bucks. It was a good dinner last night.

The other surprise is we do not have phone but we have a good wi-fi connection. The view from the pool and the hot tub over the ocean is specacular and the facilities are very good for an isolated spot. The trip down from Nogales was uneventful. It just took awhile to get the tourist stuff done and then you have to stop at 3 toll booths and pay the toll. It is a four lane good hwy from Nogales down to Hermessilo. It was about $25 US. They have these Topes(speed bumps) in all the small towns that you have slow right down for and they are either looking for a handout or selling their wares.. The poor are still that way and not much changes here. I don't know how they survive. I met this idiot in Casa Grande and he said it was like this because they were so socialistic. Yeah the ppl here really are helped by their government here. I don't think he really knew what socialaism is. He thought G.W. Bush was great President so I guess one can understand his confusion.

Anyway it is 85 US here today so it is time to get to the poker game. Adious Amigos. Jim

Inside at Mission Yumaca'cori

Th mission at Tomacacori est 1691

The fountain and Gardens

Princess with her new hair cut

The pool at Casa Grande, Az

This will be the last posting before we go into Mexico. We are pretty excited as we have spoken to ppl that have been to that resort and they say the park and the views are breathtaking. The fishermen and farmers come around every couple of days with fresh lobster shrimp and fish for sale. The farmers bring fresh fruit and veggies. I have beer so what could get better than that.

Yvonne completed her last Jr. Ranger program for this year and maybe next at the Tumacacori Mission 30k north of Nogales. I think she is Rangered out. The Jesuits started a mission here in 1691 and had to abandon it as this was apache country and they did not know much about god, but they were trained soon enough. When they came back the Franciscan order took over . The place was habitated for about 160 years.

While we were in Casa Grande we had Princess clipped she sure looks cute in her new cut. The nite shot of the pool at our Casa Grande resort is probably the nicest in the WHR system. We spent 4 days there swimming sunning while Leslie worked her butt off so she can enjoy the next month in Mexico. She will get a deserved rest. If the wi-fi is working there I will scuttle the system. Anyway we will be back in St. David AZ on Dec 7th and will blog about our Mexico visit. Adious Amigos

Cutout of Montezumas Castle

Montezumas Castle

Forest Gump??

Navajo Nation

We spent the last 3 days on the road and here are some of the pictures. The topography changed around every corner. We were on the Navajo nation and I would bet money that one pic is where they shot the running scene in the movie Forest Gump. Run Forest Run. We saw some beautiful scenery thru there, We spent Halloween in Tuba City which is on the Navajo land and Yvonne got to do a little trick or treating and then we came home and did some candy eating and a little party.

We spent a couple of days at Camp Verde just south of Flagstaff Az, and travelled today to Casa Grande. It was 86 us here today so the pool was the big item on the agenda. Looks like the same for the next month or so. It is a tough life but we are all bearing up under the strain. Adios Amigos. Jim