Monday, April 23, 2007

Family Reunion!




Sunday, April 22 – Week 8: Bright and early, and on time Katy, Amanda, and Geoff arrived on Mexicana Airlines flying from Seattle through Los Angeles. They have voted LAX the worst airport in the world. Noisy, chaos, and it was a completely aggravating experience. Of course, it was all worthwhile so they could join their loving parents! Your humble tour guide paid no attention to jet lag, or such lame excuses. Upon arriving at the casa we had breakfast and then the kids had a short nap, shower, and then off to explore.

As this was the only Sunday they would be here, the mandatory event was taking the Biblioteca Home and Garden Tour. This week it was three homes in the Atascadero neighborhood atop the mountain behind Casa Tranquilidad. Mary Ann and I were delighted this was the selection as we had not had a chance to explore this neighborhood due to its being an intimidating climb for us, or anyone. The three homes were all different, and fun to visit. The problem, is although our casa is a delight, seeing these upper end homes makes our home look just a bit humble.

After the tour we hit the churros and bebidas at San Agustin. That got everyone revived for a walk abound the centro area. Amazingly enough, Katy was the first to buy shoes. She must have had a real need. Everyone crashed for a couple of hours siesta, before the required margarita hour. No rest for the wicked.

After evening refreshments and a lot of political talk we went to dinner at El Market Bistro. On the way back through the Jardin a theater with lots of seats had been set up and there were hundreds of people watching Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth, the Oscar winning documentary. It was in English with Spanish subtitles. I am always amazed as to what is happening around here.

Quirky Living Note: I hadn’t thought about it being strange, but it is a bit surprising to look out of your bedroom and see a hot air balloon nearly at eye level (photo above). There is a local gentleman who gives balloon rides in the early morning, usually on weekends, over the church spires and history of San Miguel. Most often he is quite a distance from us, but yesterday it looked like he was about to land on our patio. If you are so inclined a ride is $150 per person and they throw in breakfast if you survive.

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