Spring Begins Today!  Yeah!  In February, we had 3 blizzards here, one on February 9th, one on the 11th and the 3rd on the 20th, just a month ago today.  Our weather since the beginning of March has really been spring like with temps in the 80s and warm bright sunshiny days.  The wind has been a bit tedious at times with gusts up to 40 mph.  Our humidity has just blown away in the wind.  Some days the humidity is a mere 4 %.  I have started thinking about planting veggies and flowers in my raised bed, but have not done so.  I do not trust the March weather here.  March came in like a lamb, as the old saying goes, so I figure it will go out like a lion.  I have not forgotten the March's in the past when some of my baby goats were born in blizzards in March.  Nope, can't trust March weather.  I will wait til April to plant.

It was my great pleasure to have a visit earlier this month from a gal friend I knew  when Steve was stationed in Idaho with the Air Force about 30 plus years ago!  She brought her two daughters and spent a few nights here.  Then I drove her down to Sierra Vista to meet with another friend that was also in Idaho with us.  The 3 of us, all pretty much "old Ladies" now, visited Tombstone for a day.  I had never been to the Boot Hill Grave yard in Tombstone.  It was very interesting.  The men who fought the famous gunfight at the OK Corral against Wyatt Earp and Dr. Holiday were buried there in one big grave.  Most of the graves were marked with wooden crosses or grave markers.  I took pictures of the most interesting ones.  

It was great to see my old friend and try to catch up on the passed 30 years.  She does not live so far away now, only one state over.  My Sierra Vista friend and I hope to visit at her home sometime in the near future.  Her daughters are smart and beautiful and I enjoyed meeting them.

We celebrated Valentine's Day in February with chocolate cake and candy.  Then in March, our oldest grandson turned 11 years old.  We celebrated his birthday a week late because everyone was too sick to get together on the day.  Steve had pneumonia, and everyone else had colds or something .  Our oldest daughter is still sick.  She has been sick for several months now with what seems like a cold.  The doctors found no evidence of bronchitis or pneumonia.  She finally diagnosed herself when she discovered she has all the symptoms of Valley Fever.  There is really no treatment for it unless she does develop pneumonia or something.  She has an asthma inhaler and is just trying to wait it out.  

I have been looking at ads on Craig's List in the farm and garden part.  I cannot decide if I want to get new goats or some other livestock.  I did answer an ad where someone was trying to re-home a donkey for $200.  I was uneasy about that so I did not protest overly much when Steve said, "NO!"  I am planning on getting some chicks soon.  Chickens provide meat, eggs and entertainment, aren't too expensive to feed and do not tear my heart out when it it time to, let me say, put them on the dinner table!   Maybe I will have pictures of chicks for the next post.

This will be my last post about our South American Cruise.  On February 1, 2013, we docked at Cozamel, Mexico.  This was the first day we had cloudy, rainy skies and less than ideal conditions.  It was a very long walk through a crowded shopping mall to get to our tour bus. But we did get an idea of stores to shop at on the way back to the ship.

Our first stop was a history museum where models of the Mayan civilization were featured.  These were small replicas of some of the ruins we had visited and others that were more famous that we did not visit on this trip.  It was cool to see how the temples and villages were set up during their hay day.  We also got to see men in native costumes climb a very tall pole and swing down upside down.  I managed to get photos while they were on the ground, but my camera battery quit.  By the time I got a new one in, the men had already completed their performance.  Pretty scary stuff!  I would have enjoyed knowing more about the significance of this particular pole dance.  I either did not hear the tour guide's explanation or there was none. 

After that we got back on the bus to visit another historic sight.  They were rebuilding the first Catholic church and other historic buildings at this stop.  Mostly, it was known for the black coral jewelry that the people sold there.  You can tell the difference between black coral and say, onyx or obsidian, because the coral has little rings, like tree rings, that appear when it is cut for jewelry.  It is also very light compared to the other stones.  I picked up a necklace made with several pieces of coral and jade stones.  I asked the vendor for the price.  He told me $60!  Wow!  Well, I only had $40 to spend and told him so as I handed the necklace back to him.  It was crowded and so I was slowly making my way out of the store.  The vendor suddenly appeared in front of me again and said he would take my $40 for the necklace!  Made me wonder if I could've made a better bargain!  But I do like the necklace.  Steve and I got our picture taken with a cute little donkey at this stop.

Next we drove along the beach and made stops for pictures at several scenic spots.  Our destination was the tequila tasting factory.  We walked by a field of blue agave plants. Tequila is made from the root of the blue agave.  The hosts at the factory handed out little tasting cups to everyone who wanted to sample the varieties of tequila.  Steve sampled each one.   He thought some were too sweet and liked others.  I took pictures because usually tequila does not agree with me.  I loved the beautiful bottles filled with the blue tequila.

We returned to the dock and all the shops and stores and crowds of people.  I was tired, hungry and frustrated.  It was our last stop and I still had gifts to buy for people back home.  It was also super windy and pouring down rain by this time.  We managed to find hats and the gifts we needed and finally headed back to the safety and warmth of the ship.

That night on board the crew treated everyone to a "Chocaholics' Buffet."  They had just about every chocolate confection one could imagine, brownies, eclairs, Boston Cream pie, Black Forest cake, lady fingers, fudge, cream puffs etc., etc.   It was so crowded that we grabbed a plateful and headed for the wine store.  Then we enjoyed our chocolate and wine in the privacy of our stateroom.  It seemed a fitting end to our shipboard adventure.

The following day was spent at sea headed back to New Orleans. I think that was one of the fastest weeks of my life! Next time I will catch up on what has been happening since we got home.